Anxiety had become a familiar friend of Adagio's.

She didn't like it. Hated it, in fact. It was like an itch in her joints, tempting her to paw and scrape at it to get it out. Some vile presence under her skin, insidious and disgusting.

Standing there, in the alley, it rose inside her again. She wanted to ignore it, or to try and shake it out of her, walk away from the situation. Unfortunately she didn't have acres of empty forest or the decrepit battlements of an ancient castle to hide in. She had to deal with it.

She took up one of the alley's two entrances, stepped off to the side and behind a corner so she wouldn't be seen until the last moment. She didn't want to advertise she was there, after all. Chrysalis mirrored her at the other entrance, halfway around a bend in the communal garden space between the idyllic, white and brown timber-framed homes. The sun sat below the horizon, though the hundreds of lanterns and lamps on the streets glowed bright. Even the shadowed alley had a warm orange tint to it.

Between them, Sunset wielded a twig like a brush, scraping grooves into the dirt. Adagio recognised some of the scribbles, chiefly the circular, tiered dome that was Ponyville's town hall. The straight lines that flared off like spokes represented the snaking roads and streets, with key landmarks like the train station and Rarity's store marked as further out with arrows.

"I put the thingies here and here." Sonata knelt down opposite, using her new claw to cross out markings at some of the intersections. "I made sure the, uhh, spoons? I made sure they can be kicked out."

"Trigger mechanisms." Sunset gave the correction casually, not even looking up from where Sonata pointed. "Good. Are they all mist-bombs?"

Sonata nodded and rose up. She'd fashioned herself a coat not unlike Sunset's, made from scraps of cloth they'd found around the castle. Lapels, pockets, plenty of useful pouches around her barrel though a number sat empty. She'd also pulled a blanket over herself, Fashioned into a cloak to not draw attention.

All of them had, in fact, though it felt the most useless on Chrysalis with Adagio not far behind. Their statures had them rising above the crowds, and their new armour made them bulky. They were fortunate to not have come under scrutiny at the edges of town.

"Alright." Sunset held a breath and shut her eyes. Dark shadows approaching a deep black and purple ringed the undersides of her eyes, and while Adagio didn't know what they quite meant, she knew they weren't good. It didn't make Sunset look imposing. It just made her look sad and tired.

Sunset opened her eyes, her gaze flitting around between her companions. She paused for a moment as she and Adagio's eyes met, then looked back at her crude map.

"This plan will have to do," she said. "But I think we can pull it off." She looked over at Chrysalis. "Does this make sense to you? Did you notice anything different when you checked it out earlier?"

Chrysalis moved away from her post and leaned down to the map. Her horn glowed its shade of puke-green, casting a sharp contrast over the dirt-ridges. More details came into view, crude stick-ponies in helmets, a long-necked pony atop a stage.

"Everything is the same, except for that." Chrysalis hovered a hoof over the stage. "I did not see this particular pony."

Nodding, Sunset stood and straightened herself out. "Celestia won't be out yet. Otherwise, good to know my instincts for ceremony and security aren't too rusty."

Celestia's name held power, even to someone as ignorant as Adagio. It didn't matter how much she didn't know, though. She knew enough; that Celestia was the ruler of Equestria, a paragon of virtue and power that everyone bar their rag-tag band looked up to. Sunset's erstwhile mentor.

Fear's icy tendrils burrowed up through Adagio's limbs, the anticipation of seeing Celestia in full for the first time stuck in like a thorn. She shook her legs one at a time, save for the weak one. The latest fix left it functional, but she couldn't feel a thing through it.

"What are we waiting for, then?" Adagio asked. She sounded impatient, and she meant it, but she also wore a glib smirk.

Sunset didn't mirror it, but she smiled back, raising her head high. "Just don't do anything stupid. Stick to the plan, don't over extend yourselves." She looked between the three of them. "We'll get Aria back."

They all lingered, Adagio and Sonata's eyes locked onto Sunset's. With the impending inevitability of violence and chaos, Adagio understood. She and Sonata might be able to get out with some scratches and a missing limb or two, and Chrysalis was very literally harder than steel.

She hadn't seen Sunset hurt yet, not properly, but she understood how delicate she really was. She'd seen what Chrysalis could do to the meatbags, and thus far the the only reason to believe Sunset was beyond that came down to just not seeing her in harm's way.

Should she say it? Adagio's anger at Sunset had her wishing more and more that she had got the chance to see Sunset hurt. Genuinely hurt. Yet looking at her then, knowing what they were about to do, she very much wanted the opposite. She wanted Sunset as far away from the action as possible. Back in the castle, in the tower, before Adagio had even wandered into town for the first time if she could wind back the clock.

"Don't you dare get hurt." Adagio closed in, placing a hoof on Sunset's shoulder. "Aria will be angry if she can't cuddle up to you after this."

"Won't we all?" Sonata said, and Adagio let herself laugh. Even Chrysalis cracked a smirk at that.

A lump bobbed in Sunset's throat, and her voice creaked like a rotting door. "Stick to the plan. All of you will be okay."

With that, she finally turned to Chrysalis and put a hoof on her side. Acknowledging her with just a small tilt of the head, Chrysalis disappeared the duo in a pop-flash.

Adagio had no reason to linger a moment more. She turned and pushed her way into the crowd outside of the alley. Sonata kept close behind her, just to the side, her shoulder pressed to her flank.

Adagio didn't exactly like Chrysalis and Sunset pairing off together, and she disliked the fact she agreed with the decision even more. As much as she'd like to stick with Sunset to make sure she was safe, she'd seen what Chrysalis could do. That monstrous metal midge was so much more capable than any of the rest of them in a fight, so if anyone could keep Sunset in one piece, it'd be her.

Stars, Adagio trusted her to keep Sunset safe.

Getting to where they needed to wasn't difficult. The river of bodies flowed toward the town square. That's where Adagio and Sonata wanted to be, too, though their final destination would require just a little filtering and shoving toward the end. Hooffalls sounded like thunder around them, drowned out further by the indistinct chatter of thousands voices. Some rose above the others, but none of them became clear.

A few guards were posted along the streets. Even in the lamp-lit dark, their golden armour shone, the combs on some of their helmets rising over the crowds like proud crests.

It made it easier for Adagio to avoid them, and by extension keep Sonata out of trouble. So long as they also kept their heads down, they wouldn't get noticed.

Less than a block away, Adagio pulled the two of them into the space behind the rows of buildings lining the edge of the square. They were fortunate no guard was posted there, which surprised her. She was also surprised the alleys were paved, but it made sense when she saw the carts pushed up to one side, filled with crates of goods. At least one had been opened but not yet fully unloaded, a few garments spilling over the edge. There were other ponies in the alley, barged out from the square and surrounding streets, but they paid no mind to the two tall, cloaked figures that pushed their way into the back of a store.

The door shut behind them, muting the outside world but not outright silencing it. They weren't in so much of a storeroom as as they were in a combined kitchen and workshop, the counters and tables covered in fabric and templates. Some more chattering came from ahead, through the open, curtain covered archway. Laughter, joy. Ignorance of what was to come.

Oh it was going to be so much fun messing all that up.

Adagio waved Sonata to stay back by the door before she quietly made her way to the archway. She peered as little of her head around as she could, just enough to see some of the ponies ahead.

There were a few, none of them guards, all of them dressed in the brightest clothes they could probably find. One of them, a pink pony, had the most ludicrous patchwork dress, as if it was made from a dozen different designs stitched together.

And beyond the ponyquins atop the displays, through the windows and across the square, Adagio saw the stage. While empty, lights flared above it, honest to goodness electric lamps. Streamers criss-crossed above it, bearing the mark of a sun in different shades of orange and red and yellow, and a giant, metal wreath sat at the back of the stage.

Adagio respected how ostentatious it all was, even given the general state of the town. It must make Celestia feel awful special to be up there.

"We need to get them out," Adagio whispered, then turned to face Sonata. Her sister already had one of her little devices out from the loops, a small metal container that looked like a home-made pasta strainer covered in copper wires. A pair of small, jagged crystals rest inside, glued to springs held back by simple triggers. One red, one blue, treated with Chrysalis' magic.

She handed it to Adagio, who pinched the trigger mechanism in her teeth.

Sonata was right. It really did look like a spoon. Maybe she could convince Sunset to lighten up and call them that going forward.

She waited for the right moment. If Sunset had timed things well, they'd only need to wait a few minutes once they arrived.

A loud whine screeched over the square, only to quieten down a second later.

"Oops! Sorry about that."

Adagio went still as Twilight's voice reverberated through her. She turned to Sonata, but aside from the other golem's bug-eyes, there wasn't a sign they were in danger.

"Firstly, I'd like to thank you all for showing up tonight. Not that I was worried, the likelihood of there being a low turnout was infinitesimally small—" Twilight's voice sounded like it was everywhere. Not just carried through the air but also through the wood, through Adagio's body.

She'd heard that before, right? A way for Twilight to amplify her voice, but somehow it was different. Deeper, louder, with an electric buzz that reminded Adagio of her own voice.

When she looked back out the window, past the silenced ponies in the store, she spotted Twilight on the stage, high enough she rose over the crowds.

She looked so small. A tiny speck of a pony off in the distance, and she looked awkward. She didn't belong up there.

“—articularly auspicious for Ponyville. I’m sure you all know the Royal Carriage made its way in a few days ago—“

Murmurs from the crowd drowned Twilight out. Twilight continued speaking, the words lost to Adagio, but her eyes twitched back to the tall figure making her way onto the stage. A golden tiara rest atop a multicoloured mane, and a pure white coat rose from her garments and regalia.

A crackle, another electric screech. “—ease give a warm welcome Princess Celestia!”

The name dragged Adagio back to the moment. Every piece she needed was in play.

Adagio ripped out the spoon then rolled the bomb through the archway.

"What is—" one of the ponies started, only to be silenced by a deafening bang and hiss. Mist spilled back out into the kitchen. Ponies shouted, one of them even shrieked a few times until another dragged them out the front by the sound of the front door's jingle.

“Go.” She and Adagio rushed into the mist, bee-lining for the doorway. Even with their enhanced vision Adagio struggled to see through the obscuring steam, though the hazy glare of lanterns obscured by the window and door frames helped her find the front.

Things got loud again. The invited applause echoed across the square, as well as shouting of those nearby in response the incident at the store.

“What is going on—“

“—A lamp fall or—“

“—guards! Get the guards!”

Shoot. Adagio recognised that last voice. The same one that spotted the mist-bomb. Their quick wits presented a problem, but all that did was push up the timeline a little. Hopefully Chrysalis could deal with that.

Hopefully Adagio could, too. She hadn't had a chance to see if she could fight, yet, but Aria managed it without any practice. Surely Adagio, with her bright, fancy armour, could make do.

She gave Sonata a small shove to the side while sidling into the doorway in full. A bulwark against a rush of oncoming hooves.

The mist slowly dissipated, still obscuring the square beyond, though she could barely make out the silhouettes approaching.

She stood her ground as the stallion came up close. He was bigger than most, able to come up eye-to-eye with Adagio. However, where she expected to see steely-eyed anger, he instead wore stern-faced concern. A deep furrowed brow, the hint of a scowl, yet his words came out with the firmness of certainty, not aggression.

"Is something the matter in there? Was there an accident?"

Adagio's eyes went wide. He didn't recognise her, at least not immediately. The cloak and the mist probably working in tandem to keep her just obscured enough.

That gave her an idea. She had an opportunity to gain an advantage, just enough to get her off on the right hoof.

"Clumsy me, I just… Must have knocked something over." Putting a hoof to her chest, Adagio stepped back and to the side. The guard just… walked in, filling the space. "Then all this stuff appeared!"

He nodded along, giving a good sniff. "This doesn't smell like smoke. Good. Lets get you outside where it's—"

"But my sister!" Adagio pointed further in, hoping Sonata couldn't be seen quite yet. "I don't know if she's okay."

The stallion followed her hoof, then chuckled. "Just get outside. I'll check it out and make sure it's safe." He moved further in, and Adagio stepped around behind, filling the doorway again. She heard a few hoofsteps behind her, though she tried to pay them no mind for the moment.

The guard stopped in his tracks and lifted his head as another echoing voice filled the square. This one was just a little deeper, a little wider. The words came out in long, gentle syllables. "It looks like that is well in hand. Thank you for hosting me—"

The guard turned, and Adagio pounced on him, bringing a hoof to the back of his helmet.

The new armour had some strange effects. She had to very quickly learn how to move all over again, getting used to the speed of her motions. Things were snappier, sharper.

Stronger.

She'd put a dent in the back of the guard's helmet and he fell over to his side. Adagio stared at her hovering hoof, surprised that she'd actually managed the blow.

"Oh buck yes."

One of the guards at the door tackled Adagio in the side. Scrambling to keep her balance, she threw herself around though all that resulted in was her falling to the floor with her attacker on top of her.

"Sarge is down!" the guard on top her yelled. "It's gotta be—" And then they grunted as Adagio rolled along. She tossed the pony with her, eventually trading places belly to belly. She pinned the guard with her weight, forcing a wheeze out of them.

"It's gotta be… Us?" Adagio sneered.

The pony she'd pinned whined meekly. They tried to strike at Adagio, but with such a limited range of motion it just felt like something tried to shove her. Even trying to lift Adagio with their hind legs didn't do so much as raise her an inch.

She chuckled, then glared forward. One more guard had rushed in behind the second victim, wide-eyed in shock. A small glance at movement through condensation laden windows confirmed more of the bastards were coming in to reinforce. Sonata, wisely, took up a place behind the counter at the far end of the store. Only her eyes and ears rose above it, watching and waiting.

"I get why Aria likes this." Adagio grinned before she charged.

Her target reared up the second she started, before bringing their hooves down and meeting Adagio's head. The torque strained the armatures in her neck and the added support around her throat and collar, but that's all they managed. She shoved the guard into the counter, cratering the wood underneath them.

Then something smacked her hard in the head. Right at her temple, enough to make her helmet ring. That spun her around, facing away from the entrance, and she had just long enough for a single thought to float in her mind.

This was the store she first encountered Twilight in front of The same clothes hang on the same ponyquins, the same accessories set on shelves with just a few items swapped out here and there.

Two bodies shoved her forward, slamming her into the wall and tossing merchandise to the floor. One hoof smushed her snout into the wood, making it creak, but she was unharmed so far.

"That'th all you got?" She growled as she pushed back against the wall, then fell as the weight on her released. Landing on her haunches she spotted the two ponies backing up for a fraction of a second before getting smashed in the back yet again. A timpani beat rattled her helmet, and small, glittering stars flew into the air above her head. They lingered, and she stared, wondering what they were.

She stopped caring as they reversed course and darted back at her. Most of them rattled off her armour like tinny rainfall, and she turned her head just in time to dodge one aimed at her face. She quickly jerked to roll back onto her hooves.

She didn't quite make it, and it became apparent why. The arrow-head sapphires had pierced her cloak and jammed themselves into the floor, and the recent assault and fall had left her tangled enough that she was stuck.

A unicorn with a black eye sneered down at her, his face upside-down in her vision. She vaguely recognised him, one of the lot that appeared at the tower. She wondered how many others in the square were involved in that failure of a raid.

"You better scram before I get back up—" A mare shoved her hoof in Adagio's mouth as she came into view, looking to the unicorn. Adagio writhed uselessly.

"That was easier than I expected," the mare said. "Let's get it outside."

"This isn't the only one here, I'm sure of it," the stallion said. "I'll keep it secure. Go get the medics, then go make sure the Princess is safe."

The mare nodded. "Yes sir."

"Let her go!"

Three heads turned simultaneously to the register counter. Sonata stood tall, one leg outstretched.

"And there's another." The stallion snorted, then two of the gemstones lifted out of the wood as his horn glowed. "I've taken two of you down without effort. How do you expect you're gonna stop me?"

Sonata looked like a hare cornered by predators. She wasn't ready for this. She couldn't fight like Aria, and they didn't have the time or materials to give her any armour.

Adagio thrashed around. She wasn't going to let them tear into her, dismembering her like they did with Aria.

The mare shoved her hoof in harder.

"I'll release the spiders!" Sonata yelled.

The guards went silent. The quiet let through the murmurs from outside, and Celestia's low tones. "Please remain calm. You are all safe, and this will be dealt with quick—"

The stallion erupted into laughter. His colleague followed a moment later, a little more subdued, but with the same derision.

"Yeah, sure. I bet that big one's packed in under there too." He took a step toward Sonata, levelling his sharp weapons at her, ready to fire. "Lay down on your belly with your front hooves on your head."

To Adagio's surprise, Sonata's whine sounded… petulant. She entirely expected her to express fear, to cower back. Instead she pouted. "Ooh. I didn't want you to pick that." She sighed. "Oh well. Releasing the spiders!"

Her foreleg snapped to her side with precision, then unhooked a strap on one of the satchels. A mass of little black shards fell out like a wad of tar onto the counter, only to immediately disseminate into smaller dark sprites that swarmed over the edge toward the stallion. Some even leapt forward, landing on his snout and shoulders.

Ridiculous as it was, Sonata's plan worked. The sapphires fell to the floor as the stallion's horn went out, and he shrieked while pawing at the small creatures assaulting him.

And they were assaulting him. While not particularly big or sharp, the little buggers' legs had enough bite to them they cut into skin, producing dozens of little red slashes and scrapes. They never lingered on a wound, like they only made the cut as a means to move around. The mare's screech followed a second later, and she freed Adagio from beneath her.

Sonata leapt over the counter and hurried over to Adagio. She didn't take the time to pluck out the shards, instead opting to rip the cloak off at the throat and shoulders.

Adagio rose to her hooves right on time to see the two guards bolt out the front door, the spiders still stuck to them. A few still lingered in the store, scrambling toward the windows and the entrance.

"That was… Actually pretty smart. Did Sunset teach you that?"

"Nope!" Sonata grinned, oozing well-earned pride. "I figured that out myself. I just made the spiders really cold and told them to find something warm. The bag was warm, but I made them get out." She reached back into the bag and pulled out a faintly smoking red crystal, which she tossed outside to the front of the crowd. The rest of the spiders inside quickly chased after it.

It didn't matter that the spiders were only interested in the crystal. Ponies screamed, turned tail, and ran.

"And you didn't think to tell me about this?" Adagio asked.

"I thought you'd be as good at Aria as fighting!" Then she shied back, looking away from Adagio. "And I wasn't so sure it'd work."

"Well, it did." Adagio gave Sonata a slap on the back and pulled her close. "Lets make sure we keep this ruckus going."

She didn't wait for Sonata and strode out into the square. Head held high, her armour shone in the lamplight, glittering at its rough, golden edges like a twisted take on the other guards' equipment.

Two figures stared down from the stage. Twilight wore shock and anger like an old coat, twisting her features into a scowl, but even at a distance, even with her broken eye, Adagio could see the timidity Chrysalis had instilled into her. She was angry, yes, but she shied back.

Celestia—As white as pure cotton, her mane fluttering like a banner—was unreadable. A perfectly neutral, barely present smile, she looked like a painting even as chaos erupted beneath her. Her regalia covered a great portion of her body, polished golden armour and a long coat that clung to her perfectly proportioned body. The delicately patterned clothing explained away Twilight's choice in fashion, but she also saw elements of Sunset's more pragmatic dress. The little line of pockets over the breast and at the sides, at least one loop that played double duty as a bandoleer and a sash.

She looked precisely as Adagio had expected, and more. She had the visage of a nation's ruler, and an intelligent one besides.

The guards lining the front of the stage reminded Adagio why they were there. Shockingly these ones were actually armed, forming a phalanx of round, golden shields and spears. Those spears were mounted on some complicated devices attached to their sides and front legs, and with a unified twitch every one of their blades jerked forward.

"That seems just a little overkill," she said.

More vibrant brushes tried to shove their way through the panic, their owners attempting to calm the sea of instinct to fruitless results.

Adagio looked to the sky at the same time the few guards that could fly took off. They rose from streets and rooftops, some of them pausing to assess the situation, but those closer to the square who saw at least a little of what just happened decided waiting was unwise.

They descended on the square like flies to rot, and Adagio spread her legs out, ready for their assault. She had no clear plan for dealing with them other than bracing their blows and trying to swat whotever she could out the air.

"'Dagi, shut your eyes!"

Adagio caught a glimpse to her left of a metal cylinder careening through the air, and quickly realised what Sonata had just done. She closed her eyes just a hair too late.

Adagio didn't even hear the bright-bomb go off. It was as if the world was overcome by an incessant ringing, matched with a flood of searing white light through the crack in Adagio's eyelids.

She tried opening them again. Both eyes, singular and fractal, retained the image of the square as Adagio saw it moments ago. A blur of bodies were frozen mid-gallop, eyes and mouths and legs all merging into one another. The sky looked impossibly dark, like the sun's glow below the horizon had just switched off. Movement made its way underneath the image, like rocks and fish under the reflective surface of a stream. Indistinct, but soon to make sense, especially as the first thud broke through the ringing.

The bright-bomb had blinded Adagio, but it also worked wonders against the pegasi in the air. One landed in a heap face first a few feet to Adagio's left, while two others collided a few feet from the ground, disrupting what might have been half-way graceful emergency landings. Adagio blinked away more of the ghost-image and spotted a few of the latecomers veering off to the sides and above, though some of their fates were sealed by the sounds of broken windows behind her.

One pegasus seemed at least a little unaffected. Blood-shot blue eyes glared at Adagio as they fell toward her with an outstretched hoof, then at the last second dove down to the ground. It seemed as though they lost their nerve until they flared their deep yellow wings. It was like they jolted forward, toward Adagio. A furious bolt of lightning.

At least the hoof missed, but the rest of the pegasus made contact. The full force of their body shunted Adagio back and up, tumbling head-over-tail. Eventually they came to a stop, Adagio on her back with the pony sprawled across her.

She stirred, trying to shove the pony off her, but they scrambled back like all they needed was a single second to gather themselves.

Their helmet—his helmet—had fallen off in the collision, and he rose tall over Adagio. She recognised the slicked-back blue mane. The one pony that at least got the better of Chrysalis.

"How are you fly—"

He punched her in the side of the head. The metal resisted the blow, but her neck didn't. She heard something creak deep inside her and hoped he hadn't repeated what his ilk had done to Aria.

She huffed. "Rude."

"Can it." He brought his hoof down on her throat, and flared out his wings again. It was like he had increased his weight, and despite Adagio finding her legs still worked, shoving at his sides did nothing. "Where's the big one. I don't think you wouldn't be here if she wasn't."

Keep them distracted. That's all Adagio and Sonata had to do. Keep them distracted while Sunset and Chrysalis did what they needed to do.

Adagio's eyes flicked down, looking past the guard. The square was clearing out. A few of his fellows made their approach, probably to subdue Sonata if she wasn't taking the time to bolt, while the others chased after the crowds. She wasn't sure why that was, but it meant the square was growing emptier by the moment, and that she had fewer foes to fight.

A few members of the phalanx at the stage carefully climbed down, too, leaving just four of them there. Maybe they were better trained, maybe not.

He flapped again. "Talk."

Adagio's gaze shifted back to the stallion. Jaw-clenching fury filled his eyes, but he restrained the rest of his expression to a hateful scowl.

She needed to keep up the fuss. She had to do something. What did she—

A small, smoking red crystal thumped into the stallion's side. Both of them stared for a moment, and then at the small swarm of little black spiders.

"Are those her kids!?"

Just a few metres away, Sonata had her hand on another mist-bomb. "No. They're mine. Hi, by the way." She pulled the spoon with a giggle, enshrouding them in a cloud of mist.

Author's Note

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