One hundred and fifty three roughly groomed ponies wandered the small warehouse, separated into fifty one different units in nineteen different squads. Each and every one of them was intimidating; the earth ponies sheer walls of rippling muscle, the pegasi sharp feathered and alert, the unicorns all wearing pinstripe suits that hid their cutie marks. At regular intervals a squad would meet up, investigating anything that one of their units had reported out of the ordinary; three squads always remained in the break room, switching out every hour and marking their check-in times.
All in all, it was a surprisingly coordinated security system for such a small warehouse. Anypony who decided to take something would have to be supremely confident, or quite possibly insane.
Which is why, when squad ten met up and found their gamma unit missing, there wasn't really too much concern.
"Bells probably fell into a crate again," grumbled a unicorn. "Beta, you go find the gammas and help them out. Us alphas are headed to the break room to get one of the spare squads to replace us."
"Sure thing, boss." The pegasus saluted, taking wing and leading his two earth pony companions down the hall of boxes. They kept alert, looking for signs of forced entry on any of the packages.
"Over there!" One of the earth ponies pointed. "The lid is off that one."
"Celestia damn it Bells..." The pegasus flew over. "Wait a minute... All the gammas are in here! Boys, I think something's up."
After a moment, he turned around. "Uh... boys?" His companions were on the ground, unconscious. "Okay, what the hay is wrong with--"
Something pinched his flank. He slapped a wing at it, pulling out a dart. "Oh. That's... what's wrong with youuaasashhh..." Just before he passed out, he felt a pair of hooves catch him.
***
Alpha ten returned to the patrol with a grumbling Squad twelve. "Sorry about this lads. Tell you what, drinks on me when we get off, eh?"
"You can't help that you got saddled with idiots," one of the earth ponies replied. "Have THEM pay for the drinks."
"Alright, fair trade." The unicorn turned. "Oh look, there's the betas now..."
His eyes narrowed. These ponies were too small to be the betas, they had a unicorn instead of a pegasus, and the alluring skin-tight catsuts they wore were certainly not what he recalled the actual unit wearing.
"HEY YOU! Who are ya?!"
They gave no reply, instead each lobbing a small sphere at the group. The unicorn tried to hit the strangers with some well-placed spells, but they had slipped away too quickly; the spheres hit the ground around them, releasing a massive cloud of fog.
"OY! Pegasi, get rid of this stuff ASAP!"
There was a rapid beating of wings. But by the time the cloud had dissipated, half of squad twelve had vanished. The unicorn looked around in astonishment.
"...right lads. Keep on your hooves. I think we're dealing with somepony dangerous here." They cautiously made their way to the break room... never once looking up to see their companions dangling helplessly from the rafters.
***
"So yer saying three pones managed ta take out four units?"
The unicorn shook his head. "I don't know what they did with them. All I know is I don't see heads or tails of them anymore."
"Celestia take it all," grumbled the hulking earth pony. "Right, no breaks now! Squad thirteen, take the patrol. Squads ten and twelve, well what's left of 'em anyway, will join us in hunting down these pones. Keep. In. Sight."
The ponies nodded, heading for the door. They opened it. Three ponies in spandex stood outside and had jumped in before they could react.
The unicorn lunged at his horned counterpart, who simply sidestepped and locked the doors telekinetically. After that it turned into a full out brawl, twenty four against three... except that the three kept dodging, and the twenty four kept accidentally hitting each other, and for some reason there were no battle cries from the intruders. In fact, it seemed more as though they were dancing, slipping through the small windows of oppurtunity and tripping up their opponents.
"BACK OFF!" the unicorn cried suddenly, pulling against a wall. The other thugs took a moment to respond but they complied, leaving the intruders at the center of a pile of fifteen unconscious bodies. He slowly inched along the wall, intent on reaching one of the doors while he kept an eye on the shapely black forms; no way they would trick him before he could call... for... help...
Belatedly he realized he could only see two of them. One of the earth ponies was missing.
Just as he was about to point this out, the door behind him opened and a cloth was held to his muzzle. Vaguely he could see the other two leaping into action, the blue of magic flying similar clothes ad his allies while the other earth pony kept her friend safe. Then he passed out.
***
With four squads down, the rest of the warehouse was an easy maze to navigate. Sometimes they used the darts, sometimes they used ribbons to pull the ponies away from their unit. Here and there a smoke bomb, convenient for squad meetups. But time was of the essence, and they didn't need to take out all of the guards; just enough to get to the one unmarked crate they were looking for.
"This is it, darlings," the horned one whispered, gently prying the crate open. "The shipment of gems. The Blood Diamond is hidden in here somewhere..."
"My sister and I shall keep watch."
"Thank you, Lotus..." The blue magic poured into the horn, whispering gently through the crate. A moment later, though, the unicorn halted it. "I... I don't understand. It should have been here!"
"Are you, perhaps, looking for this?"
The three of them whirled on the spot, their eyes falling on the new speaker. A tall, thin unicorn, dressed up in black, held a large red diamond in her magic and sported a cry grin.
"Fluer de Lis," Lotus gasped quietly.
"Why am I not surprised," muttered her unicorn companion. "Fluer, dear, could you possibly part with that lovely gem?"
"Oui, madam Rarity, have you not heard? Finders keepers, and all that." The canterlotian put the jewel away. "Aside from which, why are you even here?"
"...It's a long story."