One Last Job

by ZeroMonkey

Chapter One

[ROYAL CANTERLOT BANK]
[SUB-BASEMENT 5]

As Twilight and three other mares clad in black jumpsuits and masks stealthily slipped from the crystal caves under the city and into the lower levels of the bank, they caught sight of a lone guard standing in front of an intricate vault door. The magic runes inscribed on the door were visibly overflowing with magical power. Quickly, Twilight weaved a complex array of magic around her horn and sent out an invisible wave of energy.

No additional magic defenses or lifeforms on this floor. Good. Drawing more energy from the area around her, she built another spell. Before the guard could even notice what was happening, he was out cold.

The caves. They had been perfect for a secret infiltration. However, there was no way they could be used in the event that the heist went wrong. The paths were too labyrinthine, the terrain too rough. A teleportation spell would do the job. She was ready for that eventuality.

"Generosity, Honesty, keep watch while I open the vault. Kindness, you may check for injuries."

The magic seal on the door was complex, but not perfect. The Princess may have been a goddess, but neither was she. If only it had been as simple as any other magic lock. Her magic would have scoured it, seeping into the metaphorical cracks and effectively forming a key. This was different. The door contained special runes meant to rebuff and drain attackers. Of course, she still had to get through the door. She was certain she could weather the defenses.

She gave the door another quick scan for safety's sake and then began her spellcraft. As magic flowed from her horn and across the door, the defensive runes, as predicted, began to steal energy from her spell. An aetherial wind began to stir the stale underground air. The magic leaving the runes was pulling air along with it. This quickly evolved from the usual light breeze into a full blown gale that threatened to send Twilight tumbling.

Twilight lost more and more footing as the energy required to keep the spell running left her winded. Just when she was about to give in to the gusts of wind, a warm body pressed itself against her and she felt a wing wrap around her back.

Excess care for others, not on watch for guards, wings. Logically speaking, it was Kindness.

Just a little bit longer, a little bit further. There. She had it. With a click, the locks came undone.

"The door's open," Twilight sputtered, leaning heavily on Kindness. The air was a few degrees colder, as a result of the large quantity of magic she had channeled.

"Are you okay, Magic? We can rest for a moment if need be," Kindness asked in a quiet voice. Her concern was visible even through her bejeweled mask.

The masks, necessary as they were, never got any more comfortable. They were, at Generosity's insistence, decorated in line with the theme of the code names. That meant jewels. Colored jewels. Between the masks and intercepted communications, the public had caught on to their naming convention and quickly took up calling them 'The Elements of Harmony'.

Funnily enough, Princess Celestia had publicly protested this name. Something about a lack of respect for important historical artifacts. Twilight was just glad to get on that old nag's nerves.

Honesty piped up too, "If you're tuckered out, just say so. We can't do this if you collapse of exhaustion."

"No, I'm fine. The Princess just happens to be somewhat of a master when it comes to spellcraft. It took a lot out of me, but there aren't any more wards in there. Go on in. Generosity, keep your eyes out for especially valuable items."

Honesty moved forward and nudged the door open. Inside was room crammed with dauntingly high shelves, each overflowing with jewelry and gold. While the other mares began moving along the shelves, searching out the most valuable items and filling their bags, Twilight went forward, eyes scanning the room for the real prize. There. There it was. Princess Celestia's legendary blade, its name lost to history, hung on the wall at the far end of the room.

Twilight had had a hunch that the sword would be here. The last time it was even supposedly used was in the battle against the, presumably fictional, tyrant, Nightmare Moon. The shelves came to an end about ten feet from the sword, in what seemed to be some kind of altar. Carefully making her way up a couple steps, she stepped over what seemed to be discarded pieces of golden armor as she went. She paid them little mind.

In the back of her mind, she duly noted a conversation between Honesty and Generosity. Something to do with large gemstones? Unimportant. She knew that the both of them could handle it. Whatever it was.

The sword was a sight to behold with its intricate carvings and gilded decorum. A single crack ran along the length of its blade, from which leaked small gouts of flame and sparks. As she looked at it, it almost seemed to stare back at her, peering into her soul with no small amount of fury. Hanging on the wall next to it was an equally detailed sheath. Twilight let herself smile. Once she had sold this sword to the highest bidder, likely a foreign power with a grudge against Equestria, neither she nor her team would want for anything, ever again.

She slowly lifted the sheath from its resting place using her magic and cautiously slid it onto the sword. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. The uncanny presence of the blade no longer pressed upon her mind. It would be best not to dally. Many sources agreed that Princess Celestia had some kind of link to the sword. If she didn't know it was missing, she would soon. Twilight buckled the sheath to her waist and headed back towards the entrance.

"Alright girls, finish up in here and follow me. We probably don't have much time before the royal guard comes crashing down on our heads."

As Honesty made her way back over to Twilight, she posed a question, "Magic, is that sword what I think it is?"

Twilight gave her a curt nod.

"Are you sure it's wise to be taking Celestia's own sword? I reckon that might get her a mite riled up?"

Twilight looked back at her, "I know what I'm doing, Honesty. Trust me."

Honesty dropped the subject and they made their way out of the vault and back to the entrance of the caves. Not that they would be exiting through the caves, but it was always good to leave a fake trail for pursuers to follow.

Just then, one of the sending stones inside her mask buzzed to life.

It was Laughter. Despite her odd personality quirks and the fact that she always seemed to be on a sugar high, Laughter made for a great lookout. She was personable enough to get on nearly anypony's good side in a few minutes and had an almost supernatural ability for seeing future dangers and finding ways around them.

"I've got some bad news, girls. I was chatting with one of the guards in front of the bank, his name is Flash Sentry and he actually just recently joined the... Oh wait no! The more important news first. I can see Princess Celestia flying straight towards us. Like, really fast too! You girls had better get out of there, sooner rather than later," Laughter then returned to talking about the guard she had met.

Tuning out Laughter, Twilight's mind began to process the information. As predicted, the Princess was coming and was likely very angry. That was not something Twilight wanted to deal with.

Unfortunately for any escape plans, they were currently several hundred feet below the surface. Of course, Twilight didn't deal in fortune. Charging up her horn, there was a flash of light and they appeared in an alleyway a few blocks from the bank. She would've liked to be further away, but this was effectively the limit of her abilities. Better this than appear one more block away, but in broad daylight.

"Scatter everypony, then make yourself scarce. I'll see you at the meeting place."

Each of the mares ran in a different direction. They would minimize the chance of the whole team getting caught by each going to a different location to remove their disguises before meeting up again. Although splitting up reduced their combat ability, any direct conflict with the guard would end in certain defeat regardless.

While Honesty and Generosity went out the back end of the alley, Twilight and Kindness ran out the front. Kindness took to the air as Twilight veered away from the bank.

Twilight ran down the street, bobbing and weaving through shocked crowds of ponies. What was that? She could hear that a pegasus was approaching her from behind. Kindness? It couldn't be. The sound of beating wings was far too loud. Oh. This was bad.

Without looking behind her, Twilight came to the conclusion that Celestia was chasing her. She should've guessed. After all, she had taken the Princess' ancient sword. Potentially a beloved treasure or keepsake. This wouldn't do at all.

Before Twilight could finish her train of thought, she was tackled to the ground.

"Relinquish my sword and I might just let you live," Princess Celestia's voice was cool and even with an undercurrent of fury.

The Princess may have been larger and more powerful by far, but Twilight still had her wits about her. For example, Celestia had done nothing to disable the unicorn's horn. With a bright flash of light, Twilight was somewhere else entirely. Rather, she was a few feet away from the Princess, just inside the mouth of an alley and hopefully hidden. She wanted Celestia to think she was somewhere else.

She found herself resenting the fact she could only maintain the ability to blindly teleport to a single place at a time. Anywhere else would require line of sight.

Slowly moving backwards through the alley, Twilight made sure not to make a noise. With no sign of the Princess, she quickly took cover behind a dumpster and began preparing a spell. It would be an illusion spell, to disguise her presence from sight and magical attempts at detection. Hopefully, she would be able to sneak away before Celestia caught on.

She slipped out from behind the dumpster and moved towards the opposite end.

"Not so fast," she turned to see Celestia staring her down from the entrance.

Knowing that this was the end of her life as a free mare, Twilight stepped forward to stare down Celestia. As she did, she drew the sword and brandished it at the Princess.

"It seems you have me cornered, but before you do anything rash, consider the fact that I have a magic sword that has been known to cleave through mountains. It would be unwise to do anything except let me go."

Celestia's face seemed to fill with sorrow at the sight of the weapon being drawn. Maybe painful memories would stop her from calling Twilight's bluff. Her plans always explicitly excluded hurting anypony and Princess Celestia was no exception.

"Consider the fact," said Princess Celestia, "That I am a goddess."

Celestia's horn lit with golden magic and within seconds, Twilight felt all of the ambient magic drain away. The sword fell from her grip and its blade sunk into the cobblestones as if they were butter.

A cage made of golden fire erected itself around Twilight. Princess Celestia's horn still glowed with energy. It was a brute force way to disable unicorn magic. Virtually impossible. Twilight supposed that this was the end of the line. Hopefully her team had escaped successfully.

Comments

[DragonPony]

Well this is a interesting start for sure. I am wondering where Spike will come in on this. I think it would be interesting if he was another member of the team. But he had a falling out with all of them, mostly with 'Magic' and 'Generosity' and he refused to work with them again. Even going straight. But with Twi now captured they NEED the only other person who can plan just as well as Twi can. He was Twi's right hand man, he was per partner longer than any of them. So what will he do when she is facing death or life? That is just my idea tho. Or he could be input in many other places I can picture in this story. I am just hoping tho that he isn't a child or but a adult even if he stays in small form unless needed. But it would just seem a shame to have him be a child. I just like the idea of him having a fall out with the group, Generosity cheating on him from orders from Twi, He was left to riot in jail by them when the shit hit the fan during a crime which seeing how Spike was always taken advantage of and not really respected by the girls I could so see them doing that only to pay for it now when they DO need him, He could be such a interesting aspect to the story when he does come in.

[ShadowXper]

9339490
It also could be possible that spikes the royal guard in charge of keeping an eye on twilight where during there travels to find the rest of twilights group they begin to bound and spike joins them in the end that or spike and twilight are brother/sister and while twilight chose crime spike picked justice

[DragonPony]

9339522
I thought of that. But I also remember them mentioning Flash by name. Which is what made me think it would be him to watch over her since if that isn't the case it would seem odd to drop the name of a character who is known to be a very possible love interest for Twi in it. Spike being the guard is possible as well for sure. But I think for him to do something like join a band of criminals I think it would need to be more than him just becoming friendly with them. I think some major things would have to happen for him to join them. Kinda like Rock from Black Lagoon. A major ethic and side change NEED something just as major to cause it, I can see him letting them get away but staying a guard but for him to join them and throw away possibly everything he worked towards something HUGE would have to happen to rattle that core of his.

[ShadowXper]

9339533
True

[Commander Darklight]

more

[Starlight Nova]

Now, we get told why the Mane Six become criminals, right?