Phantom stood facing the battalion of Royal Guards, weapons at the ready. Their white and gold armor surrounding her black-cloaked figure. She looked around, scanning her opponents and taking notes.
“Wow,” she said. “There’s a lot of you. Was all this necessary?”
“Put down the book and come quietly,” said one of the Guards, whose armor had a unique, slightly heavier build and a cape.
“Hm?” The Phantom raised up her right hand, in which she held a rather large book with a pale red hard-back cover. “This? Sorry. I need this book,” she said. “Besides, I checked it out and everything. I mean, my library card is on the table inside!”
“This is the last time I’ll ask you to come quietly,” the Guard said.
The Phantom Thief sighed. “Why can’t I do anything in this school in peace! I just wanted this book!” As she spoke, the Guards armed with swords advanced slowly. “But nooo~! There’s either a student, or a big anti-magic lock, or a bunch of armed soldiers making things difficult!” A misty green aura began to rise around her, causing the swordsmen to grip their swords more tightly. “Well, looks like I’m gonna have to make some noise.” Her left hand reached into her cloak and emerged with what looked like a comically large sewing needle! The silver blade was designed with a black spiral that swirled from the base to the tip. The handle was just as thin as the blade, but there was no guard.
At the sight of the weapon, most of the Guards quickly raised their blades. Unfortunately for them, she was quicker. In a blur, she waved her blade and the black marks turned a bright, glowing yellow. Just as fast, she raised her blade, creating an electric field around her that stopped their blades before they could land. Dropping the blade, she popped the shield, sending the guards flying.
“FIRE!” On the leader’s mark, the ten-or-so riflemen all opened fire, automatic rifles blazing. But the Phantom was unfazed. With another rapid flick, the spiral turned light blue. Her arms moved in a flurry, only visible as a blur with a blue trail as she deflected the oncoming onslaught of gunfire! Once she stopped, the air pocket formed around began to expand. She waved her blade again and put the book in her shoulder bag. She drew a second similar blade from her right side in her cloak and flicked it red as well. She pointed them both in the air, points together. The moment she separated them, a tiny spark erupted into a massive flame as the air pocket popped. Carried by the wind, the inferno knock back and knocked out most of the Guards, partially scorching their armor.
As she advanced, the still standing soldiers hurried forward to help pull their fallen, crispy comrades away from the danger. However, the leader continued his advanced, drawing a massive battle axe from his side.
The Phantom looked up at the approaching challenger and readied her weapons again. “I just wanted the damn book!”
The Guard pointed the axe in front of him, revealing the rod was actually a mini cannon! The first shot came as a surprise, barely missing the Phantom as she dove to avoid the shot. The Guard did not relent. He fired round after round at her as she flipped and rolled to avoid getting blasted apart like the ground behind her. “All this trouble for a hardback, limited-edition history book?” she huffed as a round flew by her head. “Jeez! If I’d known it’d be like this, I would’ve just ordered a newer edition online!”
The Guard was getting very frustrated. He spun his axe over his head and brought it down, sending an earth-shattering shockwave at the Phantom. The target flicked her blades again, this time turning them brown, and stabbed them into the ground just as the shockwave reached her. The ground in front of her shattered and the shockwave dissipated, leaving her unharmed. She slashed forward against the ground, sending a salvo of rocks flying towards the Guard. He slashed through the onslaught with little effort, moving towards the Phantom as he did so.
However, the Phantom had already planned for that. Just as the Guard was a few feet away from her, she stabbed both her weapons into the ground, causing a ripple in front of her. The Guard suddenly lost his footing and struggled to stay standing as the ground shook beneath him. Then, like a skilled acrobat, she jumped over him and slashed across his back with both blades. Before he could recover, she stepped forward, slashing low and bringing him to his knees before kicking him in the face.
She planted her boot on his chest and said, “Can I go now? I really need to have this delivered.”
The Guard growled before using his sheer strength to push her off. But just as she was thrown back, her weapon glowed yellow and touched his armor. Violent flashes of electricity arced around his armor and knocked him back to the ground. He groaned as he tried to crawl away, reaching for his weapon, which the Phantom simply kicked a little bit away each time he got close.
“We’ve got to do something,” said Sunset.
“She just took out ten riflemen, twenty swordsmen, and a Royal Lieutenant without breaking a sweat,” said Twilight, a bit apprehensive of Sunset’s eagerness. “What are a few high school students going to do?”
Without hesitation, Sunset reached under her bed and brought out her weapon.
“Since it’s just the first month, we aren’t allowed to go all out in sparring matches in gym class." She tapped the base hard against the ground and the flame in lamp head ignited. “Luckily, this isn’t sparring in gym.”
With zero hesitation, Sunset climber out the window and onto the roof as Twilight called out, “Sunset, wait!”
Loli picked up her oddly-shaped weapon and followed. “Finally! Someone who really understands the meaning of “proactive”,” she said, following Sunset out.
Pinkie and Twilight stood in the room, alone. “They’re all insane,” Twilight said to herself.
“I don’t know. From what I’ve seen, they’re both pretty good fighters,” said Pinkie, who was now, somehow, holding a bucket of popcorn.
“Pretty sure pretty good isn’t going to be enough for this fight.”
“Shouldn’t we help?”
As much as Twilight didn’t like it…
“Well… we are her friends.”
Meanwhile, the Phantom was having the time of her life! She had spent almost the last minute kicking the guard’s axe further and further away. And the unrelenting guard was simply indulging her by continuing in his fruitless endeavor.
“I take it back. This is way more fun than hunting for some dumb old book!” She chuckled as the guard finally laid flat and stopped trying. “Aw! You’re no fun anymore.”
Suddenly, she noticed a glow from the corner of her eye. She instinctively ducked, narrowly avoiding the fireball that whizzed past her head. “Ugh. Really?” She turned and looked in the direction of the attack. “I thought I was done with gru- Oh, it’s you.” On seeing Sunset, her expression went from annoyed to underwhelmed. “You do realize our meeting wasn’t part of some dream, right?”
Sunset got between the Phantom and the hurt guard and raised her weapon. “Back off,” she barked.
“Aw! How cute,” the Phantom mocked. She was unfazed and advanced on Sunset, who got ready to attack. “Look, kid, I was very clear when I told you to back off. I really don’t want to hurt students if I can help it.” Sunset didn’t move from her spot. In fact, gripped her staff even harder. The Phantom sighed. “Alright. Never let it be said that I didn’t try to talk you out of this but…” Faster than Sunset could react, the Phantom switched her blades to lightning and hurled a bolt at Sunset. Unprepared, she blocked with her staff, unable to raise a barrier in time and took the full force of the blast. She was sent flying back, but managed to land on her feet. She had no time to prepare as another bolt slammed into her chest and knocked her on her back.
“Please, don’t make me hurt you,” the Phantom pleaded with such sincerity that Sunset had never expected to even be remotely convinced.
But that didn’t stop her. She spun as she got up, igniting a cyclone of fire around her before hurling it towards the Phantom, who countered it effortlessly with a tornado of her own that sent the flames back at Sunset. As she dove out of the way, Sunset charged up two bolts of solar energy and sent them flying towards the Phantom. The Phantom easily avoided the shots and sent a blast of wind to knock Sunset back to the ground before pinning her shirt to the earth with one of her blades.
“Give it a rest, kid,” said the Phantom. “I’ve been doing this since before even your grandparents were born!”
“Well, you said you weren’t going to stop until you finished whatever job it is you were given,” Sunset replied. “ Why should I?”
“Because what I’m doing is actually important, not to mention my job.”
“Stealing a book from a high-school library?”
“Sunset, you and I both know that there aren’t just books on history and astronomy in there.”
She was right and Sunset knew it. There was a reserved section of the library that held a variety of powerful spell books and grimoires that ordinarily shouldn’t be in a high-school. But ever since Celestia allowed advanced magic training courses, some students had special access to said books. But what book was so important there that her “employer” couldn’t find anywhere else? Let alone have to steal it from the school?
“What was it?” she asked the Phantom.
“Hm?”
“What book did you take?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” the Phantom teased.
“I would indeed. NOW!!!” Before she could react, a pink bolt flew past the Phantom, barely missing her torso. However, as she moved back, her bag took the hit instead and the bolt severed the strap. Whatever was in that bag must’ve been really important, because before the bag could even leave her side, she slipped her blade into one of the loops where the strapped was hooked and pulled it back with her. However, she didn’t have it for long as a streak of black, red, and pink shot past her and relieved her of the extra weight, followed by another pink blur that tripped her..
“Got it!” Loli held the bag triumphantly over her head as Pinkie helped Sunset to her feet and Twilight ran up to meet them. “Was that so hard?”
“You have no idea,” the Phantom replied. “All I want is that book, but noooo~!” The Phantom’s body began to glow an odd shade of turquoise. “I asked you stay out of this, but did you listen?”
“I couldn’t just let you-”
“No,” the Phantom cut Sunset off as she put her blade away back under her cloak. “No you didn’t. And now, a few people are going to get hurt. What happens now, Shimmer, is all on you!” She went on all fours, slamming her hands against the ground as the glow enveloped her. Her body began to morph; her arms and legs gained an extra hinge joint, her hands and feet changed shape, her body gained more mass, and her face extended into a jaw.
Sunset watched in amazement as the masked woman changed from a human… into a full-grown, howling wolf!
“AW!!! PUPPY!!!” Loli, on the other hand, clearly wasn’t fully aware that the situation was not in their favor. Pinkie’s wide eyes and smile gave a similar impression. Nor did they seem to care as the Phantom Wolf pounced and smacked them away with her tail!
The Phantom turned to Twilight and Sunset and knocked them away as well before catching the bag in her maw and bolting off. But before she could go far, the Guard tackled her to the ground, knocking the bag out of her mouth before holding it shut with his armored hands! However, she glowed and shifted again, this time taking on the form of a much bigger animal; a gorilla. With practically no effort, she grabbed the guard and flung him into the library. She found the book on the ground and jumped towards it. But a flash of light blinded her as she landed and she missed. As her vision cleared, she looked back and saw Sunset run towards the book.
“Oh no you don’t,” she said as she jumped towards Sunset, who barely dodged, diving to the ground as Twilight fired a bolt of energy at their assailant. The Phantom took the hit with little effort and swung again, this time stopped by a counter swing from Pinkie’s hammer. But before she could throw another punch- “Wait… what? Why can’t I move?” She looked at her raised fist, suspended against her will. “There weren’t any binding runes in the area!”
“Luckily, I don’t need one,” Loli said, walking in front of the Phantom with her satchel bag. Loli pointed down and that’s when the Phantom noticed a black streak connecting both of their shadows.
“Oh… impressive,” the Phantom said.
“You know, you could’ve opened with that,” Sunset said, getting up.
“Hey, it’s not my fault! She turned into a cute, little puppy,” Loli said in defence.
“First of all, cuteness is in the eye of the beholder,” Sunset replied.
“I thought that was beauty,” Pinkie said.
“Second,” Sunset said, ignoring the remark, “pretty sure five foot ten on all fours does not qualify as little.” Sunset finally got back on track when she saw what Loli was holding. “So, what is it?” she asked.
Loli shrugged and began to open the bag.
“Kids, I’m warning you,” the Phantom said. “Do not open that bag. You may not like what you see.”
But Sunset didn’t care. Loli pulled the book out and read the front cover.
“The Ancient Art of the Sentinels: Guide to the Guardians of the Stars.” Loli raised an eyebrow. “Huh. I was really expecting something a little more on the necromancy side. Not sure why, but…” She looked up to ask Sunset her opinion, but was worried by the look on her face. “Yo, Sunny? You there?” Loli was shocked when Sunset grabbed the book from her and began flipping through the pages.
“No… no way…” Sunset’s expression was a mix of shock and terror. She walked over the the Phantom Ape and held the book up to her. “Do you have any idea what this is?!”
The Phantom tilted her head in confusion. “Yeah. I can’t remember the details, but something about holding some of the possible secrets to the power of some really powerful knights or warriors or whatever.”
“You said the person who hired you was in our class,” Sunset added. “What in Faust’s name would anyone in our class be doing with this?!”
“Hey, don’t ask me. I just deliver the package. Speaking of which…” The Phantom began to struggle a bit more and the strain on Loli was very obvious. Sweat poured down her face as she tried to keep the connection. “Don’t fight it.”
“That’s… grrr… my line,” Loli replied., putting all her focus into keeping the Phantom bound. “QUIT STRUGGLING!!!” Loli picked up her weapon from the wrapped end and used the hard, blunt handle to whack the Phantom, which caused her to calm down a bit… for a while.
“ARGH!!! WHAT THE HELL?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!” The Phantom shook her head and constantly adjusted her eyes to adapt to the repercussions of the hit. “Ooooh. THAT’S. IT!!!” She brought her fist down to the ground, shattering the earth beneath her and shaking the ground everywhere else. All four were knocked off their feet and the Loli lost her focus. The Phantom took advantage of this and drove her massive fist into Loli’s stomach and smashed her into the ground before turning to Sunset, who was reaching for her staff. She looked around and found the book once again in Twilight’s possession.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Twilight thought, too deep in thought to notice the Phantom jump towards her
Sunset finally got her hand on her weapon and rolled over to aim. The moment the fireball built up mass, she hurled it at the Phantom, but the later transformed again, but into something smaller, narrowly avoiding the attack. The Phantom, now a rather large raven, took to the skies, book in talons.
“Not that I didn’t have a little fun here,” she said, “But time is money and the sooner I can get this done, the sooner I can go back into retirement. Later, losers!” And with that, she shot off into the night in a blur of black.
Sunset charged a fireball and watched, but her target was already too far away for her to land a hit. She then realized-
“Loli!” She ran over to her downed friend, who was now struggling to get up. “Loli!”
Loli looked up, still winded. “Sunset…” she said, catching her breath, “I hate monkeys.” The sound of armored boots caught their attention and they turned to see a troop of Guards running towards them. “Are we, uh… are we in trouble?”
Sunset looked at the Guards, then to an equally worried Twilight.
“I really hope not.”
Blueblood paced his room impatiently. It was almost 11pm and he was still waiting for even a report from his hired hand.
“Why is it so hard to find reliable work these days?” he asked himself. “Even the professionals are unprofessional!”
“I know, right?”
Blueblood jumped on hearing the familiar voice in the room and saw the Phantom sitting on the railing of the balcony outside his room.
“It’s so hard to find good help these days.”
Blueblood grumbled. He opened his mouth to tell her off about sneaking up on him… again, but she cut him off.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. “You hate it when I do that, blah blah blah!” I’m a thief, what did you think my greatest skill was?” She reached into her bag and held out her prize. “By the way, I got your stupid bo-”
“GIMME!!!” Blueblood reach out to snatch the book from her, but she moved it just out of her reach.
“Uh-uh-uh! You have to settle my retirement first. This is my last job after all,” she said with a smug grin.
Blueblood growled. He was growing increasingly tired of the Phantom, but the book was right there. He didn’t care for anything else. He reached into his pocket for his phone and completed the transaction online. There was an audible ping once the money was transferred.
“There! Five million bits! Now hand it-” Before he finished, the Phantom tossed the book to him. Blueblood caught it and opened it up immediately. His excitement slowly faded into confusion, then anger. “Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?”
The Phantom shrugged. “Hey, I don’t know what’s in it, I don’t want to know, and whatever’s in it is your problem.”
“The problem is what’s NOT in it!” Blueblood shoved the blank pages of the book in the Phantom’s face. “Which is spells, knowledge, and the information I needed it for!”
The Phantom leaned in, as if hoping to see hidden writing on the blank pages.
“Well, ain’t that something. Guess Celestia had a failsafe in case someone was actually able to steal it.”
Blueblood’s eye twitched. “You mean I wasted my time and money searching for an enchanted book I can’t even USE?!” Blueblood was red with rage and threw the book across the room.
“Huh… the girl could read it just fine. Maybe the book doesn’t like you,” she joked.
But Blueblood didn’t care as much for the joke as he did for the statement before it.
“Wait… what girl?” he asked. The Phantom looked confused. “You said a girl could read it.”
“Yeah, but-”
“Who is she?”
The Phantom was worried. Blueblood had a look; the kind of look that makes one hesitant to give a name. “Uh… I don’t know. She had really weird hair. Besides, there was more than one and it's hard to tell who's what when fighting at night.”
“With any luck,” she thought to herself, “he has no idea who they are.”
“Weird hair, you say?” he asked, thinking. “Best I can tell are the emo, Celestia’s former pupil, and the pink pain in my royal-”
“Uh… who?” the Phantom asked, playing dumb.
“Never mind,” Blueblood said. “I think I know where to look. They’re most probably in my class if they were too weak to stop you.”
“Wow… a compliment… sort of.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” the Phantom thought. “But I probably should be worried about you… and Sunset.”