//------------------------------//
// Lightning Strikes 
// Story: A Moonlit Storm 
// by SilverNotes 
//------------------------------//

The short hedgebeast was within Night Light's weight limit for telekinesis, and so he was the one who hauled him into the back. Even passing into the stockroom, the pressure on Night's horn was minimal, and that worried him. He had no doubt that the wards had saved Impisi from being taken alongside Savannah, may have even saved her life, but they'd been worn down by the efforts, and he didn't know enough about crocotta magic to know how vulnerable that left her, and for how long. He couldn't dwell on it, however, not with his current cargo, and he set the imprisoned lackey down on the orange crate before busying himself with using his magic to sweep up the spilled grains from a torn-open bag of rice.

There had been no verbal planning, and yet they both seemed to know how they were going to handle it. A classic game of bad princess, good princess--or bad princess, good prince, as the case may be--with no mystery as to who would take which role. Kisu had already raided the kitchen for cutlery, while Night was trying to ensure the other party in this unwanted conversation was as comfortable as could be without going so far as to untie him.

Night gave a deep sigh, shaking his head. "Quite the mess this has turned into, hasn't it?" he commented to no one in particular, before focusing in on the captive hedgebeast, who was looking a bit more alert. "Now, I'm a reasonable sort of stallion. I know you'd like to get on a boat back to the Storm Kingdom as fast as possible. So, if you'd just tell us where to get our friend back, we can put this--"

"Hah!" the beast croaked from his place on the crate. "Go back without the amulet? You're kidding. If Needles doesn't have my hide, the Thunderhead will."

So, Needles himself wasn't the current head of the Thunderstrikes, just the leader of this group within it. Interesting. Night turned that over in his mind while Kisu took the floor, one of her front legs hooking itself just right around a carving knife to brandish it threateningly. "We'll have your hide if you don't talk, you little rat. I think you'd look nice up on my wall."

Night's magic gently took knife and leg alike and nudged them away. "Now, now, there's no need for that." He tried to give his most disarming smile. "If you don't want to go back to the Kingdom, I'm sure we can come to an arrangement for safe passage to Equestria instead, some protection--"

"Pastel pink pony land?" That got all the more croaking laughter, at least until he winced, though what of the extensive injuries it'd aggravated, Night couldn't tell. "Ow... I think I'd rather take my chances with the Thunderhead than live in the land of perpetual tea parties."

"Well, unluckily for you, you're taking your chances with me instead." Kisu reared up, and with a feat of speed and dexterity Night knew must have involved magic, the carving knife went zipping past the side of the hedgebeast's head. It planted itself in the far wall with a solid thunk, and several severed quills littered the crate. "And your luck is rapidly running out." She slammed both front hooves on the crate, leaning in until her snout was inches from his. "Where. Did. They. Take. Savannah?"

The beast was leaning as far back as he could in his current position, eyes wide. "T-tell-tell you what? If... if the pretty one comes back here, I'll tell you everything you need to know."

Kisu blinked. "...Pretty one?" More blinks. "Wait, you mean Impisi?" Several more blinks. "She broke a chair over your head!"

That was the moment when Night realized that the dazed look he'd seen before likely had not come from a concussion, as it was now back on the tied-up lackey's face. "She did!" The small beast sighed dreamily. "It gave me such a close look at her muscles..."

Kisu looked back at Night, completely baffled. He could only shrug helplessly in return. This wasn't a standard outcome of bad princess, good princess. Kisu finally snorted and pushed herself off the crate. "We'll be right back. But one wrong move and you'll be the mincemeat in her next pie. Got it?"

"Got it! Not moving an inch! Not an inch!"

Kisu turned swiftly and headed out of the room. Night moved to follow her, needing to trot to keep up. "You really frightened him, cutting his quills like that."

"It's a classic intimidation tactic," she responded almost conversationally, "Slice off something that won't hurt, but that they consider part of themselves. Make them feel their mortality without spilling any blood. Hair and feathers usually work well enough, but things like quills are all the better, since they're something designed for self-defense."

"You've done this a lot, I take it?"

"Do you really want the answer to that, Mr. Light?"

He didn't have a chance to decide if he did or didn't, because they'd found Impisi, who was in the process of righting tables and checking them for damage. She looked up when she heard their hoof steps, and Night noted that she was shaking a bit more than she had been, even if it never quite reached her voice. "You get what you need?"

He and Kisu exchanged another look, and couldn't help chuckling at the absurdity of it all as he said, "No, it seems he'll only speak to you."

"It seems you have an admirer, Impisi," Kisu added in admirable deadpan.

It was her turn to blink furiously, then grin and let out a booming laugh. "Well, can't fault a guy for good taste. Here." She shoved her broom at Kisu, who made an awkward fumble with forelegs and teeth to catch it. "I'll lay on some of my trademark charms."

Night watched her head to the back room, then looked back at the table she'd been stabilizing. He went to work himself, righting and sweeping up what he could with his magic as Kisu got on her hind legs to do what she could with a broom. She was definitely less coordinated when handling anything but a knife, but she still did an admirable job using an item that'd been made with hands in mind and lacked the usual grooves for angling forelegs properly. It look several minutes for Impisi to emerge again, and despite the situation, her grin was still firmly in place.

"Have you got it?" Kisu asked, the broom clattering to the floor as she practically galloped the body lengths necessary to reach her.

Impisi puffed out her chest with pride. "Everything. Find me a map and I'll show you."





One of the least-damaged tables had been drafted for the three to gather around, and a map of Zebrat and the surrounding area had a circle drawn in one corner, as well as several winding lines. A cave and several tunnels, apparently not far from the city, and partly running under it. Impisi had said that they used to be the lair of a grootslang--the more that Night Light heard of such creatures, the more they seemed to be something similar to a dragon, only slightly less powerful and significantly more cantankerous--but while there remained the occasional group of adolescents who would dare each other to go in for a few minutes, they'd otherwise been abandoned for years.

Until recently, apparently.

"It sounds like a 'couple dozen' was lowballing things," Kisu said as she sat with her front hooves on the table, using her vantage point to stare down at the map as if that might intimidate it into giving up extra information.

"Yeah, no kidding." Impisi gave a sharp shake of her head. "If he was telling the truth, the Thunderstrikes have locals who helped clean the tunnels out for them. A lot of them." One hand was digging claws into the wood as she spoke, and Night noticed that the pattern was similar to what she had carved into the storage room walls. "I don't like it. Main entrance may be away from the city, but it's still practically under the Crown Princes' snouts."

"Unless one or more of the royal family are in on it." Kisu's eyes never strayed from the map, but she seemed to know the looks she was getting anyway. "Yes, I know, Kisu is being dark again. You can hardly blame me."

"I really can't," Night admitted with a sigh, before lighting his horn so that he could illuminate one of the squiggly lines. "You said that our smitten beast was certain that they'd be keeping Savannah in this side-tunnel. So that's where we need to be."

"Where I need to be," Kisu corrected as she hopped down from the table. "I'm the one trained for this, and you need to get that amulet neutralized and on a boat to Equestria." Her jewelry and shoes were tossed aside quickly, with her dress on its way to joining the pile. "And take Impisi with you."

"Hey, wait a--"

Kisu whipped around, and the force of her eye contact silenced the hulking crocotta's protests. "They knew to come here. That means that someone knows you work for Equestria. Your information network has a leak, and your restaurant--" She gave a toss of her head, indicating the wreckage around them all. "--Isn't safe anymore." She turned back toward the doorway and what was left of the door. "How quickly can you set up your wards again?"

"Just a couple of minutes, but--"

"Good. Get the amulet safe to travel, and get out of Farasi."

Out the door, into the shadows, and Kisu was gone, leaving Night Light and Impisi around the table and amulet heavy in Night's saddlebags. He supposed he truly had no choice but to get to work.