Diamond weaved her way as quickly as she could through the complex alleyways of the lower part of the unicorn city, Uniia.
Two unicorns of the Gold Guard were in hot pursuit, almost on top of her tail as she galloped.
One of them she knew, a dapple-gray stallion with a light gray mane, who found himself chasing her rather often, and the other, a buckskin mare with a black mane, a blaze, and black stockings. Ironically, for the "Gold Guard" they both had silver horns.
The buckskin was new to her, and she knew basically every Gold Guard member in that part of the city…because they all ended up chasing her at one time or another.
Diamond threw the stolen bag of apples from her horn to around her neck with a swift twist of her head.
And she never got caught.
No matter how many guards chased after her, she had never been taken into custody. They might be stronger and have more endurance than her, but she was fast and knew the alleys well. They got lost easily.
High-born unicorns like them would never step one polished, golden hoof in her side of town, where you had to steal to live and get chased by stuck-up unicorns day in, day out. They never had to worry about hygiene or sickness or wonder whether you would eat dinner that night or have a good place to sleep. And she would not, under any circumstances, let those idiots steal her lunch.
As she ran, she gave a sharp kick to a pile of barrels someone had stupidly left outside and they spilled across the Equine's path.
The new mare skidded to a stop with a distress whinny and Diamond heard her armor clank as she backed up.
But the dapple-gray, who was quite used to her tricks by now, leaped over the fallen barrels and landed right back behind her.
"Curses," Diamond muttered under her breath. She'd been hoping at least one of them would have been knocked out by the falling barrels, but no such luck.
And the buckskin was obviously just going to back up and try jumping the barrels again.
But she wasn't worried.
Diamond was quite confident she'd be able to shake them from her tail. It was routine, since she did it practically every day. (And usually more than once, too.)
"Get back here, you!" The stallion roared at her back. Usually, they would be much more polite and shout something like, "Stop in the name of the queen!" or "I command you to stop by order of the Gold Guard!" and blah blah blah. But this guy chase her almost every week and had probably gotten very annoyed with her.
"You know, I'd rather not," Diamond called back breezily. She turned sharply into a smaller alleyway, and he made an adorable growly sound that was angry and frustrated. Oh, how cute!
She leaped onto a line of barrels along the side of the alley and kept running on them, kicking every barrel behind her to trip the dapple-gray. He hurriedly jumped over every one she sent rolling his way, so quickly he looked as if he was bouncing.
Was this going to be more amusing than usual? Usually, it was so boring because she got rid of them so quick, but he wasn't going to be leaving so easy! How wonderful!
Diamond leapt down from the barrels as the line ended, twisting right into another wider alley.
There was a fence on this one, so she could slam it in his face! Perfect. It was also too tall for him to jump, and it looked like it locked automatically when shut. She raced through the open gate.
Diamond slammed her back hooves into the fence and it shut right in his snout, just like she'd thought. Hilarious!
But she didn't get that long to celebrate. There was a roar, and a blast of light burst the gate to pieces. His snarling face appeared from the other side.
Oh, gasp, surprise, he'd used his magic. Wonderful. She was being sarcastic, of course. She'd hoped it would shut hard enough and quick enough that he'd be knocked out and unable to use his magic. But, alas, silly her! Apparently not. Sigh.
At least she knew he wouldn't use his magic on her, since rule twenty-four of the Gold Guard guidebook said no using magic on other unicorns unless they strike first. (Diamond knew that because she'd swiped it off a guard once and read it.)
But, hey, couldn't it have been a little more specific? Like, did it mean harming magic or just any magic at all? Because that included tracking spells, immobilizing spells, capturing spells, and healing spells, and that would be great for the guards who chased her. Not that she was complaining! It made it way easier for her to escape and lots more fun! (Listening to their frustrated sounds as she got away was hilarious.) Whoever wrote the guidebook didn't do a very good job.
And speaking of escaping, the dapple-gray was angry and annoyed and right on her tail, his horn ablaze with his aura. (Dark blue, like his eyes.)
Diamond grinned, looking away from him and back to the alley in front of her. The edges of roofs from the buildings lining the alleyway on either side created shadow with only a small, jagged sliver of light piercing through.
She could see the end of the alley coming closer quickly. She could also see her way out.
Diamond glanced back at the dapple-gray. He was gaining on her, teeth bared and horn sparking from restrained magic. The fence in his face had only given her a second more. And probably made him madder, to be honest. Ha!
The end of the alleyway was coming fast, but so was the way she would say goodbye to that stuck-up guard.
A pile of empty crates, a garbage container (probably enchanted to send any inanimate thing thrown inside into the Nothing), a slanted roof covering a entrance/exit into a building on the right.
Diamond looked back at the silver-horned Gold Guard soldier one more time before leaping onto the pile of wooden crates to her right, then onto the garbage container, then on to the slanted roof, and finally onto the roof above.
The roof, to her immense delight, was flat and made of some sort of metal. Diamond turned around, shaking out her light blond mane and peering into the alleyway she'd just come from.
The dapple-gray stallion scowled up at her, furious, though his eyes showed bewilderment.
Ahhh. This was always her favorite moment. When she got away.
Of course, he could always do the same thing she did, though the crates might be a bit unstable after her weight on them, she was sad to say. (Plus, he was heavier and wearing armor.) So, no. Or he could use his magic to float up, but that was a very high-level spell that took incredible concentration which he did not have at the moment.
"Ta-ta!" Diamond called down, tossing her fetlock out of her eyes and flicking her tail in his direction (which was considered very rude), heading away from the edge of the roof.
She paused.
"You know, I wish I could say it was nice seeing you again, but it wasn't." She called over her shoulder. With that, she continued to sashay away, hearing nothing but the buckskin catching up with her partner. Sad. She'd been hoping for a snappy retort.
Once Diamond figured he really wasn't going to say anything, she cantered off, jumping from roof to roof. She did have to get back to camp, after all. They relied on her as their leader.
I am the Street Lord of the Seventh Sector.