The room had filled quicker than Twilight had anticipated, and soon everypony was swimming. Trotter seemed to be in shock from the bolt to the eye, but he was swimming strongly with Aqua's help. Still, they were running out of room to breathe, so Twilight dove down to try and find another way out. Swimming against the complicated currents in the water was exceedingly difficult but Twilight finally managed to struggle to the front door. It was locked. She found the same problem afflicted the other doors, until finally, running out of air, she desperately blasted one open. Too late, she realized that she had just given the room full of water someplace to go, and there was going to be an awful lot of it on its way there shortly.
Twilight and the others screamed as they were flushed down a long, smooth hallway by the force of untold gallons of water. She had managed to pull everypony together magically, but tumbling end-over-end in a tsunami rushing through a marble hallway does not do wonders for one's focus. Trotter was unconscious again, with Aqua barely managing to keep his head above water, while Trixie clung to a bit of door that had become an impromptu life-preserver. Pinkie, still as unfazed as always, cheered and giggled as she rode the current, not even trying to keep herself stable and just tumbling tail-over-teakettle through the deluge.
The flow petered out after a while, and Twilight and the others found themselves stranded in a strange, ornate room. It was like a massive ballroom, larger even than the Princess' throne room, with a balcony running along both walls and what seemed to be a dais on the far end. There were also a lot of guards lining the balcony and surrounding the group, all holding crossbows aimed at the little party of ponies. Pinkie giggled as she slid to a stop across the carpet, and waved merrily to the guards, “Hey guys! Look Twilight, we've got enough people for a party!”
A croaking laugh echoed from the far end of the room as all the ponies struggled to their hooves. Twilight stepped to the fore as the biggest, fattest, ugliest frog-thing she'd seen yet stepped forward, decked in an extremely ostentatious outfit. It was made of crushed velvet, gold lining and an incredibly horrible smell, all held together with extremely fine stitching. Rarity would probably be weeping to see such a horrible creature in such a magnificent outfit.
“Deceitful, thieving little ponies,” the frog-thing began in a voice like wet gravel, “I am Baron Toad, and you... You are most persistent.”
Twilight straightened, ignoring the chill settling into her from the water, “I am Dame Twilight Sparkle, Knight-Protector of Equestria, and I am here an behalf of Equestria to recover property that was stolen from a filly not too long ago.”
Baron Toad smirked, “We are not thieves, Dame Sparkle, look for your bauble elsewhere,”
“It's not a bauble!” Twilight snarled, her mane flaring, steam hissing off her as a magical pulse flicked through the unicorn, “It is a piece of her soul, Baron, the very last piece we need to restore her fully. Without it, she will be forever scarred, and in terrible pain.”
The Baron waved a froggy hand negligently, “Life is pain, Dame Sparkle, anyone who says otherwise is selling something. As to the soul piece, as I said before, perhaps it will encourage her to treat her soul with a little more care.”
Twilight very gently started to glow as her anger strained at her control. She closed her eyes and damped it, but her fury howled within, echoed in the words tumbling through her burning mane. “Choose your words with care, Baron, before you consign a child to such a fate.” Twilight said in a low, dangerous tone, “Thrice I will ask, and no more. For the second time: will you give me the shard?”
The Baron snorted, “With you here, at my mercy? I think not.” He waved a hand to the guards, and all the crossbows fired. Twilight's horn flared briefly and all the crossbow bolts vanished as if they'd never been. The Baron frowned, “Reload, idiots and fire again!” Twilight smirked as the guards found their quivers empty, she'd been quite thorough. The guards swore and drew their knives uncertainly, looking to their leader for orders. The Baron shrieked in fury, “KILL THEM!” then leapt away before the melee could begin.
Twilight scowled at the rushing frog-creatures, then focused a spell in her horn and parried the first knife with the magical appendage. The knife shattered, as did all the other knives in the room when Twilight's sympathetic spell took hold. The shattering knives was all the distraction that Twilight needed, and she ducked instinctively as Pinkie Pie bounded over her into the throng of guards, who found themselves suddenly unarmed and distinctly outmatched against the laughing pink pony.
Trixie and Aqua used the distraction as well, taking the opportunity to incapacitate their combatants, with Trixie sending hers to sleep and Aqua bucking the one that had approached too close to him and the downed Trotter hard enough to the face to make it spin around twice before falling over. Twilight saw the Baron running away and swore because she couldn't leave behind the rest of the group, there were simply too many combatants.
Twilight snarled and blasted away three frogs into their companions with a swirl of violet flame and parted the press surrounding Pinkie Pie. She looked surprised at the sudden space around her, then grinned at Twilight, who shouted to her over the din of battle, “Get the Baron! I'll handle the others!” Pinkie nodded and flipped off, neatly evading the grasping hands of the amphibians before dashing after the fat frog.
Twilight cut off the guards' pursuit with a curtain of purple fire, and then the real fighting began. One guard kicked for Twilight's face, which she blocked with a simple force-reversal spell, but another tried to kick her hard in the flank, where the only covering was the night-black silk and metal mesh. The second guard howled in amphibious agony as the impact completely failed to even nudge Twilight, much to her surprise. She didn't have time to marvel though, for more guards pushed for her attention as she stood in defiant defense of the other changelings.
Baron Toad hopped down the corridor at high speed, looking for more guards to put between him and the terrible ponies in the throne room. It had been a long time since he'd found anything that scared him more than the Beast had when he'd demanded the portly amphibian's allegiance. Twilight Sparkle was so much more terrifying that the Baron was seriously considering ordering that horrible, third-person speaking simulacrum who'd told him where the piece would be to be killed. She hadn't mentioned it came with a psychotic unicorn and some sort of freakish pink martial artist.
“You know,” Pinkie Pie said, stepping out from around the next corner to block the Baron's path, “You should really give Twilight that shard, it's for a really super-duper good cause!” The Baron leapt over her and kept going, shouting for more guards. He screeched to a halt when the pink pony stepped out to block the sole doorway into the next corridor, grinning. “Come on, Mr. Baron, it's just one shard, how much is that worth?”
“More than she can pay, now get out of the way before I kick you so hard-”
“Is it worth your life, Mr. Baron?” Pinkie asked sincerely, her blue eyes concerned, “And the lives of the people here?”
The Baron laughed and kicked forward, shoving past Pinkie into the next corridor, “You think you can kill us all, or would for such a stupid bauble? We are proud people, we do not bow to thieves or-”
“Not me,” Pinkie interrupted again, putting a hoof on the Baron's froggy shoulder, “But Twilight. The purple one,” she added helpfully at the Baron's blank look, “You killed a pony in front of her, tried to kill another one under her protection, all while she's been struggling to save a little filly.” Pinkie sighed, her demeanor darkening further, “She's been under so much stress, since coming back, and all she's been offered out here in the Hedge is violence... I think... I think if you don't give her the piece, she's going to kill you all.”
The Baron paused at the sheer sincerity in the pink pony's tone, and the very real thought of the horrible sorcerer cutting loose on his very tiny barony, “Why... Would you tell me this?”
Pinkie gave the frog a serious look, “Because if she kills you, it'll kill her inside. Also,” Pinkie said, brightening, “It gave me time to pick your pocket! Thanks!” She jingled a ring of keys, tossed them up to hold them in her mouth, winked at the stunned Baron and bounded away before he could start swearing.
Twilight's breath came in enraged bursts now, her expression contorted with anger as she wrapped her magic around the last guard, who struggled against her hold. Trixie was down and sobbing after one of the frogs had scooped up a broken knife and penetrated her shoulder with it, gouging the muscle cruelly. They hadn't killed any of them, but Twilight found it increasingly difficult to not snap this last guard's neck. Moments passed with the creature struggling before her, flailing in either fear or rage, the unicorn no longer cared which. Aqua watched her uncertainly, still standing over the unconscious Trotter. Trixie twitched on the ground and let out another quiet sob, fueling Twilight's rage.
Twilight very slowly cut off the creature's air with a subtle alteration of her telekinetic bubble, snarling softly as she watched it struggle. A hoof on her side made her turn, reflexively levitating the guard up higher as she whirled to face what could only be a new threat. Aqua's terrified expression as she found herself face-to-face with the damp earth pony made her temper instantly cool. She finished the sleeping spell on the guard and set him down gently with the others, without breaking eye contact with Aqua. They both relaxed slightly as Twilight's fury and shame slowly died, only to jump when Pinkie Pie jumped in from out of nowhere dangling keys in front of Twilight's face, “Hey Twilight, guess what I've goooot! The keys to the treasury! Now we can get the shard and go!”
Twilight just nodded, tears building in her eyes, and tucked the keys away in her saddlebag before walking off down the corridor. Pinkie sighed in relief once she was out of earshot and turned to Aqua, “She's gotta stop this, once this is over, that pony needs one big party, then an even bigger vacation.” With that, she gently put Trixie on her back and charged after Twilight, somehow managing to avoid jostling the injured unicorn as she bounced and jogged. Aqua shook his head and did the same with Trotter, albeit less gracefully.
The injured earth pony had come round during the fight just long enough to awkwardly kick a frog away from Aqua, only to pass out again almost immediately, mumbling incoherently. Aqua was extremely worried about him, especially since the tall, thin earth pony still sported a crossbow bolt through his eyeball, as they hadn't had time to pull it out. Trotter would probably lose the eye, Aqua knew, but he didn't want to think about it. For now he just followed after Dame Sparkle, hoping that they'd have a future at all, while a small part of him dared to hope that future would involve Trotter.
Twilight felt the turmoil of her thoughts like a tickling wave of force pouring over her body and mind. She was losing it, she knew, losing control of herself in the face of all these frustrations and bloodthirsty situations. She wondered despairingly what would have happened if Pinkie hadn't shown up, then shook her head to clear it. She hadn't killed the creature, she was still in control for the moment, and Applebloom was depending on her.
The thought of Applebloom reminded Twilight of her little squire Luminous, standing guard so fiercely over a filly she barely knew, simply because Twilight had told her to. She was looking to Twilight for an example, as a student to a teacher, and Twilight knew she had to try harder if she was to be worthy of that.
Twilight walked down the corridor, pushing her worries aside to deal with the more pressing problems of hidden ambushes. The marble floor clacked beneath her hooves loudly as she walked, but no living thing came forth to accost her party. She checked the map a couple of times, which had mercifully survived the flood trap in her saddle bags, and finally the whole group found themselves before a great steel door, easily four times as tall as a pony. The door was engraved intricately, and depicted froglike warriors doing battle with all number of strange creatures, including what looked suspiciously like Discord. In every engraving though, the frogs were losing, always pulling back to their fortress, which gleamed gold in the center of the door like a beacon. The keyhole for the treasury was, appropriately, in the doorway of the fortress, in the dead-center of the massive door.
This probably would have given the average burglar pause, but Twilight simply levitated the key up, put it in the lock and turned it, causing the tumblers to shift with a satisfying clunk noise. The door swung ponderously outwards, and Twilight raised a magical barrier just in time to catch a full barrage of crossbow bolts, which spent their energy against the shield harmlessly. Dozens of crossbow frogs lined the inside of the treasury, which was filled with piles and piles of gold, jewels and weapons. They were arranged in rows and reloading in sequence, constantly peppering Twilight's shield with bolts, to absolutely no effect.
“Begone, demon!” Baron Toad barked from inside, “The shard is ours! It will not fall to a thieving equine like yourself no matter what devilish forces you can conjure! You will not have it!”
Twilight simply started walking forward. What made this remarkable was the sheer number of bolts bouncing off her shield as she did so. They cracked against the shield and tumbled away as the purple unicorn advanced. Twilight's eyes began to glow with a pure white radiance as she advanced, and soon the bolts were vaporizing when they touched rather than bouncing off. The crossbow frogs parted before she drew close enough to extend the same fate as them, and soon the whole room ran out of bolts.
Twilight stood before the Baron impassively, while the latter clutched the glowing shard to his elegantly brocaded chest and snarled threats. After a moment of listening to this the purple unicorn focused, and some of the nearby gold glowed and melted, flowing together into a great, searing blade of liquid metal. She pointed it at the Baron and said softly, “Baron Toad, this was a valiant defense, but if you do not give me that shard, I will have no choice but to take it from you. This is the third time I will ask, and after that, I needs must take action.” Twilight looked almost sad as she contemplated the shocked Baron.
Baron Toad recovered his composure after a moment and scowled, “We cannot, for we are bound by the will of the Beast to never give aid to you and yours. If you must slay me for that, demon pony, then do so, but I will not go without a fight.” The last part seemed laughable in the light of Twilight's display of power earlier, but the unicorn nodded gravely.
“Then abandon the piece, dear Baron, and I will salvage it instead. If it is not yours, then it fails to be your responsibility. You are not bound to keep the piece, surely?” The Baron shook his head, his expression relaxing as the unicorn continued, “Then you are not aiding me, for my coming upon the piece was happenstance. You harried my forces as I trespassed in your domain, then abandoned the piece to force me to chase after, yes?”
“Did I?” The Baron asked dazedly, blinking at the violet apparition before him. He looked down at the piece of soul then back up at Twilight, frowning, “And how do I know you won't just try to kill us all when you have it?”
Twilight nodded, “A worthy question, but you'll find neither I nor my companions have permanently harmed any of your people. Which is more than can be said for you, I must add. We have always only sought the shard, and you have made us pay for that with one life and several injuries.” She gestured to the two injured, “The intrusion of Marmalade was unfortunate, but you had no cause to kill him, nor to attempt to burn my companions and I.” Twilight's tone remained soft, but the fury and frustration in her soul washed over briefly, making the room shiver.
“He... Broke into the treasury, Dame Sparkle, the penalty for which was death.” Baron Toad said, swallowing uncomfortably. “We had no choice!”
The light in Twilight's eyes intensified for a moment, and her mane and tail flared with phrases of condemnation. “There is always,” Twilight said, her voice physically and mentally resonating through everyone in the room with its sheer sorrow and fury, causing the frogs and changelings alike to shiver in instinctual terror, “Always a choice. Now choose, Baron: abandon the piece, or lose the castle.” She fixed the Baron with her burning gaze and waited for the amphibian to choose, while her blade of molten gold swirled and glowed like liquid sunlight at his throat.
After what felt like hours, the Baron set down the piece on the floor. Twilight lifted the blade away and nodded, careful not to thank him. She stepped aside to let him and the rest of the frogs leave, waited until their steps had faded, then took the sword and drove it into the floor with a sharp sound, the light in her eyes fading. She delicately levitated the last prepared crystal out of her saddlebag and touched it to the glowing soul shard on the floor. It turned the radiant yellow of Applebloom's coat, and Twilight sighed in relief before tucking it away and walking back to the group. She was too tired now to even think about how they must be looking at her, she just focused and teleported the lot of them back to the entrance to the fortress.