The Moon's Knight (or Luna's Lunatic)

by RustDust

6 - Rescue Attempt

Rescue Attempt

Before Rarity could process what Marc had told her, he had already bounded out of the already shattered window. Landing in a roll, he took off by retracing the steps he took with Rarity earlier in the day. There were practically no lights lit in the windows of the surrounding buildings, but it didn’t matter; the light from the Moon was enough to guide him. Marc felt the moonlight wash over his body, even under the pale cloak flowing behind him. It filled him with power that surged throughout his body from head to toe as his feet pounded the ground leaving clear imprints from the force of his steps. Within what seemed less than a minute, skidding to a stop, Marc was in front of the darkened façade of Sugarcube Corner.

There was little time to spare for Marc. Whoever was after Rarity wasn’t working alone. They were part of an organized group whose motives were unclear. All Marc was certain of was that they were after the Element bearers because of their connection to Nightmare Moon.

Marc quietly tried the door to the bakery but found that it was still locked. Rarity’s intruder had snuck in before she had locked up for the night, so it was possible that was the case here. Not wanting to break down the door for fear of losing the element of surprise, he decided to try the windows. After stepping back a few paces, Marc ran up the side of the building and vaulted himself over the roof. The roof was rather steep, but Marc’s bare feet were able to keep their grip on the cookie-shaped shingles. The closest window that looked to lead into a hallway wouldn’t budge, but he was sure at least one near the top would be unlocked. After scaling the steep roof, Marc peered into the window of the cupcake-shaped extension and found what appeared to be a bedroom. Judging by all the party-balloons decorating the place, Marc had a feeling he knew whose room this was. Thankfully, the window was left unlocked.

Marc silently crept into the room through the window, shutting it behind him. When he turned back around, he was stunned at how much bigger the place was on the inside. The room was circular with a railed staircase following the wall. It was rather sensibly furnished to Marc’s modest surprise. He expected something a little more… lively.

The bed was empty, but it was still made. For a second Marc believed himself to be too late but realized that a kidnapper wouldn’t stop to make the bed after kidnapping someone, so it was possible Pinkie Pie hadn’t gone to bed yet. However, that still left the question as to where the excitable mare could be. The room was unassuming at a glance, but something about it was still bugging Marc. After walking a bit through the room, he found what it was. The floor.

Getting down closer to the ground Marc saw the edges indicating a trapdoor. Deciding to investigate, Marc looked for a possible switch to open it. After a bit of inspecting, he found the ice-cream cone-shaped rail cap. Pressing it, the floor behind him opened, revealing what appeared to be a slide leading down to darkness.

“Now where does this lead…” Marc muttered to himself.

After taking a second to steel himself, Marc jumped down onto the slide prepared for the worst.

The slide down was a pitch darkness not even Marc’s enhanced sight could penetrate. It also seemed to last way longer than what would make sense for the size of the building. Was there a basement? Also, wasn’t there a second floor that this slide would be going through somehow? Questions for later.

Eventually the slide sloped to a stop and Marc landed as quietly as he could manage, though he felt it wasn’t quiet enough that anybody nearby wouldn’t have heard. He still couldn’t see, which was a major problem he foresaw but didn’t have time to address. He began slowly walking forward hoping to hit a wall where there might be a light switch or door to someplace with some light. When he finally reached it, he was surprised to immediately find what felt like a switch on the wall. He figured whoever designed this place made it so that after riding the slide you could just walk forward to find the light switch. It was only after switching it and turning around that he realized his folly. The lights did turn on, and immediately behind Marc was a giant cannon facing right at him.

“SURPRISE!”

Marc quickly ducked to the ground below the cannon’s aimed shot. Instead of a splintering sound of an impact from a cannonball or grapeshot, it appeared the cannon launched an absurd amount of confetti and streamers that would no doubt have incapacitated him and tangled him up. Looking up, Marc saw the cannon operator. He was immediately torn between feelings of relief and annoyance.

“Oh, Hiya Mark! Out of all the ponies I wasn’t expecting, I was expecting you about the same as them. Which I wasn’t! Hiya!”

Behind the giant cannon was none other than Pinkie Pie, who was sporting a massive grin on her face.

“So, what brings you to my party planning cave, Mark?” Pinkie asks as she tilts the massive gun forwards, slides down it and lands on her hooves.

Marc was confused as he looked over the cannon to the slide he just got off from. “…I… Pinkie, how did you get that cannon behind me? I walked straight from the slide to the wall.”

“This isn’t just a cannon Mark, this is my party artillery, reserved only for special occasions,” she said with a flourish of her hooves towards said piece of artillery as if to indicate the importance.

“That doesn’t answer my question, Pinkie,” Marc said, getting annoyed.

“You didn’t answer my question first~!” Pinkie singsong retorted, sticking her tongue out slightly.

“…I came here to rescue you.”

“From what?”

“Kidnappers.”

“Hmmm, I don’t think there are any goats around here.”

“…”

“…”

“…ponynappers.”

Pinkie then did the most overdramatic gasp Marc has ever seen performed by any creature. Done, he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“If you didn’t know about them, why were you prepared with a trap?”

“It wasn’t a trap, it was a surprise! I got a tingly feeling telling me some pony was coming, so I prepared a little surprise party for them when they got here.”

“So, they haven’t come yet?”

“Oh, they came already. They had to leave though. And without the party favors I had for them!” she pouted.

“…Wait, what?”

“You just missed the party. Look around you!”

Taking a moment to look around, Marc saw what Pinkie was talking about. All around the room lie confetti and streamers. Multiple pies and cakes were on the floor and a few were stuck to the walls and file cabinets. Present boxes were scattered with their contents spilling out either candy or toys; one appeared to be filled with some green goo. He even saw the outline of a pony made with what appeared to be a blast of flour. Something bad happened here, Marc thought to himself.

It looks like Pinkie Pie didn’t need his help after all.

Marc was about to further question Pinkie Pie until he heard a shrill scream coming from up the slide, and it was getting louder. Looking up the slide Marc saw Rarity sliding down headed straight for Pinkie.

“Rarity!” Pinkie proclaimed, forelegs outstretched.

“EEEEEEK-OOMFF!” Rarity went as she landed into Pinkie.

“Rarity? What are you doing here? How did you find me?” Marc asked.

“Ow… I came here looking for you! You weren’t very hard to track; you left prints leading all the way here. What did- yes, hello to you too, Pinkie- what did you mean when you said my friends are in danger?”

Marc then took the time to quickly explain to them what happened. How he felt someone was watching them earlier at Sugarcube Corner and then at Golden Oak Library. How Rarity was attacked. Then about his hunch that ponies were planning to abduct the Element bearers.

“We don’t have much time, Twilight may still be in danger.”

“Twilights in danger!? We have to save her!” Pinkie exclaimed as she zoomed up the slide.

“…”

“…”

“…Are we supposed to follow her up the slide?” Marc asked Rarity.

“Just follow me dear, like you said, we must hurry.”

After leaving Sugarcube Corner, Marc, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie rushed over to Golden Oak Library. In the back of Marc’s mind he was concerned that he couldn’t remember how they left Pinkie’s “party cave,” but he had more pressing matters to attend to. Even after slowing himself down, Rarity was having some trouble keeping up with Marc while Pinkie Pie fared much better. Both were equally determined however to see their friend safe.

Turning a corner, Marc saw the treehouse, and he didn’t like what he saw. Windows were smashed open, and a few books were scattered as though they had been thrown through them.

“Twilights books? She would never treat them so harshly. Something terrible must have happened here!” Rarity said as they approached the carnage.

“You two stay here while I check inside,” Marc said to them.

“No way José, not without us you’re not!” Pinkie loudly said.

“Quiet, they may still be here.” Marc whisper-shouted, his mind latching to how Pinkie would know the name José.

“Twilights our one of our best friends. You can’t just expect us to wait out here while she could be in danger.” Rarity angrily remarked.

“…Fine,” Marc relented, “but stay behind me, and stay silent,” punctuating the last part by giving a hard look at Pinkie. Unicorn magic could be useful, and Pinkie’s proven to be proficient at self-defense, even if she doesn’t know it.

Luckily for them, the door was unlocked, though whether that put Twilight at a disadvantage was another thing. Looking at the room, Marc saw a similar scene that he witnessed at Pinkie’s secret base, though a lot less comical and amusing. The neat and orderly library that Marc had visited just earlier that day was gone. Books and scrolls were littered all over the room with scorch marks covering the floor and walls. Lights were shattered, chairs were turned over and or broken.

Scanning the area, Marc quickly made his way to the stairs with Pinkie and Rarity in tow. After reaching it, Marc heard something: crying. Moving faster, Marc ran up the wooden staircase to until he entered what must’ve been Twilight’s room, and in the center surrounded by a magical field was none other than Twilight, curled up and sobbing softly. The room looked to be in about as much disarray as downstairs, but Marc’s focus was on Twilight.

“Twilight? Are you okay?”

The only answer Marc received was a shiver from the purple unicorn. She didn’t even bother looking up. Marc tried pressing on the dome surrounding her to find it was solid. A fight must have broken out and Twilight sealed herself away. She was safe, but why was she crying? Then Marc realized what it was: he hadn’t yet seen Spike. This wasn’t his forte. Looking back at the staircase, he saw Pinkie and Rarity come up the stairs. Upon seeing their grieving friend Rarity softly choked and Pinkie’s mane seemed to slowly deflate a bit from its previous poofiness. Marc motioned for them towards Twilight as he stepped aside.

“Twilight?” Rarity called with Pinkie Pie looking somber beside her.

This got more of a response as Twilight lifted her head to see her friends worried faces. Her tear-soaked face lit up with recognition as the barrier separating them fizzled away. Twilight stood and took a nervous step towards them before practically falling into their forelegs bawling harder than before.

“Shhh, it’s okay dearie, we’re here now,” Rarity cooed as she stroked Twilight’s mane.

Twilight choked on a sob. “No, no no no it’s not, it’s not nooo.”

“What’s wrong Twilight?” Pinkie asked more softly than Marc’s ever heard her speak before.

“Some–*sob*– somepony took Spike!”

Author's Note:

I always finish these late at night so I'm constantly torn between uploading them as is or waiting for a more reasonable hour where it might get noticed. Fuck it. Here you go. Like, comment, and subscribe if you enjoy what you see. I love getting feedback.

Comments

[Slo]

[Oni_Ree]

The only problem about this is me not findin this over 3 years ago! I highly enjoy each chapter and, probably won't see this, hope you make more!