The smooth, stone floor was freezing beneath her hooves. It felt as if icy fingers were crawling up from the floor to take over her shivering body. Every heartbeat seemed to echo through the corridors. Each window, room and door was just another twisting path in the midnight maze of Canterlot Castle. She could hear the occasional shriek of the changeling guards that roamed the palace in the dark. Just the sound could make her blood run cold. Taking deep breaths, she pressed on, knowing that if she didn't bring anything home there was no point coming back at all.
It had been 10 years since the changelings had taken over the once beautiful Kingdom of Equestria. Queen chrysalis and her army had swarmed the Celestia's castle and attacked the Princesses. Sacrificing herself for Her sister, Celestia had imprisoned Luna on the moon once more, and then been captured by the changelings. No pony had seen their beloved princess since. The queen's army had swarmed the kingdom and only a handful of ponies had survived. The ponies had escaped the changelings and created a small colony in the caves under the now unused train tracks that led to Canterlot. They had lived there for the next 10 years, developing their underground city.
The colony consisted of many tunnels branching off from the mane cave and each tunnel has its own purpose. There were four types of ponies in the colony, not including the leader. Spectators were all Pegasi and their job was to keep watch outside the colony and make sure no changelings found it. Searchers were the strong ponies that were always trying to find new ways to overthrow Crysalis, alongside other quests that they were assigned. Enchanters were the unicorns that provided first aid and magic when needed. The last group of ponies were called the Nameless. They were the ponies that had yet to earn their name by stealing something from Queen Crysalis' castle.
That was what this pony was doing now. Creeping around the castle in the dead of night. Being spotted by one of the changelings would be the last thing she would witness before death, so it was absolutely necessary to keep to the shadows. She knew she had to find something fast, it was only a couple of hours before dawn (Chrysalis now raised the sun and moon) and by then she had to be long gone, with or without a stolen item. Taking a deep breath she peered into a nearby room. Heaped in a pile on the dusty, marble floor were about half a dozen snoring changelings. Next to the beasts was a glittering amber just the right size to hang on the chain around her neck. Frozen by the beauty of the gem, she didn't move a muscle as one of the changelings sleepily reached out and put his hoof around it. Then she backed out of the room. There was no point in risking her life to get it. There would be plenty of other items she could take more easily.