Winds of Change

by dreadbaron

Ahuizotl Makes His Move

Chapter Two: Ahuizotl Makes His Move

While Galeforce was resting uneasily in his bed back at Sweet Apple Acres, Ahuizotl was hard at work in his office at Las Pegasus. In the years since he had last seen the wily Thief, Ahuizotl had gained more wealth than any other creature in Equestria. Naturally, a thirst for power followed shortly thereafter; and he fulfilled that by running for mayor… and winning. The ponies of Las Pegasus were all too quick to accept the lie that he had reformed, which laid perfectly into his plans. Now, he stood before a desk covered in maps; each scored with marks where he knew Galeforce was not hiding.

“Monsieur Le Maire?” a voice asked from the doorway behind him. “What are your orders?”

“Gustave,” Ahuizotl answered him, as he marked yet another spot off the map. “Please come in, my good and faithful servant.”

“Oui, monsieur,” Gustave said, as he entered the room. “I was wondering what is to be done with Galeforce.”

“Tell the guards to double their efforts,” Ahuizotl snapped back harshly, as he wiped his bottle of ink of the table with his arm. “Then, I want you to contact the guards posted at Fillydelphia, Manehattan, and Ponyville. Nopony rests until I have captured him!”

“Oui, Monsieur Le Maire,” Gustave told him, as he saluted his superior with his left wing. “But first, if you don’t mind me asking: why is he so important?”

“Why?” Ahuizotl asked back, as he grabbed his subordinate by the handkerchief around his neck. “He double-crossed me, and nopony double-crosses Ahuizotl! NOPONY!”

“I understand, Monsieur,” Gustave gasped in fright, as his master threw him to the floor. He ran away as fast as his fearful legs could carry him, and Ahuizotl turned back to his work. Once he had gotten out of sight of Ahuizotl’s office, Gustave took on a whole different attitude; as he once again became the overbearing second-in-command the guards hated. “You there,” he addressed a group of city guards just starting their shift. “The boss wants you to your posts immediately!”

A guard spat in Gustave’s direction, and turned to face his colleagues. These were not the well-trained guards that the royalty employed, but rather a mix of tough ponies eager to earn a paycheck. They were undisciplined, rude, and downright thuggish… the perfect hoofsoldiers for Ahuizotl’s army.

“Gentlecolts,” Gustave told them firmly, “perhaps you didn’t hear me. Ahuizotl commands you to get to your posts at once!” There was still no reaction from the guards. “This is your commanding officer Gustave le Grand, representative of Mayor Ahuizotl and senior member of the Darkened Hoof. Get to your posts NOW!”

This was the final straw for the guards, as one of them proceeded to buck Gustave in the face at full force. His beak bent completely in half, and trickles of blood ran down his moustache. As he laid on the ground writhing in pain, the guard responsible for the attack stepped forward. “Let that be a lesson, Gus,” he uttered, as he repeatedly kicked the griffin in the stomach to emphasize each word. “We’re in this for the money. Not for you, not for that idiot Ahuizotl, and not for some imaginary Thief Lord. You’re on our turf, and we’ll move when we feel like it.”
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Back in Ponyville, Galeforce decided to risk yet another visit into the town proper. He was going to escort the three young fillies he had seen yesterday to school, as a favor to Applejack. As he walked along the cobblestone road, he passed the time by talking with the girls. “So,” he asked them, “do you like school?”

“Yeah,” the unicorn (who later introduced herself as Sweetie Belle) answered him. “Mostly.”

“What’s wrong with school?” Galeforce asked. “An education is important, you know.”

“We know,” Apple Bloom answered him. “It’s just Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon we don’t like. They’re always pickin’ on us for bein’ blank flanks.”

“Blank flanks,” Galeforce repeated in surprise. “There is nothing wrong with blank flanks, and you can take my word for it. You three have limitless potential, and don’t ever forget that.”

“Thanks, Mister Wings,” the pegasus answered him with a smile. He had made her feel a little better about being mark-less, and she wasn’t afraid to show it.

“You’re quite welcome, Miss…” Galeforce began to say, before he realized he didn’t know her name.

“Scootaloo,” she told him. “My name is Scootaloo.”
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After dropping the girls off with Cheerilee at school, Galeforce decided to wander the town. He walked past ponies of all shapes and sizes, until he noticed one in particular in the distance. It was Applejack, and she seemed to be having a conversation with another pony. He strained his eyes to see who it was, and his body froze. It was the unicorn he had robbed three days ago, and she seemed just as mad now as she was then. He considered slinking away for a second, only to be cut off by the unicorn’s cry of “There he is!”

Applejack ran towards him, and he froze in place from nerves. “Hey, you!” she shouted at him. “How dare y’all lie to me!”

“Miss Applejack, please try to understand…” Galeforce began to stammer, but he couldn’t finish his thought after seeing her face. She bore the look of anger and betrayal, and it broke his heart. “Miss Applejack, I’m sorry.”

“Enough games, ‘Golden Wings’,” Applejack said, as she made air quotation marks with her hooves. “Who are you?”

“My name -my real name- is Galeforce,” he answered her honestly. “I am the last of the Equestrian Thieves, and I stole those jewels from my friend to buy my freedom. However, I would like to make amends… starting now.” He reached into his cloak, and pulled out the bag of jewels. “I would like the chance to earn each and every one of these jewels, by working for you for however long you need me.”

Applejack hesitated, for she was unsure of what to do next. “Fine,” she finally stated with an exasperated sigh. “Y’all can earn these jewels back, but you’re gonna be workin’ long and hard for ‘em.”

“Fine by me,” Galeforce answered her.

“And,” she added without hesitation, “y’all are gonna be doin’ jobs for my friend Rarity, too. You owe her a lot, Galeforce.”

“I will help her however I can,” Galeforce assured her.

“Rarity!” Applejack shouted, calling her unicorn friend over. “You got yourself a helper for the day.”

Rarity trotted over, and looked at the Thief with disgust. “Hello again,” she hissed.

“Hello, Miss Rarity,” Galeforce said to her, trying to be kind. “I’m here to help.”

“Very well, darling,” Rarity answered him with a grin. “You can start by cleaning up that horrible mess you made in my studio.”
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Once he walked in the door of Rarity’s studio, Galeforce felt the full force of his earlier home invasion. He saw the beautiful dresses ruined by the wind and the magic of their battle, the fabric strewn all over the floor, and the expensive mannequins lying scattered in pieces. He had meant to rob her, but he had not meant to do all this. “Miss Rarity,” he told her, “I never meant for all this to happen.”

“Well, it did,” Rarity coldly answered him, as she magically shoved a broom under his wing. She then took her leave, pausing only to slam the door shut.

“Time to get busy,” Galeforce mumbled to himself, as he gripped the broom tightly.

When Rarity popped in to check his progress three hours later, she was amazed at the sight. The entire room had been cleaned, and everything was (more or less) the way it was before. Galeforce was hunched over his broom sleeping, but he had left a note on the table:

Miss Rarity,
I would like to formally apologize for what I did. I know I can never repay you for the fear you must have felt that day we first met, but I will continue to try.
Faithfully Yours,
Galeforce

The note touched Rarity’s heart deeply, for she couldn’t believe that a pony that had been so cruel could be so kind. She drew the curtains shut, left him alone in the room yet again, and decided to let him finish his nap before sending him home.

Deep inside the realm of dreams, Galeforce fell victim to another nightmare while he napped. He could see himself in the dungeon of Ahuizotl’s tavern, standing in front of the remains of his Thief apprentices. He could hear a metallic clank coming from the room, and knew what was coming next.

“This is just an empty box!” was Ahuizotl’s raging shout, as he threw it against the wall. “Flim, Flam, grab that traitor!”

The Flim Flam brothers advanced on Galeforce, and he knew he had to escape. With a dramatic unfurling of his wings, he took flight; and evaded both the unicorns and their magic quite easily. He blasted out of the dungeon, and flew out the tavern’s front door like a rocket. Freedom was within his grasp, if he could get out of the city alive.

As he sailed across the pitch-black sky, he turned his head to see a true vision of horror. Ahuizotl was in hot pursuit, using all four of his limbs and his mutated tail to furiously climb buildings like a crazed monkey. “You will not escape me, Galeforce!” he bellowed.

Galeforce flew even faster, but Ahuizotl was easily able to catch up to him. “I can’t outrun him,” Galeforce muttered under his breath. “Let’s finish this.” He then pulled a poorly executed U-turn, and flew towards his most hated enemy.

Ahuizotl flashed his nemesis a cruel grin, and tilted his head slightly to the side. This was the signal that the (well-hidden) Great and Powerful Trixie was waiting for, and she fired a beam of wing-freezing magic at the approaching Galeforce. It made contact just before Galeforce could attack, and he fell helplessly into Ahuizotl’s waiting arms. “So nice of you to surrender like this,” Ahuizotl taunted him, as he scaled the rest of the building with Galeforce in tow. The monster and the Thief were on the roof in an instant, and Ahuizotl was all too eager to finally kill his prey. “You betrayed me, Galeforce,” he hissed.

“I did what you asked,” Galeforce uttered, as he struggled to escape.

“The box was EMPTY!” Ahuizotl roared, as he threw Galeforce to the ground. “Do you know how much money you cost me on this deal? DO YOU?!”

“Money means nothing to you, creature,” Galeforce hissed in defiance.

“You insolent little colt, MONEY IS EVERYTHING!” Ahuizotl shrieked, as he brutally punched Galeforce over and over again. After beating the helpless Thief Lord half to death, he picked up Galeforce for the killing blow; not noticing that Galeforce was doing a lot of fidgeting with his right front hoof…

Ahuizotl lifted his right arm for the final shot, and Galeforce slipped his Thiefblade in between his captor’s ribs. The professional crook doubled over in pain, and Galeforce tried once again to make his escape. “Farewell,” he told the furiously bleeding demon.

“Mark me, Galeforce,” Ahuizotl warned him, “I intend to have either my money, or your head. You will repay me one day if you value your safety, or I will hunt you down like the vermin you are. Make your choice.”

The nightmare cut off at this point, and he awoke with a full-bodied shout in Rarity’s studio. There is no choice, he thought to himself. I have to stop this.