The Black Mask Brothers

by Alex Rite

Chapter 5: Thieves at the Gala

Chapter 5: Thieves at the Gala

---

Baws

Damn! I look sexy in this outfit! What? Imagine you were in a nice black tuxedo, with a red rose to the right of the collar, a red tie, and sexy looking face? Don't tell me that even you wouldn't be impressed.

Once I had my sexy suit on, Pastal walked out. She had a purple skirt that reached to her legs, with black flowers that matched her hair. She still had the black flowers in her hair, and she kept her black shirt on. Not to worry, my friends; their washed. She bounced in circles, and smile of glee was splattered on her face.

"We're going to the Gala! We're going to the Gala!" She sang.

"Pastal!" My shout chilled her out, and she stood still and looked at me like she was part of the Royal Guards. "I know your my sister and all, but do you remember what your doing?" I asked.

"Um..." She hummed, before making a smaller smile. "Find a pony named Scarlet Rose?"

"Aaaaannnd?"

"Bring her to you and Alex!"

"And if you aren't able to?"

"Bring you to her before she escapes!"

"That's my little sister!"

We still had a mission, and this falls into Rainbow Dash. For those of you who don't know, and reading my serect manly book, Dash is to do a scan for Scarlet, and to see if other members of the Vendetta are in the Gala. We only need one, and that one is all we need. My little sister is to able to bring her to us, or we go to her, but she is to distract Scarlet for either options. I'm suppose to make her follow us, hopefully believing in a lie I will randomly make up, and Alex and the gang is to find her an interrogate her.

But, Dash is to also to keep the Elements of Harmony away from the situation in the mean time. Having a funny WANTED picture with a poor drawing of us doesn't make it any better if they catch us. Hopefully, she can convince her friends to stay away from the mission, and scan for other members. If the other members find out we're still around living and breathing, things could get ugly. Hopefully, Spark is going to give us the information we need.

I give my little sister a noogie and she started laughing widely. "H-hey!! M-my hair!!" She uttered through her misfits of laughs.

"Oops, sorry!" I gave her a goofy grin, and she gave me a lunch to the shoulder. "C'mon, let's go to Spark." I said.

She nodded and bounced her way out of Rainbow's house...

...only for her to fall right through the clouds.

"S-shit!!" I panicked and flew my way towards her. I grabbed onto her, and landed on three of my hoofs; a small icy wind blew from the landing. I set her down, and she scrunched her muzzle. "I forgot I can't fly..." She said.

"Yeah, so did I. Scared me half to death. C'mon," I said, trying to get my mind from the situation. "let's go to Sparks."

We trotted our way to the hospital, where he's going to get out today.

Hurray!

Hey that rhymed!

---

Alex

I waited patiently for Baws and the others to arrive. Hopefully they'd get here soon: we needed Sparks to brief us, then I had to meet Goldie at the Gala. Just then, our missing party members came in.

"I'm glad you're here," said Sparks, slowly getting up from his bed. "I've gotten info on our target: Scarlet Rose. Apparently, she's a unicorn with some great potion making skills. Her wealth seems to have at first come from an inheritance from her uncle, who mysteriously died one night. Wanna bet what I think happened?"

"She poisoned him." I answered.

"I believe so, but they were never able to find any proof. Anyways, this leads me to believe she's the Vendetta's chief mystic, so we gotta be careful of her magic. I have a slight suspicion she's got some sort of plan involving the Gala, but exactly what, I am unsure of."

"I'm sure we'll figure it out." Baws said. "Now let's get to that fancy-fancy party!"

---

Baws

Me, Alex, Pastel, and Spark were on our way to the Gala. Taking a pumpkin chariot, a couple of guys my sister knows will give us a ride there. Each of us have our own reason to be at the Gala. Me and Pastal know Rainbow, so we're in. Alex is part of the Royal Guards of Ponyville, and Spark has a ticket. But would it be bad if Me and Pastel were having just a little bit of fun?

"We're on a baby hunt!"

"And don't think we don't know how to wieeee them out!"

Me and Pastal gave a laugh, but Spark bonked me on the head.

"Oww..." My head hurts.

"Can you grow up for once? We have a mission to follow." He told me. I waved a hoof at him. "Rainbow is going to be on the look out. She's already there scanning for her. Once we get there, she'll tell us what she knows and where Scarlet is." I told him.

"You really trust her? She's part of Celestia's hounds. If she barks, we'll be thrown in jail because of your decision." He said. I felt slightly offended, but before I can retaliate, he continued. "If she messes up, this will be on you. We trust you, Winter. This is your plan, and we expect you for it to work."

"Not all plans work." I told him. He pushed his glasses further into his muzzle before looking away from Me.

"Mine do." He said.

"Lay off." Alex chimes in. "We're lucky we have a source of what to do. Without Winter's sister, we would have never thought of this."

"So why don't we replace him with his sister?" Spark said.

Right as he said that, a tooth fell right out of his mouth. My hoof was much larger than Alex, so it hurts when you have a Pegasus the size of an earth pony hit you square in the jaw. He hit the edge of the chariot wall, and Pastel had my back when she lit up her magic. "What the heck, man?" Alex shouted.

"This asshole is pissing me off!" I yelled. Pastel held my hoof with her magic, but she was ready to let it go. "What is up with you, Spark? Your never this angry!!" Alex finally went to Spark.

He rubbed his cheek, but he didn't dare to look at me. "Sorry, just...I'm pissed at the Vendettas. Just want to get back at them for giving me second degree burns." He said.

"Then don't take it out on me. I didn't do anything to you up until now. Hold your dang fire of words, and choose them carefully." I said.

After that, it was a quiet ride, and I was already losing my shit.

This better be fucking worth it.

---

Alex

After getting off the carriage, I started looking around for Gold Heart. In a few seconds, I found her, and my heart nearly stopped- she looked gorgeous!

Her hair was neatly tied up in a bun, and she wore dark red lipstick. Her dress was pure black, covered in sequins, it's style both simple and elegant. She walked up to me and, upon noticing that I was staring, started to blush.

"So... how do I look?" she asked shyly.

It took every bit of my concentration, but I managed to switch myself from creepy staring guy to suave gentlecolt.

"My dear Ms. Heart," I said, "Words cannot describe the vision of beauty I find standing before me."

Her blush deepened. "O-oh, stop it. You're being too kind."

"I mean it, Goldie, you look absolutely enchanting."

"Th-thank you." My partner regained her composure. "Now come on, Rite, we have a suspect to find!"

---

Baws

"JUST KISS ALREADY!!" I yelled. The two's face looked like bright tomatoes, but I wasn't sure if it was from anger or embarrassed from the way they looked at me. I laughed, and my little sister butted in.

"GET A ROOM AND MAKE LOVE THERE!!" She yelled.

Best. Sister. Ever.

Those two might as well been the sun because they were bright red from embarrassement, and I swear it wasn't because we were total jerks.

Okay...maybe a little.

We trotted to the entrance of the Gala, the two lovebirds trotting quietly, and Spark doing more research on the go. He put on his ear piece and whispered. "You guys ready?" He asked.

"Ready as ever." I said.

"Already on the look out." Another voice called in. Good job Rainbow, knew I could count on you.

"Ready." Alex whispered.

"Then take a look around, and act casual until she has found our suspect." Spark said.

Me and Pastel nodded, and we walked ahead of them until called on.

Don't mess this up Rainbow.

---

Alex

We walked around, looking at all the ponies around. Eventually, we walked into the Hall of Heroes, a monument to war heroes, living or otherwise, throughout Equestrian history. Gold Heart forcefully pulled me in front of one of the statues.

"Alex, look at this one." she told me, pointing to the statue.

It was a statue of a mare. She had a blank stare on her face, and an eyepatch over her eye with a red X on it. She had a short, simple manecut, and wore armor, but not a helmet. A scar was on her cheek, and her left hind leg was a peg leg. Her cutie mark looked like an unrolled map with a large red X in the center. The nameplate on it read: GOLD ARMOR.

"Nice... so, why are we so interested in it?" I asked.

"Wait- have I never told you?"

"Told me what?"

Gold Heart looked up to the statue with a mix of pride and wonderment. "This mare... this is my mother."

---

Baws

"...Don't you know who I am?! I am Lady Fleur De Lis, and you have disrespected me! Honestly, who would let a Pegasus in like you?! Your muzzle looks like it has herpes, and you need to go take a look in the hospital! I swear, ponies these days..."

...That is the only part I written, because she talked like she had three gallons of coffee in the morning. That's all I've gotten. You want to know what I tried to do? I tried to get me some donuts. Some chocolate, sprinkled, delicious donuts, and I accidentally bump into the mare along the way. I tried to apologize, but...you read what's up there. I actually punched myself in the face by total accident trying to re-act a facepalm. My nose hurts.

"Are you even listening?!" I heard. I look up to the skinny yet white pony as she looked at me furiously.

"Uh...what?" I asked.

She groaned and threw her hooves in the air. "I can't believe this! See, this is why pegasi are just dumber versions of birds!" She ranted.

"Actually, birds are pretty smart. They know how to survive, they can take care of their family, and they are experts in flying; knowing the right momentum, they can handle their own." I ran on. She paused to look at me like I called her fat.

"You...UGH!!" She whipped her tail, and it smacked me right in the cheek. She walked away, swaying her hip side to side like a mall pony.

Huh? Oh, I'm fine. How are you?

---

Alex

"-So basically, your mom is a war hero." I said, summarizing all the information Gold Heart had just told me.

"Yeah! My dad is, too, but my mom is the more prominent one. She was a master strategist, almost like she knew her enemies' moves before they knew it themselves!"

"Wow. That is... interesting."

"Yeah... I've always looked up to my mom..." Gold Heart said dreamily.

"Alex! Come in! Do you read me?"

Shit.

That was Rainbowdash calling me from my earpiece. Looks like my social time with my favorite police mare was over. Ah, c'est la vie.

"Uh... hey Gold Heart, I think I'm gonna... go grab some food. I'll be back in a sec."

"Oh, could you bring me a donut? I heard there's a couple plates."

"Yeah, sure." I said, zipping off to the closest private spot I could find. I turned on my earpiece. "This is Alex. Did you spot Scarlet Rose?"

"Yep! She's in the gardens. Thought I'd let you know before Winter. Y'know, so you could keep him under control?"

"Good call. I'll head over there. Keep an eye on her in case she moves."

"Roger that!"

---

Baws

What taste better in your guts? Dunkin Donuts!!

...I haven't thought of a song for it yet...

"Winter, you there?"

My song was interrupted by Rainbow, and I calmly answered it. "Yeah? You called?" I asked.

"Good, your there. I told Pastel first, so she's keeping Scarlet distracted as of now. Alex is on his way."

"Anything else I need to know?" I asked, taking my donuts on the go. I heard a slight muffle before she came back.

"Yeah, turns out Twilight had the same idea." She said.

I almost choked on my donut, and I spat out the remainings. "W-what?" I tried to say.

"She brought the Elements with her! Now all six of us are armed. You need to grab Scarlet and go." She warned.

"But Alex brought over the guards, now making it almost impossible to escape. The best chance of getting out is flight." I took another bite from my second donut. Four more to go.

"Alex can't fly...at least, not that well from what you told me."

"Can you ask Spark what our best chance of escape is?"

"Already did. He said either through the Canterlot Canverns, or through flight. You take the caverns, 50/50 chance you'll get lost. You take flight, 50/50 chance you'll get caught."

What is up with these guards all of a sudden? They used to suck before!!

"Alrighty. Where is Scarlet?" I asked, trying to get through this conversation.

"In the gardens. She's talking to a stallion."

"Who?"

"Bluebutt."

Blueblood, I get it. I seriously don't get why he is still Prince. Shouldn't he be living in the streets by this point? "Okay, is my sister there?" I asked.

"Um...oh! Okay, there she is. She's walking to her right now. About to make a chat with her long enough for Alex to arrive, or if some pony is going to do it for her."

"Gotcha. I'll be there." I said. The buzzfeed went off, and I kept walking down the hall.

Tasty Donuts...what's good for your guts? Dunkin Donuts!!

...I still need to work on that.

---

Alex

I soon found my target, mostly thanks to being able to recognize Pastal talking to her. Staying a safe distance away, I waited until Baws stood right next to me, then gave Paz the signal that we were good. Once she was done, Scarlet Rose began to move.

"So how long do you think Dash can keep the Elements distracted?" I asked as we trailed the mare.

"Long enough," Baws replied.

Soon, Scarlet Rose stood by the side of a dark alley, and seemed to be having a conversation with somepony. I listened in on her with my dragon hearing.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked a strict, feminine voice. "I've run all the numbers in my head, and I still say this plan is flawed."

"It doesn't matter." replied Rose. "I've made up my mind. Once I get my hooves on the item inside the castle, not even the princesses themselves can stop me."

"Fine then. But I was never here."

"Of course." With that, Scarlet Rose began to walk away.

"Another Vendetta! Nice!" said Baws. "I'll tail her, and you keep following Scarlet Rose."

"No! Weren't you listening? Whatever it is that Scarlet Rose is after, it's major powerful. We need to stick together in case she manages to get it."

"But-"

"We'll deal with the other one later, but right now, Scarlet Rose is officially our code red."

---

Baws

"Fine, but we need someone to get a face recognition for her. Like hell we're going to remember her face when we escape." I told him. He gave me a nod, and he hit the buzzfeed. "Spark?" He called.

"Yeah?" Spark replied.

"Can you keep an eye out for another Vendetta?" Alex asked.

"I would, but I need details. Come on, what she look like?"

Alex was a bit hesitant, but it seemed like he knew what she looked like before. Fuck if I know if he does. Another crew is bonus points for me.

---

Alex

"Look, I know exactly who I saw, but we can deal with that later- she's getting away!"

My brother and I quickly pursued our target, puting on our enchanted masks as a precaution. She slinked through the hallways of the castle until she came across a big, safe-like door. Peeking from behind a corner, we watche as she pulled a potion out, and sprinkled it in front of the doorway.

"What's she doing?" asked Baws.

As if in answer, a bright flash of light blinded us for a second, and when we could see again, Scarlet Rose was no longer standing in front of the door.

"What the-?!" I exclaimed, running to the door, followed closely by Baws.

Where the door had been, there was now an empty doorway. And in the center of the room were Scarlet, a pedestal, and-

"The Alicorn Amulet!" exclaimed Baws, voicing my thoughts and giving away our presence.

Scarlet Rose turned to us, shocked, before giving us an evil grin.

"Well, well, well- if it isn't the Black Mask Brothers," she said. "Hah! Perfect! Now I have someone to test out my new power on!"

Before we could do anything, Scarlet Rose grabbed the artifact and placed it around her neck. Her eye began to glow with a red aura and power radiated off of her.

"Damn... this is why I hate magic jewelry." said Baws.

---

Baws

A red shock appeared from the Amulet, and we were pretty lucky to split at that moment. Stay any milliseconds longer and we would've felt the wrath of the Amulet itself. Honestly, I thought she would go power hungry for that Amulet the moment she used it, but to our surprise, she walking to damn calmly.

"Come out, come out!!" She taunts.

I wanted to nope the fuck out of there, but I wasn't going anywhere unless I really wanted to leave Alex. He fed me a hayburger, I owe him; like hell I'm leaving.

Ducking behind a solid statue, she begins to walk across the room, darting left to right for any signs of life. I stared at her with my head so far out, blind mice have better chance of finding me. I'm like a fucking whale hiding behind a wooden basket; I just don't understand how you don't fucking see me when I'm in clear view. She still looks all around the room like guards when they lose their keys, and she groaned slightly.

"How did I lose them so fast? No wonder..." She frowns, then began to walk away from the room.

Me and Alex peered out until she was only half way from the room, and we gave whispers.

"Do we follow her?" I asked.

---

Alex

"Uh..." I thought hard about my answer. If we ran away, we would definitely be able to get away alive. But if we did, she could hurt somepony, and my moral code would not allow it. "We go after her."

"I was afraid you'd say that," replied Baws.

"You'll get to punch her. Probably."

"...You lucky I like punching things."

---

Baws

I gave a small sigh before following Scarlet. She looked like she was in her own imagination, and it won't take long for her to snap out of it. My eyes darting towards Alex, I spoke. "So, how are we suppose to do this? We can't fight her directly, that's almost insane, but we need to distract her from the public."

He gave a low hum, but he clapped his hooves. "Are we able to get every pony out of here?" He asked.

"Not really, no. Your in Canterlot, you'll be lucky to get 25,000 ponies out of one room. Their's probably hundred different rooms at the party. Like Tartarus you'll get them out in time." I managed to switch from Hell to the deep underworld of 'What the Fuck lives in that place'.

He gave a small frown, and he didn't look all that happy that he couldn't save every pony. I, however, kept going. "You know the moment she makes noise, the Guards will not only find a Vendetta, but us, right? The Elements of Harmony will be on our tail as well!"

"Rainbow's on our side though..." He said. I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. If you want her to be a secret, she's gotta act like a good guy." I said.

---

Alex

"Then we've only got one choice. We piss her off and get her to follow us away from everypony else." I said.

"That's a terrible idea."

"You got a better one?"

"...Damn, I hate it when you're right."

Baws and I jumped out in plain sight, catching Scarlet Rose off guard.

"Hey Scarlet, I just noticed how well that amulet matches your personality: dark and depressing."

She began to glare, her teeth gritting.

"Aw, be nice," said Baws, grinning. "It's not her fault she sucks the fun out of every room she enters!"

With that, Scarlet Rose started blasting magic at us. We dodged, realizing that was our cue to run.

"Damn, when we want to piss somepony off, we sure do a good job!" Baws exclaimed.

"Just shut up and run!"

---

Baws

It was a laser light show! You know...with dangerous fire lasers and/or lasers that completely demolish everything we see around us. It wasn't as pleasant as we thought it was.

And no, I did not scream like a mare. It was weird to hear a mare scream come out of nowhere though.

Oh, did I mention lasers? Probably not, but she's shooting us with red flaming lasers that completely demolish everything in our way.

...Did I mention lasers?

Another one flew right past me. And another one, and another one...and another one. "Why is she going after me?!" I yelled.

She was, because for some reason she liked to shoot all the dangerous lasers at me. She shot a few at Alex, but the most they did is knock over a vase. Walls were falling, the ceiling tried to rape me from above, and the floor crumbled beneath me. Fuck flying, she would have a better chance of hitting me with her laser light shows if I took flight.

"Maybe because she likes you a lot more!" Alex yelled through all the commotion. I can almost smell the sarcasm come from his mouth, and I smiled. Though it didn't take long for my smile to fall when another laser flew right past me.

"Hold still!!" Scarlet voice almost sounded like a full grown horse when she yelled that. Ahead of us was a left turn, and Alex through the black mask at me. "Wear your mask!" He yelled.

Stupidest thing I've heard, but he's my bro, so I rolled along with it. My wings made it easy to move them like talons, and I quickly put on my black mask. We took our left turn to see Alex's GF ready for us.

"Gotcha bitch!"

"DAMNIT!!"

---

Alex

Trapped between an angry Gold Heart and a super powerful psycho mare. The choice was obvious: I turned around and ran towards Scarlet Rose. My brother did the same.

---

Baws

The Amulet was going to get us killed, so we were kinda trapped. "We had to put on the mask?" I whispered to Alex.

"How was I suppose to know she was going to be there?! You wore it too!" He yelled furiously under his breath.

Confused? You should. "I thought you had a plan! What now?!" I asked.

Scarlet was walking to our left, and the guards on our right. Lucky me...

---

Alex

"Hmm. Perhaps now is the time to leave," said Scarlet, teleporting out.

"What just happened?" asked Baws.

"Guess she thought the guards were too much to handle and ran," I answered. Just then, the guards started shooting at us. "Which is exactly what we should be doing!"

We started to run.

"What's the escape plan?!" questioned Baws.

"Usual! Loose the guards, remove the masks, they think we got away!"

---

Baws

"Well, I need to get away. You have to stay here and find a way to take off that mask." I forced out when we took off running. Alex looked a bit shocked at that.

"Why?!" He asked.

"Gold Heart! You were with her, were you not?" I asked. His eyes turned to pinpricks, but it became even smaller when I kept talking. "Their's guards all over this place, and he best place to hide is the colts room. And from the looks of us running, it don't seem like theirs one nearby. I got to get out of here, and I'm taking Pastel with me."

He cursed to himself, (or sneezed, whichever comes first) and he went serious mode. "Any other options?" He asked.

"Not that we know of, no. Though, once you lose the fuzz, I'll see you tomorrow at Spark's place!"

"What?! Sparks girlfriend?! She nuts!"

"We don't have a choice! I can't stay at Dash's house since all this commotion is going to force her to stay here, and your spending the night at Gold Hearts. In the morning, you have to meet us at Spark's, unless you want to get caught." I told him.

Even though a bunch of guards are trying to chase our tails, we're doing pretty well staying calm. "So, you agree?" I asked.

---

Alex

After my brother ran off, I had to get the attention of the guards. With only one target, things were getting to close for comfort. Which meant I had to get risky.

Turning corner after corner, I eventually found myself at a dead end hallway. The guards began to close in, and for a second, it looked like I was cornered. Until, of course, I Shadow Slid underneath them.

Then, when I had gotten a far enough lead ahead of them, I returned to normal form, took off my mask, and, my least favorite part of this kind of plan, punched myself in the eye. When Gold Heart and the gaurds came by, She stopped, kneeling by me, and the worried look on her face was almost enough to make the pain worth it. Almost.

"Alex?! What happened?!"

"The Black Mask ran through here! I tried to stop him, but he sucker punched me and ran off. I think you can still catch him if you hurry!"

Gold Heart looked from me, to the hallway, and back to me. She sighed. "You colts, continue pursuit!"

With that, the gaurds ran off down the hallway, and Gold Heart levitated me onto her back. "Aren't you going to go after him, too?"

"I have something more important to worry about," she said, looking directly into my eyes. "You."

I blushed. "Uh... Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

A second of silence passed.

"Um... Goldie?"

"Yes?"

"You know I can walk perfectly fine, right?"

I could practically feel the blush as she levitated me off of her back with an awkward grin.

---

Baws

Running far, far away from the scene, and putting the mask in my pocket (Big waste of time of putting it on, then taking it off), I met my sister Pastel...

...who was being flirted by a rich fuck.

"So, where have you been all my life?" He tried to swuave.

"Avoiding thirsty ponies like you." Pastel replied.

Literally.

Best.

Sister.

Ever.

You can practically smell the forest fire coming off from the guy, and he looked pissed. It didn't take me long to reach them, though. I ran up to Pastel, and I frantically spewed words like a foal trying to eat noodles for the first time. "Pastel! We got to go! Now!" I warned.

She gave me a nod, and what I did and realize until now, threw her drink at the poor guy. "Eh, this party was boring anyway." She said.

...I really wish I could just pull out black glasses, and just give it to her.
We took off in a matter of second, but it wasn't long until the guards blocked off the main entrance.

"Shoot!" I tried my best not to swear in front of Pastel. "We're locked in!"

"Dropkick! Dropkick, dropkick, dropkick!" She sang. I smiled, but instead of drop kicking the door, I dropkicked a window. I flew right through, and I caught my sister Pastel who followed me during the whole thing. I gently set us down to the cement of Canterlot, and it wasn't long until Spark arrived.

"What happened?! I lost connection to you!" He said.

"The Vendettas. She wussed out the moment she saw the guards." I told him.

"What about Alex?" He asked.

"Probably making out with his GF." My sister Pastel instantly caught on to our little schemes. We both gave her a smile. "Probably." I said.

See ya tomorrow bro.