//------------------------------//
// The Raid 
// Story: Dark Matter 
// by moguera 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 5: The Raid

Spike's flames consumed the letter, turning it into a cloud of glittering smoke that went streaming out of the library.  "Okay...that's it for the Princesses," he said.  "I should write Shining too."
Arkenstone nodded.  Even without the stallion's prompting, Spike was already bent over another scroll, writing away.
The group had assembled in the library.  Arkenstone and the remaining four Element Bearers were there.  Fluttershy had brought both Scootaloo and Dawn with her.  Rumble and Sweetie were there as well, while Applejack had opted to leave Apple Bloom back at the farm.  The hour was late, though.  In spite of their anxiety, or perhaps because of it, the foals had started to fall asleep and Rarity had taken them upstairs to tuck them into Twilight's bed.  Even Dawn hadn't been able to stay awake, mostly because he was still recovering.
"But how are we gonna figure out where in Canterlot they took her?" asked Applejack, frowning as she looked across the library table at the stallion, "That place is crawlin' with ponies who've been lookin' to do somethin' with 'er.  It could'a been any one 'o them varmints."
"That's quite true," agreed Rarity, "But perhaps we can narrow it down.  Whomever was behind this must have been one of the ponies pressing Fancy Pants to have Twilight come to his fundraiser.  They must have realized that, if she was coming, then Twilight would come to me to fit her for a dress."
"And they already had somepony in place the whole time," said Arkenstone.
Rarity felt her stomach start to churn as she was reminded of who had clearly helped those ponies abduct Twilight.  Her heart couldn't reconcile with the idea of such a sweet mare like Coco being part of this whole affair.  "Do you really think she was working for somepony the whole time?"
"I think," said Arkenstone, "that whoever was behind this had some sort of leverage over Coco Pommel that would allow that pony to force her to act under the proper circumstances.  Her room in your house was saturated with the scent of fear.  I believe she might have been living under a state of near constant anxiety.  That said, I don't believe she was a willing participant."
"But why take her with them?" asked Applejack.
"Because she's a loose end," said Arkenstone grimly, "If they had left her behind, she would be able to point us in the direction of whoever was controlling her actions.  So they needed to cover their tracks."
"No!" exclaimed Pinkie, "If they did that..."  Everypony turned to stare at the bright-pink mare as her normally puffy, curly mane began to deflate like a balloon.  Her bright-blue eyes were lined with tears and she looked terrified.  "If they did that, then poor Coco..."
Arkenstone swallowed.  "Yes.  They most likely have no intention of leaving her alive."
Rarity's hoof went to her mouth.  "No!" she whispered.
"We've got to hurry!" exclaimed Pinkie.
Beside Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy reached over and settled a gentle hoof on Pinkie's shoulder.  "We'll do what we can," Fluttershy promised, giving her friend a faint smile.
Applejack snorted and thumped her hoof against the table.  "This doom and gloom horseapples ain't gonna help us find Twilight or Coco.  We need to get goin' now!"
The others nodded, turning their gaze to Arkenstone, who had lowered his muzzle nearly all the way to the table.  "I think we need to tread carefully," he said.
"Whatever do you mean, darling?" asked Rarity.
"I was all for it before.  But I've had time to cool my head now.  Unfortunately, however quickly we act, it may already be too late for Coco."
Rarity shuddered and sagged down, barely noticing when Applejack wrapped her up in a hug and glared across the table at Arkenstone.
"However, if Coco Pommel is still alive, then it would be because they have some other use for her, so we might have a generous window.  Either she is dead already or they will not kill her for a while yet.  Considering the situation...I think that the latter is more likely."
"Wha-what makes you say that?" asked Rarity, lifting her face from Applejack's shoulder.
"Because, despite the fact that she was nowhere near as close to Coco as you were, I believe Twilight considers Coco to be a friend," said Arkenstone, finally lifting his head back up, "And it would be an extremely unwise move to directly harm a friend of hers, especially since the pony responsible for this would ultimately desire Twilight's cooperation in one form or another.
"Whoever arranged this whole affair is not stupid.  He or she had the foresight to arrange to have a means of control over a pony placed very close to us, possibly as nothing more than a contingency.  That means the responsible party is not so foolish as to underestimate Twilight's connection with the friend of a friend.  She would be much less likely to cooperate if Coco was harmed in any fashion."
"Well...that's reassuring," said Rarity, blowing her nose into a hoofkerchief.  "But that still leaves us right back where we started.  How in Equestria do we find the ones responsible for this travesty?"
"Well...maybe Shining knows something," said Spike, jumping back into the conversation now that he'd finished his third letter, "I think he had some friends keeping their eyes on the nobles who might be trouble."
"Hopefully," said Arkenstone, "In the meantime, I think we need to be patient and wait.  If we go charging off willy-nilly, we could end up causing more problems than we solve.  Merely from the evidence left behind from their passing, and from what Rumble told me, the ponies who carried out the abduction are probably mercenaries belonging to larger force.  When we try to rescue Twilight, we will probably have to contend with them as well."
"So we just set and cool our hooves then?" asked Applejack.
"For now," said Arkenstone, "Besides, I wouldn't put it past Twily to save herself."  He smirked.  "She and I have been working to prepare for an occasion like this after all.  She has some assets that I'm willing to bet our opponent hasn't accounted for.  Let's be patient and wait to hear back from Shining and the Princesses for now."
He turned to regard the two others that hung back on the edges of the room.  "Your input?"
Skan shifted his ebony bulk and took a second to hum in thought before answering.  "There is something that strikes me as unusual about this whole affair."
"What is that?" asked Arkenstone.
Zhan answered.  "This abduction seems to be an attack of opportunity, more than anything else.  It's incredibly unlikely that a single pony could have arranged this turn of events.  First, the town is wrecked by some crazed cultist pony.  Then one of the few decent nobles in Canterlot decides to set up a fundraiser to help the town out, which leads to Twilight Sparkle being invited at the urging of many other nobles."
"Our culprit already had Rarity's apprentice under his or her hoof," continued Skan, "That pony probably had several different potential uses for the poor mare.  However, as soon as the culprit learned that Twilight would be coming to attend Fancy Pants' fundraiser in Canterlot, that pony realized this was the perfect opportunity to use Coco to secure Twilight Sparkle."
"I see," said Arkenstone, "That raises several issues.  This would be considered an unwise move.  As reckless as he was, even Steel Flint went to great lengths to manufacture an appropriate pretense to try and force Twilight under his control.  Whatever move this pony makes next, whatever purpose she tries to use Twilight for, that would be undermined by the fact that everypony would already know that Twilight had been abducted against her will."
"Perhaps that means that whoever has taken Twilight has ambitions beyond mere political maneuvers," said Rarity, "But what could possibly be her aim?"
"I don't know," said Arkenstone, "But finding out may be critical to figuring out their next move."



"Your Majesty!  What's the matter?"  Upon hearing Celestia's gasp, one of the pegasus Guards flying escort for her chariot dropped back to ask her.  Their flight was taking them out to Appleloosa, where they intended to strike at the temple around midday, coordinating their action with the Guards that would be arriving by train.
"Twilight has been foalnapped," said Celestia, reading the letter a second time, "and she has apparently been taken to Canterlot."
"Should we turn back?"
Celestia was silent for a moment.  It was clear that her first instinct was to return to Canterlot and find her precious student, who was almost like a daughter to her.  However, after taking a deep breath, Celestia hardened her gaze and faced forward, refusing to so much as glance back where they had come from.  "No.  Twilight is far stronger than our enemies give her credit for.  I will place my trust in her and let the fools who did this learn to regret their actions."
"As you wish," said the Guard, looking a bit troubled.  Nonetheless, he resumed his position and they proceeded onward.



The doors to the audience chamber swung open sharply.  "Your Highness!" called Wight Shade as he stepped into the chamber, "Shining Armor is here to see you."
Princess Luna's audience chamber was distinctly different in design from the rest of the Royal Palace.  Instead of white marble, the floors and walls were dark-gray granite.  Dimly burning torches hung from sconces and the floor was littered with cushions and pillows.  On a raised dais at the front of the room, upon a particularly large cushion, lounged Princess Luna, normally deep asleep and monitoring the dreams of her subjects.
However, she was awake now, reading over a letter that had been delivered by dragonfire.  "Let him in."
Wight nodded and stepped to the side to allow the Captain of the Royal Guard to enter the room.  Shining wasn't in uniform at the moment, the alabaster coat showing dark shadows underneath his eyes and the tangled state of his blue mane showing that he'd only recently gotten out of bed.
Luna took one look at the distraught stallion and hefted the letter in her magical grip.  "I take it that you received word as well."
Slowly, Shining nodded.  "I'll take the Guard and begin combing the city for her."
Luna's eyes narrowed.  "What Guard, Shining?  Princess Celestia took nearly all of the Royal Guard with her.  All that remains are a few token members, barely enough to watch the Palace, and the members of my personal Guard, who are busy filling in where they can.  If we take anymore, there will be nopony left to guard the Palace.  Besides, you may be playing into the hooves of whoever arranged this if you do that."
Shining growled in frustration, but it was clear that he understood Luna's arguments.  The skeleton Guard left behind were busy guarding the palace vaults and other important areas, where numerous treasures, some priceless, others dangerous, many both, rested.  Those vaults could not afford to be left unattended.
Luna was thinking hard.  "The SES is gone as well..."  Her ears perked upright and her muzzle shot up as she looked at Shining.  "Maybe there is somepony who can help us in this situation."
"Who?" asked Shining.
"A pony with a skill-set perfectly suited to this sort of situation," said Luna, "One who is skilled and experienced in covert operations, who happens to be here in the Palace, right now."
Shining's eyes betrayed his confusion, but only for a moment as realization quickly dawned.  "Her?  Are you sure that we can trust her?"
Luna nodded.  "I have been watching her closely ever since she was assigned to my service.  I believe that she truly regrets her actions and has learned her lesson.  Helping us with this situation would furnish her with the chance to commute her sentence and earn a reprieve."
"Is that really all right?" asked Shining, more than a little leery of allowing a mare who'd committed such a serious crime to get off any more lightly than she already had.
Luna nodded.  "I have no intention of holding a grudge against a mare who has learned her lesson.  If she is willing to help in this situation, than she will have earned her freedom, as far as I am concerned."
"If you think that is for the best, then I will call her and get to work right away," said Shining.
Luna smiled.  "Good luck to you both."
Shining hesitated as he turned to leave.  "Could you locate Twilight through her dreams?"
Luna sighed.  "Yes and no.  I can locate her on the dreamscape, particularly if her dreams are troubled.  However, even if I learn the location of her physical body and whose custody she is in, my geis will not allow me to bring that information back into the waking world with me.  Finding her will be up to you, I'm afraid."
Shining nodded.
"Do not worry overly much for your sister's wellbeing," said Luna, "Whoever performed this act would not be so foolish as to do anything to harm her.  Besides, Twilight Sparkle is far more resourceful than those imbecilic nobles give her credit for."
Shining nodded in agreement.  "I'm gonna try and find her before she breaks herself out."
"Good luck," said Luna, settling back down onto her cushions as the doors to her audience chamber closed behind Shining Armor.



The night passed and the sun rose the next morning over Canterlot.  Even though everything seemed normal, there was something different about the atmosphere of Equestria's capital, as though the city was holding its collective breath.  The air hummed with tension that very few ponies seemed to notice at first.  The streets were emptier than usual, not because ponies had decided to stay indoors, but because there was a noticeable absence of Guards on patrol.
The lack of Guards gradually led to a level of heightened awareness as ponies realized they needed to keep their wits about them.  The Guards on patrol were the primary deterrents to crime in the city.  Fortunately, Canterlot had the lowest rate of crimes, attempted or otherwise, for a city its size in the country.  However, with the Guards gone, certain enterprising ponies had noticed opportunity, whilst more wary ponies had sensed danger.  That balance of awareness kept everything quiet and safe for the time being.  However, that quiet was bound not to last.
The main gate to the Royal Palace was one of the few places where Guards were still stationed.  The two ponies standing on either side of the massive gate did their utmost to stifle yawns and maintain the appearance of being stoically alert for any signs of threat as they surveyed the road leading up to the Palace.  It had been a long, uneventful shift for them.  Unfortunately, said shift had been stretched by the absence of enough ponies to rotate in and out.  This particular pair had been on duty since midnight and they were not able to change with their replacements until midday.
As a concession to the circumstances, they had been brought food by the Palace staff and had eaten it at their stations, which was normally unheard of for members of the Guard.  They held full canteens of water, from which they periodically relieved their parched throats.  However, that could only go so far.  Their eyelids were drooping and their bodies were growing heavy.  At the moment, they cared less about maintaining their watchful stances and more about finally returning to their beds.
A maid from the Palace staff trotted through the massive hallway that formed the Palace's main entryway behind them, her hooves clicking against the marble floor as she hoisted a mop, pail, and other cleaning supplies in the aura of her magic, carrying them to some small section of the palace where the floors needed to be cleaned.  Normally, such an event would not have been worth noticing.  However, one of the Guards, bored after a long, uneventful shift, turned his head to look at her.
It was the last thing he ever did.
His ear picked up a faint whistling noise as his head turned to the side.  Said whistling noise was coming from outside the Palace.  However, before the Guard could turn to register it, a beam of jet-black magic, about half an inch across, pierced his helmet, passing straight through the skull beneath it, before exiting out the other side.  A jet of blood followed the bolt out through the exit room, splattering across the marble, the marring it horribly with a dark-read smear.
The event had been so quick and so quiet, that his companion right on the other side of the door didn't even realize that anything had happened until the dead Guard slumped to the ground with a clank of armor.  Just as the other Guard turned his head to regard his dead companion, before he could even comprehend what had happened, a second whistling noise signaled his demise as another splash of red decorated the entryway.
The maid, whose attention had been drawn by the sound of the Guards' collapse, turned to survey the scene, her eyes widening.  She let out a shrill scream and scrambled down the hallway, the sound of her hooves receding into the distance as she sought help from the pitifully undermared Royal Guard.
At the entryway, the bodies of the two Guards lay in silence for about two minutes.  Then, there was a clank of armor as nearly a dozen armed and armored pegasi swooped down from the sky.  Behind them, eight more pegasi pulled a pair of armored carriages in for a landing on the causeway just outside of the Palace gates.  On top of the carriages stood a number of similarly armored unicorns, roughly a dozen, all told.  The carriages had barely slid to a stop before their doors sprang open and more armored ponies, earth ponies and unicorns both, poured out of them to form up along with the pegasi, the carriage pullers unhitching themselves to join their comrades.
An emerald-green, battle-scarred pegasus swooped down to land at the front of the group.  Greenblight turned and gave his subordinates a commanding glare.  He said nothing, but merely jerked his head in the direction of the entryway before hefting the long, slightly curving shaft of his heavy scythe and taking the lead, flying low over the floor as the group pounded down the entryway.  As they moved, Greenblight snorted in irritation as he passed the hall the maid had bolted down earlier.  We missed one, but Inkwell didn't have a good angle this far into the hall.  Things just got a little bit harder.  I hope the colt does his part.
Following the instructions given by their employer, Greenblight led his Banehammers down hallways, up staircases, moving with absolute certainty through the Palace's labyrinthine confines toward their quarry.



Shining groaned and rubbed his temples.  Since receiving Spike's letter about Twilight's foalnapping, he'd been up all night.  He felt tired.  But, at the same time, he was far too upset to try and go back to sleep.  Cadance wasn't any better.  She was pacing back and forth behind her husband as he sat at his desk, going over everything he could find to try and figure out just who had taken his sister away.
The doors opened and a dark-gray pegasus mare came in, her hooves making no sound, even on the polished marble as she walked up to the desk.  Shining had seen her frequently in recent months, almost always dressed in a maid's uniform.  However, she wore no such uniform right now.  The collar around her neck signified her true status.
"Shade Steel," said Shining, "If it weren't for the fact that we desperately need your skills, I wouldn't even consider doing this.  But right now, we don't have much choice."
"What's wrong?" asked Shade Steel.  She had formerly been a member of the Royal Guard, in fact belonging to the formidable unit known as the SES.  A fighter skilled in close combat and covert operations, she had served with distinction until the return of Princess Luna.  Since her youngest days, Shade had been indoctrinated in the lore of the Order of Celestial Light, otherwise known as the Cult Solar.  Resigning from her position, Shade had served the Cult's interests until she learned of a certain colt staying in Ponyville.  Her attempt on Dawn Lightwing's life had ended in her defeat and capture.  As punishment, she was forced to wear the collar around her neck, restraining her magic, and was forced to serve as a member of Princess Luna's staff.
Shade had found a great many reasons to regret her actions.  Even now, she fully understood the look of intense dislike on Shining Armor's face as he regarded her.  However, at the same time, she could also see the fear and desperation that lurked behind that expression.
"My sister has been foalnapped," said Shining simply, "She was taken from Ponyville and was apparently brought somewhere in Canterlot.  We are certain that a member of the Noble Court is behind this.  Right now, with most of the Royal Guard out on Princess Celestia's operation, we simply don't have the ponies to conduct a citywide search.  On top of that, without evidence, we can't search any of the nobles' estates...not openly, at least."
"So that's where I come in?" observed Shade with a nod, "You want me to try and find some evidence of where Twilight was taken."
Shining nodded his agreement.  "If you can do it without being caught, Princess Luna has said that your sentence will be commuted."
Shade pursed her lips.  The news was shocking.  She supposed that her freedom was a fine carrot to dangle, but she would have done what she could to help regardless.  I need to make up for my foolishness.  Instead of fixating on that fact, her mind instead turned to the task that had been asked of her.  "It's still far too much for me alone," she said, "There are hundreds of nobles in Canterlot.  It would take forever to go through their estates one by one.  Is there any information that we can use to narrow down the list of suspects?"
Shining sighed and slid a packet of papers across the desk to her.  At the same time, there was a flare of rose-colored magic from his horn.  The clasp of the collar around Shade's neck parted with a snap and fell away.  Shade barely even noticed, save to reach up a hoof to gently rub the area under where the collar had been as she was already looking over the information Shining had given her.
It was the information that had been sent to Shining by Arkenstone via Spike's dragonfire.  Within it was a description of the circumstances surrounding the abduction, including a recording of Rumble's witness testimony and even a rough illustration of the insignia that had been worn by the ponies the colt had seen.
Shade's eyes widened as she looked at the image of the crimson hammer.  "The Banehammers!"
"You know them?"" asked Shining.
"They were in the SES files for groups marked as potential enemies," said Shade, "They're a pretty brutal group, a miniature private army basically.  They weren't considered an immediate threat because their primary operations were outside of Equestria.  They've taken part in Saddle Arabian feuds and even inter-aerie conflicts in the griffon territories.  I've even heard that the more unfriendly aeries gave them a title that's considered the highest mark of respect they can give non-griffon creatures."
"What's that?" asked Shining.
"Tough Meat."  Shade frowned as she flipped through the information Shining had given her.  "This is bad.  They have a lot of experience.  Their leaders are ponies who don't mess around.  If they're involved..."
"It probably means whoever's behind this has bigger plans than just Twilight," said Shining with a growl, "There's no way they'd have ponies like that around for just a simple abduction."
Shade nodded.  "Still...the Banehammers don't exactly have a reputation for subtlety.  I'm amazed they executed the actual foalnapping with so little noise.  A more straightforward smash and grab approach would be more their style for something like that."
"Maybe they're a bit more canny than you think," suggested Shining, not quite avoiding inflecting the remark like an insult.  He saw Shade wince in front of him, only to catch a wing to back of his head from his wife.  He gave a glaring Cadance an apologetic glance over his shoulder.
Shade looked at the pink alicorn princess, who gave Shade a small smile from where she stood.  The sight of that smile warmed Shade's heart and she resolved to do her best.
The door to the office slammed open to admit a panting stallion that Shining had seen not too long ago.  "We're under attack!" gasped Wight Shade, looking past Shade Steel with wide eyes at Shining.
"What?" exclaimed Shining, shooting to his hooves, "What's happening?"
"There was a commotion in the entryway," said Wight, "A maid saw the whole thing.  Somepony attacked the two guards on duty.  Now armed ponies have been sighted moving through the Palace!"
"Where were they last seen?" demanded Shining, stepping out from behind his desk.
"They were on the second level and making their way up," said Wight.
"Up..."  Shining froze.  Wait a minute!  Nearly all the important vaults are on the lower and basement levels.  Certainly, there were any number of valuable art objects lining the hallways of nearly every level of the castle, but this was far too much for a simple burglary.  The only thing that could truly be of value to an attacking force in the upper levels of the Palace would be...
"The Elements!" shouted Cadance, reaching the same conclusion as Shining, "They're trying to steal the Elements!"
Jumping out from behind his desk, Shining rushed to the door.  He turned to Wight Shade, "Call up every Guard in the Palace.  I don't care where they're stationed, tell them to form up outside the Elements' vault."
"But it's too late," protested Wight, "They're going to get there before the Guards can."
"I know," said Shining, striding past the floundering majordomo, "But it's going to take them time to break into the vault.  If we can move quickly enough, we can get into position to intercept them on the way out.  Make sure you call up everypony, even Luna's Guard."
"All right," said Wight, bounding out into the hall.
"What about you?" asked Cadance.
"I'm going too," said Shining, "Even if it takes time for the Guards to assemble, I can bottle those jerks up with one of my shields."
"Be careful," said Cadance, coming up to rub her cheek against his, "I don't want you to get hurt like last time."
"It's okay," said Shining with a small smile to his wife, "It's not like Perlin Bluestreak is involved this time."
Stepping out into the hallway, Shining made to set off at a gallop towards the the vault.  However, he'd barely gotten two bounds down the hallway before a shadow passing by a window caught his attention.  The windows on the opposite side of the hall from his office looked out over Canterlot's many homes and estates.  From there, Shining could see a blur of black and silver descending towards him.  His ears twitched at the sound of glass breaking and he threw his body down, skidding across the smooth marble of the floor as he heard several metallic pings along the wall directly behind where he'd been standing.
Looking back, Shining caught sight of several blade-like objects made of silver metal embedded in the wall.  He barely had enough time to take in some additional details before they were pulled back, right out through the openings they'd cut through the window.  Feathers...Uh oh!
With a crash of breaking glass, a window further down the hallway exploded inward.  Shining's eyes were almost blinded by the gleam of sunlight off of the mithril feathers of Perlin Bluestreak as the colt spun about, landing daintily on his hooves, his wings spread out from under the black cloak he wore, and settled himself in Shining's path.
"Ugh...I spoke too soon," said Shining with a groan.
"My apologies, Captain Armor," said Perlin politely, an uncharacteristically serious look on his face, "But I have been asked to detain you here for the time being."
Oh bother...



Greenblight and his ponies emerged out into the late-morning sunshine, galloping across a broad walkway lined by battlements on either side.  Ahead of them lay a separate annex of the Palace.  The two large, wooden doors that led into this part of the Palace stood closed.  This was the Cathedral of Harmony, where the Elements were held.
"Force 'em open!" roared Greenblight.
Six of his unicorns strode to the front of their formation and let their horns, the varying colors of their magic mingling together to form a swirling orb of energy in front of them, which they then launched straight at the doors.  The sturdy wooden constructs shattered into splinters upon contact with the powerful blast.
"Everypony in!" ordered Greenblight, shifting his scythe so that he could wave the rest of his force forward with his free hoof, "Get set up!  This might take a while, so make sure we're well entrenched."
His ponies leapt to obey his orders.  Inside, they ripped up every piece of furniture they could find, stacking them together to form a barricade in the doorway.  Two of his unicorns rushed straight for the vault at the back of the large, open room.  As he touched down behind them to monitor their progress, Greenblight's eye took in his surroundings.  He didn't like the look of the large, stained glass windows.  They were works of art, most of them depicting events famed in song and story.  Here was an image of the two Princesses circling one another.  There was an image of Discord tormenting the innocent.  Another window showed six very familiar-looking mares facing a dark alicorn.  Next to it was the same sextet of mares sealing Discord.
Greenblight didn't care about their beauty.  To him, art was only worth as much as it could be sold for.  However, he did care that the windows would give easy entry to any pegasi who might try to come in behind their lines.  We need to get this done quickly.
"Make sure those windows are covered," he barked to his ponies.
As the earth ponies and pegasi continued to work on the barricade, the remaining unicorns carefully moved to the sides of the hall, covering the windows across from their positions.
Letting out a sigh, Greenblight turned back to watch the two unicorns working the vault itself.  The tips of their horns glowed white hot as their magic burned into the metal the vault was composed of.  However, they seemed to be making no progress.  That idiot informant didn't bother to tell us how to open the damn thing, he thought irritably.
"It's no good," said one of the unicorns, pulling back from the door, panting, "It'd take us a week to get through this."
"What about the lock?" asked Greenblight.
One of the unicorns frowned and pushed his horn into the small opening that sat square in the center of the vault door.  There was no response and he pulled his horn back out, heaving a sigh of relief.  "Well, it's not booby-trapped at least.  But it's probably keyed to the Princesses."
"There has to be some way," muttered Greenblight, glaring at the vault.  He hadn't come this far to be stymied by a stupid door.  If they took too long, the remaining Guards in the Palace would assemble and they'd be forced to fight their way out, which would be a royal pain in the rump if the enemy was properly assembled.
"Do you require some assistance?"
Greenblight jumped and whirled about, lifting his scythe and whipping it through an arc in the direction of the voice.  However, the voice's owner merely stepped inside the arc of the swing and raised a foreleg to catch the shaft of the weapon, neatly knocking it back.  Greenblight's eye widened as he recognized the stallion standing in front of him.  "You!  You're the informant?"
"Of course I am," said Wight Shade with a polite smile, "I do more than just arrange employment contracts, you know."
"How did you get in here?" demanded Greenblight, trying to find the entrance for himself.  After all, if Wight could enter without anypony noticing him, then such an entryway was a possible point of insertion for the Guards as well.
"Trade secret," replied Wight blithely, "However, you needn't worry about my means of entry threatening your entrenchment."  He held out a hoof.  Clutched in his fetlock was a cast of a horn, a particularly long and elegant-looking horn.  "This is a skeleton key of sorts.  You can use this to open the vault."
Greenblight glared at the odd stallion for a moment, not sure if he should trust Wight.  However, they were short on time, so the scarred mercenary took the proffered cast and tossed it over his shoulder to one of the unicorns behind him.  The unicorn set down the cast over his own horn and inserted it into the lock.  A second later, there was a click and the vault door swung open.
Turning to see what was inside, Greenblight spotted a large chest that his ponies were already working to pull out.  "Load it up and let's get out of here," he said, "As for you-"  He turned back to see that Wight had seemingly vanished into thin air, much like his namesakes.  A chill went down the mercenary's spine and he was tempted to write the whole thing off as a vivid hallucination.  However, the results spoke for themselves and Greenblight knew he hadn't been imagining it.
Behind him, the two unicorns that had opened the vault door were joined by a quartet of of earth ponies, who slid two long poles through the rings on either side of the chest so that they ran across its front and back before resting the poles on their shoulders and the chest sat suspended between them.
"Contact!" shouted one of the ponies guarding the entryway.  Greenblight flew up to the barricade and looked over.  Ahead of them, on the other end of the walkway, he could see the shapes of ponies moving through the door they had come through.  The Guards were assembling.  It looks like we're going to have to fight our way out after all.
"Orders, sir?" asked the earth pony next to him.
"Get ready to breach the barricade and move out," said Greenblight, "We're heading back the way we came."
"And the enemy?"
"I'll break 'em," said Greenblight, hefting his scythe once again, "You know the drill!"
His subordinates nodded and began to form up, the earth ponies and unicorns taking up stations around the chest, while the pegasi assembled ahead of them, preparing to take to the air the moment they were out the door.
"Ready when you are, sir!" shouted the lead earth pony.
"Okay.  Let me put my game face on," said Greenblight, a savage smile decorating his face.  He began to inhale and exhale rapidly, looking to any ordinary pony as though he were hyperventilating.  His breathing grew more and more rapid with each passing second.  The pupil of his single visible eye began to contract, shrinking into a tiny dot as red veins began to crawl across the white.  With the force of Greenblight's breathing, snot and spittle began to fly from his nose and mouth, gradually getting whiter and foamier with each exhalation.
Even though he was their leader, alongside whom they'd fought for years, the armored ponies behind Greenblight took uneasy steps back as their leader continued to go through with his strange ritual, none of them daring to utter a sound.



Perlin surged forward, slashing one wing in front of him.  Shining had already conjured up a barrier.  However, just as it had the first time the two of them had tangled, Perlin's feathers cleaved almost effortlessly through it.
"I told you once before," said Perlin.
"Right," grunted Shining, "Technique."  Let's see how your technique handles this!  As Perlin surged forward to press his attack, Shining conjured another barrier.  Reversing his wing's motion, Perlin brought the same wing back along the path it had traced earlier.  Once again, his feathers pierced through the barrier with almost no resistance.  However, rather than rupturing and vanishing, the shimmering field of rose-colored energy seemed to cling to Perlin's feathers like some kind of gooey substance.  Even as Perlin tugged his wing back towards him, the shield stretched and was pulled along with it like a mass of bubblegum.
Looks like mixing my shield with a flytrap spell was a good choice, thought Shining with a grim smile as he lowered his horn, pointing it straight at Perlin.  The spell had changed the shield's consistency, altering it so that it didn't simply rupture like a popped bubble the moment it was penetrated.  Instead, it clung to whatever touched it and stretched to entangle its victim.  Ironically, the shield was actually weaker like this.  If Perlin had simply bulled forward, he could have been within striking distance before the shield's sticky qualities would have been able to stop him.
Perlin pulled his wing back, pivoting his body to bring his other wing around.  The action simply continued to stretch the magic clinging to the first wing and actually drew it across Perlin's body so that it could begin sticking to his chest, entangling him further.
I've got him now, thought Shining as he fired up an attack spell.  However, that spell was quickly canceled with a yelp as Perlin launched five metal feathers from his free wing, hurtling them like darts straight for Shining's body.
The feathers punched through the shield with ease, stretching it and taking it with them, even as Perlin continued to pull back the part attached to his opposite wing even further.  Shining managed to shift so that he went between the wired feathers that Perlin had launched.  However, he realized the trap too late.  He's trying to entangle me with my own spell!
The wires attached to Perlin's feathers were trailing even more of the sticky magic.  With a twitch of his wing, Perlin halted the feathers' forward momentum and instead swung them in towards each other so that the wires, and the magic adhered to them, converged on Shining as well.
Shoot! thought Shining.  With but a thought, he canceled his original spell, causing the sticky sheathe of magic to vanish, freeing Perlin and his feathers.  Perlin quickly retracted the feathers by their wires, drawing them back so that they would slash at Shining's body as they passed.  However, Shining had anticipated the attack and vanished in a burst of magic before the feathers could reach him, reappearing a few meters back.
Even as he retracted his feathers, Perlin once again pivoted his body, swinging the opposite wing around and launching the five feathers on that wing, sending them lancing straight at Shining.  Shining grimaced and called up, not one, but three shields, one behind the other, each one with a slightly different angle and curvature.  One of Perlin's feathers glanced off the first shield, but the other four pierced through it with no visible resistance.  The second shield managed to block another feather.  Of the remaining three, one bounced off the third shield, while the second lodged halfway through it.  The fifth and final feather penetrated the third shield, but had been knocked off-course enough that it missed Shining by a few inches.
Just as I thought, he's gotten better, thought Shining grimly as his shields collapsed.  The first time they had fought, Perlin hadn't been able to cut through his shields at a distance.  But the young stallion had clearly improved his skills if his wired feathers were now able to pierce even three of Shining's shields with some degree of success.
"I'm impressed," said Perlin, "I thought that would have caught you off-guard."
"I'm not stupid," replied Shining, "Some of my best friends are martial artists.  I know better than to think you won't improve over time.  You're not the only one who's been working hard."
"Oh?"  Perlin raised an eyebrow, enjoying himself in spite of the situation.  I'm glad my mission is merely to stall him.  This is actually quite fun.
Shining, on the other hoof, wasn't enjoying himself near as much.  I can't afford to let myself get stalled here.  He's playing for time.  I need to take the offensive.  It wasn't a good position for a battle mage like him to be in.  Between battle mages and martial artists, battle mages were at a severe disadvantage when it came to initiative.  A spell had to be envisioned, constructed, and projected.  While, like any good battle mage, Shining had worked to streamline his mental process to reduce the casting lag, that simply couldn't compete with a martial artist at this range.  Perlin had undoubtedly trained himself to react without thinking.  In a situation like this, Perlin would always react first.  That, combined with the fact that he had the technique to cut through magic, gave him the definitive advantage in this confrontation.
Gritting his teeth, Shining decided that now was the time to use his trump card.  After all, if I don't use it now, then what did I bother creating this spell for?
Shining's horn flared once again, calling a solid, flat wall into being in front of him.  Perlin canted his head at the sight of the shield, watching it curiously.  This one seemed unusual.  Instead of being a single plane of magic, the shield was instead composed of several hexagonal panels connected together.  Just what is he up to?  This shield doesn't seem any stronger than the previous ones.
Deciding not to take any chances, Perlin swung both his wings in front of his body, launching all ten of his wired feathers at Shining.  Then, to Perlin's shock, the panels composing Shining's shield broke apart, each of them moving independently.  Ten of them moved to intercept Perlin's feathers at off angles so that the feathers were deflected away from their target.  The rest flew towards Perlin's body like a swarm.
Retracting his feathers as quickly as possible, Perlin swung his wings, cutting several of the flying hexagons apart.  However, the remainder of them spread out and swarmed the young stallion from all sides.  Perlin pulled his wings back to shield his sides as several of the hexagons smacked against them like hammers, making the mithril ring.  Out of the corner of his eye, Perlin saw another hexagon flying edgewise at his leg.  A thin, flat plane of magic was practically a razor, as sharp as, if not sharper than, Perlin's own feathers.  Unfolding his wing on that side, he extended it down so that the incoming hexagon bounced off of it instead of cutting his leg off.
I see.  This spell appears to represent both attack and defense.  He can freely control the arrangement of those hexagons and either form a shield with them or strike with them, whether as blunt objects or blades.  Very dangerous.  Perlin grinned as he lashed out with his wings again, cutting down more of the hexagons.  Even as he did, he failed to notice that a few of those hexagons had taken up stationary positions in the air around him, hanging at a variety of angles.
Perlin was so engrossed by the attacking shield pieces that he failed to notice the glow of Shining's horn intensifying, even though Shining Armor was right in front of him.  Shining fired the most basic attack spell a unicorn had, a single telekinetic bolt.  However, instead of aiming for Perlin, he instead aimed for one of the floating hexagons.
The flash of light signaling Shining's attack drew Perlin's eye and he saw it just in time to see the bolt whiz past the side of his head.  He missed?  Before Perlin could process what had happened, the bolt ricocheted off one of the shields hanging behind him.  It rebounded off of another shield and several more in sequence, its passage being like a buzzing hornet to Perlin's senses.  Before the young stallion could properly track the bolt's path, it slammed into and bounced off a shield directly above him before slamming right down into Perlin's spine, right between his wings.
The force of the blow drove Perlin straight down to the floor, knocking the breath out of his lungs and leaving him sprawled out on the smooth marble of the floor.  Before he could get back up, the remaining hexagonal shield components reassembled above him, once again forming a single plane of magic before it came down.  Perlin extended his wings up, but didn't have the right angle to cut into the shield as it rushed down.  The mithril feathers instead glanced off and the shield proceeded down to pin Perlin against the floor, holding him in place.
"Got you now," growled Shining, bending his will to the task of holding Perlin in place.  Now that Perlin was immobilized, he would have to be subdued and restrained.  A simple stunning spell should do for the former, while a more advanced binding (which could be replaced with more permanent restraints at a later time) would do for the latter.
This isn't good, thought Perlin, his eyes roving frantically, looking for something he could use to turn his situation around.
As Shining leveled his horn at the young stallion and prepared to unleash the final blow, he froze.  It wasn't anything Perlin had done.  Rather, Shining froze in sheer terror as an unearthly sound, somewhere between a howl and a roar, echoed throughout the Palace.  The noise was filled with rage and madness, the sound of a pony who had completely abandoned reason in favor of wanton aggression.  It chilled Shining to the core.  That's not a good sign.