Guardian Angels

Chapter 1

Manehattan. A city on the move.

Everypony had somewhere to be, and something to do. They didn't have time to stop and smell the roses. However, that's exactly what some people were going to do. Metaphorically speaking of course. In this case, I didn't really have to stop, I just passed by them and smelled their roses. Except the roses were their bank accounts. Sweet, sweet bank accounts.

I just hacked into a Mitchell Larson, pretty wealthy guy. I'm sure by the time he realizes he's missing about $10,000, my trail will be long gone. I walked up to an ATM, pulling out my smart phone. A few misplaced codes and presto, money comes pouring out. Amazing what technology can do these days.

I stick out my hoof to grab the bits, the cold air biting at my grey fur as it leaves the warmth of my coal colored trench-coat. I pocket the coins and adjust my black cap so the hole fits better around my horn, ruffling my radioactive green mane in the process. I swished my tail, the same color of course, adjusting the tail flaps of my coat to a more comfortable position.

"Another day, another dollar." I mumbled to myself.

"How right you are Mr. Parker."

I turned around, getting ready to pull out my gun. The only people who knew my name were family, and I doubt they would recognize me dressed like this. After all, the sole purpose of my outfit was to hide my identity. I was faced with a blood red earth pony, with a silver mane and tail. He wore a business suit, and a fedora. I don't know why, but the addition of the fedora to his outfit made him even more distasteful.

"Who are you?" I asked, "How do you know my name?"

He looked to the side, "Not an enemy, if that's what your asking."

"How can I know that for sure?" I questioned.

"Because I didn't stab you in the back when presented with the opportunity." He stated, "Now, how would you like to join me over a cup of coffee?"

Not until I knew who he was, "You didn't answer my question, who are you? How do you know who I am?"

He looked at the ground, thinking. After a moment of silence, he said, "I'm afraid I can't give you my name, but I can tell you that I am a friend. For now, just call me Daniel."

Daniel? That sounds like I've heard that name before, but I couldn't put my hoof on it. "Fine," I stated, "I could go for some coffee, but don't think I don't have a hoof on the trigger at all times."

"I can understand that," He gestured towards a small cafe, "Shall we?"

We walked to the building, a Star-Buck, he remained silent, a small smile on his face. It was damn near impossible to read what he was thinking, but I doubt it benefited me in the long run. We stepped inside, and walked up the counter, a purple pegasus mare wearing a Star-Buck hat greeted us by saying, "Welcome to Star-Buck! How can I help you this morning?"

Daniel replied, "We're here for the Celestia Special."

That wasn't on the menu.

The mare responded, "I'm sorry sir, that special was taken down, can I get you something else?"

Daniel's smile turned into a grin, "We'll have the Lunar Espresso Deluxe."

That wasn't on the menu either.

The mare seemed a little concerned, "I'm sorry but we're fresh out, anything else?"

Daniel was still grinning, "Mr. Drake sends his regards."

What?

The mare nodded, "We'll be right out with your order."

Daniel added, "And get us two lattes while you're at it, would you, please?"

She still seemed a little concerned, "Yes sir." With that, she trotted to the back.

I was a little more than suspicious at this point, "Would you mind telling me what that was about?"

Daniel closed his eyes, still grinning, "I'm just picking something up."

I still didn't trust him, but he didn't do anything yet. I was watching him like a hawk.

The mare returned, holding a tray with two lattes on one wing, and a umbrella under the other one.

"Here's your drinks," She said, setting the tray on the counter, "And here's the umbrella you requested, anything else?"

Daniel took his drink, "No that'll be it, unless you want anything?" He looked at me.

I levitated my drink over, "No, that'll be fine. Thank you." There was something bigger going on here, but I wasn't going to get involved. Unless Daniel already had me involved, maybe that was his angle all along?

"Our business is done here," Daniel said, turning to leave, "Come, Alex. Let's talk."

I followed him, not simply walking away out of sheer curiousness of what he wanted, and out of fear that he wasn't alone. He had proven he already had allies in strange places, he may have had allies in high places too.

We walked out of the Star-Buck, "Now, Alex. You've been very under the radar, I must say, I'm quite impressed."

I didn't reply, trying to read him. Walking along side him, I didn't dare drink my latte.

"You're a very hard pony to find, Alex Parker, but I managed." He paused to take a sip of his drink, thinking, "Do you think I'm the only one?"

It was a scare tactic, I don't know how he managed to find me, but he did. Unless he was the hacker from the bank job? Even still, that meant he was the only one who could find me. I stated, "Yes. There's no way anybody else could find me."

Daniel raised a brow, "Really? Do tell, what makes you so sure?"

"I'd rather keep that secret as leverage." I tactfully replied.

"You think I'm that hacker from the bank job?"

My eyes shot open, I dropped my latte.

"That's right, I know all about that little mishap."

I got a magical grip on my pistol, "How did you know about that?"

He sipped his latte, "I already told you, I mean you no harm."

"Tell me now." I gritted my teeth.

"I will, in due time. For now, I need to visit the little stallions room." He held out the umbrella, "Would you mind holding this for me?"

It could have been a bomb, it could be covered in poison, it could just be a normal umbrella. Whatever the case, he felt comfortable carrying it, so I saw no reason not to. Although, I lifted it with caution.

"I'll be right back, don't go anywhere!" He trotted off.

I was alone, I didn't like this. It seemed as though everypony was looking at me. A stallion all by himself, standing still in a city of constant traffic. Even the pegasi slowed down to look at me. Something wasn't right. I felt a chill run down my spine. Suddenly, a police carriage pulled up on the nearest curve. The sirens turned on and three ponies came piling out. They all approached me, drawing their guns.

"HOOVES IN THE AIR!" one of them yelled.

I sat on my haunches, lifting my forehooves. The umbrella fell to the ground, and out clattered an AK-47. That bastard set me up!

"HE'S GOT A WEAPON, EVERYPONY GET BACK!" an officer screamed.

"GET ON THE GROUND! FACE TO THE CEMENT!" another one yelled.

Time for the hard part. I laid down, and pulled out my smart phone underneath my coat. I tapped the command with my hooftip, and the officers headsets started playing deafening static. I shot up, and galloped down a nearby alleyway.

They threw off their headsets and one shouted, "HE'S GETTING AWAY, AFTER HIM!"

I ran up a wall and jumped a high fence, I ducked under pipes and vaulted dumpsters. I jumped on top of a larger dumpster, and onto a fire escape. I began to climb the stairs as the police began shooting at me. Screams from the citizens erupted all around us, not understanding what the loud noises were, and fearing them as a result. I jumped my way onto the roof, and sprinted across as fast as I could. I pulled out my smart phone, time for some tricky stuff. The roof was locked electronically by a CTos control box.

"Just a wave of the hoof, and..." I unlocked the door.

I opened the door to find three more officers had worked their way up the stairwell inside.

"THERE HE IS!" One of them shouted, pointing at me.

I slammed the door, and re-locked it with a different code, so the officers couldn't unlock it. I ran over to the edge of the building, looking down at the foot traffic. Feeling queasy, I looked back up, and saw the pegasi traffic was just out of hoof's reach. New plan.

I jumped, and grabbed the first pegasus I could.

"Agh! Hey! Get off me!" He protested, as we began to descend to the street below.

We slowly lost altitude until it was safe to jump off. I let go and the pegasus flew off, shouting profanities and calling me a crazy-pony. I hit the ground running, and sprinted for the subway. I ran straight through the lines, subway security shouting at me as I rushed through. They tried to close the security gates on me, but unlucky for them, they were connected to CTos, and I opened them as soon as I saw they were closed. I made my way to the train platform, when a voice of a mare came over the intercoms.

"Train for Canterlot station leaving in one minute." Was all it said.

I didn't have a minute, the security ponies were right behind me. I was about to run past the train, when I noticed a CTos control box next to the roof of the tunnel the train was in. I opened the profiler app on my phone, and scanned the box.

_METRO_CONTROL_HUB_ came up on screen.

I input the "Go" code, sent it to the box, and hopped on the train. The doors slid shut behind me, and the security ponies banged on the windows as the train pulled away. I made it, but was I really safe? Daniel had more resources than I knew about.

"Ah, so you got away?"

I turned, pulling out my collapsible baton. I expected to see Daniel standing in front of me, instead, he was on the TV monitors. All of them.

"What the hell?" I mumbled.

"Today's lesson was never to trust strangers." Daniel sipped his latte, "I hope we meet again soon." The screen turned to a news broadcast, with pictures of me labeled as a gunman.

I just found a shit storm, and walked right into it.

I knew I should have stayed in bed today.