//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty-Four // Story: Unity // by Kieva Lynn //------------------------------// Unity Chapter Twenty-Four Twilight Research Time: Day Sixteen (Halloween/Nightmare Night) Stuffed into a bag to disguise her as a trick or treater's haul, Diamond Tiara fumed. She attempted to struggle, tried to call out for help, but the unicorn was still maintaining his paralysis spell, ensuring that the unfortunate filly couldn't even move a single volluntary muscle anywhere in her body. She could still hear what was going on around her. The foalnappers were planning to carry their prize right out the main town gate, through the forest back to Blueblood's 'palace.' Come morning, the note they had left with Filthy Rich, unconscious in his wine cellar, would be found: 'We have Diamond Tiara. She is unharmed. If you wish her to remain so, you will return SIlver Spoon to her father and our Master Blueblood.' Listening to the conspirators laughing, Diamond grew even angrier. It was bad enough that these fools would dare lay a hoof on her. But to add insult to injury by using her as a bargaining chip! It was just too much. Still, there was nothing she could do in her current situation. Best to be calm, and wait for an opening. Diamond had only just reached this decision when the sounds of her abductors fell silent... xx "Now what!?" Loyal Vassal hissed at his fellow cultists as they stared around a corner at the town gate, which was locked up tight. "We're trapped!" "Not entirely. You pegasai could fly out, and the unicorns could teleport the rest of us through the wall." "No go on flying. Look." In the sky above, guard pegasai were beginning to appear in numbers. "They know! Somehow they already know!" "Impossible. Still, none of us are getting clear with the guard on alert. Let's find a place to lay low." "Right..." xx In her bag Diamond Tiara grinned. The police were already looking for her. Jeeves must've been tougher than they thought. Before the filly could rejoice too much about the bad fortunes of her foalnappers, though, she heard more sounds: running, whispering voices she couldn't make out, and and the sound of a creaky door being closed as quietly as possible. Then there came a painful blow as her bag was turned upside down, allowing Diamond to tumble out onto the hard wooden floor. She tried to cry out, but found that her voice was still muffled by a spell. At least some of her muscle control had been returned though; she was able to look around. Diamond Tiara found herself surrounded by her abductors, in the middle of a dark, cold, wreck of a building. The unicorn who had cast the paralysis spell on her glared into her eyes and whispered "Don't even think about running. I'll have the spell back on you in seconds." Diamond stepped back, away from the crazed looking stallion and nodded fearfully. "Good." He said. "Just play along like a good little brat and we'll trade you for the one we really want soon enough." He then tossed something to the ground at Diamond's hooves. "Eat. Drink." Looking down, Diamond was horrified to see a bottle of filthy water and a far too-small portion of 'food' that seemed more like rancid garbage. She shuddered... XXXX Determined to do the right thing and save Diamond Tiara no matter what most of them thought of her, the Crusaders gave chase in the direction Jeeves had indicated. They bobbed and weaved their way through the milling holiday crowds, somehow managing to not trip anyone up. After making it three blocks, they stopped to rest, and think. "Do we have any idea what we're even looking for?" Apple Bloom asked. "Bad ponies carrying Tiara around like a sack of potatoes?" Scootaloo asked. Apple Bloom swatted the pegasus, knocking off her Mario hat. "No! Think! Who wouldn't notice that!?" "She's right." Micheal agreed. "They'll have to have her hidden somehow." Silver Spoon asked "How? In a box maybe?" "Maybe..." "No, no. Box no fit in. Pony or Uplander see big box, they still wonder." Flixbix said. Seeing that the Goblin was right, everyone thought harder. After another minute, Dinky gasped and said "Something that fits in! What fits in tonight? What if they've got her in a bag!?" "Dinky that's brilliant!" Sweetie Belle cheered. "And also bad news. There's tons of people out with bags!" Sarah grinned. "Are there? Tons of people out with bags, I mean, or tons of kids out with bags?" "Good! Looking for grown-ups with trick or treat bags, won't be too many of those." "Great. Let's keep seaarching!" As the search resumed, the Crusaders made a decision to split up ever so slightly. They wouldn't get out of range to call out to each other, but they would check different houses and back yards and alleyways. They made their way down the street, gathering remarkably little attention from anyone else. In time, they arrived at the wall, and followed it to the gate. "Looks like Paul did his job." Micheal said. "Yeah. Should we give up, let them handle it?" Sarah asked. "I can't." Silver Spoon said. "I have to keep looking." "Then we have to stay with ya." Apple Bloom said. "Wouldn't do any good for you t' find them all alone." "Especially not since you're the one they really want." Sweetie Belle said. Concentrating, Apple Bloom said "Okay, so let's think... Assume they came this way. Saw the guards, knew they weren't getting away clean... They'd go to ground right?" Scootaloo said "Right. And look up. See all the pegasai? They won't have gone far." "Good thinking. They've got to be somewhere close to here." Micheal said. "Let's all split up and search then." Apple Bloom said, but before they could do so Dinky had a suggestion: "I know this part of town. I go by here every day on my way to school. There's a couple of abandoned human building that no one lives in. You think maybe...?" "I sure do." Apple Bloom agreed. "Lead the way Dinky, we'll all check them out together..." XXXX John Tucker and Midnight Steel saluted as a trio of pegasai landed and gave their reports. No sign of Diamond Tiara, or the Blueblood cultists. In fact, little sign of anything amiss; the holiday festivities were proceeding smoothly, save for this one wrinkle. "I knew we should have delayed things after that brawl." Tucker sighed. "There was no reason to." Midnight said. "Everyone responsible was gone." "Still..." The Sheriff shook his head. "What'dya think? Did they get out before we closed things up?" "As fast as we responded, I don't see how. Even a teleporting unicorn has range limits after all. Most likely they're still in town." "I hope so... This is bad enough if they are. If they aren't-" Tucker was interrupted by a voice shouting out "Have you found her yet!? Have you found my little filly!?" The Sheriff looked to see Filthy Rich approaching. The wealthy stallion was looking quite the worse for wear, with a nasty bruise rising on his forehead visible even through his coat. Two guards, one human and one pony (Virgil and Sturmwind), were helping him to stay on his feet. "We found him in his basement sir." Virgil said. "Not sure what they hit the poor guy over the head with, but I'll be surprised if he doesn't have a concussion." "Rich, you really need to get to the clinic." Tucker said, concerned. "Yes, yes, I'll go. Once I know Diamond Tiara is safe." Rich replied. "Have you found anything at all?" "Not as such, though we suspect they didn't get out of town." "That's something then. What next?" Midnight answered "Right now we have every single guard either actively searching or on gate guard duty, along with a number of auxiliary volunteers. We don't want to start a panic, so we've not announced anything openly yet. If we've still not found them by the time the Nightmare Night crowds wind down we'll start searching door to door... But with a couple thousand buildings in town..." "Yes I see. It could take awhile." Filthy Rich nodded. "And even when we do find them..." "Yeah, we're looking at hostage negotiations. Hostage negotiations with cultists, the worst kind." John Tucker sighed yet again. He hoped the foalnappers would be caught out in the open, where he could get the drop on them and avoid the entire negotiation phase. Somehow, though, he doubted he could get that lucky... XXXX Rainbow Dash grinned as she peered around the corner, through the door, into the darkened theater. All the little ones were too busy gathering candy to be interested in movies tonight. So they were showing a marathon of horror films. As usual, the offerings were a mix of human and pony movies: advertised flicks included the original 'Nightmare on Elm Street' and 'Blood Saddle.' Along with Pinkie Pie and Xix-xax, Rainbow was planning to prank the movie-going audience by dressing as horror villains and rushing into the theater. Unfortunately, timing was critical for a prank of this sort. They needed their victims not just unnerved, but on the very edge of their seat, full of stress at the anticipation of when the monsters would jump out on screen. And the marathon had started with lighter fair, such as 'The Birds,' leaving the would-be pranksters to wait. Thus the grin on Rainbow's face as she saw what was now starting to play: 'Sunset' was a pony film about a young mare whose brooding, sparkly, stalker coltfriend turned out to secretly be the Loch Neighss Monster. It was, all in all, like the 'Twilight' books if the love interest turned homicidal when the girl found out. It was an intense film, one that had even scared Rainbow a little when she first saw it, and she knew the perfect scene to spring the prank during... XXXX Having searched the first abandoned house and found nothing, the Crusaders now gathered near the second. They were watching from the cover of a hedge row, and already knew that they had to have the right place. "I see movement." Scootaloo whispered. "Downstairs, second window from the front." "Got it. I see them too." Apple Bloom agreed. "So now some of us keep watch while the rest lead the cops here right?" Micheal asked. "That would be the smart thing to do." Apple Bloom agreed. "But since when do we do what's smart?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Hey we do plenty of smart stuff!" Scootaloo argued. She frowned. "I can't think of any particular examples right now, but..." Sarah agreed with Micheal. "Either way, this might be a good time to start." "Totally." Dinky said. "Oh come on! Smart is what they'll be expecting! The police is what they'll be expecting! That gives us the advantage!" Scootaloo looked around at her friends. "Come on, somepony back me up here!" Silver Spoon said "Well... If the police come, this will turn into one of those stand-off things right? Isn't that another chance for Tiara to get hurt? Maybe we should try to do something ourselves." "Okay, you're right." Micheal said. "But Dinky, Amanda, I want the two of you to go ahead and go for the police right before we start." "That's good thinkin.' Gives us a nice back up plan." Apple Bloom agreed. "But why the two of us!?" Amanda asked. "Because you're the littlest." "That's not fair!" "Sure isn't. Do it anyway." While Amanda and Dinky continued to complain, the older kids worked out their plan. And in spite of the identities of those responsible for it, it was actually a good plan. So good, in fact, that if anyone other than the Crusaders had tried it, it probably would have worked flawlessly... xx Inside the hideout, Diamond Tiara was miserable. All she had wanted was to sleep in her own bed. And now she was trapped in a rat-laden hellhole with insane ponies all around her. And now Silver Spoon, her only real friend, would be in danger, all thanks to her. Worst of all, a strange feeling, a funny emotion Tiara had never felt before, was worming it's way through her mind and heart. She couldn't put a name to it. She just knew it was making her feel like she needed to be sick. Suddenly she was distracted by an unexpected sound; a knock on the door. "It's the guard!" one of the foalnappers exclaimed. The leader smacked the frightened pony upside his head. "No idiot. The guard wouldn't knock under these circumstances. They'd come through the door with a battering ram." "But who would knock at an abandoned house!?" the first pony asked. Diamond wondered the same thing. "Let's find out." The leader answered, and he opened the door. "Trick or treat!!!" A group of three youths were standing at the door, bags held open. "You see? Just foals. Sorry kids, but we don't have any candy." As the cultists were calming down, Diamond Tiara's eyes went wide with recognition of the kids at the door: Sarah, Flixbix, and Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle fixed the pony at the door with her most powerful puppy-dog eyed look and said "Aw please mister? It doesn't have to be much!" "Yes! Yes! Any sweet-tastings treat will do!" "Like a cookie!" "Or cake!" "Muffins!" "Pie!" "Fruit even!" "No! We don't have anything for you! Leave!" As the scene continued to play out, it quickly garnered the attention of all of the cultists. Diamond Tiara found herself standing behind all of them. She saw the opportunity of course, but was too scared to take it. Then she felt a hand on her back. The filly nearly jumped out of her skin in fright, and would have screamed had the lead cult unicorn not still been blocking her vocal chords. Then she turned and saw Silver Spoon, along with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Micheal. Silver Spoon hugged Tiara tightly, then motioned for her to follow. Tiara nodded, and they crept quietly towardsthe back window the Crusaders had entered through, daring to believe they had pulled it off. And then, of course, Scootaloo stepped on a creaky floorboard. "HEY!" a pony shouted, gathering the attention of the others who looked to see the in-progress escape. "It's a trick!" One yelled. Another exclaimed "Silver Spoon! Grab her!" Diamond was sure that they were done for. Then the goblin shouted "If we no get treat, you do get trick!" He threw something into the midst of the cult members. It looked like a small goblin bomb, but when it hit the ground it didn't actually explode, just blazed with a blindingly bright flash of light. The crusaders, knowing what to expect, had all shielded their eyes and were unaffected, as was Diamond Tiara whose eyes were covered by Micheal's arm. The adults were far less fortunate. All of them were momentarily blinded. "Run for it!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, and the kids were off, bowling their way through the cultists and heading out the front door. "Get them!!!" The still half-blind unicorn shouted, and the chase was on... xx Followed by the cultists, the Crusaders ran as fast as they could through the streets of town. They went north at first, hoping to go directly to the police station. It didn't take long though to realize that the adult's longer legs gave them more speed. They would be overtaken long before getting there. So, they turned east at the next intersection, and barreled down main street. The cultists got closer and closer, and then one was close enough to let out a shout of triumph as he jumped to tackle Silver Spoon... ...Directly in front of the theater. Just as a certain trio's prank was kicking into gear. Before anyone, cult or crusader, knew what was happening the streets were filled with humans and ponies screaming in fear. "It's Jason! Run!!!" "Freddy!!! Wake up wake up wake up..." "No! Don't wanna be made into cupcakes!!" Amidst the confusion, the crusaders were able to run again, gaining a few precious moments on their pursuers. Near the theater entry, a laughing Rainbow Dash noticed the running kids, Scootaloo in particular, and got curious. Shrugging off her 'Jason' mask, she flew to catch up with them. "Yo Scoots! What's going on!?" Rainbow asked as she pulled alongside. "Foalnappers! Took Diamond Tiara! We rescued her! Now they're after us!" Now, most adults would just assume that a story like this was kids having fun. Rainbow Dash was not most adults, and furthermore knew her orange fan quite well. Eyes narrowed, she said "Okay kids, keep running, get to the police station. I'll handle the rest of this." She then flapped her wings hard, beginning a rapid ascent, ready to make her move. "Sure glad we ran into her!" Apple Bloom said. "Heck yeah! Rainbow Dash'll take them out in ten seconds flat!" Scootaloo agreed. "Now let's finish this up!" No longer having to worry about being overrun, they made for the police station... XXXX High above Unity, Rainbow Dash needed only moments to notice two things. First, she locked onto the cultists rushing through the streets below. Second, she saw all the pegasai guards also searching. Whistling to get the attention of those closest, she pointed out the target. "The kid's safe. Let's deal with them." She said. The other pegasai nodded their agreement, and together dived down directly on top of the ponies hunting for Silver Spoon. The shockwave from their dive knocked several people of their feet, and threw the cult into disarray, save for it's leader who stood at the center, head held high. They tried to run, but were surrounded. "Now what in tarnation's goin' on here Rainbow Dash!?" Rainbow looked over her shoulder to see Applejack approaching. "These idiots tried to foalnap Diamond Tiara!" "Surely not." "Oh, it's true alright." A guard said. "Where is she!?" "She's safe with the crusaders." Rainbow answered. Still standing proud, the unicorn leader said "Safe from what? Safe from a life of service to me?" "Service to you!? Just who are you anyway?" The rippling shimmer of a fading illusion spell passed over the unicorn's body, revealing that he was actually... "Blueblood!?" "Hold on now this don't add up!" Applejack said. "Blueblood was never one to get involved personally! Why would you come t' help these fools yourself!?" "A god must get involved at times." "You are not a god you delusional twit!" "Says who?" Blueblood sneered. "Celestia? Oh, she's not here... Luna? Nope, not here either..." And it was then, even as the Prince was speaking, that Rainbow Dash got what Suess would call "An idea... A terrible, wonderful, awful idea..." She grinned a wolfish grin. "Keep him occupied." She whispered to Applejack. "I'll be right back..." xx Having shed her 'Freddy' form, Xix-xax glanced aside at Pinkie Pie and said "I think maybe we went too far with this one." "Maybe a little." Pinkie agreed. "Pinkie Pie, whatever is going on here?" Pinkie looked up to see Rarity and Spike. "Yeah." The dragon said. "We leave the dance, come to catch a film, and find a riot." "A prank may have gotten just the tiniest bit out of hand." Pinkie admitted. "Xix!" Rainbow Dash flew down from above and landed. "I need your help!" the pegasus said, "And it's not for a prank! Well, not really a prank anyway... Can you take that Princess Celestia form again? We need to convince somepony she's really here!" Rarity said "But Rainbow darling, you remember what Xix-xax herself said earlier? Nopony will be dumb enough to actually fall for that one..." Rainbow answered "The pony it needs to fool is Blueblood." Rarity blinked. "This could work. Carry on." Having changed into the Celestia form, Xix said "But still... Too small, no flowing mane, no royal voice..." Pinkie smiled. "Don't worry Xixxy... We can take care of that..." xx Blueblood stood tall amidst the surrounding crowds, hamming it up for all he was worth. His followers were bowing around him, while the rest of the crowd booed and threw insults he tried to ignore. "I am the god-king Blueblood! All shall bow before me, or face the wrath of my divine fury!" A voice suddenly boomed out, "IS THAT SO NEPHEW? EVEN I?" The crowds gasped, and Blueblood looked, jaw dropped, to see Celestia standing atop the closest building. "Auntie!" He exclaimed. "You've come to save me!" The royal Canterlot voice shook the area as she answered "NOT YOU, FOALISH NEPHEW! DO YOU TRULY THINK I WOULD SAVE ONE WHO HAS BETRAYED MY TRUST!?" "B... But auntie..." "NAY BLUEBLOOD! FOR YOU CRIMES, I SHALL BANISH YOU!" "No auntie! Not the moon!" Blueblood cowered. "THE MOON? INDEED NOT! YOU SHALL BE BANISHED... ...TO URANUS!!" "NO!!" Blueblood screamed and ran, galloping away as fast as his hooves would carry him. And as soon as he was gone, everyone save the remaining cultists broke into laughter. "Alright, how'd y'all do it?" Applejack asked as Xix-xax resumed her true form and flew down to join Rainbow and the rest of her friends. "Most of it was Pinkie's idea." The changeling admitted. "Really high heels to give me the princess' height, a tiny battery powered fan under my mane to make it blow, and a hidden loudspeaker for the Canterlot voice." "Clever." "Eeyup." Rainbow agreed. "Now all we've got to do is figure out what to do with them." She pointed at the cultists, who were clearly confused and frightened...