“What’s your favorite pie filling?”

Pinkie Pie trotted down the wet road, whistling a happy tune to herself. Her flat mane was gathered in a bun under her hood. Her traveling cloak saved her from the worst of the pouring rain, but her coat was damp anyway as her hooves carelessly splashed water and dirt all around. Some of it was landing on the stallion trotting beside her, much to his displeasure. Pinkie answered his glare with a playful wink.

“Why are you so damn cheerful?” Heavy Steps grumbled, ignoring her question. “The prince probably sent us on a wild goose chase…”

After setting out from Birminghoof earlier this day, Pinkie Pie and her companion had been traveling on the main road that connected Birminghoof to Canterlot. They had passed through a couple of small villages along the way but had found no signs of Twilight passing there so far.

“I’m sure we’ll find something in the next village,” Pinkie assured the stallion, feeling as confident as ever.

“You said the same thing in the last one,” Heavy Steps pointed out. “I don’t understand why you simply believed the prince.”

Pinkie shrugged, frowning her muzzle slightly. “I have my reasons.”

“What reasons?” Heavy Steps growled.

“I can’t share them yet,” Pinkie answered calmly. “Just trust me, okay?”

Heavy Steps sighed and fell silent as Pinkie Pie relaxed. She considered coming up with a lie to explain her actions to the captain, but nothing good came to mind. The real reason was out of the question, of course. After all, if he knew why she had believed Prince Blueblood’s claim of Twilight’s innocence, he would have tried to kill her himself.

Pinkie had firmly believed she had been doing a good deed for Equestria at the time, when she had accepted the contract to poison the king from an anonymous client, but Heavy Steps’ loyalty and love for the old ruler had shattered that belief, after already being weakened by her inner doubts. A truly bad king would not inspire love from his servants, only fear.

And now an innocent mare was being blamed for her own crime. That had never sat well with Pinkie Pie, even though she had assured herself that one mare’s life was nothing compared to the good of all of Equestria. That was why Pinkie had decided to look for Twilight. Not only to learn more about the king’s personality — though that was part of her reason — but to make up for basically ruining Twilight’s life. She may be a unicorn, but even unicorns deserved fair treatment. Otherwise, Pinkie wouldn’t be better than the nobles she hated so much.

She glanced at Heavy Steps, thinking about the irony of the situation. The stallion had come to her to find the one responsible for poisoning his beloved king, and he had found her. He just didn’t know it yet. Hopefully, he never would.

“So, what’s your favorite pie filling?” Pinkie repeated her earlier question.

Heavy Steps rolled his eyes. “Blueberry,” he finally answered.

The rain was over by the time they reached the next village. The sun was already close to the horizon, coloring the scattered clouds in red. Pinkie was distracting herself with random chatting, but the closer they drew to the city, the harder it was for Pinkie to keep her cheerful attitude. As they entered the village, her face turned into a frown.

After living in the capital for so long, Pinkie had almost forgotten how much worse life was for ponies under the nobles’ rule, but looking at the gloomy faces of the villagers, she was reminded of that fact. They couldn’t even move elsewhere. Not unless they paid a hefty sum or had some skills that were useful for the noble in charge. The cities were much better in that respect, but unfortunately earth ponies like Pinkie were a minority among their inhabitants.

“This doesn’t look so bad,” Heavy Steps stated.

Pinkie shrugged. The village actually looked much better than the ones they had passed through so far. There was something in the way the ponies here held themselves that made them look different from their counterparts from the other villages. Some of them even greeted Pinkie with a nod, which she happily returned.

With her spirits lifted slightly, Pinkie went looking for the local information hub — the village’s tavern. Such a place was always easy to find, especially in a small village like this one, and soon she was approaching the only two-story building around, assuming it to be the place she needed.

Her guess was confirmed when she saw a signboard thoughtfully illuminated by a torch saying Gloomy Horse, which hung over the entrance. Ponies’ voices carried from the inside in a constant buzz, suggesting that the place was busy. Pushing the door open, Pinkie and Heavy Steps walked inside.

Some of the patrons turned their heads to regard the newcomers, but quickly lost their interest, returning to their own business. There were some free tables in the hall, but Pinkie walked straight to the bartender — a peachy-coated middle-aged stallion.

“How can I help ya, lass?” he asked before Pinkie could even open her mouth.

“Two cups of your strongest cider, please!” Pinkie grinned, throwing a couple of bronze bits on the counter.

The pony nodded, snatching the bits while Pinkie sat on a barchair. While he went to fetch a bottle from a shelf behind him, Heavy Steps joined by Pinkie’s side. The bartender placed two large mugs in front of them a moment later. Heavy Steps glanced at his cup with raised eyebrows before raising his eyes to the P.I.

“We’re staying here for the night,” she answered his silent question. “Might as well relax. I haven’t had a good cider in weeks!”

Shrugging, the stallion took his mug and downed half of it in one go. A tiny shudder passed through his body as his ears stood up straight. Not to be outdrunk by a unicorn, Pinkie Pie followed his example, finishing the whole cup. Immediately, she felt a pleasant warmth spreading from her stomach to the rest of her body.

“Mhhh, that’s the good stuff,” Pinkie smiled, planting her mug at the bar table with a loud smack. “Give me another one, please!”

“You can thank the Apples here,” the bartender said, filling up her mug once again. “I honestly didn’t think they would pull it off it this year…”

“Why not?” Pinkie asked, arching her eyebrows almost comically.

“The damn army conscripted one of them a few weeks ago,” the pony explained with anger in his voice. “Right before harvest too. Big Mac and the rest had to work twice as hard to take care of their orchard, in addition to their village duty.”

“Oh, I see,” Pinkie nodded, her smile dropping. “That conscription sure was inconvenient for a lot of ponies, wasn’t it?”

The conscription that probably wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t poisoned the king.

“Eh, it could have been worse,” the bartender shrugged. “At least Lord Belle allowed us to keep most of the harvest to ourselves this year to make up for breaking our deal, may the Sun bless his generous soul. Our neighbors are not so lucky, unfortunately.”

“Your deal?” Heavy Steps asked.

The bartender quickly explained the arrangements the village had with House Belle concerning conscription. Instead of conscripting the ponies forcefully, the lord had allowed the villagers to decide for themselves who they were going to send to the army. Two or three ponies had usually volunteered each year, which was enough to satisfy his needs.

But the new regent needed much more than that.

“Lady Belle tried to protect us, but the soldiers didn’t listen to her,” the bartender continued, lowering his ears as he remembered those events. “They took more than a dozen at once.”

The two discussed it until Pinkie ran out of cider again. Glaring at her empty mug in indignation, she ordered the third one for herself. She checked Heavy Steps, but her companion was still at his second one, sipping it slowly as he listened to their conversation with a thoughtful expression.

“I’m looking for somepony, by the way,” Pinkie said at some point between the third and the fourth mug. Swaying in her chair slightly, she described Twilight to him. “She might have been here a couple of weeks ago.”

The bartender’s eyes narrowed, as he had undoubtedly recognized Twilight Sparkle – the most wanted criminal in Equestria – under that description. It was hard not to, considering that her wanted poster with a promised thousand golden bits reward was literally hanging on the wall right behind him.

“So, you’re looking for her, huh?” he asked, lowering his voice. “As a matter of fact, I remember a pony that might have been her. But I saw her just once when she paid for her room, so I can’t be sure. It was the day just after the king was poisoned.”

Pinkie leaned forward in excitement. “Is that all?”

“Well, she wasn’t alone,” the pony continued. “It’s not often a unicorn mare stops at my inn, but that day we had three — Lady Belle, her and some other mare that called herself her friend. They stayed in the room together.”

Pinkie raised her eyebrows in genuine surprise. Twilight had a friend with her? Blueblood had never mentioned that. “Do you remember what that friend looked like?”

“Well, she was a unicorn,” the bartender said thoughtfully. “Looked kind of similar to her, but her coat was light blue instead of purple and her mane was grass green. I thought they were sisters, but I never asked.”

A guess struck her through a drunken haze.

“Did you ever see them together?”

The stallion shook his head, confirming Pinkie’s guess. Grinning, she dropped a golden bit on the table. The bartender’s eyes widened in shock, but he wasted no time in snatching the coin. Pinkie jumped off her chair, landing gracefully despite the buzz in her head.

“A room for the night for me and my friend, please,” Pinkie said. “Keep the change.”

Having confirmed Blueblood’s words — at least considering the direction Twilight was going in — Pinkie Pie and Heavy Steps didn’t have to stop to chat in every village anymore. They were walking at a brisk pace and a day later they were nearing Waterhoof, the first proper town on their way to Canterlot.

The weather was the complete opposite of what it had been yesterday, with an autumn sun shining brightly over their heads. It was a warm, pleasant day that anypony would have dreamed of at this time of year. Pinkie’s mood, however, was anything but pleasant as she walked without her usual spring in steps, her tail dragging on the ground behind her.

She had always known that the ponies had a rough life out here in the countryside, but seeing it with her own eyes had really hit it home. There were a few exceptions to the general rule — villages in House Belle’s domain were a prime example that even nobleponies weren’t all bad — but those were few and far between.

Unfortunately, even their life had taken a turn for the worst after Everlight had assumed power. What made it even worse for Pinkie was the fact that she was directly responsible for that. Though she hadn’t known who had paid her for the contract at the time, seeing who had benefited the most from it had made it pretty obvious.

“Are we going to stop in Waterhoof for the night?” Heavy Steps asked, dragging Pinkie out of her gloomy thoughts.

“Sounds good,” Pinkie threw in absentmindedly.

“I agree,” Heavy Steps nodded. “I want to sleep in some comfort today.”

The mare snickered. “You’re funny if you think you’ll find a good place to stay there, but okay.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Waterhoof was a relatively large town with its own walls guarding its inhabitants from an outside threat, but its glory days had long since been over. Though Pinkie herself had never been there personally, she had asked around back at the inn about what was waiting ahead of them. The answers she had gotten weren’t promising.

“What in Tartarus is this shit?” Heavy Steps asked, pointing at the town’s gate with a deep frown.

Pinkie wasn’t surprised in the slightest to see a couple of club-wielding ponies instead of official town guards being posted there. They were sitting at one side near each other, too engrossed in their chatting to notice the two approaching guests.

“Most town guards were sent to the eastern border,” Pinkie explained.

“What?” the stallion gaped at her. “That’s insane! Who’s keeping the order now?”

“Those guys, I guess,” Pinkie nodded at the chatting ponies. Heavy Steps shook his head in bewilderment.

It was a mare and a stallion, both earth ponies, who were even younger than Pinkie Pie herself. As Pinkie and Heavy Steps approached the gate, the pair finally noticed them and moved to block their way. Pinkie Pie met their effort with a fake smile, but Heavy Steps didn’t even bother to hide his open contempt.

“Out of my way,” he threw at them without slowing down, but the ponies waved their clubs menacingly, forcing him to finally stop.

“Not so fast, old guy,” the young stallion said.

“Yeah, you need to like pay a toll to enter the town, you know?” his friend added. “It’s just a bronze bit, dontcha worry.”

Heavy Steps scowled and reached for his saddlebag, but Pinkie quickly pushed him out of the way before he could cause any trouble. She put a bronze coin on the outstretched hoof of the “guard”, making the pony grin with his yellow teeth. Pinkie forced a smile in response, even though her heart wasn’t really in it.

A moment later the ponies stepped away, allowing them to pass.

“That was blatant extortion,” Heavy Steps said, barely containing his anger when they had gotten far enough from the gate. The stallion looked around in distaste. “There is no “toll” to enter any town, least of all a dump like this one.”

Pinkie Pie had to agree with his assessment. The place was just as bad as advertised. Though they were walking on the main street, it looked no better than the worst neighborhoods of Birminghoof, which was a pretty low standard to reach.

“We could have wiped the floor with them,” Heavy Steps said, shaking his mane angrily. “You know that.”

“And deal with a bunch of their friends later?” Pinkie asked. “It’s easier to just pay them.”

Heavy Steps growled but couldn’t find any argument against her words.

They encountered a whole patrol of similar “guards” on their walk through the town, but those ponies paid them no mind, being more interested in laughing at their own jokes. The townsponies kept their distance from the group and so did Pinkie.

After asking a few passers-by for direction, Pinkie and Heavy Steps had finally found a suitable place at the edge of the town square. It wasn’t the best Waterhoof had to offer, but the more luxurious places were reserved for nobles and rich ponies. While Pinkie had the bits to spare — poisoning the king hadn’t been the first contract she had completed after all — she had different plans for her money than wasting them on extravagances.

Pushing the tavern door open, Pinkie strolled inside and headed for the nearest table. Heavy Steps followed her with a grimace of displeasure, which Pinkie chose to ignore. Slumping on the chair, the mare stretched her legs, weary after a full day of walking.

Even with her earth pony stamina she was having a hard time, but surprisingly Heavy Steps had been able to keep up with her pace with little effort. His Royal Guard training hadn’t all been for nothing, Pinkie guessed.

Barely anypony was inside the tavern, so the waitress took their orders and served them a fresh portion of rice with beans in no time.

“This is delicious!” Pinkie announced, devouring it with terrifying speed. Her companion shook his head as he calmly ate his own portion.

After the meal was over, Pinkie rented a room for the night. While Heavy Steps had gone to bed immediately, she decided to stick around to have some chat with the locals. It was one of her rules to pick up on the latest rumors wherever she went.

At first, she had heard just more of the same — some local rumors, a possible war with the griffons, theories about who had been behind the king’s poisoning… Most ponies didn’t really care about the latter, but the ones who did suspected that Everlight had been behind the whole thing. His swift rise to power right after King Hearth had been out of commission was highly suspicious for anypony who had a bit of a brain.

One story in particular, however, piqued Pinkie’s interest. It was about a strange unicorn mare that had desperately tried to hire a carriage to Canterlot a couple of weeks ago.

“She agreed to pay a hundred bits for that, can you imagine?” one of the ponies said. “If I’d known she had that kind of money from the start, I would have carried her on my own back!”

“A hundred bits?” Pinkie raised her eyebrows. “That’s insane!”

After learning what that mare looked like, there was no doubt in Pinkie’s mind that it had been Twilight in disguise. Pinkie shook her head in dismay. For somepony who should have been trying to lay low, Twilight had made a lot of ruckus here.

Hopefully, she wouldn’t get caught before Pinkie caught up with her.

Two days later, when Pinkie and Heavy Steps were on the last leg of their journey to Canterlot, a group of soldiers in light armor galloped past them. Of course, Pinkie’s ears had heard them long before that though, so they’d had time to hide in the bushes along the road.

“Why are we hiding?” Heavy Steps asked.

“Just in case,” Pinkie answered, her ears locating at the sound. “We did break into the palace and threaten the prince, you know.”

Heavy Steps nodded curtly, satisfied with the explanation. In truth, Pinkie didn’t really think the soldiers were looking for them — the prince would have done everything in his power to cover up Pinkie’s little intrusion — but you could never be too careful.

As it soon turned out, Pinkie’s carefulness was unfounded this time. The group of soldiers had just been an advanced patrol of a larger force of thousands of troops that were moving behind them at a fast trot. This was an army going to war, Pinkie realized as her stomach went cold.

“Damn…” Heavy Steps muttered. “Everlight is really doing it. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Pinkie wasn’t surprised either. But even though everypony had guessed that war was coming with all the conscripting and raising taxes, it wasn’t easy to see it be confirmed with your own eyes. Especially if you were the one to put it in motion in the first place.

While Pinkie hated the griffons as much as the next pony, she knew what starting a new war with them would mean for Equestria. The griffons were too powerful an enemy. Her short trip through the countryside had only further proved that the country wasn’t ready for war.

“Even if we win this war, there will be heavy losses,” Heavy Steps said, agreeing with her unspoken thoughts. “The situation is the same for the griffons. We learned it painfully well in the last war — neither side can hope for an easy victory. King Hearth knew that.”

Pinkie nodded with a gloomy expression. If only she had considered the consequences earlier… But the pay was too good and poisoning the king had seemed like an appropriate punishment for what he’d done to the country. Who would have thought that whoever came to power after him would be even worse?!

After the army had passed by, Pinkie and Heavy Steps climbed out of the bushes and resumed their journey to the mountain that was looming in the distance. Neither of them talked for hours, both too deep in their thoughts.

“Have you ever danced with a donkey?” Pinkie asked with a grin. “I was told they were great dancers.”

It had been a day since the army encounter and Pinkie had recovered enough to resume her chatter. In fact, talking about nonsense was what made her feel better because it didn’t leave any space for the bad thoughts in her head. Heavy Steps’s grimace suggested that he wasn’t enjoying the chat as much as she was, but it was better than brooding over something you couldn’t change, in Pinkie’s opinion.

“No, I haven’t,” Heavy Steps answered curtly. “Whoever told you that is a fool.”

“Well, I’ve always wanted to try…” Pinkie drawled, checking the road ahead. “I wonder if there are any donkeys in Canterlot.”

“I doubt that,” Heavy Steps snorted.

They had been trotting in the shadow of Canterlot Mountain for a while now, coming ever closer to its base. Pinkie raised her eyes to once again marvel at the beauty of the white city reaching out from the side of the mountain, as if trying to grasp the very sky itself. The city had been built on colossal platforms — a feat of ancient craftsmanship that put everything else she had seen to shame. Colossal supports arched out from the mountain below, bridging it to the platform’s farthest edge. She could only imagine how breathtaking the view might be from atop that gilded city, looking out across all of Equestria below.

“This should have been the capital of Equestria,” Pinkie stated. “It’s far more impressive than our old Birminghoof.”

“It used to be the capital,” Heavy Steps shrugged. “I’ve always wondered why they moved it.”

“Beats me,” Pinkie said, not tearing her gaze from the sky.

It seemed like such a bad choice. Even the weather near Canterlot was much more pleasant than it was back in Birminghoof. Pinkie suspected that it had something to do with the cloud city above the mountain – Cloudsdale, one of the great Pegasus cities. A bunch of them were in the air right now, busy demolishing a few clouds in an otherwise clear sky.

“Pegasi,” Heavy Steps almost spat, narrowing his eyes. “They think they’re better than everypony else, that bunch. They forbade the pegasi to join the Equestrian army. We could have used some flying troops in the last war...”

“I didn’t see a lot of unicorns among the troops we saw yesterday either,” Pinkie snapped.

The stallion glared at her and opened his mouth as if to answer, but then shook his head in dismay. Pinkie breathed in and out slowly, forcing herself to relax. Heavy Steps wasn’t bad for a unicorn, otherwise she wouldn’t have tolerated his companionship. But sometimes he was just as arrogant as the rest of his kind.

Soon, Pinkie and Heavy Steps were in viewing distance of the first gate. Unlike Waterhoof, those gates were guarded by several proper guards with large spears, their armor shining with a polished gleam. As Pinkie and Heavy Steps slowly approached, the mare noticed something weird: while a group of unicorns passed without any issues, an earth pony was stopped and had to present some papers.

Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes as she observed the scene, pondering its meaning. If they demanded some kind of documentation from every earth pony, that was going to be a problem.

While the guards were distracted, Pinkie jumped into the bushes. Heavy Steps walked a few more steps until he noticed his companion’s sudden disappearance. The stallion stopped, looking around in confusion.

“Come here, quick!” Pinkie called for him from the bushes.

Heavy Steps finally noticed her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, joining her in her hiding spot. Pinkie quickly explained her observations to him.

“I had no idea they were so strict about allowing earth ponies into the city,” Heavy Steps commented after she was finished. “There is no such thing in Birminghoof.”

“So much for being the center of culture,” Pinkie said, drooping her ears. “Oh well. Luckily, I brought my unicorn costume along.”

Heavy Steps’ brows rose in surprise as the mare produced a fake horn matching her coat color out of her saddlebag and fastened it to her forehead with a few barely noticeable tapes. She flashed a triumphant smile at her companion.

“Do you really think it’s going to fool them?” he asked, skepticism evident in his voice.

The P.I. nodded happily, putting a hood over her head.

“Now you definitely look like you’re hiding something,” Heavy Steps commented flatly.

Pinkie shrugged. The next moment she jumped out of the bushes back onto the road, ignoring a few strange glances from passers-by, and casually trotted towards the gate. Her companion followed right behind.

Pinkie tensed up internally, ready to spring into action if anything went wrong, but the guards barely spared them a glance when Pinkie trotted right under their noses, with them none the wiser about her true nature. A smile grew on her face.

“Well, that worked,” Heavy Steps said after they’d gotten far enough from the gate.

“It always works.” Pinkie’s smile widened as she revealed a hidden vial of strange liquid under her cape. “But I had some sleeping gas in case it didn’t.”

“Good planning,” the stallion nodded in approval.

They ascended the mountain for a couple of hours until they had reached the second gate. Before entering the city, Pinkie stopped to enjoy the breathtaking view from up here. It was almost like she could see all of Equestria at once with all its little villages and towns, fields and forests, hills and rivers… But it was just a small part of it, Pinkie realized with awe. Equestria was much larger than could be seen from one mountain.

Tearing her sight off the beautiful view, Pinkie headed for the gate. After crossing a small bridge, they had finally entered the great city. Pinkie’s fake horn worked just as well this time, allowing her to pass by the guards without raising any suspicion.

Being in Canterlot for the first time, Pinkie was amazed at its splendor. Her eyes gazed around in wonder as she trotted on the main street. The white marble of the old buildings shined beautifully in the rays of the setting sun. Even after Pinkie had left the main street, the city continued to impress her. The difference between Canterlot and Birminghoof was striking.

Even the ponies here looked different. Almost nopony bothered wearing clothes in Birminghoof, but here it was another story. A few ponies who were still out at such a late hour were wearing all kinds of things that put Pinkie’s traveling cape to shame.

“So, what’s our next step?” Heavy Steps asked.

“Find Twilight, of course,” Pinkie answered flatly. “That’s why we’re here, don’t you remember?”

The stallion rolled his eyes. “I mean, how exactly are we’re going to do it?”

“Well, it should be fairly easy,” Pinkie said. “We know her goal, we know her disguise and we know how she thinks. While we might be able to find her family in town and check on them, I don’t think Twilight would be foolish enough to contact them. Therefore, visiting the biggest library in the city should be our first priority.”

“If we believe the nonsense the prince was saying, that is,” Heavy Steps argued. “He may have been telling the truth about Twilight coming here, but I’m still not sure if we can trust him. He did free Twilight from prison, after all, even though he claims she’s innocent.”

“We’re going to discuss that once we find somewhere to stay,” Pinkie assured him.

After asking a few random ponies on the streets, they were given a direction to go if they wanted to find an affordable, but at the same time decent place, near the library.

At first, Pinkie continued to enjoy the scenery on their way there, but it lost its novelty pretty soon. All the streets resembled one another, only distinguished by some shops with fancy signboards from time to time. It was undeniably impressive, but Pinkie found herself missing the dirty and chaotic streets of Birminghoof.

“I hope it’s better than the last two,” Heavy Steps muttered as they entered the hotel.

His hope was well-placed this time. After Pinkie had rented a room with two beds from the mare at the counter, they wasted no time in settling there. Though its interior was rather simple, it was a whole level better than those they had stayed in before.

“It’s time to discuss it,” Pinkie announced, just when Heavy Steps was about to hit the hay after just having had a hearty meal and a hot shower.

“Can’t it wait until tomorrow?” Heavy Steps asked, climbing onto his bed. He yawned widely. “I’m too tired.”

Pinkie shook her head. “I want to get it out of the way right now.”

The stallion sighed and turned on his stomach, swiveling his ears in her direction. “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

“Twilight Sparkle did not poison the king,” Pinkie Pie stated firmly, her eyes watching Heavy Steps’ reaction. His ear twitched.

“Yeah, that’s what the prince said,” he said with a frown. “But he lied or was lied to. I was there myself when she forced her way into the king’s chamber with a bottle of poison. We caught her in the act.”

Pinkie would have snorted if the situation wasn’t so serious. She had never intended for Twilight to take the blame — the mare was just there in the wrong place at the wrong time — but it was funny how her own actions had made her seem even more suspicious.

“Isn’t it weird that she had to force her way inside, when she was allowed to be in the king’s chamber in the first place?” Pinkie asked.

“I suppose,” Heavy Steps said, his frown deepening. “In fact, I thought she’d been inside all along when I saw her running towards us. But I guess I was wrong.”

“No, you weren’t,” Pinkie shook her head. “It’s obvious what really happened. When someone poisoned the king with the Deathsong poison, she just teleported out of the window, ran to the medical wing to get an antidote and then ran back to the king’s chamber to save him. Unfortunately, she was too late and now the king is in an eternal coma.”

“What?” Heavy Steps stared at her. He shook his head in dismay. “What a load of horseshit... You’re just making it all up, aren’t you?”

But Pinkie wasn’t making anything up — she had been there for some of the events and had learned enough from Heavy Steps’s perspective to paint a clear picture of what had happened. She wasn’t going to reveal her involvement to her companion though.

“They call me P.I. Pie for a reason.” The tips of Pinkie’s mouth lifted up slightly. “It’s all easily deduced if you think about it. You yourself said that Twilight and the king were close. It doesn’t make sense for her to have poisoned him. Even if she wanted to, she wouldn’t have rushed her way through a bunch of guards to feed him the poison forcefully. You told me how smart she is, remember?”

“Well, when you put it like that…” Heavy Steps winced as if from physical pain. “But if I assume that Twilight really is innocent, then who actually did it?”

“Beats me.”

“Lord— I mean, Regent Everlight was the previous visitor,” Heavy Steps said after thinking for a moment. “But the Deathsong poison works almost instantly and he was there almost an hour earlier.”

“Finding the one who gave the order is more important than finding whoever executed it.”

Heavy Steps nodded. “Of course. But I’m no investigator. I was hoping you’d find Twilight so I could beat the answers out of her.” A deep frown crossed his face. “But if she’s innocent as you say, why are we even looking for her?”

“I have my own reasons,” Pinkie reminded him. “But there are a lot of reasons for you too. You can help her with Blueblood’s plan of finding some artifact to defeat him.”

Heavy Steps let out a groan of frustration, punching his mattress. “That’s not what I wanted!”

“What did you want to happen if you found Twilight?”

“I would have turned her over to justice… After I had my way with her for what she did and found out if somepony put her up to this.”

Pinkie nodded. “Yes, but then what? What were you going to do if you learned that Everlight was behind the whole thing?”

“I… didn’t really have a plan,” the stallion admitted, drooping his ears. “But me and my boys would have come up with something once we knew for sure who did it.”

“Well, it’s sure as pie that Everlight did it,” Pinkie said, stomping her hoof on the mattress for emphasis. “If we want to stop him, our best bet for now is to help Twilight.”

Heavy Steps was silent for a couple of minutes, simply staring at the floor as he thought about Pinkie’s words.

“I think you’re right,” he said and sighed deeply. “I still want to talk with Twilight myself before I can be sure though. But I’m curious, why are you helping me?”

“I just want to help the simple ponies,” Pinkie told half the truth. “By helping Twilight to take down Everlight, I’ll make Equestria a better place.”

“Yeah, but you’d agreed to help even before we learned the truth from the prince,” Heavy Steps stated. “I’m grateful, of course, but I’m just curious.”

“Well… I admit, I had different motives when I agreed to help you,” Pinkie said, her brain working in overdrive to come up with a plausible explanation without revealing her personal involvement in the whole plot. “I guess I just like the challenge, you know? Just imagine the faces of those royal investigators when some earth pony succeeds where they have failed. But after we talked with Blueblood and seeing what Everlight’s rule is doing to the country, I decided to help Twilight instead.”

“Hmm, I see,” Heavy Steps nodded, seeming satisfied with her answer. Pinkie relaxed slightly. His questions were making her nervous.

“Time to sleep now,” she said, dropping her head onto her pillow and praying that Heavy Steps followed her example without any more questions. Luckily, he did and a couple of minutes later the peaceful snores of the two sleeping ponies filled the room.

Pinkie Pie’s eyes opened with the first rays of the sun.

Sneaking out of her bed without making any sound, Pinkie crawled towards the exit. She froze when the door squeaked slightly, but Heavy Steps continued sleeping, so she relaxed again. Once outside, Pinkie stood up and trotted to the bathroom, humming a cheery tune.

The shower was empty like she had expected. Smiling, Pinkie jumped into the cabin and turned the water on. She turned around, enjoying the hot stream falling down her sides and soaking her coat. It felt nice.

Lying on her back, Pinkie exposed her belly to the stream, giggling as the water tickled her sensitive skin. She adjusted her position slightly, allowing water to caress her crotch teats. A moan of delight escaped her lips as shivers went through her body.

Pinkie Pie loved showering so much.

Hoofsteps sounded from outside. Pinkie’s eyes widened in realization — she had forgotten to lock the door! A moment later it opened, and Heavy Steps walked into the bathroom with his eyes half-closed. His eyes snapped wide open as he noticed Pinkie lying in the shower cabin. They both stared at each other in utter silence.

Pinkie smiled first, feeling her cheeks growing even hotter than they were before. “The water is great today!”

The stallion almost stumbled as he backpedaled hastily, shutting the door behind him and sending her a bunch of apologies along the way. Giggling, Pinkie quickly left the shower to lock the door before returning to the same position. Her hoof reached out to rub between her legs…

An hour later, Pinkie and Heavy Steps were both done with their morning routine and heading downstairs. Pinkie hadn’t forgotten to put on her fake horn — the counter pony would be pretty surprised to see her suddenly transformed into an earth pony overnight. The hotel had a small buffet where they bought some snacks, but to get a proper meal the duo had to visit some nice cafe the counter pony had recommended. After that, they were finally ready for the work ahead of them for today.

The first stop on their list was the library.

Pinkie Pie was unusually silent on their way there, her brow wrinkled as she reflected on yesterday’s conversation with Heavy Steps — her motivation for finding Twilight Sparkle had indeed changed; she hadn’t lied about that.

Pinkie had made a terrible mistake by poisoning the king, there was no denying it anymore. Even though she was an assassin, she had never accepted a job where her target was a half-way decent pony. It was usually some corrupt noble targeted by another one just like them. Pinkie had always made sure of that.

But when she had accepted the royal job… She hadn’t done that. Why would she, when everypony knew that the king had been responsible for everything bad that was happening in the country? It had been a great opportunity to get some much needed money to send to her family and rid the country of a corrupt ruler.

She couldn’t have been more wrong.

Pinkie couldn’t suppress a sigh, drawing Heavy Steps’ curious glance.

Even if the king had been just as bad as everypony had claimed, Everlight was much worse of a ruler. She had to do everything in her power to stop him. She owed it to Equestria. But without Twilight’s help, accomplishing her goal would be much more difficult.

As good as Pinkie was, if her client hadn’t disabled the magical wards in the palace in advance, she wouldn’t have been able to poison the king and get away with it. Being a high-ranking member of the Royal Guard, albeit a suspended one, Heavy Steps had helped her to get past the wards and take out the guards when she had broken into Prince Blueblood’s chamber, but his defenses were nothing compared to the king himself. It would be foolish to think that Everlight’s would be any less so. If anything, he’d be even more protected.

“We’re here,” Heavy Steps announced, dragging Pinkie out of her rumination.

The mare looked at her companion in confusion before she understood what he had meant. She nodded and turned to look at the entrance to the Academy campus, which contained the largest library in the whole country. If there was any place in the city where Twilight would go searching for information, this was it.

“Oh, I almost forgot…” Pinkie murmured, diving into her saddlebag. A few seconds later she pulled her head out, holding a pair of glasses in her mouth. She put them on and grinned. “Much better.”

A security guard at the entrance let them through without any trouble after they had signed up for a library pass, only warning them not to wander off the path. Pinkie assured him that they wouldn’t. She kept her promise and, after a short walk through the park, Pinkie and Heavy Steps had found the library.

A large statue of a bearded unicorn in a cape standing in front of the building caught Pinkie’s attention, making her slow down as she gaped at it in awe. Starswirl the Bearded, it said on the pedestal below. Even as a statue, the unicorn gave off an aura of power. A shudder ran down her spine. Its pose made it seem like he was ready to leap off the ramp to perform great deeds.

Pinkie had always had a thing for statues — something about their hard, stony exterior reminded her of her sister Maud that she hadn’t seen in years. The two of them used to create small figures of ponies out of rocks when they used to be foals. But nothing like this statue, of course. She would have liked this one, Pinkie thought.

“Are you coming or not?” Heavy Steps hurried her up.

Breaking her gaze from the statue, Pinkie followed the stallion into the building. The building itself was large and imposing, with massive pillars at its front supporting the roof. The door between the two pillars in the center seemed small in comparison.

As they entered, Pinkie and Heavy Steps found themselves in a large hall, which was filled with dozens of rows of bookcases running through the whole length of the building. They were so tall that it would be impossible to reach the books from the top without a ladder, if you had no wings or magic at your disposal.

Locating the librarian behind a counter, Pinkie approached.

“Hello there, librarian,” she waved to a young mare who was standing behind the counter with a bored expression. “I’m looking for a friend.”

“This is a place of knowledge,” the librarian answered flatly. “My job is to help you look for books, not friends.”

“Just answer some of our questions, please,” Heavy Steps said, putting his hoof on the counter and leaning forward, looming over the mare. “I promise it won’t take long.”

The librarian’s eyes flickered from Pinkie to him, her ears falling back slightly. She gulped and smiled nervously.

“Eh, sure,” she said and chuckled. “I don’t see why not.”

Pinkie grinned and proceeded to describe Twilight’s disguise, asking if she had seen a mare like that around here. The librarian listened to the description with attention, sometimes throwing glances at the still looming stallion. When Pinkie had finished, the librarian shook her head.

“Nope, I’m sorry. I’ve never seen her,” she said, backing away a bit. “But I’m new here. Got the job just a few days ago. You’d have to ask the previous librarian if you want. But he was fired a couple of days ago…”

“Well, thanks for nothing,” Heavy Steps said, hitting the surface of the counter lightly, causing the mare to flinch.

“What was his name?”

“Eh, Midnight… Star, I think. I have no idea where he is now though.”

“Okay, thank you for your help anyway!” Pinkie flashed an encouraging grin at the mare and tugged Heavy Steps off the counter. “Let’s ask the ponies around here first before we look for this Midnight,” Pinkie suggested. The stallion answered with a curt nod.

After a whole hour of strolling between the rows of books and questioning dozens of students, Pinkie was feeling more annoyed than anything. She hid it under a cheerful smile, but her emotions were boiling underneath, ready to explode.

“Bucking nobles…” she muttered when she was out of their earshot.

Most of the students acted like they were doing her a favor just by talking to her, even though to an outside eye Pinkie was a fellow unicorn. Her accent, however, gave her away as a commoner raised in a backwater village — she had never bothered to change it, even after years of living in Birminghoof. Not all unicorns were like that, Pinkie reminded herself, glancing at Heavy Steps. Or they just hid it better.

Luckily, her suffering hadn’t all been in vain.

“She was here like I expected,” Pinkie summarized as the two of them stopped in an empty row. “And she was often seen with the previous librarian.”

“You think he knew who she was and was helping her?”

Pinkie nodded. “It’s possible. It’s also possible that Purple Smart gained his trust in order to get access to the closed section. She would need it to find what she was looking for.”

“Purple Smart?” Heavy Steps raised his eyebrows. Pinkie winked.

“Yep,” she said and whispered. “We shouldn’t speak her name in public, silly.”

“Okay… Anyway, the two of them haven’t been here since that Midnight was fired,” Heavy Steps said, frowning. “What if they’ve found what they needed already?”

Pinkie shrugged. “It’s possible. Our next step is to find Midnight Star and learn what he knows.”

“You’re right,” Heavy Steps nodded, his ears perking up. “We need to find out where he lives somehow.”

“They should have some information about their employees written down,” Pinkie said thoughtfully. “But I don’t think anypony would just share it with us.”

“Well, I doubt they have the royal palace’s level of protection. This should be a piece of cake for us, right?”

Pinkie grinned. “I like your attitude!”

Aside from the library, which was open to public, the Academy consisted of multiple structures spread out throughout the campus grounds. Thankfully, Heavy Steps had been a student here once, so he knew which direction they needed to go to find what they needed. Leaving the library behind, he led Pinkie to the main building.

Their way went through a beautiful park, which was still green despite late autumn setting in. Somehow it felt unnatural — Pinkie suspected some freaky magic was at work here. The mare winced slightly, unable to properly enjoy the walk anymore.

Heavy Steps had warned that only those with a special pass were allowed inside. He had dismissed Pinkie’s idea of stealing one, since the passes had been given to each pony personally and included a detailed description of said pony, so instead of heading directly to the entrance, the two casually walked around the building, looking for an alternative way in.

Soon, Pinkie’s trained eye spotted a good place — a window hidden from any random observer behind a couple of leafy trees. Flashing a triumphant grin, Pinkie skipped right to it and, standing on her hindlegs, looked inside.

“It’s some classroom,” she announced. “It’s empty. Now, go ahead.”

“What?” the pony asked.

“Check for any wards, silly.”

“You did a pretty good job yourself finding them back at the palace,” Heavy Steps answered. “With your wand, remember?”

“It’s almost out of charge,” Pinkie explained. “You do it now.”

“Fine,” the stallion relented, stepping forward. He closed his eyes, flaring up his horn, and stood still for half a minute as Pinkie patiently waited. “Just a simple motion alarm spell. Should I disrupt it?”

“Well, duh!”

Heavy Steps rolled his eyes and concentrated on his task. It took him another minute, but he had succeeded. Opening the window with his magic, he gestured for her to enter with a mocking bow.

Pinkie blew a raspberry at him and jumped inside in one swift motion, silently landing on the floor with a roll. Heavy Steps climbed in much less gracefully, tripping at the windowsill, but managed to catch his balance at the last moment.

“We’re inside,” he needlessly announced, shutting the window behind him.

The classroom they were in had rows of currently empty desks and not much else, except for a giant empty blackboard on the opposite wall. An empty bookshelf stood lonely by the wall.

“Where to, sir?”

“Tartarus if I know,” Heavy Steps shrugged. “The last time I was here was twenty years ago. But we should find the ER office pretty easily on our own.”

“I hope so.”

Opening the door, Pinkie exited the classroom and found herself in a long, brightly illuminated corridor. She looked left and right, but everything looked the same in both directions. Picking the one she liked best, Pinkie moved forward.

As they walked, the two searched for the office they needed. Lessons were in session at that time, so the corridor was empty save for a few stragglers who completely ignored them, rushing to wherever they were late to.

“Look, there’s a map!” Pinkie hopped in excitement as she had spotted a stand at the crossing of two corridors.

She hurried closer to examine it. The map displayed all three levels of the building, including an observatory tower rising from its center. The first two levels had mostly classrooms, but the third one was primarily an administrative one. After some searching, Pinkie had found the Equine Resources office. A happy smile grew on her face.

With a destination in mind, the two quickly made their way to the top floor, meeting hardly anypony on their way, until they were standing in front of the place they had been looking for. Pushing it open, Pinkie trotted inside with a friendly, wide grin.

A lone unicorn was sitting behind the table facing the entrance, who raised his head with a startled expression on his face. Most of the space behind him was filled with dozens of lockers.

“Eh, can I help you?”

“Yeah, we need your old librarian’s address, please,” Pinkie said calmly as she assessed the unicorn. “His name is Midnight Star.”

“And who are you?”

“We’re his fans,” Pinkie assured him, flashing a wide smile. She dropped five golden bits on the table, adding weight to her claim. The pony’s gaze was drawn to the money as if magnetized.

“I don’t know… Only the headmaster has access to that…” Five more bits fell near the first batch, spinning on the table. The clerk snatched them all in one fell swoop. “Well, I can’t say no to his fans.”

The stallion stood up with a sly smile and opened one of the lockers behind him. Pinkie and Heavy Steps patiently waited while he went through the files. With a triumphant exclamation, the clerk levitated one of the files and passed it to Pinkie Pie.

“Here you go.”

Pinkie nodded and went through it quickly, soaking in all the information. Her companion, who had been watching over her shoulder, grunted as if he had realized something. Pinkie shot him a curious glance. After memorizing the address, she returned the file.

“Thank you,” she bowed her head slightly. The clerk just waved his hoof.

The two quickly left the office and headed for the staircase going down. Pinkie was planning to leave the same way as they had entered. As they walked, she asked if Heavy Steps had noticed something interesting in the file.

“Midnight Star graduated at the same time as Twilight Sparkle,” he explained. “That’s how they know each other.”

“Ah, that,” Pinkie Pie nodded. “I noticed that too. Though we don’t really know if he’s helping her. They were seen talking, but there is no proof that he’s realized that it’s Twilight under her disguise.”

Heavy Steps nodded curtly, his expression falling a bit. Pinkie felt a pang of guilt for lowering his hopes like that.

“I think he does though,” she added to reassure him.

“I hope so.”

Twilight locked the Alicorn Amulet around her neck.

She bit her lip as a surge of power went through her body, making her hair stand on end. It ended as quickly as it began, leaving only the warmth of the Amulet against her chest in its aftermath. Twilight thought it pulsed slightly, but it could have been her imagination.

“Everypony, I got this,” Twilight said, stepping forward.

The dog stared down at her with a smirk as she approached, but Twilight wasn’t afraid. With the power of the Amulet at her command, she didn’t need to be afraid of anyone anymore – neither those dogs, nor even Everlight himself.

Twilight stopped in front of the dog leader, only now noticing that Midnight was still by her side, holding his staff. A shadow of fear surged in her mind, but Twilight suppressed it immediately. There was no reason to worry — she would keep her friends safe.

“I don’t want to kill you, dog,” Twilight said, calmly looking into the creature’s narrow eyes. “But I will if you don’t leave me and my friends alone.”

The dog leader barked with laughter, as if she had just told them the funniest joke. His comrades joined him a moment later. Twilight sighed. She hadn’t really expected them to listen to her, but a mare could dream. If they needed a demonstration of her strength, then a demonstration she would give.

“This is my last warning,” Twilight said, flaring up her horn.

Lifting the dog into the air with ease, the unicorn rolled him around like some ugly doll and then launched the beast into his comrades, making them drop like dominoes. What would have been difficult for her before, now took no more effort than picking up a glass of water. Twilight’s lips formed into a triumphant smile.

“I’ll eat your bones, purple pony!” the dog bellowed in fury, climbing back on his feet. “Kill them all!”

Twilight’s smile was gone.

The whole band took off roaring in rage, rushing at the two defiant ponies standing in their way. The time for threats was over – now it was time for action. Twilight wrinkled her brow as she mentally prepared a spell to meet the attackers. Midnight launched a fireball from his staff, setting one of them aflame, but the rest were upon them within seconds.

And then Twilight released her spell.

Twilight had theorized what a slightly modified cleansing spell would do when supplied with an abundance of magic. She had even done an experiment once to prove how dangerous it could be. It had been a success, but the spell had taken far too much energy to be effective. With the Amulet, though, this was no problem.

The dogs simply ceased to exist, obliterated by a wave of pure destruction unleashed from Twilight’s horn. The spell spread out like wildfire, melting away the stone walls of the cave itself like it was snow in an oven. The mare’s eyes widened — it was too much!

Twilight cut off the spell at once, staring at its result. Her horn was aching and she was feeling lightheaded, but at least the deed was done.

She had miscalculated, however, Twilight realized with a small tremble passing through her body. An unprepared unicorn would have died or at least been severely injured by letting so much arcane energy through their horn. Fortunately, Twilight’s natural gift for magic had saved her from such a fate.

She felt a pang of guilt for killing the dogs, but that feeling was quickly replaced by anger — she had warned them, hadn’t she? There was no reason to feel bad for destroying those who had wanted to eat her and her friends.

“Whoa, Twi, what was that?” Midnight asked, eyeing the new wide opening where the tunnel used to be. It stretched dozens of feet to all sides.

The others approached from behind, staring at Twilight in shock. Fear and uncertainty was evident on their faces.

“What? I’ve saved us from those monsters,” she said with annoyance. “The Amulet works perfectly well.”

As soon as she had said that, the ground trembled. The ponies looked around in alarm as multiple cracks ran along the walls and pebbles started to fall from the ceiling. Twilight cast a protective bubble around their group before somepony got hurt.

“What’s going on?” Rarity asked in a high-pitched voice.

Chills ran down Twilight’s spine as she realized what had happened.

“I think I’ve destabilized the cave with my spell…”

Twilight twitched when a large rock hit her shield, but then she took a deep breath, forcing herself to relax. It was nothing to worry about. Everything was under control. She could hold the shield all day with the Amulet’s power, even if the whole ceiling collapsed on their heads. She explained that to her friends before they could panic.

“Yeah, but how are we gonna get out?” Spike asked.

Twilight’s ears fell momentarily, but she lifted them again as an idea sparked in her mind.

“I’ll teleport us all out,” she said confidently. “Even you, Spike. All the way to the surface like you wanted.”

Midnight widened his eyes. “But it’s probably miles away! The magic usage would be insane!”

A large patch of the ceiling crumbled nearby.

“We don’t have any choice,” Twilight said, glancing up. “I can handle it with the Amulet, I’m sure.”

A panicked shrill sounded from the direction they had come from. Everypony turned their heads to see another band of dogs running their way, covering their heads from the falling rocks. Or it was still the same band, Twilight thought. They had probably split their forces to cut off their route of escape.

Twilight’s shield blocked the only path for them.

Everypony recoiled in fear as the dogs hammered at the magical wall with their clubs, trying to force their way through, but the shield held easily against their attacks.

“Get us out of here!” Rarity yelled, staring wide-eyed at the howling savages.

But Twilight couldn’t hear her. Her concentration was absolute as she was forming the teleportation spell in her mind, slightly modifying it to transfer her friends as well. Her eyes glowed with power as she charged up her horn with massive amounts of magic, while still maintaining her shield.

Finally, the spell was ready.

But there was just one problem.

Where should they go?

Pinkie’s ears went down as a loud bang from above reverberated through the air, causing the windowpanes to ring in protest. Both ponies stopped, exchanging confused glances. The doors along the corridor began to open, with wide-eyed ponies poking their heads out.

“What in Tartarus?..” Heavy Steps muttered.

Pinkie asked herself the same question.

“That doesn’t sound good,” the mare said. Another explosion sounded, shaking the dust off the ceiling. Pinkie scrunched her muzzle in concern. “Neither does that. I think we should leave now.”

Heavy Steps nodded and both of them moved to the staircase at an accelerated pace. More explosions were heard from above, accompanied by a mighty roar. Other ponies — mostly students, based on their age — had joined them, talking in worried voices, while trying to figure out what was happening as they hurried downstairs. Apparently, nopony wanted to stick around to see for themselves what the commotion was all about.

Pinkie and Heavy Steps were approaching the arch when a massive two-legged beast burst through it and stopped, staring at the students in front of it. The students froze, staring right back at the beast. Pinkie’s heartbeat accelerated like crazy, pumping adrenaline into her blood as she produced a knife out of her saddlebag, ready to leap into action.

She didn’t have to wait long.

“A diamond dog?” Heavy Steps raised his eyebrows, breaking the shocked silence.

A panicked yelp sounded from one of the students. The foolish unicorn had flared up their horn, which brought the beast out of its stupor. With an enraged roar, it waved its club wildly, hitting one of the students with a sickening crunch and sending her crushing into the others like some bowling ball. Pinkie winced — it had looked pretty painful.

And then panic broke out.

Pushing each other, the students scrambled away from the monster, forgetting all about their injured comrade. Cowards, flashed through Pinkie’s mind as she watched the mare trying to get back on her hooves, whimpering in panic as the beast raised his club for the finishing blow.

“Leave her alone!” Pinkie yelled, throwing a knife at the dog’s face.

The dog covered his face at the last moment and the knife ended up embedded in his paw. He shrilled in pain and rage, stumbling back as Heavy Steps yanked the mare away from the beast.

Two more bulky dogs descended from above, joining their squealing comrade, snarling at the two foolish ponies who dared to oppose them. Pinkie gulped, feeling her hooves go cold — she was good at fighting against ponies, but those monsters? She had no idea how to fight them.

How had a bunch of diamond dogs even gotten here?! Only an observatory tower was upstairs, according to the map.

“You, ponies,” one of the dogs suddenly growled, pointing his club at Pinkie. “Lead us back to the tunnels and we won’t eat you.”

Pinkie had been in a lot of weird situations due to her line of work, but even her brain was having trouble making sense of what was happening. “Eh, tunnels? What tunnels?”

“Our tunnels!” the dog roared, advancing towards Pinkie and Heavy Steps. The blood drained from her face.

The others were just a step behind, slamming their paws into the floor. Shoving her fear aside, Pinkie tensed up her hind legs, preparing to jump into action, but Heavy Steps had been faster this time.

Levitating a sword out of his saddlebag, the ex-guard leaped forward, thrusting his weapon into the beast’s wide chest. The dog squealed in agony as the sword passed through his rusty armor as if it were butter. Heavy Steps jumped backwards just in time to avoid a heavy club from the wounded dog, leaving his sword sticking out of his chest and then made the beast fall on his back with a magic blast.

The dog’s friends went berserk.

Pinkie grabbed another knife as her opponent rushed at her and rolled under his legs, cutting at his ankle along the way. With a painful howl, the dog turned around, swinging his club, but Pinkie’s strong legs had already launched her into the air, letting the crippling blow harmlessly pass below her.

She landed on the wounded dog’s chest, pushing Heavy Steps’ sword deeper into the wound. Wincing as the beast trashed in agony, Pinkie quickly ended his suffering with a stab through his neck.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

Feeling a movement to her side, Pinkie jumped, but she hadn’t been fast enough this time. A surprised gasp left her lips when she felt the beast’s paw gripping her hindleg and, before she had any time to react, it yanked at it with force.

The air escaped her lungs as her body slammed at the ceiling and at the floor in quick succession, but she had managed to save her head from trauma. Her back aching with pain, Pinkie stabbed the paw holding her, freeing herself from its grip.

She landed on her hooves, scrambling away from the dog while he held his bloodied paw and spared a glance at Heavy Steps, who was struggling with his own opponent. He was retreating as the dog swayed its massive club, but the stallion had avoided it so far. Pinkie’s heart tightened, expecting him to be hit at any second.

Making a quick decision, Pinkie leaped at his opponent’s back, slamming at it with all her weight. The dog stumbled and lost its balance and, before the beast could recover, Heavy Steps landed a series of hard blows to its head.

Pinkie’s ear caught a sound behind her, so she rolled to the side, a club smashing on the floor where she had been standing. She turned to face the last dog, who was raising his weapon once again, but before she could act, a ray of pure energy hit the club, yanking it out of his grip.

The dog stared at his empty paw in surprise, when the second ray hit its head, dropping the beast to the floor. It twitched a couple of times but didn’t get up anymore. Sighing in relief, Pinkie nodded to Heavy Steps thankfully.

“Good job, Heavy!”

It had suddenly become quiet except for the labored breathing of the downed dogs — those who were still alive at least — and the groans of the injured student. Pinkie took a few deep breaths, feeling her body shaking, while Heavy Steps retrieved his sword.

“What were those creatures doing in the Academy?” he asked, wiping the blood on his sword on the dead dog’s coat. “They usually live deep underground somewhere in mountains.”

“Well, they asked me about some tunnels,” Pinkie pointed out, her voice trembling slightly from the adrenaline. She took another deep breath and smirked. “And we are on a mountain, if you haven’t noticed.”

“Still, how did they get… Oh,” the ex-guard froze, staring to the side.

Pinkie’s heart almost leaped out of her chest as she followed his stare, fully expecting another batch of dogs to show up, but what she saw made her eyes widen in surprise nonetheless.

Two unicorns — a mare and a stallion — were carrying another mare between them, while an earth pony lingered at the back with a small scaly creature. All of them had a roughed-up appearance, as if they had spent the last week in the wilderness. They all stood in the staircase’s arch, eyeing the scene of the fight.

But what had really grabbed Pinkie’s attention was the unicorn they were dragging with them. The mare had a purple coat like Twilight Sparkle did and her mane matched hers as well. A black amulet with a red stone was locked around her neck. Pinkie had seen her when she had poisoned the king, so she recognized Twilight beyond a shadow of a doubt.

“How marvelous of you to slay those beasts,” the white unicorn said, smiling evenly. “They simply appeared out of nowhere and injured my poor friend. Now, if you’ll excuse us…”

The group continued downstairs, but Pinkie Pie and Heavy Steps hurried to catch up, so the ponies turned to face them again. Pinkie tensed up as she noticed a staff pointed at her. A forced smile returned to the white unicorn’s face.

“What’s the matter? We really are in a hurry—”

“You’re Lady Rarity of House Belle,” Heavy Steps blurted out.

Before he could even finish his sentence, Rarity’s fake smile was gone as both unicorns lit up their horns. The magical staff began to glow menacingly. “Who the Tartarus are you?”

“We’re here to help!” Pinkie exclaimed before the situation escalated, briefly glancing at the staff pointed at her. She began to explain rapidly. “He’s an ex-royal guard of the king and I’m a P.I. from Birminghoof. We were looking for you. Well, not for you, but certainly for Twilight! I had no idea you’d all be with her. Well, except for Midnight Star, we were looking for him too. We thought—”

“Shut up,” Twilight groaned, blinking rapidly as she cracked her eyes open. “Please, my head is killing me…”

Pinkie drooped her ears but stopped babbling.

“Twilight, darling, don’t move,” Rarity said, but Twilight shook her head stubbornly and stood up of her own accord, swaying slightly. “How do you feel?”

“Just perfect,” the mare snapped. She looked at Pinkie and Heavy Steps, her face a deep frown. “Captain Heavy Steps, right? I remember you, I think. You were the one who arrested me.”

Heavy Steps nodded. “I’m not here to do it again.”

“What changed your mind?”

“I did,” Pinkie raised her hoof with a grin. “I’m Pinkie Pie, a private investigator from Birminghoof. Heavy Steps kind of hired me to look for you, but I quickly figured out that you were innocent, especially after we had a chat with Blueblood.”

“You talked with Blueblood?” Twilight raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“That’s how we knew you were in Canterlot,” Pinkie nodded. “But what were you doing up there with those dogs?”

Twilight winced.

“Long story,” she looked over Pinkie’s shoulder at a small crowd that was gathering in the corridor. The ponies were whispering and pointing at Twilight. “We need to go before they call the guards here. But you’re not coming with us.”

“Yes, we are”, Pinkie argued, frowning. “We want to help you.”

Twilight shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t take that risk. You’re staying here.”

Her horn flashed.

Pinkie tried to move but found that her limbs were not responding. She couldn’t even open her mouth to say anything. Only her eyes were still obeying her commands, flickering between Twilight and her friends in disbelief. She couldn’t have come all this way for Twilight to reject her help. She would need her help; Pinkie could feel it in her heart!

But the unicorn simply turned away and trotted down the stairs. Her friends hurried after her as Pinkie’s eyes helplessly watched them go.

Howdy, everyone.
Sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoyed this new Pinkie chapter. I know that her first POV chapter was not the best one. I did some mistakes there, but I hope I made up for them in this one.
My update schedule is broken now though. The chapters would be released as I choose to release them. I need to write ahead a bit so I'd be able to fix any plotholes that can emerge before I release it.
One chapter every three weeks is guaranteed though, so don't worry about that.
Share your thoughts in the comment.