“A trap,” Shining Armour nodded. “Sounds good.”
They sat in his well appointed office, the Lord-Captain across from his sister. She had set a satchel against the desk, brimming with what she had called ‘exotic reagent purchases’ she had collected on the way.
“So glad you approve,” remarked Twilight cooly. She absently tidied his desk, unable to just ignore it. “I was hoping for some suggestions.”
Shining sat back, fingers drumming. He frowned. “I can get some guards together. Captain Green-”
“I said suggestions, not reinforcements. I’m going to take care of this myself.” She held up a hand before he could voice the protest no doubt waiting to just burst out. “There are at most two, but more likely one, criminal. We’ll have the advantage in numbers and surprise. All a bunch of your guards will do is give us away.”
“There will be two criminals, if you take the girl with you,” Shining Armour warned her. “You should have left the spells-”
Twilight looked up sharply from adjusting his paperwork despite it being upside down to her. “If I left them on, what would that prove? That they have the ability to be magically compelled? I can still track them if they try to run, and I seriously doubt Applejack would consider the idea. Dash, perhaps, but she won’t.”
He gave her a critical look and said, “Twilight, are you really so certain? She could be related to this, you know.”
“I know, but she isn’t. She’s too fascinated by her magic, even if she doesn’t want to admit it.” Twilight’s expression fell. “Shiny, she can’t even read or write. Sun and stars, she had to learn how to count so she knew how much she was pickpocketing!”
“Which is unfortunate, but there are plenty of- no, no. Let’s not do this now.” Taking a calming breath, Shining Armour rubbed his forehead. He stood up, and from a small closet set against the wall pulled a kettle. He ignored Twilight’s surprised look. “What? I like tea without having to call for a servant while I work. Want some? Ca-” He cleared his throat. “I got some calming blend, pretty good stuff.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine, thank you.”
The room was quiet for the next few minutes as Shining Armour brewed tea, a simple cantrip heating the water. When he sat down, sipping from a plain, serviceable clay mug, the tension from their argument had faded somewhat, along with his headache.
“So, you mentioned in your message that you need somewhere to put the ambush, right?” he asked quietly. The parchment, delivered a the day before, sat neatly rolled in the middle of his desk. The chaos that had been his workplace had become transformed by his sister’s busy hands.
Twilight nodded. “Prince Blueblood had the relic delivered earlier. It would have been sooner, but my usual magical goods courier appears to have vanished. If I want to do this tomorrow night, I’ll need to be quick about this.”
“Tomorrow? Why tomorrow?” he asked. The tea was bitter, but soothing, and he relished in it.
“Tomorrow Spike will be with you, which is why he won’t be able to tag along with us,” Twilight replied, unable to stop a grimace. “If he knows we’re setting up the trap, he’ll either insist enough that I’ll relent, or he’ll just sneak along after us. I’m not willing to risk him, which is why I’d like you to look after him for the night as well.”
Shining Armour gave her a knowing smile. “I see. Don’t worry, he’ll be far away. About the place; I think I know the perfect location. There’s an old library, in the merchant district west of the parks. Used to house some old artefacts, but the place was cleaned out years ago. No one lives there, it was made with as much stone as wood so it won’t burn easy if it comes that and, best of all,” he grinned fiercely. “One door. One way in, one way out.”
“Really?” Her eyes were bright with interest now. “What about windows?”
“They’re practically arrow slits. No one is going in or out of those. Sound like what you need?” He already knew the answer.
Twilight knew it as well, and rolled her eyes at his confident tone. “Yes, it does. That sounds perfect, almost too perfect. What’s the inside like?”
“From what I’ve been told, its got half a dozen decrepit basements, the rest is almost like a maze and there’s barely anything left in it. You’ll be able to set up without any worry of being disturbed, and can do whatever you want in there. So long as the only way out is covered, it’s the perfect trap for you,” he told her confidently.
He claimed one of his now meticulously organised quills and scribbled something down with a dab of ink. Passing it to Twilight, she slipped it into the bag hanging on her hip, the strap running from left hip to right shoulder.
“Thank you, Shiny,” she said, reaching over to give him an awkward hug. “This really is a great help.”
“You’re my little sister, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.” Shining Armour hesitated. “Are you sure you don’t want any of my guards?”
She shook her head. “I’m certain, you’ve done more than enough already, finding me this and keeping Spike out of harms way. Enjoy your tea, big brother...oh, and Shining?”
“Yeah?”
“Try to keep your office clean. A disorganised study is a disorganised mind after all, and I don’t have time to come down here and clean it every day,” she teased.
Shining Armour laughed, waving her away. “I’m sure you don’t. Get out of here, and catch that thief.” His smile gave way to a serious expression. “I know you can catch the person behind this. There’s no one I’d trust more than you to do it.”
Touched by the compliment, Twilight hid her blush by hurrying from the room. “Thanks,” she said, the door shutting behind her.
He stared at the door for a moment, worry creasing his features. Almost without thinking he lifted his mug of tea. The bitter swill ran down his throat, and he let out a sigh that carried his tension with it. Everything would be fine, he told himself, with his sister on the case.
*
“So, that’s the plan,” Twilight finished explaining and sat back. “How does that sound?”
Applejack, clad in a sleeveless linen shirt and breeches stained with sweat, nodded in approval. “Sounds like a good ‘un to me. Only shakey part is how quick the thief is gonna get word of it once Dash tells the fence. I mean, that one fella got stabbed pretty quick.”
“Yeah, I kinda wanna avoid being stabbed. You know, health concerns and all.” Dash, her tone dry, looked up from the parchment of chicken scratch.
“Thought yer only ‘health concerns’ were that all the hot baths would shrivel ya up?” Applejack teased, ducking her head beneath the speck of ink Dash flicked at her.
Twilight put aside her pleasure at the obvious friendliness between the two to focus on the issue at hand. This sort of casual banter was, according to her research, a sign of progress in their friendship. Friendship meant trust, something the thief didn’t give easily.
“I think we can safely put that towards unfortunate circumstances; the thief was likely closer at the time, since the person who got to the relic first was going to fences. The thief we’re after must have known that, so they were able to ambush him. In the other cases, from what we’ve gathered, the thief strikes within a day of the fence, Hot Property, hearing about certain relics,” Twilight explained. She wrote as she spoke, swiftly crafting an elegantly scripted check-list.
“I’d like to suggest ya let me go with her, just in case. Can’t be too safe,” Applejack offered, directing a telling look at her greatsword.
“Of course,” Twilight agreed. She ignored Dash’s melodramatic sigh, like she had been the one saddled with bodyguard duty. “We’ll do it tomorrow. I’ll show you where it is, then the two of you need to go to Hot Property, give her the bait and get back. When the thief arrives that night, they’ll be in for a big surprise.”
Applejack asked, “What about Spike? He’s got magic, right?”
“No. I mean, yes, he does have magic, but he’s not coming.” Twilight frowned severely. “I’m not bringing Spike along. I won’t put him at risk.”
“But its fine for me to risk getting stabbed, I’m just a thief,” snarked Dash.
The mage gave her a sharp look. “Spike is a child. He can do magic, yes, but I’m not just going to let him come gallivanting into a fight.”
“Please, I got knifed when I was his age, and I was fine. I mean, it turned a little green, but I managed to nap a potion that fixed it. I even have the scars. He’d be fine.” She lifted her shirt, exposing a scar near her waist.
“Spike is not coming. That’s final, and I’m not discussing it.” She stood up, not looking at either of them. “As far as Spike knows, we’re not planning the trap for at least a week, and he’s going to spend tomorrow night with my brother. I’m going to decide what spells I need to prepare tomorrow.”
With that she turned away, striding off to engross herself in study. Applejack grimaced, rubbing the back of her head.
“Guess he’s a bit of a sore spot for her, after the whole acid thing,” she said ruefully. Clapping Dash on the back, she stood up as well. “Not much we can do if she’s so darn determined, an’ I gotta admit, I can understand. Wouldn’t want my little sister in the middle of a mess like that, not at all.”
“You have a sister?” Dash asked. She glanced down at parchment she had been practicing on. Her crude letters looked like just a mess of lines compared to what Twilight produced. She felt a stab of jealousy, irrational as it was, that the posh little mage was capable of that but all she could do was this rubbish.
Applejack grunted an affirmative as she began to stretch. Physical activity seemed to be her favourite pass time. Idly, Dash wondered how long it would take the ranger to go crazy if she was tied to a chair, unable to move. The thought made her smirk, and occupied her until Applejack spoke again.
“So...does…” Applejack puffed a minute later, settling into her rhythm of exercises. “...Rarity. She...misses...her…”
The thief shrugged, not sure what to say. Somehow, she didn’t think ‘so?’ would cut it.
“Gonna...get her...out…” continued Applejack.
“Who? Your friend? Get her out of the hands of that bastard Blueblood? Good luck!” Dash rolled her eyes. “I’d offer to help, but I only take stuff that doesn’t talk and I can hide. Unless she’s a gnome, that ain’t gonna work.”
The image of Rarity as a gnome nearly blew Applejack off balance. She laughed “R-Rarity..a-as a gnome!” she laughed, her rhythm broken. She grinned at Dash, who returned it. “I’ll work out a way, don’t you doubt that.”
Dash leaned back, dropping the quill and focusing on Applejack. “You’re really determined to do it?”
“Eeyup. Rarity ain’t happy there, an’ she needs help. Whether she wants it or not, she’s gettin’ it,” Applejack declared.
Watching the ranger get back into her exercises, Dash felt a touch of admiration. Applejack really meant it. Her friend needed her, and she was willing to go against a prince to find a way to help. Dash wished she had that sort of loyalty, that sort of friendship. It was stupid and exploitable, she knew, but she wanted it nonetheless.
Burying her jealousy and her idiotic, pointless wants as she began another repetition of the alphabet, Dash let her mind wander. Tomorrow this stuff with a thief would be over, one way or another. Then she’d see how long Sparkle kept them around. Then she’s know the truth.
*
The next day came about, all at once too soon and yet not quite fast enough. Twilight checked the sun, biting her lip before turning to Spike. With breakfast done, he was re-organising a shelf for her. With a sigh, she called him over and told him of the...slight change of plans.
“What? Tonight as well?” Spike peered at her, brow creased by his look of suspicion. “Why?”
Twilight fought to keep any hint of deception from her expression. “I’m taking Dash and Applejack to the crystal cave, and after the first time we tried exploring it…”
A blush reddened Spike’s cheeks. “It was just one little cave-in!”
“One cave-in, regardless of size, is one too many,” she replied firmly. “I’d prefer you stay with Shining Armour than be here on your own.”
Spike scowled. “I’ll be fine on my own, I don’t need a babysitter. You let me stay home on my own all the time! Besides, we have a plan, we have bait, we have somewhere for the trap-”
“I know I've left you here, but look how it turned out last time?” She laid a hand against his cheek. “Spike, last time you could have died. If someone tries it again, you really might. They got in once already, without the full wards activated there’s no guarantee they won’t again. We need to prepare more before we set the trap”
He looked away, unable to hold her fearful gaze. Twilight’s hand was cool against his skin, and she only lowered it when he reached up, entwining their fingers.
“Please, Spike, just for tonight. For me,” she pleaded.
Blowing out a heavy sigh, Spike nodded. “Alright. But just for tonight.”
The beaming smile he got in reply as she wrapped him in a hug made the concession worth it. After a moment, he gave in and returned the hug, letting the woman who was as much his mother as she was his sister and teacher hold him in her embrace. It wasn’t so bad, really.
“Thank you,” was all she said.
He blushed, pulling away with a meek nod at the sound of muffled snickering. Dash, from the sound of it. When he looked up she was apparently engrossed in playing with an apple, spinning it atop her finger. The thief bounced it between hands, not looking anywhere near their direction. Pushing his embarrassment away, Spike changed the subject,
“So, why are you taking them to the cave? Didn’t Shining Armour say it was still off-limits?”
Twilight hid her guilt at lying to him with her relief that he would be safe, and followed the change of subject happily. “I’m going to summon an earth elemental to see if it can clear some of the rubble or scout the cave. The whole reason he put it off-limits after the cave-in was to make sure it was properly defended in case the cave was a tunnel. Applejack and Dash are coming along just to make sure I’m safe.“
“What, he thinks anyone would be stupid enough to attack Canterlot?” Spike snickered. “What sort of idiot would do that?”
“I’m not sure either, but if he wants to be safe, he shouldn’t have put it off for three months,” she gave a long suffering sigh. “Brothers, right?”
He grinned, feeling his spirits turning up. “Think you could get me one of those crystals for my collection? Please? Since I don’t get to come along and all.”
Twilight hoped he didn’t see the guilt she felt in her eyes. “I’ll try, but no promises. We can’t be sure how deep we go, and if I let you collect every low quality rock or gem your collection would be overflowing.”
“Great! Hey, we can still go to the Sun’s Fire Festival tomorrow? We haven’t seen Cadance in forever.” Spike looked worried for a moment, his fear apparent in the face of the risk they might not see it.
A pained look rose into Twilight’s eyes, but she forced it away. “S-sure. She’ll be very busy, though, lighting the fire. She might not have time to talk to us.” ‘Or want to,’ she added in the privacy of her own head.
“Oh, yeah. I know we haven’t seen her in a while, but come on, she’s great, she’ll find the time.” He grinned confidently.
A knock and a shout signalled Shining Armour’s early arrival, and not a moment too soon for Twilight. She already felt bad enough about lying, adding more lies to it was not helping. If Spike wasn’t so willing to take her word, if he was just a bit more suspicious, he might have ruined it right then. As it was, he missed the subtle tension between her and Shining Armour as the Lord-Captain strode into the room.
Dash, biting into her apple, paused. She had this horrible feeling whenever he came in, like Shining Armour was there to arrest her. He was the Lord-Captain! The king of the anthill, a man the thieves’ guild hated to tangle with. She shuddered.
“Sorry I’m early, but I thought we could get started a bit sooner. Faster we start, the faster we’re done,” said Shining. He patted Spike on the shoulder, giving the boy a warm smile.
Twilight smiled as well, hoping her unease wasn’t noticed. “Its fine, really. Thank you again for this.” She ran a hand through Spike’s hair. “Have a good time you two, and don’t hurt yourselves.”
Spike called out a good bye to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, grinning and ignoring her half-hearted protest that it wasn’t her name. He followed Shining Armour out. The moment the door closed beind them, Twilight her tension flow out in an explosive sigh.
“Let’s give them a few minutes,” she told Applejack and Dash. Twilight strode to a desk littered with scrolls, beginning to sort them. “Then we can go to the library and get ready. The thief won’t strike until evening if we drop the bait in front of them at the right time. We should have all the time we need to prepare.”
“You know, assuming I don’t get stabbed on the way back,” chimed Dash dryly.
Applejack gave her a relatively gently smack on the arm.
Dash continued, straight faced, “If the rube doesn’t beat me to death first.”
“We’ll be fine. We got this, no fears, sugar,” Applejack promised with a mock glare at Dash. The rainbow haired girl laughed, despite her best efforts not to. They were about to do something deadly, on purpose this time. Whoever was behind this was in for one hell of a surprise tonight with the three of them there. They were outnumbered, for one thing.
*
Dash swaggered into the store. The smell at the edges of the middens wasn’t so bad at the edge here, but she was still glad to be out of it. She would have told herself off for getting prissy about it after a week of prissy living, but the truth was you only got used to the smell. You endured it, and eventually you stopped noticing most of the time.
“Hey, Hot Property,” she called, banging a hand against a rickety wooden counter. “You in?”
A woman, old enough to have passed her prime but young enough to not realise it, came stomping from the back room. She glared at Dash through locks of dull red hair, brushing it out of the way irritably.
“You? What do you want? It’s too early to deal with you,” Hot Property grunted.
Dash smirked. “Really? Here I was, going to offer you the goods from my run tonight before anyone else.” She shrugged. “Well, if you’re not interested, I’m sure a lot of fences will want to deal with me. Fancy gold statues are useful like that.”
Even as she turned to leave, Dash knew she had Hot Property then and there. The woman had gone stiff, staring at her with wide eyes, and as Dash approached the door she called out; “Wait a second! Damn it, get back here.”
Grinning, Dash turned back. “What, changed your mind?”
“A gold statue?” Hot Property asked, ignoring the annoying grin on the thief’s face.
“Well, mostly. Half, at least.” Dash described the statuette, keeping it vague but accurate.
“Really? How...interesting. Where did you find out about it?” Hot Property asked. She was good at hiding her emotions, but Dash knew exactly what to look for. The fence wanted this.
“I heard some idiot talking about it to his friends in a tavern, he found it in the basement of an old library west of the parks.” Dash laughed. “Thinks he can sell it for a couple gold or something, but by the time he goes back for it tomorrow….”
They both laughed at that. Hot Property was all smiles now, any tiredness vanishing at the news Dash brought her.
“Well, I’ll need to see it for myself, but I can promise you, you won’t find a better fence for it,” she told the thief, giving her a warm smile that was all fake.
“Eh? You sure?” Dash turned, shooting her a smug smirk. “If I decide to bring it to ya, we’ll see. But hey, maybe I won’t. Wouldn’t that be a shame?”
The door shut behind her, closing on Hot Property’s annoyed scowl. Dash kept her smirk plastered onto her face and fought the urge to break into a run. When you’re half-sure someone is going to knife you any second and you have no idea where they are, it's hard to look calm. So she settled for a slightly rushed a stride away from the little shop that appeared, to any official observer, to be a simple run down store. Turning off into an alleyway, Dash breathed a sigh of relief. Applejack was still there, and a glance back the way she came confirmed no one was about to stick a knife in her.
“Long night, I’m glad that’s over,” she muttered. “Thought I was gonna get stabbed the whole way back.”
Applejack shook her head as they set off down the alley.”I had my eyes on ya the whole way, Rainbow. No one was gonna get ya.” She sniffed, pulling her hat down over her nose. “Ugh, we gotta go back through there?”
“Only way, you heard Sparkle,” Dash replied with a grin. She tugged at the grill before them, another access to the sewers. Grunting, the grill finally came free when Applejack reached over with hand one and pulled it free
“Listen to you, doin’ what Sparkle tells ya,” Applejack teased. Hat pressed to her face, she let Dash climb down first before following and pulling the grate back into place behind her. “Ugh, that smell. Why the heck are the sewer tunnels so damn big anyway?”
Dash shrugged. “No idea. I mean, they’re not like this in the newer parts of the city, but there’s a heaps of ones big enough for us to walk through that run through the middens, all the way from the south wall to the north. Just don’t use them on your own.”
“Huh? Why not? Gangs or somethin’?” Adjusting her greatsword to keep it from scraping along the ceiling, Applejack winced as the smell once again invaded her nose.
“Nah, water. The sewer tunnels get bigger the deeper you go, but they get way more dangerous. Heard someone talking about it once, some kinda ‘tide’ thing, whatever that is. All I know is that water comes smashing through these things, and if you don’t know the timing, coming down here is a death sentence,” Dash explained it all with a casual nonchalance. Applejack was glad the rainbow-haired girl couldn’t see her expression. The ranger eyed the walls around them, even less at ease now.
“People drown in these things?” she asked.
Dash shrugged. “Sure, all the time. I mean, the older parts get blocked up and easier to use, but sometimes whatever’s damming it up comes undone and….”
Applejack shuddered, the picture drawn by Dash’s silence off painted all too vividly by her imagination. “What kinda fool would use these things?”
“Uh,” Dash looked back, cocking an eyebrow. “Us?”
“....good point,” agreed the red-faced ranger. The rest of the journey was silent, both contemplating the mission ahead of them and, in Applejack’s case, listening for the thunder of approaching water.
Twilight was just where they had left her when they returned to the old library. It had taken all of Twilight’s considerable willpower and Applejack pointing out they wanted to minimise signs they were here to keep the mage from going through the left over bookshelves. Every time she looked at them, which was every few seconds, Twilight had seemed to twitch for a moment of overwhelming anger at whoever had left them in such horrible condition. After this was over, she swore to track down to previous owner and Have Words with them.
The building itself was surrounded by homes two storey homes, squat and ugly. The walls were thick, and the insides almost a maze. True to Shining Armour’s words, there was only a single way in or out. Twilight and the bait, a gold and silver statuette that was clearly a matched set with the stolen statuette, were currently in a room near the centre. Thick stone walls, the core of the building, formed the old study of whoever had once worked here with a squat, thick oak door bound in iron bands covering the only way in or out. Once the trap was sprung, there was no easy way out. Dash took a single step in and sighed.
“Burning day, Sparkle, what is wrong with you?” she growled.
Twilight looked up from straightening a fallen bookcase. “What?” She was rather shocked at the abrupt sour turn Dash had taken towards her.
“Look at this!” Dash waved a hand at the organised, symmetrical room. “Does this look like a trap to you?”
“...yes?” Twilight ventured uncertainly. She was rather off-balance now.
Her answer proved to be the wrong one, as Dash all but exploded. “Exactly!” She jabbed a finger at Twilight. “A trap isn’t supposed to look like a trap! This place is meant to be disorganised, like some idiot came blundering in and found the damn thing.”
Applejack agreed, although she took a less violent tone. “Dash is right, sugar. We gotta get this place lookin’ messy again. An’ ya need to tell us what sorta magic ya gonna be throwin’ about, so we don’t get caught in it. Rainbow, shove over that chair, would ya?”
Taking charge with ease, Applejack found Twilight was willing to listen. The mage was also clearly embarrassed, and the difference in rank seemed to vanish as she did what Applejack said, returning the room to a state of disuse and refuse. Dash just focused on getting it done, more annoyed at having to do it than anything else. Her expert touch from living in the slums was put to good use, and all the while Twilight explained what she had prepared.
“The room will be dark, of course, so we’ll need light to use once the trap is sprung. If our foe is the wererat, we can’t risk fighting it in the darkness,” said Twilight. She moved around the room, stopping in places and turning this way and that before orienting herself towards the door.
“What are you doing?” Dash asked with a confused look at the odd mage.
“Sighting on the door.” Opening the door as far as it was would go, Twilight nodded in satisfaction. The rusted hinges groaned, stopping the door from going all the way around. “Good. Dash, you’ll be here, behind the door.
“What? Why?”
Twilight inspected the lock, giving it a critical examination. “I have prepared a spell to seal the door, but it needs to be closed for that. When the thief comes in, you slam the door shut and I lock it. At the same time Applejack can light this sunrod.”
Applejack took the foot long iron rod Twilight offered. She waved off Twilight’s explanation. “I know how to use a sunrod, sugar,” she said, rubbing a finger across the golden tip. “Use ‘em all the time.”
“Oh, well, good- hey, be careful with that!” Twilight cried, watching the rod soar through the air. Applejack had thrown it to Dash, the nimble girl catching it with ease.
“Good plan sugar, but let’s change it a little. I need two hands for my sword, for one thing. Rainbow can light the sunrod an’ I’ll shut the door. It’ll put me closer to the bastard too, so he won’t be able to make a run for Dash to put out the light,” Applejack pointed out.
“I can handle myself just fine,” Dash growled.
Twilight gave the pair a spectulative look. “Alright, Applejack. You close the door, Rainbow Dash-”
“Just Dash, damn it.”
“-activates the sunrod. Once the door is locked I’ll cast another spell. It will keep them from moving, but a strong enough mind can resist it,” she warned.
Drawing her greatsword, Applejack gave it a few test swings. “Ya got more spells though, right?” She moved as though fighting an invisible enemy.
“Several. I have prepared thoroughly for this, including preparing a few scrolls ahead of time. If Hold Person doesn’t work, I can surround them with webbing, heat their weapon’s grip until its too hot to hold, I can use Dispel Magic against any defensive spells; yes, I have all the magic we could need.”
“Great. Well, let’s work out where to hide you an’ Rainbow,” the ranger suggested, lowering her weapon. She would spend the rest of the wait, until evening fell, familarising herself with the room. No reason not to prepare just in case.
Spinning the rod like a baton, Dash couldn’t help another scowl. It was an over-dramatic expression, and she didn’t complain when Twilight drew out a set of scrolls. She just filed away the name of this spell. Nondetection sounded pretty handy to her.
*
Spike stared into the gurling whirlpool below. Scootaloo was gone, promising to return when night fell. She was as excited as he at the prospect of an extended delve into the abandoned sewers Spike had uncovered in the library, the empty tunnels below the park district a promising adventure. Whatever life she led the rest of the week was not so easily put to one side, however, and she had been forced to leave him for a while. So here he was, legs dangling over the edge of an odd well in the intricate ruins of a city that had been built over a thousand years, largely on top of itself.
The dimlight that filtered down caught upon the odd object he held before him. On its own, the dagger wasn’t that unusual save for its obvious quality. The blade glemmed with enchantments, and Spike could feel the magic bound within it. The fact he had a dagger, and where it came from, was what truly made it unusual. Spike shifted his grip, glimpsing a familiar hilt normally seen on Shining Armour’s belt.
It had been strange, the way Shining Armour had given it to him. ‘Just in case,’ Shining had said and would say no more. In case of what, Spike had no idea. Shining Armour didn’t know what he did when he ran off on his own, or so the boy hoped.
Flicking a pebble into the whirlpool, Spike poured over the mystery of the dagger. Scrutinising it had revealed little of its mysteries, beyond the powerful magic it held. A lavender gem was set in the middle of the guard, a six pointed star that reminded Spike of the staff Twilight owned. Perhaps this too had been a gift from the Princess, but to Shining Armour. He wasn’t sure; Twilight was so protective of that staff, she had yet to employ a single spell from it. Even when they found that cave and the crystal lined walls had begun to collapse, she had used none of its magic.
Of course, Shining Armour was a bit less...obsessively dedicated to the Princess. He revered her as much as anyone else, but Spike knew he had disagreed with her at least once on a matter of his guards. The thought brought a smile to his face. He wished he could be as resolute and firm in his beliefs as his big brother.
Sighing, Spike ran a finger along the blade. His hard, pointed nail slid along a groove on the flat, showing all oto clearly he would have to clip them again when he got home.
“Why did he give me this?” Spike wondered aloud.
“Why’d who give you what?” asked a voice right in his ear.
He yelped, the dagger flying up while he nearly fell himself. The young sorcerer flailed, the hilt bouncing off his hand in the mad scramble to get ahold of it without falling off. Arms encircled his waist, keeping him back. Scootaloo pulled him from the edge just as his fingers closed around the hilt. They fell back, Spike sprawling atop the small girl and the gifted dagger clattered onto the ground.
Spike stared at the ceiling of old stone above for a moment, collecting his wits, until a prod from below prompted him to roll off. Coming to his knees, Spike glared at Scootaloo. The thief just giggled in response.
“Sorry, Spike,” she said through her mirth. “I couldn’t resist.”
“Yeah, yeah, real funny.” Grumbling sourly, Spike picked up the dagger. Or tried.
Scootaloo inspected the fancy dagger, her mouth open in a ring of astonishment. “Wow. Someone gave you this? Look at it! It must have cost a lot! Like, a hundred lots! Lots of lots of lots! Heaps!”
“My brother did. Give it back, its really important.” He reached for it, but the girl danced away, grinning.
“You want it? Come and get it!” With that she took off, running through the tunnel. Spike was in hot pursuit.
She laughed and he shouted, but soon he was laughing too as he got into it and the dagger became less important than chasing her. As they played their game in their own private world of darkness and fetid water, the smells and dangers were lost to them in their youthful vigour. It wasn’t long before Spike was glad he had changed his usual purple robes for an old tunic and trousers. Twice he nearly caught her, but Scootaloo was determined to make this a real challenge.
For how long they played and how far they went, Spike wasn’t sure. They weren’t beneath the old ruins under the southern tip of the parks, but he wasn’t really thinking about it. At last he threw himself forward, pouncing on Scootaloo. They rolled to the ground, their laughter overpowered by the thunder of water down a steep stone pipe. It splashed and roared, pouring past them into a deep reservoir.
Laid out next to each other on the ground, the pair grinned and panted. Scootaloo offered the dagger to him, and he took it with a grateful nod, too tired from their game to talk. Together they lay there, listening to the water falling past them. Scootaloo poked him in the shoulder and leaned closer, raising her voice to be heard.
“The water is gonna stop!” she explained, pointing above. “This time every month, something changes and all the water starts pouring somewhere else. Listen, it’s happening!”
Spike sat back, listening as hard as he could. He could hear it happening, the flow quieting and changing, and suddenly the things he had read made sense. The real water system, which funnelled rain and waste water into deep reservoirs, was still in perfect condition since the city’s founding. No one had seen the actual artificial lakes of water created in centuries long past, but Celestia herself had confirmed that ancient magic had been used to imbue the man-made lakes with purifying magic. No matter where the water came from, what had been through it, it would be purified and pumped back up to slake the thirst of the capital city.
It was a humbling experience, to know he was close to such ancient, powerful magics. He would never wield such power, but Spike knew one day he would see Twilight do even more. She was the greatest mage the world had ever seen, or she would be, and Spike didn’t doubt that for a second. Maybe, just maybe, he’d be good enough to get dragged along in her wake.
So preoccupied with these thoughts, Spike almost didn’t notice that the thunder of the water had stopped fading. He only noticed when he saw Scootaloo’s frown. It was like a bubble around him had been pierced, because he could suddenly notice it as well. He stared up, brow furrowed.
“What...wait!” Sitting up, Spike looked around. It wasn’t a trick of his ears; the sound wasn’t coming from above! Sudden terror gripped his heart. What if a dam had broken and they were about to be hit by a wave of stinking sewer water? They would surely die, but far worse, it seemed to him, was how it would hurt Twilight. She would never know what had happened to him. No, she would find out, she would bend her magical might to finding him, and when she did, how would she be able to forgive Shining Armour for letting him go?
Scootaloo jerked the stunned boy, pulling him off his arse and onto the floor. Rubble from some collapse blocked his vision. Spike blinked, staring at her with a look of poleaxed bewilderment.
“Look,” she hissed, pointing down one of the tunnels. Following her lead, Spike lifted his head just enough to see over the rubble. His eyes cut through the dim light, revealing what had been indistinct figures as black clothed men and women marching through the tunnel. The children stared, neither quite sure what they were seeing. Scootaloo certainly didn’t know, her human eyes unable to see as well as Spike’s. What were just odd shapes to her were sheathed blades and clubs hanging from straps and belts.
Ice flooded Spike’s body, or so it felt to him, as a figure different from the others strode into view. The size of man, garbed in black leather, a rat that walked upright was the last of the small group. Unlike the darkly wrapped men and women, it held its weapon out, a pair of swords made from some jet-black metal with violent, jagged edges.
The wererat.
Spike ducked, pulling Scootaloo down with him. His hand clamped over her mouth. He held her there, the two of them silent as minutes passed. Each second was like an hour to Spike, his thoughts turning over what he had seen. The wererat looked just like the one Dash and Applejack had described, right down to the evil looking swords. What was it doing here, and with a bunch of people all armed to the teeth?
At last, Spike pulled his hand away and looked over the rubble. They were along, the stomp of feet fading into the distance. He stared after them, feeling something at the edge of his consciousness trying to get his attention.
“What was that about?” Scootaloo demanded, glaring at him.
“I thought one of them saw us, and he had a weapon,” he answered without looking at her. Spike rubbed his chin, flicking a thumb across the lavender gem on the dagger’s hilt in his other hand. “What direction does that tunnel lead?”
Scootaloo shrugged, but she was clearly uneasy. “North-west merchant district, duh. Something wrong?” She couldn’t help but notice he had gone still, his eyes wide.
“She lied…” Spike whispered. It suddenly made sense, and it hurt to realise Twilight had lied to him. That didn’t change what he had to do.
“Huh? Who lied?” Giving him a poke, Scootaloo cocked her head to the side.
That seemed to bring Spike back to reality. He shook his head, thrusting the dagger back into his belt. “No one. Its nothing. Sorry, Scoots, but I have to go.”
“What? Aww, come on! We were gonna go on a super-awesome adventure!” she protested. There was no hiding the disappointment in her tone, and she gave Spike sad look.
“I’m sorry, but I really have to go.” Spike wished there was another way, but he knew there wasn’t. He certainly wasn’t bringing Scootaloo with him, especially if he turned out to be right. In fact, if he turned out to be right, this was going to very dangerous. Suddenly, Shining Armour’s gift was going to be a lot more useful than he thought.
“Oh...okay…” Scootaloo stepped back, trying to hide the bleak look of hurt on her face. His hand caught her shoulder, and before she could go Spike gave her a warm smile.
“Scootaloo, I don’t want to go, but I have to. Hanging out with you, exploring and having fun, has been some of the most fun in my life. Thanks for being my friend. See you soon, I hope.”
With that, Spike turned and ran, vanishing into the darkness. Scootaloo stared after him, and hoped that this time, she hadn’t lost a friend. She couldn’t handle the thought of it happening all over again.
*
The building was silent and still. Not a soul moved or made a sound. It was, on the whole, quite eery. Dash would have given a silver coin- okay, maybe half….okay, a copper coin. She would have given half a copper coin to be somewhere else. For all the fact it was their trap, she preferred to be the one doing the breaking and entering. For a third of a copper coin, she’d have swapped roles anyday.
Further contemplation on how little she was willing to spend was forgotten as the sound of a creaking door moving brought Dash’s attention back to the job at hand. It was definitely the one of the halls in the hall outside; she had inspected all of them and, where they weren’t rusty, she had done what she could so all would make loud sounds when they moved. She grinned fiercely, crouching in her hiding place. All she had to was smack the sunrod on the floor and it would light up while Sparkle and Applejack took care of the rest. Easy.
The back of her neck tingled like it always did when she felt magic in the air, but Sparkle was probably just getting her spell ready. Tensing, Dash curled her main hand tightly around the hilt of her dagger. If Sparkle was getting ready to cast, that meant that any second now-
Her ears twitched, and she picked up a faint murmur, nearly hidden by soft footfalls of the thief. Except it wasn’t just one step of feet she could hear. Her guts twisted into a cold knot of fear. She began to shout a warning, but it was too late.
Green fog filled the room, and Dash inhaled a lungful. She coughed, the sunrod falling from her hand as she reached up to grasp her throat. She could feel the magic in the foul mist seeping into her, a nauseating feeling that struck her right in the pit of her stomach. The thief collapsed, unable to hold back a groan of agony.
Twilight stumbled, barely holding onto the fallen table she had been hiding behind. Tears filled her stinging eyes as the magic washed over her, taking her completely by surprise. Even as the poisonous fumes filled the room and threatened to sicken her, the part of her that was always watching and studying took note of the spell.
‘Stinking Cloud, third level conjuration spell, creation subschool, poison magic.’
Applejack, her expression a rictus of agony, had thrown her weight against the door the moment she saw the fog rising. Her stomach threatened to rise up in protest, she forced it down and slammed the door shut . She felt the door hit something on the way, and a cry of anger as whoever she had struck was knocked into another person. Despite the poisonous magic filling the chamber, she grinned.
“T-Twilight!” she called, gasping as more of the sickening cloud invaded her mouth. “The door! The-” She stumbled, the door jerking at the blows of someone outside, before recovering and leaning her weight against it, muscles burning. “The door! Seal it!”
Coughing and hacking, her stomach wracked by pain and nausea, Twilight tried to reach for her magic, but it was impossible. She was too overwhelmed by the vapours, just as the caster had clearly intended. She clenched her staff in a death grip, struggling to stay on her feet. It was the feeling of her ring pushed against her finger by staff that finally reminded her of it. She hissed a word, the heavenly tongue ringing out. A ring of spell storing, like the one on her right hand, required more concentration to activate. A ring of counterspell, quite literally on the other…
A wave of barely discernable light exploded from Twilight, obliterating the fog. Dash lay collapsed, gasping and groaning with magical nausea as bad as Twilight’s. Only Applejack had managed to fight off the spell’s effect, and only her quick reactions had saved them. As she valiantly resisted the urge to vomit, Twilight knew they would be dead or worse if Applejack hadn’t gotten the door shut. A door she needed to seal. Applejack was still shouting, trying to get her to focus.
The nausea wasn’t so quick to fade, and Twilight knew it would last for at least twelve more seconds. Ten. She had to get ready, prepare to cast the spell as soon as she could. Seven. Thank Celestia for the ring, her own variant design of a counterspell ring. It was ruined, the magic expended, but a genuine ring of counterspell was - four - indiscriminate in its activation.
Just like that, the nausea was fading. Twilight pushed herself to her feat. Applejack was struggling to keep the door closed, the strain on her face visible from across the room. Staggering across the room, Twilight fell to her knees as the words of her spell rose from her lips, a scrunched up piece of parchment filled with gold dust spilling over the door’s lock. Magic flared, energy draining from her. Lines carved of light criss-crossed the door, sealing it shut.
“W-what…” Dash groaned, hurling herself up on one of the broken tables. “What happened? How did...urgh, my stomach, burning hurts!”
Applejack panted, slumping against the wall. She wiped sweat from her forehead before pushing her hat into place. “Trap. Damn it. Someone told ‘em. They turned our trap on us!”
“Calm…” Twilight took a deep breath, steadying herself with her staff. She pocketed the expended ring, looking carefully at the door. “Calm down. We need to be calm, and plan what to do.”
“Do? What the hell are we supposed to do?” spat Dash, glaring at her. “Its a burning trap, and not for the thief! For us! Long night, they have us outnumbered, I can hear them!”
“She’s right,” Applejack mumbled, pushing herself up straight.
Dash nodded. “Thank you-”
Twilight shrugged helplessly. “Maybe, I can’t tell if a wizard or a sorcerer cast that. Can they get us with it? Not unless they all get away from the door and cast it right on it; it requires line of sight, and some of it would get past the door but they can’t cast it into the room. Oh Celestia, how did this happen? My plan, I had a plan, and now we’re trapped in here-”
Smack!
Applejack massaged her hand while Twilight stared numbly at her. The mage reached up, feeling where the ranger had just slapped her.
“You slapped me,” she stated.
Applejack nodded. “Eeyup, I most certainly did. Now stop panickin’ an’ get to thinkin’. We gotta get outta here, an’ y’all are the one with the magic to do it. Now, can ya teleport us out?”
Sucking in a lungful of clean if musty air, Twilight tried to focus. Applejack was right, they had to get out of this and she was the only one with enough magic. They had no idea exactly how many people were out there, but assuming that whoever had sent them had known about the trap - as they evidently had - they would have sent as many as they could if they were smart - which they evidently were - to make sure the job was taken care of.
“I can’t teleport us out,” she admitted. It was easier to think now with the nausea but a memory. “I didn’t plan my spells for dealing with a lot of people; Hold Person might be useful against their spell caster, but magic users tend to have strong wills for resisting magic. Web might slow them down, but See Invisibility and Glitterdust are useless. Perhaps…”
Twilight closed her eyes, focusing inward, gathering her magic, and then spread her arcane senses beyond her body, beyond the physical world. Night had fallen, and that meant...yes!
“I can summon something. It will take me a minute, but the Divine Barrier is weakened at night. Hopefully the door can hold them off long enough. If it doesn’t….” she cut herself off. “That doesn’t matter. I need to start.”
Dash, sunrod lit, stood next to Applejack now as they faced the door. Her dagger was held in a white-knuckled grip as she glared death at the door. Behind them Twilight chanted, fingers carving sigils on the air that glowed for a moment with magenta light before fading away.
“I hate this,” Dash snarled. At Applejack’s glance, she shrugged. “Straight up fights. The only sort of fight I want is one where the guy doesn't see you coming until you’ve got your knife in his belly.”
Applejack snorted. “Maybe that’s why y’all are so skinny, them little arms ain’t never used a real weapon before.” The door banged with thuds and groaned under the assault from outside, but it at least was sturdily built and the magic Twilight had sealed it with was holding out.
They fell silent, unable to keep up the banter with the impending battle on their hands. The minute of Twilight’s casting seemed to stretch on forever, until at last someone outside snarled loud enough to heard inside. Seconds later they jerked back as the door shuddered, metal screaming and wood bursting into flame. A ray of scorching energy burned through the door. Twilight’s spell was clearly not designed to withstand such an attack. They had seconds before the door gave way.
*
Spike scrambled up through the basement, dagger held in a shaky grip. The wererat’s gang had done nothing to hide the signs of their passage, so he’d had little trouble following them, at a discrete distance of course. Now he crept into the building, passing through old, refuse filled basements. It was surely the old library Shining Armour had recommended them to, but how could that be? Whoever had looked through the place for Shining Armour must have missed the basement tunnel that connected to the sewers.
As quiet as he could, Spike followed the sounds of voices. The front door, or what he guessed was the front door, was covered by four of the darkly garbed warriors. Two held scythes, a third was lazily swinging a sword while the last wore a robe, just as sinisterly as the others were armoured. Gulping, Spike quietly reversed directions. There were more sounds coming from another direction, further into the building, and he hurried as quietly as he could towards them.
Peeking around a corner, Spike tried not to drop his dagger in fear. A...a something, its skin as dark as pitch, not at all like the rich, natural brown of Twilight and her brother, not to mention strangely shiny, was chanting. The wererat was right behind it, glaring impatiently past it at the large door apparently blocking their way with half a dozen more of of the strange warriors.
Spike flinched back at the bright glare of fire magic, his eyes widening as it burned into the door. That must mean Twilight was in there! Fear for his mother-sister-teacher-person overwhelmed Spike, and his hand tightened around the dagger.
Whatever the dark man had thought would happen when his magic burned through the door, it wasn’t a barely teenaged boy coming charging towards him from the shadows of a corridor. He drew back, throwing an arm up to block boy’s dagger. The blade bit into his carapace like skin, cutting through it with ease and he screamed in back.
Spike barely realised what he was doing, and suddenly he was in front of the door, bloodied danger clutched before him.
“B-back off!” He tried to sound threatening, but even he didn’t buy it. The blood was leaking down the dagger, closer to his hand, closer to him.
The wererat dispassionately elbowed his strange companion out of the way. He didn’t say anything, simply fixing his beady red eyes on Spike. The fear on the boy’s face made the monster smile, displaying a sickening range of teeth.
“I- I mean it! Get back!” Spike felt the words catching in his throat, but he didn’t move. No one was getting to Twilight except through him, which unfortunately the rat-monster seemed quite happy with.
Shaking off his enjoyment of the boy’s fear, the wererat lunged forward. His blades lashed out, but before they could connect the wererat found himself propelled backwards by something that leaped from the stone floor and slammed into his chest.
Spike and the warriors stared in shock at the wererat and the pony made from stone that stood over him, which is why when the other two stone ponies burst from the floor and began to savage them, they weren’t expecting it. The shadowy warriors found themselves outflanked, their previous certainty of victory gone as they were firmly bucked from their high-horse.
Unable to pull his eyes away, Spike let someone approaching him from beyond. High on adrenaline, he span around, dagger wildly slashing.
“Spike?! Spike! Calm down!” Twilight narrowly avoided getting an ear cut off, wrapping her arms around Spike’s shoulders. “What are you doing here? What were you thinking, jumping out like that? You could have been killed!”
“I-”
“No, save it for later, we have to go before the earth elementals aren’t distracting them any longer.” Releasing him, Twilight paused. “That was very brave of you, Spike. Now let’s go!”
Dash had already passed them, and had gone in for the kill on a man with his back to them, too busy smacking his club at the small earthen pony assaulting one of his allies. He stiffened, but only for a moment. Its hard to do much more, with a steel blade rammed into your heart. Dash jerked the dagger out and stepped back, letting Applejack sweep her massive sword through another.
“Time to book it! Hey, Spike, come on,” Dash nodded at him, grinning at their turn of fortunate. Her grin died with a yelp as a blast of heat burned past her, missing the thief and melted a burn mark across the wall.
Blood dripping down his arm, the hard-skinned man glared hatefully at them. Behind him, the wererat had regained his feet and was putting one of the elementals down with violent slashes of his dark blades.
“You’re not going anywhere,” the mage roared. He began to speak, his harsh words ringing with magic. One of the warriors threw herself in front of him, barely parrying a heavy blow from Applejack.
“Twilight, there’s more of them by the front door! We have to get out!” Spike tore himself from her hands and pointed the way he came. “Come on!”
Taking his word for it, Twilight called to the others. The moment Spike took a single step into the corridor a wave magic blew past him, consolidating into a wall of dark green fire. Throwing his arms up, Spike felt a wave of fire ripple out but he managed to throw himself back in time to avoid worse than losing his sleeves. The skin on his forearms smoked but nothing worse, his draconic resistance proving its value once more.
“What did I just say?!” screamed the dark spellcaster. The fact they had tried to escape seemed to enrage him, as though daring to defy him was some unimaginable crime.
Time and numbers were against them, with Applejack and Dash forming a line between the enemy and Twilight and Spike. Pulling Spike away from the wall of fire, Twilight felt another wave of trepidation run through her. This was the actual spell, Wall of Fire. It was also a fourth level spell. She understood them in theory, but had never cast or prepared one of her own. This man, this sorcerer, had more powerful magic than her.
“But that doesn’t mean we can’t stop him. Spike, you know what I told you to never, ever do? Do it.” Drawing her hands back, Twilight drew on the power gathered inside her mind. Sigils and images burned into her memory this morning came to life, spilling out through her words and gestures.
A ball of white webbing shot from her outstretched palm, exploding outwards when it reached the sorcerer, filling that part of the hall with web. He slashed and hacked at it with his bare hands while his nimble ally, the wererat, simply wove through the sticky strands without pause. His bleak blade licked out, cutting a bloody line across Dash’s arm. Though she fought off the magic, Dash was forced to step back; her single dagger not much use against her foe.
Fortunately for her, Applejack was there. Her powerful muscles uncoiled in a strike that rocked the rat-man back on his heels, snarling some monstrous curse at her. Ignoring his allies trapped behind him the wererat went on the attack, blades whirling. Black against steel that shone like silver, Applejack didn’t move so much as an inch back. It was all she could manage, defending herself from his savage flurry of slashes.
“I’d appreciate a hand here Rainbow!” she called.
“I’m kinda busy myself!” Dash growled back, dodging the slash from a freed foeman’s short sword. Her dagger was useful, but she couldn’t land any debilitating wounds on him like this. She lashed out, driving him back for a moment. If she needed a bit more, well, she could deliver. She wasn’t just a thief now, was she?
It wasn’t the spell she called up. It was the little trick she had been practicing, what Sparkle called her ‘bloodline power’. Dash let the boom of thunder, the flash of lightning, the howl of the wind rise from within her. With a gesture she let it out, and the thrill of the act of release was a joy all of its own. A cloud appeared above the assassin, sparks raining down. He yelped, swatting with his sword at the cloud. Given that it was metal, this wasn’t his best idea yet, and Dash let out a laugh as he shrieked in pain. She went on the attack again, sparing a moment to glance at Applejack. She hoped the ranger was doing well, but it was hard to see in the flurry of combat.
She was still alive, at the very least. Applejcak caught a blow with her blade, bouncing it away and replying in kind. It was her first attack in a while, and she quickly had to go on the defensive again.
“Friend can’t help you? What a shame,” mocked the wererat. Now he finally spoke, Applejack wished he didn’t; his voice was cold with old hate, befouling it like a latrine.
“Shut it.” She kept up her defence, but it was like trying to swat flies with a hammer. He was faster than she was, and nearly as strong. How long before the sorcerer freed himself and started to throw his magic into the fight?
“Not much of a surprise with her, really. She’s already so good at abandoning those who care about her. Ask Scootaloo,” the rat went on, his voice a low hiss.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Shut up!” Applejack growled.
“Applejack, stand back!” Spike screamed.
She obeyed without thinking, which was just as well. What she could only describe as a beam, thick as finger but intense with energy, sliced past her. Webs sizzled and burned, along with a blistering wound seared into the wererat’s side. She could see it in the way he turned, in the way his gaze shifted to Spike. The were-beast wasn’t going to let the panting boy, his mouth glowing as the last of his magical attack faded, get away with that. And she wasn’t sure she could hit him if he was determined to get past her.
Applejack saw the last of the earth elementals Twilight had summoned rising up only to crumble beneath the blow of a wildly swinging assassin, and something inside her gave way. Pressure she had never noticed before was suddenly spilling out in words she didn’t understand. They were old and strong, heavy with power that rang down into her arms, flowing invisibly over her arms. With it came a flush of strength, the burn in her muscles receding. She felt like she could arm wrestle an ogre right now.
The wererat charged, acrobatically tumbling past her. She knew how hard it should be to hit such a fast moving target, but Applejack saw it in her mind and let the power guide her. Her sword flashed through the air, steel seeming silver in the light of the sunrod. She struck true.
A howl of pain filled the air. Something wet slapped against the ground a foot away from the wererat, who came down heavily as pain ruined his nimble maneuver. His swords clattered to the ground. curling his remaining hand around the bleeding stump that had once been his elbow.
Twilight didn’t even notice, her attention fallen into her magic. She had to dispel the wall, before the rest of the assassins joined them or the web spell expired. Even as she began to form the spell, a sudden jarring force slammed against her. She thought someone had thrown a hammer at her skull, but amidst the ringing she realised it was not so. A mental force, sharp and painful, was throwing itself against her mind. She shuddered, forcing it away. It was the sorcerer, and that was like no spell she knew. His insane howling increased at the failure of his mental attack. He clawed at the webbing, too incensed to use magic again.
Dismissing him and his intrusive magic, Twilight finally cast her spell. Faint magenta light rippled from her hands, a wave of near-invisible energy that passed through the flaming barrier before her. The fire was gone, vanished into thin air.
“Everyone!” she called, hearing the pounding of feet from other halls. “We have to go, come on!”
Dash ignored the shout for the moment. Her mind buzzed with magic, her grin wide and wild. Power cackled down her arm, grounding in her hand. With a shout she jumped forward and caught the wounded warrior with her hand against his chest, right over his heart. She saw his eyes, wide in alarm in the few seconds before her Jolt poured electricity into his body. He thrashed and jerked for only a moment. Then he was limp, dead, and Dash realised she had killed a man with but a touch.
‘I’m awesome,’ she thought in the euphoria of power. ‘I’m magic! Ha!’
She was pulled back to reality by a strong hand on her shoulder. Dash looked blankly at Applejack until the ranger gave her a hard tug, pulling the thief along behind her.
“Come on, ya idiot! We’re gettin’ outta here!”
It was a crazed, rushed flight from the library, the screams and curses of the sorcerer filling the halls. Spike led them down, out through the basements and into the sewers. Twilight didn’t question how he knew where they were going, or why he was so sure of their path in the sewers.
It must have been half an hour later when they stopped, but for all Twilight knew it had been an hour. She all but collapsed onto a squat stone, leaning against the wall. She didn’t care about how grimy it might be, right now her legs felt like jelly.
“Spike…” she panted, gently putting down her staff. “When we get home...we are having...a very thorough discussion...about what you get up to…”
He nodded, not really in much better a state. “S-sure…”
Applejack pulled Dash, who had just dropped to the floor in a squat, onto a rock that might have once been part of a pillar. “Ya okay there, Rainbow?”
“F-fine,” the thief muttered. She had torned off part of her shirt at some point in the run, using it as a crude bandage. She didn’t bother complaining when Applejack began to fix it for her. “That was pretty cool, you know. Cutting his arm off like that.”
Applejack gave her a tired smile. “Yeah, I...I guess it was. Wasn’t all me though. Somethin’ happened, an’ I just...I couldn’t miss.” She shrugged helplessly.
“Still cool,” Dash insisted. She looked up, gaze lingering on Spike.
“Well I saw the way ya fried that fella with a hand fulla lightnin’, an’ that’s pretty darn cool if ya ask me,” Applejack pointed out with a grin.
Dash smirked, nodding with satisfaction before growing serious. “Got a lotta questions about what just happened. Someone ratted us out. And as far as I know, only, what, two other people knew about it?”
Her voice carried in the dark tunnel they had chosen as their resting place. Twilight looked up, eyes seething with anger.
“I’m not any more happy with what happened than you,” Twilight tried, she really did, to keep any of the frustration and aggravation out of her voice, but she didn’t quite manage it. “It must have been Blueblood. He...he must have been working with the thieves already. He’d know as soon as the statuette he gave us was found it was our trap.”
Twilight dropped her head into her hands, wringing her hair. She didn’t say anything for a minute, just staring at the ground as Spike laid an arm over her shoulders.
“Damn it. Damn it. Sun and stars, how could I have been so stupid?” Her vision blurred with hot tears. “He fooled me so easily, like I was some kind of idiot. I never even seriously suspected him, and look where we are now! Hurt, bleeding, bruised, in the sewers with a band of killers hunting us. At least Celestia isn’t here to see this.”
Spike looked up at the other two pleadingly. He needed help, and he knew it.
“Nothin’ ya could have planned for, sugar. Sometimes it don’t work out how we want it to, but we just gotta start again an’ keep on goin’. We’re alive, ain’t we? If ya really were as stupid as ya think ya are, we’d be dead an’ Blueblood would be gettin’ away with. But we got our lives, so we got our chance to stop him.” Applejack gave her an encouraging smile even if Twilight couldn’t see it. “So now’s the time to lick our wounds an’ prepare for the next fight, an’ this time, we’ll go to yer brother an’ get us some reinforcements.”
Her words helped, or they seemed to. There wasn’t really enough time to appreciate the effect they might have had before a voice spoke up from the darkness.
“I would really reconsider, if I was you. I mean, I’m not, but if I was, I’d give it another think.”
Twilight froze. She felt Spike’s arm go rigid, the voice shocking both into silence and stillness. She tried to say something, but her mouth didn’t seem to be working. It, too, was stunned into immobility.
Applejack and Dash were not so stunned, on their feet in seconds with weapons out.
“Who’s there?” Dash barked, shining the sunrod in front of her as she searched for the source of the voice.
“An’ what do ya know about Twi’s brother? If ya got somethin’ ta say, come out where we can see ya,” demanded Applejack. She glared into the darkness, but even with her hat she couldn’t seem to find him.
“Well, if you insist,” came the smart Trottingham voice from behind them. They whirled about, and the glow the sunrod illuminated the figure of a man, his spiky brown hair thrown into stark relief by the light. “Hello Twilight, Spike.”
“Who are ya? Sneakin’ around like some nasty little assassin, what would you know ‘bout Shinin’ Armour?” Applejack leveled an icy glare at the man. He just smiled sadly, looking over at the staring, stunned pair of mages with a look of regret in his eyes before turning back to Applejack and Dash.
“I’m Time Turner,” he said. “And Shining Armour tried to kill me.”
*