Angel of Justice: Blood Moon

Twilight exhaled tensely as she stared at town hall, darting her eyes along its many windows and the upper levels while she sat with her companions in wait.

Waiting. It killed her inside to just be waiting when she knew ponies were in danger. Who knew what the innocent hostages inside were being subjected to while help was just sitting around outside because they were too scared to make a move?

“I don’t like this…” She muttered to herself. A sudden hoof on her shoulder made her look up, only to see that Glitterball had apparently heard her.

Glitter smiled, “We have to be strong and hold our heads high. Those ponies are counting on us.”

Although she had guard training, Twilight could tell the white mare was just as anxious as her, if not moreso. That smile looked more fragile the more Glitter tried to keep it up.

“You’re right.” Twilight pulled her rebellious expression into line as she turned back to the square around them.

Numerous ponies had loosely gathered and were staring ahead with pale faces and nervous whispers as they slowly pieced together what was going on. They were all looking to the group of guards and to Twilight and Glitterball, hoping that they would be able to contain the situation and save their friends and fellow ponies.

“Still… I wish we could do more than just sit here.” Twilight sighed.

Glitterball frowned at her sullen companion. She understood perfectly how Twilight felt.

Then, a few sets of hoofbeats came to her attention, causing her to turn around. As she did, Glitter smiled a bit.

“Looks like you might get your wish.”

Twilight looked over to where her companion was already staring, only to notice three familiar ponies trotting over the bridge and into the square. It was Sparkplug, Pinkie Pie, and Shining Armor. The sight of her friends and her brother immediately brightened her expression.

Twilight said, “Thank Celestia you guys are here.”

Shining smiled, and then dulled his expression as he looked up to town hall. “What’s the plan?”

Glitterball gestured to the upper floor, “Blue said that there were four vamps on each floor, but they could have moved since then. My detector isn’t precise enough to track them this close.”

“We’re thinking an all-out assault is going to be our best bet… We just needed more numbers and equipment before we started.” Twilight added.

“Great! Numbers and equipment are just our specialty!” Pinkie beamed, holding her strobe up proudly before her expression furrowed. “Except fractions… I don’t like those.”

“Well, I don’t think they’re going to attack us with math problems, so I think we’re good on that front.” Sparkplug half smirked.

“Sounds like a plan,” Shining said. He waved over one of the nearby guards, the highest-ranking one present, and looked to him with a sober gaze. “Get your men together so we can start assigning positions, but leave a lookout watching both floors. I want us to be ready to bust in there at the first sign of trouble.”

The guard gave a firm nod. “Yes, s-”

Then, before the stallion could even finish, a loud slam rang into the square as the front doors flew open. The more sensitive civilians gasped and reeled back, while Twilight’s group stood firm as a group of ponies walked out.

Three of them were vampires, with all but one being earth ponies. The lone neon green pegasus mare in the center glared out at the crowd from behind her long yellow and red striped mane while her two companions flanking her held two other ponies in their tight grip.

Only, these two weren’t vampires. These were very frightened-looking mares that everyone immediately recognized to be Ditzy Do and Roseluck.

Glitterball and Sparkplug drew their crossbows, while Shining Armor and all of the hornless guards drew their blades. Every other unicorn present lit their horns in a threatening manner, and even Pinkie steeled herself and raised her strobe before the pale pegasus mare spoke.

“Hold it!” She barked. Almost on cue with her words, her two companions stood their hostages on hind legs and grabbed them by the head roughly, eliciting a set of fearful squeaks from the two mares. “If any of you so much as twitch funny, we’ll kill these two!”

The green mare’s words almost seemed to echo from how silent they left the square. Not even the frightened civilians further back were muttering to each other anymore as all eyes stared at the pale trio.

Glitterball and Sparkplug slowly lowered their weapons with reluctant grimaces, while Shining Armor sheathed his blade, dimmed his horn, and signaled for his men to do the same. Pinkie was the last to lower her weapon, but after Twilight sighed tensely and let her magical glow fade, even the pink mare dropped her aggressive stance, but not her icy glare.

The pale pegasus smiled, “Good… now listen up because I ain’t repeating myself. We want to do a trade.”

Shining looked at the group around him before taking a step forward. “A trade? What kind of trade?”

“Simple. These two for two of yours.” The mare answered. “If you don’t agree, we kill them right here and now.”

Ditzy whimpered as the stallion behind her pulled her head back, exposing her neck. Both her skewed eyes were teary and darting along the crowd, paying particular attention to Twilight and her friends. “I don’t want to die.” She muttered.

Roseluck bit her lip to stifle a sob as a cold breath hit her neck. She didn’t want to turn and look, but she knew that a set of red eyes and an amused, hungry grin were bearing down on her. “Please help us.”

Sparkplug felt a sickening knot in her stomach from seeing the defenseless mares in such distress. She darted her eyes along her companions before settling on Shining Armor. “We can’t do this… can we?” She whispered.

“We might not have a choice,” Glitter added tensely.

Shining Armor wrinkled his eyes at the pale ponies’ proposal, but despite how much he disliked the notion, they weren’t in control right now. “And how do we know our people will be safe? How do we know the rest of the hostages are safe?”

“I didn’t say anything about anybody being safe later. All you should care about is right now, and right now, we are going to rip their throats out if you don’t do as we say.” The pegasus mare threatened.

Seeing how bad the situation was, Twilight decided to step in. “What two of us do you want to trade?” She quizzed.

“Twilight…” Pinkie frowned hesitantly as her friend spoke up. She didn’t feel good about any of their options right now, but somehow this felt like letting the pale ponies win.

The pegasus smirked as if she had her answer thought out beforehand. “For starters, you.” She pointed at Twilight, much to everyone’s shock.

“What?!” Shining reeled back. “Why do you want her? I’m the captain of the guard… I would make the better bargaining chip. Take me instead.” He pleaded, stepping in front of his sister.

“Did I stutter?” The pegasus scoffed. “It’s her, or no deal… and you know what that means.”

Suddenly, Roseluck yipped as the stallion behind her pulled her in close and inched his fangs closer to her slender neck. She struggled limply and hyperventilated before eventually figuring that staying still was her best bet.

“Wait, wait, wait! Don’t hurt them!” Shining insisted.

“Well, what’s it gonna be?” The pegasus lifted a brow.

The white stallion’s quickened heart was racing by now. He desperately tried to think of something, anything else that could be done, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized how cornered they were.

Then, Twilight slowly stepped forward.

“Twilight… what are you doing?” Shining asked.

Twilight looked to her brother and her friends with a grave expression. “Shining… I can’t let them get hurt.”

“But… but-”

“It’s ok… I trust you. All of you.” Twilight said, casting a look around at the others and smiling softly. Nobody could bring themselves to smile back, save for Pinkie, but even hers was a bittersweet expression.

Then, before anyone could think or say anything further, the pegasus mare cleared her throat impatiently, drawing attention back to herself. She looked to Twilight and gestured behind her, and on cue, the stallion holding Ditzy Do started to walk forward.

“Hurry it up, and no funny business. If we don’t make it back inside, our friends kill the others.” The pegasus warned.

Twilight glanced back to her friends before steeling herself and exhaling softly. Without breaking sight or making any sudden movements, she slowly started walking toward the group.

As the unicorn approached, the pale stallion gradually let go of Ditzy Do. Once Twilight was right in front of him, he shoved the gray pegasus forward roughly and grabbed the purple mare’s foreleg.

“Ow! Not so rough!” Twilight protested as she was pulled back in line with the other vampires. She looked back at the others, only to brighten her expression a bit as she saw Ditzy Do running into the forelegs of a waiting guard.

“Twilight…” The gray pegasus muttered sadly, reaching out a limp hoof before letting it droop as the guards led her away to safety.

Meanwhile, Glitterball kept a tense expression on her face as she watched her purple friend. She turned her head to the side, hiding her ear from view as she casually lifted a hoof up and pretended to scratch it. A slight glow enveloped the tip of her hoof.

“Glimmer, where are you guys?” She whispered.

After a moment, the stallion responded.

“We’re a few minutes out… Why, is something wrong?”

“Just hurry.” Glitter whispered again before dropping her hoof.

“You there.”

A sudden voice made the white mare look up, only to see the green pegasus pointing a hoof her way.

“Me?” Glitter inched back hesitantly.

The pegasus rolled her eyes. “No, the parasprite right behind you. Yes, you!” She shifted her foreleg and pointed to the other stallion that was holding Roseluck. “Get up here. You’re our number two.”

Glitterball hesitated for a moment, but she started to resign herself to her fate until the gray mare beside her stepped in front of her and looked to the vampires boldly.

“Take me instead.” Sparkplug insisted. “Look… she’s new to the team. She’s not very experienced… just let her go.”

Glitter frowned, “Sparkplug… it’s ok.”

“Nice try, but we want her.” The pale pegasus chuckled. “Hurry it up… Oh, and lose the gear. I don’t want you sneaking any of your fancy toys in here.”

The others all looked at their friend with reluctance clear on their faces. Their unease only grew as Glitter sighed and unbuckled her vest.

After slipping off the vest, and by extension, the only real weapons she had, and locking eyes with the pale pegasus as she dropped it, Glitter walked forward and past her friends.

“Stay safe in there...” Pinkie said, more than a bit of worry shimmering in her eyes.

Glitter offered the pink mare a reassuring look as she passed by. She slid that look along to Sparkplug, who looked like she was helplessly watching a friend walk off to their death, and then to Shining Armor.

“We’ll get you out. I promise.” Shining Armor said softly, keeping the pale ponies from seeing or hearing him. He rested a hoof on the white mare’s shoulder, locking eyes with her before briefly glancing to Twilight and softening his expression.

“I’ll keep her safe. Don’t worry.” Glitter assured. As much as she wanted to linger, she decided to move on as to not test their enemies’ patience any further.

Twilight watched as Glitterball solemnly marched up to the pale stallion holding Roseluck. Once the unicorn was close enough, the pale earth pony released his jittery hostage before grabbing Glitter by the foreleg.

“Thank you so much,” Roseluck said, though she looked like she was about to cry from having someone else trade places with her.

Glitterball barely managed to offer the rattled mare a smile before the pale pegasus barked at her.

“Get lost!”

With that, Roseluck stumbled back as a feral hiss and a glowing glare sent her on her way. Once she was clear, she ran to the waiting checkpoint of guards. Almost immediately after, the pale ponies took their new prisoners and started receding back toward the building behind them.

“Good… now all of you better think twice before storming in here. I will personally make sure that these two get killed first!” The pegasus threatened as her two pale companions roughly ushered Twilight and Glitter inside, not even allowing them one last look at their friends before they disappeared within.

Shining Armor growled under his breath as the double doors to town hall slammed shut. “Horsefeathers.”

“What do we do now?” Sparkplug asked. Her voice seemed diminished as she stared blankly at the entrance to the building with sunken shoulders.

Pinkie gestured to the building with alarm in her eyes. “We… we have to do something! We can’t just leave them in there!”

Shining Armor looked to the side as the high-ranking guard from before cleared his throat.

“Sir, what are your orders? We can have a team ready to breach at your command.” The guard offered, though he knew that it was up to his captain.

Shining stared at the building a while in silence before answering, seemingly contemplating something. “Keep your men ready, but tell them to stay back… We wait for Glimmer Shine, Applejack, and Rarity.”

The guard saluted, “Yes sir.” He said before turning and muttering to one of his officers to make sure the order was spread around their small troop gathered around the building.

“Good idea.” Pinkie said. “Glimmer will know what to do!”

Sparkplug nodded. “Yeah… and the added numbers won’t hurt.” She walked over to Glitter’s vest and picked it up, frowning as she did. “Especially now that we’re down two magic users.”

“It was the only choice we had...” Shining Armor said.

Still, he couldn’t shake a feeling of dread as he thought about what his sister and the white mare were going through now.

“...I just hope it was the right choice.”

Twilight grunted as she was nearly shoved to the floor by the pale stallion behind her.

“Get moving! And don’t get any big ideas.” The pale pegasus instructed, waiting impatiently for the purple mare to start moving again.

Trying to look back at Glitterball met her with a very agitated-looking vampire stallion. Figuring that it was best to play along, for now, Twilight reluctantly walked through the lobby of town hall with her white companion in tow and their three captors keeping close tabs on the both of them.

Looking around, the pair could see clear signs of the pale ponies’ first incursion into the quiet building. Several papers and a lamp were scattered from the front desk and lying on the floor. A potted plant was shattered near the front door, and even a painting was knocked from the wall before the hallway they were approaching.

A lone pink unicorn mare with blonde mane, another vampire, was sitting beside one of the front windows. She let the curtains close and turned to her comrades, particularly the pegasus mare. “You’re lucky that worked. I was almost hoping they would kill you.”

The pegasus snorted, “Yeah, yeah. Just keep watching the front door. If anyone breaks in, try to scream real loud before you die.” She said, ignoring the scowl she received as she returned to ferrying their new prisoners.

Twilight and Glitterball could hardly pause and look around for even an instant. Any time they would try to get close to each other or stop and take in their surroundings, they were reminded of just who was in charge through a series of not so gentle nudges and hostile glares.

Still, the two mares tried to keep a level head about things and plan for a way to break themselves and the as of yet unseen hostages out. With Glitter vestless and without her gear, and not a silver weapon in sight, all they had between them was their magic and their wits.

They were hoping that their friends would come through and save the day because right now, they seemed to be in the lion’s den wearing steak perfume.

After curving around the halls of the building, the pale ponies paused before a door ringed with frosted glass panes that held a small placard reading ‘Break Room’. It was hard to make out, but some colorful shapes indicative of ponies were visible on the other side.

The pegasus mare walked up to the door and opened it up before turning and grabbing Twilight’s foreleg. She ignored the noise of distress from the purple pony and looked to her companions. “Alright, take that one upstairs and tie her up. I’ll take little Ms. Magic and make sure she doesn’t pull anything stupid before the Prince gets here.”

Both unicorns felt their bodies tense at the mention of the pale alicorn. Was Dusk really coming to Ponyville? The thought alone sent a cold chill down their backs.

Glitterball looked to Twilight, eyes soft with concern. She then looked over to the pegasus mare and hardened her gaze slightly. “You better not hurt her, or you’ll be sorry.”

The pegasus mare stepped closer to Glitter. A smug smirk split her features right before she socked the unicorn in the mouth.

“Mmph!”

Twilight gasped softly as Glitter cringed and held her muzzle. The white mare started to inch toward the pegasus when the two stallions behind her snarled to remind her of their presence.

“I think I can hurt whoever I want, Confetti Head.” The pegasus said.

While Glitter rubbed her tender cheek and the two stallions nudged her along, she seemed more worried than angry as she paused and looked at her friend.

Twilight didn’t speak for fear of upsetting their captors, but she gave the white mare a look that seemed to say ‘I’ll be fine, take care of yourself.’ Glitter didn’t seem entirely convinced, but she was forced to follow the two stallions anyway.

The pegasus snorted as she watched her companions vanishing down the hall. “You better hope your friend keeps to herself. The guys upstairs might not stop at decking her if she ticks them off.” She chuckled and started ushering Twilight inside the break room.

Inside, Twilight could immediately see some of the hostages, along with a pale earth pony mare keeping an eye on them. There were two of them, with one she recognized to be a local townspony, and one she knew to actually work at town hall.

The townspony, a white and gray earth mare, looked over and lifted her brows in surprise as she saw the resident librarian and element of magic being led into the room. “Twilight… is that you?”

“Oh no… don’t tell me they caught you too.” A black and blue unicorn stallion frowned with worry.

Twilight offered the nervous ponies as much of a reassuring expression as she could. “Don’t worry, everything’s going to be o- Mmph!” She yipped as she was shoved forward into the room, this time falling to the floor and hitting her chin roughly onto the floorboards.

“No mingling. You’re not here to make nice.” The pegasus mare warned before turning to the other vampire in the room. “Watch her for a minute, will ya? I need to go talk with the others about you know what.” She said before walking back out the door and closing it with a slam.

While the white mare helped Twilight up, she was already thinking of how to escape. However, her mind kept running into the obvious problems.

For one, she couldn’t rely on overpowering the lone vampire guarding them without alerting the ones outside, and for another thing, even if she could single-hoofedly fight off the vampires that came for her, she couldn’t risk the vampires upstairs hearing and deciding to execute Glitterball and the other hostages.

No, she would have to play along and sit tight for now, however much she didn’t want to.
.
..
…
“Gah!”

Glitterball stumbled forward as she was struck from behind. She tensed up as pain shot down her horn and into her head as she bumped the sensitive appendage on the floor. Before she could even think to clutch her head or try to get up, she was forced up by a hoof harshly grabbing her mane and pulling.

The cruel action forced another agonized yelp from her. So much pain at one time made her eyes water slightly.

“Aww, what’s the matter? You gonna cry?” One of the stallions mocked before laughing. “I thought you were supposed to be one of the Princess’ toughest teams… you hunt monsters for crying out loud.”

The other stallion chuckled. “She doesn’t look like much of a monster hunter. Without her fancy gear, she bleeds like the rest of us.” He smirked as he drew near to the unicorn, her snow-white neck making his mouth water.

Glitter flinched and closed her eyes as the stallion loomed closer to her with fangs bared. She couldn’t fight back. This was a hostage situation, and casualties happened in hostage situations. At least she would die instead of someone else.

“Hey, ease up. Sour Patch wants all of them alive for now.” The other stallion reminded, causing the first to pause and snort. Glitter shivered slightly from the tickle of cold air on her neck.

“What does Sour Patch know? One or two dead ponies isn’t gonna matter much when the Prince comes for us.” He mused, annoyance clear in his voice as he turned to the unicorn and gave her a nudge forward.

While she was back where she started, Glitterball suddenly felt very relieved at her current predicament. She opted to remain silent as she reluctantly walked with her captors.

Eventually, they made it all the way around the back of the building. A doorway to the balcony outside could be seen, with a vampiric unicorn stallion keeping watch beside a nearby window. He eyed at the approaching group briefly before returning to his silent vigil.

Glitterball was led up to another door directly across from the balcony exit. This one wasn't labeled, but as the two stallions opened it and shoved her inside, she quickly found it to be an office of sorts.

It wasn't the mayor’s office, as was apparent by its smaller size and lack of obvious identification. No, this seemed to be a shared office for some of the other employees to get their work done.

Two desks were across from each other up against the side walls. A singular bookshelf took up much of the far wall, with a pale unicorn mare leaning up against it. And sitting in the middle of the room, was Mayor Mare and another earth stallion.

The pair weren’t much worse for wear. Other than some disheveling of their hair and a wayward scuff or two, they hadn’t been physically affected by the sudden incursion they now found themselves part of. However, there was a sense of uncertain fear in their eyes.

As soon as Glitter and the two stallions entered, all eyes were on them. Ms. Mayor and the stallion beside her shrank back while their captors forced the white unicorn down next to them. Once they acquired some rope they had stored nearby, the two vampires started tying Glitter’s forehooves behind her back.

“Ngh!” Glitter cringed at the tightening ropes. The stallions barely left room for circulation.

“Wouldn’t want you getting any ideas.” One of the stallions smirked at the bound mare.

Glitter snorted. “Don’t worry… I wouldn’t want to make you jealous.”

The stallion stared at the cocky mare for a moment before suddenly sucker-punching her, sending her to the floor. He ignored the few startled gasps from Ms. Mayor and the other civilian as he glared at the unicorn sluggishly writhing on the ground.

He then looked up to the pale unicorn. “Keep a close eye on this one. She’s one of those monster hunters.”

“And where are you going?” The mare asked, cocking a brow as the pair started to leave.

“Where do you think? We’re going to talk to Sour Patch about what to do next.” One of the stallions replied before the both of them exited the room.

The pale unicorn sighed and grumbled to herself as she settled back in. “Why does that little hussy get to be in charge? The Prince likes me the most.”

Meanwhile, as the door closed, leaving them alone with their lone captor and new companion, Ms. Mayor and the stallion gathered around the battered unicorn on the ground and helped her up.

“Ngh…” Glitter blinked, semi-aware of the black eye she now had. “I’m leaving the snarky comebacks to Sunspot from now on.”

“Oh, you poor thing. Are you alright?” Mayor Mare asked softly, both out of concern for the unicorn and concern for the vampiric pony behind them to hear and get upset.

Glitterball managed a smile. “I’ve been through worse. I’m just glad to see you’re alright, Ms. Mayor.”

“I think ‘alright’ is a bit subjective right now.” The mayor said, casting a side glance to the pale unicorn before settling soft eyes back on the unicorn before her. She inched closer and turned her head to not be heard or seen. “I thought I recognized you. You’re one of those Spirit fellows that work for the Princess. Please tell me you have a plan.”

Glitter shifted her eyes toward the pale mare to make sure she wasn't looking before turning to the de facto leader of Ponyville. “We might be a little short on plans… but I do have an idea.”

“What’s that?”

A sudden throat clearing made both mares freeze. They turned to see the unicorn mare glaring right at them.

“I don’t know what you’re whispering about, but cut it out before I go over there and give both of you black eyes.” The unicorn chided before returning to her own thoughts. She clearly didn’t want to spare the effort to constantly watch them, but she was definitely keeping them in mind.

Both mares diverted their gaze from each other and drifted apart slightly. They remained silent for a few moments, allowing their captor some time to be lulled back into the notion that she was in control. Then again, it was an accurate notion.

Eventually, Glitter made the first move toward communication. She brushed her tail against Mayor Mare’s and tilted her head to make it appear as if she were looking at the wall in the opposite direction. “Act natural.” She whispered.

Ms. Mayor glanced toward the white mare before forcing herself to stop. She looked around the room before settling her gaze on the floor, though she kept an open ear as she waited for her companion to speak again.

After a few moments of silence, Glitter spoke again, just quiet enough to be made out. “I need you to put your hoof to my ear.” She instructed.

Mayor Mare didn’t respond, but she did cast a wrinkled gaze toward the white unicorn to indicate her confusion. Even the stallion beside them was confused, but he continued acting like nothing was even happening.

Seemingly noticing the understandable befuddlement from her companion, Glitter waited a bit before whispering again, “Trust me… and don’t be seen.”

Ms. Mayor looked toward their pale friend, who was still mostly keeping to herself and eyeing toward them every so often. She might not have known what Glitter had planned, but she understood the need for subtlety.

Feeling a nudge on his side, the stallion looked over to see Mayor Mare angled away from him, but she was looking right at him. She discreetly nodded to the side, giving him some potent facial cues and mouthing the words ‘behind us’.

Eventually, the stallion caught her meaning. Although he was nervous, he acted natural as he repositioned himself to be sitting behind the two mares.

The pale unicorn turned and watched the stallion moving, but once she saw nothing further happening, she eased up a bit. After all, she could still see Glitter’s bound hooves, so she knew that they weren’t secretly untying her, which was the only thing she could imagine them wanting to do in secret.

After waiting for a few moments to pass, taking pains to make sure they weren’t found out, Mayor Mare slowly but surely lifted her hoof and pressed it to Glitterball’s ear.

Glitterball knew the communication spell her team used fairly well. After all, she was the one that cast it. She knew that to activate it, all that needed to be done was to concentrate on the individuals she wanted to talk to and put a hoof to her ear, and the spell handled the rest.

A hoof. The question that even she didn’t honestly know the answer to, was whether or not it had to be her hoof. In truth, the gesture was more of a way to make sure the spell wasn't accidentally activated by some wayward thought. The need for it was vague in the spell’s inner workings.

Vague enough, she hoped, that this was going to work.
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..
…
Back outside, the atmosphere was just as tense as it was in the formerly peaceful building.

Shining Armor, Sparkplug, and Pinkie Pie were still camped out near the front entrance. They, much like the team of guards surrounding the building, were keeping just enough distance to not make the pale ponies nervous.

Sparkplug paced around, Pinkie could hardly keep still, and Shining was staring at the building absentmindedly. They all looked like nervous wrecks in their own ways, not that anyone blamed them.

Suddenly, a hint of movement made Pinkie look up. As she did, her expression brightened and she pointed a hoof. “Look!”

Shining Armor and Sparkplug broke themselves from their troubled thoughts and looked to where their pink friend had pointed. Almost immediately, they spotted three familiar ponies rushing through the square toward them.

It was Glimmer Shine, Rarity, and Applejack.

The trio passed by all of the guards and civilians dotted around the area and made their way up to their eager friends, only to nearly be pounced on by Pinkie Pie. Rarity and Applejack knew enough to brace for impact. Glimmer Shine did not.

“Guys! I’m so glad you’re here!” Pinkie beamed as she eventually let the trio escape her grasp.

“We came as soon as we could.” Glimmer Shine said.

Shining Armor smiled a bit, showing relief over his troubled exterior. “It’s good to see you.”

Meanwhile, Applejack and Rarity looked around in confusion at the strangely small group of their friends. Eventually, even Glimmer Shine paid notice to this.

“Where’s Twilight and Glitterball?” Rarity asked the question on everyone’s mind.

“They took them hostage,” Shining explained, looking to town hall and letting his expression drop.

Glimmer Shine widened his eyes and reeled back. “And you let them?!” He said, more out of shock than anger.

“We didn’t have a choice.” Sparkplug pointed out. “They were going to kill everyone in there if we didn’t.”

“Goodness…” Rarity let her ears fall as she thought about what her friends were being subjected to as they spoke.

Applejack tensed her jaw, as well as her grip on her silver dagger. She had almost lost friends far too many times for her liking, Twilight Sparkle especially. The purple mare practically attracted danger, and she had already died once before because of it. Applejack was not going to let that happen again.

“What’s the plan?” The orange mare asked. “I s’pose bargin’ right in there is out of the question.”

“Actually… I think barging right in there is going to be our only shot.” Shining Armor said.

Rarity frowned at the thought. “Are you certain, darling? Twilight and Glitter’s lives are at stake here… along with Ms. Mayor and whatever other poor souls are in there.”

“I think he’s right.” Glimmer Shine chimed in hesitantly. The others looked over to see the yellow stallion wearing a conflicted grimace. “As much as I don’t like it, I think our only option is to hit them hard before they can act… I just wish we knew more going in.”

Suddenly, Sparkplug’s ear twitched as a familiar voice echoed in her head softly.

“First floor, east side… second floor, north side.”

Sparkplug gasped and shot a hoof to her ear. “Glitter?! Are you there?!”

The voice didn’t come again, but by now her friends were all looking at her curiously.

“What is it?” Shining Armor asked.

“Glitter’s talking to me, but she’s being really quiet.” Sparkplug explained.

Glimmer inched closer to the gray mare eagerly. “She must be around some of those vampires.” He reasoned. “What did she say?”

“She said, first floor, east side, and second floor, north side.” Sparkplug parroted.

“She must be telling us where the hostages are!” Shining Armor grinned. He was proud to have such strong-willed individuals wearing the royal guard name.

Before anyone could speak further, Glimmer Shine put a hoof to his ear and focused. As a slight glow covered his hoof, the others fell silent and watched him. “Glitter, can you hear me? If you can talk, tell us how many vampires are watching you.”

A few moments of silence went by. The stallion started to lose hope that he would ever hear a response when the voice of their unicorn friend softly emanated in both his and Sparkplug’s heads.

“Two… one with me… one watching balcony… maybe more.”

Her words were few and far in between, and they were just loud enough to barely be made out. If it weren’t directly in their heads, they probably wouldn’t hear her.

“She must be upstairs.” Glimmer said, glancing up toward the building briefly.

“Is Twilight with you?” Sparkplug chimed.

Another lengthy pause.

“No…”

Although the news that the two mares were separated was troubling, it still filled them with hope to know roughly where the hostages were.

“Just sit tight and talk to us when you can, Glitter. We’re gonna get you out of there as soon as possible.” Glimmer Shine assured before he dropped his hoof from his ear and turned to the others. He looked to the building thoughtfully before steeling his expression. “Ok, guys, listen up…”
.
..
…
After some delegation, Rarity, Applejack, and Glimmer Shine watched from a distance as Pinkie Pie crept closer to the east side of the building.

It was decided that the pink mare was the stealthiest among them, given how often she seemingly popped out of nowhere to catch someone off guard, so she was their first pick for this, such a delicate task.

Pinkie slithered along the ground, creeping between two bushes that the group watching were fairly certain didn’t exist before, as she approached the side of the building.

She pressed her back to the outer wall, keeping just below the edge of the circular veranda skirting the building. After cautiously peeking out to make sure nobody was watching through the window ahead, she pulled up the charm vial she had received from Glimmer Shine and pointed it ahead.

The red-tinted sand inside the vial immediately glowed a bright scarlet. The intense glow enveloped all but the edge closest to Pinkie, seemingly indicating that the reading was directly in front of her. And as she swept it from side to side, the shifting glow all but confirmed what she and the others suspected.

Once they saw the pink mare turn to them and give an enthusiastic nod, the trio turned and looked toward the side of the building, the north side to be precise, where Sparkplug and Shining Armor were silently performing their own scouting mission.

“Woah…!” Sparkplug flailed slightly as her form was whisked into the air by a magical aura. The ascent was slow and controlled, but she still felt her stomach drop.

After a momentary pause from Shining Armor and a reassuring nod from the gray mare, she continued on her way up.

Shining lifted her just below the second-floor balcony, using one of the structural pillars for cover on the way up. Once she was stable, she lifted her hooves in front of her, holding her locator charm out like a lifeforce-seeking divining rod.

Once again, the sand in the vial glowed when pointed directly toward where she assumed a room might be located within the walls of the building. She couldn’t peek up for fear of being seen by the pale pony watching the balcony, but this reading combined with Glitter’s intel was good enough.

She nodded to her unicorn companion and covered her eyes to prevent herself from making any fearful noises upon descending. Then, the pair quickly and stealthily made their way back over to their friends.

“That settles it. The hostages must be in two rooms.” Glimmer Shine said.

“If we can get in there, we might be able to take out the vampires watching them before they can react,” Sparkplug added.

Applejack frowned hesitantly. “We better be quick about it. Those pale fellers made it awful clear that they ain’t afraid to trade lives.”

“Is everyone ready?” Shining Armor asked as he looked around the assembled group.

Most of the reactions he got ranged from eagerness to hesitation or some mix of the two. Still, Rarity in particular seemed the most reluctant.

“I don’t know… I’d feel a lot more comfortable with us doing this if Blue Bolt was here.” The white mare admitted.

Glimmer Shine sighed, “It would be pretty handy to have a safety net… but we can’t exactly communicate with him. He isn’t synced up to our spell.”

Seemingly dissatisfied with such a stalemate, Sparkplug put a hoof to her ear with an anxious frown on her face. “Sunspot, are you there? Please tell me you guys are ok.”

Nothing but silence answered her for several seconds, and then for several more.

Finally, the gray mare sighed. “Dangit…”

“We can’t wait any longer. We should go.” Shining Armor suggested. He turned and started giving the order for his men to get into position while the others watched.

Everyone was nervous as they thought of everything that could go wrong. What if they didn’t move fast enough? What if someone got hurt, or worse.

What if someone died?

Rarity glanced up to the night sky, her thoughts drifting to her pegasus friends. “Blue Bolt… please hurry.”