Thief of the Frontline

Chapter 5

All was quiet in the dark room that Nightfall now found himself in.  There was something strange about the place though, wherever it was.  The darkness was thick like a shroud and engulfed all light.  He couldn't even see through it, and any attempts to survey the surroundings with sound, failed.  There was no echo, no response, only silence.  It was if the room went on forever and he was completely alone.

Nightfall began to walk forward into the black abyss.  His hoof steps were the only sound to keep him company for a few minutes, until he heard more.  There was another set, coming from behind him.  He turned around and stared into the darkness, almost straining his eyes as he tried to pierce its veil.

Another pony stepped forward into view, its face completely covered by shadow.  All color was absent from the rest of his body.  He wore the standard royal guard uniform.  The armor gave off no reflections.  It was just a dull grey.  As he walked, a tired, angry sounding voice sounded from seemingly nowhere.

"Hello Nightfall," the voice echoed.  "Are you done running away?"

Nightfall took a step back as the shadowy figure advanced toward him.  "Who are you?  How do you know my name?" he asked in a voice that had become ragged with panic.  The pony continued to march.  And then, it opened its eyes.  Nightfall knew those eyes.  They stood out like stars in the sky.

"No, it can't be."  He took several more steps back.  "Get away from me.  I'm warning you!  I'll... I'll"

"What?" the pony replied.  "Kill me again?"

Nightfall's eyes widened as he began to breath so heavy he thought he was going to hyperventilate.  "I... I didn't do that!  It's not my fault!"

The pony kept advancing, and just when he was about to reach Nightfall...  "BANG!"  A loud shot rang out and echoed through the oblivion.  The pony's head fractured and shattered like glass.  Red hot blood exploded from the cavity and splattered onto the darkness as if it were a canvas for an artist of death.  As the body went limp and hit the ground, it evaporated into a mist that washed over Nightfall like rain.  Only seconds later, another voice sounded.  This time from behind.

"Why didn't you save me?" the feminine voice asked in a ghostly tone.

Nightfall froze.  He knew that voice.  It was a voice that he would have done anything to hear again.  "Shade?  Is that you?"  he turned around to see a pegasus, just as gloomy and shadowy as the last pony standing there.

Shade's voice was barely a whisper.  "Why weren't you there?"  The mare had tears running down her blackened face.  The tears seemed to come out of nowhere as her eyes were where hidden by a dark shadow that hid any expression.

"Shady, I am so sorry," Nightfall said in a trembling voice.  The mare didn't respond.  She just stood there silently as tears dripped onto the floor.  "Shady, please talk to me."  Nightfall could now feel his own tears building up in his eyes, but she still didn't move.  After seconds of silence, a spark ignited in Shade and she burned away into ashes.  The mare let out a long screech of pain.  "No!" Nightfall yelled out as he ran to her.  He was to late though.  She was already gone.

Nightfall fell back on his haunches.  It was all to much for him, but it wasn't over yet.  The torture continued with one last voice, his own.

"Remember Paper, all the rules are important, but the one you should always remember is to never let your guard down.  Never let your guard down.  Never let your guard down."  It was like it was stuck on repeat.  The words stung like venom at Nightfall's heart as he heard his own advice spoken.  A reminder of what he should have done.

Another pony stepped forward from the darkness.  Nightfall looked up at it through teary eyes.  He was staring into a mirror as the pony stopped in front of him.  The clone looked tired and worn out.  "This is the price we pay, fool," it said in a taunting tone.  All of a sudden, the duplicate was hanging from a noose.  The terrible noise of choking and gagging filled the void.

Nightfall, the real one, choked on his own breath.  He felt like he was being strangled and fell over onto his side as he suffocated.  The pain roared inside his lungs like a storm of knives, and he felt something rough cutting into his throat.  "I... made... huh... a... guuhh... mistake," he barely managed to cough out.  He reached out to grab his neck, but he couldn't get his hooves to it.  It was like they were being restrained.  He was forced to look at his hooves with his now failing vision.  They were covered in blood.  That was the last thing he saw before everything went black.

Nightfall gasped for air as he shot out of his hammock and onto the floor.  He looked up and looked around at the empty room as he coughed violently.  Twilight had been given her own room and no longer slept with him at night.  He was alone again.  The hard floor was comforting.  Being able to feel something real and knowing that he would not slip back into the nightmare relieved him.

He stood up, walked to the door, and stepped into the hall.  It was mostly silent, with the exception of a few quiet voices coming from the large room where group meetings were held.  Nightfall walked down the hall and around a corner where he came to another door.  He stepped into the bathroom and walked over to the sink.

"Get ahold of yourself Nightfall," he said to his reflection in the mirror.  He turned on the faucet and splashed cold water onto his face.  "Don't let it get to you.  You have a job to do tomorrow and you can't let your fear get in the way."

After returning to his room and laying back down in his hammock, Nightfall stared at the ceiling for hours.  He had woken at around one in the morning and the clock now read "5:57."  He wasn't going to get anymore sleep.  He knew this.  Once he had that dream, that one dream that popped into his mind every so often, there would be no more rest.

He sat up and got up out of bed.  He decided it would be best to go for a early morning fly through the forest.  He also had a couple of stops to make as well.

As the sun was beginning to rise, the beams of light illuminated the layer of white clouds below.  For Nightfall, being at extremely high altitudes was the best way to relax.  It was peaceful and made one feel as if they were disconnected from the rest of the world.  Each layer of clouds below and the endless sky above helped to add to that effect.  Nightfall stopped and hovered in place for a moment before diving straight down at high speeds.  The air rushed past him like an upside down waterfall.  Most would have forgotten their troubles and worries at that moment as they enjoyed the feeling of freedom.  Nightfall was not most ponies.  His thoughts that had swallowed him whole still lingered in his head.

As Ponyville came into view, Nightfall fanned out his wings and reduced his speed.  He landed in the middle of a street that was just starting to become occupied by the early bird ponies that enjoyed the morning.

Earlier

Solar and a few other ponies were sitting in the meeting area when Nightfall walked by.  He looked tired, but at the same time, wide awake.  It was as if he just had enough energy to force himself to be so alert.  It didn't really make sense to Solar, but he supposed that that is just what happens when a batpony has to adjust from sleeping in the day to sleeping at night like the rest of them.

"Where are going at such an early hour?" asked Solar to the his worn associate.

"Out," Nightfall replied.  "Sleep isn't exactly agreeing with me right now."

"Again?"

"Yes, again."

Solar sighed.  "You should really get some sleep while you still can.  The next few days are going to be busy ones," he said.

Nightfall obviously wasn't listening as he walked off half way through Solar's sentence.  "I'll be fine," he said tiredly.  "I just need to get out for a while.  Besides, all you ever have me do is go get pointless intel."  Before Solar could protest any further, he walked out the door and let it close behind him with a faint thud.

Solar let out an irritated sigh again.  He stared at the door that Nightfall had left out of for a few more seconds before looking over at a light blue pegasus.  "Follow him."

The stallion looked up from the book he was reading.  "What?"

"Nightfall is constantly leaving early in the morning or late at night and coming back whenever he wants."  Solar's eyes narrowed.  "He's up to something."

"Are you sure about that?" asked the pegasus who had some doubts of his own.

"We are guarding a freaking alicorn princess.  I can't take any risks.  For all we know he isn't who he says he is.  He could be a royal spy and he's going to report to his authorities right now."

"Didn't you put him in charge of keeping Twilight safe?  That doesn't seem like a smart move if you don't trust him."

"Come on Foxtrot, you know I'm smarter than that.  Giving Nightfall a purpose was just a means of making him think that I trust him.  He isn't really going to be in charge of her security.  I already have ponies I actually do trust working on that."

"Alright.  I'll see what he's up to, but I still don't think you have anything to worry about."  Foxtrot stood up out of his chair and started walking toward the door.  "If I get caught, I'll cover for you, but you owe me."  He opened the door and stepped outside.  Taking off into the sky, he flew low above the canopy of the Everfree forest until he was just outside of Ponyville.  After gaining some altitude he scanned the area in search of Nightfall, who he spotted diving down from above the clouds.  Nightfall slowed and landed in the mostly empty street.

For the next hour, Foxtrot shadowed the batpony through town, being careful not to be noticed.  In that time, Nightfall didn't really do anything interesting.  He kept to himself and never walked down any dark alleys or some place secluded.  There was no private meeting.  Instead, Nightfall walked around the market for a while as if in search of something.

The market was never very active early in the morning.  Only a few stands were open.  Nightfall walked up to one of them just like any other normal pony would and started looking at the produce that was spread out on the tables.  All fruit.  Apples, pears, pineapple, and oranges.

"That's it?" Foxtrot thought to himself as he sat on a cloud above.  "He's just getting fruit?  Solar really isn't as smart as he thinks he is."  He sat patiently for a few more minutes, carefully watching.  Nothing happened.  Nightfall got a bag of something from behind the counter and walked off.  "That can't be it, can it?"  Foxtrot asked himself again.  Nightfall didn't even steal the fruit.  He paid for it as if he had been an honest pony all his life.

Foxtrot reluctantly followed Nightfall to his next destination.  The Cemetery.  Surely he was going to meet someone there.  Few ponies ever went there early in the morning, unless there was a funeral.  There was also plenty of cover.  This made it a perfect rendezvous for ponies who wanted to be away from the public eye.

"Finally," Foxtrot thought to himself.  "Solar may have actually been right."  A more morbid thought came to mind just then.  He didn't know which one the hope for.  He would know soon enough.

Nightfall didn't know how to feel about graveyards.  Part of him hated them and what they represented, a place of sadness, death, and grief for those who still walked the earth.  A place where only the dead slept quietly.  Another part of him liked graveyards and their purpose.  A nice place for the dead.  A way of respecting their bodies and their souls.  He hoped they were comfortable.

After walking among the tombstones for some time, he stopped at one small, granite stone, engraved with the name "Shade Frost."  Nightfall sat down in front of it.  "Hey there honey," he said quietly to the small rock.  "Sorry I wasn't able to visit sooner.  Things have been a little hectic back at the castle.  We found somepony who could help us make things right."  Nightfall sat there for a few seconds listening to the silence.  Silence, always silence.  He would give anything to hear her voice outside of his nightmares.  "I miss you so much," he said lowering his head towards the ground in front of the small tombstone.

Foxtrot now understood why Nightfall would take off alone so often and he began to feel extremely uncomfortable.  He felt like he shouldn't be there, like it was wrong for him to spy on Nightfall when he was in so much pain.  Foxtrot thought about walking out from behind the large stone spire he was hiding behind to try and help, but he had no idea how to handle this kind of situation.  He didn't know what it felt like to lose someone close.  He never had to go through that kind of pain.

Foxtrot didn't stay any longer.  It was obvious that Nightfall needed some time alone.  He didn't want to anger him since he had just spied on him for Solar.  He took off into the sky once he had left the graveyard and headed for home.

Foxtrot landed at the castle doors where he was met by an anxious Solar Spark.  He could tell that he was ready to hear all about how Nightfall was a dirty traitor who needed to be hanged for his crimes against ponykind.  He almost seemed a little to excited.

"So what did you find out?  What has Nightfall been hiding?" Solar asked.

"Nothing," replied Foxtrot.  "He's clean."

All excitement that was in Solar immediately vanished and a confused look showed on his face.  "What?  Really?"  He sounded just as disappointed as he did confused."

"If buying fruit and taking a walk around town is a crime, then he's the worst of the worst.  Other than that, he's completely clean."  Foxtrot walked off leaving the dumbfounded stallion standing there looking like an idiot.

Solar couldn't believe what he had just heard.  This was good right?  No!  It couldn't be!  He was so sure.  "If Nightfall isn't a spy, then that means he's exactly what he says he is, or at least was at one point," Solar thought to himself.  "A good for nothing thief."  He could still use that, right?  "Surely he has something he's hiding."

When Nightfall did return to the castle about an hour later, Foxtrot calmly walked up to him.  "Hey Nightfall," he called out as he approached.  "Are you okay," he said when he got to him.  "I saw you at the cemetery and... well, you looked like you were having a tough time."  He knew it was probably a bad idea to let Nightfall know that he was at the cemetery, but he wasn't just going to ignore the fact that Nightfall probably needed some help.  Besides, he was more than capable of covering his tracks.

"I'm fine, thanks."  Nightfall replied.  "What were you doing at cemetery?  I've never seen you there before."

Foxtrot nervously looked around before coming up with the best lie he could think of.  "Oh you know," he said.  He managed to stay calm and not look nervous. "Just paying my respects."

"Old guard buddy, or someone else?" Nightfall asked.

"Just a friend," Foxtrot replied.  "I didn't really have many friends when I was in the guard.  Mostly because I hated the way they always did things.  I'm glad I go out when I did."

"Yeah, I'm going to make those bastards pay for what they did."

"What would that be?"  Foxtrot knew Nightfall didn't like the guards with him pretty much still being a wanted criminal in Canterlot, but something about the way he had said it, the anger in his eyes, gave him the impression that his disdain went deeper than just being on the lamb.

Nightfall hesitated for a second before answering Foxtrot's question.  It was now his turn to lie.  "Well the king wouldn't be much if he didn't have his own little private army.  The fact that they can actually serve him and keep clear consciences disgusts me."  Nightfall did an equally good job of making no sign that he wasn't telling the truth.   "I'm also getting sick of Solar," he said abruptly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"He doesn't trust me for some reason.  I don't know if he doesn't like the fact that I used to be a thief or if he thinks I did something wrong.  Also I know he only put me in charge of Twilight's safety so I would think he trusted me."

"How do you know that?"

"I saw him assembling a security team for Twilight a few days after he appointed me as her personal guard."

Before the conversation could continue any further, an earth pony ran up to Foxtrot.  "Hey, they need you in the planning room for some kind of mission later in the week.  Something about intel recovery."

"Of course, always with the intel.  I'll see if I can convince Solar to trust you a little more," Foxtrot said to Nightfall as he began to follow the earth pony.  "I think you at least deserve a chance."

"Thanks."  Nightfall walked off down the hall toward his room, leaving Foxtrot to his own business.  After entering, he put the small sack that he had gotten from the market on the table in the middle of the room.  He opened it up and pulled out a small green fruit the size of an apple.  He didn't eat it.  He just starred at it for a minute before setting it back on the table.  He wasn't hungry.

After laying around for some time, Nightfall decided that it would be best if he went over a few things with Paper Cut before the

break-in later that night.  As he sat up in his net hammock, he looked back at the small fruit on the table.  He put it back in the bag and tied it shut.  Taking it with him, he walked back out into the hall and started walking toward Paper Cut's room.

Nightfall liked the castle.  It was crumbling and had vines growing on some of the walls, but there were enough rooms for everypony to get their own.  Some ponies shared rooms so that they would have someone to talk to or just liked having a roommate.  Paper had a few roommates, but they were usually out doing something "important" during the day.  This meant that Nightfall and Paper would be able to talk in private.

Nightfall walked into the dim room to find Paper Cut still fast asleep in a bed.  "Rise and shine," Nightfall said as he put a hoof on Paper's shoulder and shook him.

Paper swatted Nightfall's hoof away and rolled over.  "Guh... five more minutes, mom."  Paper pulled the sheets up and over his head.

Nightfall responded to this by grabbing the covers in his teeth and pulling them all off the bed.  "I'm not your mother Paper.  If I was, you would be used to waking up much earlier."

Paper sat up in the bed and rubbed his eyes as he yawned.  "What time is it?" he asked in a tired voice as he got out of his bed.

"About eight thirty," Nightfall answered.

"Alright, so what's up?"  Paper walked to the wall opposite of his bed and grabbed a coffee mug, some ingredients, and a small red crystal out of a drawer.

"We need to go over a few things for tonight.  This is your first time so I would prefer it if things went smoothly."

"Okay.  What do we need to go over?" Paper asked as he put the crystal into the side of coffee maker.  The small stone began to glow as the coffee maker powered up.  "Oh and how do you like your coffee?"

"I don't drink coffee."

If the coffee had already been made and Paper was drinking it, he would have spit it out in a cliché fashion.  "What?!  How do you go without coffee?  It's like the most important part of the morning!"

"Don't need it," Nightfall said plainly.  "Never have."

"Are you telling me that you've never had coffee?"  Yet again, if he had been drinking some, Paper would have spit it out.

"Like I said, never needed it."

"You my friend are missing out, big time," he said as he pointed a hoof at Nightfall.  "I'm going to make you a cup and your going to try it.  I promise it will make all your problems go away.  At least for a little while."

"Okay, I'll try some, but I pretty sure that it's going to take way more than some hot drink with caffeine in it to make my problems go away."

Paper pulled another mug out of the drawer and placed it on the table next to the other.  The coffee maker made a soft "ding" noise and the crystal, which was now grey and cold, stopped glowing.

"Oh good.  It's ready," said Paper excitedly.  He poured the hot brown beverage which he liked to call "The Juice of Life" into the two mugs.  After putting the pot back in the small machine, he picked up his mug and blew to cool it down.  Nightfall also picked up his mug and eyed it curiously.  "This isn't going to send me bouncing off the wall, is it?" he asked.  Paper shook his head and took a small sip of his "Life Juice."  "Oh that is some good life juice," he said as he felt himself wake up a little.

Nightfall hesitated before taking a sip.  "This is actually pretty good."  He took another sip.  "I might actually have to start drinking this."  Before he drank anymore, he placed his still steamy cup back on the table.  "Now, back to business."

"So we just need to go over getting in, getting out, and not getting caught, right?" asked Paper as he took another drink.

"Yeah, something like that," Nightfall replied.  "Twilight and I found the entrance to the tunnel last night.  We ran into some trouble, but I managed to keep under control.  Had to use the same memory loss potion I used on Border Sketch.  The guard said that the tunnel had been bricked off years ago so we'll need to bring something to get through some brick walls."

"Something tells me that a sledgehammer is going to make to much noise."

"Have you ever heard of runic magic?"

"Those are those magic engravings right?"

"Yes," Nightfall said simply.  "I've never written one and I'm sure you haven't either, but you said Twilight was really smart, right?"

Twilight had just woken up when she decided it would be a good idea to go out and socialize some more with the rest of the ponies that she currently lived with.  She had met most of them, but wanted to get to know them better.  Twilight happily hopped out of bed and headed to the door of the room when a few knocks sounded from the other side.

"Come in," said Twilight from across the room.

The door slowly swung open and Nightfall and Paper Cut walked in.  "Hey Twilight," Nightfall said as he approached.  "Do you know how to make runes?"

"A few," she replied.  "What kind do you need?"

"Something that can get us through a brick wall.  Or a few preferably.  Also, can you put it on paper so we can take it into that tunnel we found last night."

"Sure," said Twilight cheerfully.  "I'll see what I can come up with."

"Can I help?" asked Paper.  "I've always wanted to expand my knowledge of magic."

"Of course, Paper."  Twilight smiled and grabbed a pen out of a cup on a small desk she had set up against a wall.  "I'd be glad to teach you how to draw some basic runes."

Paper smiled.  "Awesome!"

Nightfall walked over to the side of the two unicorns who were now sitting on the floor with several pieces of paper spread on a low table.  "I might as well watch," he said as he sat down.  "I always bought these things from merchants on the black market back in my days of breaking and entering.  Actually knowing how to make them may come in useful some day."

Twilight made a confused face before asking Nightfall a question.  "Why the black market?  Couldn't you just get these at a regular magic store?"

"Not with the laws that the king has in place," Nightfall replied.  "He's so paranoid that somepony will try and over throw him that he has bans on any potentially dangerous items.  Guns, swords, bows, spell books that teach combat magic, , almost anything you could think of.  All the swords you've seen around here were found in the castle's armory."

"So all of Equestria's citizens are powerless against the oppressive royal forces," Twilight said.

"I once printed an article about a riot in Hosston back when I worked for that newspaper," Paper spoke up.  "The participants tried to storm town hall with nothing but pitchforks and torches like it was medieval times.  Let's just say there's a reason they call it the Hosston massacre."

"You don't mean..." Twilight's eyes widened as a horrified look took over her face.

Paper sighed in despair.  "Twenty five dead, fourteen wounded, and four of the five ponies who organized the event were executed for treason.  I'll never forget the day I had to print that."

"That's terrible!" Twilight exclaimed.

"All the more reason for us to fight," Nightfall said as he looked over the blank sheets of paper on the table.  "So how do we make these runes?  It's probably best if we get these made as soon as possible."

"Right.  Of course," said Twilight as she tried to regain her composure.  She levitated a marker up to the paper and drew a large circle.  As she drew, she began to explain how the circle made up the body and how each symbol that she was writing did different things.  Some had elemental effects, others had more passive effects that just helped support the others.  It was mostly over Nightfall's head on how a bunch of lines on a piece of paper could make magic, but he found it interesting none the less.

"So since you guys need to get through a wall," Twilight continued her lesson.  "You'll probably want something that can burn them away so... there."  Twilight made a few more symbols on the drawing that was now starting to take shape.  "Fire."

"Is there a way you can make it work without an activation crystal?" asked Nightfall.

"Activation crystal?"  Twilight had never heard of such a thing.  Usually she just used her magic to activate them.

"Small device that allows non-unicorn ponies to activate runes.  I had one a while back, but I lost it in a house fire."

"House fire?"  Paper wasn't familiar with this story.  "I didn't know you had a house fire."

"Lost my house and a bunch of my stuff.  The rest is a story for another time," Nightfall dismissed Paper's curiosity.  "You can make it like, touch activated or something, right Twilight."

"I could,"  Twilight looked back down at the almost complete rune and thought for a second.  "But it would probably burn your hoof off.  Alternatively, I could teach Paper here an activation spell."

Paper's eyes lit up.  "Really.  That would be great!"

"Alright then," Twilight said with a smile.  "Nightfall, there's some more materials that I need in order to complete the rune.  Could you go get those for me while I teach Paper the spell?"

"Of course.  What do you need?"

"I'll need some finely ground fire crystal.  Normally, a pony could activate the rune using their own magic in order to get the desired effect, in this case reducing brick and mortar to ash, but since Paper has never performed an activation spell, it would be best to lace the rune with something to assist in setting it off."

"I'll get you what you need."  Nightfall got up from where he sat and headed towards the door.  He turned around before leaving.  "If Solar asks what you're doing, don't let him know I had anything to do with this."

"Don't worry Nightfall," Paper assured him.  "I've got your back."

Magic stores were known for selling all kinds of things.  Crystals, spells, runes, enchantments, and amulets.  Most had been shutdown after the king came to power after his father died.  The current monarch was so certain that his father had been poisoned, that he passed laws that outlawed anything potentially dangerous.  Long story short, paranoia out ways logic.  All Nightfall needed was some fire crystal that had been reduced to powder.  Shouldn't be to hard.

There were plenty of stores open in Ponyville that had items with magical attributes and most of the owners still sold contrabands to keep business flowing.  Nightfall found it sort of funny.  The second something becomes illegal, its value sky rockets.  As he walked to the corner of a rode he noticed a sign that said "Astral's Arcane Shop."  A good start.

When Nightfall walked into the store, he looked around the store shelves for what he needed for a few minutes to see what was available.  As expected, there were many things that would help any magic scholar in any projects they may have.  After not being able to find any crystals that were in a powder state, he walked up to the front of the store to see what was being kept behind the counter.

"Are you Astral?" Nightfall asked the pony behind the counter.

"Indeed I am," the young unicorn replied with a business stallion smile.  "What can I get you?  I just got a new supply of spell books and there's a sale on luck charms."

"I'm looking for some finely ground fire crystal.  You selling any?"

Astral leaned in close to Nightfall over the freshly polished counter top.  "Who told you about that?" he whispered after looking both ways and checking the door.  "Do you have any idea how much trouble I could get in if word gets out?"

"Don't worry.  I'm just looking for them and this just happened to be the first store I checked."  Nightfall noticed Astral relax a little.  "So you're selling right?"

"I am, but it won't be cheap.  These are a high grade material.  You can't just take any fire crystal and grind it up.  If it isn't done correctly and by an expert, which I just happen to be, they'll lose their magic abilities."

"How expensive are we talking?"

Astral smiled.  "Two hundred bits.  Non-negotiable."  He pulled out a small glass phial that contained a red powdery substance that glowed and shimmered ever so slightly.  "This is the last container I have, so what do you say?"

"Are you sure it isn't negotiable?" Nightfall asked.

"One hundred percent certain," Astral replied.  "It isn't easy getting your hooves on this stuff."

Nightfall let out a sigh.  The last thing he wanted was to have to spend all his money on one item, but he needed it to much to look somewhere else and risk somepony else buying them when he couldn't find what he needed anywhere else.  "Alright," he said as he put a large pouch of bits on the table.

Astral picked up the coin purse with the yellow glow of his magic and untied the top.  He levitated all the coins out and placed them in stacks of twenty on the counter.  He counted each stack out loud and then levitated the phial to Nightfall.  "It's been a pleasure doing business with you.  If you get caught with that, I've never seen you in my life."

"Oh, I'm sorry sir," Nightfall said with a smile.  "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about.  You must have me mixed up with somepony else."

"Ha.  I like you."

Nightfall turned and headed for the door.  "I'll come by if I ever need anything else."  He opened the door and walked outside.  The sun was now halfway to its noon position.  The morning wasn't even over, and he had everything he needed for that night.  Now all there was left to do was to get back to the castle and finish the rune.

When Nightfall got back to the castle, he found Paper and Twilight fooling around in the room that he had left them in.  Twilight was standing on top of the bed laughing as Paper danced around doing an impersonation of his favorite stand up comedian.  It would have been a perfectly normal sight if his mane wasn't on fire.

"Did I miss something?" asked Nightfall as he stared at Paper who was completely calm about the fact that he was on fire.  Or at least it appeared that way.  The only thing keeping Nightfall from freaking out was that he had seen the spell before.

"Hey Nightfall!" said Paper as he danced around the table in the middle of the room.  "Check out this awesome spell Twilight showed me!  It totally looks like I'm burning alive!  I could walk into town right now and be all like "Somepony help me!  Aaaagh!" ha ha.  The best part is they wouldn't be able to put me out because it's magic!"

"I'm sure it would have made one heck of a distraction if we had to go with that option."  Nightfall switched his attention to Twilight who was now working on putting the fire on Paper's head out.  "I got what we needed.  Does Paper have the activation spell down?"

"I showed him everything he needed to know.  Now all we need is to test it."

Twilight infused some of the powder into one of the five runes that they had drawn while Nightfall and Paper waited patiently.  When she was done they placed the rune up on a table that they had set on its side.  It was time for the moment of truth.  Paper took his position in front of Twilight and Nightfall and pointed his horn at the table.

A few moments went by and nothing happened.  Paper was still standing there trying to cast his spell when Nightfall spoke up.  "Having trouble there Paper?"

"Hang on," he replied.  "I think I almost have it."  His horn began to glow and the symbols on the rune started floating in a circular motion as they leaped right off the paper, a small spark began to form in the small cluster of magic swirling in the air.  Next thing they all knew, the table was being disintegrated right before their eyes.  Soon, there was nothing left but a pile of ash on the floor.  Paper jumped up in the air with excitement.  "That was amazing!  Let's do it again.  Except this time, we need to get something bigger!"

"I'll tell you what," said Nightfall.  "If we have any of that powder left after the job tonight, we'll celebrate by burning some more useless junk."

"I'm glad to see that it worked," said Twilight.  "I'll start infusing the other runes.  Do you guys want me to show you how to do it?"

"Heck yes," Paper said enthusiastically.

"I just realized I haven't eaten anything today.  You guys want anything?" asked Nightfall.

The two both said that they ate while he was gone, so Nightfall stepped out into the hall and headed to the makeshift mess hall while Twilight showed Paper how to finish the runes.  All that remained to do was to go over the heist plan a few more times and wait for night.  And just like that, they would be ready.

Nightfall sighed as he thought about this.  "Alright Nightfall," he said to himself.  "Looks like you're back in the game.  Try not to screw it up this time."