//------------------------------// // Chapter 9. Beginning of the End: Spilled Blood // Story: BPT: The Coup of Avarice // by Wolven5 //------------------------------// As he and Twilight ran through the halls to catch up with their friends and the councilors, Midnight conjured his Echom and tuned it before speaking into it, "Shadow Lock! Come in!" "Sir!" came a response from the device, "Some of the Royal Guards are going out and corralling citizens in the streets. Some of them have even used force!" "Damn it, those probably aren't real guards, Shadow!" Midnight replied, "The meeting went sideways, Cheap is in possession of a powerful weapon and is fighting the Royal Sisters! He sent an alert to agents he said had moved into position! He tried to assassinate the council, and now civillians are in danger!" "What should we do, sir?" asked Shadow Lock. "Arrest the guards that are acting outside their authority or out of the ordinary," Midnight instructed, "Instruct the Hoods to protect the citizens and get them indoors, assist any guards who turn out to be legitimate and incapacitate any imposters!" "Roger!" Shadow responded before signing out. As they rounded a corner, Twilight suddenly realized something was wrong with this picture. "Wait... Where are the guards?! They should be positioned at various points throughout the castle!" "Cheap said his thugs were in position," Midnight surmised, "he must have replaced some of the guards on duty or had them incapacitated." "So they're already inside?!" Twilight was suddenly fearful of their friends, "We need to find the others, fast!" "Don't worry, even if there are some imposters in the castle," Midnight assured, "some of my Hoods are stationed in here too. If they see a guard acting out of the ordinary, they'll know to act." "HELP!!" That shout they heard was followed by a commotion in the distant halls, and they shared an alarmed look before they kept running. They soon came to the entry hall of the castle, where they found their friends and the councilors surrounded by ponies in guard armor and uniform, none of them looking friendly. "What are they- !! Are they imposters?!" Twilight gasped in fear. "Most certainly," Midnight responded as he tried to think up a means to resolve this situation without anypony getting hurt... when he felt an assuring presence and smiled. "But don't worry, Twily. Everything's under control." "what?!" Twilight gaped at her husband and whinnied as he started stepping down the stairs, approaching the fake guards, "Midnight, what are you doing?!" The imposters all quickly noticed Midnight's approach, and one of them stepped forward, boldly threatening, "Not another step there, princey! Or your little friends and the councilors get it!" "I command you all to stand down and surrender," Midnight responded, acting like he hadn't heard the threat, "Oblige, and you will be shown leniency." "I think you oughta get yer eyes checked, freak!" the imposter mocked, "We got youse surrounded, and yer outnumbered!" "Am I...?" Midnight raised a cocky brow... and all of a sudden, several shadowy figures jumped out of nowhere, most of them behind the imposters, which caught them completely off guard! "Guys! Now!" Taking Midnight's word for it, Big Mac, Thunderlane, Blueblood, Cheese Sandwich, and Soarin, along with Firestorm, Lightning Wing, and Brass Scales jumped the imposters, who'd been distracted by the arrival of the Hoods, and in a matter of seconds the fakes were all stripped of the armor they'd stolen and tied up. "You lot will have plenty of time to reconsider your lives... in jail!" Firestorm snapped as he made sure the ropes were secure. "Thank you all for the quick rescue," Treaty Ink thanked not only the Harmonic Twelve but also the Hoods, "But where are the Royal Sisters and Cheap?" "As you've just seen, Duchess," Midnight gestured to the imposters, "some of our guards have been replaced by Cheap's cronies. He also mentioned he has more agents in the city rounding up the citizens." "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are facing Cheap as we speak," Twilight added, "That armor of his, I've heard mentions of the Aegis Armor in various myths and lore but I thought they were just stories!" "How powerful can that tin can actually make him?" asked Cobalt Banks. "Enough that it scares the Royal Sisters to their cores," Midnight responded heavily, "We need to rally the Royal Guards that haven't been replaced and protect the citizens of Canterlot!" "I'll take care of that," Firestorm volunteered, "I'm no stranger to leading ponies into battle, after all." "We shall help provide order," added Miracle Cure. "Though it might help to have some of you aiding that effort, being national heroes an' all." "Let's go kick some tail!" Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof into the air. Stallions, mares, and foals were being led through the streets by dozens of armed guards, who'd gone door to door, ordering the residents to vacate their homes and report to the courtyard of Canterlot castle. Though most did as they were told, several, particularly among the Canterlot Elite, had tried to refuse, only to be dealt with by the guards using force and threat. Instead of feeling safe and trusting of their honored Royal Guardsponies, the citizens of Canterlot couldn't help but feel that something was very wrong. "Um, excuse me, sir?" a mare approached one of the guards, nervously shying from the narrow look out the corner of his eyes he gave her, "Would you mind, maybe... telling us what's going on?" "You'll find out, soon enough," the guard responded curtly, "Now keep moving! And no more questions!" The growing mass of ponies shut their pie-holes, as fear began to spread among them. The courtyard wasn't far ahead, but then, the guards found the way barred by more guards, along with several Hoods, the Harmonic Twelve, and Duke Firestorm, who called out, "Stand down, criminals, and back away from the citizens!" The "guards" suddenly tensed up, realizing their ruse was in danger of blowing up in their faces. "Uh- Duke Firestorm!" said one of the "guards", stepping forward from his place leading the civilians. "We... thought you were indisposed, we're... just escorting the fine citizens of Canterlot to the safety of the courtyard, just like the princesses ordered us!" "Uh, sir?" whispered Spearhead to Firestorm, "How're we gonna get those imposters to surrender without endangering the civvies?" Firestorm growled, having been wondering that very conundrum... when Twilight stepped forward, "Allow me, General." "What're you going to do, Your Highness?" he whispered to her. "Just watch and keep trying to talk them down," Twilight instructed as she very softly lit up her horn to prepare a spell. Deciding to trust her, Firestorm raised his voice to the imposters and called out, "Well, the Princesses ordered me to take command here. Lower your weapons, soldiers!" "Uh... we were ordered to take the citizens to the courtyard straightaway, sir," responded the fake guard from earlier. "Please step aside before- !!!" The imposters all went slack-jawed and buggy-eyed, some of them gasping in abject horror, made evident as one fake guard wet himself, and the lead imposter suddenly shouted, "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!" "AAAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" the imposters all dropped their weapons and shoved their ways through the long group of citizens to run away while the pegasi among them simply took to the air. Once he saw the citizens were safe, Firestorm yelled to his guards, "ARREST THEM!! DON'T LET ANY OF THOSE SCUM IN OUR ARMOR ESCAPE!!!" The Royal Guards (the real Royal Guards, mind you) all roared in excitement and charge, the citizens quickly moving to the sides of the street to give the guards a clear path. As his men charged off to do their duty, Firestorm looked to Twilight, who was looking rather pleased with herself. "What did you do?" Firestorm gaped at her in wonder, "Those fakes looked scared shitless!" "Well, considering the Hallucination Spell I cast upon them, that's no wonder," Twilight explained, "It only affected those within my line of sight who were pretending to be somepony else with ill-intent. That's why none of the citizens were affected." "That's brilliant...!" Firestorm was in awe. "That brilliant mind is just one of the many reasons I married her," Midnight smiled proudly while giving his Twily a kiss. In a matter of minutes, the imposters were all subdued, rounded up, and escorted to the nearest holding cells by the real Royal Guards and several Hoods. The councilors sans Firestorm spoke with several of the civilians to assure them that the situation was under control while Firestorm spoke with the Harmonic Twelve in the Courtyard. "The imposters were just thugs," Firestorm stated, "no real training, used to using fear and violence to cow victims into submission. Once we took away their boldness, they were easy-pickings for my soldiers." "The Hoods are already looking for any of Cheap's goons who might have escaped notice," Midnight added when they all heard a loud explosion and looked to the castle, seeing a blast of light quickly dissipate. "Let's hope the Sisters are doing fine against Cheap and his armor." "Not to worry, Nighty ol' pal," Pinkie piped in, hugging Midnight and Firestorm in a foreleg each, "The bad guys have been taken care of, everypony's okay, the princesses will beat that nasty Cheap- I think for the first time today, things are really looking up!" *KAFWOOOOOMSSSSHHHHH....* This time, they looked to the castle and saw a mushroom cloud of crackling smoke, and then two smoldering figures zoom out of the smoke, and arch through the air before falling their way. The two figures pummeled into the courtyard like meteors, leaving trails of wrecked cobblestones as one of them hit a wall, toppling the structure it was built into, and the other hit the majestic fountain in the middle of the courtyard, toppling the statue of Celestia holding hooves with a foal, and creating a glistening cascade from the broken plumbing. As the dust settled, everypony looked and then gasped in utter shock and horror to see... these two figures who'd just experienced some rather nasty crash landings were the Royal Sisters! "PRINCESS CELESTIA!!!" Twilight, Blueblood, Rarity, and Applejack hurried to Celestia, who was the one who'd crashed into the fountain, while Fluttershy, Big Mac, Thunderlane, and Cheese Sandwich hurried to check on Luna. Both princesses were in bad shape. They both had bruises, bleeding cuts, Luna had a bad gash on the side of her head, both had lost some feathers which were singed, their manes and tails were ragged, and Celestia had a broken wing. "Move aside, lemme through!" Midnight hurried to Celestia, stunned to see her in such critical condition, before he took a deep breath and remembered his training. He closed his eyes and concentrated, his horn radiating, as did Celestia and Luna's bodies, and everypony paused and watched in worry, hoping for good news. After a few long moments, Midnight sighed, "They're both in bad shape, but they'll recover. Celestia's baby is fine as well, but we need to get them medical attention and fast!" "What's the hurry...?" Everypony's blood ran cold from the sound of that voice, and the one after, a chilly whisper of wind crackling with sinister electricity, and they gazed up to see Cheap, still clad in the Aegis Armor, descending from the air, his bladed wings barely flapping a beat, and his helm, faceless yet mirror-like, reflecting their expressions of horror. Cheap relished their horror, drank it up, chuckling wickedly, before he asked, "So... who dies next?!"