My Little Pony: A Race Against Time

by CJ Esmerio

A Royal Capture

Author's Note:

"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro.

Also, thanks again to FanficReader920 for helping me greatly with this chapter!

Nighttime was approaching in Canterlot, and after waiting for the arriving passangers to leave the Friendship Express, Twilight and Spike, along with Shining Armor, climbed aboard the train, with the little dragon saying, "Well, at least we know that the culprit is a pony… which is a good thing, right?"

Nodding her head, the young alicorn replied, "There's also a connection that I'm starting to notice, as well… I just hope we can figure it out before anypony else gets captured."

---

A few hours later

Canterlot Palace...the most protected place in all of Equestria,home of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna…and, boy, does it look amazing in moonlight.

After leaving the train station, the cloaked pony was now sitting on the edge of a mountaintop above the palace, watching the moon's glow fall on the capital city of Equestria, as well as the palace, and with a heavy sigh, he played his recording device one more time.

"Hi sweetheart, your father and I just wanted to thank you for the flowers for our anniversary yesterday. You are an amazing stallion and I can't believe how much you've grown up. Hold on, your father wants to say something."

"Hey Champ. Thanks for the flowers. I hope we can get the chance to spend some time together soon. We barely see you anymore, what with work and all. Your mother and I both love you. See you soon."

Once he listened to the message from his parents, he pocketed the recording device, stared at the castle in an analyti manner, and reached inside his cloak to pull out his grappling gear.

"I'm about to kidnap royalty,"he said to himself, reminding himself of what he liked to call his 'Mission: Impossible' phase. "Well, here goes nothing."

He placed the grappling end of the rope, along with the rope spindle, into the dirt, tugging on it to make sure it was stable, and tied himself to the other end of the rope while mentally singing a familiar tune for the situation.

Dun-dun-dun, dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun!

Moments later, the cloaked pony was making his way down the cliff, aiming for one of the castle's many balconies, the night being his protection from detection.

However, what he didn't plan on was the rope starting to give way about halfway down.

Holy [BEEP],thought the cloaked pony as he fell, but fortunately, the rope only had enough length to just reach the balcony he intended.

However, when he opened his eyes, having closed them for fear he would go splat, he noticed his body was hanging parallel to the balcony foor, barely an inch above it.

'Whew,' the cloaked pony thought to himself, wiping away the sweat on his forehead before carefully unhooking himself from the rope, and then, he placed it around a torch on the castle's wall.

Alright, then… it's show time!

Preparing his darts and tube, he began his careful trek through the castle halls that would lead him to the quarters of Princess Luna.

However, once he turned a corner, the cloaked pony noticed two guards slowly walking in the direction that would lead them to him.

Well, at least this castle 'has' guards, unlike the one owned by a certain purple alicorn...

So, after readying his tube and two darts, the cloaked pony hid in the shadows, and once the two guard ponies had passed, he fired a dart into their flanks, incapacitating them.

Bullseye!

Then, he dragged them behind some curtains, in hopes that other guards that passed through here wouldn't notice them until he was long gone… though he wasn't counting on that, and sometime later, the cloaked pony repeated this process on two more guards he found guarding Luna's door.

'Now, for the tricky part,' the cloaked pony thought as he cracked open the door.

Luckily for him, Luna seemed to be asleep, but he knew that she was "lucid dreaming", due to the fact that it was her duty as princess of the night to step into ponies' dreams, with his little colt having been one of those ponies.

But I'll go down memory lane later… I have a job to do...

After making sure that no one else was around except for himself, the cloaked pony crept into the royal bedroom, keeping his ears peeled for any sounds, whether it be from a waking Luna or from castle guards.

Luckily, he managed to reach the Princesses' side without hearing anything but his own four hooves.

However, little did he know, Luna was a bit busy with a certain sleeping pegasus at the moment.

---

[Fluttershy's Dream]

All of the cages that had contained her friends were now gone, leaving Fluttershy in the darkened room, caged up and all by herself.

Please, somepony, anypony… help me!

"Fluttershy?"

The yellow pegasus lifted her head up, and found herself looking at Princess Luna, whose bright aura of white light was removing most of the darkness in the room.

"Oh, Princess Luna, thank goodness you're here," cried Fluttershy, with a sense of hope inside her. "Something terrible has happened!"

Luna looked around the dark room, with a somewhat confused expression, and replied, "Yes, my friend, I can tell… but what exactly is happening in this dream?"

Wiping the tears away from her eyes, Fluttershy replied, "It's the same that is happening in real life, Princess Luna… somepony captured me and a whole lot of other ponies that-"

"Ow!"

Suddenly, she was interrupted by the sound of pain that came from the royal alicorn, who began rubbing the right side of her flank.

"What in Equestria was... that…and… why do I… feel..."

It took a moment for Fluttershy to understand what was happening, and she cried, "Oh, dear… t-that means you're about to-Princess Luna!"

To her horror, the princess of the night collapsed to the floor, and started shaking her head after she saw Luna begin to fade away.

"Why is this happening?!"

---

Once the cloaked pony heard Luna's breathing slow down again after he inserted the dart into her flank manually, he removed the sheets completely from the princess' bed.

Wow, so it doesn't work on just tables!

Then, while gently pulling her by the tail with his mouth, he carefully put Luna into his trusty burlap sack, and at first, he found himself letting out a sigh of relief.

Once he lifted the sack again, however, he realized that the halfway-completed task would be another physically demanding one.

'Good grief, this is going be like last night all over again,' the cloaked pony thought, remembering how he had to capture Twilight's parents and five Canterlot friends, and the physical demand it took for him to do so.

Ignoring the physical stress he was enduring, the cloaked pony looked out the window to get a glimpse of his next target's balcony. Seeing as how he wanted to avoid as many guards as possible, the cloaked pony pulled out another grappling gun, placed the burlap sack containing the unconscious Luna onto the balcony floor, and after taking aim, he fired.

Whoosh!

The hook took flight into the night air, and after a few seconds of air time, it managed to get caught on the balcony of Celestia's quarters.

After a quick tug to make sure it was stable, the cloaked pony tied his end of the rope around the balcony of Luna's quarters, and made haste in tying a knot around the opening of the tack.

Then, a few minutes later, he made it so that he (and the sack, on its own) could safely travel between the two balconies.

So, after he transported the sack with Luna inside, the cloaked pony took a deep breath, and said, "Alright, then… it's my turn now."

Just as he did on his descent to the castle, the cloaked pony slipped into a harness and was about to swing from one side to the other when he found himself remembering a certain occasion he had in his younger days.

Back then, the young cloaked pony (though obviously not wearing a cloak in this case) and a beautiful mare that would eventually be his future wife, whose name was Twinkle Star, used to have regular triple dates with some other couples that they had become friends with, and one of them was Carrot Cake and Chiffon Swirl, while the other was Bright Mac and Buttercup.

While the Apple couple had only gotten married recently, the other two couples had only been dating for a few months.

The cloaked pony relished those times, when he was young, stupid and had thought he was invincible.

How I wish that I could have those days back.

Anyway, on one such occassion, the six of them were enjoying a wonderful picnic when Twinkle Star suddenly said something unexpected.

---

[Flashback]

"Did I ever mention that Mr. Gardener over here used to have a crush on Princess Celestia?"

Everyone turned their heads to look over at Twinkle's boyfriend, whose face started to turn red with embarassment. "Um… I don't know what she-"

"Wait an apple pickin' minute," said Bright Mac,confused and surprised. "You had acrushon the ruler of Equestria?"

Before her special somepony could respond, Twinkle replied, "Yep! I mean, I used to like Wind Rider, from the Wonderbolts, but when I learned that his crush was-"

"Alright, I think they get it," muttered Twinkle's boyfriend, now feeling embarrassed. "Thank you, sweetheart."

Carrot began to chuckle, and he said, "Um, not to offend you, buddy, but isn't she at a much higher age than you?"

"Yes, I was aware of that," replied Twinkle's special somepony. "But somepony like me could still dream, righ -oof!"

---

The cloaked pony came out of his nostalgic reverie when he noticed he had finally reached the other end of his rope.

Well, that was a good thing, actually… the less I think of those two, the better.

After a tedious untying process, he crept over to the sleeping Princess of the Sun, and made ready with his special knock-out dart.

He pulled the sheets back to reveal the royal pony's flank, but just as he was about to send the dart into it, a paper suddenly materialized in front of the royal, waking her up from her slumber.

'Shit!' the cloaked pony mentally cursed as he hid under the Princess' bed.

"What?" Celestia said sleepily as she gazed at the scroll. Once she was able to make out the words however, she was wide awake.

"This is terrible! Don't worry, Twilight, I'll be sure to tell Luna, as well," she said quietly, to herself. "She should be awake right now…"

'Shit! Shit! Shit!' the cloaked pony cursed. He pulled out his tube, seeing as how he would definitely need it since Celestia was now rushing towards her balcony door to fly to her sister's room.

However, once she noticed her door was open, she became confused. "I could have sworn that I closed this… and why is there a rope-"

Whoosh!

Before she had time to react, she felt a prick on her flank, and although she had just woken up, the Princess of the Sun immediately fell into an unconscious state of sleep.

"That was close," muttered the cloaked pony, but just as Celestia fell, two guards burst in to inspect the commotion.Well, that's just great!

"Hold it right there!" They both said, seeing the cloaked pony and immediately charging for him, spears in hand.

However, the cloaked pony was faster, and they quickly recieved darts to the neck, which eventually led to them being knocked out.

Turning back to the fallen Princess of the Sun before him, the cloaked pony remembered what he'd thought about earlier, and quickly pecked her on the cheek before placing her with her sister in the burlap sack.

"Not exactly how I always dreamed of doing that, but hey, I'll take it," he muttered as he did so, with a growing smile appearing on his face, but that ended up going away because the cloaked pony knew he had to move quickly.

No doubt that guards would be on me faster than Pinkie Pie to a party.

So, he hoisted the burlap sack onto his back, holding the opening in his mouth and made a break for it, but now that was holding two full-grown alicorns in his bag, the grappling hook between the balconies was moving at a much slower pace.

'I really need to stop putting multiple ponies in here,'the cloaked pony thought to himself.

"Freeze!" he heard as a multitude of guards stepped into his way, and the cloaked pony skidded to a stop, right before he could leave from Celestia's balcony.

Again, this isjustwhat I need right now!

"Lower the sack!" the guards ordered, and the cloaked pony complied.

Insert "Ferry Dust Up" from the SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING soundtrack

"Get down on your knees!" the guard ordered.

"Yeaaaaaaaaahhh," the cloaked pony drew out, in a heavily sarcastic tone. "That is obviouslynot happening, so-"

Whoosh!

He took out his small tube and several darts, and shot them one-by-one in rapid succession into the necks of a few guards.

"Get him!" One of the guards screamed before the rest of the guards, who weren't incapacitated, charged towards the cloaked pony.

Time to go into Plan B!

He picked up the burlap sack in his mouth once more, stowing the tube and darts for later, and charged as well.

Using all the strength he had, the cloaked pony used the sack like a wrecking ball, knocking away a few guards that dared to get close.

After getting tired of that, the cloaked pony made a leap towards the wall. Using his back left hoof, he propelled himself off the wall into some more guards, delivering swift punches to the head using nothing but his hooves while simultaneously swinging the sack around to cause more damage.

Who would've thought that working out so much would actually come in handy one day?

After incapacitating one guard in particular, he took his spear into his hooves and used that to incapacitate a few more guards, even gravelly injuring some from behind, in front, and to the side while using it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he found another guard charging at him from behind. Thusly, the cloaked pony gave him a good buck to the face, sending him flying into some more guards.

After doing that, and swinging the burlap sack around again, which knocked down a few more guards for the count, the cloaked pony raced towards the wall again, jumped, banked off it and landed on the heads and/or backs of a few more guards, knocking them to the ground.

However, just as he landed, a guard body slammed into the cloaked pony, which led him to slam against a wall quite hard, but he still managed to shake it off quickly as he swung the sack around once again, and again, to take out some more guards.

Does anypony not know the meaning of 'leave me alone', or what?

Once the sack made another full swing, he jumped up as high as he could and banked off the wall with his back right hoof, and held out his front right one so that he could deliver another hard punch on another guard.

Then, he snatched up his spear and used it to incapacitate some more guards, stabbing it into openings in their armor. He hated having to injure some of them, but he had a plan to accomplish and to him, that meant to do whatever it took to see it through.

One guard actually managed to pull off the hood of his cloak, revealing the stallion's green fur and black mane, but this did nothing to deter him, and so, the cloaked pony quickly punished him for this transgression by hitting him upside the head with his hoof.

The fight had already progressed down several yards of hallway, and because it was so many,Beck saw the balcony he entered through out of the corner of his eye.

Now, things are starting to turn my way again!

Once he made it there, he placed the burlap sack down, and a guard yelled, "He's put the sack down! Get the Princesses!"

Several guards immediately charged, but the cloaked pony, with hood down, quickly responded by using his handy tube and darts that were on stand-by.

Once again using the wall as banking, the cloaked pony plowed into some more guards, and he was either punching them in the face with his hooves, or smashing two guards into each other through various means, whether it be bucking or with his hooves.

He noticed a guard or two got passed him to go for the sack, so he quickly turned and fired a dart into their flank, incapacitating them, while simultaneously bucking two guards in the face.

After a few more minutes of fighting like this, there were only a few guards left. One of which had actually managed to get passed the cloaked pony, eliciting him to turn, fill his tube with a dart, and shoot it.

Of course, it hit its mark on the guard's flank and he promptly fell with the other nine guards that had managed to get by him over the course of the fight.

Never caring about the pile of knocked out bodies, the cloaked pony once again grabbed a discarded spear and swung it upside a guard's head, sending him onto one of his fallen brethren.

Right then, I'd better get - aw, damn it!

He had reached for his darts to make sure that the guards would stay down… only to find none, which meant that he had used up all the darts he brought with him.

"Well, this is definitelynothow I wanted this day to turn out," he rasped.

He finally had a chance to look over himself, amd noticed that he had a few tears in his cloak that gave way to some lacerations in his midsection.

He knew he had a splitting headache, probably from a few headshots some guards managed to get in, and more than a few bruises. He also inspected his legs to find them littered in lacerations as well, and…

'Was that a dislocation?' he thought to himself, as he tried to move normally.

"Holy mother of… yep, definitely a dislocation," the cloaked pony said, returning his hood over his face, sheltering it from the world. He'd have to inspect his face when he returned to his lair, no doubt it was probably messed up as well.

He limped his way toward the burlap sack, untouched since he put it down. Taking the sack's opening in his mouth, he tied a rope around the opening of the sack and attached it to the grappling rope.

Once he retrieved his own support from the torch he placed it on earlier, and made sure he positioned the sack where his hooves were beneath it, he pressed a button that caused the spindle of rope at the top of the cliff to rotate, bringing the cloaked pony, and the unconscious princesses, up the cliff.

"Alright, your majesties, let's blow this popsicle stand," the cloaked pony said as he began the ascent.

---

A few hours later

Once he made it back the lair, the ponies and one draconequs he'd already captured looked at him, eyes widening at his condition.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Rainbow taunted.

"I'd very much appreciate it if you'd shut it, Pinky," growled the cloaked pony "I had a rough night, and I need to patch myself up."

Before Rainbow could respond to that, Pinkie Pie said, "Hey, that isn't right…I'mPinkie!"

"Weknowthat, darling," replied Rarity, letting out a sigh. "It's because that he changed her from blue to-"

"In the meantime," interrupted the cloaked pony. "Say hello to your new roommates."

Eyes widened and muzzles fell open as the eleven prisoners saw none other than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, respectively, being put in separate cages… not to mention the fact that it looked like the two royals had several bruises.

'Hmmmmm, guess I was swinging harder than I thought,' the cloaked pony thought to himself, upon seeing the princesses' wounds.

The currently awake prisoners looked at the cloaked pony, with all of them astounded, yet frightened.

He had pony-napped two princesses, and took on the royal guard alone, and won.

"What can I say? The guards certainly tried their best," the cloaked pony commented, chuckling. He began limping away so that he could patch himself up, maybe even relocate that dislocation he felt back at the castle.

"Who…. are you?" Rainbow asked, voice wavering.

The cloaked pony stopped, and without looking back, he said, "Somepony that lost everything… and I'm going to make sure that the same happens to Twilight Sparkle."

Before the young pegasus could respond to him, a frowning Applejack exclaimed, "Wait an apple-picking minute! Just what in the day do you got against Twilight and the rest of us?"

Why does that sound familiar to me?wondered the cloaked pony, but then, Pinkie gave another unexpected response before he could give his.

"Heeeeeyyyy… you aren't that Rowan pony who turned us into statues, are you?"

"Huh?" said Moondancer, not knowing what she was talking about.

Pinkie let out a chuckle, and she replied, "Well, it all started on a trip to the Crystal Empire, and we were talking to Starlight about how she liked Sunburst-"

"Oh, great…" muttered Twilight's pupil, as the pink earth pony continued her story.

An hour later

"... and before I talk to Casey more, we were visited by a gold earth pony who wore a cloa-ohhhh,are you Stardust?"

The cloaked pony looked at Pinkie, and he said, "First of all, mynameisBeck, notRowanor...andsecond,yousawmy face already. Now, do Ilooklike a monster pony, or someone that has a name of what a filly would recieve from her father?"

"Um, who is Stardust?" asked Moondancer.

Pinkie giggled, and she replied, "He's basically what Casey is here, but sort of, though, since Casey isn't actually a human being from another planet.

"Anyway, yeah, he shows up in the library, holding a turtledove necklace that…"

Two hours later

"... so, as it turned out, Omega wasactuallyCasey, which is why he tried to-"

Whoosh!

A few seconds later, Pinkie was fast asleep, and Beck muttered, "I should have done that four hours ago."

---

"What is it with these two?"

The elderly man, who watched over every single universe that currently existed, was not entirely pleased with what he saw was going on in Casey's world.

In regards to Stardust's world, Kronos was just glad that the gold pony wasn't getting himself into any serious trouble… well, for now, anyway.

"He'd better not make me regret giving him a second chance… otherwise, I will be forced to-"

"Hey! Old timer!"

Kronos turned around, looking at a group of ponies that were all locked up inside of a cage.

"How [BEEP]-in long do you plan on keeping us in here?"

With a smirk, the elderly gentleman replied, "As long as I like, Rainbow Crash… this way, you and everypony else will no longer cause any problems."

The evil version of Rainbow Dash let out a growl of frustration, and cried, "Just wait until Star gets his hooves on you, old man!"

"I highly doubt that will be happening anytime soon," said Kronos, in a calm and relaxed tone. "Besides, if he somehow does escape his imprisonment, then he'll end upjustlike him."

He used his staff to point at a small canteen-like object that was also encased in a block of ice, and Anti-Pinkie asked, "Is somepony in that thing?"

"That's formeto worry about," said Kronos, who had nothing else to say after that, and he continued with observing what was going on in Casey's world.

Hmmmm…veryinteresting,thought the evil counterpart of Twilight, who preferred to be called Midnight, and a small smile appeared on her face.

---

The full moon was already high up in the sky by the time that Twilight, Spike, and Shining entered her castle after finishing their train ride to Ponyville from Canterlot.

"Spike, I need you to write a letter from me to Princess Celestia, explaining everything that's been happening, as soon as possible."

After the little dragon gave her a quick nod, Twilight turned her attention over to Shining Armor.

"You sure that Cadence won't mind you staying here for the night? I'd hate to make her feel worried or anything."

Shining chuckled at the young alicorn's concern, and he shook his head. "It'll be fine, Twilight, don't worry… also, how's Casey been doing? I haven't seen him since we showed the finished statues to you and the others."

Before Twilight could respond, there was a muffled"boom"sound that came from upstairs, and the next thing they knew, a familar voice cried out, "I'm okay!"

Letting out a sigh, a smiling Twilight said, "He's doing just fine."

A few moments later, a worn-out and somewhat dirty Casey appeared at the top of the staircase, and after noticing the two of them, he gave a small wave. "Hey, Twilight… hey, Shining Armor! Haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, I was actually telling her the same thing about you," replied a confused Shining. "Uh… any reason why you look so-"

"Oops, sorry," said Casey, remembering why he'd been holding onto a small white towel, and he began wiping the soil off his face. "I've spent almost the whole day trying to fix the Crystal Mirror machine, but nothing seems to be working."

While Shining nodded his understanding, Twilight let out a sigh, and said, "Casey, I know you miss being with him, but what's going on right now is a little more important."

Noticing the worried looks on their faces, Casey started to feel concerned, and he asked, "What is it?"

---

A few minutes later

"... so, as of this moment, one of these three ponies have captured Rainbow Dash, Moondancer, Lyra, Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, Rarity, and even our parents."

After Twilight finished her explanation via bulletin board, Casey looked at the three pictures that had the word "suspect" written in red ink, and said, "Well, although this is really impressive… um, I don't get why you have Stardust listed as a suspect."

"He wears a cloak, right?" reminded Twilight, and that caused Casey to start laughing.

"Yeah, but I don't think he would do something likethat… I mean, especially since he has versions of them in his own world, so it doesn't make sense that-"

"Well, for now, he's guilty until proven innocent," said Twilight, while Casey rolled his eyes. "In the meantime, let's keep trying to repair the machine. Were you able to use it once, at least?"

Casey nodded his head, and while following her to the library, he replied, "Yup… and I really hope that Fluttershyneverdecides to own a shed one day."

Or whatever the heck that world's version of her was about to use on me.

---

The next morning, while preparing all of his darts for the task that was ahead, Beck spent a few moments trying to ignore the pain in various areas of his body.

"One thing I'll admit right now," muttered the green Earth pony, taking a quick glance at the two royal sisters that were locked up in their own individual cage. "Your guards are very well trained."

Luna simply gave him a smirk in response while Celestia asked, "Who else do you plan on bringing here?"

"What, is the answer not obvious, your Highness?" replied Beck, giving his childhood crush a sly grin. "It's as clear ascrystal, after all…"

It took a moment for all of his prisoners to realize what he was talking about, and Rarity was the one who spoke the answer.

"Princess Cadence?"

The cloaked pony let out a chuckle, and said, "Looks like somepony's paying attention after all."

However, his smile went away after Rainbow Dash's response reminded him of the bruises that he currently had.

"And how do you expect to do that? With the sisters here, Cadance must have amped up her security ten-fold. You may have beaten up the guards from Canterlot, but there is no way you'll beat the ones in the Crystal Empire."

"Oh, I don't think so,Pinky Dash," replied Beck, who was now ready to leave. "I don't expect them to make thingstooeasy for me… I doenjoya challenge, after all…"

He paused to reveal an object that brought a look of fear and concern on his prisoners' faces.

"And I've always been fond of starting things off with abang…hahahahaha!"

---

Everypony inside of Twilight's castle were all currently asleep, and inside their own bedroom, but all of that was disrupted by a sound that no one wanted to be awoken by.

"Whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo!"

You cannot be [BEEP]-in serious,thought Casey, who was now walking towards the front doors after being unable to go back to sleep, and after he opened it-

"Whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo- oh,sorry, sir," said Ride Along, the officer pony from Canterlot, and Casey gave him a slight nod. "Is Princess Twilight here?"

"Present," replied a yawning Twilight, now standing beside Casey while Spike and Shining were coming down the stairs. "How can I help you, Officer Ride Along?"

The law enforcer let out a sigh, and he said, "It's not easy for me to say this to you, but… the'cloaked pony'who captured Rarity… and, at this point, probably everypony else we talked about… was successful in capturing both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia."

"What?!"yelled the three ponies and young dragon.

Before Ride Along could say more, Applebloom appeared from out of nowhere, and cried,"Twilight! Twilight! Some cloaked pony took my big sister away!"

"What?!"said everypony else, except for Applejack's little sister.

Then, a look of realization appeared on Casey's face, and he exclaimed, "Twilight… where's Starlight at?"

---

Everything seemed to be going as normal for the residents of the Crystal Empire. Despite the departure of their Prince, Shining Armor, for what was reported to be a personal reason, all was calm and orderly.

'Guess I'll just have to shake things up a little,'Beck thought to himself as he walked along the the Empire's streets, uncloaked.

He was carrying five saddle bags, two of which contained his trusty tube, KOncoction darts, burlap sack, grappling gear, a megaphone, and a remote-like device, two others contained his little "surprise."

As for the last one? Well,thatwas definitely a surprise…

"Who's bright idea was it to build this castle with 3 legs as a foundation with an open bottom portion? Not exactly very smart, is it?" Beck mused as he approached one of said three legs.

Without missing a step, discarded two of his saddle bags, making sure they were at least out of the way.

Then, the green furred stallion made his way too an alleyway between two buildings close to the castle. Once there, he removed the remote-like device from one of his two remaining saddle bags.

"In 3… 2… 1… and…"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A few seconds latee, screams of terror (and even a couple in pain) began just as the explosives went off.

"Sorry 'bout that," Beck mentally apologized to the ones screaming in terror as he quickly pulled out his grappling gun.

Running from the alleyway, luckily going unnoticed, due to the chaos, he fired the gun, managing to hook it on one of the castle's upper balconies.

Once he pulled on it for stability, Beck pressed the button on the device, which pulled him, and his precious cargo, up into the air.

---

Moments Earlier

The last few days, contrary to the common ponies of the Empire, had actually been quite tense for one Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

Why is all of this happening?

With her husband's departure to Canterlot due to the disappearance of his parents to the news of the pony-napping of her Aunts Celestia and Luna, the Crystal Guard, temporarily led by Flash Sentry, had amped up security within the castle's walls.

Cadance was currently seated in her throne, about to take some disputes between some the Crystal Ponies, when, without warning, a loud explosion was heard and tremors began to be felt.

"Oh, my Celestia…" gasped the pink alicorn, now feeling shocked and a little afraid.

"I believe that we now may be under attack, your Highness," pointed out a Crystal Guard.

A slight frown of annoyance appeared on Cadence's face as she said, "Yes, I can see that."

"Come on, we need to get you to a safe location," another guard said as Cadence descended from her throne, and quickly following the Guards.

"But wait a moment… what about Flurry Heart?"

"Not to worry, Princess," The first guard consoled. "Your daughter will be escorted by Sunburst and their detail to the rendezvous."

Cadence nodded her head, and said, "Alright, then… let us continue onward."

---

In another part of the castle

"Come with us, Sunburst," Flash Sentry, said to the orange unicorn who was currently holding a crying young Princess Flurry Heart.

"Got it," Sunburst said and took off following Flash and three other guards who were to lead them away from danger, as well as trying his best to console the baby alicorn. "It's okay, don't be afraid…shhhhhhh, everything's going to be fine, just close your-"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," a voice said, before five darts were heard being shot out.

WHOOSH!

The next thing Sunburst, Flash, and the other three guards of their detail felt was pricks to the flank, and once that happened, a cloaked figure rounded into the hallway, making his way with purpose towards the already weakening Sunburst.

"Freeze! Hold it… r-right…" Flash Sentry slurred, trying to ready his spear. All he got in return was a hoof slap to the face before he succumbed to the darkness.

[AN: That was for you. You know who you are.]

'Pathetic,' Beck noted as he passed by Sentry, and continued moving towards Sunburst. "I'll be taking her off of your hooves, thank you."

"Nnnnnoooooo," Sunburst said, turning around and kneeling to protect the infant alicorn. "You... won't... get her."

Beck chuckled, and he replied, "Oh, you must be mistaken. I have no intention on harming the little cutie pie."

Then, he shoved the knocked-out-cold babysitter over to find the little alicorn, who was sniffling due to the distressing atmosphere.

Luckily, the tremors the explosion created were all but subsiding, so the halls of the castle were once more graced with a regal silence.

"Hi, little one," Beck cooed, pulling down his cloak to reveal his face to Flurry as well as kneeling down to the little one's level.

"Mama…" whined a teary-eyed Flurry, who was still sniffling.

"Don't worry, I'll help you find your mama," Beck said, wrapping his front hooves around the infant with tenderness.

Then, Flurry's face instantly brightened as if to say, "You will?"

"Uh-huh… come on," Beck said as he left the unconscious bodies of Sunburst, Flash, and the other three guards behind, while carrying the baby alicorn in a way that was similar to how he'd carry his son.

---

Cadance, having already evacuated the castle, was now anxiously waiting for the arrival of her daughter.

As it turned out, one of the castle's three legs was partially damaged as a result of the blast...enough to cause some slight instability, but not so that it would topple the structure.

"Where are they?" Cadance said, beginning to go into a slight panic.

"Not to worry, Princess, they should be exiting any second now," one guard said in an attempt to console her. "It is highly unlikely for-"

"Attention, Crystal Idiots!" yelled out an unfamiliar voice, and all of the Crystal ponies that had crowded near the castle all looked up to the balcony from Flurry Hearts room, where a figure holding a megaphone.

"Would anypony... like to tell me... why a castle that's supposed to both house and protect royalty... is built on three legs?" The figure, Beck, asked, confusing his audience below. "Cause it was pretty darn easy to blow some of it up and nearly topple the thing!

After seeing that everypony was now looking up at him, Beck added, "So… now that you're all paying attention… Princess Cadance, I believe I have something of yours!"

'Please don't be what I think it is,' one of Cadance's guards thought, as well as the princess herself.

"Your hash browns," Beck said, holding one up, and leaning on the railing for support so he can hold two things at once.

The aforementioned guard sighed in relief, while Cadence became a little confused.

"They are heavenly. Is there a recipe somewhere?"

Before anypony could give him an answer, Beck added, "Oh! And there's something else... come on out, sweetie,"

After seeing him put down the delicious food, many experienced a sharp intake of breath when Flurry Heart suddenly bounded onto the balcony, with her giggles conveying a message like, "Look at me!"

As for Cadance, she was bordering on hysterics. "My baby!"

"Geez, Princess,get a grip," Beck said through the megaphone. "So... here's what's going to happen.

"Unless this child's mother comes in through the castle to retrieve her ALONE..." Beck emphasized. "Everything will be a-ok. Failure to comply will result in... well, I can't say that now, a child is present."

After taking a moment for it to sink in, Beck looked at Flurry, and asked, "You want to use the megaphone, sweetie?"

Flurry nodded, and once it was in her hooves, she let out a cry that traveled throughout the kingdom, amplifying the fear of everyone who heard it.

I'm going in," Cadance said, determined, but then, she found herself being stopped by a castle guard.

"Your Highness, I fear that-"

"That is mydaughter, soldier," she said sternly. "As your ruler, I order you to stand down... Be prepared for when he'll eventually have to leave."

---

A few minutes later

"Why did Shining have to be in Canterlot?" Candance said to herself as she approached Flurry's room, with the door already open, and expecting to see…

"Who's the cutest baby in the world? You are," Beck cooed as he played with the little alicorn.

… something that she figured would be worse.

"Ahhhh, Princess Cadance... A pleasure to meet such a beautiful alicorn, as yourself."

A frustrated Cadance growled, "Save it… give me back my daughternow."

"No problem," replied Beck, speaking in a casual tone. "You just have to do one more thing."

"And what would that be exactly?" asked Cadence, who couldn't help but again feel a little surprised since this was not she had expected at all to come from him.

"That dart you see to your right..."

Cadance looked to her right to find a dart resting on the table.

"...just ram that baby into your flank and we're good."

A frown appeared on the princess' face after hearing those words, and said, "Now, hold on-"

"Ah-ah-ah,"interrupted Beck, speaking in a disapproving tone. "Remember what I said earlier, princess?"

Cadance remembered… failure to comply resulted in Flurry being harmed.

"Well, you know the deal," said Beck. "Neither of us are gettin' any younger, my dear."

"Fine," she said, levitating the dart with her magic, and sticking it into her flank. "Now-"

However, Beck shook his head, and replied, "Allthe way, now, princess."

Cadence just gave him a look, and then, she asked, "Does seeing me perform this act make you feel…"

"If you're about to say what I think you're going to say, then the answer is no," answered Beck, giving her a smirk. "I am notthatkind of pony… now, um, I do recall saying earlier if you did not follow through with- ah,therewe go, princess, easy as pie!"

Insert "Vulture Clash"fromSpider-Man: Homecoming

Taking a moment to rub the side of her flank, Cadence glared at Beck, and exclaimed, "There, and now, for the last time, giveherback!"

However, she was once again surprised after Beck suddenly began laughing.

"Wow… I see why you have your name, princess, but I can't believe you're actually that gullible...

"I mean, did youreallythink I'd harm a little foal like Flurry Heart?"

After hearing what he had said to her, Cadance's eyes widened in realization.

Beck didn't come to the Crystal Empire for Flurry… he came forher.

"You… w-will not… I…"

She had no time to react on this impulse however, as the darkness began to enter her vision, and slur her speech.

As he looked down at her, Beck sighed, and he said, "You know, it's comforting to know I'm not the only one who'll do anything for family."

Cadence had no chance to reply, for she was already unconscious on the ground.

"Mama?" Flurry asked, seeing her motherasleepon the floor.

"Sorry about this, sweetie," Beck said as he softly pricked a dart into the filly's flank, eliciting a cry. "Shhhhhh…"

The baby alicorn's eyes began to close, and her wings were tucked in as she began to yawn.

"Good night, little one," Beck whispered as he gently placed a now-sleeping Flurry in her crib, and giving her a loving kiss in the forehead before tucking her in.

Once he did that, he turned his attention towards the unconscious Cadence, taking out his burlap sack as he said, "And as foryou, princess…"

---

The crowd around the castle was already beginning to grow restless the longer the Princess was out of their vision. It got so rowdy that some of the Guard needed to convert their efforts to crowd control.

It was organized chaos for several minutes, at least until they heard a parting message from the villain that dared to attack their home.

"So long, suckers!" Beck yelled into his megaphone before discarding it over the highest balcony in the castle, and it ended up landing harmlessly due to the crowd making room for the projectile.

Back on the highest castle balcony, burlap sack in mouth, and his third saddle bag ready on his back ready to deploy, Beck ran out into the balcony and jumped, much to the shock of the Crystal ponies.

However, he wasn't airborne for too long before he pulled the string he had attached to his hoof and out came a wing-like mechanism.

Just as it was designed to do, it caught the wind and carried Beck out into the distance.

The Crystal Guard was unable to follow, seeing as how the crowd had gotten so thick that getting through them would take too long.

Plus, they couldn't have guessed what was inside the sack… but what theydidknow is that Prince Shining Armor needed to be alerted about this immediately.

---

Several miles away

"Coming in for a landing," Beck said to himself, getting his hooves ready.

[Music mentioned earlier is abruptly cut off, around 2 minute mark.]

However, like all first-time flyers, Beck ended up crashing down to the ground, rolling repeatedly until he came to rest flat on his back, with the burlap sack having been discarded from his mouth due to the fall.

Luckily, the fall had happened in a grassy meadow, otherwise Beck would have had another set of injuries to deal with.

The green-fur-colored pony got up, made sure his saddle bags were in order, which included the packaging of his glider, and check up on the unconscious Cadance.

'Whew, she's alright. Better to have a live Princess rather than a dead or gravely injured one,' Beck thought to himself before taking the sack into his mouth once more as he galloped back to the lab once more.

---

"I can't believe it… this is impossible…"

As he began putting the Princess of Love into her own cage, Beck let out a small chuckle, and said, "I told you all, did I not?"

"You are a horrible pony," said a frowning Luna. "How many more must you capture until your satisfactions are fulfilled?"

After doing one last check on Cadence, Beck began to re-treat some of his bruises from last night, and with a smile, he said, "Oh, there's only a few more left that will be joining us… but I have somethingveryspecial in mind for the pony that I plan on capturinglast…heh-heh-heh… ha-ha-ha-ha… ha-ha- aaaagh, damn it!"