//------------------------------// // Iron Blue Intention // Story: Leap of Faith // by A bag of plums //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle kept an eye on the edge of the steps below her feet, careful not to take a step off of it. For some reason, they were built without safety measures, meaning anypony could simply fall off the side into the darkness below, lost forever. Whoever the architect was, they weren’t a very good one. They had long left the crystal structures behind, returning to that of stone, probably deep below the Crystal Empire now. “I see a door ahead,” Princess Cadance directed their attention. “Or at least what’s left of one.” At the bottom of the steps were the remains of two large doors, broken metal and wood littered the area outside and inside. “This must have been Sombra’s work,” Cadance assumed as they got around the door, inspecting the ruin from both sides. “Blasted in,” Eclair pointed a hoof to the debris inside. “And all this? The crystal ponies likely tried to barricade the door, but it looks like that didn’t work.” Further words were cut off when all their eyes settled on the scene within the cavern. There were four glimmering skeletons laid around, each of them in a different spot. “I believe we’ve found our dead guards,” Princess Cadance whispered. “Oh, I wish we’d found this sooner. They should receive a proper burial for their selfless sacrifices.” “They will, princess,” Twilight patted her shoulder. “So it’s all true. What Sunset Shimmer said.” One skeleton, close to the middle, was lying on its side, two skeletal appendages on its left and right, broken off. Twilight didn’t need to be a forensics expert to know that those had been wings. “This is horrible…” she muttered, observing the evil Sombra had done. “I knew he was bad, but I didn’t think he was this bad…” Flapping her wings, Twilight Sparkle floated herself over to a raised platform, containing what looked like melted metal mounts. In the middle of all of them was a burnt metallic shape, bent outwards in all directions. There were bits of shattered glass all around it, and the platform had a large scorch mark, originating from the piece in the middle. “The prototype mirror,” Twilight breathed. She had known that Star Swirl likely made more portals, and this confirmed that and what Sunset had told her. This was the portal that Emerald Edge had used to enter the human world a thousand years ago. “We’ve found it, Spike,” the lavender alicorn said as her little dragon friend climbed up onto the platform beside her. “We’ve found the truth. This is where it all began.” “Looks like it,” the baby dragon nervously rubbed at his scaly hands. “It’s… a bit much to look at.” “Yeah…” Twilight watched as Eclair and Cinders patrolled the cavern, investigating every nook and cranny, including the skeletal remains of Princess Amore’s guards. Princess Cadance stood to the side, her head down, likely imagining the horrors that had happened right here in her home. Twilight didn’t blame here. She felt it too, all the sadness and ruthlessness of what Sombra had done. “Oh yeah, Twilight.” Spike’s voice drew Twilight back to reality. “Your book. Could’ve been a message from Sunset Shimmer.” “Oh!” Twilight had completely forgotten about the book. Spike had mentioned it earlier. She levitated it out of her saddlebag and flipped through it, at the same time, expanding her magic light to see better. The Princess of Friendship thought that her day couldn’t get any worse, but after reading what Sunset Shimmer had written to her, it might just get worse. Much more worse. Sunset had written to her about strange dreams about Emerald Edge, which by the sound of it, sounded more like visions. That raised a bunch of question in Twilight’s mind, but the second half of her message raised the hair on her back. “Agent Eclair, Agent Cinders!” Twilight called. The Eclipse agents immediately rushed over, stopping before the platform. “We might have a serious problem. I need one of you to return to Canterlot. Princess Celestia must know about this.” Agent Cinders saluted and pointed at himself. “It’s Sombra, in the human world. My friend believes he’s trying to siphon power from the portal. From experience, I know it holds great magical power. If he were to take it, not only will he close the way between our worlds, but he might be too powerful to stop. You need to warn her.” Cinders nodded and took off, zipping back out the door as fast as his wings could carry. “Twilight?” Cadance walked up to her. “What’s the matter?” “It’s Sombra. I think he’s trying to harness the portal’s magic for himself. We already know what he’s capable of. We can’t let him get any stronger.” “W-What should we do, Twilight?” Spike bit on his claws. “I think I prefer to fight Assassins than that m-maniac…” Twilight stomped around, trying to figure out an answer. She didn’t have any. Dewdrop stepped out from behind the curtain, twirling once for Velvet Breeze to see. “What do you think, Velvet? Does it suit me?” Dewdrop had on a bright pink strapless dress with frilly flower patterns going down the sides and the top. “Erm…” Velvet tried to word it well. “I think… I think it’s a bit too… girly for you, Dewdrop.” “Huh. Well okay…” She went and picked out a bright orange backless dress. “How about this one?” “The color’s awful,” Velvet said flatly. “Really?” Dewdrop put it back on the rack, searching for a nicer one. “What do you think’ll work?” Velvet put a hand to her chin and hummed. “Maybe something purple?” “Purple, huh?” Dewdrop picked up a purple dress with yellow stripes going down its length, before disappearing back into the changing room. Velvet sighed and walked around for a while, looking for a dress that would work for her. She never really cared for fashion when she was young and she certainly didn’t care about it now, but she didn’t want to stick out at the party with some kind of dress that was just terrible on her. The young Assassin patted on a green one, then moved down to a black one, still unsure of which to choose. “Dewdrop, I don’t know which one to get.” “Why don’t you pick one and try it out?” the senior Assassin answered from the changing room. “That’s what I’m doing, aren’t I?” Velvet went and picked up a red dress, but she didn’t like the sleeves. Putting it back, she said, “Dewdrop? Are you sure we’re doing the right thing?” “What do you mean, Velvet? You know my answer. Wolfgang has to die.” Soon, the door opened and Dewdrop came out in the purple dress with yellow stripes. “So, how do I look?” “It’s better,” Velvet shrugged. “But you’re pretty, Dewdrop, no matter what dress you wear.” “Aw, thanks, Velvet,” Dewdrop smiled and picked at the skirt portion. “But I think it’s a little tough to walk in this one. I guess I’ll try another.”  “How are we going to get our gear in without being spotted?” Velvet said, changing into a gold dress with silver accents. “It’s not like we can hide things under these dresses.” Dewdrop searched through a section of purple dresses. “I’ve got that covered, Velvet. You know parties always have alcohol. We simply need to find the company that’s shipping the goods to Mirror Match’s place and we stash our gear and clothes in a crate. Simple.” Dewdrop’s hand returned with a two-toned purple dress with a strap over one shoulder and detached sleeves. “I think I’ll try this one out.” “We’ll mark the crate with our gear in it, right?” Velvet found a simple pink dress, not too ostentatious, yet tasteful. “Yep. That’s how it works. Then we can use our eagle vision to find the crate in the wine cellar.” “Match Mansions has a wine cellar?” Velvet looked impressed. “Just how wealthy is Mirror Match?” “Trust me,” Dewdrop vanished into the changing room again. “She’s probably the richest person in Manehattan. Or at least the most well known one.” Velvet headed into another changing room and changed out of her clothes. “How does working for the Board of Education make you rich? The other members don’t have large buildings, do they?” “Mirror Match is different,” Dewdrop said, disgust creeping into her voice. “The Templars paid her well for selling out her former comrades, and she’s their top assassin as well. I’m not sure why, but the Templars pay her way more than the usual lackeys. I think it’s because she’s different.” “Different? What do you mean?” “You haven’t seen it, Velvet, but Mirror Match can do things normal people cannot. She’s survived explosions, gunshots, she can paralyze you with a bite and she’s way faster and stronger than the regular human. She beat Star Lance, Velvet. I mean who beats Star Lance?” “Is that why she’s called the Witch of Manehattan?” “Well, that name was coined after she supposedly helped two Assassins from Fillydelphia.” “Really?” Velvet’s eyes went wide in surprise. “How do you mean?” “From their reports, she brought one of them back from the dead. Aaand… she healed the eyes of the other.” “She can do that?” Velvet slipped the pink dress on. “That’s scary. Do you think she’s magical? Like Sunset and her friends, or the Mentor, I mean.” “What I can say is that she definitely isn’t human.” Velvet heard Dewdrop open her changing room door. “She should’ve died long ago if she was.” “And we’re going to gatecrash her party? Dewdrop, I’m not so sure about this any more.” “Wolfgang will be there, Velvet,” Dewdrop’s voice was a little shaky. “I can’t miss this opportunity. I have to take him down here… For Satin and Noon.” “Dewdrop, I know they meant a lot to you, but don’t you think that this is a little bit rash?” Velvet pushed her door open to see Dewdrop in her latest dress. It looked good on her, but her eyes were red, like she was about to cry. “I mean, you know more than me how dangerous Mirror Match is, but you’re still going to go? Shouldn’t we stop and think about this?” Dewdrop took a few deep breaths and leaned her back against the changing room wall. “I don’t know when we’ll get the chance to find Wolfgang after this. You didn’t have to come, Velvet. Just… please, let me do this… They depend on me to avenge them.” Velvet put an arm on Dewdrop’s. “No. If you’re going through with this, then I’m coming with you. I’m not letting you face the impossible on your own.” Dewdrop pulled the young Assassin in in a tight squeeze. “Thank you, Velvet.” “Don’t sweat it,” she grinned. “So, how’s my dress?” Dewdrop smiled, a true, genuine smile. “It looks great. Now, let’s get our masks.” “Masks?” Dewdrop nodded. “It’s a masked ball. So we’ll need masks.” The two Assassins changed back into their regular clothes, before moving over to a wall of masks. The blue haired Assassin scanned each one from left to right, finally reaching up to grab a grey one with pink and grey feathers. “I think this will suit you nicely, Velvet,” she handed it over to the blue-skinned girl. “Put it on.” Velvet did as she was instructed, tying the string behind her head to keep it in place. “How’s this?” “Perfect,” Dewdrop patted her on the head. “Now, what to pick for myself…” Dewdrop looked at the wall again, taking down two masks. One was a green and brown mask with a sharp extension over the left eye, and the other was a blue mask with horns on the side, somewhat resembling a bull. “Which looks better on me, Velvet?” Dewdrop placed both against her face and grinned. “The blue one’s a little much,” the young Assassin replied, pointing to the green one. “I like that one better.” “This one it is, then.” Dewdrop placed it back on the wall and strapped the green mask over her face. “Looks like we’re all set. Happy with what you have?” “It’ll do,” Velvet admitted, holding up her grey mask and pink dress. “I’m not one for fashion. As long as they don’t make me stick out in a crowd, they’re perfect.” “Alright then. Let’s go pay and then prepare for the rest.”