Barehoof stared out the window, nervous that this idea would fail. It all relied on no one catching wind of their plans, but he was certain no one would.

“This is a really bad idea, dad,” Jeff muttered, clearly not a fan of this plan.

“It’s going to be fine,” Barehoof replied, turning from the window. “I’ve known her since she was a filly, she’ll help us.”

But Jeff just frowned, “yeah but, she’s the new Chief of the Inquisitor’s. There’s no way she’d help us.”

“She will,” Barehoof assured him. “She’s a good mare with a good heart. Besides, her father was my best friend once.”

“What’d she say exactly when you contacted her?”

“That she’d stop at nothing to make sure she arrived here to see us,” Barehoof said proudly.

Jeff just frowned, “what’d mom say?”

“Your mother does not need to know about this,” the older stallion said, looking a bit fearful. “It’s better if she only hears about this afterwards.”

“She’ll kill us you know,” Jeff deadpanned, causing both of them to chuckle a bit.

“A calculated risk,” Barehoof replied as he went back to the window to look out again.

He scanned the mostly destroyed town outside, waiting to see her arrive, but so far he wasn’t seeing anything. Not even the citizens of this town, which was strange since they were usually out and about trying to repair the town.

A sudden scratching was heard at the front door, putting them both on high alert.

“Yo, homies, open up! It’s me! Louie!” A frantic little voice barked out.

Jeff grumbled as he opened the door a crack and allowed the small dog to rush in.

“Whew! Thanks guys, I hate being in the open like that!” Louie exclaimed as he sat down on the floor panting.

“Why are you here, Lou?” Barehoof asked with a frown.

“I heard you two were going to attempt contact with the Chief of the Inquisitors, so I’m here as back up!” He proclaimed proudly, slamming a paw into his chest.

The two ponies looked at each other, both having a perplexed look on their faces.

“Thanks, Lou, but it’s just a meeting. She’s coming alone so we can figure out how to stop the Inquisitors and Champion.”

“But she’s the literal boss of the people hunting Bronies down! She volunteered for this position!” Louie barked, tail going crazy. “She’s definitely going to be a certified crazy bitch!”

“Don’t judge someone without knowing them,” Barehoof lectured, causing both Louie and Jeff to roll their eyes.

“Well she tries anything dumb, Imma cut her!” Louie said as he drew his knife in his mouth and made a few frantic cutting motions.

The two stallions chuckled at his antics, but a knock at the door drew their attention.

“That her?” Jeff asked, appearing a bit nervous.

“I hope so,” Barehoof said as he stepped up to the door and peeked through it, a wide smile appearing on his face. He pulled the door open to reveal the most intimidating mare any of them have ever seen. “Strawell!”

“Barehoof,” she said in a stern voice as she stepped through the doorway, her black armor glinting in the sunlight. “Spawn of Barehoof,” she said as she looked at Jeff. Then her eyes drifted to Louie, who’d stripped out of his clothes the moment he saw her and looked absolutely terrified, “dog.”

The two stallions raised their eyebrows at Louie, who was shaking a bit as he let out a normal bark.

Ignoring him they looked back to the mare as Barehoof closed the door behind her.

“Thank you for coming, Strawell,” Barehoof said as he tried to give her a hug, but she held up a hoof to hold him back.

“I will say I wasn’t expecting a call from you, Barehoof,” she said in a mostly monotone voice. “With you and your cohorts being some of the most wanted criminals in all of Equestria.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled sheepishly, “bold move on my part. But I knew we could trust you.”

“Hmm, quite,” she mumbled as she looked around the room, “tell me, are there any others here?”

“Just us,” he answered, waving a hoof over the three of them.

This brought a frown to her face, “I see. Where are you all staying right now?”

Barehoof started to answer but Jeff put a hoof in his mouth, “whoa whoa, lady, we need to know you’re really on our side before we start revealing stuff like that.”

“You have a smart boy, Barehoof,” she remarked as she took a step back. “Too bad the Apple did not fall from the same tree.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Barehoof asked in confusion, with only Louie seeming to understand her words as he whimpered, his ears perking up. He then began to bark frantically.

Without warning ponies in black armor began to burst through the windows and walls, rushing in and tackling the two stallions.

Strawell just watched with a cold indifference as her Inquisitors arrested the two criminals. Louie went silent as everyone seemed to be ignoring him at this point.

“What is this, Strawell?!” Barehoof yelled as he was roughly hoofcuffed. “I trusted you!”

“You are a criminal,” she said sternly as she stepped over him and his son, a stoic expression upon her face, “and I am the one tasked with hunting you. This is the only way this could have gone.”

Barehoof struggled against the Inquisitor above him, eyes locked on Strawell’s, “what would your father think of this?!”

She raised an eyebrow at him, looking unamused.

“He would never work with a monster like Champion!” Barehoof yelled as he finally gave up fighting against the pony on top of him. “Your father was a good stallion! He believed in justice above all else!”

The stoic mare slowly knelt down before him, “you’re right. He was a great stallion, and an even better father. He instilled in me a sense of justice, and that is exactly why I am here, doing what needs to be done.”

“But the Bronies are not the bad guys!” Jeff yelled as four ponies held him down, as he had more fight in him than his older father.

“A brony murdered my father,” she said with a little sneer, her stoic expression wavering a bit.

Colts and fillies sprinted around the backyard, screaming and laughing as they played random party games together. While the adults all stood off to the side, watching the children enjoy themselves.

But there was one filly who wasn’t running around with the rest, the young birthday filly. Today was her ninth birthday, and she was excited for the first time in a long while. Because her dad had promised he’d come home from his super important job just to see her and spend the whole day with her.

So she couldn’t focus on playing with her friends, as all she could do was sit there at the little table, eyes locked on the gate that lead into the backyard, knowing that’s where he’d enter. He always liked coming in all goofy and making her laugh. Which she was looking forward to seeing!

It’s been five months since she’d seen him last, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to go even ONE more day without seeing him. Which is why she knew he wouldn’t break his promise to her!

She grabbed the locket around her neck and held it up, opening it to see a picture of her and her dad, laughing as they hugged and stared into the camera.

The love between the two could be felt from this picture, as it was just that strong.

With a little smile she kissed the picture in the locket and closed it, returning to watching the gate.

“Come on, Strawell! We need a seeker for hide ‘n seek!” a colt yelled to her as he and a few other ponies stood together, looking at her with excited faces.

“I’m waiting for my dad! Go on without me!” she called to them, keeping her eyes on the gate.

“Aw come on!” another yelled, but a filly shushed them.

“You guys don’t understand! Her dad is coming home today! For her birthday! She can’t miss that!”

“Wow! Your dad is coming home today?!” a colt exclaimed in awe.

Strawell gave a happy nod at them, “Yes!”

They all cheered for her and ran off to play on their own, letting her wait for her father.

Two hours passed like this, with her staring intently at the gate, waiting patiently for her fathers arrival. The waiting did not damper her mood, as she KNEW he’d be here as soon as he could. Nothing would stand in his way!

Then finally, the moment she’d been waiting for! The gate unlatched and slowly opened, causing her to jump up and gallop as fast as she could towards the gate.

“Dad!” she screamed, happy little tears starting to form in her eyes. But then she came to a grinding halt as she saw it was just her dad's boss, causing her to frown. “You’re not my dad!”

“Oh… Strawell… is your mother out here?” the stallion asked, looking over the crowd of adult ponies that lined the walls of the fenced in yard.

But Strawell didn’t answer as she looked around him, expecting to see her father, “is my dad coming? Or did you make him work more?!”

The stallion had a weird look on his face as her mother rushed over, greeting the stallion happily.

“Captain Barehoof! We weren’t expecting you!” she exclaimed as she hugged him tightly. “Is my husband with you?”

“Can we talk in private, Opus Gleam?” he asked, giving Strawell a pained look.

This didn’t sit well with the mare as she gave a nod and turned to her daughter. “Okay sweetie, go play with your friends for a bit, okay?”

“I want dad,” Strawell stated firmly. “He promised he’d be here, and he will.”

“He’ll be here soon, honey, I prom-” her mom began, but Captain Barehoof touched her shoulder and shook his head.

“I wouldn’t make that promise just yet. Come on, we need to talk,” he said as he walked into the house.

Her mother looked horrified as she stood up and followed after him, not listening to Strawell as she asked over and over again where her dad was and why he was late.

She huffed in frustration as she saw her mother disappear into the house, so she stomped after her. As she entered the house she saw they’d entered into her parents bedroom, which confused her.

As she neared the room, she could hear them talking.

“-mission to protect a few civilians from a murderer,” Barehoof said in a somber tone. “You’re husband, Lieutenant Brink, died in the line of duty last night. He saved innocent lives at the cost of his own.”

“No…” she heard her mother moan out, obviously crying.

“I am sorry, Opus. Your husband died in the line of duty.”

Strawell’s eye twitched as she walked up to the door and pushed it open, getting both of their attention. “Where is my daddy?”

“Oh sweetie!” her mother wailed as she launched herself off of the bed and hugged her daughter, crying loudly as she held onto her.

“I said, where is my daddy?” she asked again, glaring into Barehoof’s eyes.

He looked hurt, but he knew he had to be clear here, “Strawell, your father died last night. He died serving the Princesses, just as he’d-”

She grabbed a book next to her and threw it at him, hitting him in the face.

“NO!” she roared as angry tears flowed down her face. “He did not!”

“Strawberry, I’m so sorry,” her mother cried, hugging her even tighter as she just cried into her daughter's neck.

The little filly held her tearful gaze with the older stallion as he stared back with sad eyes.

“But you know all about that, don’t you, Barehoof? You were one of the ones who made sure he walked free,” she said as she stared down at him.

“That’s what this is about?!” he asked in surprise, causing her to shake her head.

“Of course not,” she replied as she stood up and resumed her stern expression, “this is about justice.”

With that she gave a nod to the Inquisitors holding them down, causing them to haul the two stallions up and begin to drag them out of the building.

Strawell stood there a moment longer, looking around the room once more, eyes coming to a stop on Louie as he stood there petrified. Her gaze slowly narrowed, so he did the only thing he could in that moment.

He barked and ran over to her, licking at her armored hoof as he forced his tail to wag.

“Down, dog,” she commanded, causing Louie to sit down, his little heart going crazy. But she just gave the room one more look over before doing an about face and walking out the front door.

Once he was sure they were all gone, he slumped. He’d just taken the coward's way out, but at least he had avoided being caught. There wasn’t anything he could’ve done in that moment to save them.

He carefully returned to his clothing and picked it up in his mouth, he’d need someone else to put them on him. Dogs aren’t very good at dressing themselves.

The thought of that mare sent shivers down his spine, as it had been years since he’d seen someone who instantly scared the life out of him. The last one being baby Shayla…

Shuddering at the thought, he quickly ran for the backdoor, wanting to get back to the others to inform them of the new information he’d gathered.

The Inquisitors were finally formed and on the hunt.

Next Chapter: Black and White Boxing Estimated time remaining: 14 Hours, 22 Minutes