The balls cracked and rattled as the white cue ball broke apart the tightly packed triangle. The silver coated Pegasus cursed beneath his breath as none of the balls went into any pockets. He trotted to the other side of the billiards table to hit the cue ball again. Along the way he bumped shoulders with another, cinnamon colored Pegasus in a red collared shirt mindlessly walking in the other direction.
As Mr. Midnight, the pony in question, prepared his next shot, he glanced up at an upper platform on the far side of the room. Sitting on a tiny chair near the railing was a fat, bald Earth Pony sweating up a storm. His salmon coat made him look like a pig on a spigot. Protruding from the fat pony’s back were a pair of translucent, temporary butterfly wings. Even with the magical aid of cloud walking, it was clear that the pony was scared out of his wits and couldn't tear his mind away from falling through the cloud floor. He dabbed his moist head with his gaudy, polka-dot necktie. This pony’s name was Kingpin.
The cinnamon in the red shirt, whose name was Solo Venture, continued to mindlessly pace around the lower deck of the rumpus room with his head forward. His eyes were sharp and needle like. Mr. Midnight wagered a guess that he was the result of some sort of cross breeding, but with what he did not know. The steady sound of Solo Venture’s hooves against the wood paneling that covered the cloudcrete floor had gone uninterrupted for the past hour, and Mr. Midnight found it grating on his brain. He took another shot. Scratched it.
Other Pegasi dotted the rumpus room as well. Two of Midnight’s own ponies stood near the fireplace where they had the entire room, and the ponies in it, in eye shot. Against the wishes of their host, Mr. Midnight made sure that they hid Wing Cannons beneath their wings. Kingpin brought some of his own ponies as well. They inhabited the other seats of the upper deck and didn't seem to take any care or notice of the psychological trauma that their boss was going through. They either sat around at a table, snickering while pointing at Kingpin’s butterfly wings, or took turns riding the mechanical Phoenix and laughing like stupid foals. Solo Venture came alone. All counted, there were twelve Pegasi in the room.
After having no luck at billiards, Mr. Midnight left the table and stepped up to the deck next to Kingpin. “That pony, Solo, is going to wear a hole in the floor if he keeps pacing back and forth like that.”
“Yeah, well he’s not the only pony getting bored waiting.” he responded with a voice just as bloated as the rest of his pork face.
The nearby door opened and everypony in the room stopped what they were doing, even Solo. Stellar Nightfeather entered the room with a flourish, flicking his thick, lion’s mane.
“Gentlecolts!” Nightfeather exclaimed with hooves open wide.
Solo hovered in the air and stared Nightfeather down with his needle eyes. “Nightfeather! Why wasn't I told that Manehattan and Fillydelphia were in on this?”
“Look who’s talking!” Midnight snapped.
“I do not work with Chicacolt!” Kingpin added.
The three powers bared their teeth and flared their wings (even Kingpin). Nightfeather merely retained a pleasant smile and silently waltzed to the center of the room to allow his guests to vent their frustration on him as opposed to each other’s throats.
“I thought we had a private business deal to settle.” Solo Venture continued to complain, “And now I find myself at a hoods’ convention!” The Chicacolt shipyard master waved his hoof angrily at the other two ponies.
Kingpin, the illegal meat baron, practically jiggled in frustration. “Nightfeather, I made a delivery! Now where is my money?”
“Hey I made a delivery too!” Mr. Midnight, the drug lord, joined in.
Nightfeather, still smiling comfortable, raised a hoof and and calmed the tumult. “You all made the deliveries I had asked for.”
“And you owe me one million bits!” Solo was still in the air, fuming.
“I owe each of you a million. In precious diamonds.”
“So pay!”
Nightfeather brushed off the Pegasi’s anger and pushed the leftover billiard balls into the pockets with his hoof.
“Gentlecolts,” he said assuredly, “you can have your million bits today… or ten million tomorrow.” He looked up with a glint in his eye, eager to see his guests’ reactions.
Mr. Midnight laughed incredulously. “Did you say ten million?”
“Or perhaps even more.” Nightfeather said without a hint of exaggeration, “In fact, how would you like to have unimaginable power? The power to rule your own slice of Equestria?”
Kingpin laughed like a croaking bullfrog. “Yeah and who's going to give it to us? Celestia?”
Nightfeather jutted out his chest and furrowed his eyebrows in confidence, “I will give this power. When I become Emperor of Equestria!”
All twelve ponies in the room erupted with laughter. Kingpin fell to the floor in his fit, his attention drawn away from the thought of falling through the floor. Mr. Midnight wiped a tear from his eye.
“Emperor? That’s funny, Nightfeather.” said Solo as he landed back on the floor.
Nightfeather patiently waited for the laughter to subside, as calm and collected as ever. When everypony finished with their amusement he simply said, “observe.”
Nightfeather reached a hoof underneath the billiard table and flipped a switch hidden from view. The green table top flipped over upside-down revealing an electronic control panel filled with buttons and levers.
“Hey, what’s with that trick pool table?” yelled out Mr. Midnight.
Nightfeather stretched and popped the joints of his hooves and flicked a switch on the control panel. Metal shades blacked out the nearby windows and the lights dimmed to near blackness.
“Hey, what gives!? Cover those doors! Turn these light back on!” Solo cried out in panic.
“What are you trying to pull, Nightfeather?” Kingpin bellowed.
All twelve ponies yelled over each other. Several of them took to flying around the room, looking for an exit.
“There’s no cause for alarm, Genlecolts.” Nightfeather assured them.
“I don’t like being cooped up like this.” Solo complained, “What’s that map doing there?”
Nightfeather had hit another switch that caused a wall to slide open to reveal a map of a city. The map was backlit and illuminated the entire room.
“This is a map of Coltlumbia,” Nightfeather explained, “the capital of the New Lunar Republic. Within this castle resides Princess Luna and her court. But long have these walls held another secret! For I have found the fabled source of all dreams: The Dream Tree!”
“Dream Tree?” said Mr. Midnight, “That’s just a myth!”
“I assure you it is quite real. If one enters the Dreamscape while in the sacred shrine within the castle, one will find the tree from which dreams flow like a fountain. If I were to be able to control that tree, I could manipulate the dreams of every pony in Equestria. They would dream about how great a ruler I could be and slowly but surely, I would surpass the Alicorns as ruler of all!”
The other ponies stood silent for a moment, but it was broken by Solo Venture, who could not contain the snickers that escaped him. “So what, you got a key to the Dreamscape or something?”
The ponies were once again beside themselves with fits of laughter. Nightfeather pleasantly smiled at the irony. “All in good time.”
Mr. Midnight called out, “There are thirty five thousand Lunar Guard troops protecting that castle!”
“Thirty six thousand,” correct Nightfeather, “all of them under my command.”
“But who's going to say ‘boo’ to the LIA, Nightfeather?” asked Solo, “And even if you are the Lunar Guard Captain, the Princess is not going to allow you to just enter the Dream Tree.”
Nightfeather flipped more switches on his control panel. The lights in the room came back on and the wooden floor beneath Solo Venture’s hooves suddenly moved. Solo jumped into flight as the floor gave way.
“Hey, who’s moving the floor? What is this, a merry-go-round?” asked Kingpin who was visibly even more nervous.
Something rose from the pit where the floor once was. A tall pointed spire appeared followed by the rest of what was a small model replica of Princess Luna’s castle and the surrounding facilities. The ponies all marveled at the detail of the model. Nightfeather circled the model and spoke with a rehearsed flair.
“Ponies have tamed the weather. Gone to the bottom of the ocean. They have replaced Chaos with Harmony. Banished demons. Achieved miracles in every attempt of equine endeavor. Except Crime!”
Donut Joe sat on his haunches in the center of his cell. He stared out the small, iron barred window at the Lunar Guard on the other side who, in turn, stared back at Joe. After several minutes of silence so awkward that even the cloud crickets were too nervous to chirp, Joe got up and approached the bars.
“Hey how’s it going?” he said to the guard in a cheerful manner. The guard did not speak, did not budge, did not blink. He did not acknowledge Joe’s presence in any way. “Don’t feel like talking, huh?”
Getting nowhere, Joe returned to pacing around the perimeter of the cell which did not take very long at all, and Joe found himself back at the iron bars.
“So how about that eternal night thing? Crazy, huh? No? Alright.”
Joe took another short lap around the cell, whistling as he did so.
“Oh come on. Seriously?” he said to the unmoving guard, “I can’t even use magic right now. It’s not like I’m going to disappear.Even if I do this…”
Joe put himself right up against the bars and ducked his head below the window where the guard could not see him. Several minutes passed and Joe did not reemerge. The Lunar Guard raised an eyebrow. After about another minute of watching what looked to be an empty cell, the guard finally called out.
“Hey, come back out where I can see you!” Nothing. He could not see the prisoner and he heard no sound coming from within the cell. “Did you hear me? I said let me see you.”
With still no response from the prisoner, the guard gave in to his growing nerves and approached the window so he could see the entire cell. To his surprise, the cell was completely empty. Jostled with fear, the Lunar Guard quickly opened the door and stood in shock in the middle of the cell.
“Hey. Up here.” whispered a voice.
The Guard looked up and saw the Unicorn with his hooves stretched out and pressed against the wooden beams on the ceiling to hold himself up. Before the guard could properly respond, Joe dropped from the ceiling and landed on the guard. The guard was knocked out cold. Joe stole his keys and left the cell, making sure to lock the guard inside.
Joe crawled through the tight spaces of the underground-- undercloud-- dungeon of the manor. The walls were lined with pipe work that mined water from the cloud and pumped it through the manor. Some of the piping was old and leaking which made the tunnels very humid and thick with moisture.
Beyond the sounds of Joe’s echoing hoofsteps, he heard another sound. He stood in silence and listened. Joe could hear a voice coming from above. Although he could not make out what it was saying, it was clearly the theatrical baritone of Nightfeather. Joe followed the sound down a hallway which led to a strange room filled with electronic factory works and other machines. In the center of the room was a platform with a piston that rose to the floor above. Joe looked up and saw a hollow husk that rose beyond the ceiling. He climbed up and stuck his head into the indentation. Within were a few holes that Joe could peek through. On the other side of the husk, he could clearly see Nightfeather addressing some ponies that he couldn't make out. More importantly, he could hear Nightfeather clearly.
“You’re wasting my time, Nightfeather!” said Solo Venture, “Luna’s Castle is impregnable! There is now way to enter the Dream Tree!”
Ngithfeather drew everypony’s attention back to the model of the castle. Nopony in the room noticed the emerald colored eye peering out through one of the tiny windows.
“I have my way! My plan is foalproof, Gentlecolts! I have dedicated my entire career to the success of Operation: Moonfall! Thanks to an organization that wishes to remain anonymous, I have been granted a machine that can rip the very fabric of reality, allowing me to enter the Dreamscape! As I said before, all I need to do is open the Dream Gate in the Sacred Shrine and I’ll find the tree. As for the LIA and the Lunar Guard that are less than loyal to me, your organization, Mr. Midnight, provided these canisters, which contain a powerful Zebra potion.”
“Zebra potion?” Kingpin asked.
“Yes! An invisible sleeping potion which disperses fifteen minutes after inducing complete unconsciousness for twenty four hours. At noon tomorrow, The Shadowbolts commanded by my lieutenant, Spitfire, will spray it into the atmosphere above Coltlumbia! After the guards, and the Princess, have been taken care of, my Lunar Guard, aided by a private task force which Mr. Kingpin has smuggled into the NLR. will enter the castle and make their way to the Sacred Chamber, which will be opened by force!”
“And how will you manage that?” Solo asked.
“You made that possible, Mr. Venture. By arranging through your considerable shipping channels, we were able to slip through customs a consignment labeled ‘machine parts.’ Just the thing needed to complete the weapon that will blow the door down! All that then will remain is to open the Dream Gate and enter the Dream Tree, which I will imprint my will upon!”
“I've heard enough, Nightfeather!” Solo Venture flapped in the air and crossed his hooves. “If you have no objections, I’ll take my money now.”
“What’s the matter, Solo? Too big for you to handle?” scoffed Mr. Midnight.
“Gentlecolts, we must respect Mr. Solo’s decision. Please excuse me for a few minutes while I take care of him. Make yourselves comfortable.”
Nightfeather gave Solo a friendly hoof and kindly escorted him out of the room, leaving the other ponies to discuss the scheme among themselves. Only very few of them could think of anything to say.
Joe could not believe what he had heard. His lips were dumbstruck at the insanity of it all. He looked frantically around the machine room and saw a notepad and pencil lying on one of the panels. Joe quickly took the pencil in his mouth and hastily wrote down ‘ATTACK ON COLTLUMBIA. NOON. SLEEPING GAS. !!!’
Joe ripped off the paper he wrote the note on and then removed the postage stamp sized Homer from his horseshoe. He wrapped the Homer in the note and stuck it in his pocket.
Joe was suddenly blindsided by a painful kick to the jaw. Joe sailed across the room and collided with some of the heavy machinery. Before Joe had a chance to stand up and see what hit him, a hoof wrapped around his neck and slammed him face first into the piston stand in the center of the room. Joe’s vision blurred red as his brain ringed with pain. The attacker threw him to the floor and pinned his limbs down with their body. When Joe’s vision returned, he found himself staring into a pair of fiery amber eyes.
Spitfire, in her Shadowbolts flight suit, was utilizing the full surface area of her body to keep Joe pinned down. Despite being unable to move, he found Spitfire’s weight to be strangely comfortable.
“Spitfire? Well who taught you judo?” he smirked at the red hot soldier.
“Don’t try anything funny.” Spitfire said with her drill sergeant voice, “We've got you surrounded.”
Joe turned his head to the side and saw several hooves clad in Lunar armor. “Yeah, alright.” he said.
Spitfire got off of Joe and held out a hoof for Joe to grab and lift himself up. When Joe got up, Spitfire gave his leg a painful twist and tossed him into the custody of the Lunar Guard.
“Take him away!” she ordered.
the guards bundled tightly against Joe and forced him along. As he was being prodded, he turned his head and looked back at Spitfire. “We must have a few falls together sometime.” he smirked. Spitfire gave him a heated glare.
“I've already told you. Drop the charm.”
Kingpin dabbed at his sweating forehead with his tie. Midnight was in the center of the room, staring at the model while scratching his chin. Nopony returned to their recreation, instead opting to sit around in an uncomfortable silence.
“What’s taking Nightfeather so long?” Kingpin squealed.
“I don’t know.” Mr. Midnight answered, “Something doesn't feel right.”
There was an unmistakable chill in the air. Mr. Midnight’s heart was beating rapidly. Nightfeather had been gone far longer than he should have. The windows were still barred and the door was locked.
Then, one of the lights on Nightfeather’s control panel came on. A metal panel slid from the wall and blocked the door leading out of the room and the fume hood above the fireplace lowered and blocked that off as well. Mr. Midnight heard a faint humming coming from the direction of a nearby chess table. He watched as the top of the table rose up from the rest of it. Out of the table rose two metal canisters, both of which read ‘Midnight, Inc.’
“No! Stop those canisters!” Midnight screamed at the top of his lungs. Midnight’s two lackeys obeyed the order and flew straight towards the chess table. A faint hissing sound filled the air and when the two Pegasi approached the canisters they coughed and gagged. Their wings faltered and they both collapsed on the floor. Midnight instinctively made the motion to run up to them but was stopped in his tracks by a fit of coughing. He collapsed to his knees and then passed out on the floor as well. The rest of the room started to panic. The Pegasi took to the air and flew around the room. They yelled and screamed for help at the top of their lungs.
Even Kingpin took to the air with his butterfly wings, his face absolutely drenched in sweat. He looked around as one by one the Pegasi fell to the floor. He continued to scream and panic. His mind clouded with fear, he clawed helplessly at the fume that covered the fireplace. He coughed as the gas filled his lungs. They were told the gas was a sleeping potion, but Kingpin wasn't feeling drowsy. His lungs were tightening up. He could feel his throat inflating. He couldn't breath. He gagged and choked and gasped for breath but no air could find its way into his body. The butterfly wings on his back sizzled and smoked. Kingpin held his hooves up to his throat as his eyes rolled back into his skull. Kingpin’s wings completely disintegrated and the wooden floor on which he stood took on the properties of what they were really made of. Kingpin’s lifeless body plummeted through the clouds.