Dead Money

The next morning, Starnsy was up bright and early, making coffee for her husband. She was pleasantly surprised at the fact that he hadn't been called in during the night. She was cooking some sausage and pancakes for him, and the aroma of her cooking along with the fresh coffee brewing in the coffeepot woke him up with a smile. He stretched and groaned as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Oh! Morning hun!" Starnsy said with a smile.

"Mmph... You're up early."

Starnsy rolled her eyes and smiled as she prepared his plate. "Oh hush. Eat your pancakes." She handed him his plate, which he happily took.

"Heh, when's the last time you cooked for me?"

"The last time you had some time off from work, silly." She said as she poured a mug of fresh coffee for him. "Oh! Speaking of which, how's dinner sound? I'll make that spaghetti you like!"

Wobble finished chewing and swallowed a bite of his pancakes. "That sounds perfect... Besides that... Do you have any other plans for today?"

Starnsy nodded and placed the mug of coffee next to his plate. "Just gotta run to the bank and make a withdrawal, but that's about it."

"Alright then..." Wobble sipped his coffee and smiled. He stood up from the table and yawned. "Guess I should go ahead and get dressed." He passed through the kitchen and hugged Starnsy tightly from behind, kissing her cheek. "I love you. I'll try and be home for dinner tonight, okay?"

"Alright, you stay safe." She turned her head and kissed him softly. She giggled and playfully pushed him towards the bedroom. "Get dressed! Don't want you to be late because of me."

Wobble simply chuckled and walked into the bedroom to get dressed. Starnsy rolled her eyes and started cleaning up in the kitchen. An hour or so after Wobble left for work, she started preparing to make her withdrawal.

Starnsy grabbed the messenger bag from under the couch and went into the bathroom. She closed and locked the door, unzipping the bag and taking out the bandages. She quickly removed her shirt and bra, leaving her top half naked. She unrolled the bandages, starting to wrap them tightly around her chest and breasts. When she finished, her chest was as flat as a board. She turned sideways to see if there was any noticeable bulging. Nothing. She left the bathroom, walking into the bedroom and opening her closet, pulling out a freshly ironed black suit and tie, one that Wobble might wear if he had gone to a business meeting. She put it on and looked in the mirror. She hid her scarlet tail under that suit, making sure no one would see it. At a glance, from the neck down she looked like a stallion. "Perfect."

She entered the bathroom once more, pulling out another item from the messenger bag. It was a wig. Originally, it was dark blue, but with a few adjustments, and a lot of hair dye, it was now jet black. She placed it on the counter and looked in the mirror. Her own scarlet mane, while somewhat scruffy, flowed gracefully in its own way down to her shoulders. She had to fix that, but cutting it wouldn't be easy to explain to Wobble if he heard about today's upcoming events. She pinned her hair up, and she had to admit, it looked nice. She picked up the wig once more and put it on. Black. Short. It added to the stallion ruse, however, her face was a dead giveaway... But no one was going to see her face.

She put on the black dress shoes that went with her suit. She was almost ready, but she had to take some precautions. She took off the top half of the suit, leaving the white undershirt and tie. From the bag she removed a lightweight bulletproof vest, putting it on over the white shirt and tie. She put the overshirt back on over it. To the anyone looking, it wasn't immediately noticeable, and it fit snugly under the buttoned up suit. Next, the latex gloves. No fingerprints. Lastly, contacts. Non-Prescription colored contacts that would mask her real eye color, turning them from pink, to a more common hazel color. She blinked a few times to get them into place.

She was ready.

Starnsy got in her now gray van, messenger bag at her side that held everything she needed. She pulled out of her driveway and started down the road towards the bank.

Canterlot One, a medium sized branch bank that grew from Canterlot and spread to cities all over Equestria. This particular Canterlot One was only moderately busy, and there were many lulls in business where not much went on. Starnsy neared the bank, pulling into an alleyway near the back of the bank. She would need easy access to it once everything started. She backed up a bit further into the alley and turned the van off, leaving the key in the ignition. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reaching into the bag and pulling out a gas mask. She had painted it to look as if it were cracked, broken and dull. The glass on the eye holes had been tinted a dark black for good measure, and to add to the intimidation factor. She had added metal plating and small bits of kevlar to the other parts of the mask for extra protection, the bolts were clearly visible, and the jagged metal was placed haphazardly around the mask, making it look as if it had a row of razor sharp teeth and a mouth upturned in a wicked grin. On the other side of the mask, she had installed a voice changer. Just another precaution to preserve her identity. It made her voice deep, terrifying, and best of all, unrecognizable.

She took another deep breath and stepped out of the van, taking the shotgun she borrowed from her husband's gun cabinet from the passenger seat. She was sweating behind the mask as she strode towards the front door. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small device that she then placed in a shrub just outside of the building. No one inside had seen her yet. She flipped the small switch on the device and... Everything electronic within a mile radius went down. Cameras, phones, radios, anything that would get in her way was now obsolete for exactly 6 minutes. She had to work fast.

As she turned the corner and brandished her shotgun, everything seemed to slow down. The security guard at the front entrance saw her and began to pull his pistol out of its holster, but not before he took a blast to the chest from her shotgun. Ch-Chk. The empty shell was ejected and hit the ground as she entered the bank's main lobby.

"Nopony move!!" She yelled, her voice now deep and booming. "All of you, on the ground." She aimed her shotgun at the tellers and pointed. "Don't even think about hitting that little button under your desk. Get out here."

5 minutes.

The tellers simply stayed with their hands in the air, frozen with fear.

"GET THE FUCK OUT HERE!"

All three bank tellers quickly filed out of the room and into the lobby.

"All of you, get down. Except for you." She pointed at one of the teller mares. Her coat was an off-gray color, and her mane and tail were white and curled slightly at the ends. "Come with me. Show me where the vault is."

4 minutes.

The teller nodded quickly and started making her way towards the back of the bank. Starnsy kept the muzzle pressed on the teller's back at all times.

"What's your name?"

The teller opened her mouth to speak, but the words were stuck in her throat. "I-I..."

"Tell me. Your name."

"L-L-Legal T-Tender..."

"Well Ms. Tender, how about you hurry and show me where that vault is?" She nudged her forward with the barrel.

3 minutes.

"You got a husband, Ms. Tender? Hm? Kids?"

Legal nodded silently as they neared the vault. "Y-Yes I… Have a husband… T-T-Two kids…”

Starnsy turned a corner with Legal and before her stood the large square vault door. “Can you open it?”

2 minutes.

“N-No I.. I can’t…” Legal stammered, her hands still up.

“That’s too bad then.” Starnsy gripped the scruff of her neck and tossed her down onto the ground, against the wall. “Now, you just stay right there and think about your family. You want to see ‘em again, right?”

Legal nodded, her eyes widened in fear. ‘Y-Y-Yes…”

“Then don’t try anything, or I’ll use you as a shield when the cops show up.” Starnsy let the shotgun hang at her side as she stood back, her eyes darting about the vault door. Her demolition expertise kicked in as she figured out where to set the charges.

1 minute.

Starnsy grabbed Legal once she was all finished setting the explosives on the vault door. She backed away around the corner and took out a cell phone. She dialed the number set for the charges and boom. The door was open and she could see the money. She grabbed Legal and shoved her in as the alarm went off. "You bag it. And make sure it doesn't have tracers in it or you aren't seeing your family again, got it?" Starnsy slid the duffel bags across the floor into the vault. "And don't try to run either."

Legal nodded fearfully and began loading the cash into the bags. "Y-Y-Yes sir..."

Starnsy went out to the lobby, where the fearful bank patrons were still laid on the ground. She heard a police cruiser pull up to the bank, sirens still wailing. She heard two doors open and two officers stepped out. They approached the front door and stopped short and dashed back to the cruiser as Starnsy fired a shot out of the doors. "DON'T FUCKING COME IN HERE! WE'VE GOT HOSTAGES!"

Both officers took cover behind their cruiser. One grabbed the radio and frantically talked into it. "Yes we've... We've got a 211 in progress here at Canterlot One bank on the corner of Dewdrop and Edens Lane!" The other officer grabbed a megaphone and began to speak, trying to negotiate with Starnsy.

It was no use however, she wasn't listening. She had already grabbed the two duffel bags full of money and was making her way to the back. "Thank you, Ms. Tender. It's been a pleasure working with you." Starnsy pushed her back into the lobby with the rest of the hostages. She opened the back door and walked out, making sure no cops were in sight. She rushed as fast as she could to the van, opening the back doors, tossing the money inside and closing them back again. She quickly got in the front seat and pulled out of the alleyway, driving calmly as to not be suspicious. She took the back roads towards her house, taking her mask and gloves off.

Back at the house, Wobble was growing increasingly worried about his wife. She said before that she had to go to the bank, but as he watched the news and saw the top story about the bank robbery at Canterlot One. That was the bank that she used. She could be hurt, or worse. He was just about to grab his keys and head down to the bank to try and find her.

Starnsy had made sure to change back into some less conspicuous clothes. Jeans and a t-shirt. She put the suit, shoes, wig, body armor, the two duffel bags full of money and her mask, along with the shotgun in the messenger bag, leaving it in the van as she pulled up to her house.

Wobble heard a car door close just as he grabbed his keys. Starnsy opened the door and Wobble immediately ran to her and hugged her tightly. "Starnsy... Thank Celestia you're okay..."

Starnsy tilted her head in mock confusion, hugging her husband back. "Is something wrong, love?"

Wobble held onto her tightly, sitting on the couch with her in his lap. "I was watching the news and... Well, there had been a robbery at Canterlot One."

Starnsy shook her head and kissed him gently on the lips. "I'm alright though. I was there but I guess I was lucky enough to leave before any of that happened."

Wobble smiled and squeezed his wife tightly, sighing happily. "I'm just glad you're okay..." He slid her off of his lap and onto the couch, patting her thigh and standing. "I... Whew, I got myself all worked up. I'm gonna go out for a quick run around the lake and burn the rest of this energy, okay? You're welcome to come with me if you want."

Starnsy shook her head and stretched out on the couch. "Nah, I'm alright hun, you can go ahead without me." Wobble nodded and went out for a run, leaving Starnsy on the couch.

She was about to doze off into a blissful slumber, when she heard a phone ring. She didn't recognize this particular style of ringing. It wasn't her phone, and it definitely wasn't her husbands. She got up and took a few steps into the kitchen where the ringing was emanating from. It was a small, gray flip phone, one she did not recognize. She slowly picked up the phone, flipping it open and pressing the green call button. "Hello?"

"I saw your stunt that you pulled at the Canterlot One." The voice on the other line was one that she did not recognize, but his words made her freeze out of fear. "I'm not calling to blackmail you. I'm calling because you seem to know what you're doing... And I can help."