They were running by the long grey hallways, passing knocked out body’s right and left. Miss Magnificent was falling a little bit behind, but she was still fast enough to keep up with them. Mare-do-well looked at her and couldn't help but feel a new found respect for the mare. She may have done some bad things in her past, like messing up her wing when she returned, causing Rarity to have to get stitches from that same visit, making Snips and Snails "lock horns" and throwing away Pinkie Pies mouth. Actually, those last two still made her laugh. But even after all she's done, she was here, helping them bring down the bad guys, which then brought up an important question: how exactly did Braeburn know Trixie? She held that question back, knowing he had never really lied or steered her wrong before. He only avoided telling her things, and even then it was for an admittedly good reason.
She ran up closer to him, intent on finding out what they were actually running to. "So what's the plan, Chief?"
He briefly looked at her with a smile and then turned his shaded eyes back to the empty hall way. "Follow me." She gave a satisfied grin under her mask. She was actually pleasantly surprised by his plans simplicity.
For the past few hours, he had been so thoughtful and so methodical in everything he did. Even when they fought through the security of this place, she could from his face that he was thinking at the speed of sound. It was almost like he was Twilight and Applejack in the same body, only the result was a stallion... and he actually knew how to have a good time. She gave a chuckle at that last thought. Out of all six of her friends, only a few of them actually knew how to have real fun: Pinkie, Spike, and Vinyl Scratch, if she wasn't too tired from entertaining at her own parties, and that mare really knew how to throw down a glass of Hard Cider. She also cheated at cards. Royal flush without cheating, her eye.
Eventually, they stopped and took a breather in what seemed like an empty room devoid of any danger or life. Even Mare-do-well needed to stop for a quick break and as for Miss Magnifiscent... "How do," she was panting loudly as she began to ask them a question, "you even... run like that... for that long?!"
The Hat and Mare-do-well just looked at each other with what they both knew was a mutual smile. "Well, I was raised on a ranch, and she's one of Equestrias finest athletes." The Hat took a moment long pause, considering what he should say next, and then kept on. "You could always get some wheels to help you out."
"Don't," she raised her left hoof up as she braced herself against the wall of the spacious room, still panting really hard. "Even... joke... like that!"
"We can take a break for a only a sec, Trixie." He took a stern face like he was all business again. Even if he wasn't so above poking fun at his team mates, he knew that they were here on business. "If we stay any longer, there's a chance that they could ambu-WHOA!!" The hat was cut off midsentence by a stream of orange fire that came straight from the other side of the room.
All three heroes turned to see a tall brownish-orange unicorn with glasses standing clear on the other side of the large room. "I'm afraid your crusade ends now, Heroes!" He had a black metal breast-plate and a brown mane with some blue streaks.
"Who the hay are you?" The Hat went back to his magically disappearing South Equestria accent. "And what in blazes are you doing?!"
The new opponent smiled smugly. It was obvious by the scare on his right cheek that he was a veteran fighter, and judging by the look on his face, he knew he could win. At least, for all he knew. "They call me Summer Blaze, Mr. Hat. And you two," he pointed to Trixie and the Hat, "have made quite a splash here in the Echelon. But you," he looked to Mare-do-well now. "Ehh, not so much."
After that, Mare-do-well was more than ready to clean his clocks, but the Hat put his hand on her shoulder and with a single touch, she knew she was being toyed with. If she was here, she was supposed to be here. The Hat wouldn't have brought her along if he didn't trust her.
She normally didn't like being ordered around like this, and truth be told, this time was no different. But here, in this place, the Hat knew what was going on more than either her or Miss Magnificent. And as she followed Twilight, she will follow him.
"So what, aren't we going to fight now?" Magnificent asked, impatiently. She still looked tired, but the urgency of the situation demanded a second wind of energy. She could rest later. "Or are you too afra-"
"Shshshsh!" He shushed her, with his eyes closed and him wagging his hoof back and forth. All three of them could already tell that this guy was going to be a ton of fun, and by a ton of fun, they meant a huge pain in the plot.
"What?" Miss Magnificent was astounded that her ego centrally asked question was cut off by this new guy.
"I'm sorry, but it's just..." He took a pause and started to examine all of his enemies that were, themselves, examining him. He let his eyes wonder as he began to speak again. "I so rarely get to fight against such real opponents. It's like its Hearth Warming Eve, and I'm just a-"
"Enough of this guy!" Mare-do-well charged at him head, to which he responded by grabbing her cape and using her momentum to send her back to her launching point.
"It is rude to interrupt," He quickly went back to his affably evil persona. "Now, as I was saying... It's like I'm just a little foal on Hearths Warming Eve and this is my present. You all have no idea how much this fight is going to mean to me, and for providing me with a genuine challenge, I thank you. And hey, if you win, I’ll even tell you everything you want to know, because I’m just that kind of guy." In another time and place, he probably would have been a good match for Rarity, but since they were in the here and now, she didn't have the time or patience to play match-maker for one of her best friends. “Well, then. Shall we get started?”
All three of them looked at each other, and then charged at the arrogant colt her who challenged them. Miss Magnificent sent her enchanted ropes flying at him first, their ends suddenly turning into serrated edges, but it failed, as he counter attacked with another stream of fire coming from his horn as he back flipped away from the magician. Mare-do-well took this opportunity to charge at him, hoping to end it quickly. They traded blows and lunges at each other for what seemed like hours, but it was only a few minutes. Unicorns were usually not in this good of shape, so he had to have been put through training through hay at some point. And then the improbable happened. “OWW!”
The Hat had been standing there the whole time, waiting for the right opening to make his move. He threw a horse shoe at Blaze. That was when Mare-do-well made her move against him. She grabbed him by his armor and through him clear to the other side of the room as hard as she could, making him hit the cold concrete wall. “That wasn’t so hard,” the Hat walked up saying in his fake South Equestrian accent. “Frankly, I expected a lil’ bit more from this one.” He looked at his fallen enemy, expecting him to surrender and spill the beans like he said he would. “Well? You gonna fess up, Mate?”
“Why, I haven’t lost yet. In fact…” All three of the adept heroes could see the reflection of rising flames from his glasses, cracked though they were. “I HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO FIGHT!!!” Pillars of fire erupted from all over the room, created a red glow on the walls and floor and ceiling. He then took off his glasses and discarded them. Apparently he had only worn them to look more sophisticated. “Now then… let’s dance you and I.” He had an eerie calm voice that, frankly, scared Mare-do-well a little bit. He discarded his armor, no doubt thinking it would do nothing but slow him down, and charged in at the Hat. He took of quick as a blur and punched him straight in the face, sending him flying across the room and breaking his sun glasses.
“Oomph!” he rolled across the floor several times before recovering with a ukeme and landed back on his hooves. He shook off the assault and abruptly pulled out another pair of sun-glasses and put them on. Summer then looked to Miss Magnificent, and gave a smile at her. She sent lashing after lashing at him with her charmed ropes, but he intercepted each and every one of them with his own whips of fire.
Mare-do-well couldn’t help but feel like this guy was too much, and then shook it off and flew back at him with a flying kick to his face. He was able to block it, but he had to stagger back while she continued to pressure him with kick after kick against him, causing him to stagger back and giving Miss Magnificent and the Hat time to recover and come up with a plan to take this guy out, but they didn't do anything, for Mare-do-well and Summer Blaze were engaging in close quarters combat. He was tougher than any of them had ever thought, but in this fight, the two warriors of shadow each moved faster than either eye could track. Mare-do-well had, for years, fancied herself as one of the fast ponies in all of Equestria. She was easily able to break the sound barrier. In fact, she made a habit of it in her spare time. But each and every move she made, he matched. Just like earlier when they fought, they were evenly matched. Miss Magnificent and the Hat were both in a state of awe watching the two fighters go at, and they both knew that there was almost nothing they could do to help. In fact, chances are they would only slow her down. Even the Hat, who had spent much of his spare time at home learning different fighting styles from all over Equestria and some places beyond was dumbstruck at what he could barely keep track of. Indeed, it was like watching a shadow fight a flame.
It wasn't until the bout had been going on for nearly five minutes with no interference did a fresh thought appear into Mare-do-wells head. "This isn't going anywhere," she thought to herself. That was when a crazy-plot idea popped into her head. She was spending so much time in this melee using her razor honed speed and agility that she totally forgot about another key advantage that she hardly ever made use of. She quickly jumped back and disengaged from the fight.
"Bad move, Hero!" Blaze did the same thing and unleashed an inferno upon her from his horn. "Really bad move!!"
"For you maybe!" He had fallen for her trap. She charged at him, with full knowledge that her suit was fire proof and she would make it out of this relatively unscathed. She grabbed him by his horn and then he backfired. Literally.
"GAAAH... GOOMPH!" He was sent flying across the spacious round and grey room into the hard walls, his horn blackened with soot along with most of his face. "Gonna feel that one tomorrow..." he grumbled as he struggled to get up, only to fall back on his side. "Owww."
Mare-do-well, almost beaming with pride under her mask for having defeated an enemy that neither of her partners could best, walked slowly across the room, picked her freshly defeated foe from the floor and held him against the wall. "Now that we've got you down, it's time for you to deliver." She slowly moved closer as she went to her deep and gritty vigilante voice. "Now... what. Are. You. Planning!!"
Even beaten, he still wore an arrogant smile on his face. He knew he still had all the power in this situation. If she killed him, they would be flying blind, and he knew that. "Punctuated for emphasis, eh? I like that." He looked her dead in the eye as he began to talk. "Alright. You beat me, so I'll honor the terms of the fight. I am a colt of my word, after all. I can't promise I'll be much help, though. I was only brought on as hired help."
Mare-do-well would start with something simple. "Why are you working for the Echelon?!"
He just shrugged at her, or a least, as much as he could while he was pinned to the wall. "Evil pays better. I tried being good once. Hay, I even got pretty good at it."
"So why the face-heel-turn?"
"The evil payed really well. Besides, I had some old debts I felt obliged to take care of. Old friends that I needed to help out." Mare-do-well couldn't do tell whether he was lying or telling the truth, but she thought the latter. Maybe she just hoped he was telling the truth. Good colts were hard to find in this city.
"So what's their plan?" He seemed interested in helping now. She guesses he really was a colt of his word.
"Don't know a hay of a lot about. Again, I was only a merc they brought along for additional security. Rumor has it thought that they've been gathering some powerful antiques." His tone went more serious. "And this ain't anything like the any small charms you can get at a flea-market. This is some serious voodoo stuff. Stuff predating the fall of Princess Luna from what I've heard."
"What do you mean?"
"That's all I really know about that particular part of their dastardly plan, sorry. You might have better luck asking about something else."
"Fine..." Mare-do-well quickly thought of anything else that she could ask that would make this mission any easier. "Then where is the leadership located?"
"Why do you think I was just waiting here, Hero?" He pointed past the door he came out of when he ambushed the three of them. "Go down there and in few hundred yards you'll see a really nice set of double doors."
"What's security like?" the Hat finally chimed into the interrogation.
He only gave an entertained smile. "It's got about a few hundred yards worth of security." He could visibly see a both irritated and entertained look on the Hats face.
"Are there any others like you that we shall have to contend with?" It was Miss Magnifiscent’s turn to ask a question.
"Honey," he took an entertained look on his face as he began to flirt with her. "There are none like me!" He winked at her, and even under her red and white mask, Mare-do-well could she was embarrassed at what he just said. "As for other high caliber mercenaries..." he took a moment to think. "There's only one that I can name. Her name is..." his face went dead serious and his eyes went wide. "Oh buck my life."
"Hello, Summer," they all heard an icy cold voice and they all turned around to see whom it came from. "Enjoying yourself?" Her mane was a snow white and her coat was silver. Her eyes were a crystal clear blue, almost exactly like Miss Magnificent’s. She also had a snowflake cutie mark on her flank. Guess what her special talent was.
"Hmph," it was clear on his face that he wasn't particularly happy to see her. Even under the mask of soot he wore on his face, his expression was clear as day. "You know it. I bring a party where ever I go, Winter." Witty banter aside, they all could see he was not happy to see her. "Get out of here. All of you." They were all confused at what their defeated enemy said. "NOW!!"
"What?" Miss Magnificent asked him, more curious that any one.
He struggled to his feet, actually successful this time. "I need to have words with an associate of mine. It's about time to clear the air with her, anyway."
"What about the pay?" Miss Magnificent plied him further.
He took a wry grin, looking at her, then back to the new challenger. "Evil all of the sudden doesn't seem to pay that well." His face was stoic from then on out, showing little emotion beyond the fierce expression of the classic determinator. "Now get going. You have an evil plan to thwart."
They were all surprised by his generosity, Miss Magnificent more than anypony. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. They all nodded and then went through the door where destiny awaited. Miss Magnificent took one final look at the colt that, in defeat, had become their ally. Maybe he was a mercenary with a conscience, or maybe he just really hated the mare who showed up. Either way, she was grateful. He was right, though. They did have an evil plan to thwart.