Chapter 12
Infiltration
Deekin let out a strained grunt as he rolled the last bandit into a small pile next to their table. "These ponies are heavy," he groaned as he rubbed his sore arms. Meanwhile Hidden easily flung the leader of the group on the pile while Twilight did her best to finish off her salad. Though seeing her barely pick at it, she must've lost her appetite. "So what we do now? Deekin isn't even sure where to begin," he said while looking at Hidden.
It took a moment for Hidden to respond as he simply stared at an alleyway on the other side of the street. "It's obvious these ponies are working with something much larger. If we're going to stop this, we need to stop the heart of their organization. Kill the heart, the rest will become crippled enough for the guard to handle; possibly even stop altogether."
"That still doesn't tell us where they're hiding." Twilight munched on another large piece of lettuce with her brow furrowed in thought.
"Considering the guard are unable to root them out effectively, where is somewhere they will never look?"
Twilight choked on her salad. "No," she said simply after clearing her windpipe of the offending foodstuff.
Hidden blinked in response. "No?"
"The only place guards cannot patrol safely is in the sewers. You can easily get lost, there's no light, and the chance of actually finding these bandits in that maze is one in a million! Not to mention it's just plain unsanitary," she finished with a scrunch of her muzzle.
"The sewers it is then," Hidden stated, ignoring Twilight's warnings. "Unsanitary conditions do not affect me and I can see perfectly in any light, or lack thereof, which just leaves the problem of finding them."
"Maybe we could wake one of the sleeping ponies for directions?" Deekin offered with a shrug.
"That could work," Hidden trailed off as he thought about it. "He probably wont part with such information willingly, but I'm sure I'll coerce him into telling us." Walking up to the pile of unconscious ponies he pulled one at random and set the limp body so it faced towards the street; away from Twilight, Deekin, and the pile of his comrades. "Both of you keep quiet. Actually, before you do. Could you cast a spell to wake him up? Else we'll be here all day."
Twilight groaned. "Fine." Her horn glowed for a moment before a small zap of lightning shot towards the requested target. Needless to say, the spell was effective.
"AAAHHHHH!" The bandit yelled in pain as he tried to bolt upright. However, Hidden's unnatural strength kept him from going anywhere.
Hidden kept the bandit's head looking towards him to keep his attention. "Calm down, now".
"J-Jitters? I-I mean, S-Sir? What happened? Did we win? Where's everypony else?" He tried to get up again, but was held down once more.
"Yes, we won. Everypony else is... fine. But I need you to return home post-haste. Do you remember how to get there?" Seeing the bandit nod his head, Hidden smiled in his mind. "Good. Can you repeat it to me so I know you wont get lost?" The quizzical brow furrow made him question if he broke his cover with such a question, but felt relieved when he nodded his head again.
"Of course. In the sewers and just head north until you're under Canterlot Castle. Say the password to enter the door and you're home free."
"Do you remember what the password is?"
The bandit, even with his head barely being able to move, tilted his head slightly. "You're the only one who was given the password. Nopony else besides other leaders would..." his voice trailed off as his eyes widened in realization. Followed by his eyes shutting as Hidden gripped him tightly; using his vampiric touch ability once more.
"How unfortunate." Hidden looked at Jitters who still laid on top of the pony pile. The same trick wouldn't work and he couldn't threaten to hurt any of them without backing his words with action due to his own code. Unless they proved threatening in their state, he couldn't do much besides ask nicely and hope for the best.
Meanwhile, Twilight wasn't taking this news very well by her shouting. "They're under Canterlot Castle? This is not good. We need to warn Celestia. Warn by brother. Get the entire guard on alert. We need to-"
"That will take too much time. If we warn the guard there's a good chance the bandit's will take notice. We have them unaware and I want them to stay that way when we attack."
"Right, and we're the perfect group to do it I guess?" Twilight answered with mock enthusiasm. "Against who knows how many ponies they have. We could be trotting right into a ambush!"
Hidden looked towards Deekin. "Do you not want to do this? I am bound by your will after all."
"Oh yes! Deekin wants to do good for Canterlot. A grand adventure is what Deekin has wanted since he was a little kobold." He climbed on top of the pile of ponies and clenched a bony hand in conviction; holding up in the air. "Because Deekin will become the greatest bard of all time!"
"A bard who currently doesn't even have an instrument," Twilight stated flatly. The statement caused Deekin to deflate and lose his balance; falling backwards off the pile. "Obviously I'm not going to stop either of you on your crazy adventure. When you're done, I'll be at the castle to warn Celestia and my brother about what has happened here."
"W-Wait!" Twilight looked at Deekin who was still picking himself up from the ground. "There isn't any light down there. How will Deekin see?"
"Kobolds can see clearly in complete darkness," Hidden stated towards Deekin; questioning why he was distressed over it.
"Doesn't make it any less scary only seeing in black and white," Deekin explained. "Besides, I can only see several leaps before seeing only darkness."
"I'm sure your friend here," waving a hoof at Hidden, "has a solution for that." Her temper over their antics starting to show in her voice as she walked away.
"Twilight, there's nothing harmful in helping us in our quest. If you wish, you could leave us when danger appears," Hidden suggested. "You and Deekin can sit on my back and I'll take care of everything."
Twilight stopped mid-step and looked back at him with a raised brow. "You promise?"
"I still don't understand how you made me change my mind," Twilight grumbled as she kept the light spell on her horn from fading. The light reached out several feet in the dingy tunnel both ways, leaving only what's ahead in the darkness to their imagination.
Hidden shrugged while hiding a grin that Twilight couldn't see with her sitting near his shoulders.. "T'was only a reasonable suggestion. Nothing more." Returning his focus forward, he could see in the darkness a four-way split. Seeing as they were already heading northward towards the castle, the need to change course wasn't needed.
The travel was quiet, but tense considering they believed this was bandit territory. Only the sound of Hidden wading through the shank-deep sewer water could be heard. Deekin would hum a small tune to keep the silence at bay, which calmed the party down at bit. It did little to banish the ever-present sense that somepony or thing was watching them just out of reach from her light spell. Even when Hidden assured them he didn't see anything with his own unnatural vision.
That was, until he did see something far ahead of them.
"Light out!" Hidden hissed under his breath. Twilight complied and left them in the pitch darkness; unable to see past their snouts. "We have company." Far up ahead was a flickering light with barely visible figures. Seeing a turn up ahead, he increased his pace to a trot and slipped aside before the group cut them off. To his dismay however, it was a dead end after taking several steps down the detour. "This might be a problem."
"Uh... Hidden?" Twilight said. Even if she whispered it, the fear in her voice was obvious. Behind them the light from the other group was already showing against the sewers walls. They only had several seconds before they would be seen. Pressing his side lightly against the dead end wall, he kept still as stone. While he could easily dispatch the group with ease, he wouldn't be able to do it while keeping Twilight's promise to keep her dry.
"Both of you. Do not say a word. Do not move."
An earth pony behind the group let out a groan. "Ugh, gross! I think I stepped in something."
"Don't worry," a female unicorn ahead of him spoke. "Being in this damnable sewer is an improvement to your smell. Seriously, when's the last time you've bathed?"
"Not my fault everypony else uses up what little water we have. Not to mention... you know who, having his own supply to himself."
"Show some respect," another unicorn in the middle of the group hissed. "He gave us all a chance to live. Would you rather return to scavenging for scraps just to live another day? I should shove my hoof so far up your-"
"Enough. Focus," a third unicorn spoke ahead of the group; the source of light leading the way. His ears swivled like tiny radars as he peered warily in the darkness ahead. "Did you hear something?"
"Besides the jabber mouths behind us? No," muttered the earth pony behind him.
The leader of the group tried to see in the darkness, but didn't see anything different. However, the water had small ripples crashing against the ones created by their own steps. "Somepony else is down here."
The unicorn in back snorted. "Who would be stupid enough to actually come down here? I thought the royal guard didn't patrol this part of the city?"
"That's because they don't, genius," the mare ahead of him snapped. "Somepony is playing hero."
The group continued down the tunnel. All three unicorns had spells at the ready while the Earth ponies moved ahead to protect them. When the reached a t-section with a turn leading to the right, the group split with three going straight while a unicorn and earth pony went right.
"Don't worry, hun. I'll keep you safe from any nasty beasts down here." the mare simply rolled her eyes and kept the light spell up after separating from the others.
"I've patrolled these tunnels enough to know this is a dead end. If there's somepony here, they're trapped." As soon as they neared the end of the tunnel, a shriek left her mouth and a bolt of magic shot forward. Followed by a rat fleeing the scene before another bolt could be fired.
"Shimmer! what the hay was that about? There's nopony here!"
"Are you serious, Trusty? Did you see the size of that... thing? No way rats can normally reach that size!" She took several steps back and jumped when she felt something bump against her flank.
"What is going on here? We heard the scream," The leader stated with his brow furrowed.
"N-Nothing, Sir. I thought I saw an intruder, but it was just my imagination. All clear, sir!"
"Hm... Well, the rest of the group only found rats further down so it was probably only them. Lets head back and patrol the next section of sewers."
"Yes, Sir!" The rest of the group shouted, but not loud enough for it to echo throughout the entire sewer system. Trusty looked at the end end once more before shaking his head.
"Damn rats."
Twilight gasped for breath after holding it for so long. "How... did they... not... see us?" She said between deep inhales of stank sewer air. Through her mouth of course.
"Invisibility spell," Hidden answered simply while leaving the hiding spot against the wall and slowly walking out towards the T-section. Peeking out both ways to make sure the group of bandits was gone, he continued his way north; towards the heart of the Canterlot Bandits.
Deekin tapped a quill lightly to his chin while deep in thought; his small notebook out as he took the time to continue his story. "What rhymes with 'Hiding like cowards?'"