For the most part, who was in what group was randomized, with a few exceptions. The trek to the Crystal Mountains would be the toughest so therefore more pegasi were in the group, specifically the Wonderbolts. As for the others, certain groups stuck together, such as Starlight, Trixie, Sunburst, Maud, and Mudbriar. The princesses stayed behind with Twilight and the rest of the Mane Six, in case the Pony of Shadows was willing to make a surprise attack on Canterlot.
Sunset was a little disappointed that she, Starlight, and Twilight couldn’t team up for this one, though she supposed that would probably be a later battle. For now, she had to focus on this Spear of Trakehner, all the way over in Vanhoover. It was going to be a long train ride but she’d have plenty of time getting acquainted with her team - all twenty-some of them.
“I know you keep glancing at my horn but I promise I’m still a unicorn,” Tempest said in the seat across from her.
Sunset flinched. She had been occasionally glancing at it and felt embarrassed. “Sorry…I don’t mean to stare its just…doesn’t it hurt?”
“The pain was only bad when it happened,” Tempest said. “Now it feels like its back to normal - well, mostly normal.”
“I kind of heard the story from Twilight but still, that sounded like a rough time for you.”
“It’s not all bad,” Tempest replied. “Before my magic was sporadic, unpredictable, but now I’ve managed to control it properly again. What about you, you got any emotional baggage?”
Sunset smiled slightly. “I left that all behind years ago…former student of former Princess Celestia, all I cared about was becoming more powerful and becoming a princess myself. Ironically, if I had just listened to what Celestia said my dream could’ve come true.”
“Hmm…interesting…”
“What is?”
“Well, if you had become princess our paths would’ve crossed much sooner and…”
“Been turned to stone? Please, you got to give me more credit than that.”
Tempest grinned. “Sounds like some of the old you is still there.”
“You know, I’m not a big believer of ‘fate’, but I think it was all meant to happen.” Sunset looked over and saw Moondancer reading a book. When she had first heard the name, she had froze as memories had come back to her…not pleasant ones either. “No offense, but I doubt you’d be able to help get me out of my shell if you had been in Twilight’s shoes, that mare is more stubborn than any-”
“I’m sorry.”
“Huh?” Moon Dancer looked surprised at Sunset’s interruption.
“You do remember me right? All those years ago?”
“Oh…yeah…I do…”
“I’m not gonna say the obvious, but that mare was different than who I am now and…I know this sounds like a bad time to apologize but-”
“Water under the bridge.”
It was Sunset’s turn to stare. “You sure?”
“Yeah…any friend of Twilight’s is a friend of mine, and she’s usually a good judge of character,” Moon Dancer smirked.
“Yeah…I suppose she is.” The three ponies couldn’t help but smile to themselves-
“Are you guys gonna keep up with the sappiness or am I gonna have to change cars?” Gilda asked, who was sitting behind Sunset and Moon Dancer.
“Sorry…” Sunset replied. “Sappiness too much for griffins?”
Gilda chuckled. “Okay first of all, you’re not Dash so don’t bother trying to sound like her. Second, if this was me ten or so years ago I’d kick your flank right off this train.”
“Hey…let’s not…” Moon Dancer said cautiously.
“It’s fine,” Sunset said as she looked the griffin in the eyes. “That was a bit uncalled for anyway.”
“Don’t be silly, I like a little sass,” Gilda said with a grin. “Just save it for the bad guys, alright?”
“Right…” It was crazy to think they’d be fighting against other unicorns. Sure, as far as any unicorn went, she was top tier in her mind, but she didn’t know what she was going up against. Well, maybe we’ll be lucky and we can get this artifact back without any incident. Surely the owner will be willing to hand it over once we explain everything.
“What? What do you mean no!?” Sunset could only stare at the unicorn on the other side of the door. She, Moon Dancer, and Tempest were the only three to greet him as the others kept watch outside on the streets.
“I mean what I said,” the pony, who’s name was, fittingly, Moneybags. “There’s no way I could part with such a piece of history. Do you know how many bits this spear cost!?”
“Did you even hear a word I just said?” Sunset asked, gritting her teeth.
“Miss, do you think this is the first time I heard ponies say ‘Somepony’s going to steal that’? If I had a bit for every time I’ve heard that I’d be twice as rich.”
Sunset couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Look, this isn’t a mere threat, these ponies are real and they don’t care-”
“Sunset, maybe you should let me handle this,” Tempest said as she stepped forward. “Intimidation is more my game…” She then gave Moneybags a chilly stare. “The way I see it, you have three options. One, you can be cooperative and give us the artifact and we’ll be on our way. Two, since we’re on a tight schedule, we can the artifact by force. Or three, the real bad guys will pretty much destroy everything here, yourself included, and take the artifact anyway. Of these options, two of them will probably leave your estate in pretty bad shape. I don’t think you want that.”
Now it was Moneybags’ turn to stare. “Excuse me, are you threatening me?” he managed to say.
Tempest chuckled. “Oh no, it’s not a threat.” Her small smile suddenly disappeared. “It’s a promise.”
“Okay, okay, maybe let’s not do that?” Moon Dancer said, putting a hoof up. “Besides, how do we really know he has the real thing?”
Sunset gave her a glance but Moneybags responded. “E-Excuse me? You think I’m carrying a fake?”
“I dunno…are you?” Moon Dancer asked. She then gave Sunset a quick wink.
Sunset could sense the stallion’s pride, and ego, start to inflate. “You think I, Moneybags, would spend thousands of bits on a fake? You have a lot of gall missy-”
“Then prove it!” Moon Dancer snapped.
Moneybags sniffed in defiance. “Fine, I will. You Canterlot types think you know everything. Well, be prepared to be amazed.” He then turned around and stepped further into his house, which seemed like an invitation as the three mares followed.
Sunset had seen her share of the rich and elite when she used to live in Canterlot (even on the other side) and common factor was the fact that they liked to tell you immediately upon entering their humble abode. Moneybags was no exception to this and, perhaps due to his Manehattan roots, it was definitely more in your face. Art and sculptures could be seen in almost every corner of the house. At the very least he had good taste.
“The spear I keep in a special vault for obvious reasons,” Moneybags said as they approached said vault. His horn glowed and the vault door began to unlock and open. “I also should tell you it only recognizes my magical signature, meaning only I can open it.”
“Clever,” Sunset said. Not that it’s really gonna stop them though…
“And there it is,” Moneybags said, looking proudly. “The Spear of Trakehner. I’m no weapon aficionado but I admit this one intrigues me. A spear that can pierce through any material, even magic. I wonder if it works against alicorns as well…”
“Let’s not find out,” Moon Dancer said, as she slowly made her way towards the spear. “Well Mr. Moneybags, we can definitely confirm this is the real thing so if it’s alright we’ll just-”
“Hold on!” Moneybags suddenly looked suspicious. “Was this some sort of trick to get me to open my vault!?”
“Nnnno this was just to um, confirm you actually had the real thing and would you look at that, it’s the real thing!” Sunset said with fake amazement.
Before Moneybags could say another word, there was suddenly a loud crash as the sound of breaking glass could be heard. “What in Celestia!?” He suddenly rushed out of the vault and the three mares followed.
In the living room area, they saw Gilda was groaning as she got up slowly. “Oh hey guys,” she said casually. “Think our friends are here…”
“What happened?” Sunset asked. Tempest meanwhile felt a nudge at her side and saw Moon Dancer glancing at her, but she was also carrying the spear with her magic, unknown to Moneybags. Tempest nodded and she casually took the spear with her own magic.
“Apparently they don’t like a griffin talking smack in their face,” Gilda grunted. “Last time I ever play nice…anyway the other unicorns have put a shield up around the house but I don’t know how long it’ll last. So what’s the plan?”
“How many are out there?” Tempest asked.
“More than what I’d like,” Gilda replied.
“We can’t just run off,” Sunset said. “We’d be putting too many people in danger. What about the others?”
“They’re evacuating the area in case this gets bloody. It’s gonna get bloody isn’t it?”
“I’m going to make sure everyone makes it out of this,” Sunset said. “Can you do me one favor though?” She grabbed the spear and handed it to her. “Think you can hold onto this?”
“Wait a minute!” Moneybags objected.
“You have two options,” Sunset glared at him. “Either you get the hell out of here while you still can or end getting killed in the crossfire, what’s it gonna be?”
“I…” Moneybags suddenly galloped out of his house. “No artifact is worth this!”
“Very nice,” Tempest commented. “So now what do we do?”
“Gilda?” Sunset asked again.
“Yeah, yeah, I heard ya the first time,” Gilda said as she took the spear. “It’s gonna be hard getting past all of them.”
“Then we’ll need to distract them,” Sunset said. “Wait on my cue Gilda and when I give it, get as far away from here as you can.”
“Fine, but I’ll be coming back you know.”
“Now then, let’s see what we’re up against.” The three of them made their way out and oddly enough, it was quiet. The shield was still up and it was almost as if no one had made a move yet.
“Minny?” Moon Dancer called out to one of the unicorns. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” Minuette said, her horn still glowing. “They all showed up but they’re just standing there.”
“No doubt they’re going to wait us out,” Tempest said. “Or to figure out our strategy…”
“Now what?” Moon Dancer asked.
“I doubt they really want to talk, but I say let’s humor them,” Sunset said. “Everyone, the three of us going outside the shield so be ready for anything…” She then looked up and saw a familiar gray pony. “Derpy, is the area clear?”
“Clear as can be,” Derpy said with a quick salute. “We’re standing by.”
Sunset nodded and looked to the other two unicorns. “You both ready for this?”
“No need to ask me,” Tempest said.
“Believe it or not, but I’m more a bookworm than Twilight could ever be so trust me, I can handle a few rogue unicorns,” Moon Dancer said proudly.
“Alright…” The three of them went forward, outside the shield. Sunset counted at least forty of them, all masked and robed. A little dramatic for her taste but she supposed that was the theme. “You know, we had a feeling you guys would show up,” Sunset called out to them. “Looks like you were expecting a fight too.”
“Your resistance is admirable but futile,” a voice called back. It was a male voice. “To whom am I speaking?”
“Sunset Shimmer, former student of Princess Celestia and close friend of Princess Twilight,” Sunset said firmly. "Who are youand what do you want with this spear?”
“I am Arnyek, Adaj’s second-in-command,” the stallion said, stepping forward. “That staff is nothing more than a threat to the years we spent waiting, to the Pony of Shadows himself. All we want is to destroy it, simple as that. While we find your little group effort offensive, the Caligo Tribe is nothing if not merciful. If you value your lives, you’ll give us the spear and we shall go quietly.”
“You know I can’t do that,” Sunset called back. “Also you’d be making a huge mistake underestimating us. If you want to avoid bloodshed, I suggest you leave instead.”
“I see. Pity…” Arnyek replied, shaking his head. “It’s a shame that we must fight against our own but I have my orders. “You claim to be knowledgeable in the art of magic, but you do not know nor have experienced the art of true dark magic! I, or rather we, will show you something to truly fear…”