New Moon Rises (MLP Quest)

((A/N: sorry its late - I've had a week.))

"How dangerous is… borrowing the files?"

You look up in surprise at that. You had expected Miss Lulamoon to throw out the 'breaking and entering' approach, but for… you know, pragmatic reasons. Instead, she seemed worried about… you?

You weren't sure if your were insulted for her doubting your spy skills or touched at the concern.

...Given how the two of you met, you go with the latter. It was more flattering for both off you. "Don't worry Ma'am – breaking and entering is Night Watch one-oh-one!"

the stage magician raised an eyebrow at that, "Was this class before or after they taught you how to stalk somepony?"

"Oh, that hurts ma'am," you say, bringing a hoof to your chest in mock pain before continuing with a confident smile you were only mostly feeling, "Really, its a straight-forward op – reconnoiter the area, confirm presence of the target, sneak it, grab the good and sneak back out."

Her eyebrow inches a bit higher, "That easy?"

your grin widens, "That easy."


Fifteen minutes later, you're cursing your own big, stupid, arrogant mouth as you stare at the door to the palace's Royal Guard garrison. This was, in all probability, a really bad idea and was going to get you arrested or, worse, fired. Still – you'd started this, so you'll finish it. You take a fortifying breath before walking through the door with your most cheerful smile – the one that shows just enough fang to be cute and not tail-wettingly terrifying. The office inside cramped, the closed space made worse by the impressive number of guards they've managed to fit behind the rows of desks just behind the front counter. You barely make it two steps from the door before your up at the counter, the guard stationed at it turning from one of the numerous other guards criss-crossing the space behind him and turning to face you. You have just enough time to spot one guard slipping through a back door into a space willed with filing cabinets before he's addressing you, "Good afternoon, ma'am. How can the Royal Guard be of – oh, hey. You're the Bat Pony that was tagging along with the Captain, right?"

"Yup," you nod as you quickly formulate a reason to be here that sounds likely, "That me! Job this time is a lot easier – just need the details on Miss Lulamoon's security arrangements while at the castle." Nailed it.

"Sure, no problem," the guard replied as he scribbles out something on a paper slip and hoofs it off to another guard, "So, bodyguard for a magician," he says as he turns back to you, "How's that going?"

You shrug, "Hasn't been boring yet, these cultist types though..." you give a dramatic shiver, "Yeesh," you lean closer before whispering, "Did you know Miss Lulamoon thinks that they might have been behind the Silver murder?"

The guard, "Really? There'd been rumors like that ever sense the case got sent here..." bingo!

You blink in surprise, "Here, really? Why?"

the guard shrugs, "No idea – but if those cultists did it, then that would make it part of the Captain's little project I guess-" A tap on his shoulder interrupts you as one of the guards passes him a folder, "Ah! Thank you Sergeant," He slides the folder across the counter you you, "All the pertinent details for Miss Lulamoon's protection detail."

"Thanks!" you say cheerfully as you stash the folder under a wing, "This should keep me from tripping over you guys too much," you give him a wave goodbye as you head for the door, "Have a good one!"

"You too!" he says back before turning to whoever needs his attention next. A moment later you are back out the door.

You head down the hall, away from the garrison and a casual pace until you're out of sight of anypony. Once clear, you head down a side hall and begin circling around. The files you're after are here – so, on the up side, you don't have to travel far. Down side? You have to sneak past Princess Celestia's personal guards.

Goodie.

First things first though, you need a way in – a window, maybe? The garrison office was backed onto an outer wall. You're not sure how big castle windows were though, but you were guessing not big. So a back door then. Which meant you needed a disguise – you didn't have time to figure out if and when they jot supply delivers to try hiding in a box. "Hrm..." you tap at your chin, "But what…? Guard? Nah – too likely to be noticed. Mail mare? Wait, what if they aren't expecting mail? Darnit..." you sit there for a bit, metaphorically – and occasionally literally – pounding your head against a wall. You're only company being the janitor that starts working there way down the hall part way through your second literal head-against-wall session.

You pause, glancing at the janitor.

...huh. That could work.

Fifteen minutes, a bribe, and one detour to a supply closet later you've got yourself a blue hat and matching jumpsuit as well as your own little cart with a mop and everything. You wheel it down the hall, navigating through the castle until you're close to the garrison again. From there, its just a matter of criss-crossing the narrower side halls around it until you find one labeled 'garrison supply'. A quick test of the door handle proves that its locked. Well, you an fix that.

You take a quick glance around to make sure you're alone again before digging around in your mane until you manage to fish out a hairpin. Tool in-mouth, you begin probing at the lock. As it turns out, picking a lock by mouth is annoying slow, but your wings are trapped under the jumpsuit.

Finally, the lock opens with a click and you can slip inside along with your cart. You take a moment to lock the door behind you before taking a look around at where you ended up. Stacks of papers and boxes of quills are stacked next to yet more cleaning supplies, dimly lit by magic lantern hanging from the ceiling. In the dim light, you can just make out another door.

All the garrison staff see is a cleaning pony coming out of the supply closet, cart pushed ahead of her as she moves along, stopping occasionally as she moves about to wipe down something or another.

What you're actually doing is trying to get your bearings. The file rooms was directly attached to the front office, and you aren't sure if it will have a second door like the supply closet. However, there might be a second way…

You slowly make your way through the garrison until you find the office that should be adjacent to the file room – and perched high on the wall between the two was an air vent.

Your initial joy is short-lived as you notice something – the vent's already been tampered with.

Its with great caution that you pull off the jumpsuit, burying it in your cart before climbing up to the vent as silently as you can. Yup – somebody had already been through this way. The screws were stripped out and lodged in place askew – somebody had tried to close this from the other side.

You slip through the vent and drop into the apparently empty file room. The only light comes from the vent behind you and from under the door off to your right. You silently pad through the rows of cabinets, one eye scanning the labels on them for what you seek, while every other sense is looking for your unexpected roommate.

You spot the files first; A cabinet labeled 'special projects' that looked to have been opened recently. The guard at the desk had called the investigation the 'Captain's little project' after all…

Inside, you find inventories of the warehouse, transcripts of the interrogations, copies of what look like Twilight Sparkle's research notes – and a folder labeled with a number and a pair of names, both 'Silver'. You flip through the impressively thick folder before tucking it away. Alright, mission accomplished – time to get the buck out of-

You dive behind the cabinet at the sound of a muffled hoof fall. A second one is joined by a soft thud and equally soft cursing as the pony trips on something. What he gets for mucking around in the dark without proper night vision. You watch as he dusts himself off before checking on a saddlebag – no, checking on the files inside the saddlebag. Looks like there's more then one spy out today…

[ ] Slip away unseen; your mission is done.
[ ] Take out the interlooper, and steal his files.
[ ] Blow his cover and let the guards catch him; You might be able to sneak out in the chaos, our you might get caught yourself…
- [ ] How? (Write-in plan; must be given for 'Blow cover' option)