“To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
***
Everything seemed normal.
Ponies were still seated at their tables, drinking wine, eating overpriced gourmet meals, and gossiping. They were all perfectly fine. Still wary of imminent danger, James cast his eye towards the end of the room. Twilight and the princesses were chatting, completely oblivious of the peril they were in. Out of the corner of his eye, Bond noticed another waiter approaching them, a bottle of wine encased in his magical aura. He wasn’t one that Bond recognised from the old castle, but he’d bet his life that is was another of the conspirators.
Wasting no time, he set off at a brisk pace towards them, taking care not to move too quickly and arouse suspicion. A few ponies still gave him curious glances, but by now he was used to them. Besides, he had much more important things to worry about right now. He bounded up the stairs two at a time, finally reaching the princesses’ table a few moments after the waiter.
“There must be some mistake,” Princess Luna was saying. “Nopony ordered another bottle of wine.”
“No mistake, ma’am,” the waiter replied softly. “It is a gift, courtesy of management.”
Luna and Celestia looked at each other for a second, before addressing the waiter again, smiling warmly. “We appreciate the gesture,” the night princess continued. “But we simply must decline. My sister and I have had enough for one night, we think.”
The waiter adamantly stepped closer as James approached. “We really must insist-” He was cut short as Bond grabbed the wine from his magical grasp. The waiter turned to face him and gasped, taking a step back. Similarly, the few nobles seated at the table looked at him curiously, surprised by his sudden entrance.
“You heard the princess,” he said, putting on a fake smile. “They’ve had enough for one night. In fact, I think they were just about to leave now.”
“Leave?” Twilight looked across to him, confused. “James, is something wrong?”
“Of course not,” he told her. “Everything is just fine.” He turned back to the waiter in front of him. “Isn’t that right? Now come on, it’s been a wonderful night, but I think it’s time to go.”
Celestia and Luna looked at each other, then back to Bond, concerned, as the waiter took a step back. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can allow you to do that,” he warned, his horn flaring up with magic.
“Yes, that’s what I thought.” In an instant, Bond brought the bottle of wine down onto the table, smashing it, before shoving it into the stallion’s neck. Taken by surprise by the sudden attack, he could do nothing, except futilely gasp and gargle for air as he fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood.
“James!” Twilight screamed, looking away as the stallion’s life drained away swiftly. “What are you doing?”
“We need to go, now!” he barked, before flinching as the broken bottle in his hand shattered into a thousand pieces. Instinctively ducking, he looked back to see another unicorn across the room. Another one of Brute Force’s lackeys, no doubt. More soon appeared through multiple entrances in the room. A mixture of unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, each with murderous intent in their eyes.
“Get down!” James shouted as more blasts of magic flew towards them. The noble ponies didn’t need to be told twice, ducking and cowering beneath the table as 007 drew his gun and fired blindly towards their attackers. The two princesses, on the other hand, had other plans. They both leaped forward as Twilight took cover next to Bond, firing spells towards the goons in return. Poking his head out, James saw a stallion caught inside Luna’s magical grasp crash into a wall. However, he ducked down again as something sharp flew over his forehead.
James turned around to see what had just flown passed him and saw a large steel bolt embedded in the wall. Crossbows? he thought. Well, I guess they had to level the playing field somehow.
His attention was brought back to the issue at hand as several more flew past, startling the noble ponies hidden under the table. Taking a deep breath, he popped out from behind his cover and squeezed off a few shots. A pegasus flying above cried out in pain as a bullet tore through one of his wings, but it was cut short as another was driven into his forehead. He dropped like a stone, crashing into a table nearby.
"Get off me!" James turned his attention to Twilight's scream. She had tried to move forwards, and now a burly earth pony had pounced onto her. Her horn lit up, and the stallion was flung backwards into a wall. Not willing to take chances, Bond fired two shots into his chest before he could move.
Overwhelmed by the amount of spells and crossbow bolts thrown towards them, the two princesses ducked behind cover next to James, catching their breath. "How many are out there?" he asked them as he loaded a fresh magazine into his Walther.
"At least ten more," Luna informed him. "We never expected them to be this bold. I fear that the rest of our security is already dead." The very thought visibly angered her, and she stood up once more, firing a deadly blast of magic towards the unicorn at the far side of the room who had fired the first shot. The spell stuck him in the chest, sending him back into the wall. He slumped onto the floor, stone dead.
The remaining attackers, of which there were now decidedly few, recoiled and stepped back slightly as they saw the unicorn fall. They were now without covering fire, something Bond was quick and eager to capitalise on. He stood up and ran towards them, firing off a few shots, one of which caught an earth pony in the shoulder, collapsing him to the ground. Ducking away from the crossbow bolts that were now flying towards him, James kicked a table onto its side, and crouched behind it.
He took a deep breath, and stood up quickly. In the blink of an eye, he counted five ponies left. Two in front, one on the right, and two above. Luckily, they were all, for the most part, exposed, not bothering to stay behind cover. He took aim at the first pegasus above him and fired, before turning his gun on the second and firing again. Both shots hit their targets dead-on, bringing them crashing to the ground in a pool of blood. As their friends gaped at him, James quickly brought his aim to bear on the two in front of him, dropping them before they had a decent chance to react.
With only one earth pony left to go, James turned to aim at him. He fired off a shot, but, in his haste, the bullet went wide. The stallion flinched, and quickly ducked behind the bar he was standing beside before Bond could fire again. Keeping his sights trained on the bar, 007 advanced towards him, before crouching beside another overturned table.
“You’ve got nowhere left to go!” Bond called out to the stallion, still aiming towards him. “Might as well give it up before you make things worse on yourself.”
There was no response. After a few brief moments, Bond tried again.
“What was the point of this little stunt anyway?” he asked. “Trying to kill the princesses? Here, in a busy public place. What were you thinking?”
There was still nothing for a few seconds. Then, the stallion called back out to him. “Shit, I never asked for any of this!" He sounded young, and certainly didn’t sound like some sort of hardened mercenary. “I was just doing this for the bits anyway! I never thought anything like this would happen!” He stood up slowly from behind the bar. Bond’s grip on his gun tightened, but the stallion didn’t try anything. “Look, I’m sorry, okay?” He looked over towards Princess Celestia briefly, before hanging his head. “I’ll tell you whatever you want, I promise.”
Celestia stepped towards him, her demeanor not unlike that of a stern mother disappointed with her child. “Come, my little pony.” She spoke softly, but there was little kindness in her words. “We will keep you safe, but don’t even think of trying anything.” Her horn lit up with magic to emphasize her point. The young stallion gulped, and nodded quickly.
The double doors to the restaurant burst open, snapping them out of any false peace that they had lulled themselves into. Beyond the doors, Bond could see and hear the casino’s patrons screaming and galloping for the doors, but his attention was firmly fixed on the large stallion in front of him. There was a sharp, serrated knife clutched in his teeth, which he held to the throat of Prince Blueblood. For a second, James was tempted to just shoot through the hostage to kill the last of the attackers, but he imagined that neither of the princesses would be too pleased with that.
“Drop it!” the stallion shouted, his speech somewhat muffled through the blade in his mouth. “Any of yous tries anything, and the good prince ‘ere kicks the bucket!”
“Argh!” Blueblood cried out, seemingly more in disgust than pain or fear. “Get your filthy hooves off me!”
I'm getting tired of this crap. Not even bothering to attempt negotiations, Bond fired. The bullet hit the stallion clean in the head, splattering blood and brains all over his hostage before slumping to the ground. There was silence for a brief moment, before the prince let out a high-pitched shriek as he realised that he was covered in the pony that had just been holding him. He turned around and promptly vomited onto the floor.
"Hurry up and get over it," James snapped at him harshly as he checked the next room to make sure it was clear. "We might not have much time." Nopony else was in sight. They were alone inside the casino. He only hoped that there were no more ponies trying to kill them lying in wait.
"James." Twilight trotted towards him, her voice still shaky after the sudden attack. "What in the wide world of Equestria happened back there? Were they the same ponies from Ponyville?"
"Yeah, they were." He turned around and waved at the princesses, motioning for them to come forwards. They nodded and did so, keeping a wary eye on the small-built stallion alongside them. "Still, I don't think this was a one-off occasion. I reckon they'll keep trying, but then again, that's for our dear friend to tell us about, right?"
The stallion looked away, shrinking behind Princess Celestia.
Satisfied that there was no longer a threat, James swiftly made his way towards the front entrance. From what he could see and hear, there was quite a crowd lingering outside, no doubt wondering what was going on. Even if there were any of Brute Force's lackeys left in the building, the only likely way they would have left would have been in chains or a box.
James looked back to make sure everypony was behind him, before pushing the door open and stepping outside. Sure enough, there was a large, curious crowd of ponies, who were being held back by the perimeter the guards had set up around the building. Noticing him, the guards tensed and began to assume battle stances, but relaxed as they saw the princesses exit the building behind Bond.
"Your majesties!" The captain of the guard approached them quickly. He took a glance at Prince Blueblood, and visibly gagged when he noticed the state he was in. "What went on in there?"
"Cultists, conspiracists, nopony can know for sure," Princess Luna explained. "The only thing we do know is that they were bent on murdering my sister and I."
"And just who is this?" The captain motioned towards the small stallion, still trying to hide behind Celestia.
"One of them," Bond answered. "Though only in it for the money, apparently."
"Is that so?" The captain cast a disdainful glance towards the scrawny stallion. "Well, a stallion whose only loyalty lies in a sack of bits is no stallion at all in my eyes." He turned to the princesses. "What would you like me to do with him?"
Celestia's eye drifted towards the stallion beneath her. She thought for a second, before turning back to the guard. "Take him to the castle dungeon," she told him. The colt shrunk and whimpered slightly. For a brief moment, Bond swore he could see a flash of pity in her eyes. "Be gentle with him, though," he heard her mention. "He's only a colt."
The guard looked towards the prisoner once more for a second, before nodding. "By your command." Celestia stepped aside as the stallion tentatively walked forward. "Come along, son," the guard said, in a slightly softer tone, as he walked past.
James watched as he was loaded into the back of a cart and quickly hauled away, before turning back to the ponies beside him. Prince Blueblood looked on the verge of tears, and was panting heavily. Noticing this, Celestia looked towards Bond and gave a small smirk, before calling another guard over. "Please escort my nephew back to the castle," she said. "I think he needs a bath and some rest."
"Yes, your highness." The guard saluted and moved over to the prince, gesturing for him to follow. They too trotted away.
"I think he might need a few months of therapy as well," James commented, turning back to Twilight and the princesses.
Luna rolled her eyes and chuckled softly. "Quite. I doubt that he'll be getting much sleep tonight."
"I don't think I will be either," Twilight spoke up, shuddering. "Those were the same ponies that brought you to Equestria, James?" she looked up at him, and he nodded. "My goodness, I didn't think they were this bad. How desperate must they be?"
"You've met their leader, Mr. Bond, I take it?" Celestia asked, scanning the crowd outside of the guard's defences.
"Brute Force, yes."
"We know his plan is to kill my sister and I, or at least overthrow us, but did he ever mention a motive?" she asked him.
James thought for a second, before remembering. "I think so. He mentioned a city: Las Pegasus, and how he would make it 'a shining beacon in the San Palamino Desert', or something."
"He sounds delusional, if you ask me," Twilight said, as they began to walk away from the casino and towards a waiting carriage. "What, he wants to turn Las Pegasus into Equestria's capital city?"
"It would seem so." Celestia stopped and let the rest of them enter the carriage first. "We should be wary, though. Delusional he may be, but he has a number of ponies willing to fight and die for him. We shouldn't underestimate this threat."
"He also mentioned something about 'reclaiming what was rightfully his'," James told her, beckoning for her to enter the carriage. "Do you know what he meant by that?"
"My sister and I have lived for so very long," she explained. "You can't go through life for over a thousand years without making some mistakes along the way. Without alienating some ponies. Without..." she paused for a moment and sighed. "Without losing some friends. This stallion could have any sort of personal grudge against us. There is no way of knowing why, at least not yet."
Bond nodded and she climbed inside. "Alright." He turned his head to check the crowd one last time, before clambering inside too. A guard closed the door immediately, and the carriage began to move. "Then what's our next move?"
"We return to the castle and formulate a plan of attack," Luna informed him. "We cannot just sit on our flanks and wait for them to come to us. More of our little ponies are sure to be injured or killed if we do so."
"My sister is right," Celestia agreed. "We'll get some rest, and figure out a plan tomorrow." She turned to Twilight, who listened in on the conversation intently. "But Twilight, I must insist that you get on the first train back to Ponyville tomorrow morning."
The unicorn looked doubtful. "Princess, are you sure? I mean, I might be able to help!"
The sun goddess wrapped a large wing around her student. "I have no doubt in your abilities, Twilight," she reassured. "Rather, I doubt mine. Specifically, my ability to keep you safe. I'm not sure if the castle is secure anymore."
Twilight looked up at her. Bond could tell by the look in her eye that she wanted to protest, but she didn't. "I understand, princess," she said softly.
Celestia smiled. "Thank you. Be with your friends, Twilight. I know you can keep each other safe."
James looked away from the scene in front of him and looked out of the window of the carriage as it slowly made its way through the dark Canterlot streets. They were approaching the castle. Celestia had said that he needed to rest, to make sure he was at his best, but right now his mind was moving faster than ever.
There was a lot to think about.