A unicorn mare, with a teal coat and short messy navy blue mane, stood on a dirt path that ran along the outskirts of Canterlot. Her cutie mark was an eye that had an iris colored like a globe of the earth. She was currently looking up at the full moon; a hoofstep behind her caused her to turn her head towards the source of the sound.
“Some master of observation you turned out to be. What if I had been a guard on patrol?” A unicorn with a maroon coat and brown mane asked. His cutie mark was of an open padlock. Behind him were two other ponies, a unicorn with a grey coat and aqua mane, his cutie mark was an odd assortment of symbols and a Pegasus with a blue coat and purple mane, her cutie mark was a collection of gemstones and she was sporting an eye patch.
“Well, that’s not possible,” the moon gazing unicorn said, “Because the guards only patrol this stretch of road every three days.”
“Hmmm, touché,” the maroon unicorn said.
“I’m Fine Detail,” she said, “Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Locke, and this is Ruinic and Hunter,” the maroon unicorn said, before pointing to the other unicorn and Pegasus respectively.
“What were you doing staring at the moon anyways?” Hunter asked.
“Well, I’ve noticed that the Mare in the Moon seems to be getting more pronounced every year,” Fine Detail said, “It’s eerie, almost like she’s trying to get out.”
“The Mare in the Moon is just some old tale told to frighten young fillies,” Locke said, “Now enough banter, let’s get to work.”
“Thank you again so much for hiring me on to help with this test,” Fine Detail said.
“Test? Oh yeah..right,” Hunter said, his voice momentarily filled with confusion.
“I haven’t had much master observer work since little Birdsong was born, but to be asked to help the princess with your security consultation in testing the royal vaults is a real honor.”
“Like I said, enough banter. Let’s go,” Locke said.
The quartet of ponies walked along in silence, as the path eventually took them around the rear of Canterlot Castle. It eventually started to descend down to the cliffs below the castle.
“Wait, the patrol,” Locke said, as he motioned for the others to hide behind a large rock.
“We should be able to sneak by them in a few minutes. Their patrols in this area cover the back half of the castle every other hour,” Fine Detail said.
“How do you know that?” Ruinic asked.
“I did my homework and observed them in advance. This is a test after all,” Fine Detail said, smiling sheepishly.
The others rolled their eyes.
“Shouldn’t we be seeing them start to move towards the front of the castle?” Locke asked.
“Yes, maybe something’s caused them to change their routine. Let me check,” Fine Detail said, as her horn began to glow. She lifted a pair of binoculars out of her saddle bag and looked through them, “Hmmm I don’t see them anywhere. They must be behind one of the towers. I’ll check.”
The lenses on the binoculars glowed green, and suddenly the solid brick forms of the towers lining the castle walls became clear to Fine Detail. She could see a pair of guards leaning against one of them, eating some sandwiches.
“The guards are taking an unscheduled snack break. We’d better move fast,” Fine Detail said.
“How did you do that?” Runic asked.
“I enchanted the lenses on these to let me see through solid objects. It helps with my master observer skill,” she said, before she and the others made a quiet, yet hasty move past the castle walls.
Once they were clear of the walls they descended even further down. The dirt path eventually ended at a cliff face that sat below the castle.
“Huh? It’s a dead end,” Ruinic said in annoyance.
“This is actually an old service entrance to the castle,” Locke said, “It hasn’t been used for years.”
Hunter walked over to the cliff face and brushed her hoof over it, knocking several years of dust off it, revealing the outline of a door.
“I’ve never seen a lock like that,” Fine Detail said, making note of the seven strange indentations in the doorway.
“It’s a septuplet gem lock,” Hunter said, “They used to be all the rage back in the day, until ponies realized it was more convenient to use just a simple key rather then carting around seven specific gems with them. Fortunately I came prepared.”
Fine Detail watched in amazement as Hunter reached into her saddle bag and methodically pulled out gem after gem and tried each one in one of the slots. When one didn’t fit she tried again and again until she filled all seven slots. When the final gem was placed the door swung open.
They then stepped inside, the unicorns illuminating the room with their horns. Even though it was dusty and covered with cobwebs, the old service entrance was as beautifully decorated as the rest of the castle.
“So, where to now?” Ruinic asked.
Locke pulled out a crudely drawn map of the castle and looked it over, “The vault is on the floor above us. We just go up those stairs, turn right, and then go straight.”
“Where did you get that?” Fine Detail asked.
“I bribed a guard,” Locke said.
“Looks like our test found another flaw in the castle security’s,” Fine Detail said, enjoying the excitement.
“Just use your magic binoculars to check for patrols,” Locke said.
“Oh…okay,” Fine Detail said, slightly put off by the scolding.
She climbed the stairs and stopped at the top. She pulled out her binoculars again and activated the x-ray vision mode. With the doors and walls now clear, she could see the guards patrolling the halls. She observed the movements for what seemed like an eternity to the others, before she walked back down to enjoy them.
“The patrol that walks nearest the vault goes along a set route. In a few minutes they’ll be on a route that’ll take them the farthest from the vault. If we head upstairs now, we’ll get to it when they’re at peak distance.”
“Then let’s not dawdle,” Locke said.
The four of them made their way up the stairs and out into the castle corridors. They walked along the quiet moonlit corridors, their hoof steps being the only thing disturbing the silence; off in the distance they could hear the hoof steps of the guards getting fainter. Following Locke’s map, they soon found themselves in front of the large vault door.
“This thing is amazing,” Fine Detail whispered, looking it over, “It’s made of Foal Mountain Steel, and that keyhole is definitely for a custom made key, probably to prevent lock picking.”
“Yes, but they probably never planned on somepony like me,” Locke said, as his horn glowed red. He fired a laser like beam out of his horn into the lock and after a few seconds the keyhole, deadbolt, tumblers, and other internal mechanisms melted into slag. He then used his magic to swing the door open.
“Wasn’t that a little excessive to test out a security flaw?” Fine Detail asked.
Locke didn’t respond, as he and the others were already gathered at the entrance of the vault.
“What do you see?” Locke asked.
“A nice little crossbreed of fourth and fifth level security ruins lining the floor,” Ruinic said, “Hardly the challenge I was expecting.”
Fine Detail watched as his horn glowed, causing an array of runes to appear all across the vault floor. One by one they faded away, almost as if they were made of chalk and an eraser was running over them. Once they were gone Ruinic chuckled to himself.
The four of them stepped inside the vault. Fine Detail was surprised to see the only thing within it was a couple of barrels filled with red gemstones.
“There they are,” Locke said, a smile creeping across his face, “The extra gems for the soldiers’ payroll in case things really do devolve into war with the griffins.”
“Dragon’s Blood Rubies,” Hunter said, her speech slurred slightly, as she had begun to drool.
“Alright, load them up,” Locke said.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, isn’t this taking the test a little far?” Fine Detail said, as she watched the trio of ponies begin to fill their saddle bags with the rubies.
A sense of dread washed over her as the other ponies burst out into laughter.
“Some master observer you are,” Locke said, “When you couldn’t even tell when you were being lied to the entire time?”
“What…what do you mean?” Fine Detail said, her panic increasing by the second.
“I guess it’s time to properly introduce ourselves,” Locke said, “I’m Locke Pick, this is Ruinic the Ruiner, and that’s Gem Hunter. Together we are the Terrible Trio. Though now that you’re going to be joining us, I guess we’ll be the Criminal Quartet.”
“No…no I can’t join you. I’m not a criminal. How could I be so stupid? I shouldn’t even be near you!” Fine Detail said, as she turned to run. She was stopped by Locke Pick shooting his magic laser out of his horn, carving a line in the vault floor in front of her.
“Sorry, membership into our group is mandatory,” Locke Pick said, as he flashed an evil grin at her.”
“Hey, I think there’s something more to this vault then we thought,” Ruinic said, as he looked over at the far wall of the vault.
“What do you mean?” Locke asked, as he kept his glowing horn aimed at Fine Detail.
“I think something’s hidden behind this wall. Something important, though they got sloppy trying to keep it that way. I can see a part of a level ten security ruin peaking out from the wall,” Ruinic said.
“Well then let’s just have a look-see,” Locke said, “Hunter, keep an eye on our new recruit.”
“You got it,” Hunter said, as she walked over to Fine Detail, using her wing to smack the terrified unicorn.
Locke fired his magic laser again, carving out a section of the wall that he and Ruinic then lifted out of the way. Inside was another section of the vault. They could make out a large object inside.
“Wow, I’m not used to dealing with level tens,” Runic said, grunting as he focused his magic on the security runes. The ruins glowed, ready to activate, but were disabled by Runic at the last possible second.
“Whew…that was close,” he said, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
Fine Detail watched as Locke and Runic walked into the sealed off vault portion, their horns glowing.
“Hey Hunter! Get in here and bring the newbie with you!” Locke shouted a few seconds later.
“You heard the man,” Hunter said, prodding fine detail along with another wing smack to the face.
When they entered the sealed off vault their mouths dropped in astonishment.
Standing on a pedestal, cordoned off by velvet ropes, was a large dark blue sphere, a crescent moon ornamentation sat on top of it.
“What the heck is that thing?” Hunter said.
“I unno,” Runic said, “Sign says it’s an ‘Eclipse Bomb’”
“Feh, pass,” Hunter said, joining the other two beside it, “Who needs weapons. I want treasure.”
“I wouldn’t go near that thing,” Fine Detail said, noticing several words etched into the stone walls around the Eclipse Bomb, “There are warning labels in dozens of languages. There’s even some Changling and Ka Lio.”
“Then there’s nothing to worry about. Because we’re not going to use it,” Locke said, as he rested his hoof on it. Instantly though, dark shadows formed under his eyes and a wicked smile formed on his face, “We’re going to sell it.”
“Sell it?” Runic asked.
“Yes. We don’t know how to use something like this, but I know some potential clients who could. If war breaks out with the griffons we could give them this Super Weapon as an edge.”
“I dunno,” Runic said, before placing his hoof on the bomb. Dark shadows instantly formed under his eyes, and a wicked smile spread across his face, “I think you’re thinking small scale. Why stop at selling a weapon of war, when we can look forward to the aftermath. So much destruction and so much abandoned and destroyed property that we can dig through to get the riches left behind.”
“What’s gotten into you guys?” Hunter said, walking over to talk some sense into them, only to inadvertently brush her wing against the bomb. The dark shadows formed under her eyes as well, “You’ve finally decided to start speaking my language. Let’s hear it for war with the griffons!”
“You’re…you’re all crazy. Well crazier. That’s war profiteering.”
“I know. Isn’t it great?” Locke said, before firing his magic laser cutter at her hoofs, “Now help us get this thing out of here!”
Fine Detail whimpered as she used her magic to levitate the bomb in tandem with Locke and Runic.
They made their way slowly out into the halls of the castle and started working their way back to the service entrance they had come in.
“I can’t believe how stupid Celestia was, leaving only security runes around this thing,” Hunter said, “You’d think they would’ve put in some other warning sys….”
His speech was cut off by him passing out on the spot; an arrow was sticking out of his rear end.
“What the?” Locke said in anger.
“That’s far enough,” a voice from the top of a staircase said.
Two unicorns were standing on top of it. They were dressed in Royal Guard regalia. One had summoned a scimitar constructed of magic, while the other had created a magic bow. She was in the process of loading another arrow into it.
“Surrender now, or you all will be receiving a dose of lamia venom,” the one with the sword said.
“Fat chance! Let’s do this!” Locke shouted as he and Hunter charged at them.
Fine Detail looked on in horror as they were quickly felled with drugged arrows the other unicorn fired off.
“Wait! No! I’m not with them! I’m not with them!” she shouted, as the unicorn focused her aim at her.
She winced in pain as the arrow struck her and then her whole world went black.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she came to, but it was now daylight, and she was sitting in a small chamber. Her legs were shackled and two royal guards were on either side of her.
The door at the end of the chamber opened and another royal guard stepped out.
“She’s ready for you,” the guard said, “Go on.”
Fine Detail gulped as she slowly shuffled into the door. She winced as it slammed shut behind her.
“Greetings,” a voice said.
“P…Princess Celestia,” Fine Detail said in awe, as she quickly bowed before the princess.
“Please rise,” Celestia said, “Now, my guards report that you were shouting that you were not with the trio that was attempting to make off with the Eclipse Bomb. Tell me what you meant by that.”
Fine Detail quickly relayed how she had been duped into thinking she had been recruited to help with the supposed vault security test.
“I see,” Celestia said, her voice laced with sadness, “That is quite unfortunate. I’m terribly sorry to say, that even though you were lied to about the circumstances in which you entered the castle and Royal Vault, you are still going to be punished.”
“What!? Why?” Fine Detail said, anger and annoyance filling her voice.
“Perhaps I should explain what exactly the Eclipse Bomb is. It is a magical weapon of mass destruction created by my sister Luna, who after being corrupted became the being known as, Nightmare Moon. Sadly I was forced to banish her to the moon.”
“Then the Mare in the Moon is not just a legend?” Fine Detail said in amazement.
“Yes. Though Luna knew I might someday be able to overpower her, so she created magic weapons, the Nightmare Weapons, as a contingency should I do so. I was able to round them up and lock them away before any pony could stumble upon them and use them. They are as dangerous as ever after over 900 years, since the only one that can disarm them is Luna. They also have a terrible enchantment on them, that whoever touches them will become instilled with a desire to use them, or find somepony that can use them to incite conflict and war. Violence will fill their hearts.”
“That’s what happened to Locke and the others isn’t it?” Fine Detail asked.
“Yes, you were lucky and were spared the corruption.”
“But if I didn’t take it, and I wasn’t corrupted by it, why am I being punished?” Fine Detail asked, her desire for answers growing.
“It is due to a decision made in haste. After was Luna was gone and the weapons secured, I was exhausted, saddened, and filled with a sense of betrayal. We all were. So the Law Council and I wrote up that whoever attempts to take or use the weapons will be met with the ultimate punishments. In addition to locking them up, any earth pony would be stripped of their connection to the earth, any Pegasus would have their wings permanently plucked, and unicorns would have their horns broken.”
“No! You can’t break my horn! You can’t lock me away! I’m not a criminal! Please!” Fine Detail pleaded, tears streamed down her face.
“I’m sorry,” Celestia said, lowering her head, “But when we forged the punishment decree, in our haste we made an addendum that should we falter in punishing those involved with Nightmare Weapon crimes it would be a sign that the kingdom had grown weak and would fall, right then and there, struck down by massive storms and blasts of magic energy. And even though you were duped, you are still considered part of the crime in that decree’s eyes.”
“That…that’s insane!”
“Yes. Yes it is,” Celestia admitted, “But like I said, I fear our overwhelming exhaustion, mixed with the betrayal we all felt, led to us making overly harsh decisions that we normally wouldn’t dream of doing.”
“Please, isn’t there some sort of loophole? Some sort of way you can go easy on me.”
“I can reduce your prison sentence to just be for trespassing on forbidden royal property, but I cannot prevent the ultimate punishment from happening. I am so sorry,” Celestia said, as a tear rolled down her cheek.
“It’s time,” a voice said.
They turned to see a trio of guards standing behind them.
“I’m sorry. I’m just, so sorry,” Celestia said, sadness filling her voice, as the guards led Fine Detail away.
“Please no! I’m not a criminal! I’m not a criminal! I have a daughter! I have a daughter!” Fine Detail screamed at her.
A growing sense of terror and dread filled her as the guards led her down into the dungeon before leading her off to a smaller room. Inside was a small table with a vise-like device on it. The guards shoved her forward before placing her head on the table, locking her horn in the vice.
“Don’t move,” a guard said, as he levitated a silver sledge hammer with runes inscribed on it.
He smashed it down on her horn, shattering it.
“Nooooo!!!!” Fine Detail screamed.
A few sparks of magic emerged from her ruined horn, before the magic faded from her, forever.
They then led her to her cell. After the door slammed shut behind her, she collapsed on the bed, thoroughly traumatized.
I can’t believe this is happening. This has to be a nightmare. With a broken horn I’ll be looked upon like I’m one of the worst criminals there is. No pony will trust me again. I’ve let you down Birdsong. Birch I hope you’ll raise her right, she thought, thinking of her family.
Will I ever be able to trust any pony again? I can’t believe I was duped into this madness. Locke, Hunter, and Runic. I hate them. I hate them so much, She thought, before looking out her window at the moon, And I especially hate YOU!
Author's Note
Here's something a little different from me. A heist story. A story that I kinda alluded to in "Bow Blade and Bow" with mention of a heist being stopped by Dinky's Ancestors.
Even though it's set in the past this story had a lot of impact on the future timeline of Stories I've written.
Pluse I like the idea of Luna Having developed contingency plans in the form of evil weapons while she was nightmare moon.
I hope you enjoyed it.
I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.