The rest of the expedition had a difficult time following Bonbon through the tight corridors of Ruby Cave. Octavia and Vinyl didn't even have time to admire the beautiful rubies that grew upon the walls, for Bonbon was sprinting after Vengeance as fast as her legs would allow her. Eventually, the rest of the Guild lost Bonbon in a fork-in-the-road. Three paths branched down to the left, the right, and the middle, but none of them knew which one Bonbon had gone down.

"Let's split up," Whooves suggested, "I'll go with Octavia and Vinyl to the right, Minuette and Lucky, you take the middle, and Trixie, Carrot Top, and Derpy take the left."

They all agreed and took their designated paths. Octavia, Vinyl, and Whooves began sprinting down their corridor, determined to find Bonbon and stop Vengeance.

---

Bonbon came to the end of the cave. Sunset Shimmer and her two cronies were standing there, treasure in hoof. They turned around as the cream mare began pawing at the ground intimidatingly.

"Do you three realize what you're doing?" She growled, "We're trying to save the world and you three are ruining it!"

Sunset blew a raspberry, "Saving schmaving. You're just trying to make us feel sympathetic for you so we'll give little Vinyl her precious treasure back."

"Hand it over," Bonbon snarled, "I'm not playing with you this time. Give it back, now."

"We'll give you something, but it won't be the rock." Gilda rebutted.

"Yeah!" Lightning Dust agreed for emphasis, and having nothing better to say.

Bonbon looked as though she was about to charge them. However, she suddenly glanced up and froze in fear. Her ears went down and her tail was tucked between her legs.

"Run..." She said almost silently.

"It's not like you could ever stop us any-" Sunset paused, glaring at the mare, "Wait, what?"

"Run!" Bonbon repeated as she took off running in the other direction, "Don't just stand there! RUN!"

For a moment, Vegeance just stared at the fleeing mare. They exchanged glances before laughing rudely. However, they laughed too soon, for something fell from the ceiling, crushing them and knocking them out.

---

Octavia, Vinyl, and Whooves sprinted as fast as they could. They turned the sharp corners of the corridors and didn't lose their balance once. The trio had turned onto so many different paths that they had lost count of how many they went down.

Eventually, leader Whooves ran into something that caused him to fall backwards and take Octavia and Vinyl with him. They looked up, seeing Bonbon staring there with panic-stricken eyes while she heaved in heavy, erratic breaths. She looked as though she had just seen a ghost.

"Bonbon?" Vinyl questioned, "What's up? You look a little... Scared."

Bonbon forced herself to stop hyperventilating, "You have to come quick! Vengeance is in serious trouble!"

"Why should we care?" Vinyl asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They had your treasure," Bonbon growled, "And now their attackers have it!"

Seeming a little worried of these "attackers", Octavia, Vinyl, and Whooves followed Bonbon down the corridor. It didn't take them long to reach the end of the cave. To their left was the sea, gently lapping against the ruby-filled shore. To their left was a wall completely covered with rubies. To the front was a wall with intricate drawings on it, as well as an out-cold Team Vengeance.

Bonbon kept glancing up at the ceiling, as if something was going to drop from it. Octavia, Vinyl, and Whooves approached Sunset Shimmer, who had taken the rock in the first place. It was no longer with her, nor was it with Gilda and Lightning Dust.

"I don't understand," Vinyl began, "Who took it?"

Bonbon would not answer.

Whooves examined the three. He looked at each of their limbs, lifted up their eyelids and looked at their eyes, then looked at their heads.

"Who -or whatever- has done this was clearly very strong and fast," Whooves concluded, "They also had the element of surprise on their side. I doubt that these three would have been defeated that easily."

Bonbon was still very silent.

"So where's the rock?" Vinyl asked, looking quite worried.

"I'm not sure," Whooves replied, "They couldn't have gone far though. Let's see if we can-"

He didn't get a chance to finish. A shove from behind pushed them clear across the room. Bonbon gave a quick yelp from behind them, causing them to turn and gasp suddenly.

Bonbon had been tossed across the room, and standing in her place were three, large and ugly canines. The one in the middle was a weird chocolate-brown-gray color with pointed ears, green eyes, and a red vest. The one on the left was slightly smaller with tan fur, light yellow eyes, terrier ears, and a black vest. The one to the right was the largest, with gray fur, yellow eyes, drop ears, and a brown vest. What they all had in common was that they looked very vicious and hostile with their sharp fangs and claws.

"The heck?!" Vinyl asked, seeking shelter behind Octavia.

"Diamond Dogs!" Whooves exclaimed, "They're greedy canines that'll do anything to get their paws on some treasure!"

"Ponies!" The brown dog cheered in a raspy, difficult-to-understand voice, "Lucky dogs found ponies with lots of treasure!"

"Treasure!" The gray dog repeated in a deep and slow voice.

"Spot wants treasure!" The tan canine jumped up and down. He started to charge at the three, but Octavia was ready. She jumped in front of Whooves and Vinyl, drawing her cello bow as she did. She whipped around, smacking the canine in the face with the bow. He whimpered and fell back, his two buddies coming to his side immediately.

"Rover, they're strong ponies!" The dog called Spot said, rubbing his face where Octavia had hit it.

The brown dog, apparently called Rover growled in reply, "Ponies must have treasure! Dogs will get treasure! Spot! Fido! Diamond Dogs attack!"

The three canines charged, determined to attack the ponies. Whooves and Vinyl followed Octavia's example, also drawing their weapons. As the dogs came closer, Vinyl fired her bass cannon. Rover and Spot managed to avoid it, but big and bulky Fido was blasted to the back wall.

Spot went after Whooves, attempting to grab at his screwdriver. Whooves rolled, avoiding the canine's greedy swipes for his weapon. He used his hind legs to kick Spot in his stomach. With a painful oof, Spot was thrown backwards a few feet and stunned for a moment.

Octavia was left with Rover. For his bulky and slow form, the canine was surprisingly quick. As she fended him off, she was distracted by something in his vest pocket; a rock. Vinyl's rock. This allowed for Rover to get a clean hit, swiping his large paw across the mare's face. Octavia recoiled, her face stinging from the recent hit.

Rover came in for another attack, but Octavia was ready this time. She used her cello bow to keep him from getting any closer to her. She noticed that he didn't really seem to be going after her, but more so her saddlebags, as if he was expecting to find something of worth.

Fido was back on his paws. He went after Vinyl, who again attempted to hit him with her bass cannon. However, the gray canine was expecting it this time. He rolled to the right as the blast of dubstep hit the wall instead. Fido jumped, tackling the white unicorn and causing them to roll over and over again. Vinyl managed to hit Fido with a small beam of magic that sent him tumbling.

Whooves had managed to get a hold of Spot's tail and was yanking it madly back and forth. The canine yelped and whimpered in pain, trying to throw Whooves off, but to no avail. Eventually, when Spot had managed to yanked his tail free of Whooves' grasp, he ran away into the deeper passages of the cave, abandoning his buddies.

Octavia was having a hard time. Despite the fact that she and Rover were equally matched, she found herself getting tossed around like a ragdoll. It was probably due to the fact that she had run out of stamina to keep fighting, and Rover probably had much more than she did.

Vinyl's fight was much easier. Fido was strong, but very slow. She nimbly darted around the dog, confusing him as to when she was going to attack next. Before he knew it, he was blasted with another beam of heavy dubstep. Fido was fed up and eventually ran away with his smaller buddy.

Rover was the only canine left now. As Octavia, Vinyl, and Whooves ganged up on him, he lost the upper hand and saw that he couldn't win. He turned tail and ran to join his two companions. The three ponies high-fived each other and let out a victory cheer. Octavia however, was the first to spoil this celebration.

"Bonbon!" She cried, running over to the currently out-cold mare. Whooves and Vinyl followed her, stepping over the also out-cold Team Vengeance who they couldn't care less about.

Bonbon appeared to be fine. She had a small bump on her head where the Diamond Dogs had hit her. Other than that, she was in perfect health.

"Bonbon?" Whooves asked, shaking the mare.

Bonbon groaned, her head slowly raising up to look at them. She coughed weakly, smiling at them as she did, which was a rare sight for her.

"I think you owe me a thank you." She said with a chuckle.

"Thank you." Whooves quickly replied, also laughing a little.

"Are you okay?" Octavia asked.

Bonbon nodded, "Of course."

"Are those three the reason Lyra didn't want to come?" Vinyl inquired, changing the subject.

Bonbon nodded again, "That's also why I rushed after Team Vengeance. Not just to get the treasure back, but to stop them from getting caught by the Diamond Dogs," She sighed, "Thanks for fending them off."

"You're thanking us?" Vinyl asked, "You're the one who warned us of them in the first place." She paused, "Wait! Where is the rock?!"

Octavia held up the stone in question, putting Vinyl's sudden panic to rest, "I managed to grab it out of Rover's coat pocket while we were fighting. Good thing I did."

Bonbon glanced over at Team Vengeance, "I better see what's wrong with those three and escort them back to the guild."

"Wait!" Vinyl interrupted, "You're not coming with us?"

Bonbon shook her head, "Sorry guys, but this is your quest to complete. I have to get everyone back to the guild in case worst comes to worst... But I trust that you three can do it," She saluted, "You have my, and the rest of the guild's support."

The cream mare trotted over to Sunset, Lightning, and Gilda. She woke them up and forced them to follow her out of the cave. Octavia, Vinyl, and Whooves were now by themselves. With the rock in hoof, they trotted to the pattern on the wall. Close examination proved that the stone and the wall had the exact same pattern.

"Now what?" Vinyl asked expectantly.

Whooves looked around, "I'm not sure... There could be some sort of trick to this."

"Oh great." Vinyl said pessimistically. Using her magic, she lifted up the rock to the wall in order to see just how closely related it was. Just then, it began glowing, causing Vinyl to drop it. A beam of white light shot out from the rock and over the ocean. It seemed to keep going for miles and miles until the stone stopped glowing.

For a moment, Vinyl was stunned, "... What just happened?"

"I think it just sent a signal to something." Whooves replied. He pointed a hoof to the horizon, "Look! There's something approaching us and fast!"

There was a small dot in the distance that was coming closer and closer very quickly. By the time it was only half a mile off shore, they could see what it was. It appeared to be a large, orange bird that seemed determined to get to them. The bird had orange and red feathers that occasional caught on fire and fluttered to the ocean. It was graceful and lithe, but looked strong enough to carry a few ponies. When the bird had landed, it calmly cooed before a gentle female voice spoke in the ponies' minds.

"My name is Philomena, gatekeeper of the towers," The bird thought to them, "Who has summoned me here?"

"Whoa!" Exclaimed Vinyl, "Are you a phoenix?"

Philomena nodded, "I am. Did you summon me?"

Vinyl stared down at the rock, "I... Guess I did. Cool!"

Philomena looked back and forth between the three ponies, "I sense that you wish to go the Tower of Midnight, correct?"

Whooves nodded, "We have to stop it from collapsing. Are you sure you can get us there?"

Philomena made a noise that almost sounded like chuckling, "Of course I can." She turned around, crouching down and spreading her wings, "Climb on. I will take you there as fast as I can."

The three climbed on the phoenix's back, careful not to step on her wings. When they were situated correctly, Philomena pushed off with a powerful downstroke and took off across the sea with the three holding on tightly to her.

---

They flew across the sea. It was a rather silent flight except for the occasional best of Philomena's wings.

"So you're the gatekeeper of the towers?" Vinyl broke silence, "What does that mean?"

"Only I can help certain ponies to the Tower of Midnight, or it's counterpart, the Tower of Noon," Philomena answered, "Both towers have a very special spell protecting them from being seen except for the Guardians. I know how to get pass the spell and get you to the Tower of Midnight. It is in a very sacred place known as the Land of the Night."

"Thank you, Philomena." Whooves interrupted.

"Do not thank me," The phoenix replied, "I simply want you to help Princess Luna. I wanted to talk sense into her, but when I tried to enter the tower, her guards fought me off. I never even made it halfway through."

There was a tension-filled silence for the rest of the trip. It was about an hour before Philomena stopped dead in her tracks, hovering above the ocean.

"Do you see how the ocean horizon is slightly distorted?" She questioned, pointing with her beak at said horizon.

Whooves squinted, "I can see it slightly. Why?"

"That's the Land of the Night," The phoenix answered, "It is completely invisible to your eyes. But..."

Suddenly, without any warning, Philomena shot down. The ponies were forced to hold on for their lives as the phoenix accelerated. In fact, she started going so fast that a funnel of air developed around her. She stopped suddenly, almost throwing Vinyl over her head.

In front of them now sat an island covered in nighttime. The island was floating a couple hundred feet in the air above the ocean. The full moon sat directly above a purple tower, despite it being daytime everywhere else. However, right between the moon and the tower was a cluster of angry, unnaturally red storm clouds that occasionally shot out a bolt of lightning at the tower. Wherever it hit left a large burn mark and caused the tower to shift uneasily.

"There it is," Whooves said with nervousness laced in his voice, "The Tower of Midnight."