Night grimaced to himself as he, Ardent, and Twilight all stood on the roof of an office building not far away from the target warehouse. He wasn’t upset with the plan. In fact, that was good enough that he should be smiling. Twilight’s invisibility would let her get all the material they needed in a short amount of time. She’d hover over them for twenty minutes and then come back and use an illusion to project what she saw. The only thing that could have been better was if Night and Ardent could hover over the warehouse instead.
The plan made things so easy, yet despite that, Night couldn’t help but hate every second they stood on the roof.
Every moment Twilight stood there, the chances of her finding out what bothered him could come to the Light. If that did, if its brilliance revealed him for what he was, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to take it.
“Okay,” Twilight said, staring at the distant warehouse as though she could make the building quake in fear. “I should be back in twenty minutes. There shouldn’t be any issues unless someone uses alarm spells to look for intruders.”
“And what are the chances of that, sir?” Ardent asked, directing the question to Night.
“Not high,” Night said. “Most unicorns are only going to worry about something crossing the walls. Pegasi aren’t known for turning invisible, after all.”
Twilight nodded. “Not to mention, getting an alarm spell into the air takes way more magical energy. We should be just fine.”
Night nodded and hoped she’d just fly off already.
“If you see the flair, move in carefully. The ponies down there may attack without knowing I’m the Princess, but they’ll know shortly. If they have some kind of brain in their heads, they’ll stop, and I may be able to talk them down.”
“I still don’t like that,” Night said. “Azure would kill me if he found out that rumors were going about the ‘Invisible Princess’ flying around. Many ponies are already complaining about how the Inquisitors are a government-mandated breach of privacy. If you get caught flying over a warehouse while invisible, it will make things worse.”
“Then I guess I shouldn’t get caught,” she said, smirking.
Night didn’t react to the attempt to make light of the situation. Instead, he watched as Twilight disappeared, and then he heard her wings flap as she took off. Night watched as she went and finally let himself relax slightly. The tension in his shoulders dropped a fraction now that she couldn’t learn the truth.
“Sir, is everything alright?” Ardent asked.
He knew the earth pony was there the entire time, but his sudden question nearly made him jump. The Spymaster turned to him and gave his best reassuring nod. “Everything’s fine, beyond the problems if she gets discovered.”
Ardent said nothing, staring at Night as they waited.
Night took a deep breath and focused back on the mission. Once Twilight got him a layout, figuring out where they make and store their money would be incredibly easy. Steps three and four of the plan would follow shortly. Depending on how collected the Scarlet Hoof was, they might have this whole branch dismantled by the end of the week. That would certainly be a nice change of pace, all things considered.
As Night was thinking through his thoughts, he heard the soft clop of hooves against the roof, and Twilight’s Image slowly came back into view as she began to build it back into existence. “Alright, it’s pretty simple,” the Princess said.
Night snapped back to attention. “Yes, Princess?”
Once her body appeared to be a vaguely Twilight-shaped blob, she cast her illusionary model of the warehouse.
Getting a top-down view of the warehouse helped immensely; the doors to the building were visible, and Night immediately saw five possible entrances. The two largest and most apparent doors, and therefore the one they were least likely to use, were the loading and unloading doors facing the docks and the street. The massive double doors on each side of the warehouse were open in the illusion, and ponies were frozen, moving large boxes inside.
Twilight noticed his attention on the tiny figures. “They were moving in something, I’m not sure what, but it looks like they’re storing whatever they work with inside.”
“If they have the evidence, why don’t we have the guard move in now?” Ardent asked.
“Because then the guards here will be fighting a large gang of criminals, which could spill out into the streets,” Twilight said. “Trust me, I’ve thought about this.”
“Yes, Princess.”
“If Night can do what he needs to, it’ll break up the group, and we’ll be able to deal with them better.”
Ardent nodded his understanding, and Night moved around to look at the warehouse from a different angle.
The skylight would be an excellent way in, but there didn’t appear to be any way for a non-pegasus to get up to the roof. The Scarlet Hoof didn’t leave any boxes or crates next to the warehouse for him to climb up to the top, so he’d have to climb up, which he could do by himself, but with Ardent following after him, it might not work out as well. That left two options: two side doors on opposite sides of the warehouses.
The one on the South side of the building opened up to the expansive yard filled with shipping crates that had been scattered around to appear busy to the passing eye. The North door, on the other hoof, was closer to the wall that marked the edge of the property. Despite that, the illusionary ponies gathered around the north door made it clear that the Scarlet Hoof had that door guarded.
“It looks like we’ll have to come in from the South.”
“We might need to head up from the South,” Night said. “We’ll have to cut across this area with the containers here, but at least we’ll have some cover that way.”
“That’s a lot of ground to cover,” Twilight said.
Night tried to ignore that the comment came from Twilight and answered it anyway. “I know, but according to this—” He motioned to the illusionary map—“the South door appears the least guarded. I’d normally want to go through the skylight, but we’ll have to climb over the wall already, and I don’t know how quietly Ardent will do that.”
He glanced at the earth pony, who looked mildly offended at the implication.
“I don’t think you can’t do it,” Night said. “We just can’t afford to have too many hanging ropes, and if we come through the skyline, we’ll have at least one hanging from the ceiling. Going through the door will work better. Also, the guard doesn’t care if you grunt or groan as you climb.”
Ardent said nothing.
“Okay,” Twilight said. “It sounds like you need to plan from here. Let’s regroup at the safe house and go from there.”
Night grimaced before trying to hide the look on his face. “Sure, we can do that.”
Twilight, luckily, didn’t seem to notice the frown and nodded. “Alright, get close. I’ll take us there.”
They huddled together, and with a pop, they disappeared from the rooftop.
---♦---
Twilight stayed long enough for her to fix her Image and eat before she left for Canterlot. The entire time, Night did his best to answer her questions and give her the outline of his plan. Everything was reasonably straightforward, and Night finally relaxed that evening because he managed to keep her from figuring him out.
His Heart wished Night would tell her. She deserved to know.
Logic dictated that the less on her plate, the better.
Sitting down over the map of the warehouse he drew, he mostly had a plan in the works, ready to go, when Ardent slowly came around and stood in his field of view.
“Sir,” the Inquisitor-in-training greeted.
“Yes, Ardent? Is something wrong?”
“That’s what I’d like to know, sir.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were behaving strangely around the Princess, sir.”
Heart froze.
Logic stumbled.
“What?” Night asked, blinking.
“You weren’t acting…normally, I suppose I should say,” Ardent continued. “I just want to make sure everything is fine, sir.”
Heart panicked. Twilight knew. She had to know. If Ardent knew, Twilight had to. She saw him continue to struggle while out in the field, away from the supposedly stuffy palace, the excuse he tried to hide behind.
Logic stepped in. That was an assumption. There was no guarantee that Twilight would see anything. She might have missed it.
Heart roared back. There’s no way she didn’t. She knew there was still something wrong. Twilight knew he lied.
“It-it’s fine,” Night said. “I’m fine. I just…had some stuff on my mind.”
She has to know, Heart yelled. Twilight knows, and she didn’t say anything. What do we do? What on earth do we do?
Logic tried to organize everything. Twilight would have said something. She’s not going to let the problem go without doing something. She couldn’t have noticed, we’re fine!
“You’re sure you’re alright, sir?”
“Absolutely. I just need to get some sleep,” he said, standing and leaving his plans forgotten on the table. “We’ll be up late tomorrow, after all, so we’ll need to be rested.”
Heart despaired.
Logic tried to comfort.
“It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea if you went to sleep yourself, Ardent.”
The earth pony nodded but said nothing as he kept his face in the perfectly impassive stare of the guard. “Yes, sir.”
Night nodded and went to his cot. He laid down, yawned, and closed his eyes as Heart and Logic roiled beneath him.
He didn’t get to sleep that night.
---♦---
Ardent glanced over at his boss, who looked three times as tired as he felt. Ardent had a hard time sleeping during the morning hours, probably because he was used to reverie getting him up at ungodly hours. He did get some good naps in, as any Soldier learned to do, however, but there was a faint sense of tiredness behind him.
Night, on the other hoof, looked like he hadn’t slept in the past twenty-four hours. Despite that, his movements were as sharp as ever, and Ardent couldn’t help but respect the physical discipline that the Spymaster possessed.
“Alright,” Night said, pulling a grappling hook from a saddlebag he wore. They stood in an alley a short sprint away from the warehouse’s Southern wall, their homeless disguises left at the safehouse. “I’ll change the shape of the scrying ring. We climb the wall, sneak across the yard, check out their production lines, and then find where they keep the money. After that, we see if we can sabotage their efforts and rob them.”
Ardent nodded. “Understood.”
“Move carefully. Use what you learned. I’ll help when I can.”
Again, Ardent nodded.
Without another word, Night lifted the hook up to the top of the wall and secured it tightly. He clambered over the border with practiced ease, barely making a sound as he moved. He reached the top in a second before peeking over the edge to look for anyone coming their way.
“Alright, come over, quick.”
Ardent followed him, grabbing the rope and climbing over as quickly, though noisier than Night had. He vaulted over the wall and landed on the other side like it was the old obstacle course.
Night landed next to him like a shadow and crossed the ground until he slid right next to the closest shipping crate. The Spymaster waved him over, and Ardent obeyed, almost compelled by the sheer confidence he exuded as he moved.
Ardent moved up right next to the unicorn and stayed quiet as he watched Night peek around the corner, keeping his head as low as possible. “A guard is making the rounds here. She’s slow, but that normally means they’re thorough. We must get ahead of her so we’re not held up.”
Ardent nodded his understanding.
Night peeked out again, and he picked up a small stone in his magical grip before tossing it to the left. A moment later, Ardent heard the ping of rock hitting metal and the commotion of ponies moving to check out the noise.
“Quick and quiet,” Night said before he rushed forward, ducking behind another crate further down to the right.
Ardent followed, staying low and close to the walls, letting his cloak billow and hide his form. He breathed out into a cloth mask and breathed in through his nose, cutting noise down further, and he found himself focusing on everything he learned so much that he nearly lost sight of Night.
Night moved like a shark in the water: quiet, fast, and single-mindedly focused. He took the corners at speed, pausing only long enough to check around the side to ensure he wouldn’t run into anyone.
Behind them, Ardent heard ponies talking, trying to figure out what made the noise, but their distraction wouldn’t last long, and they still needed to cross the open ground.
Night paused at a corner, and Ardent finally caught up and glanced back out with Night.
Forty feet of open ground waited between them and the warehouse.
Night eyed the space and glanced around, looking for movement, before he whispered. “Stay here and watch the roof of the building. If you see me wave to you, that’s the sign that the coast is clear.
Before Ardent could ask, Night cast a spell. A second later, Night was invisible.
Or, at least, he thought so until he felt a hoof guide his face upward. Night hovered in the air above him, posed as though he were holding Ardent’s face up before he clapped Ardent across the shoulder, and his form hovered across the open ground.
Ardent watched the transposed Image move before it looked around to the left and right, hovering as close as it could to the top of a stacked tower of crates before he appeared satisfied that nopony was watching them. Without waiting another second, the Image waved Ardent over, and the earth pony took a quick breath before he began to cross.
He moved as fast as he dared, trying to keep his muscles relaxed—as he had been taught—despite the tension of being caught growing in his gut. Staying relaxed would let him move quicker, but forcing himself to relax caused tension.
Ardent ran up to the door, and Night appeared next to him. “Can you pick a lock?” the Spymaster asked.
Ardent just reached to his belt in answer and pulled the picks free.
Ardent reached for the handle before the unicorn held out a hoof to stop him in his tracks. Night pressed Ardent against a wall and carefully pointed with a hoof to the right. Ardent glanced in that direction and saw a pony approaching them.
The faint orange glow of a magical light hovered over his head, and Ardent’s first thought was to stay out of that light. It didn’t matter that he wore clothes that would hide him in the darkness. If that light hit him, he might as well be dressed in bright white with reflective orange.
If he moved, though, his oversized silhouette would get the stallion’s attention quickly. He needed to—
Night picked up another rock and tossed it. It ping-ed on another shipping container. The incoming guard paused and looked toward the sound before he took a tentative step in that direction.
“Go,” Night hissed at him, and Ardent returned to unlocking the door.
The lock popped, and Ardent moved to open the door, but Night stopped him. “The lights are on inside.” Ardent glanced up at him, not understanding what he meant before Night held up Ardent’s cloak over the door. “Careful, open it just wide enough for us to slip through.”
Ardent obeyed and opened the door as carefully as possible, and the light from inside the warehouse burned against the darkness outside. If not for the cloak catching the light, it would have shone into the night like a beacon.
Night passed the cloak over and slipped inside. Ardent followed after and shut the door fast behind him. They stood in the warehouse, and Night smirked as he looked around at the warehouse around him. “Now, for the easy part,” he whispered.
“What’s the plan?” Ardent asked.
“Wait and see what comes up.”
“What do you mean?”
“We have to find those crates that came in last night. If they’re still here, it’ll show us everything we need to know.”
“How do we know which ones they are?”
“They’ll be the ones that look like they’re ready to move. Everything else here is set dressing.”
Ardent glanced around, looking, and saw some crates packed off to the side and covered in a tarp. They were also guarded by three ponies armed with bats, pipes, and a single sword.
“That has to be them, right?”
Night glanced at them and smiled. “A bunch of random crates being heavily guarded in the middle of a warehouse filled with ponies? Absolutely. Good eye.”
“How do we get over there without drawing attention?”
“Leave that one to me.”
“Sir?”
“I’ve been doing this kind of thing for years. You let me worry about what’s in the crates. You got here without alerting the guards. We don’t need to hide anymore. Your guard training can take over from here. Go make some chaos. I’ll take care of the rest of the plan. Give me five minutes, then meet me back at the safe house.”
Ardent nodded, a little disappointed that he wouldn’t dismantle the gang after getting up here, but the prospect of messing some things up did make up for it a bit. After all, he should leave that kind of work to the Spymaster himself.
He began moving away from Night, smiling as he picked up a wooden board.
“Hey!” a voice called from across the warehouse.
Ardent smiled before he cocked back his leg and threw the board like a javelin. The wood smashed into the pony’s face, and he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
Someone else yelled, and ponies began to close in.
Ardent let them come, but he did keep count. Just because he had a talent for beating ponies up didn’t mean he could let himself get carried away. That’s a beautiful way of getting yourself hurt.
Four ponies rushed him. Just enough for a challenge.
One came in swinging with a baseball bat, and Ardent answered by lazily moving out of the way of the wild swing. Ducking under the attack, he brought up an uppercut that caught his attacker in the jaw and sent him sprawling.
Ardent grabbed the bat and smiled. “Let’s see who can make my night?”