Rescue on Diamond Mountain

by moguera


The Chase is On

Chapter 11: The Chase is On

Hope Spot galloped as fast as she had ever galloped in her life. The Royal Palace loomed ahead, its size making it seem closer than it actually was. However, that false sense of closeness seemed to enkindle some hidden reserve of strength within the mare, egging her onwards as she rushed forward, pursuing the promise of safety determinedly. All around her, ponies walked, trotted, or cantered along the broad boulevard, going in and out of shops, running errands, or simply strolling about. Several flinched or yelped as the teal mare bolted past them, sometimes missing them by bare inches. But Hope ignored them as she continued to press onward.
Dawn followed along behind her, matching her pace precisely. He could have easily taken to the air, but opted not to. It was what would be expected of a pegasus like him after all. He wasn't exactly sure if their pursuers were specifically aware of just who was accompanying their target, but the longer Dawn could go without playing his hoof, the better.
The pursuers appeared to all be unicorns. At first, Dawn put it down to the base tribalism that supposedly informed the attitudes of most of the Noble Court. However, as the chase went on, he began to think differently.
He could perceive the hunters as clear as day as the group of unicorns ran along behind him. The air around their horns shivered, a telltale sign that they were releasing their magical energy in the form of some sort of spell. However, there was no sign of any spell manifesting. And, whatever it was, Dawn could tell that said spells weren't directed at him and Hope. Instead, it was rather like watching a light switch on and off, sometimes only for an instant, sometimes for just a little bit longer, alternating between different intervals, almost like some kind of pattern...
That's it! Dawn realized, It's a code. They're using their magic to signal and communicate with one another.
It was a daunting realization. Normally, they would be able to hear their pursuers directing one another and respond accordingly. But Dawn had no hope of deciphering whatever code they were using and didn't have the attention to spare on trying. It would allow the unicorn hunters to coordinate their efforts effectively without cluing their targets into what they were planning and possibly coordinate with each other over greater distances than regular speech would allow. Whoever these ponies were, they were exceedingly good. Dawn's estimation of Sweet Water went up incrementally as he realized how dangerous she must be if she was willing to invest in such skilled ponies for such a seemingly simple task. That, or she knows that I'm with Hope Spot.
But now wasn't the time to appreciate their foe's cunning. The number of pursuers behind Dawn and Hope had just dropped by two. The two that had disappeared hadn't been tripped up or simply stopped and given up. Rather, Dawn had sensed them veering off to the side, heading down two different alleys that would presumably take them to side-streets that ran parallel to the one Dawn and Hope were currently on.
They must be trying to head us off, thought Dawn. It wasn't that surprising. Dawn and Hope had made no secret of their destination and certainly weren't up for trying to vary their path to throw off the pursuers. Furthermore, while Hope was clearly running as fast as her hooves could carry her, the same couldn't be said for Dawn or the unicorns behind them. In fact, the hunters weren't even galloping really. Instead, they moved in long, loping strides that eerily reminded Dawn of the way he had seen timberwolves move while pursuing prey. It was a pace that could eat up miles. They were saving their strength and not closing in. The two that had peeled off were probably running much faster in order to get ahead of their quarry and intercept them.
Sure enough, Dawn felt them coming up ahead. As his wind sense extended ahead of them, he felt the surge of air moving out from a pair of alleyways up ahead like the waves that rose ahead of a boat's bow, their positions staggered, but as close as the alley mouths allowed. They emerged up onto the street, taking up positions on either side. In almost perfect unison, their horns lit up and their magic went to work.
Dawn sensed a shivering sensation in the air as one of the unicorns converged his energies onto the tip of his own horn, probably readying an attack spell of some kind, possibly to stun or subdue. The other was working on something more subtle. A hum of magic began to emanate from a small group of cobblestones in their path, seizing the stones in a grip of telekinesis and beginning to pry them upwards. The plan became painfully apparent. The mare intended to use the cobblestones to trip them up while the stallion stunned them after they fell. It was clever, subtle, something that might be able to be explained away to the dozens of potential witnesses gathered around.
But Dawn wasn't about to let them have their way. In front of him, he could feel Hope starting to slow down as she realized that their adversaries had gotten ahead of them. "Keep going!" shouted Dawn behind her, his words enough to galvanize Hope into picking up her pace again.
As he did so, Dawn bounded into the air and spread his wings. They opened with a snap and he whipped them forward so that the leading primaries thrust out like twin daggers at the unicorns that blocked their way. Dawn relaxed his mind, drifting out of conscious thought and into that strange clarity that allowed him to perceive his surroundings with unparalleled precision. He'd been practicing this ever since Willow had attempted to kill him back in Ponyville. He needed that precision now.
Dual bolts of lightning arced out from the leading feather of each wing, lashing through the air with a whiplike crack. With perfect accuracy, they honed straight in on the horns of the two impeding unicorns as though said horns were lightning rods. The bolts were hair-thin, barely visible. However, the horn of a unicorn in the midst of casting is exceedingly vulnerable to trauma of any kind. When the lightning bolts struck home, the two attackers immediately cried out and collapsed, their bodies spasming as they dropped to the ground. Dawn had struck before either of them had been able to finish their specific task, so he and Hope rushed past their stricken forms unimpeded.
The sudden unexpected flash of lightning on a clear, cloudless, Canterlot day had a dramatic effect on the ponies around them. Several ponies yelled in surprise. Many ducked their heads, clearly anticipating an onslaught from above. Others panicked and began to run, scattering in random directions as they rushed to be anywhere else but where they currently were. A few had seen exactly what had happened, had seen Dawn strike out with lightning, however improbable that may have seemed, and had seen the two unicorns knocked to the ground by the attack. Calls for the Guard began to sound out as well.
However, the clearest reaction came from the pursuers still behind Dawn and Hope. They moved deftly to dodge the panic-stricken ponies and continued their pursuit. However, Dawn could sense a shift in both their attitude and intent. It was clear that, if they hadn't already known that he was dangerous, they knew it now. The prey they had thought helpless, being driven easily into their trap, had proved to be more threatening than they realized and they clearly weren't in the mood to take any more chances. Dawn could sense them leveling their horns in the direction of him and Hope, but him in particular, and that the spells they were readying now were no longer for communication.
Not bothering to touch back down, Dawn spun about so that he was scudding backwards, hovering just above and a little behind Hope as she continued to charge forward. As he did so, his eyes narrowed. Already, the street was beginning to clear up as ponies realized what was going on and also realized that the last place they wanted to be was in the way of whatever was happening. This meant that the unicorns pursuing them now had open lanes of fire for their spells, but so did Dawn.
Immediately, he reared up and snapped his wings across his barrel, sending a volley of lightning at the group of pursuing unicorns. There were seven in all. Five were in the lead, moving in a relatively even line up the street, at least as much as the rapidly thinning crowd allowed, while the remaining two trailed slightly behind them. They had all been readying spells. However, the moment Dawn attacked, the two bringing up the rear released their spells, the leading five coming to an immediate halt as the bolts of lightning crackled and splashed harmlessly across a sheet of magical energy that sprung up between them and their quarry.
As the shield fell, the other five immediately launched their own spells. A barrage of bolts of arcane energy flew up the street towards Dawn, whose senses picked up a faint crackling not unlike that of his own lightning. Most were aimed at him, but at least two were arrowing straight for Hope's vulnerable rear. Dawn could dodge, but he suspected that Hope could not. The shots would have to be blocked.
Smirking, Dawn beat his wings, directing the resulting blast of compressed air downwards at the street just behind Hope. It slammed home with enough force to nearly pulverize the cobblestone, throwing chunks of debris in the air. The arcane bolts snapped with explosive discharges as their courses were blocked by the resulting impediments, dissipating harmlessly. Not willing to rest on his laurels and fight a purely defensive battle, Dawn swept a wing across in front of him, sending a wave of wind that caught the airborne chunks of stone and cement and sent them rushing towards their pursuers in a wave of shrapnel.
The two unicorns bringing up the rear once again raised their shield. However, they'd been caught off-guard by Dawn's unexpected counterattack and couldn't fully solidify it before the colt's salvo struck home. The magical construct shuddered under the repeated impacts of stone before breaking completely when the hammer of air that had been driving the debris forward smashed into it as well. However, the shield still managed to abate the force of the blows, successfully keeping Dawn's attack from doing any harm.
However, Dawn wasn't so content to leave it at that. Instead, he lashed out with another bolt of lightning as he saw the shield falter. It blasted through the space the barrier had occupied and struck one of the leading unicorns in the middle of the formation, knocking him onto his back, just as he had been trying to launch another offensive spell. The unicorn yelled out as his horn discharged the spell into the ground directly beneath his head, the stunning bolt bursting and catching its own caster in the blast. The would-be attacker slumped motionless in the street. The remaining six ponies faltered in the face of the unexpected loss.
Dawn's initial impulse was to take the battle to them. He was at a disadvantage right now, flying backwards, hovering just above Hope Spot and exchanging attacks with the pursuing unicorns. He could easily take advantage of their currently off-balance state to go on the offensive and take them down before they had time to regain their resolve. However, he opted not to. His first responsibility was to stay with Hope and keep her safe. Defeating their pursuers might have helped with that, but Dawn felt that it wasn't worth the risk of abandoning his position near her for even a minute.
Including the pair that had tried to head them off, nine ponies had set out in pursuit of Dawn and Hope. However, Dawn was fairly certain that a few more than that were required to keep the entire platform under surveillance. That nine had come after them wasn't a guarantee that there weren't others positioning themselves further down the line, just waiting for Dawn to abandon his position near Hope and swoop in to snatch her up.
So Dawn opted to continue backwinging just above and behind Hope as she rushed headlong up the street, still charging towards the palace as fast as she could go. He was confident of his ability to win, even in this situation. The last exchange had showed Dawn that his magic exceeded that of his pursuers in both power and initiative. They also had to limit the kind of attack spells they used, as they clearly wanted to take Hope alive and uninjured, if possible, and weren't willing to risk something more dangerous as long as Dawn remained near her.
The hunters surged into pursuit once again. As one of them lit her horn, Dawn lashed out with another bolt of lightning. The mare's lips curled into a snarl as she and the others stopped so that the two defenders could summon another shield.
However, the lightning bolt had been a ploy to buy Dawn some extra time. Sweeping one wing around in a circular motion, Dawn began to condense the air around his primaries and charge it with electricity. In a few seconds, a glowing orb of plasma was cupped gently in the feathers of his wing. Flicking that wing, Dawn hurtled the glowing ball at the hunters, just as the two defenders of the group brought down their shield, confident in having blocked the lightning bolt.
They immediately tried to bring the shield up again. However, the orb hit the incomplete shield and burned right through it. It plunged into the street between the two ponies at the rear of the group, exploding in a burst of electricity that washed over the two like a wave. The two defenders fell to their ground, their limbs spasming as arcs of energy danced across their bodies.
In an instant, the hunters had been reduced to four. However, they charged on, now launching lances of eldritch power at Dawn, forgoing any effort to try and attack Hope while he was still protecting her. Dawn easily danced between the blasts and lashed out with another volley of lightning bolts. One of the ponies pursuing them managed to raise a shield, but not quickly enough as another of her comrades fell.
Three left, thought Dawn, his eyes narrowing. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed the whole of his self and allowed his awareness to expand out as far as it could. While he could easily sense their three remaining pursuers, there were no signs of any other ponies waiting in ambush in the immediate area. Still, the ebony colt was determined not to let his guard down until they were in the palace and with somepony they could trust.
His eyes widened and he snapped out of his trance when he noticed that the remaining hunters were faltering. The mare who had barely managed to protect the remaining two members of her group was slowing down, casting her gaze about nervously. It was as though she was expecting something to happen, but that something wasn't happening.
Dawn wasn't about to let that moment of uncertainty go to waste. "Stop and wait here!" he snapped at Hope, who skidded to a stop the instant his words reached her ears.
Before she could even turn and try to ask, Dawn was already gone. To the hunters, it was as though the ebony colt had teleported. One moment, he had still been hovering protectively over the teal mare. The next, he was right their in their midst. The two stallions immediately whirled about, trying to bring their horns in line with him and strike him down. However, Dawn's wings snapped out before they could finish turning. Hammer-blows of air slammed into either stallion, launching them in opposite directions so that they slammed into buildings on either side of the street.
The mare, on the other hoof, had obviously decided that attempting to attack Dawn was futile. Instead, she brought up another shield, pouring as much of her strength into it as she could. However, as he turned to face her, Dawn's mind recalled his battle with Skan and the technique he'd used to successfully deflect the powerful griffon's strikes. If I can do the same thing here... Planting his hooves firmly on the ground, Dawn condensed the air around one of his wings and swept the wing forward, bracing to put the entire force of his body behind the move in the same motion. The result was a blunt lance of condensed air that slammed into the shield, then punched right through it, smashing into the defending mare and driving her down the street until she came to a rolling stop.
Dawn paused, taking a moment to steady his breath. He was sweating and panting a little, but still felt more than able to continue fighting. Hope, on the other hoof, was gasping for air and on the verge of sinking down onto her knees. Her legs were quivering, barely able to continue holding her weight.
Dawn returned to her side at a steady trot and gently pressed up against her side, helping Hope remain upright. She smiled thankfully down at the colt. "Do we need to keep going?" she asked.
"Not anymore," replied Dawn, giving her his most encouraging smile. A few moments later, his senses picked up the indicators of approaching ponies.
Another unicorn bolted down the street towards them. Dawn suspected that this was another of the group that had been monitoring the platform, possibly one that had been moving ahead to ambush them. However, at this moment, he clearly was no longer interested in his objective, his gaze hardly even noting the presence of Dawn or Hope. Rather, he seemed to be fleeing from something.
A second later, it became apparent just what that something was. A blur of orange and gold slammed down on the unicorn from above, driving him into the ground. A faded-orange pegasus stallion, clad in golden armor pinned the unicorn to the ground, his face set in a scowl as he used one hoof to slip an inhibitor ring over the unicorn's horn.
Within a few moments, several more armored pegasi descended from the sky, seeming to dismiss the presence of Dawn and Hope as they quickly moved to restrain the battered remnants of the squad that had pursued the pair from the train station. Unlike the first one, their coats were all a uniform white underneath their armor.
The orange stallion moved off of his victim and lifted his helmet up to wipe his brow as two more of the other armored ponies moved in to further restrain the one he had subdued. After craning his head to look around and confirm that all the formerly pursuing unicorns were being rounded up, he turned his attention to Dawn and Hope.
"Are you two alright?" he asked, smiling pleasantly at them.
"More or less," replied Dawn, with a sidelong glance at Hope, who was still trying desperately to catch her breath.
"That's good," said the pegasus, "I'm Lieutenant Flash Sentry of the Royal Guard. I take it that you two are Dawn Lightwing and Hope Spot."
Dawn and Hope nodded in confused unison, a little surprised that somepony from the Royal Guard had recognized them on sight. Although, maybe I shouldn't, thought Dawn wryly, Seeing as my face has been displayed for the whole of Equestria to see. But why would they know about Hope?
"I'm glad we managed to be of some help," observed Flash Sentry, his eyes roaming across the scene of unconscious unicorns being carted away by the other members of the Guard.
"I take it that you dealt with the ones that were lying in ambush up ahead then," remarked Dawn.
His statement seemed to catch the Guardstallion by surprise, prompting a shocked fluttering of his wings. "How'd you know about that?"
"I'd figured that the ones chasing us probably weren't the only ones," said Dawn, "It made sense that others would have moved further ahead to set up a trap for us while the ones actually chasing us did their best to slow and wear us down."
Dawn's ears twitched, barely picking up the surprised mutter from the orange stallion. "Sheesh, the Captain's right. This kid's good." In spite of himself, Dawn couldn't stop his lips from twitching upwards at the sound of the muttered comment.
"So what now?" asked Dawn.
"That's gonna be up to you and the Captain," replied Flash Sentry with a shrug, "He should be here in just a minute."
True to Flash Sentry's words, a flare of rose-colored energy blossomed in the middle of the street as Shining Armor, fully clad in royal-purple armor with gold highlights, teleported in. The white stallion surveyed the scene silently for a moment before turning to look at Flash Sentry.
Without needing a prompt from his captain, Flash Sentry's hoof snapped up in a salute. "Sir! We've finished apprehending the remaining criminals. All of them have been accounted for and the civilians are safe."
"Any casualties or injuries?" asked Shining.
Dawn felt a brief flicker of anxiety at the question. The bystanders had all started scattering the moment he had begun flinging lightning around. However, he realized that the streets had not been completely clear when he had begun exchanging more...forceful...blows with their pursuers. Had he hit one or more by accident? In the heat of the battle, he had completely forgotten to keep track.
"So far, there are no signs of injuries resulting from the confrontation," reported Flash Sentry.
"At ease," said Shining and Flash's hoof fell in response.
"Alright then," said Shining, once again surveying the scene, "Get the prisoners to the castle and get them secured. Other than that, you're dismissed."
Flash's hoof snapped up in another salute before he dropped it and returned to supervising the rest of the Guards while Shining turned his full attention to Dawn and Hope. "Well," he said, "It looks like you two had a busy morning."
"You could say that," agreed Dawn laconically. He opened his mouth to say something more. However, any other words he had to add were cut off by a soft thud as Hope's body crumpled to the ground, the mare having fainted away where she stood.


"Ugh! Just where is that letter? It should have gotten here by now." Twilight Sparkle paced angrily back and forth across the floor.
"Twilight," said Spike in a flat tone."
"What?"
"You're doing it again."
Twilight froze and realized and realized that Spike was right. "Sorry, I just get so worked up."
"How many times have we had this conversation now?" asked Spike, folding his arms and directing a stern glare at his older sister.
"Um..."
Spike snorted a stream of fire out of his nostrils. "You know what, I've had enough of this. No matter how many times I tell you that pacing around in circles getting all antsy isn't going to make a response come back any quicker, you still do it."
"Uh...Spike..." ventured Apple Bloom, "Ah don't think that's such a big deal."
Spike directed a sidelong glance at his fillyfriend, who was staring at him in quiet bemusement. "That's easy for you to say," he said, "You don't have to fix the floor after she wears a groove into it every. Single. Time. This isn't a regular house, it's a hollowed-out tree, do you have any idea how many loopy, quasi-magical procedures I have to use to fix this junk?"
Bloom was beginning to shrink back from her drakefriend's display of temper as Spike turned his attention back to Twilight. "So here's the deal Twilight. I'm not fixing the floor for you anymore. If you decide to keep pacing, fine. Knock yourself out. But you're gonna fix it yourself from now on. And you have to do it the way I do it, no unicorn magic."
"But-"
"No 'buts!'" snapped Spike, leveling a disapproving glare at her.
Twilight continued to try and change his mind with a pleading look. But when Spike's stare didn't falter for a second, she let out a resigned sigh. "Fine." Turning around, she stalked to one side of the library and flopped down on a small pile of cushions.
Nearby, Arkenstone was having difficulty containing his mirth. "Sometimes it's difficult to tell which of them is the older sibbling," he observed.
Sitting nearby, Softhoof was looking less amused by the situation. "I just hope that this works," she said, "We're working off of a lot of guesswork here."
"It'll be fine," said Scootaloo, the quiet confidence in her voice making it difficult for Softhoof to believe that the orange filly was nearly as young as she looked, "Dawn's the kinda guy that can make it happen."
"If you say so," said Softhoof with a nervous shrug. While she'd heard about the colt's exploits in the course of her investigation, she wasn't sure how much she could credit him with. The fact that he apparently had the esteem of the captain of the Wonderbolts was a sign that his skills hadn't been exaggerated. However, no matter how much she heard, Softhoof couldn't help but still think of Dawn as a foal.
In spite of this, she felt that she had little other choice but to simply hope that he could pull through. After all, she had been the one to start off this whole affair. After finally managing to wrangle the truth from Grayblood about what had happened to his sister, she had returned to Ponyville with all due haste. Her initial plan had been to go straight to the Guard, but Grayblood had begged her not to, afraid of what Sweet Water might do to Hope if she found out that he had spilled the beans.
So Softhoof had instead decided to go to Ponyville under the pretext of redoing her investigation to Grayblood's satisfaction (which, as far as he knew, was what she actually was doing). However, Softhoof knew something that would be extremely helpful for rectifying the situation...She knew that Twilight Sparkle, one of Fluttershy's closest friends, happened to be the younger sister of the Guard Captain, Shining Armor. That Twilight Sparkle also happened to possess a means of passing letters to her brother and others that was both completely impossible to intercept and nigh instantaneous had proven an unexpected boon to their situation.
The only wrinkle had been when Softhoof had arrived to find that Dawn had left for parts unknown, in the company of a wanted criminal no less. However, between what she had learned from Grayblood and the strange hints that Perlin Bluestreak had dropped in his conversation with Dawn and Scootaloo, they had managed to divine the pair's destination and their goal.
It had then been Twilight, who had suggested that they make arrangements with Shining Armor to ensure Dawn's safe arrival in Canterlot and to prevent any further interference from the Vicountess. The plan had been relatively simple, all considered. However, since it hinged entirely on Dawn and Perlin succeeding in their own endeavor, everypony was on edge. Having calculated the rough travel times needed to complete their mission, Twilight had listed today as the earliest that they could expect Dawn to arrive in Canterlot, if everything had gone correctly on his end.
However, the waiting wasn't doing anything for their nerves. At the moment, many of the colt's group of close friends and their family had crowded into the library, all of them waiting with varying degrees of patience to get a response from Shining Armor.
To Softhoof's great surprise, the pony taking this whole affair most gracefully was none other than Fluttershy. Though she wasn't straying far from Caramel, she sat quietly and politely sipped from one of the cups of tea that Spike had politely provided for everypony as they waited. Though Softhoof could see the signs of worry and anxiety in the yellow mare's eyes, she maintained her composure masterfully. Softhoof's estimation of the mare went up substantially when she realized how firmly Fluttershy trusted in her son and his ability to fight for himself.
A loud clatter jarred the government agent from her thoughts as Spike dropped the platter he had been carrying to the floor. Fortunately, nothing broke. However, that was a secondary concern as Spike's stomach swelled, followed by his cheek's bulging. A second later, the dragon belched out a burst of green flame that swirled upward before congealing into a scroll.
Before it could even fall to the ground, Twilight's magic snatched the rolled sheet of parchment and yanked it toward her. The whole thing unrolled with a snap and Twilight's eyes scanned the lines of text frantically before she let the parchment fall to the ground and dropped her head to her hooves with a relieved sigh.
"They made it!"


"Well, that'll make Twily and the others happy," said Shining as his magic touched the scroll, which flared green, instead of the usual rose color of Shining's magic, before vanishing.
"I'm impressed that you managed to arrange things so neatly," commented Dawn. He squirmed slightly, trying to settle a little more into the cushion he was resting on.
They were currently seated at a table in one of the Royal Palace's guest suites, which were maintained for important visitors. There had been several areas more appropriate for a meeting. However, Hope's fainting spell had led Shining to suggest the guest apartment instead, allowing Hope to rest in the adjoining bedroom while he and Dawn talked at the table in the living room. Shining had even offered lunch, but Dawn had declined, deciding it would be more polite to wait until Hope was able to join them.
"I wish I could take full credit for that," said Shining, "But, while we figured out a lot about what you were doing, we were pretty much still in the dark when it came to what the Viscountess was going to do about it. I think those unicorn mercenaries she sent after you were going to discreetly knock out any of my Guards nearby so that they could act without getting caught."
"Then how did you manage to intercept their ambush so easily?" asked Dawn.
Shining frowned. "That's the thing that's bugging me. This morning I got an anonymous tip, left on my desk no less, saying that you and Hope Spot would be arriving in Canterlot today. It also laid out mercenaries' plans for catching the two of you. So I had my Guards positioned accordingly. We waited for you to spring the trap, then we caught the ponies doing the trapping. If I were a really suspicious pony, I'd almost think that the Viscountess sold herself out to help us."
"But it wasn't her," said Dawn.
"No," said Shining, "There's been nothing from Sweet Water and I doubt we'll hear anything from her. The mercenaries are an outfit known as Wolfsbane. They usually provide security for private individuals or entities and other legitimate work. But there've been some rumors that they do some less savory stuff under the table."
"I suppose today's incident would be proof of that," said Dawn.
Shining nodded in agreement. "Pretty much. Our best guess is that Sweet Water had them on retainer for certain contingencies. She's pretty canny to have invested in such a skilled group on the mere possibility that something might happen."
"The same could be said of the griffons she'd hired to guard her estate on Diamond Mountain," said Dawn, "They were far more formidable than Perlin and I expected Hope's jailers to be, given that they had no reason to believe that something like this would happen."
After a second's pause, Dawn tilted his head. "Does this mean that Sweet Water will be arrested?"
"I wish it did," said Shining, "But, even though we're pretty sure, we just don't have evidence. Wolfsbane is good at what they do. They've covered their tracks, so there's nothing tracing them back to Sweet Water to show that she hired them."
"True professionals," muttered Dawn, remembering Willow, who had gone so far as to take her own life to avoid compromising her clients. He wondered if the members of this mercenary group were willing to go to similar lengths.
"Yeah," said Shining, "They get pretty creative when it comes to hiding evidence on who they're working for, so the ones we capture don't actually know anything about who hired them. It's all dead drops and anonymous instructions and so on..." He sighed. "So, while we've got Hope Spot under protection now, we've got nothing implicating the Viscountess."
"What about Diamond Mountain?" asked Dawn, "Hope Spot was unquestionably being held at the Viscountess' estate. The damage we did during the battle cannot be easily concealed."
"Maybe," mused Shining, "It's worth looking into at any rate. I'll send a couple of ponies on an express out there and see if they can find us some hard evidence. But until then, we've got nothing."
Dawn slumped a little. "At least Hope Spot is safe for now."
"That's the important part," agreed Shining, "And with her safe, Grayblood won't have any excuse to keep putting pressure on you and your mom."
"There's that too," said Dawn, "But I don't doubt that Sweet Water will simply try something else."
Shining could only shrug in response. "We'll have to just deal with it as it comes. It's hard, almost impossible even to try and predict what the different Nobles will get up to. They have the resources to try all kinds of approaches to getting their way."
Dawn nodded and the two continued to wait, occasionally directing glances at the door leading to the bedroom.


Hope Spot's eyes fluttered open and she yawned. However, as she tried to stretch, she realized that her body had been covered by a sheet and that she was lying on a mattress. Everything, from the pillow under her head to the comforter she was tucked under, was of the highest quality, making it feel as though she was laying on a cloud...or how she imagined laying on a cloud would feel.
Where am I? The question was only natural. The last thing she'd remembered was standing in the street with Dawn, surrounded by ponies of the Royal Guard, their ordeal finally over. The sense of overwhelming relief that Hope had felt had combined with the exhaustion by her sprint through Canterlot was enough to send her dropping into darkness the instant she relaxed. And now she woke to a darkened room, lying in a luxurious bed that matched the one she had used on Diamond Mountain in quality.
"Oh!" commented a voice from her bedside, "You're awake."
Hope reflexively shrank back from the voice with a squeak of fear.
"Whoa there! Take it easy. Nopony's gonna hurt you." Something gently stretched out over the sheets and blanket to brush back the strands of her mane that had fallen across her face. "It's okay. You're safe now."
Sinking out of her momentary panic, Hope found the presence of mind to look at the pony sitting at her bedside. Though it was a little bit harder to recognize him in the darkened room, she realized that this was the orange pegasus stallion she and Dawn had met in the street, one of the Guards. It had been tricky recognizing him without his armor.
"How are you feeling?" asked Flash Sentry as he leaned back from the bed and reached over to a small table, where a pitcher and glass rested. Flash Sentry carefully poured a glass of water and held it out to her.
Hope took the glass in her magic and sat herself up so that she could sip gratefully. Her throat still felt dry and raw from all the panting and gasping she'd done while running. The liquid sent a cool, soothing feeling down her throat and Hope set down the glass with a relieved sigh.
"Thank you," she said, "I feel much better now."
"That's good to hear," said Flash, "Dawn and Shining are waiting for you outside. We're in the palace by the way."
"Oh..." was all that Hope could manage to say. She finished the last of her water and floated it back to the table while Flash began to lift the covers so she could get out of bed.
The teal mare wobbled slightly as she set her hooves on the floor, but the stallion was by her side, helping to steady her as they walked toward the door. Hope blushed and whispered a quiet "Thank you," to the stallion.
Flash nodded and led Hope out into the living room of the suite, where Dawn and Shining Armor were waiting.
"Are you feeling better?" asked Dawn as she came through the door.
"Yes," said Hope, moving to sit down next to the colt.
"Well, now that you're up, we can get some lunch in here," said Shining, using his magic to open the door leading out into one of the palace hallways. A servant was waiting there. A single nod from Shining was all that was needed before the servant was off fetching their meals.
"I-I'm sorry for fainting like that," said Hope, dipping her head until her chin almost met the table, concealing her eyes beneath her mane.
"Hey, it's okay," said Shining, smiling amicably at her, "It's understandable that you're not used to this kinda thing."
"And you shouldn't have to be," added Dawn from beside her, "You were dragged into a situation that, by rights, you should have had nothing to do with, because some mare wanted to manipulate that situation towards a particular desired outcome. This is no fault of yours."
Flash settled down on Hope's other side and extended a wing so that he could gently brush his feathers over her back, doing his best to provide comfort in his own way. "Everything'll be alright," he said, giving her an encouraging smile.
"Thank you all so much," said Hope, beginning to smile again herself.
"Now then," said Shining as the doors to the suite opened again to admit a line of three servants carrying trays with their meals, "All that's left is to figure out what to do from here on out." As the first of the platters was laid out on the table, Shining turned his attention to Dawn. "You are going back to Ponyville the first chance we get. Your mom and your friends have been worried out of their minds for you."
Dawn nodded without hesitation. Glancing out the window, he noted the position of the sun. "I could probably go ahead and fly straight back there. It wouldn't be any further than the flight to Cloudsdale."
"Not a bad idea," said Shining, "It'd certainly be faster than the train. Let's get a good meal in you before we send you off."
Dawn nodded and turned his attention to the food. He was surprised to note that Shining Armor had apparently heard about and taken Dawn's food preferences into consideration. The ebony colt could eat all he liked.
"Now then, there's the matter regarding you," said Shining, looking at Hope Spot, "I think that the Viscountess isn't going to be stupid enough to pursue things any farther than this. But it's best not to take any chances. I'm going to have one of my ponies assigned to you for protection purposes. Are you going to be okay with that?"
Hope nodded and Shining's smile began to show a few more teeth than usual. Dawn raised one of his eyebrows slightly. "Good," said Shining, "Since you two seemed to have hit it off rather well, I'll assign Lieutenant Flash Sentry to you."
Hope's face went completely red while Flash had to choke to keep from spewing a mouthful of water across the table and into the face of his superior. After a few moments spent trying to clear his throat, Flash finally managed to look up at Shining, who was smirking at the orange stallion with something approaching triumph.
"Sir! Are you sure about this?" Though Flash wasn't exactly against it on principle, but this was the sort of thing usually assigned to a lower-ranking soldier on account of the fact that, as Shining's second-in-command, Flash's current duties were already substantial.
"It's fine," said Shining with an almost cavalier attitude of dismissal, "You've got a good head on your shoulders and you know how to keep a low profile. We need to keep from causing too much of a stir with this business. So the official report is that you're taking some time on leave while you're on this assignment. I can keep things running while you're gone."
"I-If you're sure..." said Flash, looking a bit flummoxed by the whole affair. He glanced sideways at Hope, his eyes meeting hers as she did the same to him. The two of them blushed fiercely and looked away from each other.
"Good," said Shining, looking inordinately pleased with himself, "Now that that's all sorted out, let's finish lunch."


Lunch went quickly and it was less than an hour before Shining and Dawn stood on the suite's balcony, looking out over Canterlot and the land beyond that stretched out from the foot of the mountain like a hilly green carpet. Ponyville was visible in the distance, it's white-walled, thatched houses looking distinctly welcoming to Dawn after having been away for so long.
The colt found himself reflecting that this was the longest he had ever been away from his home since the night Fluttershy had taken him under her roof. He was sure that all the ponies who cared about him were thoroughly anxious to have him back.
"Ready to head out?" asked Shining, standing next to him. Flash Sentry and Hope Spot had taken their leave, though not before Hope had hugged Dawn tightly, thanking him profusely for coming to her rescue.
Dawn nodded. He glanced sidelong at the Captain of the Royal Guard and smirked. "I saw what you did back there."
Shining raised and eyebrow at him. "Oh...?"
"I know who your wife is. She's clearly rubbing off on you."
Shining chuckled and rubbed his mane with one hoof. "You noticed, huh. I guess that's to be expected. I'm not as good at being subtle about it as Cadance is. But I think the two of them would make a cute couple. They certainly seemed to be getting along really well."
When Hope had fainted in the middle of the street, it had been Flash who had immediately volunteered to carry her the remainder of the way to the Royal Palace and who had insisted on watching over her while she slept. Even Dawn couldn't help but notice that Shining's second had become quite enamored with Hope.
"There was something else I wanted to talk about," said Dawn, "Do you know who reported the movements of Sweet Water's forces to you?"
"Like I said, it was anonymous," replied Shining, "But I think I have my suspicions."
Dawn frowned and thought about it for a moment. The only other pony who seemed to know about the situation and who might have known enough would be... "Perlin Bluestreak...or his employer rather."
Shining Armor nodded grimly. "I'd hazard a guess that it's another of the nobles, though I can't say which one."
"Whoever it is," said Dawn, his eyes narrowing, "He seems to be more dangerous than the norm."
"At least we know it's a stallion," muttered Shining.
Dawn nodded. Perlin had hinted as much when talking about his employer.
"But what makes you think he's so dangerous?" asked Shining, turning his head to look at Dawn more directly.
"If he's a noble, like you suppose, then his objective would be to obtain some form of control over your sister, correct?" inquired Dawn. Shining nodded, his expression turning grim. Dawn continued. "Then, if we work from that assumption, his entire reason for sending Perlin to me and then us to Diamond Mountain was a act to interfere with Sweet Water's plans and keep her own efforts from succeeding."
Shining nodded again.
"But," said Dawn, "A less canny opponent would have tried to take further advantage of the situation. He would have tried to approach you discreetly and offer the information in exchange for favors or leverage, something that would help him in his own bid to win control over Twilight Sparkle."
"But he didn't," mused Shining.
"He didn't," agreed Dawn, "And, in such a situation, it would have been ludicrous to do so. However, this pony knows not to overreach. He knows when enough is enough. That's a dangerous skill in almost any application, whether in the martial arts or otherwise. With those wits and an asset like Perlin, I suspect we will have to be more on our guard in the future."
Shining gulped and nodded. It was horribly ironic when he considered it. Though Dawn was the one who stood to lose the most given how things had played out, this whole affair had been orchestrated by Sweet Water in an effort to influence Twilight Sparkle. An angry unease settled into his gut when he considered how far these ponies were willing to go. They were willing to jeopardize the lives and livelihoods of innocent ponies simply for the sake of one mare's influence.
Still, we're lucky we have so many capable ponies we can depend on, thought Shining. Blueblood and Fancy Pants were on their side. Arkenstone was in Ponyville, watching over Twilight. There were those two mercenary stallions that they had hired as well. And there's Dawn, thought Shining, giving the colt a good looking over. It surprised him in retrospect. Dawn's bearing was amazingly mature for a colt his age, especially considering the ordeal he had just been through. Throughout their little meeting, Shining found himself having little difficulty treating the colt as an equal. The colt was every bit as dependable as any of Shining's subordinates, perhaps even more so.
"I think we'll be able to manage," he said finally, grinning down at Dawn, "If I can count on your help in the future."
Dawn nodded. "I'll be happy to do whatever I can."
The colt made to take off, but Shining stayed him with a hoof. "There's one other thing that worries me."
"What is it?" asked Dawn.
"Did you hear about how Perlin got to Canterlot?" asked Shining.
"Yes," said Dawn in a rather petulant tone, "He apparently stopped in Ponyville on the way and nearly ended up in a fight with Red, Storm, and Arkenstone." What truly irritated Dawn was that he had first found this out from Perlin, who had been happy to relate the story on the train ride over. Dawn was none too happy to find he'd been kept out of the loop about Perlin's appearance in Ponyville.
"Did he mention the Royal Permit he had?" asked Shining.
"He did," replied Dawn, "What of it?"
"There's an inconsistency in what's happening here," said Shining, "The evidence provided by your experiences suggest that Perlin is working for a member of the Noble Court."
"And the problem is...?"
"The Royal Permits can only be issued by a small number of ponies who work directly for the Princesses. None of the Noble Court, not even Blueblood, who's a Duke and Minister of the Treasury have the authority to issue one of those." Shining frowned. "If Perlin Bluestreak is working for a member of the Noble Court now, then who supplied him with the Royal Permit for travel to Canterlot?"
Dawn's eyes narrowed. "Do you believe Perlin is working for someone else then?"
Shining blinked. "No...I...I'm not sure..." He sighed. "I need more information. Perlin didn't tell you anything about who he was working for, did he?"
"Only that he enjoyed working for this pony," replied Dawn, "Other than that, he was not forthcoming on any details."
Shining sighed. "Well, it was a bit of a long shot anyway. I won't keep you any longer. Take care of yourself."
"I will, thank you." With that, Dawn spread his wings and took off from the balcony. His flight carried him out past the city limits and the ebony colt began to dip his flight down towards Ponyville. Shining watched him go, waiting until Dawn was nothing more than a black speck against the blue of the sky. Then, with a grin and a chuckle to himself, Shining headed back into the palace.