I made my way to the roof of the warehouse slowly. The building was old and well past its usefulness. I stopped and held my breath as a breeze and a wave rocked the whole structure.
The warehouse sat on a dock that was not anchored to the bay floor below so it was left to rock with each wave that hit the dock. How something like that had been built without anyone mentioning the obvious safety risk was beyond me. As the rocking stopped I continued my walk up the warehouse wall to the roof.
I hurried across the roof to a skylight, looking through its foggy glass for anything I could see. I needed to move swiftly. The two guards I left unconscious in the shipping container would be discovered eventually and time was not on my side. The night was waning and I could already begin to see sunlight licking at the horizon.
“Slow it down, Celestia.”
I pushed open the skylight with some effort but managed to keep it from slamming into the roof. From below I could see four ponies; three were standing around the fourth, who was tied to a chair.
Three on one is good odds.
I slipped inside onto some scaffolding moving gingerly to avoid any creaks or squeaks. To my good fortune the lights in the warehouse were mostly out. This high up they would not be able to see me clearly. I shuffled along the scaffolding and dropped to a catwalk that extended around the entire warehouse. To my left was an office that hung over the main floor, where my target was being held. I slipped inside and decided this would be a good place to set a trap.
It took all my might to lift the desk in the room over by the door and prop it up so the length was vertical. I made a similar motion with a file cabinet that remained. It was lighter but would do the trick. I sat the file cabinet on the edge of the desk and on top of the door that was opened inward only slightly. The door groaned silently under the weight but held solid.
I slipped from the office through the second entrance and made my way around the catwalk giving myself a good view of the main floor below me. I found an errant screw lying on the catwalk and prayed that my schoolyard days of playing keep away from Rarity had kept my aim true.
I launched the screw with all I was worth and heard a satisfying but loud shatter as it pierced the window of the office across the way. Immediately the stallions below took notice.
“Go check it out.”
I watched the pony look for the ladder and begin to ascend into the shadows. I ducked low opposite him and moved around to watch him from behind as he ventured toward the office door. I watched him push on it, but nothing happened.
“The door’s stuck,” he yelled down.
“Well, just give it a hard push!”
I saw the pony back up and put his weight into shouldering open the door. The satisfying clang and thud of the file cabinet landing on him was my cue. I moved forward to the ladder as one of the other stallions began to ascend to check on his friend. I waited patiently as he climbed with my baton at the ready. As soon he reached the proper level I struck him in the back of his head and caught him by his collar to prevent him from falling.
I dragged him away from the ladder and laid his body down gently before returning to the opposite side of the catwalk and making my way down the ladder on that side. The colt left on the warehouse floor was getting nervous.
“Where are you guys!? What’s going on up there?” His voice showed his panic. Finally he swore and began to move toward the ladder the other two had climbed.
As he walked to that ladder I walked from my ladder into the light of the warehouse floor. I put my hoof on the kidnapped colt’s should and spoke softly, thankful that he had been gagged.
“I’m here to get you out. Don’t make any noise and we’ll be just fine.” I quickly untied his bonds and he looked at me quizzically, like he couldn’t believe someone would risk their life for him. I mouthed “Follow me” and he nodded.
I led the way back toward the edge of the warehouse but before we’d made it safely to the darkness I heard a shout from above. The colt had climbed the ladder faster than I anticipated and he was now shouting down at us.
“Run!” I shouted at my companion.
We rushed for the nearest door and out into the pre-dawn air. The sun was just beginning to rise. I looked around not knowing exactly which way led to safety when I heard the hoof beat from beyond the warehouse.
“He’s in here! Move! Move!”
The mayor’s son looked at me, “What now?”
“We keep running.” We took off down the docks running for all we were worth. I wasn’t quite sure where we were headed but running was better than getting captured, but it quickly became apparent that the docks didn’t go on forever.
“We’re running out of room!” shouted the mayor’s son.
As he spoke I caught a boat speeding past in the bay, and it looked somehow familiar. I watched it hook around and pull up to the last dock seeing a familiar stallion waving at me on board.
“Take a right. Down the dock.”
“But that’s a dead end!” He stopped short of a wall, not turning.
“No, it’s not!” I turned down the dock and sprinted for all I was worth to the end, before once again channeling my inner Rainbow Dash and jumping as far as I could. I could swear for a moment it felt like I had wings. My jump wasn’t enough however as my back hooves caught the edge and I toppled over onto the deck of the boat.
I righted myself slowly, seeing the mayor’s son running down the dock now with a few stallions in pursuit. As he reached the end of the dock, I watched him jump and land on the boat far more gracefully than myself.
“Get us out of here!” I shouted.
With that the boat lurched and began to chug forward. A few of the stallions tried to make the jump, one missing completely and splashing into the water, another grabbed the edge of the boat. I watched the mayor’s son walk to him and slug him in the face as he hung off the boat.
“Tell your boss he’s got no leverage now.” He punched the stallion again and he toppled into the water.
I limped back to the wheel of the ship, my back hooves both in pain over my failed jump.
“Where’d you learn how to drive a boat?”
“You didn’t think I just drove the train, did you?” The train conductor smiled at me, wickedly. We shared a laugh and I thanked him for his help.
“Do you have a place for this kid while I get back to work?”
“Sure. We can keep him on the train until it’s safe. That thing has more security features than Celestia’s Castle.”
“Good. Find a place along here to drop me off. I need to get back into town.”
“You got it, son.”
He slowed the boat at a public dock and I bid them both good luck before heading back into town and pressing my neck.
“Still with me, Spike?”
“You betcha, Shadow. How did you get up the river so fast?”
“Turns out Luna recruits the proper ponies to support her operatives.”
“Cool. What do you need?”
“Directions. I need to get back to the safe house. It should be about two miles south of the mayor’s home.”
My ear was silent as I limped onward slowly. My hooves were killing me.
“Okay, I got it. Just keep heading the direction you are. Just a couple miles up that road and you should be there.”
“Alright. Thanks, buddy. When are you and Twilight switching shifts?”
“A couple hours.”
“Alright. Your mission for the day is to get that drawing and make Rarity feel better, okay?” I spoke purposefully, but a little ragged. I was still out of breath and fast approaching my exhaustion point.
“You got it. But Shadow, are you okay?”
“Yea. Just a little worse for the wear. I’ll be fine. Oh, and Spike, tell Luna I’m going to need some help out here. The police chief is in on the plan of attack. I can’t trust the police at all.”
“Alright. Stay safe out there.”
My ear went silent and I ventured back to the safe house, feeling the, now few hours old, sun begin to warm my back as I entered slowly. What I was found inside was disconcerting at best.
The house had been ransacked. Papers were strewn everywhere. Anything that wasn’t bolted down had been smashed. I looked around slowly for any sign of Shimmer but she was not present.
Thank Celestia for small miracles.
That doesn’t mean she wasn’t here. They might have her.
I rifled through the papers on the floor, looking for any sign of Shimmer. Finally I found a note with a few scribbles on it. It mentioned the old prison and something about a necessary train part that was set to be installed on all trains in Equestria.
I sighed and looked at the clock, it had been a few hours since I last contacted Spike so Twilight should be on.
“Twilight, we’ve got a problem.”
“What is it?” Her voice was pleasant in my ears.
“I figured out how they’re going to use the trains. It’s some part that has to be installed on all the trains. I don’t know what it will do but it’s something that every train in Equestria will be outfitted with.”
“I’ll pass that on to Luna. Anything else?”
“Yea, I don’t know where Shimmer is. She told me to meet her here but the house has been torn apart. I think she might have been grabbed. I’m heading to the old prison to check it out.”
“Are you sure, Shadow? You sound awfully tired.”
I looked outside at the rising sun and decided against my own plan. “No, I’ll head back to the train and catch some sleep there. It’s the only safe place I know of.”
“Wait, don’t head back there. If the house has been torn up they might have someone watching you.”
I pulled back the curtains on the window in the living room spotting two stallions trying very hard to look inconspicuous. “Yea, they do. Any suggestions?”
“Just a simple one. Go down the hall to the last room on the right.” I followed her instructions as she gave them. “In that room in the closet there should be a chain hanging down from a light. Pull the chain.”
I gave the chain a yank and jumped back as the back wall of the closet rotated to reveal a small panic room.
“Twilight, how do you know this stuff? Have you done this kind of work before?” I said laughing slightly.
“No, but I have.” Luna’s voice was unmistakable in my ear and made me smile.
“Thanks, Princess. I’ll catch a few hours of sleep and then head out to the prison.”
“Very well, Shadow. I’m gathering up a task force to support you when you call for them. You’ve done fantastic work so far.”
“Thank you, Princess. Hopefully Celestia will back our operations after this.”
“She already has. Where do you think I’m getting the task force?”
I smiled again. “Good. I’ll contact Twilight when I’m on the move. Thanks again, Princess.”
My ear was silent and I pushed a button inside the panic room and watched the door close. I laid down on the small mattress on the floor and quickly drifted off to sleep.