Chapter 4, where Rambo and Bruce Lee have twins

The warehouse was quiet. It was an abandoned lumber mill where they used to take trees from the nearby forest and cut it to build many of the buildings when Manehatten was just barely a lumbering town. Now that Manehatten was one of the biggest metropolises of Equestria and used metal for most of its construction, this lumber mill was desolate in the poor side of town. Some say it was haunted. Dragon Blood didn't start this rumor, but it kept other ponies from snooping, so they encouraged it.

At this moment, there was a group of 4 ponies in the warehouse. The other members were in the abandoned apartment building across the street with the leader of the gang, Slayer. Even in Dragon Blood ranks, he was a legend—they say in his personal study was the head of the first dragon he ever killed, back in the Second Dragon-Pony war 20 years ago.

The 4 ponies in the warehouse were special as well. There was Runner, the fastest one of the group; perhaps the whole gang. He did things like deliver letters and run errands for the gang, but if there was ever a pony to outrun the cops, it was Runner. Then there was Fang. She was the grimmer of these first two ponies, counterbalancing Runner's naïve kindness. Runner was still a kid, after all; at least 13, but he had lived his entire life in the gang, ever since Fang found him as a baby colt on the street. She took him in, but only because Slayer told her that this young colt had potential. Other than that, he was a nuisance to her.

Fang's job was pain. Whether it was eliminating threats or torture, she loved it. It brought her joy to cause these dragons, creatures that only took what wasn't theirs, took land and treasure and loved ones—to cause these beasts pain. To Fang, that's all they deserved.

The third pony of the group had huge, thick glasses. This was the only noticeable thing about her because she chose to wear a red and black full-body suit that covered her entire body. Her name was Shadow, and she was the "mole" of the group. She could sneak into any place, into any group, and get any information out of them that she wanted. She invented her own form of persuasion that she called "grifting"; she insisted it was the new form of gathering intelligence in the future, and continued to lecture her comrades about how it would revolutionize the world of thieves; like now.

"…you guys may not listen to me now, but in 5 years, when the entire underground world is teeming with grifter ponies, you're gonna wish you listened! And to think that all the information in the world can be gathered by putting on a nice costume, reading your target, and being a completely new pony!"

"Yeah…whatever." Overexcited Shadow was always getting on Fang's nerves.

"No, I agree!" Runner spoke up in defense of the younger and more passionate pony. "Besides, if you're really that passionate about this Shadow, then I think you can make it happen!" It was always like Runner to be the optimist, thought Fang. Gag.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, anything's possible, right Fang?" Runner turned to look at the black mare with orange eyes.

"Why don't you two ever shut up? At least Berserk never talks!"

She was right about one thing; the light blue pony in the corner never talked. Even then, it was hard to not notice him because he was built so huge. The other three cannot remember hearing him talk, but they heard his growl; even Fang was glad he didn't talk if his voice sounded like his growl. No one knew what he did during the day; he left the gang's building before anyone showed up, and was only seen at night when most of the ponies were asleep. But those who did see them said he came home bloody and bruised. There was as much rumors around Berserk as Slayer.

"Come on, he would talk if he felt more comfortable, I think." Fang really couldn't stand Runner at some times. "I think deep down, he's just one big teddy bear!"

Shadow finally chimed in. "All I know is, ponies like Berserk are not cut out to be grifters. Maybe you can learn a thing or two about it, Runner, you could be good at it!"

Runner smiled. He really didn't want anything to do with her crazy ideas about lying, but he found that a smile made everything better.

"Maybe next time."

They heard somepony walking in. They got quiet and stood at attention, just in case it was who they thought it was.

A dark red pony walked into the room. He was very slender, but the other ponies knew if they ever crossed a hoof in front of him they would regret it. Even Berserk feared him. He was Slayer. They knew that this was a serious job that their leader entrusted them with, since he was personally supervising the group's every action.

The second pony, the one they kidnapped last night, was close behind him. She still had a sack cloth over her head, and was being led by a rope. They knew what they were going to do; wait here for her friends and dragon to come, and make the trade. All they were here for was to watch the prisoner in the meantime.

Slayer began to speak. For such a feared pony, his voice was very soothing, and friendly. Yet it was slightly cold, like he had seen horrors in the world that most ponies only dream of.

"Here is Twilight Sparkle. She is to be treated as out guest, she is a pony after all! But you are not allowed to let her leave, that would just be rude. And Twilight…" he pulled off the sack cloth on her head. She looked like she had been awake all night, and had been crying for hours. His voice was just a whisper, but now it wasn't friendly at all. "…you remember what we talked about last night. No…magic."

He walked out without saying a word. The only noise was Twilight's soft cries in the warehouse. Runner was the first to break the silence.

"So, you are our guest, Twilight, is there anything we can do to make you feel comfortable?"

"…get away…"

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Get AWAY!"

Twilight had a horrible night; the dark red stallion wasn't as nice to her as he let on to the group. All she wanted was to get away, as far away as she could, run back to her friends and never come back to Manehatten ever again. She was scared, and angry, and lonely, and this pony trying to act nice to her was not helping out at all. 'Why was he even pretending to be friendly?' thought Twilight.

Runner backed away quietly. He almost looked like Twilight's response hurt him, why was he toying with her like this? He was just part of this gang, these people only wanted to cause pain and suffering, and so did he.

And they wanted to hurt Spike. Ever since they took her hostage, all she could think about is what Spike was doing, and if he was safe. In her pain, she whispered, "Spike, please be okay!"

…

6 o'clock was slowly approaching. Nopony was coming. Twilight was chained to a wall, and two ponies in all black with very large knives stood guard around her.

"He's not coming. He betrayed you." The pony on the left turned to Twilight, and even under his mask, his twisted grimace was seen.

"No, Spike would never do this to me! He loves me!"

The bell tower chimed. All the ponies smiled except Twilight, who began to cry.

"Spike… you didn't come for me. Why didn't you come?"

"You really love Spike, don't you? You think you have the heart of a dragon? Well, let's just cut into you and see if you have a dragon's heart or a pony's heart? Hahahahaha!" His voice was cold. Twilight just sobbed, repeating "Why Spike? Why?..."

The knife came closer to her skin, and…

…

Spike woke up in a cold sweat. That entire night for him had been very long, he couldn't sleep for longer than 20 minutes. For a baby dragon, this was unheard of, but they still didn't know what to do about Twilight. She disappeared last night, and they still didn't know where she was. All they knew was she was in the hands of that gang Dragon Blood, and they weren't planning to throw a Pinkie Pie party. He got out of his bed and walked to the small kitchen in the hotel room.

"Hello, there, Spike, y'all sleep alright?" Applejack was already there. She always woke up early on the farm. Spike knew that from the stories he heard from Applebloom.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep." Spike slid onto a stool and began to eat the complimentary breakfast the hotel provided; muffins and grass juice. He didn't even care what it tasted like; his mind was on other things.

Applejack saw that Spike wasn't doing well, so she replied, "Well, while you and Fluttershy were asleep this mornin', ah went to the p'lice station, n'they have an idea of where this here Dragon gang is. They'll send a few p'lice ponies to check. That's good news, right?"

"I guess it's the thought that counts. They won't find her though."

"It's a start though…besides, we have all day ta find her, and we've gotta lot'a friends ta help us!"

Even though Spike didn't see much to be happy about, he knew Applejack would never lie, and if she was remaining positive, than there might be hope. Spike forced a small smile to come to his lips.

"There, tha's better Sugarcube! And speakin' of Sugarcube…" Applejack said as she looked toward the entry door to find Fluttershy. "…thanks fer joinin' us! We saved ya some muffins!"

"Oh… thank you. I'm not that hungry though…" Fluttershy just sat down next to Spike. None of them spoke for at least 10 minutes, and the only sound to be heard was the young dragon finishing his muffin for breakfast.

"Well, where can we start?" Spike needed to know that they wouldn't just sit around and wait for his dream to come true.

"For now, why don't we try'n retrace her steps from last night?"

"Does anypony know where she went, though?"

"Hmm… well, I think she was looking for you, Applejack, so wouldn't she look at some apple stores?"

"That's a lotta stores, sweetie. I don' think we have e'nuff time ta look at all of them."

"We should try, I mean, that's what Twi—BURP—… sorry…"

"Hold your cattle, Spike, I think you're on ta somethin'!"

Understanding came to Fluttershy as well when she said, "Oh my goodness, why didn't I think of it sooner? I'm sorry."

Spike, however, was lost. "What is it? You think my burping can help?"

"No Spike… Celestia!"

"All we need ta do is send the Princess one a'them letters! She's sure ta help her student!"

Now Spike was embarrassed. He should have thought about that sooner, why didn't he? Spike immediately ran for the pen and paper on the nightstand by his bed; he always carried around writing material for Twilight, the most organized pony in all of Equestria.

Dear Princess Celestia;

This is Spike. I am writing because Twilight has been kidnapped. There is this gang in Manehatten called Dragon Blood, and they aren't very fond of dragons, and they kidnapped her, and we need your help, PLEASE!

Spike

'That should be good enough,' thought Spike as he ignited the letter into ashes that flew to Canterlot.

"I really hope she gets our letter soon…" Fluttershy said as the two ponies walked into the room.

"She should, I sent it as an urgent—BURP—"

"Well, that sure was quick!" responded Applejack.

Dear Spike;

This is bad news. Thank you for informing me. I have sent my two best royal guards to help you. If anyone can save Twilight, it is them.

Princess Celestia

"Now who'd'ya reckon she's sending, Spike? Do ya know any of the royal guards?"

"If she's sending who I think she's sending, we have no reason to worry," Spike said as he sat on his bed, relaxing for the first time today.

…

In the royal courts of Canterlot, two warriors prepared themselves for another unexpected day; they were ordered by Celestia to rescue her student without hurting too many ponies.

The light tan unicorn packed his bags full of non-lethal weapons. This pony wasn't the most intimidating of ponykind, and his cutie mark was very vague on who he was. It was a green bandana. The same one he wore since he was a kid, the same one he wore during the Pony- Hound War, and the same one he wore now. The last weapon he magically packed was his personal favorite—the Gumgun, a personal design of his. It was a catapult attached to a pony's back which could fire a putty-like substance that immobilized anypony unfortunate enough to get in his way. He turned to his friend and said in a deep, booming voice, "Yo, you ready to head out?"

The white pony he was talking to was just putting on his last piece of black clothing over his small wings. For a Pegasus, he couldn't fly very high, but his smaller wingspan allowed him a greater amount of speed and agility. Under his all-black jumpsuit was his cutie mark, which he got years before moving to Equestria from his homeland, Chinamane; a steel ninja star.

"By the power of my ancestors, we shall quell this threat and save the Princess' Prized Pupil!" the white pony replied.

"Yeah yeah, enough of that ancestor crap, let's just go kick some flank!"

With that, they both went to the royal courts, where Celestia teleported them to Manehatten.

…

Twilight could see the sunlight from the gaps in the rafters. It had to have been noon at least. For the most part, the 4 other ponies left Twilight to herself, which was nice. It gave Twilight time to think of a way out of her predicament. So far, nothing was coming to mind. If only she could use magic, she could just teleport out of there…but what Slayer threatened to do to Spike if she did… she couldn't risk it, no matter how unlikely it was that he could get his hands on him.

On the other side of the huge warehouse, she could see the pony that seemed unusually nice, along with the really quiet stallion that reminded her a lot of Big Mac with his build, only with a cols start in his blue eyes, eyes that matched his coat. The other two ponies left a while ago, and it looked to Twilight that they had something important and urgent to discuss.

In another room of the warehouse, Fang and Shadow were discussing the prisoner…

"Come on Fang, all we need to do is watch her, and we aren't like that." Shadow was worried by the blood-thirsty look in her friend's eyes; she only saw it at certain times, and those times never ended well for anypony.

"Don't worry about it. Besides," Fang whispered with a smile, "I haven't had fun in a while, and she seems like she'd squirm!"

"Fang, please, just think about what you're about to do, you—"

"You dare question my judgment? I am the leading rank here, and I tell YOU what to do!" She towered over the jumpsuit-covered pony, yelling as she did so.

"I'm sorry!"

"Yes, yes you are. Now, as the higher ranking pony here, I have a job for you and Runner…

"Yes…?"

"Go to the headquarters and check on our backup"

"Well, do you think—"

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I mean, yes ma'am!" responded Shadow with a squeak.

Back in the main lobby of the warehouse, Twilight saw the two mares reenter the room. The one in glasses and a jumpsuit walked up to the nice one, whisper something in his ear, and they both made haste to leave. The other mare turned to the large stallion.

"Leave us alone. I'm going to have fun with this one."

He left without saying a word. Now that Twilight was alone with this mare, something in the room felt darker. She didn't like it.

"Twilight Sparkle… our guest." said the black mare as she circled around her prisoner. "I never introduced myself. How rude! My name is Fang.

"Now, everyone in this small group has a job, as I'm sure you noticed. Can you guess what mine is?"

Twilight remained quiet. She didn't want to play along with this twisted pony, but she was also afraid of what the answer would be.

"Hmm, not a guesser? That's a shame. But I'll tell you anyway!"

Dang leaned in, whispered into Twilight's ear, "I'm the torturer of the group. I make sure that the dragons feel the pain they caused us ponies before we dispose of them… but business has been slow, and I need a new patient. And as far as I'm concerned, anyone who is close to a dragon is practically a dragon themselves."

Twilight was shaking now. She didn't like where this was going. Not at all.

"So… let's have some fun!"

She grabbed a hand drill, and put it against the lavender unicorn's left hoof, and started drilling in until she hit a nerve. Twilight never felt such pain. Neither did she ever scream that loud in her life.

…

There was a knock at the door. Spike ran to answer it.

"Who is it?"

"C'mon you crazy dragon, that any way to treat your babysitter?"

Spike opened the door to the light tan pony and his white friend. They dropped their bags in the entryway, and the stallion and dragon gave each other a hug.

"Oh my gosh, I haven't seen you in forever, Banana Bandana!"

"And look at you Super Spike! You sure are getting bigger!"

Applejack and Fluttershy ran to the door as soon as they heard the ruckus.

"Oh, AJ, Fluttershy! I'd like to introduce you to the two greatest righting ponies in all of Equestria, and some of my best friends back in Canterlot: Bandana John Jay and Steel Star!"

"Mmm shucks Spike, I don't know about in ALL of Equestria…"

"May the ancient spirits smile upon our meeting." Everypony in the room gave Steel Star a strange look; except for Fluttershy, who quickly retreated to her room furiously blushing.

Spike continued the introduction; "And guys, this is Applejack, and the one who just left was Fluttershy. They're our friends from Ponyville. And these two guys are some of my friends from Canterlot. They use to watch me while Twilight was doing her extreme studying and didn't need me!"

"We taught him a thing or two about how to be a stallion; he sure has a lot of fight in him, this kid!" said Bandana, grabbing Spike in a playful chokehold as he spoke. "So, Applejack, is it?"

"Yes'm. I run Sweet Apple Acres back'n Ponyville!"

"What's a cute pony like you doing back in Ponyville? You got a coltfriend?"

"NO!" replied Applejack with a small blush. Bandana sure is forward, she thought. And even though he was a handsome stallion, she wasn't interested in relationships. She had a job, after all!

"Hmm, that's good to know, sweetie!"

Steel Star chimed in. "I must go investigate. I will be back." He ran towards the open window and jumped out.

"Hmm, always like that weirdo, he can't just hold his horses! Hahaha!" The ponies laughed at Bandana's joke.

After the laugh, the ponies minus Steel met in the bedroom to discuss what happened in detail; Twilight's disappearance, the note, and what they knew about the gang.

"Well, sounds like you got yourselves in neck deep. But we can help you, don't worry! Steel there can track any pony he set his mind to; he'll find her location in an hour… which gives us plenty of time…" Bandana slowly shuffled next to Applejack.

"Uhh… ta gather up our supplies! I'm on it!" Applejack quickly left the room.

"Oh…umm… I'll help her!" Fluttershy quickly followed her friend.

"dang, never met a mare this hard to get. What's with her, Spike?"

"Oh, she's just not into relationships much."

"Oh, I see… and what's up with you, Spike? You seem distracted." And Spike was. His mind was racing, and he couldn't help thinking what would have happened if these two ponies didn't show up.

"I'm just glad you're here!"

"Now Spike, I know you better than that. You're sad. What's wrong? We're here!"

"I just can't help but think what would have happened if you weren't here. I could never help her without you guys, I feel horrible that I can't protect her."

"I see…" the light tan stallion gathered his words before proceeding. "Now, let me ask you something: what would you have done differently?"

"I would have gone with her, and tried to fight off those goons!"

"And do you think you would've won?"

"Well… no." Spike said sounding defeated.

"Now, we can't change the past. Twilight is caught, and nothing could've stopped that." A tear appeared in Spike's eye at this comment. "Now don't cry about it. Crying ain't going to fix nothing. There comes a time in every colt's life, when he has to choose— are you going to feel sorry, or are you gonna do something about it?"

Spike was quiet. He couldn't stop crying, feeling sorry for himself. He didn't think he could do anything. It was just like the time when the gem hounds took Rarity—

Now he felt it; he now knew what Bandana was talking about. Back then, when his love was taken from him, he didn't think about how he wasn't there to help her. All he knew was he would do everything he can to save her, even if he couldn't do much.

"I would do anything to save Twilight."

"Now THAT'S the Super Spike I know!"

Suddenly, they heard a crash and a scream from the main room of the hotel room. The two in the bedroom run out to see what happened.

Steel came back, and it looked like he came back the way he came, because he had crashed into the unsuspecting yellow-and-pink pony. They seemed to roll around from the crash, and he was now lying on top of her.

"I am so sorry, Flutter-san! Please forgive me!"

"You're…you're…you're…" Fluttershy could do nothing to hide her blush, and with everypony around her, she couldn't help but blush more.

"C'mon now, give my gal some room, warrior!" Applejack huffed as she pulled Steel Star off of Fluttershy. As soon as she could move, the shy, blushing mare bolted to her room once again.

"Why is she turn red?"

"Come now, she's just enamored… consider yourself lucky, you punk!" answered Bandana, shooting Applejack a loving look.

"I found Twilight Sparkle. She is in warehouse on 6th Street and Hooverton"

'Well I'll be! That's the same place as in this here letter!" said Applejack as she looked back at the note left for them last night.

"Now why would they do that?"

"Hide in plain sight. It's first rule of being ninja. It's genius!"

"So, now that we have a where, who's gonna come with us to kick some flank? What about you, sweetie?"

"Aww, ya know it! You're lookin' at the apple buckin' champ fer 8 years runnin'!"

"Count me in, too!" shouted Spike.

"Umm, I'll stay here!" called Fluttershy from the room.

"Okay soldiers, let's move out!"

…

Spike's Journal Entry 16

We are finally leaving this place behind us… unfortunately, Twilight is no longer with us. But today was the first time I ever felt an emotion twilight used to explain as hate. Hate for another pony. It felt awful, and horrible… and SO GOOD…