Radiant Dawn, Scarlet Blaze, and Teddy went up the stairs until they reached the top of the stairwell at the sixth floor. They traversed the halls looking for the door that would lead them to the next stairwell.
"So, anyone know where that door is?" asked Teddy.
"No." said Radiant and Scarlet at once.
"I'm getting nervous right now." said Teddy, as the three took turn after turn through the hallways. "I'm so scared that someone might sneak up on me and--"
"Hey! Who the heck are you three?" said a voice.
Teddy cried out, turned left, then pummeled his hooves into the speaker, an earth pony that appeared as a silhouette in the darkly-lit hallway.
"You're not gonna beat me up again!" Teddy shouted as he pounded the shadowy figure. "I ain't gonna take it! You're goin' down!"
When the stallion fell over in a bruised and dazed state, Teddy started whooping excitedly.
"Whoo! I...I finally beat someone up!" he whispered excitedly. "I beat somepony up! My days of getting a whooping are over! Now I give everyone else a--"
"Bravo, Teddy." said Scarlet, in a deadpan tone. "You just beat up a helpless janitor. My hero."
Teddy stopped his celebrating and took a close look at the pony he beat up: an elderly janitor with a silver mustache, laying on the ground in a miserable crumpled heap.
"Oh...my hip!" he groaned.
"Uh...sorry!" Teddy found himself laughing sheepishly.
"Well, we'd might as well lock him in the utility closet." said Radiant.
Radiant used his magic to unlock a nearby door, and Scarlet levitated the janitor inside.
"Teddy, why don't you take his uniform?" suggested Scarlet. "This stallion's not going to need it anytime soon."
"Good idea." said Teddy, still laughing in shock of the beatdown he gave the old stallion.
Three minutes later, Teddy emerged from the utility closet in the uniform.
"Okay, let's not tell anyone else about that, okay?" said Teddy.
"Whatever you say, Teddy." said Scarlet, uninterested.
"What's there to not tell anyone?" said another voice.
Teddy turned around, and felt his jaw drop: The entire hall was full of thugs!
"Pick as many as you want." said Scarlet to Radiant and Teddy as the three stood back-to-back.
"Hello." said Mr. Blue, emerging from the army of thugs. "And goodbye."
Daring Do, still disguised as a secretary, was flying up the stairwell that would take her to the 22nd floor, where another stairwell would lead her straight to the 27th floor. Suddenly, she heard hoof-falls below, turned around, and saw a dozen thugs looking up at her. She kept flying up, when a dark pony-shape leapt and tackled her in mid-air. The two went across to a lower staircase on the 20th floor, and rolled down the stairs until they crashed into the landing.
"You thought you could sneak up on us?" said Mr. Yellow, rising up before Daring Do could do the same. "We anticipated your every move, Daring Do."
Meanwhile, Mr. Summerset was still giving the disguised trio a tour of his private collection. He had already shown them many artifacts, including three of the bells from Star Swirl the Bearded's hat, and a statue of King Sombra.
"And this here is the helmet that was worn by Nightmare Moon." said Summerset, pointing to a large dark blue helmet on a nearby stand.
"You've actually been to the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters?" asked Trixie.
"No. I actually sent a team there a couple years ago, and they recovered Nightmare Moon's helmet." said Summerset. "It took some time to restore it to its original condition, but it was worth it to see such a beautiful, if ominous piece of armor. We weren't able to restore the rest of the armor, though. The other segments were simply too damaged. We were able to collect the other pieces anyway, though."
"Did you use them for anything?" asked Sunset Shimmer, curiously.
"Yes, actually." said Mr. Summerset. "I had them melted down and used to make a number of items, including a set of silverware for myself."
"Pretty impractical, if you ask me." said Sunset.
"Perhaps." said Mr. Summerset. "It's not quite the same as having the Elements of Harmony, now is it...Sunset Shimmer?"
Sunset, Trixie, and Lightning Dust gasped. A winged shape dropped down behind them from the ceiling. It was Mr. Red, wearing a particularly nasty grin on his face.
"A nice effort, Miss Shimmer." said Summerset. "But I'm afraid I'm not that easy to fool!"
"How'd you figure it out?" asked Sunset. "We were all so careful!"
"I have my ways." said Summerset. "And now you three aren't going anywhere. Even as we speak, your friends and family are being hunted down by my private security force."
Teddy was in a wrestling match with one of the security guards, while Radiant and Scarlet took turns blasting thugs down the hallway with concussive blasts. Once in a while, they sighted Mr. Blue and fired a spell at him, only for him to deflect it and disappear into the army once more.
"We don't have time for this, mom!" said Radiant. "We need to get to dad!"
"I know, son!" said Scarlet. "But there's just too many of these guards! Even with our combined magical skills and Teddy's...whatever he has...we're gonna be overwhelmed!"
"Where the heck are those Iron Horses?!" shouted Radiant as he unleashed another concussive blast on yet another group of guards.
"Hey-ya! Did somepony request us Iron Horses?" shouted another voice.
Summerset's thugs stopped attack the trio, except for the one fighting Teddy, and saw a dozen earth ponies in zoot suits.
"Pick a body part, boys!" shouted an Iron Horse.
The Iron Horses charged and collided with Summerset's security guards.
"I can't believe Frosty and Nips managed to get something right!" said Radiant Dawn.
Teddy managed to break free of his opponent, and started pummeling him as he laid on the ground. When the thug lost consciousness, he looked around and saw the other thugs being beaten by the Iron Horses.
"Teddy, come on!" said Radiant. "We need to find my dad!"
"Nah, it's okay." said Teddy. "I think I got it covered here."--he ran to join the fight--"Save some room for me, guys!"
"Good luck, Ted." said Radiant. "That just leaves you and me, mom."
"Right." said Scarlet. "Let's find your father before he tells Summerset we're here."
The two unicorns made it to the stairwell, and galloped up the stairs until the made it to the 8th floor. Mr. Blue was waiting for them there.
"Golden Sun, you must stop this at once!" said Scarlet. "Don't you remember me?"
"You gotta snap out of it, dad!" agreed Radiant. "Please!"
"My loyalty is to Lionel Summerset, and no one else." said Mr. Blue. "And right now, you're intruding on his property!"
Scarlet sighed.
"I really don't want to do this, honey." said Scarlet. "But if I have to beat some sense into you, I'll do it."
"Then come and get me, baby!" shouted Mr. Blue.
Daring Do quickly got back up.
"You may have somehow anticipated me, but that doesn't mean you'll best me just like that!" she shouted.
She flew up the stairwell, carrying Mr. Yellow in her front hooves. She rammed the two of them through the door and they landed on the 22nd floor. She and Mr. Yellow engaged in an intense martial arts duel. Mr. Yellow hoof-punched Daring several times in the gut and face, but she still kept going. Daring grabbed Mr. Yellow by his front-left hoof and slammed him into the floor. Then she grabbed a nearby chair and swung it at Mr. Yellow as he got back up. He was sent flying into a nearby wall with a loud smack, but immediately charged back. He jumped on top of the chair, and raised a hoof to punch Daring in the face, but Daring blocked his hoof with her own.
"Nice moves, Miss Do." said Mr. Yellow.
"You aren't too bad, yourself." said Daring.
Then Daring threw the chair against a door, knocking it off its hinges and revealing the next stairwell. Mr. Yellow galloped at Daring again, and the two were locked in another exchange of punches and kicks. Daring pushed Mr. Yellow back, grabbed a nearby lamp, and swatted Mr. Yellow away with it. Mr. Yellow got up again, prompting Daring Do to grab him, and then slam him into the wall several times until he slid to the floor, unconscious.
"Next time, don't bother fighting me." said Daring Do. "You'd might as well be banging your head against a wall."
She sighed.
"I really need to work on my one-liners." she said.
And then she flew up the stairwell to the 27th floor.
Mr. Red quickly overpowered the three mares, and had Trixie and Lightning Dust held by the neck in his front hooves.
"No funny tricks, or your best friends get it!" said Mr. Red.
"Okay, Mr. Summerset." said Sunset. "You've got us where you want us. Now what do you want?"
"Well, I'm going to dispose of you and all of your friends." said Summerset. "You've all interfered with my plans to control Las Pegasus for much too long."
"Let me guess, you're going to put us in some unnecessarily elaborate death trap we could easily escape, right?" asked Sunset.
"No." said Mr. Summerset, walking to a display case nearby. "I'm going to do something that will take a lot less time and effort."
Out of the display case, he took a gauntlet and put it on. He twisted his hoof and a long dark blue blade slowly shot out.
"This hoofblade was made using metal from Nightmare Moon's armor." said Summerset. "Allow me to give you a demonstration of just how sharp it is."
Summerset raised the blade, and swung it at a nearby statue. In a second, it fell apart into six pieces.
"And now, I will do the same to you, Miss Shimmer." said Summerset.
He approached Sunset, who was visibly cringing.
"No!" shouted Trixie.
"Don't do it!" yelled Lightning Dust.
But before Trixie could her magic to stop Summerset, Mr. Red squeezed her neck, causing her to become lightheaded. Summerset raised his blade, which exhibited a distinctive sheen. But then he lowered it.
"But this would be a great dishonor." said Summerset.
"What are you talking about?" said Sunset.
"You see, I previously had no idea that you were of Saddle Arabian descent." said Summerset. "If I hadn't known from meeting your mother at my casino that you had Saddle Arabian ancestry, I would kill you right here and now without thinking about it. But since you are technically one of my people, I think I can afford to give you a fighting chance before you are killed."
"But why?" asked Lightning Dust.
"A good question, Miss Dust." said Summerset. "You see, since I was young, I was taught the ways of the great ancient paladins of Saddle Arabia. They have an honor code that goes as such: You may kill whomever you deem a threat, but if your enemy is also Saddle Arabian, then you must give them a chance to fight back before killing them. Otherwise, it is considered murder, and is punishable as such."
"A duel, huh?" said Sunset. "You're on!"
Mr. Red dropped Trixie and Lightning Dust.
"Go on ahead, girls." he said. "Sit down and watch the show."
"Oh, and one more thing." said Summerset. "Since I would prefer not to get my favorite suit ruined..."
He unbuttoned his dress-shirt and took it off...revealing two long wings that spread out immediately, surprising Sunset and her friends, who previously believed that Summerset was merely an earth pony.
"Now we can begin." he said.