//------------------------------// // Darkest Hour Part Three! - Twilight Crusaders // Story: Twilight the Third // by MagnetBolt //------------------------------// Celestia looked at the three orbs in front of her. Three blank, stone orbs. She'd had plans. Lots of plans. Most of them had revolved around Sunset Shimmer learning about the magic of friendship, and when that had fallen through she'd settled for giving her enough responsibility and power to halt the downward spiral she'd fallen into. Celestia had assumed that, with the prophesy unfolding, she just had to put Sunset at the right place at the right time and things would work out. She'd even sent some trustworthy, loyal, kind ponies along with her and made sure that they'd work together. They were supposed to discover the magic of friendship and then Harmony would just sort of make things work out. Instead, she was sitting in her throne room, looking at three slumbering Elements and she could already sense that her sister was free. She didn't even have to look at the moon to know the shadow across it had vanished. "Let me get this straight," Celestia said, trying to remain calm. "You're telling me that Twilight Sparkle, master thief, just so happened to steal half of the Elements of Harmony right before you arrived." Cadance bit her lip and looked at Sunset Shimmer. Sunset returned her look. Shining Armor stood rigidly at attention, sweating and red-faced with what Celestia could only assume was a near-infinite amount of shame. Rainbow Dash stared down at her own hooves, her wings twitching with her desire to be anywhere else. Applejack just looked annoyed and was clearly restraining herself from saying something. The only sign of Fluttershy was a trail of pink tail that led to where she was hiding behind Rainbow Dash. It was actually surprising how well she was able to hide behind the Wonderbolt, considering Rainbow Dash was somewhat short for a pegasus. "...More or less?" Cadance offered, looking sheepish. "On a scale of one to ten, how bad is this?" Dash asked. "Seventeen," boomed a voice from the other end of the throne room. From a shadowy miasma of dark magic like a tapestry of darkness spreading across a white marble wall with the flow of ink on paper, Nightmare Moon stepped into the room, smiling smugly at Celestia. "Please leave us," Celestia said, quietly. "My sister and I have much to discuss, apparently." "Indeed," Nightmare Moon agreed, ignoring the other ponies that fled the room. She waited for all of them to leave, examining the decor. "Hm. An interpretation of old Pegasopilian cloud palace design. The gold is a bit tacky, isn't it?" "Brass, actually," Celestia commented, watching Nightmare Moon strut around the throne room. "Ah, but what am I doing? It's been so long, Sister. A thousand years since you banished me to an airless rock." Her eyes flared with light, and the tiles under Nightmare Moon's hooves cracked. "You were going to destroy Equestria," Celestia said. Nightmare Moon was abruptly in Celestia's face, inches from her snout, her motion so smooth that it was more like the space between them had vanished than she'd actually stepped closer. "You know what the truth is, Sister?" Nightmare Moon hissed. "You could have stopped all this." "You're right," Celestia said. "And I still can." Nightmare Moon rushed back as Celestia's horn started glowing, ready to weave a defensive spell to deflect whatever she was preparing. Instead, Celestia's tiara rose from her head and she put it down on the floor. "I'm not going to fight you, Luna." She looked up at her sister, her eyes tired, showing some fraction of her age where her composure had cracked. "I would lose my sister, my life, or my kingdom, and most likely all three at once." "At least you admit that I am your better," Nightmare Moon snorted. "It was never worth it, Luna. The choice I had to make, I mean. Between you and Equestria. I thought I couldn't be loyal to both at once. It was a decision between duty and family." "And you chose duty." "Worse. I took the coward's path of doing nothing until it was too late." Celestia sat down, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry." There was a flash of teal-blue light, and Celestia froze in place, as still as a statue. Exactly as still as a statue. Nightmare Moon walked around her, making sure the petrification spell was complete. "Sorry isn't good enough." She picked up Celestia's tiara in her magic and tried it on, removing her helmet for a moment. Nightmare Moon summoned a mirror and examined her reflection. "Hm. Not my color." She tossed it aside and sat on the throne. She could get used to this. Episode 21 Darkest Hour Part Three! - Twilight Crusaders "I doomed Equestria," Twilight mumbled, her face down on the table. "My brother was right about the slippery slope thing. It starts with stealing books, and before you know it, boom, end of the world." "Anyone want more tequila?" Gilda asked. Twilight pushed her glass forwards for a refill. She wasn't going to ask how Gilda had found a bottle of tequila in Sugarcube Corner. Since Pinkie Pie worked there, she just assumed the Cakes needed some help getting through the day. "Let's look on the bright side," Rarity started. "In a few days..." she trailed off. "There aren't going to be any more days," Maud noted. "Does anyone want a cupcake?" Pinkie offered. "I don't think we're going to sell many today, and they're not as good if they go stale." "I'll take one," Maud said. "Where did that handsome batpony get off too?" Rarity asked. "Moonsilver?" Twilight asked, shrugging. "He's probably out sucking blood. I hear most vampires prefer maidens with ripped bodices and suffering from fainting spells, and we don't have any of those here." "I have a bodice," Rarity pouted. "You'd never rip it," Twilight smirked. "And if he did, you'd start yelling at him about how much the materials cost." "Well I don't wear cheap clothing, Twilight!" Rarity huffed. "I use the best, especially for myself." "Plus you're not a maiden," Gilda put in. "You can't prove that! A lady doesn't kiss and tell!" Rarity yelled. "I donno," Pinkie Pie shrugged. "It seems to me like most ladies don't have much kissing to tell anypony about. It's way more fun to not be a lady! You get to do more than kissing and you can tell your friends!" "Wisdom," Gilda nodded, raising her glass to Pinkie. The pink pony held up the cupcake she was nibbling, toasting with Gilda and leaving a smudge of frosting on the side of the glass. "There has to be something we can do," Twilight said. "I don't feel right about accidentally destroying the order of the world." "Darling, it's simple," Rarity said. "We'll just go to Canterlot and smooth things out. We're owed quite a few favors. I'm sure if we're polite things will be back to normal before you know it. Nightmare Moon seems like a reasonable mare." "Moonsilver," Nightmare Moon said, from her throne. She held an apple in her mane, slowly peeling the skin with her magic. "Yes, my Queen?" Moonsilver asked, appearing at her side, already kneeling. "Would you be a dear and kill Celestia's minions? They're hardly trustworthy ponies and I can't afford to let ponies know about the Elements." "Of course," Moonsilver said, fading into the shadows. "Before we do anything, we're going to start with the one thing we should have done," Twilight said. "Gilda, how many jobs have we gone on where we knew absolutely nothing?" "Too many," Gilda said. "Exactly," Twilight agreed, nodding. "And every single time, we get in over our heads. Tartarus, remember when we broke into that one stallion's mansion and we didn't even know where the safe was? All we got out of it was an old vase that you thought might be an antique!" "And it ended up being from Barnyard Bargains, I know," Gilda huffed. "Right. We wouldn't try to rob a bank without casing the place first, and we walked right into this one like a bunch of blind foals because we were chasing after a big payday." "So what, we wait in Canterlot and case the joint?" Gilda asked. "I don't think that's a good idea." "No, we're going to do research. Now that we know we were working for Nightmare Moon, we can look up information on her, these Elements of Harmony, and try to figure out if this is a really bad decision or something we can live with." Twilight smiled. "There's a library in town," Pinkie Pie added. "It's inside a tree! Which is sort of weird if you think about it." "Because you're putting books made out of trees inside a tree?" Maud asked. "No, because none of the other buildings were designed like that," Pinkie said. "If you could make trees as big as houses you'd make more than one, right? Then we could have a bunch of treehouses instead of thatched-roof cottages! The thatch is a big fire hazard when the dragon migration comes through." "Lead the way," Twilight said. "It's a start, right? I mean a little library probably won't have anything, but I'd feel stupid if we walked away and the book we needed ended up being here." Pinkie led them out of the bakery and towards the center of town. Not far from town hall, the library was easy to spot, even in the gloom of the endless night. With curtains drawn and ponies staying indoors, the walk was eerie, like it was a ghost town. The clock tower said it was almost noon, though only the moon was overhead. "At least the librarian is awake," Maud said. There were lights in the windows. "That's good!" Pinkie smiled. "Also strange! We haven't had a librarian since the incident with the Happy Kelp and Seaweed Burger shop that opened on Dagon Street on the night of the new moon." "Dare I ask?" Rarity mumbled. "You're lucky you weren't here when it happened, Rarity. It was a tragedy," Pinkie Pie sighed. "Turns out librarians don't make a lot of money. He quit and became the assistant manager at the burger shop, and Mayor Mare never found anypony else to take his old job." Twilight knocked on the door. A murmur of ponies talking inside died down to nothing. It had been so hushed and quiet before that she hadn't even really noticed until it was gone. The door creaked open. "Hey, we were just hoping we could use the library for a little... while..." Twilight trailed off as she looked into the angry eyes of the mare who had opened the door. "You." Sunset Shimmer growled. "Is this a bad time?" Twilight asked, starting to sweat. A teal aura pinched her ear and dragged her inside. She shot a look back at Rarity. "Save yourselves! No, wait, save me first!" "I wasn't really feeling like reading tonight anyway," Gilda said, backing away. "I'll let you have your fun and-" She bumped into something. She looked back. Rainbow Dash was glaring at her, like she'd been there for a while already. She looked at Dash and smiled. Dash did not smile back. "I'll just go inside, then?" Gilda offered. Dash nodded. "Hi Applejack!" Pinkie Pie said, looking in the door. "Wow! It's like the gang's all here! Have you met my sister, Maud? It turns out Rarity's friends with her! Rarity, you should say hi!" "It's probably better just to go with it," Maud said, quietly. With eleven ponies (well, ten ponies and a griffon) inside it, the library was quickly starting to feel full, especially for the five that were being glared at by the rest. Sunset Shimmer had shoved the five rogues into a magic circle to keep them contained, the area just a little too small to be comfortable for then. "Before you start, I just want to say, all of us thought we were working for Princess Celestia," Twilight said, quickly. "And we made some bad decisions, and we're very..." "Sorry," Rarity offered. "Very sorry," Twilight continued. "And also, uh..." "Stupid," Gilda said. "Very stupid. Hey!" Twilight frowned. "What are we going to do with them?" Shining Armor asked, ignoring Twilight. "That circle will hold them for a few hours, even if they're clever," Sunset Shimmer said. "We can be in Canterlot by then. We just need a plan." "I've got a plan," Rainbow Dash said. "It's a really good one." "We are not going to fly in and kick her in the snout," Cadance said, sounding exhausted. It sounded like she'd heard this plan before. Several times. She stumbled in from the balcony and collapsed against Shining Armor, breathing heavily and sweating. "Any luck raising the sun?" Sunset asked, looking at the princess with a surprising amount of worry. She didn't even sound angry. "I don't think it's going to work," Cadance said. "I'm sorry, everypony." "It was worth a try," Shining Armor said. "You did your best." "I don't wanna be a downer, but we ain't got long to sit and work on this," Applejack said. "You know how long plants last without sunlight? Even if it don't get so cold we all freeze, a week or two with no sun and crops are gonna fail." "I know. I know!" Sunset muttered, rubbing her eyes. "If we can just figure out the Elements of-" She looked up. "Fluttershy, stop flirting with the dark forces of evil!" Fluttershy blushed, stepping back from where she'd been getting closer to the magic circle. "I-I wasn't flirting," Fluttershy said, tugging on her long mane. "You were making bedroom eyes at Sparkle," Sunset said. "Fluttershy, I know how this goes. She's going to seduce you and use you to escape." "I don't mind the seduction part," Fluttershy whispered. Sunset groaned. "Look, you've really misjudged us," Rarity said. "As Twilight said, she's very sorry and stupid. We took a job to disable what was described as a magical weapon." "And you didn't ask any questions?" Applejack asked. "You didn't think 'sure is strange how Celestia is gettin' a bunch of crooks to do this when she could pick ponies she could trust.'" "When one is being paid well enough, they don't ask questions," Rarity huffed. "Everypony," Princess Cadance said, standing up to her full height, which would have been more impressive if she'd been the tallest pony in the room. "With Celestia... indisposed, I am technically the head of the Equestrian government. That probably scares me even more than it does any of you!" She smiled weakly. "Now, I think there are a few things to take care of. I know your mother raised you better than to end the world, Twilight." "We were going to fix it!" Twilight protested. "Or you were coming here to take us out," Sunset muttered. "I don't know, they seemed awfully surprised to see us," Fluttershy mumbled. "She's just in a bad mood because she's hungry," Pinkie Pie said. She gave Sunset a cupcake. "This one's made with extra butter drizzled over it and a honey-buttercream icing!" Before Sunset could say anything, Pinkie Pie made her take a bite. "Oh, that's actually really good," Sunset said, through the crumbs. "Wait, how did you get out of the-" "How did I what?" Pinkie Pie asked, confused, from within the magic circle. "How- I don't-" Sunset looked at the others for help. "Don't ask, sugarcube," Applejack sighed. "Ain't no one ever found an answer." "Nightmare Moon has the Elements," Princess Cadance said. "We need to get them back if we're going to mount any kind of resistance." "She'll keep them in the Canterlot underloft. There's a series of vaults, very secure." Shining Armor started pacing. "I don't know how many agents she has. Probably not many, but she'd definitely keep the Elements guarded." "It's going to be difficult," Cadance sighed. "Maybe if we go quietly, we can sneak in before she knows we're there." "She'll find out," Sunset said. "The best option is to smash through and go as quickly as possible. Don't give her any time to react." "Um, excuse me?" Fluttershy timidly looked around the room. "I-it sounds like we're planning on breaking in and stealing things. Maybe we should ask an expert?" "An expert?" Sunset frowned. "What do you- oh no." She looked at Twilight Sparkle, who was starting to grin. "No. No no no." "Okay, so," Twilight said, spreading a roll of paper out on the table. "We're going to have to break up into three teams." She sketched a map of Canterlot, a loose image of the castle. "The undercroft is the lowest layer of the castle," Shining Armor said. "It's the foundations, sunk into the mountain to give the castle support. The whole Canterhorn is full of crystal caves, and the original architects didn't want the capital to fall into a sinkhole, so they built down to make sure it had a secure hoofprint." "Any chance we can go in through the caves?" Gilda asked. "They're half natural, half mines that have been worked sporadically over the last few centuries," Shining Armor said. "There are maps, but they're so old that the only place we'd be able to get a copy would be the Canterlot Archives." "And at that point we're so close to the Canterlot Undercroft that we're running into the same worries and defenses," Cadance sighed. "Right, and any maps could be centuries out of date. Even if they were accurate when they were made..." Twilight shrugged. "Cave-ins," Maud said. "Flooding. Changes made after the maps were drawn. Maybe even subterranean creatures. We had Diamond Dogs on the rock farm once. Once." The way she repeated it made it clear that they wouldn't make that mistake again. "That's why we'll need three teams," Twilight said. "One team is going to distract Nightmare Moon with a frontal attack. The goal won't be to defeat her, just to keep her attention." "That sounds like a job for me," Sunset smirked. "You'll want to take Princess Cadance and my brother with you," Twilight said. "Nopony is more tenacious than Shining Armor, and an alicorn will make sure that Nightmare Moon thinks it's the real plan." "And everypony else?" Applejack asked. "Team two is going to, for lack of a better term, do exactly what Sunset said and try to smash and grab." Twilight tapped a hoof on the map, thinking. "The real purpose is to set off any traps and alert guards and then run away. If they somehow get through to the vault, great, plan is on fast-forward. If not, any defenses around the vault will be exposed and pointing the wrong way. If Nightmare Moon takes an interest in them, they'll be caught and she'll think she's so clever for stopping us." "I can see where this is going," Gilda sighed. "Just like Trotonto." "Team three is going to use the chaos to sneak into the vault. Any alarms will already be tripped, everypony will think they're dealing with the real threat, and they'll slide in and grab the Elements." Twilight smirked. "Normally it takes a lot of ponies to do a job like this. Thankfully, we've got a lot of ponies." "How are we going to find the Elements?" Gilda asked. "Do we have a layout of the undercroft and the vaults?" "Shining?" Twilight looked at him. He took the quill and drew a surprisingly precise grid of dots. Fluttershy's ears twitched and she looked down. "What's wrong?" Pinkie Pie asked, following her gaze. A mouse darted out of the shadows of the table, scurrying across the floor and under a bookcase. "Oh, nothing," Fluttershy said. "I just thought I heard something." "This would be easier with graph paper..." He muttered. "Okay, so the undercroft was originally constructed from regularly spaced columns to provide the foundations of the castle." He indicated the grid. "Over time, walls were built between the columns to divide up the space into rooms." He started drawing lines between the dots. "Over time, rooms were connected or walled off from each other, and now we have essentially three independent areas. First, there's the wine cellar." He indicated one area, reinforcing the outlines around it. "It's under the kitchen and also serves as a pantry for rare and expensive foods, magically preserved in stasis spells." "The second area is the dungeon." He noted another area. "It's not a prison, just a jail. Temporary storage for ponies awaiting trial. Despite the name it's clean and well-lit, but almost impossible to escape." "The last part is the vaults." It was the largest area on the map. "There is a lot of storage down there. Most of it isn't what you think. It's not big rooms full of gold or gems, just... stuff. Dresses, couches. Near the stairs there's some stuff that gets regularly used, like tables and chairs for events at the castle, but even a few rooms back and it's just full of cobwebs and dust. Way in the back are the secure vaults." Shining Armor indicated the rough locations. "There are a few. From what I've been told, they were built as needed to house dangerous or expensive items. The newest one is here-" he tapped the quill. "So that's the most secure and where the Elements most likely are." "Why wouldn't she just keep the Elements with her?" Dash asked. "That's what I'd do with something that dangerous." "Darling, please," Rarity scoffed. "That would be inviting disaster. If there's only one thing that can stop you, you want to keep as far away from it as possible, not sit on it like a dragon with a horde of dynamite." "If she does have them, then the first team, confronting her directly, will have a chance to grab them," Twilight shrugged. "Honestly, we've got a limited window of opportunity and not a lot of inside information. Sunset Shimmer is absolutely right that we can't give Nightmare Moon time to react. The important thing to remember is that despite everything else, we aren't invading her home turf. She's on yours, and you know it better. She hasn't had time to prepare herself or fortify. That's going to change. Nightmare Moon will get more followers, rewrite or dispel more of the defensive enchantments on Canterlot, and, importantly, she hasn't had time to start planning against us directly." Moonsilver's hooves landed silently on the paper. "Oh, I don't know about that," the vampony said, smiling. "She sent me to take care of this little issue. I didn't expect you'd turn against her, Twilight. It's too bad. You'd have made an excellent vampony, but now you'll have to die." "Are you... threatening us?" Rainbow Dash asked, tilting her head. "I just want to be clear on that." Moonsilver sighed and flexed his hoof, a blade springing out from along his fetlock from a hidden spring-loaded sheath. "Moonsilver, let me introduce you around the table," Twilight said. "We've got Sunset Shimmer, who hunts down creatures of darkness for a living. Cadance, immortal alicorn and head of the Equestrian Government-in-Exile. Shining Armor, captain of the Royal Guard. Rainbow Dash, who's good at flying, I guess?" "Hey!" Dash glared at Twilight. "I'm the best at flying!" "Okay, she's the best at flying. Fluttershy, who is as cute as a button." Twilight winked. "Um..." She waved a hoof at Applejack. "Duchess Applejack Apple," the farmer provided. "She did quite well for herself during a rather troublesome robbery. Low-class thugs, Twilight, you wouldn't have liked them." Rarity smiled. "And over here, well..." Twilight shrugged. "You know this half of the team already. My question is, do you really want to end the day with all your bones broken, on fire, shot full of holes, and wearing a dress?" "Wearing a dress?" Moonsilver asked, momentarily confused. "I'm sure Rarity knows some combat tailoring," Twilight noted. "That does sound troubling," Moonsilver agreed. "I wouldn't even look good in a dress. Well, perhaps something with a long slit along the flank to show off my legs." "Sunset, do you want to do the honors?" Twilight asked. "Don't mind if I do," Sunset said, raising her head and... looking confused. "You're probably wondering why your magic isn't working," Moonsilver said. "I'd suggest you all look down." A runic circle crackled with grounded energy under their hooves, the wood floor blackening as the once-invisible circle discolored the wood. "It's already immobilized you and drained your magical energy," Moonsilver said. "You were doomed the moment your hooves touched the ground." "When did you even draw it?!" Sunset demanded. Pinkie pie gasped. "The mouse!" "Not as agile as a bat, but still a useful form for avoiding attention," Moonsilver said. "I was able to draw the critical runes while you were busy making your little plans. Now, I'll try to make this quick. I'm a monster, after all, but not a monster." "Hey, uh, smart guy." Rainbow Dash tapped Moonsilver on the shoulder and punched him in the snout when he turned to look. "See, this is why I always fly." "In case you run into magical traps?" Applejack raised an eyebrow skeptically. "No, because I'm awesome," Dash said. Moonsilver swiped at her with his blade, the weapon barely missing her neck as she reared back. "Boast after you're done fighting!" Sunset snapped. Dash punched him again, Moonsilver ducking down to avoid it. She caught a blow from one of his wings, almost sending her to the floor. Rainbow Dash caught herself on the edge of the table and grabbed the paper map Shining Armor and Twilight had been drawing, pulling on it like it was a tablecloth. Moonsilver was caught off-guard, tripping and landing on his back. "I need a wooden stake!" Dash yelled. "T-bone or porterhouse?" Pinkie asked. "Crossbow bolts under my left wing!" Gilda yelled. "Got it!" Dash flew over to her and started rummaging around in her feathers. Moonsilver picked himself off of the table and glared at Dash. "You don't understand what kind of force you're dealing with!" He yelled. "One lucky hit isn't going to save you!" Dash pulled the bolts out and charged, trying to stab the vampony with a steel-tipped wooden shaft. Moonsilver waited until the last moment, then pivoted and sliced along Dash's fetlock, opening a long, shallow cut. Dash yelped in pain and missed a turn in the tight space of the library, hitting a bookshelf with enough force to rain childrens books down around her head as she hit the floor, just outside of the magic circle. "You don't have a chance," Moonsilver said, hovering above the ground. He threw a book and the shelf broke, coming down on Dash's rear legs and pinning her to the ground. "Ow!" Dash yelled. She tried to pull herself free. Moonsilver landed and started walking towards her, and she tugged harder, trying to get to safety. Her hoof touched one of the bolts she'd taken, the other scattered on the ground. "Stay still and it will be relatively painless," Moonsilver advised. "I gotta warn you, I'm still armed," Dash said, picking up the bolt. She twisted her body towards Moonsilver. "With a single bolt, no bow, and no leverage," Moonsilver noted. "What are you planning? Are you going to throw it at me?" "Something like that." Dash tucked the bolt between two of her primaries and grit her teeth, bracing herself for pain. Electric force crackled along her wing and twisted into a vortex. The steel head on the bolt caught the magnetic field lines and launched, ripping two of her feathers to shreds as it jumped into the air at hypersonic speed. Moonsilver had no time to react. The bolt hit his chest as a cloud of splinters and flame, the friction from the air enough to make the wood catch fire. A splinter wouldn't normally have the force to penetrate to a pony's heart, but dozens, moving at high speed, were more than enough to do the job. The blade clattered to the ground along with his clothing, dust raining down where he once stood. "Oh Celestia, that sucks," Dash hissed. "I'm gonna be lopsided for months!" She managed to flip over and kick herself free of the bookshelf, cracking a few of the boards to free a pinned hoof. "What was that?" Twilight asked. "Secret Wonderbolt technique," Dash said. "Generate a huge electrical charge and launch a steel bolt using the magnetic force. The only problem is it completely shreds at least two primaries every time. You have to use them to guide the metal and the current just tears them apart at the root." She held up a wing, showing the blood on her feathers. "It's not the kind of thing you can do as a repeat performance. Until I molt that's gonna cause a lot of turbulence." "Can you still fly?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, but don't ask me to do a triple inverted split-s until next spring." Dash shrugged. "How do I get you guys out of here?" "See if there's salt in the kitchen," Sunset said. "The library has accommodations for a caretaker and they might have left some non-perishables." "On it!" Dash saluted and trotted back, injured wing twitching. By comparison she didn't seem to have even noticed the wound on her leg. She returned back with a squat container. "Does it matter if it's sea salt or iodized or whatever?" Dash asked. "No. Just throw a hoof-ful at each of us," Sunset said. She winced and yelled as Dash did it without warning. "Damn it to Tartarus, Dash! You got it in my eyes!" She stumbled free, the salt glowing and crackling as she was freed of the curse. "Sorry! My bad! Who's next?" Dash grinned. "I wonder if it's true that you can see and hear, even like this?" Nightmare Moon asked, as she paced around Celestia's statue. She'd left her in the throne room, as a reminder of who really ruled Equestria now to all who came to visit her. "I know you're not dreaming. I'd have invaded your dreams, otherwise." Nightmare Moon sighed. "I'm almost tempted to release you just so you can do the paperwork for me. I should have known that you'd turn the government into a labyrinth of forms and red tape in my absence. You were hopelessly addicted to process and procedure." She looked at the statue as if expecting a reply. All she saw was Celestia, still in the same, sorrowful pose, as still as only marble could be. "How does it feel for your plans to come to nothing?" Nightmare Moon asked, leaning closer. "To have everypony fail you when you need them most? By now even your former student and adopted daughter are dead!" The doors to the throne room burst open. "I was going to make some kind of dramatic speech about how we're here to stop you," Sunset Shimmer said, "But if you're busy making out with a statue of Celestia, I can come back later." "I am not-" Nightmare Moon realized how close her face was to her sister's and pulled back, stepping away to glare at the intruders. "So, I suppose my agent has failed to kill you." "If you want I can get a dustpan and sweep him up so you can ask the idiot yourself," Sunset said. Her horn blazed with energy and a ball of teal light formed in front of her before collapsing into a pencil-thin line of energy, the air ringing as it sliced across the marble towards Nightmare Moon. The Dark Queen blinked in surprise, deflecting it with a shimmering hexagonal shield, the beam cutting through the outer wall and into the sky over Canterlot. The moment the assault ended, she launched a blast of force across the room, only for a pink wall of energy to surround Sunset Shimmer. "We're going to stop you," Shining Armor said. "You can't stand up to-" "Oh, are you going to tell me about love and harmony and friendship?" She asked, sweetly. "You sound just like my dear sister." Her grin twisted, showing fangs. "I hated when my sister did that!" "I don't see why I couldn't go fight Nightmare Moon," Dash whispered, as she followed Gilda through the catacombs. "Taking on her elite guard isn't enough?" Gilda asked. "Assuming she has an elite guard." "Eh, I'm more of a 'punch the boss in the face' type of hero," Dash shrugged. "If it wasn't for my wing being hurt I could totally take her on. Just bam!" Dash punched the air. "Right in the face! Totally worked on the vampire, remember?" "I remember," Maud said. "It was less than a day ago." "Well of course it's less than a day!" Pinkie Pie smiled. "Since the sun hasn't gone anywhere it hasn't been a day at all!" "Are you sure she'll be okay?" Gilda asked Maud. "She's not really..." "I know she's not a fighter," Maud said. "But if she's here I can keep her safe. Besides, we're a distraction, and no pony is more distracting than Pinkie Pie." "Hold up," Dash said, peeking around the corner. "I see somepony." The others quietly looked down the corridor. Two unicorns in cloaks and armor patrolled the floor, keeping to such a tight path that when they approached each other one had to step aside and wait for the other to pass before stepping back into line and following his hoofsteps. "The floor must have pressure plates," Gilda muttered. "Are they guards, or cultists?" Pinkie Pie asked. "The armor says guard, but that cloak screams quasi-religious institution." "If you're that curious maybe you should ask," Dash muttered sarcastically. "Good idea!" Pinkie agreed, walking towards them. "Hey, excuse me!" The two turned to look at Pinkie, surprised to see anypony. "Are you guards, or cultists?" The two looked at each other and drew weapons, curved blades like crescent moons held in their magic. "I think they're both!" Pinkie Pie reported. Her tail twitched, and she ducked down with a quack of surprise, the blades flying through the air and almost catching her mane. She stood up and jumped to the side when her ears wiggled, the blades hitting the ground where she'd been standing and embedding themselves. "Okay, I admit, she's good." Dash said. "How'd she even see those things?" "Pinkie Sense," Maud replied, flatly. She stepped out into the corridor and glanced at the ancient stone wall next to her. Before the guards could draw more weapons, she tapped the stone, took a step to the right, and bucked. A long crack ran up the wall and along the ceiling, a rock as big as a pony's head dislodging and landing next to the cultists. "You missed?" Gilda asked, surprised. The rock sank into the ground half an inch as ancient mechanisms clicked into place. The two guards looked at each other in dismay. The floor rumbled, and a wave of water slammed into them like the blast of a high-pressure hose, carrying them away and towards a chute that opened up as they neared the wall. "I don't miss," Maud said. "Well that wasn't so bad!" Dash grinned. She flew over to where Maud had hit the wall and tapped it. "I gotta learn that trick. Just hi-ya!" "Wait!" Maud cautioned, a moment too late. Dash punched the weakened wall in just the right spot - or the wrong spot, depending on whom you were asking - and it collapsed into the space beyond. Unfortunately, the space beyond was the Royal Guard barracks, currently occupied, as Dash learned with a quick count as she made eye contact with them, several dozen Nightmare Moon cultists in various states of undress. "Uh," Dash coughed. "Sup?" "Do y' think it's workin'?" Applejack whispered. Twilight shushed her, pressing against the wall in the darkness. A sound was getting louder. Shouting and hooves pounding on stone. It was a sound she knew well - an angry mob. Rainbow Dash shot past the intersection, carrying Maud and flying in a wobbly, unstable path, her ruined primaries and the extra weight of an earth pony forcing her to make constant corrections. Gilda was right on her tail, Pinkie riding on her back and waving to Twilight as they went past. A few seconds after that, almost two dozen ponies in armor charged past, spells and crossbow bolts flying through the air. "Oh my," Fluttershy said, walking silently past Twilight to watch. "Are they going to-" A single trailing guard, tripping over poorly-fastened greaves, looked at her. "Um..." Fluttershy had to think fast. She pointed. "T-they went that way." He nodded and started that way, then turned, gears finally starting to turn in his head. A rock, surrounded in a sky-blue aura, hit between his eyes with enough force to knock him out. "Please be more careful," Rarity sighed. "If he hadn't been an idiot, he would have been yelling for help." "Gotta admit, that's a pretty darn good distraction, though," Applejack said. "No kidding," Twilight said. "The way to the vault should be clear." She slipped into the corridor and quietly made her way towards the secure section. "It's just too bad Shiny didn't know much about the actual lock." "Well, it was installed by Princess Celestia, so no doubt it's something understated and extremely difficult to crack," Rarity said. "She's a mare of taste and class-" she stopped, cheeks turning red. "What's wrong?" Applejack asked. "This is extremely embarrassing, especially for a professional," Rarity said, her voice strained. "But... I believe I've stepped on a pressure plate." "No poison darts yet. It probably won't trigger until you move," Twilight said. "Can you disarm it?" Rarity asked. "Of course I can," Twilight said, dismissively. Her horn lit up as she felt around the mechanism. "I can disarm a trap like this in my-" there was a click and Twilight paled. "-sleep." "What did you do?!" Rarity demanded. Twilight shoved her out of the way, the mechanism surging into action as her weight shifted. Rarity fell to the side and safety, leaving Twilight in the line of fire with no way to escape. The trap launched its payload, hitting Twilight between the eyes with a dull splat. She fell to the ground, limp, a puddle forming around her. "Twilight!" Fluttershy gasped. She rolled Twilight over, fearing the worst. A metal disk was flat against her face, adhered with some kind of sticky ooze. Twilight pulled it free, coughing, her face covered in white foam and slime. "Oh Tartarus, it's banana creme!" Twilight said, sputtering. "I hate banana creme! And I think the cherry on top went up my nose!" "I admit, you are brave, if stupid," Nightmare Moon said, as she deflected another magical bolt, part of the ceiling subliminating into vapor from Sunset Shimmer's blast. "All we need is one lucky hit," Sunset said. "And with two of us, we can cast spells twice as fast as you can!" "My, you're very sure of yourself," Nightmare Moon snorted. "There's a critical flaw in your thinking, though, which is why I maintain that you're stupid." Nightmare Moon's next attack hit Shining Armor's shield with enough force to fling him back, carrying the barrier with him. Sunset saw it coming and had just enough time to teleport out of the way before the wall of magical force could bowl her over. Unfortunately, out of the way meant out of the shield, and exposed. "The flaw is that you're trying to use brute force against a goddess, when you are a mere pony," Nightmare Moon sneered. Stars glittered around her horn as her magic surged. Sunset flinched, trying to put together enough of a barrier to stop the attack. A ray of sunlight fell into Nightmare Moon's eyes, making her sneeze. The spell dissipated, and her confusion turned to absolute lividity as she realized what the light in her eyes was. "Who dares?!" She yelled, turning back to the petrified Celestia. She was still there, still locked in stone. A fireball went off at Nightmare Moon's hooves, throwing her across the room and into the throne, toppling it over as she slammed into it at high speed. "Looks like a goddess is still easy to distract," Sunset said. "While you're busy getting your flanked kicked by the strongest unicorn that ever lived, Cadance is out there getting rid of your Endless Night." There was a groan behind her. "And I guess Shining Armor is here, too." The throne exploded, and Nightmare Moon surged to her feet, mane raging around her like she was standing in the center of a hurricane. "I'm going to DESTROY you!" The difficulties in flying through tight corridors were many. You would think that indoors, with no weather to worry about, no crosswinds to blow you off track, that it was easy. The problem was, as Gilda learned, that the tight space meant that backwash and turbulence turned into a thick soup of roiling currents of air and maneuvers required split-second timing. If she'd kept up with flight practice instead of a life of crime and relative ease, if she wasn't carrying a pony on her back, and if she wasn't having to go flat-out as fast as she could to try and avoid the mob behind her, she might have managed to make the next turn. As it was, she instead slammed into the wall, though she had enough presence of mind to roll to make sure Pinkie Pie hit first. Pinkie Pie squeaked as she was stuck between a rock and a hardened criminal. "Get them, for the glory of our Dark Empress, Nightmare Moon!" One of the cultists yelled. "Wait!" Gilda yelled, holding up her talons. "Uh... I'm a cultist too! Go Nightmare Moon!" The charging ponies slowed, looking at each other. "Yeah, she's just... the moonest?" Gilda offered. "And... she's got a really nice butt?" "She does have a nice butt," whispered one of the cultists. "Her story checks out so far." "If you're really a member of Her Dark Ministries, then prove it!" One of the cultists, presumably one of the smarter ones, demanded. "Cake or Pie?!" "What?" Pinkie Pie asked, woozy. "I'm a Pie." "That was the easy part!" The cultist yelled. "What kind of pie?" "Moon... pie?" Gilda guessed. "HERESY!" The cultist screamed. "Moon pies are tiny cakes pretending to be pies!" "It was worth a try," Gilda hissed, grabbing her crossbow and firing wildly into the crowd, dragging Pinkie with her tail as she ducked into an alcove along the wall, arrows and magical beams clipping against the wall and floor as she dodged. "There's still some on your muzzle, darling," Rarity said. Twilight rubbed at her nose. "Did I get it?" "N-no, it's more-" Fluttershy leaned in and licked the thick creme off of Twilight's cheek, ending in a tiny kiss. The pegasus' cheeks burned red, almost as hot as the poorly-cloaked fury in Rarity's eyes. "Who would put a pie trap in a dungeon?" Applejack asked. "Aside from Pinkie Pie, I mean." "It's fresh, too," Twilight said. "And I don't sense magical preservatives. It can't be more than two or three days old." "Hey, look at this," Applejack said. She'd pried up a stone, finding the hatch used to load and maintain the trap after a few moments of work and feeling out the floor. "Now I ain't gonna say I'm an expert in traps or nothin, but it looks an awful lot like this trap was supposed to be a heck of a lot more dangerous." She tapped a hoof on the mechanism. The pie had been launched by a spring-loaded arm, and the original payload, glass vials filled with an ominously-green reagent, sat nearby. Fluttershy picked one up and uncorked it, sniffing cautiously. "It's sovereign glue," Fluttershy said, re-corking it. "It can be very dangerous when used improperly." "What would happen if we'd gotten this on us?" Twilight asked. "Well, um..." Fluttershy shivered. "It would make you stick to whatever you touched, permanently. You'd probably end up stuck to the floor or wall. It won't stick skin to skin, so you wouldn't suffocate, but even in the best-case scenario you'd have dust or pebbles or other ponies glued to you." "Non-lethal, then, but highly effective," Twilight said. "Grab the rest and take it with us in case we need it." Fluttershy nodded, carefully putting the vials in her padded bags. "Twilight, this was just changed," Rarity said. "And I doubt Nightmare Moon was the one who decided to add pie." "Celestia?" Twilight asked. "Who else?" Rarity sighed. "The question is why. You'd expect her to make the traps more dangerous, not less, if she was expecting trouble." "Unless she wanted to make it easy," Applejack said. "Y'all are thinking like Celestia wants to keep ponies out. If Nightmare Moon is really using the vault, Celestia would want t' make it easy for ponies to get inside." "If that was true, she'd have given us the combination to the door," Twilight said. "Not a high-velocity snack." "Maybe she trusts that y'all can crack open a vault door," Applejack retorted. "Well of course we can do that. Twilight and myself make the best team in Equestria," Rarity said, pointedly pulling Twilight closer and looking at Fluttershy out of the corner of her eye, smirking a little when the Pegasus looked down. The east tower of the castle exploded, sending flaming debris raining down over Canterlot. A chunk of stone as big as a house proved how apt that description was by landing on somepony's home and crushing it. Fires broke out across the city, blazing bright in the unsteady light, somewhere between an eclipse and dawn. "How dare you!" Nightmare Moon screamed, shoving what was left of a wall down onto a ceremonial garden that had been planted two centuries ago, the delicate, foreign flowers (one of which was all but extinct in the wild) pulping under the stone. Shining Armor shifted the shape of his shield, letting the debris fall to the side. Cadance was behind him, trying to focus on raising the sun. "And I thought Sunset Shimmer had a bad temper," Shining Armor muttered. Nightmare Moon stomped her hoof, and blue lightning crashed down on his shield, the spell making his shield warp and distort, his mane standing on end. "Not bad," Sunset said, from behind Nightmare Moon. "Using high-energy mana to get some spell penetration, huh? It's an old trick, but I guess you haven't heard of any new ones." Nightmare Moon whipped around, intercepting Sunset as the Unicorn slammed into her shield, horn first. Sunset's horn was surrounded by a corona of energy, the color shifting and changing. "Is your plan to annoy me to death?" Nightmare Moon hissed. "Right now my plan is to match frequencies with your magical shield," Sunset said. The color around her horn shifted to an indigo glow, and Nightmare Moon's shield tore like it was a web of gossamer, the alicorn blinking in surprise just before Sunset unleashed her spell, a wave of fire and force flinging her back. Nightmare Moon bounced off of Shining Armor's shield and out into the gardens, smashing through a fountain and rolling to her hooves before she'd even come to a full stop, armored shoes digging divots in the dirt as she skidded to a halt. "Okay, that didn't work as well as I hoped," Sunset muttered. Nightmare Moon fired a beam of magical power at her, and she blocked it with her own shield, not nearly as strong as Shining Armor's, but he couldn't afford to let Cadance go unprotected even for a moment. "I've always been good at learning new techniques," Nightmare Moon said, her eyes narrowed. The beam shifted colors, the aura around it vibrating, and Sunset's ward was torn apart. Sunset had no time to react as the beam crackled across her chest and shoulder, sparks flying. Sunset collapsed, eyes blurring. She struggled to focus enough through the waves of pain to cast healing spells to mitigate the damage. "Oh that does work well," Nightmare Moon purred, landing in front of her lightly. She leaned down to give Sunset a fang-filled smile. "Now let me show you the oldest trick in the book. I can only demonstrate this once for you, I'm afraid, so you're going to need to watch the birdie~" Nightmare Moon's horn started glowing, and Sunset braced herself for pain. A window shattered below them, and ponies flooded out onto the lawn chasing a blur of rainbow colors, the distraction breaking Nightmare Moon's concentration, the spell failing. "What in Tartarus is going on?!" Nightmare Moon demanded. "This was a bad plan." Maud said, from where Dash was holding her. Maud's grip was like an iron band around Dash's chest, not quite tight enough to crush her but completely unyielding. "If you wanna complain you can get off here!" Dash snapped, trying to focus on avoiding ornamental stonework as she flew through one of the upper corridors of the castle. Maud looked back at the ponies chasing her and down to the marble floor rushing beneath them. At this speed, neither was going to offer her much mercy if she fell. "Never mind. The plan was better than I thought." "Can you do anything to slow them down?" Dash asked. "Can't you outfly them?" Maud retorted. "Sure!" Dash smirked. "I could outfly them with one wing tied behind my back!" And with some of her primaries busted, it really did feel like she was trying to fly with only one wing. "But the plan is to keep their attention, remember?" The castle shook around them. A vase, probably expensive and ancient, was barely dodged as it was shaken from its place of honor, a cloud of dust spreading as it shattered. "Call me crazy, but-" Dash started. "You're crazy," Maud said, promptly. Dash gave her a look. "Sorry. It's a reflex. Pinkie Pie always laughs when I do that." "What I'm trying to say is, I don't think I can handle these turns much longer and we lost Gilda and Pinkie a while back and Nightmare Moon is probably tearing the castle apart." Dash paused. "Or maybe Sunset Shimmer is. Kind of a toss-up between those two." "We lost Pinkie?" Maud tried to twist to look back, throwing Dash off-course. "Woah, woah!" Dash yelled, as they smashed through an ornate window and into the open air. The thin glass barely slowed her down, and Wonderbolts training kicked in and she protected her face and tucked her wings, avoiding getting more than a few shallow cuts. When they were out in the open, Dash looked down at Maud. Somehow, the earth pony had avoided getting hurt at all. Cultists poured out of the broken window behind them, using the new shortcut to give chase across the grass. "What in Tartarus is going on?!" Boomed a voice from above. "Oh hey, it's Nightmare Moon," Maud said. Dash flew to the side on instinct, barely dodging a ball of plasma that would have turned her from the fastest flyer in Equestria into a roasted turkey. "This plan is getting worse all the time," Dash muttered. "I'm gonna strangle Twilight Sparkle next time I see her!" "Okay. I'm impressed," Twilight said, looking up at the vault. "I mean I should have known the Princess wouldn't go the cheap route, but... wow." "You wanna explain that awe for those of us who ain't professional thieves?" Applejack asked. She shrugged at the vault. It looked like nothing more than a wall of concrete, inlaid with gold designs, with no obvious handle or mechanism, just a small, deep hole, set head and shoulders above the tallest pony in the room. "So, the best safe in the world has two flaws, right?" Twilight asked. "First, anypony with the combination or key or whatever, they can open it. Maybe there's some trick to it to make it harder, but with enough time you can figure it out." "If you couldn't get it open it wouldn't be much use," Applejack said, flatly. "Sure. And the second flaw is that if you can't crack a safe, you can still break it open. It might take a while, but eventually you can pop it. If the contents aren't fragile, you can just blast it open." Twilight tapped a hoof against the solid concrete. "It rather lacks elegance if you do," Rarity noted. "And somepony, without naming names, has ruined more than one heist by using too much force and destroying the things they were trying to steal." "I forgot diamonds could burn!" Twilight groaned. "I thought I could melt the door off, okay?" "Instead we just got ashes. Really, Twilight, diamonds are just a very fancy type of coal when you get down to it." Rarity sighed. "So this here vault," Applejack said. "How do we open it?" "We can't," Twilight said. "Darling, please, there's no such thing as can't," Rarity said. "Okay, so those two flaws? This vault doesn't have them. That's the lock." She pointed to the small hole. "It's designed for a very particular type of key. Princess Celestia's horn. It reads the magical signature. Thaumometric locks are almost impossible to pick." "What about opening it some other way?" Fluttershy asked. "I mean, concrete isn't the easiest thing to break, but..." "There's no inside to the vault," Twilight sighed. "What do you mean, no inside?" Applejack asked. Twilight took the earth pony's hoof and pressed it against the concrete firmly. Applejack wasn't sure why. It just felt like solid concrete. Solid all the way through. "What in tarnation?" Applejack muttered, frowning. She hit it with her other hoof, pressing her head against the side and listening. "The 'inside' of the vault is in an extradimensional space," Twilight said. "It's literally nowhere in the world. If we break the vault, the contents just go away. Celestia probably has some way to re-establishing the connection, but..." Twilight shrugged. "So how are we supposed to get the Elements of Harmony, then?" Applejack asked. "Maybe we could try copying Celestia's magical signature," Rarity offered. "We don't have a sample, but it might be possible." Twilight shook her head. "The Thaumometrics will check horn length too, and I don't think we measure up." "Um..." Fluttershy coughed. "We could just try anyway, darling," Rarity sighed. "There has to be somepony else who can open the vault." "Argh! You're right!" Twilight groaned. "I bet Princess Cadance is keyed to it, too! But she's distracting Nightmare Moon and there's no way we'll be able to get her down here!" "We couldn't have expected this," Rarity said, putting a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Excuse me!" Fluttershy said, more loudly. The other three looked at her. "Um, I was just thinking. Nightmare Moon would be the one to hide the Elements, right? So... she couldn't get this open either. What if the Elements are in a different vault?" Twilight looked at the dozens of small vaults around them. "Horseapples."