//------------------------------//
// Assault 
// Story: Twilight's Kingdom of Steam 
// by Darthvalgaav 
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“Now where is that book,” Twilight  mumbled under her breath as she looked up at the large bookcase in her office. Slowly, her hoof traced along the spines of the various books, briefly looking at their titles before moving on to the next one. It was late at night with the sun threatening to rise over the horizon, soon to bring about its end. Something that Twilight was thankful for given how the night had gone for her.


Simply put, things were still rocky for the purple princess. She had seen a grand total of six ponies today in her office between her lessons with the Count, each meeting growing worse. The first few who had come to see her were seeking government aid for various endeavors. Only one came in prepared with charts, documents, and visual aids to help sell his point. While Twilight had been impressed with his presentation, she had to regretfully decline him on the spot due to the lack of funds. It was hard seeing him look so dejected, but at least he handled it like a stallion and thanked her for her time before leaving. The others who tried this walked into Twilight’s office like it was theirs simply demanding the funding on the spot. As Twilight tried to question them about what they wanted the grits for, she couldn’t help but think they were acting this way because she was the new princess. That she was weak, easily caving into their demands. This proved true when she declined their requests flatly; watching as they quickly grew angry. With the last one, she had to order Overkill to remove him from the castle who did so with great pleasure.


As for the rest, Twilight had scheduled meeting with a few business ponies. At the moment, Twilight had finally looked over the entire budget and saw where all their grits were going. Sadly there just wasn’t enough to keep everything a float, not with their current limitations. Golden Spike had been the only one from that little get together to donate any grits and, while she was very thankful for this, it still wasn’t enough to do everything that she felt she needed to do. Thus the need for these meetings. Today she was meeting with the companies that her government had the biggest contracts with in the hopes that they would be willing to settle with a smaller profit for the time being.


This was not to be as she soon found out. Nearly all of them flat out told her that they had already made price cuts for the government when the Great Houses had asked them before. That they had already agreed to the lowest price they were willing to go. To make matters worse her last appointment of the day didn’t even show up. It was supposed to be with Storm Breaker Ammunition, run by Arms Maker. Given the fact that Storm Breaker was a very large company, there was a chance that Arms Maker was running late. However, after an hour and thirteen minutes of sitting behind her desk with no word from Maker, Twilight came to the conclusion that he was not showing up.


So now she was resigned to call it a night. Twilight had contacted Count Raven to inform him that she would no longer be seeing anypony unless it was an emergency. He agreed, bidding her a good day before retiring himself. Overkill had also left, heading upstairs to her quarters to probably clean her weapons. Now, Twilight was alone in her office with the plan of sitting in a nice comfy chair with a book in her hooves. Perhaps she would call on one of the maids to bring her some tea and maybe have a nice chat with them. Get to know the members of her staff the same way Princess Celestia did.


The only problem was finding the right book. She remembered that there was a book full of old stories about the Three Guides somewhere on this book shelf. Perhaps they were just legends created by the thestrals. Or, as Twilight had come to realize over the last few years, maybe they were real. After all, Equestria had once believed that Nightmare Moon had been believed to be just an old pony tale. Same with Discord. Perhaps if she read more about them she might be able to skim a bit of the truth. Even if that didn’t happen she would still be learning more about the belief structure of the ponies she was ruling. Now if only she could find the book. It had to be-


“Twilight!” yelled Spike as the door to her office swung open without any warning.


“AAAHHH!” screamed Twilight, her wings opening up all by themselves as she shot several feet in the air. There she remained for several seconds with a hoof over her heart as Spike looked up at her. After taking a few deep breaths, she was about to turn around when she spotted something. “Oh, here it is!” she said happily as she took the book off the shelf and quickly hugged it.


“Twilight, I think I figured it out!” shouted Spike as Twilight landed onto the floor. As she put the book onto the desk without looking, she examined her young assistant. He was panting somewhat while a bit of sweat rolled off his scales causing Twilight to think that he had ran straight to her in a hurry. His eyes seemed to burn with some sort of excitement and with every other huff there was a small bit of green flame coming out of his mouth. Before Twilight could say or do anything, the small dragon had grabbed her closest hoof with his claw to drag her.


“What’s with all the excitement?” asked Twilight as she gave in and moved with Spike.


“You have got to see this!” was all the excited dragon could say as he pulled Twilight out of the room.


Now in the halls of the castle, Twilight did her best to gallop on three legs as Spike led the way. Given the excitement and the speed they were going the purple princess worried that they might run into one of the guards stationed. However, there was nopony around that she could see. There were none of the intimidating guards standing there with their blunderbusses. No clerks or assistants running around delivering documents from one branch of the government to another. There was just nothing other than light fixtures and various painting on the walls, making the place feel a bit more eerie.


After a short bit, Spike suddenly stopped before the entrance to a hallway. As Twilight looked down at him, he motioned her to remain quiet while also to follow him. At first she expected him to start sneaking down the hallway. Instead, Spike leaned forward a bit to peek down the hallway where he then remained almost motionless. Only somewhat curious to see what was going on Twilight rolled her eyes before following suit with her head just above Spike’s. Down the hall…was absolutely nothing! It was a familiar hallway, the same one she and Spike had seen when Wild Theory had shown them around. But other than the spears hanging from every archway there was really nothing special about this.


“Spike,” said Twilight in a normal voice. Before she could say anything else, Spike quickly ‘shhed’ her causing the alicorn’s ears to lean back a bit before flattening on her forehead. As Spike turned his attention back towards the hallway Twilight glared down at him. She had no idea what he was doing and if he wasn’t even going to bother to tell her about it then she might as well just return to her office.


Then, just as she was about to pull her head back, the two of them heard a noise. Whatever it was caused Spike to turn and look at her for a brief moment, excitement dancing in his eyes, before he turned around to look back down the hallway. Believing this to be what he wanted to show her Twilight remained where she was with her ears upright. She didn’t have to wait very long as one of the castle maids was moving down the hallway. Attached to her were metal bars that connected to a cart similar to the ones the Apple family used to bring in their crops to town. Instead of apples there were a large pile of dirty laundry. Or at least that’s what it looked like to her.


Twilight supposed this made sense to do something like this now, when the castle was quieting down. Believing that the maid would be heading towards them, Twilight began to pull back when a clawed hand stopped her. For the briefest of moments, Twilight looked down at the little dragon, raising it back up when she heard the cart stop. At first Twilight believed they had been spotted. She had to wonder how this would look, the princess and perhaps future queen sneaking around to spy on the hired help. How would they react to such a thing!? But, that fear was short lived as Twilight noticed that the maid was looking at the wall. Calmly the maid raised a hoof to a light fixture before pulling down on it. A loud clank quickly followed along with the sound of turning gears as the wall opened up for her. With wide eyes, Twilight watched as the maid entered into this secret passageway, pulling her cart with her as the wall slid back into place.


“Pretty cool, right?” said Spike aloud as he stepped into the hallway. Twilight did the same, trotting over to where the maid had stood. Looking at the wall she couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. It was just a plain old wall.


“Spike,” breathed Twilight as she pressed a hoof against the solid wall. “How did you find this?” Ever since the night of the get-together, Spike had been hanging around Twilight less during her lessons. Instead he was either hanging out with Overkill, something that pleased Twilight greatly to see the two of them getting along so well, or he was exploring the castle. Twilight wondered if this had something to do with one of the conversations he had had with Count Raven. Trying his best to learn his way around the castle in order to be a better assistant. Or maybe he just wanted to be out of the way so Twilight could better concentrate on her lessons. Or it could have done it because he was bored.


Spike cocked a grin. “Impressed?” he asked as he placed his hands on his hips. “I’ve been trying to figure out how the maids just seem to appear and disappear. Hasn’t been easy trying to follow them and keeping my distance. They turn a corner and then BAM they're gone.” He then held up a finger. “But I got lucky. Not too long ago I was just walking near where we were standing and saw her coming out of the wall. I had to show you right away!”


All Twilight could do was nod as she returned her attention back to the wall. It was so interesting. None of the help in either Canterlot Castle or the Crystal Castle used hidden passages. Twilight had to wonder why they did this. Was it because there to help them move about the castle quicker without running into anypony? Another possibility was that these were here because thestrals wanted their help to be neither seen nor heard. Something to help make the castle look good without seeing the castle help working on it all the time. She would be sure to ask the Count about this at moonrise.


Spike bounced over to her so she could see him pointing up at the light fixture. “Let’s see where this goes,” he said excitedly.


Twilight gave the fixture a quick glance before returning to look at Spike. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea Spike,” she said in an uncertain tone before briefly biting her lower lip. “We might not be allowed down there.”


Now Spike rolled his eyes. “Twilight, you are a princess and this is your castle,” he said flatly.


“Not yet,” replied Twilight as her eyes narrowed a bit. “What if we get lost down there? How would it look if the guard has to go looking for me? Even if we don’t get lost we might interrupt the maids in their work, or bump into something that we shouldn’t! We might break something important by accident!”


“Twilight, you have your magic, remember?” said Spike. “If we get lost you could just teleport us back to your office or someplace else! Come on. When was the last time we did anything exciting or fun together? We’re just going to take a quick peek to see what’s on the other side. We won’t break anything.”


Twilight’s focus moved between the door and Spike as sweat began to form on her brow. What Spike had said was true: they hadn’t done anything fun for a while. While she thought it was much more fun to reorganize the library (something she was DYING to do around here when she got the time), she had to admit that the adventures she had had with her friends had grown on her. She still wasn’t a fan of being chased by a giant hydra, losing her friends in a desert, or being trapped behind a wall of dark crystals but they were memorable. It had been nice to go to places she had never been before and do new things. Because of her adventures she had seen and learned so much!


Now that she thought about it, it was a bit sad knowing that those days were over. She was now the ruler of this kingdom. It was important to present herself in the best light possible so that others would follow her. If she did do this with Spike, and something went wrong, she might lose this big chance! She could almost see Count Raven’s expression become downcast when he saw that she had failed to live up to his expectations. The look of disappointment in Princess Celestia and Princess Luna when she returned. Maybe even her friends back in Ponyville would be ashamed of her!


On the other hoof, when would they ever get a chance to have another adventure? Even a small one? It was just a bit of exploring within the safety of the castle. Also Spike did make a good point about her magic. If they did get lost she could just teleport them back to the office. Maybe she was blowing things a tad out of proportion if they were caught. Maybe…


“Ok,” said Twilight at last as her magic enveloped the light fixture. Before pulling down on it, she turned to look at the now gleeful dragon. “But before we go, promise me you won’t touch anything you don’t know.”


Spike didn’t hesitate in the slightest. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” replied Spike as he did the motions.


Satisfied with this, Twilight pulled down on the fixture to reveal the doorway. What was revealed to her was an empty, grey stoned passageway that seemed to slope downwards. On the ceiling there were more light fixtures, but they looked far creepier than they had any right to be. They looked like a black, mechanical spider holding an orb of light within its eight legs. On a brief closer inspection, Twilight saw that they were really holding an old, glass light orb. Beyond that, there was nothing to be seen. Not a trail, mare, or even a spider web. It was almost like it had been recently constructed. For a moment the two paused as they looked down before looking at each other. Wordlessly they asked the other if they were ready before moving in with the door closing behind them.


With the door shut behind them, the two moved through the passage with the only sounds they could hear being the buzzing of the lights above them, along with the clip-clop of Twilight’s hooves. As they moved, Twilight looked around her for any sign of other ponies or anything else that might clue her in to what this passage was for. The only thing she noticed, however, were the pipes that were now coming out of the walls. Some seemed to just shoot out of the walls above their heads, making a gurgling noise as they passed. At other times, it felt like the pipes seemed to replace small sections of the wall as they became pure metal.


As they went deeper, the changes to their surrounding became more apparent. For one thing, Twilight was beginning to notice a change in the air around her. It was growing warmer as well as more humid the more they went down. More and more pipes were being seen in the walls, one as large as Twilight with a couple smaller ones heading in the same direction they were. Then there was the noise. An odd rumbling, turning noise unlike anything she had ever heard before in her life. It was-


“STOP PLEASE!” Both of them froze of a moment at the sudden cry of a mare. Twilight didn’t look down at Spike as she heard the voice again, a begging and sobbing tone that echoed all around them. Wings raising, Twilight dashed forward as fast as she could without looking back to see if Spike was following her. With eyes focused on what was ahead of her, Twilight began to briefly wonder what was going on. Had a fight broken out? Before Twilight could think about it further, however, she heard the cry again followed by the sound of a hoof smacking flesh hard. Twilight’s eyes widened briefly before narrowing as her teeth became clenched while the sounds of the mare could no longer be heard.


In what seemed like no time at all, Twilight was on level ground once more staring into a large room. On one side were several large machines. One of them was a massive tank of white chrome, tall enough to fit fifteen of herself standing on top of each other and taking up a large portion of the room. Behind it was a frame that looked like an upside down L with a series of visible gears inside of it that turned thanks to a belt. At the end hovering above the bowl was a large metal rack that looked like it was meant to be lowered into the water. Then, above the frame, was the end of a pipe. Besides this was an equally large square device with several glass portals on its surface. More pipes were connected to it as well as cranks and levers beside the portals. It sort of reminded Twilight of the drier from the Ponyville Spa only on a more massive scale.


Twilight only glanced that them for a moment before her the sound of clothing being ripped drew her attention. On the other side of the room was the cart she had seen with the maid earlier, now on its side as towel and rags littered the floor. On top of it were two ponies. One of them was the maid, her eyes closed and a large red bruise on her right cheek. Around her brown coat were the shreds of her uniform.


Above her was a stallion, a piece of the torn uniform still in his black hoof. Obscuring most of his form was a black tailcoat and vest that almost blended in with his natural coat save for the silver buttons shaped like gears. There were three rows of these buttons, one running down the middle of his vest while two other rows were on either side of his jacket flap. Around his neck was an equally black gas mask that had a nozzle running out from the bottom towards a bronze cylinder attached to his upper left foreleg. One thing that seemed odd with his appearance was the dirty brown bowler hat on her head which hid the top of his long wiry grey mane. There was a band just above the brim which contained several odd items that seemed off. For example a couple of these items looked like tiny metal chambers with equally small wires and tubes which coiled into a spiral, before being connected some sort of device in the middle.


“Well look at what we have here,” said the stallion when he spotted Twilight. “Has another pretty come to play?” There was a grin on his fanged face while his revolting eyes roamed her form as if she were nothing than a piece of meat to him. It took every bit of control she had not to stick out her tongue.


With a powerful wing beat, the stallion was in the air while he continued to leer at Twilight. As for her, Twilight stood her ground as she positioned her legs to better brace herself. It was a small thing, but important as she had learned in her years of magical training. Princess Celestia herself had explained to Twilight when using a new spell or going into a magical duel it was best to be prepared. Many of the more powerful magical spells known to unicorns can cause a powerful backlash of force which might knock her down if she wasn’t careful. Likewise, she needed to be prepared for an attack on her shield spell and be ready to push more magic into it if need be. This lesson had come in handy numerous times in recent years with this time being the most recent case.


Her eyes never left the stallion who still grinned down at her. Twilight watched him carefully as a hoof moved towards the side of the hat. While she didn’t see what he was doing, she could tell that the coils were heating up while sparks began to come from the device. Sensing the danger, her horn began to light up as the stallion dove down towards her. When he had closed half the distance he must have pressed a button or something, because the device on his hat suddenly shot out two small bolts of lightning at her while his eyes became all the more malevolent. That, thankfully, changed when he saw Twilight’s shield appear around her. The two bolts hit her shield, causing no damage. Then as the stallion continued to process what had just happened, the shield dropped before Twilight fired her own attack which hit the stallion in the chest. Whoever the stallion was, Twilight watched as he was knocked backwards and fell to the ground with a thud.


As he growled in pain, Twilight’s ears heard something behind her. Briefly turning her head, she saw that it was Spike who had finally caught up to her.


“Twilight, what’s going on?” he asked.


“No, no!” shouted the stallion before Twilight could get in a word. Instantly, Twilight turned her attention back to him while at the same time raising a wing to block Spike from view. She saw him slowly getting back to his hooves, the smirk on his face replaced with a look of utter hatred. “Pretties aren’t supposed to fight back. Pretties let me have my fun with them until I’m done!”


“Spike,” whispered Twilight. “Go get Overkill and bring her back here. I think she’ll want to have some words this stallion.” While Twilight had done her best to remain calm, there was a note of finality to it. One that she hoped would convey to Spike not to argue with her. Thankfully the dragon heard it loud and clear, running back the way he had just come from.


As Spike left, the stallion charged forwards on three legs. His forth was raised once again to touch his hat to more than likely attack her with another bolt. Sure enough, once he was close enough another lightning strike came from the device on his hat. However, the element of surprise he had was now gone. Twilight had seen what that thing could do and believed she knew its fatal flaw: it could only fire in the direction he was looking at. As such, Twilight leapt to the side to avoid both the attack as well as the stallion.


As she skidded slightly against the ground, Twilight turned to look at her attacker who was fuming. Gritting his teeth hard, the stallion fired again at Twilight only to have her easily dodge the attack. When it hit the wall behind her Twilight could see his eyes grow wide allowing her to see the veins in them. He looked shocked, nervous. He was probably used to having the element of surprise or going after mares who lacked any real means to fight back. The stallion before her was nothing more than a low life coward. One that she would happily put behind bars.


Horn glowing again, Twilight focused her efforts on the towels now behind the attacking stallion. Seven or eight of them became enveloped in her magic’s glow before rising up into the air. At Twilight’s silent, mental command the towels went flying towards the stallion. Something, however, must have tipped him off because a second before the first one made contact with him the stallion had turned his head to look behind him. As his jaw dropped in shock, the first towel connected with one of his hind legs before wrapping around it tightly. Another one soon followed, wrapping around the other hind leg. Then a third which connected the first two. The stallion opened his wings to try and fly away, but a fourth towel was quickly wrapped around his barrel while forcing his wings to his side. Without his wings, he fell to the ground while facing the machines on the other side of the room as more towels moved to wrap him up.


“Pretty thinks she’s smart,” growled the stallion as his last free hoof went back to his hat. “Not that smart I say.” Before Twilight could register what he meant and use a towel to restrain his free foreleg, a final bolt attack was fired at the washing machine. She didn’t see where it hit, but it must have been important for sparks began to appear at seemingly random places on the metal frame as well as under the bowl. The noise of a siren began to fill the room causing Twilight’s ears to flatten in annoyance.


It was then that her blood went cold while her eyes widened in shock. The giant bowl began to tip over, revealing that it was filled to the brim with steaming hot water. Twilight reacted on the spot, getting ready to force the bowl back into its rightful position, however it was too late. The bowl was tipping over too quickly and water was already hitting the floor. Beginning to panic, Twilight switched tactics to quickly throwing up a power shield to block the water. Instantly a pinkish purple barrier went from the floor to the wall right before the water hit it. She could feel the water now pressing against her barrier, forcing her to pour more magic into it in order to keep it up. To put all of her focus into keeping it up so that nopony there was harmed.


Focus that had once been on the stallion, keeping him tied up, was now lost. Quickly the stallion shook off the towels before dashing out through another doorway on the opposite side of the room she had come in from. Just out of the corner of her eye, she saw him pause for a moment to grin at her before vanishing from sight. Twilight growled in frustration, wanting to go after him. But that would mean dropping her barrier which would cause the steaming hot water to hit the two of them in an instant. As beads of sweat began to form on her face, she considered her options. She could try to teleport them out of the room, but the maid needed to be closer. Twilight thought there was a possibility that she could move over to her, but if she tripped or lost her focus for an instant then the water would be upon them. Also, she didn’t know if she could drop the barrier and then focus on the teleportation in time before the water hit them.


As Twilight began to think of another option, she heard hoofsteps coming from the same path that the stallion had departed. Twilight looked at the barrier, then at the doorway, and then back to the barrier as her heart pounded in her chest. Was he coming back to finish her off? Or was he going to grab the maid before leaving? As the hoofsteps grow louder, Twilight gritted her teeth while trying to think of a plan. Sadly, the only thing she could think of at the moment was stalling. Maybe she could get him to taunt her until Spike returned with Overkill.


“Hello, hello, hello,” came the familiar voice of Wild Theory. “Got a ring that something was busted here. So what seems to…oh, my.” Twilight looked at the doorway again to see Wild Theory standing there, his eyes glued on Twilight’s barrier. It was at that moment, a flutter of wings could be heard coming from the other side of the room. Glancing over, Twilight saw Overkill had finally arrived with axe in hoof followed by several other guards with blunderbusses at the ready. There was no Spike with her, probably because she had flown off in a hurry. She too was looking at the barrier in an almost transfixed state.


“Theory,” gasped Twilight. “I need some help over here. I can’t hold this forever!”


“R-Right,” he said quickly, shaking his head before scrambling along the side of the wall. Closing her eyes to focus on the task at hoof, she was unable to see what he was doing. She did, however, hear several clicks right before the sound of water draining filled the room. As seconds passed, Twilight felt the pressure on her barrier fade. It was only when the draining had stopped and the pressure vanish completely did Twilight end her magic before collapsing to the floor.


Now panting a bit, Twilight slowly opened her eyes to see what was going on. Theory was over at some sort of workstation, flipping switches rapidly as several of the maids entered the room. Overkill had landed on the ground near her while stilling looking at the fallen tank. After a little while the guard mare turned towards Twilight with an impressed look in her eyes.


“Princess,” she said as helped Twilight up off the ground. “What happened here?”


Twilight did not answer right away. Her legs felt a bit heavier and she was feeling slightly light headed, a side effect from using her magic to such a degree for so long. However, it was nothing like the time she had given Rarity wings so she knew she would recover quickly. “There was a stallion,” she said as she walked over to where the fallen maid still laid. “He was attacking her. I tried to stop him but he used some sort of hat device that shot lightning out of it. When he saw that my magic could easily defend against-”


“Wait, back up princess,” said Overkill suddenly. “You said he shot lightning from his hat?” Twilight blinked at this sudden outburst, but nodded all the same. The effect was instantaneous. Overkill threw her head back to let out a cry of anger, rearing up onto her hind legs before slamming them down on the ground. Overkill then rounded on the guards who remained motionless. “A member of the Copper Heads managed to get into the castle?!?” she roared. “How could any of you allow this to happen? Do you think that when the sun comes up you can just fall asleep at your post? WELL?”


“No, ma’am, no,” said the guards at once.


Overkill glared at them for a moment before facehoofing. “Like I’m one to talk,” she muttered as she turned to look at Twilight. “Should have been by your side till you retired for the day. Made sure you were safe in your room before I went to mine. It was my mistake for assuming you would be safe in your own castle. Had I been by your side, this would have been handled cleaner.” She then stood resolute before Twilight. “Princess, I will accept any punishment you deem appropriate.”


Twilight shook her head. “There is no need,” she said kindly, causing Overkill’s eyes to widen in surprise. “I was the one who granted you permission to leave after all. Had I not done that, you probably would have stayed by my side. It was almost my fault for going into an area of the castle I was unfamiliar with without informing anypony.” Overkill opened her mouth, probably to argue, but Twilight cut her off. “What is done is done. Mistakes were made, but thankfully no pony was seriously hurt…or worse. Now, let us get to the matter at hoof. You said a member of the Copper Heads got into the castle. Who are they?”


Overkill looked at her, fire seeming to be burning in her eyes. But it wasn’t directed at her. She could tell that much. “They’re the main gang here in Automahollow,” she spat. “Probably the largest in Thunder Valley. They’re big and have a hoof in just every crime you can think of. They all wear those damned hats, knocking out thestrals with them before taking everything they have on their pony or…other things.”


“They weren’t always so bad,” chimed in Theory off to the side. Twilight turned her head to see that he was no longer at the workstation, but instead checking on the mare along with the other maids. “Back when the tax hikes began, they were among the first to stand up against the former princess. Called themselves the Copper Hounds as they protected many of those who couldn’t pay the higher taxes. When the Princess then sent members of the military take whatever they could find from the ponies, they fought back. Then, after she was dethroned, the Copper Hounds were the ones out in the streets maintaining order.”


Twilight blinked at this new information. How could such a once noble group go so wrong?


“Well that was then and this is now thinker,” spat Overkill as Twilight walked over to the maid. “All that matters right now is that they are a threat to thestrals on the streets. The only thing I’m grateful for is that they haven’t tried to overthrow the government like so many other rebel groups.”


When Overkill finished speaking, Twilight found herself looking down at the maid. Scraps of her uniform laid around her, more so than Twilight imagined there would be. On one spot of exposed fur looked slightly singed making her think that the mare had gotten hit by the hat. But other than that and the bruise on her cheek, the mare looked physically fine. Emotionally and psychologically, on the other hoof, would no doubt be a very different matter.


As Twilight continued to look around her, she noticed several papers on the floor. Curious, Twilight lifted them up with her magic. Overkill, noticing this, rushed over to Twilight’s side to see what she had found. On the top of all the papers was a logo of a hammer striking metal with two lightning bolts flying off on either side. Then, just below that, was the name Storm Breaker Ammunition written in a very elegantly.


“So that’s how he got in here,” muttered Overkill as she pulled away.


“You think he impersonated Arms Maker with this paperwork?” asked Twilight as she began skimming through the documents. From what she could gleam, they seemed to detail a new payment plan that would be cheaper on the government until they got back on their hooves.


Overkill shook her head. “Nah, Arms Maker used to be real chummy with King Cobalt so the guards here know what he looks like. That would never work unless they all went blind and dumb. His son, Arms Dealer, is another matter. Now he’s a real piece of slime if ever there was. On top of his numerous crimes we’ve suspected he either has ties to the Copper Heads or is an active member. Best guess is daddy asked him to go in his place which explains how he got in. Once in he probably decided to have some fun.” Overkill then let out a sigh before shaking her head. “Shame it’s him. I would have loved to have hunted him down like the rabid animal he is.”


Twilight lowered the documents she was still examining, a look of shock appearing on her face as she turned towards Overkill. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded.


“That it’s pointless to go looking for him,” said Overkill. “He’s done this sort of thing before and got-”


“He’s what?” said a now horrified Twilight as she dropped the documents. Not caring about them now, her eyes focused on the maid lying on the ground. A mare who had come so close to having something horrible happen to her. Slowly her eyes narrowed.


“Ah, I think I’ll take Moon Chime home then,” said Theory aloud. “I know her pretty well so it’s not a problem.”


“No,” said Twilight as Theory went to pick up Moon Chime. The stallion turned to look at her, clearly shocked by her words as well as her tone. “I am not having her sent home with that monster still on the streets.” She turned to look at the other maids, all of them looking shocked as well. “Please take her up to my personal quarters. She’ll be staying there until Arms Dealer is caught. After you do that, contact a doctor so we can make sure he didn’t do anything else to her. I’ll be up to check on her as soon as I’m done here.” For a moment, the maids stood there looking flabbergasted, looking at Twilight as if she had grown a second head. Thankfully, they did get to work before Twilight could repeat her order.


“As for the rest of you,” continued Twilight as she turned to look at the guards. “I want Arms Dealer brought in. Take as many members of the military within the castle as need be. Contact the Clubbers to assist you. Also contact the General and let him know what happened. I’m sure he’ll want to be kept informed about this.”


-x-


“You’re home late,” said Chalky as the door opened to reveal Wild Theory. The tone was plain, more like Chalky was stating a fact rather than being worried about anything. Something that Wild Theory was used to by now.


As he stepped through the threshold, he saw that his roommate was in the kitchen area. While the other stallion’s back was turned towards him, not even bothering to look at him, Theory could see that his attention was towards the stove. In one hoof the stallion held a stirring spoon which was at work stirring something in the large pot simmering before him. Taking in a whiff of air, Theory could smell the delicious aroma that filled their home, causing his mouth to water.


“Smells like Glow Moss Soup,” commented Theory as he shut the door.


“It is,” replied Chalky. “Been saving up my grits to get some of the ingredients. The rest I managed to talk the chiefs in the kitchen into letting me have some. I have to help them with their tax documents, but it’ll be worth it I think.” Chalky stopped stirring as he pulled out a clean wooden spoon. Theory stood there, watching his roommate as he scooped up some of the soup and tasted it. Eyes closed, a rare smile slowly appeared on the stallion’s face before putting the wooden spoon off to the side. “Almost there.”


“I’m glad,” said Theory honestly. “Sounds like your night went better than mine. What a night, what a night, what a night.”


“Don’t want to hear it,” commented Chalky as he began to stir away.


“Moon Chime was attacked. Most likely by Arms Dealer.” At that, Chalky’s hoof came to a sudden stop as his wings stood upright. The stallion didn’t turn around to look at Theory, instead focusing on the soup before him. Then, slowly, he returned to what he had been doing.


“Is…she alright?” he asked.


“Looks like it,” said Theory with a sigh. “She was lucky, lucky, lucky that the princess happened to be in the area. Don’t know why she was, but what matters was that she managed to chase him off before he could do anything other than knocking her out. She’s now personally making sure that Moon Chime is taken care of. So that’s something.”


“True,” replied Chalky as his wings lowered.


“She’s also got the guards looking for him,” continued Theory as he sat down. “You think that maybe Arms Dealer will finally get what’s coming to him?”


“No,” replied Chalky simply. “She’ll more than likely claim that she cares, putting on a good show for all of us. Some might even begin to believe it. Once the other Great Houses hear about this and talk to her…well the princess won’t sacrifice her chance to become queen. Never going to happen. Not for ponies like us.”