Rainbow Dash and the Treasure of Canterlot

by Insert Pen Name

Part VI: Double Crossers

Rainbow Dash and the Treasure of Canterlot

Part VI: Double Crossers

A FiM fic by (Insert Pen Name)

There is no other city in Equestria quite like the shining capital of Canterlot. In fact, there is no other city that even comes close. Perched triumphantly upon the mountainside, Canterlot (or New Canterlot as has been previously explained) has long served as a proud symbol of the splendour and prosperity of the Equestrian nation, and has been the silent envy of her neighbors for many a year. The city’s architectural tradition of gleaming marble allied to burnished bronze was the proud design of none other than Princess Celestia herself, and it is said that the Solar Princess even deigned to openly participate in the city’s construction effort, so determined was she to provide a brilliant new capital for her subjects as their old one was swallowed up by the encroaching Everfree forest. The end result was truly a city of which to be proud, and the ponies of Canterlot were a very proud bunch indeed.

With all this pride floating around, hardly anypony took notice of the three rather ragged ponies who wove through the midday crowds, and those that did were quick to dismiss them as not worth their effort to disdain. Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Scootaloo were perfectly content with this arrangement of course, for the purple unicorn in particular had only grown more paranoid after the events of the previous day.

Twilight and Scootaloo had finally limped into Canterlot well after dusk (Twilight having abstained from teleporting to avoid inflicting Scootaloo with the dry heaves). By then it was too late to rendezvous with Princess Celestia at her appointed place, so after reuniting with Rainbow, the three had rented a discreet room in a small inn, and spent the night in the dreamless sleep of pure exhaustion. They were late to rise the next morning, and after a hurried breakfast, Twilight led the motley party out into the gleaming streets to finally deliver the White Crest to the Princess.

For the next hour, they trotted down the great boulevards and avenues of Canterlot, until their route took them to lesser streets and pathways than only Twilight knew from her own intrepid fillyhood explorations. Eventually, they passed beyond the inner walls of the city to a narrow plateau beneath the main city-level. Here was the oldest and most venerable part of the city: Canterlot Cemetery. Not a word was exchanged as the three ponies stepped quietly down the path, flanked by sprawling rows of gravestones on their left, and grandiose mausoleums cut into the cliffside on their right. At length, they turned a bend in the path and came upon a large stone structure of austere decoration, partially set into the cliff wall at the end of the plateau.

“This is Canterlot Chapel,” explained Twilight. “Where the clerics train... and where most of the funerals in Canterlot are held.”

“Have you ever been here before?” asked Scootaloo.

Twilight hesitated.

“Once,” she said finally. “But that was years ago. What matters now is that Princess Celestia is waiting inside, for us and the White Crest.”

On Twilight’s command, the great oaken doors of the chapel swung slowly inward, groaning on their iron hinges in a dramatic manner that only came with centuries of dedicated practise. Past the doors lay the chapel’s narthex, where numerous stone columns with carven capitals rose up and merged into the vaulted ceiling. Opposite them stood another pair of doors, set in an elaborately carved archway. As they approached, Dash noted upon the keystone a curious symbol; what appeared to be a sword thrust into a rock or mound. There was something oddly familiar about it, but this was soon cast from her mind as the three were approached by an old cleric in a black habit.

“Ah, Miss Sparkle, am I correct?” he asked, demonstrating an extraordinary ability to recognise national heroines. “Somepony’s been expecting your arrival.”

“Is she here now?” asked Twilight eagerly.

“Oh yes, she’s waiting for you in the sanctuary,” nodded the cleric. “I’ll just leave you to it.”

The cleric departed with curt bow, which Twilight returned with a smile before leading her friends through the sanctuary doors. The room within was not overly large, but what it lacked in volume it made up for in beauty. Vivid stained-glass windows cast their myriad hues upon the white stone floor and the polished mahogany pews. The floor, the altar, even the chandeliers were completely spotless, and it was clear that the clerics who worked here had sunk no small amount of time into maintaining the sanctuary’s visual requirements as a place of spiritual serenity. There was also a very distinct absence of Princess Celestia.

“Hello?” called Twilight as the three ponies stepped into the sanctuary. “Princess? Are you in here?”

At that moment, the sanctuary doors slammed suddenly, but not unexpectedly, shut. Twilight whipped around and narrowed her eyes at the door before rolling them in annoyance.

“Alright, I can see where this is going,” she sighed loudly. “Whatever’s going on, let’s just get it done and over with so we can move on with our lives, okay?”

In response to Twilight’s statement, several glowing lengths of rope sprang, seemingly autonomous, from beneath the pews and coiled themselves tightly around the three ponies; around their bodies and their legs, around Dash’s wings and Twilight’s horn. The ropes then drew taught, pulling their prisoners roughly to the ground as a haughty cackling filled the sanctuary. A second later, a powder-blue unicorn emerged triumphant from her hiding place behind the altar.

“Trixie!” seethed Rainbow.

“Surprised to see Trixie?” laughed the villainous magician.

“No, not really,” answered Twilight dryly. “In fact, I probably should have seen all this coming a mile away. By the way, what happened to your thugs?”

“Oh, them. Trixie fired them,” said Trixie idly. “Their constant failures were simply too much for Trixie to bear. Of course, they didn’t know Trixie had a backup plan.”

“Shut it, Trixie!” snapped Rainbow. “Where’s the Princess? How did you know we would be here?”

“Ah, perhaps I could answer that,” said a fresh male voice as its owner emerged from behind a nearby pillar. Dash and Twilight gazed in shock at the stallion, at his pure white coat, his dapper blue mane, at his elegant gilded monocle...

“Fancy Pants!” cried Twilight in alarm. “You’re behind all this?!”

“Indeed I am,” said Fancy Pants. “I must say, you three have certainly led my... associate here a merry chase. Very impressive.”

“Cut the crap, Pants, where’s the Princess?” demanded Dash. “What have you done with her?!”

“Don’t you get it, Rainbow,” groaned Twilight. “She’s not here. She was never here. That letter I got was a fake; you had this planned from the start, didn’t you?” she asked Fancy Pants.

“Ah, well in all honesty, no,” replied Fancy Pants. “That letter you received was very real, in fact. Fortunately for myself, I happen to have a number of devoted contacts within the royal court. It was they who informed me of your little rendezvous with Princess Celestia, and it is they who are currently keeping her sufficiently distracted back at the palace for me.”

“Why are you telling us all this?” asked Scootaloo.

“Common courtesy,” shrugged Fancy Pants. “Given all that I’ve put you through, I feel the least I can offer in return is a little explanation. Now then, for the main event...”

Taking her employer’s gesture, Trixie stepped forward, seized Dash’s saddlebag with her magic, and drew out the gleaming silver form of the White Crest. Fancy Pants’ eyes widened in awe as she passed the stolen artifact to him, and it was with unmistakable humility that he accepted it into his own magical grasp.

“My word...” he breathed. “It is more beautiful than I ever imagined.”

He was suddenly jarred from his admirations by a soft polite cough from behind.

“Yes, if you’re quite finished, I believe you owe Trixie something for her troubles?” prodded the blue unicorn.

With an annoyed huff, Fancy Pants focused his horn and produced a large bag of bits from hammerspace. Grinning broadly Trixie snatched up the money, then swept over to a far pew to silently gloat over her prize.

“And now that just leaves us four,” said Fancy Pants. “What to do about you...”

Dash glared at the dapper unicorn with open hostility as he contemplated his next course of action. Twilight however, merely regarded Fancy Pants with genuine curiosity as his brow furrowed in an expression of strenuous thought.

“You honestly have no idea what to do with us, do you?” laughed Twilight.

“Ah, well, I... I suppose not,” admitted Fancy Pants. “I confess, I’d rather not see anypony get hurt, but then again, I suppose I can’t really let you go free now either.”

“So I guess we’re at an impasse,” noted Twilight.

“Indeed... suppose I offer a bribe?” suggested Fancy Pants. “In exchange for your silence?”

“Oh puh-lease,” snorted Twilight. “We’re Elements of Harmony, remember? Champions of virtue? Bearers of holy magic? We’re kind of above that level of bribery.”

“I’m not,” offered Scootaloo.

“Shhh!” hissed Twilight.

“What do you want with the Crest anyway?” asked Dash angrily. “It’s not like you can just go and hang it on your wall.”

“No, you’re quite right,” nodded Fancy Pants. “My motivations are far loftier than the rest of those so-called ‘collectors’. All they care for is value and aesthetics, but I seek something more, Miss Dash: perspective. As I said to you before, you and I are merely passing through history, but this...” he held the Crest aloft before him. “This is history. The legendary White Crest, and now I hold it in my hooves... Surely you appreciate what a privilege this is?”

“You went through all this just so you could say you were holding history?” asked Dash incredulously.

“Well, there’s rather more to it than that,” answered Fancy Pants. “The way you say it makes it sound so petty.”

“It is petty!” declared Dash. “The White Crest is an important artifact, Fancy Pants, it belongs in a museum!”

“A museum? Don’t make me laugh,” scoffed Fancy Pants. “What good would that do, hmm? To put this work of art under glass so it can be ogled at by pretentious tourists and disinterested children?”

“Oh, so you’d rather lock it up in a box somewhere in your basement instead?” countered Dash. “That’d make a great story; the White Crest, the greatest artifact in Pony history, lost forever in the basement of some selfish old stallion. And here I thought you were cool, Fancy Pants!”

That was the deciding blow. Flustered, Fancy Pants struggled to form a counter-argument, but Dash’s words had found their mark. With his head bowed, Fancy Pants finally spoke again.

“I... you... you are right,” he said, gazing solemnly at the White Crest. “Who am I to keep this treasure all to myself, to deny Ponykind such an important relic of its heritage? I thought I truly had an appreciation for antiquities such as this... but I suppose I’m no better than the rest of those phoney collectors.”

“It’s not too late,” coaxed Twilight.

Fancy Pants humbly nodded, but before he could act on his change of heart, another series of ropes suddenly ensnared him, pulling him to the ground and sending the White Crest clattering to the floor as the sound of slow, sarcastic clapping echoed throughout the sanctuary.

“Very touching,” sneered Trixie. “Honestly, Trixie figured you might try to back out at the last moment. Fortunately, Trixie had the smarts to cultivate a few other buyers, just in case.”

“Trixie!” snarled Fancy Pants. “Release me at once! I order you!”

“Sorry, ‘Boss’,” snickered Trixie. “But you already payed Trixie, remember? Trixie no longer has to take orders from you.”

With a swagger in her step, Trixie swept past the four imprisoned ponies and lifted the White Crest into her saddlebags.

“You won’t get away with this!” growled Rainbow as Trixie sauntered for the door.

“Oh please, that’s what they all say,” sighed Trixie. “Still, just in case...”

Trixie idly clapped her hoof, and the ropes holding Scootaloo suddenly came to life again, pulling the struggling orange filly to their master before wrapping themselves tightly around her body so she appeared to be little more than a bundle of rope with a head. With a smirk, Trixie floated her new hostage onto her back.

“Let me go!” yelled Scootaloo.

“Oh, Trixie will,” sneered Trixie. “Later, after Trixie has made her-”

Without warning, Twilight’s horn suddenly flared up, and the ropes that were binding her burned away to nothing. Faced now with the righteous fury of the most powerful unicorn in living memory, Trixie let out a terrified yelp and bolted from the room with Scootaloo still in tow.

“How did you do that?” asked Fancy Pants as Twilight quickly freed him and Rainbow.

“Oh it was easy,” shrugged Twilight. “It’s not like she was holding my magic down or anything.”

“So wait, you could have done that at anytime?!” cried Dash.

“Yes, well, I was kinda waiting for the right moment so...”

“So how about right now!” shouted Dash. “Let’s get after her! She’s got Scootaloo!”

Without another wasted moment, the three ponies burst back out into the narthex, where a pair of bewildered clerics were standing just inside the front door. Fortunately, one of them quickly surmised the situation unfolding around them, and immediately gestured to a smaller passage off to the left.

“They went that-a-way!” he said. “There’s a passage that leads back up to the city!”

With Dash in the lead, they tore up the passage, emerging soon after into an open gallery lined with memorial niches. Just up ahead, Trixie was forcing open a wooden door at the far end of the hall. Atop her back, Scootaloo let out a triumphant shout at the sight of her would-be rescuers, causing Trixie to whip around in a frenzy.

“Give it up Trixie!” yelled Twilight as they charged towards her.

“Fat chance!” retorted Trixie. “Nopony stops The Great and Powerful Trixie!”

The door finally gave in to Trixie’s assault, but before rushing through, Tixie turned and fired a parting bolt of magic at the ceiling above her pursuers. The sight of orange sparks caught Dash’s eye, and in horror she noticed several narrow red objects bundled around the tops of the columns.

“Take cover!” she shouted. “This place’s rigged to-”

Dash’s warning was rudely interrupted by the sound of several bundles of dynamite exploding above their heads. The three ponies were thrown to the floor as clouds of smoke and dust filled the room. Acting quickly, Dash spread her wings and spun on her hoof, clearing away the smoke just in time for her to see a broken column falling towards her. Before she could react, a sudden impact forced Dash out of harm’s way, and she landed safely on the floor as the column came crashing down upon her savior.

“Fancy Pants!” cried Twilight as she rushed to lift the fallen column off the stallion’s body.

Fancy Pants responded with a pained groan. His foreleg was stuck at an odd angle, and ugly purple bruises were flowering all across his withers. Dash felt an unpleasant knot form in her stomach. The stallion had very likely saved her life. Granted, she was also pretty sure that she could have made the dodge herself in the nick of time, but she quickly suppressed that particular train of thought for the time being.

“M-miss Dash?” coughed Fancy Pants through laboured breaths.

“I’m right here,” choked Dash. “I’m okay.”

“That’s good to know,” said Fancy Pants with a grim smile. “You’d best get a move on... save your friend...”

“But what about you?”

“Go, Rainbow, I’ll stay and take care of him,” said Twilight. “Hurry, we can’t let Trixie get away!”

With a determined nod, Dash pulled herself away from the unfortunate scene and continued the chase anew.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a small park off of a busy street, the door to an oft-overlooked monument burst wide open, and a frantic powder-blue unicorn hurried out, her young hostage still bound atop her back. Without hesitation, Trixie plunged into the crowd, shoving aside any and all who stood in her way, while Scootaloo mumbled half-hearted apologies from atop her captor. A moment later, Trixie reached the opposite side of the street, where lay a wide canal in which various ponies were blissfully paddling around in punts. One such boat, luxuriously equipped with an outboard motor, was docked mere metres away. Technically there was already a starry-eyed young couple on board, but that was only a minor detail for the frenzied magician. With an almighty yell, Trixie leapt into the boat, dumped the poor couple overboard into the canal, and hurled Scootaloo into the bow of the craft. As she turned her attention to the rather stubborn outboard however, Scootaloo suddenly perked up and let out a triumphant cheer.

“Rainbow Dash!”

Trixie whipped around in horror. The sky-blue pegasus had just appeared across the street, and was now charging towards them, her prismatic mane flying wild in the wind. Abandoning the stubborn pull-cord, Trixie stepped back and fired a bolt of magic into the engine. The motor roared to life, and the little boat sped down the canal, with Rainbow Dash in hot pursuit.

“Eyes front!” yelled Trixie to Scootaloo. “If we hit anything, you’ll be first to feel it!”

Seeing the wisdom in her captor’s words, Scootaloo proceeded to glue her eyes firmly to the canal ahead, allowing Trixie to direct her full attention back at the pursuing pegasus. With narrowed eyes she tracked Rainbow’s movements as the pegasus gained closer and closer with every passing second.

“Close enough!” spat Trixie finally.

Trixie whipped open her saddlebag with a flourish and floated out a stick of dynamite. With a manic grin, she lit the fuse with a spark from her horn and lobbed it at Rainbow. The stick fell low however, and exploded harmlessly in the canal, sending up a great fountain of water. Cursing, Trixie hurled another stick, but what she gained in accuracy was soon negated as Dash rolled skillfully aside at the last second. Trixie was just about to light a third stick, when Scootaloo suddenly let out a yelp of alarm.

“Trixie, up ahead!”

Both Trixie and Rainbow followed the filly’s gaze to where a series of locks divided the canal between the upper and lower tiers of the city. At that very moment, the heavy iron bound gates were closing to allow a barge to pass from the lower level, effectively cutting off Trixie’s escape.

“Ha! End of the line Trixie!” shouted Rainbow. “Give it up while you still can!”

“Fool!” retorted Trixie as she quickly gathered up her remaining dynamite. “The Great and Powerful Trixie always has a backup plan!”

With only seconds to spare, Trixie quickly bundled all her dynamite together, lit the fuse, and fired it straight at the locks. On instinct, Dash took off after it, caught up in the nick of time, suddenly realised that she was chasing after a lit bomb, and quickly pulled up out of harm’s way as a massive explosion rocked the locks. The great gate groaned against itself for a moment, then burst inward, sending a torrent of water pouring into the canal below. Crying out in the thrill of the moment, Trixie and Scootaloo rode the wave through the locks and into the lower city. Casting a scornful eye backwards, Trixie could see no sign of Rainbow Dash.

“Excellent,” she gloated. “Nopony bests the Great and Powerful- oof!”

The unicorn let out a pained grunt as something large and colourful descended on her from above.

“Rainbow Dash!” cheered Scootaloo.

“Hope you don’t mind me dropping in!” said Dash.

“...”

“Yeah, that sounded a lot more original before I said it,” conceded Dash.

“I’ll bet,” muttered Scootaloo. “Now let’s get out of here!”

Rearing up, Dash scooped up Scootaloo in one foreleg, and Trixie’s saddlebag in the other before launching herself into the air, only to be stopped a second later when the saddlebag suddenly refused to be carried any further.

“Not so fast!” hissed Trixie. “You’re not getting away that easily!”

The situation soon devolved into a tug-of-war over the precious saddlebag, Dash’s wings versus Trixie’s magic. Not surprisingly, it was the bag itself that lost in the end. The strap by which Dash was holding finally gave way, tearing a great rent in the side of the bag. As Trixie stumbled backwards in surprise, various items spilled from within, including Trixie’s fattened coinpurse, which struck the lip of the boat and burst wide open, sending a shower glittering gold bits into the canal. The unicorn’s resulting cries of anguish filled the air, but Dash paid her no heed; all that mattered was getting Scootaloo to safety.

Abandoning the chase, Rainbow touched down beside the canal and quickly bit through Scootaloo’s bonds, allowing the young filly to seize Dash in a rib-crushing hug.

“I knew you’d save me, Rainbow Dash!” she squealed.

“Like there was ever any doubt,” grinned Rainbow. “Okay, listen Scoots, I need you to find help and get back to the chapel; Fancy’s hurt pretty bad.”

“Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash, you can count on me!”

“Tell Twilight I’ll be there as soon as I can,” added Dash. “I got a boat to catch...”

Meanwhile, Trixie was still speeding down the canal. Though her precious money was lost, the White Crest had miraculously stayed safely within her ruptured bag.

“Trixie can still make this,” she said frantically to herself. “Trixie can still come out on- oh for crying out-”

Rainbow Dash landed forcefully in the bow of the boat and launched herself at Trixie with a primal roar. The unicorn responded in kind, and within seconds the two ponies were brawling in the bottom of the boat. Hair was pulled, legs were bitten, punches were thrown, missed, then thrown again. For the most part, the two combatants were evenly matched. While it was true that Dash did technically have a black belt in karate, it was also technically true that she had largely slept through most of her classes, and had only received the belt at all by virtue of the fact that her instructor had no intention of putting the latter point of his “black belt or your money back” guarantee into practise. Their fight might have gone on for another hour or more, were it not for the fact that the canals of Canterlot only flow so far before taking a rather more downward turn.

A sudden jolt rocked the boat as the last remnants of the swell bore them over the safety lines that spanned the last level stretch of water. Untangling herself from Trixie’s grasp, Dash leapt to the bow and stared out in horror at the vast plains of Equestria stretched out far below. Panic descended upon the two ponies in an instant. As the boat crested the falls, Dash made a last desperate leap for land, only to find her wing in the panicked grip of the other mare. In horror, Dash felt the boat tip underfoot, and then they fell, tumbling helplessly over into the mists below...

To be concluded...

Comments

[Slireon]

I SHALL CARRY THE FLAG OF THE FIRST!

Wow, This was the most Indiana Jones-y chapter by now. Nicely done. I should have expected it, though. Never Trust a Fancy man who's an amateur to archaeology. NEVER EVER.

[Paddec]

Yay