//------------------------------// // Attack {Sunsetverse} // Story: Shimmering Sunsets // by Evowizard25 //------------------------------// "Okay, so while I was there I saw a huge bunch of those Enclave guys, and they had wyverns. We have an evil illusionist, the lightning tornado guy, and one other that's working on enchanting the mirror to stay open." Masquerade explained. "So, yeah, only one way in or out so we aren't looking at any sort of a good time here." “No,” Lightning Dust grinned. “We’re looking at an awesome time here!” “Sounds as good as odds as any,” Quickfix shrugged. "It's an enemy army, how can you be happy ?" Sunset demanded. "We've got two knights versus a whole bunch of monsters and evil spellcasters and this makes you happy?" “When you put it like that,” Lightning commented. “That’s what we usually face, possibly more so. Just kind of got used to it…….It’s not like I’m going to run in there all by myself or something stupid like that.” “Again,” Quickfix muttered into her hoof, which earned Lightning’s glare. "Right. Well Sunset's got magic. Gotta be somethin' we can do with that." AJ pointed out. "I don't exactly have a lot of combat spells...are wyverns cold blooded?" Sunset asked, having a sudden flash of brilliance. “Kind of,” Quickfix shrugged. “They’re not exactly warm blooded and they don’t like the cold none. So….pretty much. Why do ye ask?” "I have a blizzard spell, remember. One blast of that into the chamber should shut down the wyverns pretty quickly." “What if they have some fire elemental pegasi?” Lightning asked. “I mean, it’s a stretch that one of them could warm up a wyvern soon enough to hurt us, let alone multiple ones, but there’s always the possibility…….Whoa, that seemed kind of nerdy coming out of my mouth.” Sunset rolled her eyes. "Cold blooded creatures can't be active in the cold. It would require the fire Pegasus to basically stay in contact with them to keep the wyvern moving. They can't store or generate their own heat, they can't keep themselves active if I drop down a blizzard. Easy as pie." Pansy rolled her eyes. "Great. So, how do we handle the soldiers then? I assume they won't be frozen as well." “That’s going to be tricky,” Fiddlesticks said. “My pa met a few of them a whiles back. Says they’re meaner than a rattlesnake in a thunderstorm.” Lightning nodded. “They’re fierce alright. Born and raised to fight. No tolerance for failure, so it’s all or nothing with the Enclave.” "Great." Fortune groused. "Fanatics. Those are the most annoying type to fight. A ton of them won't surrender either. It'll be hard to take them alive, and we don't have time to call in backup." “.......We could always try and sing a song?” Fiddlesticks put out, before Lightning and Quickfix gave her a condescending look. “Yeah...stupid idea.” "....Fiddlesticks, you are a genius!" Sunset said, giving her a hug. "That's just what we need!" AJ blinked in confusion. "What?" Sunset smiled, a very cunning smile. "I have a cunning plan." “Is it the type of cunnin’ ye think is good at the time but can easily backfire?” Quickfix asked. “That often happens with me.” "Oh no, it'll work." Sunset said, her horn glowing. She conjured up her guitar. "It will very much work. We will win with the power of rock." Lightning quietly walked over to the wall and leant against it. “Give me a moment. I need to take in all the stupidity in that……….That’s gonna take a while.” “Says miss ‘CHARGE’,” Quickfix muttered, rolling her eyes. "Guys, I've got this." Sunset said. "Trust me." **************** The Enclave were a lot of things. Many of which the other races wouldn’t consider, well, decent, but they were organized. They moved as one through the tunnels, weapons at the ready and senses open. Their prey was somewhere inside. It would be only a matter of time before they found them. The wyverns were getting feisty. They could smell the ponies and the feistier they got, the more eager the Enclave soldiers became. Yes, they couldn’t kill the ponies, well, not the bearers. Hopefully, they brought along some others to kill. Give them something to do at least. “Easy,” the leader of the group tapped his mount with his glaive. The weapon could easily sheer a pony in half. “Steady there. We don’t want you tearing up our captives, now do we?” He glanced at the soldiers. “They’re close. Keep an eye out and by Commander Pansy’s blessed soul, don’t kill the bearers. We need them alive….You can have the rest.” “Yes, sir.” The rest sounded off. The leader grinned. Victory was just right about the corner. All he had to do was round up some herbs. Nothing special and as easy as catching pigeons. And then some idiot unleashed a blizzard, winds whipping through the caverns and coating everything in snow, a good three inches. Almost immediately the wyverns start to panic, already rapidly losing energy as their body temperatures plummet to match their surroundings. The leader roared in anger as he fought to keep his wyvern up. “WHO THE DAMNED, FEATHERING BULLHEAD UNLEASHED THAT BLIZZARD! AND GET SOME HEAT GEMS! GET THEM NOW!” And that's when some ancient monster of the first age unleashed a hellish roar, echoing through the caves and reverberating off the crystals, assaulting the Enclave with what was essentially a pure wall of pain inducing sound from every direction. The pegasi cringed, trying to block out the sound. “GET YOUR ARSES IN LINE!” The leader shouted. “I WANT WHATEVER THAT IS LYING DEAD ON THE FLOOR! FIRST ONE TO KILL IT GETS THE LIVER!” To which the Enclave did their best to keep themselves moving. Their discipline wasn’t going to break after a random blizzard and roar. Some of them were scrounging through packs to grab specialized gems meant to keep them warm during the winter. Given enough energy, they could get them to work on the wyverns. Usually, they had such runes on their wyverns, but these ones were brought in from the south. They wasn’t supposed to be any winters here. It was while they were so distracted and scrambling to recover that a pair of invisible knights wearing enchanted earplugs came smashing through their ranks. With the advantages of surprise, disorientation, and invisibility coupled with their high level of combat training, the two of them plow through the first few groups of Enclave soldiers so quickly and efficiently one would almost think there would be the sound of bowling pins clattering everywhere. At that, the Enclave quickly huddled up into tight formations, weapons out. They bloody well didn’t see what hit them. “If it’s another one of those damned invisible beasts,” the leader mumbled to himself. He tapped his helmet. “Activate your Thermal sensors. Let’s see these bastards get past that.” As one, the Enclave activated the Thermal sensors in their helmets. Instantly, the area became clearer as their visions were able to cut through the blizzard to see two mares. “Hmm,” the leader chuckled. “Only two? Well, this should be easy. Surrender now. We don’t want to spill precious pegasus blood, now do we?” "We were going to offer the same deal. There's only about twenty of you left." the one on the left taunts. Judging by her voice, this is Fortune's double. "I mean I know we had surprise, but a third of your guys and your wyverns in less than a minute?" “........You remind me of somepony,” the leader commented. “Somepony I know…...Aim for her limbs. I want her alive. Kill the other….Or both.” With that, the Enclave crossbows took aim and fired with efficient speed. Fortune's counterpart whipped up a wall of wind with her wings, smashing it against the hail of bolts and knocking them all about. "I don't think you know what you're dealing with here. We aren't town militia, EUP, or even the Royal Guard. Heck, we aren't even a regular Knightly Order. We are Knights of the Sun. Surrender, you don't stand a chance." “The Enclave never surrenders,” the leader boasted. “We fight to the end and we’ll be walking over your corpse in a matter of seconds, supposed ‘knight’. Your deaths are unneeded, but you are forcing our hooves. Do be smart and stand down.” Fortune's response is to take flight and start circling the ceiling while her partner stays low to the ground, almost prowling around the formation like a predator. The leader snorted and took a deep breath. He locked eyes on the mare on the ground and fired. Not a crossbow, but from his own breath a plume of fire. The one on the ground performed a rolling evasion, mimicking a large cat almost. The illusion was further enhanced as she pounced at one of the soldiers, stopping short of his friend's spear and darting back. She moved almost exactly like a great cat. And she was waiting for an opening. Fortune meanwhile seemed content to circle above near the ceiling, also looking for an opening. "So, you Enclave mooks going to do anything?" Being born and raised to kill, the Enclave could see that they were being herded. Which just pissed the leader off even more. These were local herbs. They should be hunted, not the Enclave. “SOLDIERS! Keep to formation and advance and pin that bitch up in the air to the ceiling.” The soldiers advanced as one towards the mare on the ground, while the marksponies fired at Fortune. Their training had honed their skill in the art. Fortune batted the arrows asside. What the marks ponies couldn't have known was that, as well trained as they were, Knights of the Sun were a cut above the rest. Founded by the former Knight of the Crown Golden Dawn, it only recruited the best other knightly orders could produce. The best of the best of the best in a very literal sense. While the EUP would have had to bring their numbers to bear, and most guardsmen and knights wouldn't have been able to weather such a barrage for long, Fortune didn't care. The air around her was a personally generated bubble of buffets, turbulence, miniature whirlwinds, and zyphers. She was a former Knight of the Storm, and the wind was her weapon. She could wait for them to run out of bolts, and if they shifted focus to her partner they'd just give her the opening she needs. The one on the ground isn't doing as well though. Ten to one is not the way to go. So she doesn't. Leaping, assisted by conservative flaps of her wings, she hops from one location to another as quick as can be, not letting her enemies have a chance to pin her. Rebounding off walls and crystal growths, she is nearly impossible to track. The leader growled. “Faster!” He took another breath and took aim. This plume was quicker in action than the previous one. The Enclave moved after the ground one with a quicker pace, ready to tear into her. Their bolts kept at Fortune, if not to hit her, at least to give them time to kill the ground dwelling guard. Fortune grimaced. These guys were tougher than she thought. Well it seemed there was no hope for it. "Alright troops, charge!" Hopefully the added numbers would turn the fight their way more than anything, although the way Lightning and the others spoke they probably had fighting experience. Lightning roared a battle charge and flew right through the group. As she passed, she used her signature lightning attack to scatter the Enclave soldiers. While it didn’t do much to hurt them, it broke up the formation...and she got to punch one of them out personally. Quickfix was also quick to jump into the fray, using her wrench to smash into one of the Enclave soldiers helmets hard enough that it bent the metal and sent the pegasus flying. The knight on the ground used the broken formation to attack, turning into a whiling ball of flailing kicks and wing strikes from the middle of the enemy formation, taking out five in just as many seconds. She then leapt out before the others could close ranks on her. That's when Sunset walked in and used her telekinisis to snap the crossbow strings. "Really, you guys should surrender." The rest of the soldiers took a hard look at Sunset. “Princess Sunset Shimmer?!!!” And then all the tales of said mare came to them. At once, the soldiers yelped flew into a defensive formation, though many of them looked like they’d rather run for the hills than fight. They’d rather not be burned alive this day and given how much of a skilled sorcerer their own Sunset was, they weren’t ones to really take a chance. “You damned cowards!” The leader shouted. “That’s not ‘our’ Sunset. She’s not going to burn us alive. She’s one of those locals weaklings.” He took aim and fired a plume of fire towards Sunset. Sunset walked through the fire, unflinching. "Your Sunset. That's the one that plays nice and got crowned "pretty pretty princess" right?" she inquired, as her eyes glowed a brilliant green as tendrils of dark purple energy streamed from her eyes and mouth. "Whimper and I might leave your soul intact." “No...You whimper,” the leader growled. “Whimper in pain!” He lowered the glaive and lunged forward, beating his wings to close the distance in seconds. Sunset threw up a dome shield over the commander, trapping him right in front of her. "Yeah no." She dropped the roof of the solid construct, slamming him to the ground. While everyone was distracted by all this, Fortune took the chance to slam the flying soldiers with a variety combo pack of every way wind can mess you up, slamming them into crystal pillars, the floor, the ceiling, and if they were lucky just sent them hurtling through the air out of control. "Pillow launcher?" AJ suggested to her dimensionally displaced cousin as she pointed out the last two soldiers who were regaining their orientation. Fiddlesticks squee’d. “Yes!” Taking off her hat, she pulled the thing out from it and quickly took aim. The two pillows were able to throw the soldiers off their hooves and hard against the wall. “And that is a wrap everypony." Mask said, flying into the room. "Nice acting Sunset." "Thanks." Sunset said as the illusory dark magic vanished. "Figured between that and the fire protection he'd freak out. Didn't expect him to charge me though." She looks to her captive. "So, you look like you're in charge. You got some info we want. What warlocks are you working with, and what can they do?" “Rot in Tartarus,” the leader scoffed. Sunset rolled her eyes. "Okay girls, round them up. I'll conjure some ropes to bind them up with. Get their armour and weapons off them, we'll pile them outside the room. Lightning, you know about these jerks. Any idea on how to make him talk?" “Well,” Lightning tapped her chin. “There’s a few ways. We can try torturing him until he squeals. Maybe threaten to cut off a wing, or we could do something that’s not gonna make me puke and get Quickfix to…...Wait, that’s even worse. Maybe get him to swear to Celestia? Anyone here a sun priestess?” “....Did ye ferget where we are?” Quickfix glared at her. "Well, we could try that wing thing." the ground knight sugested, shimmering back into sight as Sunset stopped maintaining the invisibility spell. Flipping up her visor, it was Fragrant Posey. "And since we ain't in Equestria at the moment, I can't really do anything if you do pray to Celestia. No jurisdiction." she says with a lopsided grin. “...Fragrant?” the leader glanced at her and groaned. “Oh great, the local you’s a fighter. Guess that flying bitch really was Fortune….figures.” "You know us? I'm flattered. No wait, what's the opposite of that? Ah right, repulsed." Fortune said, coming in for a landing. "So how do you know us?" “You’re both Enclave,” the leader remarked with a grin. “Proudly wearing the flag of truth and fighting for the pegasus race…..Though our Fragrant's more inclined to hide than to fight.” "...permission to rip his throat out?" Pansy asked. "Denied, we aren't killing prisoners. That is a war crime." Fortune interjected. "But damn, that's messed up. Still, I doubt she's as awesome as I am." “She’s a bitch, you’re a bitch.” The leader chuckled. “No difference in my book. When I’m out of here, I’ll gladly cut that tongue out of that mouth. Give me some peace and quiet.” Fortune rolled her eyes. "Right. Sunset, rope?" "Thirty feet per soldier, coming right up." Sunset replied, conjuring the coils of rope into existence. As the knights go over with AJ and Mask to secure the prisoners, Sunset has a new idea. "Hey Fiddlesticks, do you have any bagpipes?" Fiddlesticks reached into her hat and moved it around for a bit. She pulled out a pair. “.........Why do ah have these?” "Don't care." Sunset said as she levitated them over to herself. "Now talk or I start playing, and let me just warn you, I have never had a single lesson so it will be even worse than usual with bagpipes." “Come off it,” Lightning rolled her eyes. “You can’t possibly be that bad with those things.” “Ah don’t know,” Quickfix said. “That’s a Northern instrument. Ah’ve heard plenty of ye southerners mess it up.” "I've heard the Shettish play. If that's what it sounds like when it's done right, imagine how bad it sounds played wrong." Sunset threatened. “That’s racist,” Quickfix glared at her. “Or some kind of ‘cist’. Whatever, ye get the point! The bagpipes are one of the best instruments in the world. Me pa even taught me a few notes. Watch.” Quickfix pulled the bagpipe to herself and started playing. Lightning, Sunset, and Fiddlesticks quickly put their hooves over their ears as the music reverberated off the walls like it was coming out of a stereo. "Sweet molasses on toast! Who all is torturin' cats?" AJ asked, not that anypony could hear her over the noise. Mask was dazed, and the knights were covering their ears despite their hearing protection. Quickfix was just happily playing the bagpipe, performing a little Northern dance to boot. “ARGH!” the leader tried to cover his ears the best he could. “Make that infernal sound stop!” "Give us the information and we'll stop!" Sunset demanded. “FINE!” the leader shouted. “Just shut that music off!” "Alright Quickfix you can stop, he'll talk." Sunset said, grinning. Quickfix was too busy dancing and playing to hear her. “And ponies think ah get carried away,” Fiddlesticks chuckled. "Really, you can stop now." Sunset said, conjuring a pair of earmuffs for herself. “I got this,” Lightning smirked and walked over to Quickfix. She lightly touched the mare, shocking her comically. Quickfix’s fur stood on end and sparks flew across it. Her eyes bulged out and the bagpipe exploded. “There we go.” Quickfix twitched for a while, before shooting LIghtning Dust a deathly glare. “Ah’ll get ye fer that.” "Right, start talking or she goes back to playing, and none of us want that." Sunset said. The leader growled. “Ask the question again. I might have forgotten after that infernal music.” Quickfix stomped on one of his backlegs, not hard enough to break it, but enough to hurt. “Don’t ye dare talk about the bagpipe that way, ye heretic.” "Alright then, we just need the basics. What are you guys planing, how many are there of you, and how many warlocks. And what those warlocks can do." Sunset explained. "Really it's all very reasonable, and you'll be treated properly as prisoners held until trial." “And then what?” The leader scoffed. “The guillotine? I’ll tell you about the warlocks, but you aren’t getting at thing about us out of me.” "...what's a guillotine?" Sunset asked, looking around to see if anypony knew. The locals all looked just as confused, shrugging. “You know,” Lightning mimed ‘chopping something’ with her hooves. “The chopping block. Stick someone’s head in, pull the rope, blade comes down, head rolls into basket. It’s a Prench thing.” "Our Prench don't do that and...wait, you do know we don't do death penalties here right?" Sunset asked. "I mean even unrepentant warlocks and warlords don't get death sentences." “Well ‘we’ know that,” Lightning scoffed. “He didn’t.” The leader chuckled and glanced around them. “You got lucky, kids. Your luck’s running out.” "Not lucky. Smart." Sunset pointed out. Her horn flashed and another layer of snow flew about. "And with the fire your and others were throwing, a cold refresher should do the trick to keep the wyverns down. So if you were outing on that, tough cookies." “Don’t count your sheep before slaughter,” the leader grinned. “I know one thing. Tonight, I’m feasting on unicorn barbeque.” He licked his lips, bearing his fangs. Sunset looked less than impressed. "So, those warlocks?" “Three,” the leader said. “You already know of the illusionist.” "Yeah, she was a total drama queen." Mask said. "But she was smart enough to get me out of the way so I couldn't just go "that's just an illusion" and win." “One’s working on the portal and other performed those fancy tornadoes you met earlier,” he snorted at the last one. “That’s basically it.” "Three warlocks?" Sunset asked, jaw dropped. "This project is big enough to net three warlocks?" “I just said that, so thank you for repeating it.” The leader scoffed. “So why don’t you ladies do the smart thing and let me go. I promise to allow my subordinates to let you pass.” “Fat chance,” Lightning rolled her eyes. "We already beat yer henchponies." AJ pointed out, trotting back over. "Ya'll are more done than a marshmallow on fire." “Mmm,” Fiddlesticks rubbed her belly. “Marshmellow trees~” “I will not take lip from an Earth,” the leader scowled. “Get back to me when you’ve evolved into something worthwhile.” AJ looked at him hard. "Do we need him conscious now?" Sunset hmmed as she tapped her chin with her tail. "I can't think of any good reason." Quickfix smashed her wrench down hard enough to knock the stallion out. “Ah hate these guys almost as ah hate that night bitch’s guys.” AJ snorted. "Ah wanted a shot at 'm." "Please tell me most of the pegasi aren't like this in your world." Fortune begged. Mask nodded. "I'm feeling sorry for my tribe right now if these yahoos are its representative there." “Hello,” Lightning glared at the two. “I’m standing right here you know. It’s not like I could find that kind of talk tribalist or anything.” "Yeah but, there are a lot of them." Pansy pointed out. "And hearing that the uses there are part of their group? Not a very happy thought." Lightning growled and looked away. “We’re not all like that.” She glanced at the others. “A lot of the other tribes still think we are sometimes, but we aren’t. We’re good….just some bad blood between us.” “Which ye caused,” Quickfix remarked. “Can’t ferget ye eatin’ us in the Great Winter.” “Those were outcasts,” Lightning glared at her. “Commander Hurricane never stood for them.” "Great Winter? Is that what you call the Windigo Winter?" Sunset asked. “Yeah,” Fiddlesticks nodded. “It has a lot of names really. That’s just a common one.” "Ah wouldn't worry none about that ya'll. So whatnif those other you's are jerks? The me over there is supposed to be some fashion pony. Ya don't got nothing ta worry bout there. Them's them and you're you." AJ assured her pegasi allies. Lightning snorted. “Easy for you to say. I’ve had to live my life listening to comments like that. It doesn’t help that I’m living in an Earth town either. Some of you guys still find us spooky.” “Ah never found ya spooky,” Fiddlesticks booped her nose. “Ah found ya to be a silly airhead.” “I am not an airhead,” Lightning glared at her, before grinning. “If I’m an airhead, then you’re head is filled with mud.” “Apples actually,” Fiddlesticks snorted, beaming and gave Lightning a quick hug. “Okay, who else wants a hug?” "Not it." Sunset said, taking a few steps back. Mask rolled her gems and bumped Sunset into the hug. "Group hug." she said, joining in herself. “Don’t leave me out,” Quickfix quickly joined herself, but she kind of overdid it with the hug. Unicorn or not, she was a Northerner and her strength was known to break bones. "Gah! Spine spine spine!" Sunset shouted. She was an Ungulan unicorn, and she wasn't very tough even by that standard. “Sorry,” Quickfix laughed and eased up in the hug. “Can’t help me strength sometimes. Used to break crystals and hard stones back home.” "Really? Like a rock farmer?" AJ asked, having joined in the hug as well but kept her strength in moderation. “Nope,” Quickfix said. “Ah collected minerals fer me pa and my own experiments.” "If we're done with the love and friendship for now, we do have a job to do." Pansey pointed out. "It's getting late, we've had a long day, and we don't have a safe place to rest right now. Plus we have prisoners to deal with." "Right, I'll send a note off to Celestia. She should be able to send a cohort of knights up here by tomorrow morning to handle these guys." Sunset agreed, levitating a scroll, ink, and quill out of her bag. “So we’re just gonna leave ‘em here fer them to pick up?” Fiddlesticks asked. "Tied up and disarmed for a group of high trained soldiers to pick up, yes." Sunset said. "We don't exactly have a lot of options if we want to be sure we can get you guys back home in time and have time to find our friends." “Then let’s get going,” Lightning grinned. “We have some warlocks to pummel.” “Hmm,” Quickfix mused to herself. “Ye know, we’ve been on a journey fer a while and no one’s died yet…..That’s kind of strange.” “Don’t jinx it,” Fiddlesticks quickly covered Quickfix’s mouth with a hoof. "Ponies don't normally die on our quests." Mask assured her. "But just to be safe, nopony say any of those cliche "doomed" lines from plays, books, or movies." “Way ahead of ya,” Fiddlesticks pulled out a list from her hat and then set it afire. “Out of sight, out of mind.” "Yeah, I mean us trying to redirect bad luck by tempting fate before didn't work." Sunset pointed out. "So no sense messing with it again." “We’re gonna run into trouble one way or the other,” Quickfix shrugged. “Just not used to it bein’ ‘death free’.” “Well, those were the ‘big’ adventures.” Fiddlesticks pointed out. “We’ve done stuff against smaller guys and no one died….They got really hurt, but they got better.” "So let's aim to keep our "nopony dies" trend going and work out a plan." Sunset advised. "Okay, Mask can nosell the illusionist, and with an anti-fire ward Lightning can stop the enemy weather user cold. All that leaves is the warlock working on altering a mystical device that is connected to the very metaphysical foundation of reality...I think he'll be the biggest threat." “Then shouldn’t we take him out first?” Quickfix pointed out. "Probably. But it'll be risky. We have no idea what defenses he might have. Or attacks. Or anything really." Mask pointed out. "So, how do we do it without him doing who knows what?" H “We could draw out the other warlocks and beat ‘em ‘fore tackin’ him,” Fiddlesticks commented. “That seem like a plan?” "An how are we suppose ta do that?" AJ asks. "Warlocks tend ta be more yellow than butter if'n they think they might lose." “Well, maybe we just got to make them think they’re gonna win.” Lightning grinned. “We’ve dealt with a few warlocks before. If they think they have a chance at killing us, they’ll take it wholeheartedly.” "Yeah, but how would we fake that?" Sunset pointed out. "They know you and Mask can just beat them like cheap rugs." Quickfix tapped her chin. “Maybe we just gotta make ‘em think these guys beat us. Unless they’ve got some kind of scryin’ spell or somethin’.” "Sorry, not that good at disguse spells." Sunset shrugged. Mask looked at the enemy uniforms. "...do we really need a spell to trick them?" “That’s what ah was tellin’ ye,” Quickfix rolled her eyes. “Thought it was obvious with what ah was sayin’.” "Unicorns. Always thinking "magic solution" first." Fortune chuckled sifting through the uniforms. "Seriously, nothing in my size?" "Well they are a little on the fat side." Pansy said. "Probably from eating meat." "I uh, I can fit this one." Mask said uncomfortably. "It's...a kids uniform." The locals looked very uncomfortable at that thought. “Oh,” Lightning frowned. “It’s an ancient pegasus thing. The Enclave employ….kids to fight to help them prove their worthiness. We don’t do that anymore for obvious reasons, but they do.” "Our ancestors were idiots." Mask agreed, throwing on the mask. "...these things have an illusion based viewing system don't they?" “Our ancestors were predators,” Lightning snorted. “If you were too weak to hunt, then you were cast out or killed. Obviously, I say again ‘Obviously’, we don’t do that anymore.” She grumbled. "We had a sort of "warrior pride" mentality too, though we didn't have the predator excuse." Pansy said. "Kind of had the same deal for a while...I don't suppose you could alter the outfits a bit Sunset?" "Sorry. Twilight has the fashion spells, not me." Sunset said, shrugging. "Alright, any other ideas? Cause I don't want to send in Mask alone, and I don't trust invisibility to food an illusionist." “Me and Mask can do it,” Lightning nodded. “I can wear these outfits no problem. Maybe you two just need to cut back from the donuts.” She chuckled, glancing at the two soldiers. "Yes, because being too fat is obviously why they hang loose from us like a chap motel bathrobe." Fortune deadpanned. "Though hearing you guys love doughnuts makes a lot of sense." "So wait, the plan is ta have the two ponies we need ta counter the warlocks sneak up to the warlocks ta trick them into goin' into a trap where we use them to catch them?" AJ asks. "Mah heads hurtin' tryin' ta follow alla this here sneak plannin'." “This plan is a tad bit convoluted,” Quickfix said. “Whoa,” Fiddlesticks gasped. “If Quickfix says it’s convoluted, ya bet yer liver it’s convoluted.” “Then who’s got a better idea?” Lightning frowned. She glanced around and then at the soldiers. “You sure you can’t find something? I thought herbs were supposed to be fatter than carns.” "We're a flying species. Hollow bones and lean muscle builds. How you guys stay airborn is beyond me." Fortune explained. “To put it bluntly,” Quickfix said. “They’re pigeons yer a hawk, Lightnin’.” “Noted,” Lightning grinned. “Quickfix, you got a plan.” “Build a bomb,” she said simply. “....Something that won’t get us all killed?” Quickfix tapped her chin. She opened her mouth a few times, but closed it. “Nope.” Sunset sighed. "So "operation: all our eggs in one basket" is our only option." “Hey,” Lightning said. “It worked for Daring Do.” "Right, and she's real in your world so that's actually a valid argument." Sunset said. "Just, I'm going to be counting on you for this. Mask can act, but the problem is she doesn't know how to act like Enclave." “If you have a question Mask,” Lightning gave her a reassuring look. “Just ask me, but I’ll do my best to keep their attention me at all times.” "You sure? I know these uniforms cover a lot, but you are pretty famous on...the other side which the local warlocks wouldn't know as well right I think that's safely covered." Masquerade said. "I'll just let you do the talking." “Maybe you can do a bit of talking with the Enclave, but yeah, I’ll handle the warlocks.” Lightning frowned. “Hopefully, that illusionist doesn’t recognize my voice. Quickfix?” Quickfix nodded and looked over the suits of armor. She closed her eyes and started to pray, which given she was talking to the machine god, sounded something like a pony imitating, well, a machine. Her magic came to life around it and a couple of little devices lifted out of her bag. With a little bit of tinkering, she was able to fit them in. To which she thanked the god and her gave a short prayer to Celestia, which sounded more like a soothing melody, to give it strength. She wiped her forehead. “A bit complicated, but it should distort your voices ‘enough’. Not by a lot though. Don’t have the supplies, so they ‘might’ guess, but that’s a ‘might’. Better than just goin’ in there with yer normal voices.” "Well its better than nothing." Mask said, her voice notably deeper. "Gah, I sound like a dude." “It’s only temporary,” Lightning said, her voice higher pitched. “Oh that’s not fair. I sound too girly.” “No one would suspect ye to be a girl,” Quickfix grinned. “..............I hate you sometimes,” Lightning commented. "Want to switch?" Mask asked. "I wouldn't mind a higher pitch." “Thanks,” Lightning switched out her helmet. “Now I sound awesome. Well, not as awesome as my normal voice, but still.” "Testing testing. Teeheehee. This is so much fun." Mask giggled. “Ah do my best,” Quickfix smiled in triumph. “Now go get those sissy warlocks, ye two.” "You got it boss lady mam." Mask said and threw out a salute. “Do me proud,” Quickfix put a hoof on her shoulder. “Fight in the name of the North!” “They’re not gonna be fightin’ yet,” Fiddlesticks pointed out. “They should still ‘fight for the North’...In their hearts.” “I’d like some wine with that cheese,” Lightning chuckled at Quickfix’s glare. "Oh you haven't even begun to hear cheese yet." Mask said, grinning. "You should see this one actor in my troupe, Blast Hardcheese." “It’s times like this that make me understand why the other races think our names are weird,” Lightning commented. "Eh, I don't see why." Masquerade said. "I mean, our names are very direct and obvious. Why is that a bad thing?" “True,” Quickfix nodded. “Now let’s stop blatherin’ and get to bustin’ some heads.”