Trixie crawled her way through the museum's ventilation system, the jamming device on her body preventing her from being picked up by infrared sensors whilst the iPhone in her hand showed her the way to Alicorn Amulet's exhibit.
"Okay, I'll need to drop down here," Trixie whispered to herself as she looked down through the grate below her. There, two officers were walking by when one suddenly stopped.
"Hey," the officer asked, his friend stopping and turning around. "You ever wonder why we're here?"
"… No."
The second officer turned back around, and Trixie used the opening to jump down and grab the first officer, covering his mouth as she threw a tranquilizer dart into the neck of the second. "See? No problem. Kaitou Moon needs no accomplices."
Trixie dragged the two officers into the restroom besides them, taking out some rope and some tape as she locked the door behind her.
"Five minutes," Chrysalis said, glancing up from her watch and surveying the room very closely. "Be alert! Kaitou Moon's going to make her move soon!"
"If she hasn't been scared off by all our security," the officer to Chrysalis' left replied, pointing his nose up and puffing his chest out with pride.
"To someone like Kaitou Moon, it doesn't matter whether we use two guards or two hundred."
"Hey Chrysalis," came Gilda's voice through the communicator to Chrysalis' side. "I think we found something. Couple of suspicious-lookin' guys hidin' in the Egyptian room."
"That's actually the Aztec room," Sombra corrected.
"Who gives a damn?! Also, that's totally a pyramid!"
"Yes, the Aztecs had those too."
"… Who cares?!"
"Gilda, keep an eye on those two but don't act yet until they do," Chrysalis spoke into her communicator. "Even if they're accomplices to Kaitou Moon, they're not Kaitou Moon herself. She's the one that we're interested in. Sombra, do you see anything in here?"
"Just that suspicious-looking officer who entered without a partner."
"… Why didn't you say so sooner?! Which one?"
"Forgive me, but I thought that you had already noticed. It is the one near the geodes display, who is concealing a gun inside of their pants."
"The geodes? Got it. I'll check it out. And Gilda? … Read a book."
"Shut-"
Chrysalis muted her communicator and put it away, turning her head to look towards the geodes across the room. There, she found five officers patrolling the area. She narrowed her eyes and checked all of their legs, but could find no signs of a concealed weapon. "I swear, if you made that all up…" Chrysalis thought on how to determine whether or not one of the officers was an imposter when suddenly, an idea hit her.
"Alright everybody!" Chrysalis shouted. "We don't have long now until the heist! Please take out your phones now and text me your findings!"
Chrysalis kept her eyes focussed on the five officers. As expected, four of them joined the rest of the room in looking confused and slowly reaching for their phones, not sure of how exactly to proceed. The fifth, however, took out their phone without hesitation and started to browse through the phone… when suddenly, they craned their eyebrow in confusion.
"Something wrong, officer?" Chrysalis asked, walking across the room towards the officer holding their phone.
The officer looked up and said, "Forgive me, sir, but I forgot your number."
"Well, it's hard to forget something that you never learned…" Chrysalis lunged forwards and grabbed the officer's wrist. "Kaitou Moon."
"She almost looks cool," Sombra commented as he watched the spectacle with Gilda. "I can't wait to see how the famed Kaitou Moon breaks out of this one."
"How can she?" Gilda asked, leaning forwards for a better look.
"If she cannot, then I will be sorely disappointed. From all that I've heard, something of this nature should be child's play. By the way, aren't you supposed to be watching our two friends?"
"Ahh, they haven't moved an inch since I first found 'em!"
"Well of course not. They're bound and gagged." A thick silence filled the room. "Most likely, they are the officers that Kaitou Moon assaulted in order to obtain a uniform. Notice how one is hidden mostly in the shadows? That's to hide the fact that he's almost entirely naked."
Gilda slammed the desk before her and stood up suddenly. "Why didn't you say so sooner?!"
"My role is to advise you only. I can't be doing all of your work."
"They could need help!"
"I wouldn't be so concerned. Kaitou Moon's no killer."
"But-" Gilda gasped as she turned back to the screen. "T-They're gone?!"
Sombra flinched and snapped his attention to the monitor. "Oh? Perhaps there was a team assigned to patrol that section."
"No. There wasn't," Gilda said sternly. "Not during the time of the heist."
"… Then it seems that we have some new players. Call it in."
"Don't tell me what to do," Gilda said as she grabbed her communicator, before being startled by the door opening suddenly behind her. "Who-"
Sombra gasped and tried to back up as the room was filled with a white smoke, only to be reminded of the harsh reality of his bindings. Together with Gilda and his two escorts, Sombra slowly lost his vision as two figures entered the room, before losing his consciousness completely.
"So, you want to make this easy and just turn yourself in? Or are we going to have to do this the hard way?"
Trixie tried to pull herself free from Chrysalis' grasp, but to no avail. Several officers had surrounded her and had pointed their weapons forwards. "T-This is a mistake. I'm just an officer. If you let me show you my ID-"
"So it's like that, is it? Well, Kaitou Moon, once I pull off that mask of yours, the truth will become clear."
"My mask? I don't know what you mean." Trixie shuffled her right leg back-and-forth against the floor. "But you know, you shouldn't pay so much attention to just a person's face. You might miss out on their other attractive features." The sole of Trixie's shoe opened, and with it, so did a thick cloud of blue smoke that caused all of the surrounding people to back up and hold their breaths.
"Don't let go of her!" Gilda shouted as she ran up towards Chrysalis.
"Don't worry! I've got a tight grasp of her!" Chrysalis pulled back, revealing Kaitou Moon's arm… detached from the rest of her body. "AH!"
"A fake!" Gilda shouted, pulling out her gun and looking around. "Where is-"
The lights in the room turned off, followed by two spotlights shining on the case containing the Alicorn Amulet, where Kaitou Moon was standing in her usual outfit for all to see. "Ladies and gentlemen! Tonight's show… will now begin!"
Kaitou Moon raised her hand and snapped a finger, and then the glass of the case below her shattered. Everybody watched in horror as the thief reached inside and grabbed the amulet. "Stop or we'll shoot!" one officer threatened, as the rest all raised their guns in unison.
"But to do so would mean firing on your own kind!" Kaitou Moon held up an officer, tied and gagged, to shield her body. The atmosphere had grown tense, and some officers had even lowered their guns in response. "Now then, this man has volunteered for Kaitou Moon's next miraculous display of magic! Behold!" Kaitou Moon placed the Alicorn Amulet around the officer's neck, before shoving him into the crowd. "Now you see it, and now you don't!"
Smoke filled the area, and when it faded, the amulet around the confused hostage's neck had vanished. "It's in her hand!" Gilda shouted as she pointed up at the thief.
Kaitou Moon held the Alicorn Amulet up proudly as she reeled up towards the ceiling. "Open fire!" Bullets sprayed across the room, filling Kaitou Moon with holes that produced no blood. Mouths were dropped and the room was filled with hushed mumbling as the thief continued to make her escape, completely impervious to all of the bullets fired her way.
"Good night to all, and to all a good night!"
Gilda approached the hostage and offered a hand to help him up. "Are you okay?"
After being untied and removing the gag from his mouth, the officer replied, "I am fine, but I'd like to sit outside while I collect myself, if I may be excused."
"Sure. We're pretty much done here anyway… Okay guys, sweep the building! She must be on the next floor up!"
As the officers and agents marched through the room, the shaken hostage fled quickly towards the main entrance, a grin crossing his face as he left the building. After walking some distance, the officer eventually found his way to a hilltop just outside of the museum's parking lot.
"I'll be taking that amulet now," a feminine voice said as the officer felt something cold and metallic press against the back of his head. "Kaitou Moon."
"W-What are you talking about?" the officer asked, raising his shaking hands but not turning around. "Please, I have had a very traumatic experience, so please don't-"
"You know, when I was a teenager, I saw a ventriloquist's act on the street. Many people were entertained, but I wasn't, and do you know why? Because there's no comparing the actions of a living, breathing human, with those of a puppet."
"… What are you suggesting?"
"That the 'Kaitou Moon' that took you hostage was just a puppet, designed to carry out those actions whilst you provided the voice. That's why it didn't bleed when it was shot at, and the real location of the Alicorn Amulet… well, if I had to wager, I'd say it was under your jacket."
Trixie gritted her teeth together. To come so far, only to fail now… She turned her head to the side. There had to be something to do.
"It seems that you're out of tricks. What's the matter? Your past heists were all orchestrated so well, yet this one… your actions were rash, and you stood out too well. Could it be that our friends made you nervous? Or perhaps- GUH!"
"Huh?" Trixie turned to look over her shoulder. She found Chrysalis falling to the floor, her gun slipping out of her hand and firing off into the distance upon landing. "YIKES!"
"What was that?"
"It came from over there!"
Trixie clicked her tongue and reached up to her collar. "Well, whatever happened, I've gotta get out of here. Fast!" Trixie removed her disguise, revealing herself as Kaitou Moon, and then ran down the hill. As she jumped, her cape expanded, becoming a hang glider that allowed her to soar off into the night sky.
"It's Kaitou Moon! Shoot her down!"
Trixie simply laughed. She was already too far away for anybody to do anything about it. Trixie reached beneath her jacket so that she could admire her prize… "What?! Where did it-" Trixie gasped.
Gilda looked off into the distance, watching as Kaitou Moon made her escape whilst the guards around her scrambled to get into their vehicles. Looking down at the Alicorn Amulet in her hands, Gilda smiled.
"Well, at least we managed to get this back," she said, before reaching up to her face and removing her mask. "Thank you for letting me tag along," the pink-haired, pink-skinned girl said as she looked down at Chrysalis' unconscious body to her side. "Shiny would have freaked out if her knew I was here, but I just had to see this thief. I suppose I owe you one… Though I don't understand why you had me disguise myself as Gilda. Perhaps you anticipated something like this?"
Cadance looked back into the distance, no longer able to see Kaitou Moon. "Perhaps you think that that thief… knows us too well?"
If Trixie was in her room, she would be giving her desk the beating of a lifetime. "How the hell did that all-brawn-no-brains agent manage to trick me like that?! She slipped the amulet out of my pocket whilst she untied me?! Damnit! As if this can't get any worse!"
As Trixie soared, something caught her attention. A car down below, not paying any heed to the speed limits. Trixie took out her binoculars and took a closer look at the car… "Sunset Shimmer? And that's Shining Armor. What's that he's holding?"
Trixie watched as Shining Armor leaned down in the car, and then come back up with a rifle in his hands. "He's going to shoot me down?!" Trixie saw a spark coming from the barrel of the gun and suddenly felt some turbulence. Looking up, Trixie spotted a hole in her hang glider and quickly began to descend. "No no no no NO!"
Trixie tried to steer, but it to be a hefty challenge. Even as she slowly turned, Sunset Shimmer seemed to have no problem keeping up. "Like hell I'll let you catch me!" Trixie turned again, passing over a rooftop and watching as Sunset Shimmer broke through a fence, pursuing her through alleyways. Trixie turned once more, this time forced by the wind. She bit her lip as she watched the car speeding below her… before swerving suddenly to the side and stopping in the middle of the road. "What-"
Trixie's phone rang, startling her for a moment. She reached into her pocket and examined the screen. Her eyes widened, and she hesitantly answered the call. "… Fuchsia?"
"I saw those two waiting outside," Fuchsia explained over the phone. "I gathered they were waiting for you to make your escape so I drained their fuel tank. They can't follow you anymore, so come land somewhere safe."
"Wait, why are you-" The phone cut off, and Trixie simply returned the device to her pocket as she looked around for a suitable place to land. She found a nice, secluded alleyway across the nearby river where she should be safe from prying eyes. "You girls… You came back for me?"
"Of course we did!" Lavender Lace shouted, before slapping Trixie's face. "The Alicorn Amulet?! Really?!"
"You're lucky to have come out of that alive!" Fuchsia Blush scolded whilst she ran a device over Trixie's body.
"Hey, I had it perfectly under control!" Trixie returned.
"Is that why there's a tracking device on you?!" Fuchsia grabbed the device from Trixie's clothing and smashed it into the ground.
"And why you were held at gunpoint by that agent?" Lavender followed.
"And why you were going to be brought down by Shining Armor and Sunset Shimmer had we not intervened?"
"And not to mention, you lost the amulet!"
"Okay! Okay!"
"Really now, how disappointing." The three girls snapped their attentions to the side, where a figure in the shadows emerged, pointing a gun towards them. "We gave you one simply job, Kaitou Moon. And then you go and let us down. I wonder what we should do with you?"
"W-Who are you?" Lavender Lace asked.
"Oh?" Did Trixie not tell you about me?"
"I know that voice," Fuchsia Blush said. "You're one of those girls who attacked our school's concert! Something Dazzling!"
"Aria Blaze," the figure said in an annoyed tone. "And that doesn't matter. What does is that you didn't steal the Alicorn Amulet."
"So you'll just go ahead and kill us?" Trixie asked. "If you do that, then how can I steal anything for you?"
"She's got a point, Aria!" a voice shouted from overhead.
"Shut it, Sonata! Just keep your eye on them and shoot if any of them makes a run for it!"
"Okay!"
Trixie gulped. "H-Hey, I'm the one who screwed this heist up, alright? Fuchsia and Lavender have nothing to do with this!"
"Oh, but they do. They chose to prioritise your escape over stealing the amulet." Aria chuckled and holstered her gun. "But it's your lucky day. Adagio said that she'll give you one last chance. The details will be delivered to your in just a few days."
"And if we refuse?" Fuchsia asked.
"Are you dense or something?" Aria deadpanned. "Your hostages. What do you think will happen if you refuse?"
"We're… hostages?" Fuchsia turned to Trixie, who simply nodded in confirmation. "So that's why…"
"If you have a problem with it, you could always go to the police," Aria suggested. "But of course, that would mean revealing who you really are. Well, I'm going now. Sonata's gonna keep her sights on you for a few minutes, to make sure you don't follow me. Once she tells you to leave, you can." Aria turned around and vanished into the shadows, leaving the three girl alone as rain began to pour down from above.
"Trixie," Lavender Lace spoke up, breaking through the thick silence. "You have some explaining to do."