Just beyond the distant Everfree Forest, the sun cast its warm, orange glow across the buildings of Canterlot. Sunlight bounced off of the red tiled roofs, dim enough to not blind anypony flying through the skies above the city, and turned many white washed walls to a dull, blurry orange. Most ponies, however, took to walking the streets, shielding their eyes entirely from the ounce of remaining sunlight as they returned to their homes. Down below the rooftops the alleyways and boulevards were already dark, many of the lamps flickering to life.
Most ponies, anyways, took to walking through the streets. Being the most easily accessible and most convenient way to walk from one side of the city to the other, most ponies prefered to stay off of the rooftops. Not that each roof was a variable hazard, but moving from rooftop to rooftop sometimes entailed long jumps that most ponies simply couldn’t make. Wings or a strong pair of hind hooves were required, as well as some knowledge on hoof placement so as not to send yourself skidding down into the stone and dirt streets below.
However, for the lone bat pony watching the moon rise above the eastern mountains as the sun set behind her, the rooftops were all but a home. She leaned up against the chimney poking out from the top of a house, her eyes trained on the very tip of the moon while her wing held a short, ornate spear close to her side. Her coat was a light grey with a multihued mane of varying purple colors, and she had large ears with fluffy ear tufts poking up at their tips. Strangely, her eyes were red instead of yellow, and on her flank was an intricate eye with an iris the same color as her’s.
Watching the moon rise over the mountain tops filled the bat pony with a sense of calm and vigilance. She pushed herself away from the chimney and scanned each individual roof, watching the shadows gradually lengthen as the seconds turned to minutes. Darkness followed the shadows, but for a bat pony it only meant the real day had only just begun.
With a sniff, the bat pony slid herself down the rest of the roof towards the eaves, then taking the spear into her hooves, she launched herself from the roof with a flap of her wings. She soared over the street below, spotting several rather well-dressed stallions and mares. Her tongue traced over her fangs, but then she shook her head and flapped her wings a few more times, gliding over to another rooftop. She landed with a soft clack of her hooves.
Across the roof sat another bat pony, also holding a spear. His ears flicked upon recognizing the clack of the other’s hooves on the rooftop, and he slowly turned to look back at her. His coat was a much darker shade of grey while his mane and tail were a mix of two different shades of blue. His eyes were yellow.
“Took you long enough to get here, Sunny,” the bat pony said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. “What, you find some unsuspecting pony whose flanks were sufficiently unprotected from your little fangs?”
Sunny rolled her eyes and strode forward. “Shut up, Star,” she said. “Can’t a mare take a few minutes to appreciate a moonrise once in a while.”
“So that’s what you’re calling it these days?” Starlight asked. When he saw Sunny glare at him, he stuck his tongue out.
“At least I’m not sitting alone with a box of tissues and a bottle of GrandCoat,” Sunny said, smirking when she noticed Starlight’s tongue retract. She laid down on her belly and stared out across the city towards a skyscraper that sat several blocks in front of them.
The skyscraper looked unremarkable from the other buildings that had been constructed on the same block. Its walls were white, its roof was flat with some short stacks coming out of the top, and its many windows lay dark as work hours had long since passed. However, plastered across the very top of the building in shimmering yellow letters was the name “Talon Industries.” The sign glowed, giving the building a little more of an ominous look. Starlight sat down next to Sunny and squinted his eyes at the building.
“You sure that this is going to work, Sun?” Star asked. “Talon Industries isn’t reputable for being keen on letting some random ponies walk in and take their stuff. We reviewed the intel we gathered earlier today; we both know that what’s on the outside of this place deceives what’s really on the inside.”
“Yeah, and?” Sunny asked impatiently.
“Six griffon night guards, trip wires and matter sensitive crystal lasers, pressure sensors on the windows and doors. These guys want their assets and secrets guarded tightly. Getting in there’s already going to be tough, but getting out… Well, who knows.”
“And who else should we go after?” Sunny asked, cocking her head. “You ever heard of Robin Hood, Star? Steal from the rich and give to the poor?”
Starlight arched an eyebrow at Sunny. “You don’t do Robin Hood.”
“Who said that I don’t?”
“You.”
Sunny lifted herself up only to sit on her flanks. She crossed her forelegs over each other and gave Starlight a haughty stare.
“Talon Industries is rumored to be supplying the griffons who are terrorizing Equestria’s northeastern border,” Sunny said. “Not only does that just so happen to be true, Talon actively assists with the trafficking of ponies to the Griffon Kingdoms and Zebrica. What other better target to hit than these guys?”
“A company like this not so much as even flinching at the rumors would imply that they are dangerous, right? I mean, if they haven’t tried stepping forward to discredit themselves, they need to have power somewhere if the princesses aren’t knocking on their door.”
Sunny placed her spear’s butt onto the ground and leaned against it lazily.
“Precisely why we need to get in there and rile them up,” she said. “You want to back out now, Star? I’ll do this heist whether you’re in or not, got it?”
Star looked back over at the building and sighed. The sun and all of its light had completely vanished from view, encasing the entire city in a rigid darkness that was only permeated by the soft light from the houses. Talon Industries ahead of them appeared even more foreboding, its sign flickering some more and the only object giving off light from the entire block.
“I’m staying in,” Star finally said. “Knowing you, you’re going to get your skinny ass in trouble.”
“In trouble?” Sunny huffed, the tips of her ears turning a little red. “I can and always have handled myself just fine on my own! You’re just here to help carry the money out and be my second set of eyes.”
“Uh huh,” Star said. “Yeah, keep on thinking that when your mouth starts flying after you’ve knocked into a griffon guard, alright? I’m sure that it’ll do you good.”
Sunny glared at Star again, who cracked a smile. Unbeknownst to her, both her ears and her cheeks were a light shade of pink. The poor pony had had enough of Star’s sarcasm, and she turned away from him with a snort and spread her wings.
“Fuck you, too, Star,” Sunny said through gritted teeth. “Try to fly low against the rooftops and don’t even try to speak, got it?”
Without waiting for Star’s response, Sunny held her spear in her hooves and then leapt off of the edge of the roof. With a flap of her wings, she boosted herself up over the tops of the roofs sitting between her and the Talon Industries building. Her hooves barely hung above the tiles, but at this altitude it was difficult for anypony, both in the street and in the houses, to hear the powerful beats of her wings.
A few seconds later Starlight came soaring past Sunny. He angled himself upwards and performed a loop-the-loop, coming in to fly side by side with her. Sunny rolled her eyes, pointedly looking away from Star and focusing on the approaching building. She’d had enough of his kind of fun, knowing full well that he was only trying to goad into pouting or snapping at him more.
Undeterred, Star bit his lip and tucked his wings, doing a barrel roll over Sunny to fly next to her other side. She turned her head to look away from Star again, denying herself from catching a glance of him as he bounced his eyebrows in her direction. He was beginning to become infuriating, now, and in an effort to put some distance between him and herself, she pumped her wings a little harder. Star, however, easily kept up with her, matching her speed yet again and giving her a wide grin.
“Alright, you want to do this, Star?” Sunny growled.
Sunny vaulted far ahead of Star, beating her wings with all of her might and shooting straight for the Talon Industries building. Behind her she heard the whir of Star’s wings as he took off right behind her, keeping stride. She banked right, angling herself between a chimney and the arched roof of one of the houses, and twisting herself to allow for her outstretched wings to slip between the crack. She easily fit, then leveled herself off towards the building again by twisting around in a barrel roll.
Looking behind her, Sunny saw that Starlight was still right on her tail, having braved the crack as she did. She huffed and banked right again, this time ducking into an alleyway. Her wings tucked in against her sides and she divebombed towards the exit of the alley, and upon leaving the alley she rolled herself in mid air. With her body now running along the same direction as the adjacent street, she spread her wings again and zoomed inches above the cobblestone street.
Star’s wing beats still throbbed in Sunny’s ear, the other bat pony staying hot on her tail. She bit her lip and beat her wings harder. Directly in front of the two of them was a large apartment complex spanning eight stories high and it was closing fast. At this rate, Sunny would be lucky to pull up in time so as not to ram her face into the eaves of the roof. However, Sunny pumped her wings a few more times, then rolled herself up. Keeping her wings spread, she managed to slow herself down enough to slam her hooves into the wall without shattering her legs, then rocketed herself up along the side of the apartment complex.
Clearing the roof, Sunny twisted herself into a barrel roll again, angling her flight vector for the Talon Industries building once again. She only had to flap her wings a few more times before her hooves touched down onto the roof of the skyscraper, shortly followed by Star’s. Sunny turned back to look at him, giving him an evil eye.
“Thought I wouldn’t keep up?” Star asked, panting. “I’ll tell you, you had me going there with that last one.”
“This wasn’t just some plan of yours to stare at my ass was it?” Sunny asked, following Star’s eyes. He straightened his back and looked up towards the stars flickering above them.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Star said innocently.
Sunny turned and stomped up to him. She placed a hoof on his chest and said, “Focus on the mission, Star. Or do you think the real prize here is the romping good time you think you’re going to get after all of this is over?”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Star replied, pushing Sunny’s hoof off of his chest. “C’mon, let’s find the ventilation hatch before you blow another fuse tonight.”
With a little bit of searching, the two bat ponies found the ventilation hatch in question bolted into the northeastern corner of the roof. Starlight took his spear and slid the metal head underneath the hatch, causing the bolts holding the hatch in place to already start to groan. With a grunt and using both hoofs, he pushed down on his spear, and after a few moments the bolts were ripped from sockets and the hatch came loose.
Sunny peered down the hatch, observing as the pipeline leading up to the hatch extended straight down into the skyscraper before abruptly twisting off in another direction. Luckily the ventilation system here was only used to maintain the clean air inside of the building instead of discharging any hazardous gases, although it still smelled of dust and mold.
“Ladies first,” Star said.
Sunny rolled her eyes. “Now you’re getting cold hooves?”
“I can be polite once in a while.”
“Well, this is a first,” Sunny said, then hopped down the ventilation shaft.
With a thud, Sunny touched down and then slid the rest of the way down the shaft to the uppermost level of the skyscraper. The ventilation shaft was surprisingly spacious, allowing for Sunny to only have to duck her head and keep her wings tucked against her sides. Tiny rays of light shone through vents that were evenly placed every few feet from underneath Sunny’s hooves, allowing her to peer down to the floor that was just underneath her.
The floor itself was surprisingly well-furbished with blue carpet, mahogany tables pressed up against the wall, and paintings of all different kinds of griffons that probably played some important role or another in griffon history. Most importantly, however, was that not a single sound echoed from the hall underneath her.
When she heard Starlight slide into the ventilation shaft behind her, Sunny took the butt end of her spear and smashed it against the vent. After several thrusts the hatch came loose, clattering to the floor with Sunny quickly following after it by dropping out of the vent. Compared to the metal crash of the vent slamming into the floor, Sunny hardly made a sound when she hopped down on top of the ventilation hatch as gracefully as a cat.
“Could you be anymore fucking louder?” Starlight called up from the ventilation shaft. “You could have alerted half the security force in the whole building.”
Sunny looked up at Star and smiled. “Oh come on, these are griffon guards we’re talking about, not a night watch consisting of other bat ponies. They can see far better than they can hear.”
“I think I heard it come from over here!” shouted a disgruntled, gritty voice.
“You were saying?” Starlight asked, hopping out of the hatch and landing next to Sunny.
Barreling around the corner further down the hall, two griffons decked out in red chainmail armor and heavy metal helmets skidded to a halt when they spotted the two bat ponies. They both held glowing orange cutlasses in their talons and running along the length of their tails were serrated, elastic blades. All in all, one of those griffons looked to be far better equipped than both of the bat ponies combined.
Sunny’s ears flopped back against the sides of her head. “Oh c’mon, that’s not fair.”
“Stop worrying about if it’s fair or not!” Starlight shouted, grabbing Sunny by the tail. “We need to book it right now, let’s go!”
Starlight and Sunny turned tail and fled down the hall. Behind them the clacks emanating from the griffons’ talons echoed down the hall after them, the guards giving pursuit without so much as a warning. At the end of the hall was a set of double doors and both of them smashed through the doors and into an spacious and empty office space. Cubicles were set up evenly spaced between each other with low walls so that employees could have a good look at the ponies or griffons that they had to work with. The lights were out within the office space, forcing the bat ponies to adjust their eyes to the low levels of light permeating from the hall behind them.
Without missing a beat, Sunny and Starlight dashed behind several cubicles and ducked low, pulling themselves out of sight just as the two griffons entered the room. The guards stopped at the doors, having lost track of the two intruders. Their breaths from inside of their helmets seemed to sound like a broken hurricane screaming in both of Sunny and Starlight’s ears as their heads scanned the room side to side, up and down..
“Fan out and search for the rat ponies,” one of the griffons ordered. “They’re in here somewhere and couldn’t have gotten far.”
The room was soon filled with the flaps of both of the griffons’ wings, separating themselves and floating to different areas within the rooms. One of the griffons glided past the cubicle that Sunny and Starlight hid behind, glowing cutlass illuminating the floor underneath him and giving off a dull whir as if there was some small battery charged up to it. Now that the two bat ponies could get a closer look of the armor the griffon was wearing, their eyes widened.
The griffon’s chainmail armor was weaved together for each individual link to look like scales, and then molded itself against the griffon’s body as if it was quite literally embedded into his skin. The armor even spanned down the length of his legs and curved over both his paws on his hind legs and his talons on his forelegs. His helmet was even connected to the rest of his armor, encasing the entirety of his face as one large sheet of elastic metal with a curved beak at the very tip.
Sunny looked over at Starlight and together they nodded their heads. Gripping their spears underneath their wings, they slinked their way around the edge of the cubicle out of sight of the griffon, carefully placing each of their hoofsteps so as to prevent their hooves from making that clip-clopping noise with each step. The griffon nearest to them paused in his search, head twitching this way and that, but when he found nothing he continued in his search away from the two of them and in another direction.
Together, Star and Sunny poked their heads up over the top of the cubicle, watching as the griffons were continuing their search on the far side of the room. Taking a roll of tape off of one of the desks, Sunny chucked it into one of the far corners. That definitely got the griffon’s attention, and the one nearest to where the tape landed floated over to investigate while the other stared in that same direction.
Seeing as the two griffons were distracted, the bat ponies slunk over to the door leading back out into the hall, then keeping themselves pressed up as closely to the wall as possible, made for a mad dash to the corner from which the griffons appeared. Sunny looked behind her once she reached the corner, and upon seeing that they weren’t being pursued she let out a sigh of relief.
“Next time why don’t you try unscrewing the bolts or something with your spear,” Starlight said quietly.
“Fuck off, Star,” Sunny replied. “We got away, didn’t we?”
“For now,” he said. “Let’s look for the damn vault so that we can get the hell out of here. I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t expecting nor do I want to tangle with those guys, hm?”
Sunny shook her head and turned back around to peer around the corner from which they came. Down the hall and back towards the office she saw the two griffons standing in the doorway facing each other with their cutlasses sheathed in scabbards attached to their sides. She perked her ears and squinted, straining to overhear the guards.
“What was that about the rats not getting too far?” one of the griffons asked in a mocking tone.
“Shut up,” the other griffon said. “Right now they’ve still got to be on this floor, but who knows for how long. Alert security and sound the alarm. We’ll lock down this place tight so they won’t escape.”
The first griffon saluted. “Yes, sir.”
Sunny returned to Starlight and pointed down the hall. “Looks like we’re on even shorter time now. Those guys are going to alert fucking security. We’re going to have alarms blaring through this whole place in a matter of minutes.”
“Well, good thing the vault is only two floors below us,” Star said. “Let’s get moving before we’ve got the entire security force scouring this place.”
Sunny looked passed Starlight and down the hall, spotting several directional signs that pointed and labeled different parts of the building. One of the signs that stood out among the rest was labeled “elevators,” and it pointed to a hallway that branched off from the hallway that she and Star were already situated in. Other signs included “Research and Development,” “Employee and Customer Resources,” “Office Suites,” and “Meeting Room 7.”
“C’mon, there’s an elevator shaft that we can take down a couple of floors,” Sunny said, trotting past Starlight.
“What, and risk the security desk tracking an elevator moving up and down the floors?” Starlight asked, following behind her. “I’d rather take the stairs.”
“I said elevator shaft, didn’t I?” Sunny asked, looking back. “More than likely there are security crystals located in the stairwells that’ll trip some kind of alarm when we open the damn door. We’ll pry open the elevator doors and climb down two floors, yeah?”
“You’re lucky that we’ve got wings,” Starlight grumbled.
Together, Sunny and Starlight trotted down the hallway towards the sign indicating the direction they should take in order to reach the elevators. For now the entire building remained quiet, the previous chase between the griffons and the bat ponies long forgotten in favor of the peaceful hum of the ventilation system. The white walls and the blue carpets of the hall accompanied by the occasional table and painting made the entire floor feel more as if it were a part of someone’s home rather than a private business who manufactures and designs cutting-edge technology.
Of course there were examples and models of both Talon Industries’ oldest and newest designs sitting on the tables located throughout the entire floor. From the metals used to make their elastic armor and weapons to the replicas of both their full armor sets as well as machines intended to harvest crops or spin wool for clothing lay spread out on each individual table. Some of the replicas were kept safe behind little glass boxes while others were free to the open air.
Sunny cocked her eyebrow after she passed the first few tables. “Don’t you think it’s a little weird that Talon Industries would have all of the replicas of the shit they’ve made on the top floor of their building? You know, instead of on the ground floor?”
Starlight looked up and down the hallway, seemingly spotting the little replicas and show items on the tables first the first time. “Could be because this is where Golden Talon’s office is when he’s visiting Canterlot. ‘Office Suite’ seems like a pretty good indication where a fat griffon with a lot of money would plop his ass down and sift through pieces of papers all day.”
“Yeah, but showing off to everyone who walks into your building seems like a smarter idea.”
“Maybe he’s got-”
Starlight never managed to finish before they reached the turn-off for the elevators and another one of those armored griffons showed up at the far end of the hall. Everyone stopped, staring at each other in the midst of the silence of the building. The heavy, metal breaths of the griffon behind his helmet sent chills down both Sunny’s and Starlight’s spine, almost as if he strained to wear the armor itself or had to be assisted by the suit he wore in order to breathe.
The stare off seemed to last for minutes between both parties until the griffon reached behind him and unsheathed his cutlass. The dull whir from the sword resounded through the hall once again, the blade changing colors from silver to orange, once again begging the question if there was some kind of battery that charged it. Sunny and Starlight gripped their spears, Starlight growling while Sunny’s own spear dangerously sparked with electricity.
Before either side had the chance to make a move, darkness encased the entire hallway as the power shut off with a whine. Red, flashing emergency lights replaced the soft, white lights that originally lit up the entire floor, illuminating the hall for only mere seconds before plunging it back into darkness once again. A deep, thundering siren followed soon after, repeating itself every second on the second, confirming anyone’s suspicions that the alarm for the building had been tripped.
“Time to go!” Sunny shouted, and together she and Starlight took off towards the elevators.
The familiar sound of metal talons clinking and scratching themselves on the floor returned as the griffon gave chase after the two bat ponies. Looking behind her, Sunny saw the griffon barrel around the corner, crashing into the wall for just a moment before he managed to gain his footing again. His armor shined and beamed in the seconds when the red light from the emergency lights blinked to life, making him look even more mechanical beast than griffon.
“What, me!?” Star asked, flabbergasted. “Why don’t we just fight him together?”
“You really think we can fucking fight that before more of them show up? Just do it!”
“I swear, you’re just making me fight him because you’re a fucking pansy when it comes to fighting anything that’s bigger than you!”
Watching Starlight as she tried prying open the elevator doors, Sunny saw him turn around just in time to bring bring his spear around and swing the head right into the side of the griffon’s face, causing the guard to shift off-balance and tumble into the wall next to the two of them. In an instant, the griffon was back on his talons, swinging his cutlass at Star only to have his swipe deflected by the bat pony, leaving him wide open for the butt-end of Star’s spear to swing around and smash into the side of his head. The griffon stumbled again, allowing Star to launch himself into the air and slam his hind legs into the griffon’s face, sending him flying backwards onto his side.
Star touched down in front of Sunny, wincing. “Ow, that fucking helmet.”
“Stop complaining and make sure you keep him off of me!”
“What do you think I’m doing!?”
Star charged the griffon, but the griffon whipped his serrated tail around, forcing Star to leap over the guard. Seeing the bat pony fly over him, the griffon reached out with one of his talons with the precision and speed of an angry viper, latching onto Star’s midsection and tossing him across the room to smash into a wall. The wall itself held strong with Star bouncing off of it like some kind of useless rag doll.
Groaning, Star pushed himself back to his hooves and gripped onto his spear tighter as the griffon advanced on him. Once within range, he lunged with his spear pointed at the griffon’s chest, who easily knocked it away with a swipe from the cutlass, but once again was caught off guard when Star swung the butt-end of his spear around to smash against the side of the griffon’s neck. The wooden shaft smashing itself against the metal armor sent a painful jolt through Star’s foreleg, forcing Star to retreat back from another swing from the griffon’s cutlass.
With the griffon still recovering from the swing, Star jabbed his spear at the griffon’s chest once again and hit home. His spear didn’t manage to pierce through the griffon’s chainmail armor, but it stunned him enough for Star to flip around and buck his hooves upward into the underside of the griffon’s chin. Still recovering from the stab from Star’s spear, the griffon flipped up into the air and smashed onto his back after Star’s hind hooves connected.
“You almost done of there, Sunny?” Starlight asked, circling the griffon as he started to get back onto his talons.
“You can’t rush fucking perfection, Star!” Sunny called back, having finally wedged herself between the two elevator doors. “You have any idea how hard it is to open these doors with your hooves? Damn it!”
Star opened his mouth to reply, but he was abruptly cut off as the griffon charged him, talons outstretched and aimed at his neck. Ducking low, he dived underneath the guard and tucked himself into a roll, and just as the griffon flew over him, Star pushed his legs up into the griffon’s stomach to smash him against the ceiling just overhead. The griffon grunted before falling back down to the floor, and seeing that a massive, hulking piece of metal was about to land on him, Star rolled out of the way.
He didn’t manage to roll fast enough, however. The griffon slammed back into the ground on all four of his legs, then whipped his tail around to drive the blade right into Star’s path. With a squeak, the griffon picked Star up by the scruff of his neck and tossed him over his head, sending him colliding with first the wall on the other side of the room, then watching as he flopped to the floor with an audible groan.
Before Star had a chance to get back onto his hooves, the griffon was already charging him once again, tail whipping back and forth menacingly like a serrated whip. Without much room to dive out of the way, Star brought up his spear once again and jabbed it at the griffon, and with the combined force behind his jab and the charge from the griffon his spear managed to pierce through the armor. The griffon shrieked, twisted around, and kicked Starlight back towards Sunny with his spear ripping out the griffon’s arm.
“Star, c’mon, let’s go!” Sunny said, nodding her head into the elevator shaft. She finally managed to get the doors open.
“About fucking time,” Starlight muttered, then quickly lurched to his hooves.
Without so much as looking at the griffon who was charging Star once again, both he and Sunny jumped into the elevator shaft and grabbed onto the cables meant to hoist the elevator up and down. Behind them, the griffon slammed into the elevator doors and started to fumble with them, clearly attempting to pry them open to go after the bat ponies.
“Shit, Star, I’ve got an idea!” Sunny shouted, swinging herself off of the cable and catching the ledge to the intended floor that she and Starlight meant to drop off on.
“Why do I not like the sound of this?” Starlight asked himself, swinging from the cable and catching the ledge, too.
Just up above the floor from which Sunny and Starlight had come from was the elevator. Looking both confused and worried about why there was an elevator located above the top floor and about the griffon who was shoving his way through the elevator doors, Star turned to Sunny seeing that she had already pulled out her spear and was letting electricity to spark through it. The head of her spear started to glow red-hot, to which she started to use it to swing against one of the elevator cables.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Starlight asked, nearly slipping from the ledge.
“Saving our necks, now stop getting so excited!” Sunny shouted, still cutting into the cable.
With one final groan, the griffon finally broke through the elevator door and sped into the elevator shaft, his legs slamming against the far wall of the shaft before he rocked down to the two bat ponies. Before he could reach them, however, Sunny’s efforts on the cable finally came to fruition and it snapped, the cable itself whipping against the griffon’s face and plowing him against the far wall again. Seconds later, the elevator car itself came sliding down the shaft and slammed into the griffon, but only missed both Sunny and Starlight by a meer hair as they were hugged up against the ledge.
After several more seconds, a massive roar filled the shaft as the elevator car collided with the very bottom. Both bat pony’s ears folded back to shield themselves from the intense noise, then they peered over the ledge to see the crumpled wreck of the car about nine stories below them.
“That was a close one,” Sunny said, still peering down at the elevator car.
Sunny and Starlight fumbled with their hooves for a moment, but together they finally managed to pry open the elevator doors wide enough for both of them to fit through. Upon stepping onto the new floor, they were met with mostly the same kind of decor. The halls were lain with carpet while tables were pressed up against the walls allowing for a bunch of different replicas of the projects that Talon Industries has worked on to be displayed on top of them. However, instead of paintings being mounted on the walls there was nothing.
Unfortunately for them, the alarm still sounded throughout the halls, leaving with them little time before they might run into more of those griffons.
“I’m guessing that the elevator is only going to keep the griffons occupied for so long,” Starlight said as he and Sunny broke into a trot towards a sign that directed them towards the vault. “You sure that you still want to do this? We’ve got plenty of time to escape still.”
“No, Star, we’re going through with this,” Sunny said with more than a hint of determination. “We need this money and Talon Industries doesn’t, so we’re going to take it.”
“You still haven’t told me why,” Starlight said, accelerating to trot alongside her. “And I don’t believe this Robin Hood bullshit for a second. Like I said, you don’t do Robin Hood.”
Sunny grimaced and picked up her pace. “Look, let’s try to focus on the mission right now, alright? We’ve got a bunch of blood-thirsty, scary-ass griffons running after us and we need to be as quick as possible if we want to make it out alive. I’ll tell you after.”
“As short and as curt as usual, Sunny,” Starlight said, dropping behind her again. “Not even a little hint for your ‘best pal,’ eh?”
Sunny’s cheeks flushed a little bit and she glared back at him. “Shush! The griffons are going to hear you over those damn sirens at this rate.”
“Oh, now you’re worried about keeping a low profile?” Starlight teased. “What was that back there with the vent and then the elevator?”
“You have no idea how much I want to sock you in the fucking face right now…”
Several more minutes trotting through the halls finally yielded Sunny and Starlight their prize: the building’s vault, although it looked nothing like any typical vault someone might find in a bank. The fault was simply the entrance to another office that was locked up tight behind a set of large wooden doors. Starlight and Sunny walked up to the doors and turned around.
“On the count of three,” Sunny said, both she and Starlight digging into the carpet with their hooves. “One… Two.... Three!”
Together they lifted their hooves and bucked the double doors, smashing them open with a loud crack. Inside the vault were rows upon rows of shelves and filing cabinets, all of which were meticulously labeled with the different items with which was supposed to be stored in each of them. From legal documents to photographs to blueprints of future projects, everything lay neat and ordered, making it quite easy for Sunny and Starlight to find their target.
They rushed over to the filing cabinet labeled “Profits” and pulled open the top drawer. Inside were stacks of banknotes all neatly filed together. Starlight grabbed a bag from the corner of the room and started stuffing the banknotes into it, taking a look at the first stack he grabbed to see each note was written to be worth one hundred bits each.
Sunny slapped Starlight’s hoof, causing him to drop the banknote into the bag before she helped him shovel the rest of the drawer into the bag as well. The bag filled up only half way before the drawer was empty, and Sunny took the bag out of Starlight’s hooves to tie it up tight.
“Well, if it means I get ten thousand bits, works for me,” Starlight said. “This haul is larger that our normal runs.”
“Yes, now if you would be so kind as to get fucking moving so as to avoid being here when…” Sunny trailed off as she spotted a white piece of paper in the drawer that stood out from all of the other banknotes. She picked it up and unrolled it, quickly scanning over its contents. “What the fuck? Is this a manifest for weapon exchanges with Talon Industries? What is it doing in there?”
“I don’t know, but obviously it’s important. I thought we’re just here for the money?”
Sunny stuffed the paper into the bag and then patted Starlight’s cheek. “Who knows, this might be evidence enough to have the Captain of the Guard start an investigation into Golden Talon’s involvement with those griffon’s up north, hm?”
“Look at you playing vigilante,” Starlight said, rolling his eyes. “‘C’mon, let’s get going before those griffons show up.”
Sunny and Starlight broke into a gallop and out of the vault, speeding down the hallway towards a sign that was labeled as “Exit.” As they passed by one of the halls that turned off down to another part of the building, they heard the click-clacking of the armor that the griffons were wearing further away. The griffons were on this floor now probably going off to check the vault.
“Search the entire floor!” one of the griffons shouted in a commanding and lumbering voice. “They must have gone to the vault. Make sure that they don’t escape or I will personally rip your spine right out of your asshole!”
Skidding to a halt at the exit door, Sunny thrust her entire weight against the handle without much effect. She tried again, slamming her shoulder against the door a second time, and again it did nothing but shudder underneath her efforts. With a growl, Sunny turned around a dug her hooves into the carpet, but before she could lift her legs and slam them into the door Starlight slapped her legs back down and pulled her away.
“Do you want the rest of those fucking griffons to know exactly where we are?” Starlight whispered loud enough to be heard over the alarm. “We’re going to need to find a new route to get the fuck out of here.”
“Only option we’ve got is back through the vents,” Sunny said, shaking Starlight off of her.
“Then lets get going,” Starlight said, turning down another hallway to speed off in the opposite direction of where the other griffons are hopefully going and from where they just came. “With any luck the griffons will have moved on from the elevator to go and search the rest of the floor.”
Sunny followed after Starlight, the two bat ponies slipping down the hall and peering around the corner in search of any griffons who might be patrolling this part of the floor. Upon finding that nothing lay between them and the elevator doors located further down the hall, they broke cover and galloped as quietly as they could manage. Five griffons still remained as part of the security force, and it was pretty safe to say that most of them probably came to this floor to check on the vault.
Once the two of them reached the elevator without incident, they noticed that the doors pried open wide enough to let a griffon fit through them. Taking a moment to shuffle up to the doors, Sunny peered into the elevator shaft and twisted her head around, eyes scanning and ears flicking about for anything that might remotely constitute as one of those crazy griffons. However, by the time she saw the talons out of the corner of her eye, it was too late.
Another one of those griffons dropped down from the elevator shaft and swung his metal lion’s paws into Sunny’s face, sending her flying backwards into the far wall with a squeak. He dropped down in front of Starlight, who pulled out his spear and brought it up quick enough to deflect a slash from the griffon’s cutlass out of the way. However, he never managed to bring the butt-end of his spear around in time to try to smash the side of the griffon’s face with it, as the griffon twisted and kicked out with one of his hind lion paws to smash into Star’s side and send him tumbling next to Sunny.
Together, Sunny and Starlight got onto their hooves, spears in mouth and staring down the griffon who stood before them. However, much to their dismay, they heard the shouts of several other griffons as they heard the commotion taking place near the elevators, and in the matter of seconds a second griffon wearing the same armor as the one who ambushed the two bat ponies stood off to their right and a much larger, helmetless griffon stood off to their left.
The larger griffon wore similar armor to his counterparts, except that the armor was painted white with red tribal engravings drawn all over it. He carried a large, two-sided naginata in his talons, both of the blades glowing orange just like the cutlasses of the other griffons.
“Looks like we’ve finally managed to find the two fucking rat ponies,.” the larger griffon snarled. “You really thought you could get away so easily by stealing from Golden Talon?”
“Yeah, actually,” Sunny said, spitting on the floor in front of the griffon. “So you can fuck yourselves bloody with those tails of yours, if you’d be so kind.”
“You honestly think that provoking us right now is a smart idea?” the griffon growled, the veins in his neck bulging out a little bit. “We will mutilate you!”
“You’re not very bright, are you?” Sunny asked, cocking an eyebrow and letting her spear pulse with electricity. “Did you have to memorize a couple of notecards about what to say when Golden Fuckstick had two of thieves sneak into his little skyscraper?”
The griffon roared and charged Sunny, flourishing his two-sided naginata. The fire that raged within his eyes was all that Sunny needed to know that she had sufficiently angered him enough to sidestep him and stab into his side with her spear. She didn’t manage to puncture through his chainmail armor, but the large griffon tripped over his own talons as he was thrown off balance. The two other griffons charged Starlight at the same time, causing Star to grimace a little bit, before launching himself into the air just as the griffons were upon him. Both griffons looked up, but before either of them had a chance to snatch him out of the air they collided into each other with a slam.
The larger griffon pushed himself back onto his talons and whipped around, slashing his naginata at Sunny just as she brought her spear up to deflect his attack back. However, the griffon twisted himself around and snapped his tail at her, sending Sunny staggering back with a large cut to her shoulder. She looked behind herself, spotting Star just as he managed to hop over one of the griffon’s back and stab into the back of the griffon’s neck. His spear punctured the weak armor, and in no time the head of his spear protruded right through the griffon’s throat, blood spurting everywhere.
“Sunny, aim for the back of their neck!” Star shouted, yanking his spear out of the griffon’s throat and hopping off of his back before he had a chance to topple over onto the floor. “That’s the weak point! Their fucking chainmail is too strong to be reliable enough to get our spears through!”
Before Sunny had a chance to respond, the large griffon in front of her stabbed at her chest with his naginata, but she leapt backwards out of the way before it could do any damage. With the griffon still recovering, she charged forward and slapped the naginata out of the way, giving her enough room to dance around to the side of him and slip up onto his back. Before she had a chance to lift her spear, the griffon whipped around and snatched her off of his back, then slammed her into the floor.
Coughing, she looked up and saw the griffon raising his naginata to deliver the final blow to the dazed bat pony, but before he could get the chance, Starlight barreled into the side of him. The griffon let out an ear-piercing shriek as he dropped his naginata next to Sunny, then swiped Starlight away with a slash from his talons. She raised herself to her hooves again, catching the gashes across Star’s cheeks, but more importantly saw the mutilated remains of the griffon’s jaw. Star had driven his spear right through the side of the griffon’s mouth and ripped his jaw from his face.
“Sunny, behind you!” Starlight shouted.
Sunny turned just in time to bring her spear up to block to block the griffon’s cutlass, spear shaft meeting blade as the edge dug itself into the wooded shaft. Pain suddenly rippled through Sunny’s spine and she screamed, yanking her spear back before smashing the large metal spearhead into the side of the griffon’s helmet. The griffon stumbled back, stunned, before he was swiftly bucked in the face and shot backwards by Starlight.
Sunny caught sight of the small chip in the wood left behind by the cutlass, taking note of all of the other scrapes and chips that ran up along her spear shaft. The pain from earlier had quickly subsided to a dull throb, but she still felt shivers running up and down her spine.
“We can’t keep fighting these guys, we need to go!” Starlight shouted, grabbing Sunny by the hoof and pulling her towards the elevator doors.
Pulled out of her brief trance, Sunny looked behind her and saw both griffons getting back onto their talons. With a grimace, she said, “Yeah, fuck this. We’re not going to have enough time to shuffle our way through the vents before they catch us, we’re going to have to do this the sloppy way.”
“We still need to pry out way through the elevator doors!”
Sunny hopped into the elevator shaft first, diving through the shaft towards the bottom. Starlight groaned and dived after her, but he quickly unfurled his wings and slowed his descent quite quickly when he saw Sunny swoop down onto the third floor ledge. The elevator doors here were already pried open large enough to let a griffon through. Sunny looked back and grinned at her companion.
“The griffons would have had to pry one of these open when the elevator fell down the shaft,” she said.
A smash echoed through the shaft and Starlight looked up just in time to see the first griffon give chase after them. His angry squawk pierced through the shaft and sent both bat ponies’ ears flopping back. In no time he would be down on the third floor and giving chase after them unless Sunny and Starlight got moving.
“I hope you have a plan to keep these fucks from chasing us through the whole damn city!” Starlight shouted, galloping after Sunny as they both ran down the hall.
“Calm your crotch tits, I’m on it!” Sunny shouted back, looking behind her in time to see the first griffon slamming down onto the third floor ledge. No doubt once he squeezed himself through the elevator doors he would be on top of them if they didn’t think of something fast. Sunny looked ahead again and spotted a sign indicating “Laboratories.” She bit her lip and turned down the hallway in the same direction the sign suggested.
“Hey Star,” Sunny called back, “you know how to make things explode, right?”
“Yeah, but…” Star said, trailing off for a moment before he looked back and caught sight of the sign. “Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me. You want me to ignite the fucking gas lines in the laboratories!?”
“Bingo! We need a distraction.”
“That big of a distraction?”
“Do you have any better ideas?” Sunny asked as she ploughed herself through the laboratory doors.
Inside the laboratory were benches and tables laid out in neat, organized rows with equipment such as microscopes, racks of glassware, computers, and miniature refrigerators strewn out all over them. With the alarm still sounded, the lights within the laboratory were still nothing but the flashing red ones that Star and Sunny kept seeing all over the building, and it sent chills up Sunny’s back.
She grabbed the nearest chair she found and butted it up against the laboratory doors after slamming them shut. Seconds later, a loud thud reverberated from the door as the griffon slammed into it, followed me more thuds as he banged on the door. Sunny turned to Star and saw that he already had his spear point cutting away one of the tiles.
“You don’t have much time,” Sunny warned.
“Fuck off, I know I don’t have much time!” Starlight replied impatiently. “Can you go get me one of those striker things, some alcohol from over on that desk, and some dry thread? There’s got to be some in one of those drawers.”
“You got it, boss.”
With the griffon still banging on the door, and the chair holding the door in place splintering, Sunny sped off towards the table Starlight indicated. She picked up the alcohol first in her wing, then opened up a drawer and found both the striker and the thread placed neatly together in the corner. She snatched them both up in her mouth, then bounded back over to Starlight and placed them on the floor.
Starlight didn’t even have time to issue his next instructions before Sunny already doused the thread itself in alcohol. She looked up at him and caught his arched eyebrow as he pulled the tile up from the floor.
“What?” she asked. “I’ve blown up enough shit with you to know what’s coming next.”
“Yahuh,” Starlight said, shaking his head. He took his spear and punctured the gas line that lay revealed with the tile no longer able to protect it. “Stuff the thread into that hole.”
Sunny shoved the thread into the hole, then Starlight took the striker and looked at her, nodding his head towards the window. “You’d better get fucking running and smash through that window before this shit goes off.”
Nodding her head, Sunny turned and dashed for the window, building up enough of a running start to launch herself. She heard the striker snap, then the clop of hooves on tile as Starlight chased after her after having ignited the thread. Next thing she knew, both the door to the laboratory smashed open and glass splintered all around her, shattering behind the force of her running jump. She spread open her wings, and giving them a powerful flap, speeding away from the building.
When she looked behind her, she saw Star catching up right before the entire laboratory ignited into a huge ball of flame. A roaring fireball exploded out of several windows on the third floor. Suffice to say, that might have been the distraction Sunny was looking for.
Speeding over the rooftops until they were safely several blocks away from the Talon Industries building, Sunny banked down into a spacious alley way. She touched down gracefully, shortly followed behind Starlight who very nearly slammed himself to the ground. He glared at her, pulling the bag of banknotes off of his back and dropping it onto the ground between them.
“What was that?” Starlight asked, pointing back in the direction of Talon Industries. “What the fuck were those griffons? Do you have any idea what the two of us just fucked with?”
Sunny’s confident smile soon turned into a disapproving frown. She stepped up to Star and poked him in the chest with her hoof. “If you didn’t just notice, we successfully fucking stole twenty thousand bits from one of the most powerful private contractors in Equestria. The same contractors who are funding the damn griffon raiding parties up north. The same contractors who are spitting at the princess’ hooves without so much as a second thought.”
“So what, this is about sending messages now?” Starlight asked, pushing his chest out and making himself stand half a head taller than Sunny. “You’re a mercenary, Sunny, not some kind of vigilante out to fight crime and stop evil. Hell, you’ve worked for crime syndicates. You still do!”
“There’s a difference between working for the ponies who don’t give a damn about the people and ponies who go out of their way to make ponies’ lives miserable!” Sunny protested, stamping her hoof. “There’s a line that we all have, and I will not cross it and let Golden Talon give those griffons the means to terrorize other ponies!”
“Then why go for the money?” Starlight asked, kicking the bag and letting some of the banknotes tumble out. “Why not go for the information on Talon Industries’ operations?”
“We got some, didn’t we?”
“One damn manifest that you happened to have found out of place!” Starlight said as he sat back on his flanks and threw up his hooves. “What’s the real fucking reason behind getting this money besides sending a message?”
Sunny glared at Starlight for a long moment, the alleyway quieting down until nothing but their heated breaths bounced off of the walls. The gash across Star’s cheek had stopped bleeding by now, as well as Sunny’s cut on her shoulder.
“I have a debt that I need to pay off, and ten thousand bits will do it,” Sunny finally said.
“A debt?” Star asked, nodding his head in disbelief. “We nearly died over you trying to settle a fucking debt. Alright then.” He stood up onto his hooves again, then gathered up ten thousand bits worth of banknotes.
“Star, wait,” Sunny said grimacing as she watched him gather up his fair share and tuck it under his wings. “You don’t understand, I’m indebted to-”
“Fucking save it, Sunny,” Starlight said, turning and stalking off down the alleyway away from her. “I’ve had enough of your fucking adventures for one night, you crazy bitch.”
Sunny opened her mouth again, furiously thinking of something that’d stop him dead in his tracks, but before she knew it he was already gone and she hardly had uttered a sound. She stamped her hoof on the ground angrily and squeaked, looking down at the bag of banknotes that was left for her. Ten thousand bits after nearly getting killed by an entire security force of highly trained and well equipped griffons. Perhaps the manifest she took will show more.
She picked up the bag and slung it onto her back, before turning around and walking out of the alleyway in the opposite direction that Star took.
Chapter 2: Of Money and Minotaurs
Sunny stepped out of the alleyway and onto the empty city street as the first alarm bells sounded off in the distance. No doubt the explosion and the rising pillar of smoke coming from over in the Talon Industries building’s direction finally attracted the attention of the city guards, all of which would be convening on that building’s location right now to assess the situation. She figured it best to make herself scarce like Starlight already had, so she picked up her pace down the dimly lit street with the bag of banknotes and her spear slung over her back.
This part of Canterlot stood out from what visitors to the city usually see. The buildings are duller in color, smaller, and built closer together so as to bring a sense of claustrophobia to its inhabitants. The plants didn’t grow as tall nor did their colors glow quite as bright as the plants in the rest of the city, and the streets themselves didn’t look as uniform or cleanly kept. Some buildings looked entirely abandoned while others were stuffed full with more ponies than what was probably deemed safe by city regulations.
Looking up at the windows of each of the building’s however, Sunny saw that ponies were still awake even as the hour neared midnight. Silhouettes jumped and danced behind their closed curtains to what might have been silence or the faint tune of an upbeat song that spurred the corners of the bat pony’s lips into a smile. Even at this hour on an odd night with which many ponies had work the next day, the city life droned on. Perhaps some day Canterlot will be able to call itself the second city that never sleeps.
Rounding a corner to turn down another street, a dirty, four story apartment complex came into view. Many of its windows were already dark, but a few still remained lit, and Sunny’s attention centered on one particular light on the top floor. She quickened her pace from a speedy walk to a brisk trot, a pang of eagerness touching her heart.
Sunny pushed through the bottom floor’s doors and zipped over to the stairwell, but not before looking over at the elevator and see the “out of order” sign still posted on it. She grumbled, then pushed open the door and made her way up the stairs. Past the second floor, then the third floor, until she finally reached the fourth floor and burst back out of the stairwell, taking note of the shoddy carpet laid out on the floor and the barren walls that otherwise would have done with a picture or two.
The apartment room that Sunny was looking for wasn’t much further down the hall. Room 413, built into what was almost in the center of the hallway and perhaps the cleanest looking doors out of all of the other residents that may be living on the same floor. She stopped, looking down at the floor mat positioned in front of the doorway that read “Marigold,” and she rolled her eyes before wiping her hooves off on top of it.
Giving the door a few knocks, the spitting image of Sunny opened the door in a matter of seconds as if she had been waiting for Sunny all night. Well, almost the spitting image. Another bat pony stood in the doorway with a grey coat, multi hued purple mane and tail, and red eyes that were exactly the same as Sunny’s, but her mane and tail were much longer and more finely groomed than Sunny’s could ever be.
The two bat ponies embraced, Sunny’s bag of banknotes sliding off of her back as they both sat on their flanks to give each other a full hug.
“You’ve really gotta stop being such a fucking show off,” Marigold said, giving Sunny a tight squeeze. “I heard the explosion from all of the way over here, and then the city bells. You attracted the attention of the entire city guard.”
“C’mon, why do you think it’s me, Goldie?” Sunny asked innocently. squeezing Marigold back. “Is it because I still haven’t given up mercenary work?”
Marigold broke away from their hug, narrowing her eyes. She caught sight of the gash on Sunny’s shoulder, slapping her hoof on it and shaking her head when Sunny let out a pained squeak. She then grabbed Sunny by the back of the neck, pulled her closer, and lifted a hoof to hover it near Sunny’s spear. When her eyes finally laid on the bag behind Sunny, she gently slapped the other bat pony across the face.
“Don’t lie to your sister,” Marigold said sternly. “You’ve got a fresh gash on your shoulder, Wilbur’s still warm from you heating up his head with electricity, and there’s a bag of bits or banknotes or some shit sitting behind you.”
Sunny’s ears flopped back and she smiled innocently. “Okay, so what if it was me? I’ve got some stuff to pay off and these guys didn’t need the money.”
“And it looks like you ran into more than just a little trouble along the way,” Marigold sighed. “Are you hungry? I know you don’t usually eat before you work one of your jobs.”
“You got any of those fresh mangoes from down south?” Sunny asked sweetly.
Marigold grabbed Sunny by the hoof, who grabbed onto the bag of banknotes, and dragged her into her apartment. The front room was quite spacious with a couch, a coffee table, and a television set up within it. The ceiling lay decorated in red and orange string lights that otherwise gave the room a dim, moody feel to it, and a garden of exotic plants set up in a bunch of pots of varying sizes was set up in the corner. Across the front lay the kitchen, which lay open with only a bar table separating it from the rest of the apartment. To the right before reaching the kitchen was a hallway that led back towards both the bathroom and the bedroom.
Pulling Sunny all of the way into the kitchen, Marigold dumped her in front of the stove and shoved an apron onto her. She then dumped a fruit bowl, cutting board, and knife in front of Sunny, who stared at bowl of fruit that sat in front of her. Peaches, bananas, pears, plums, and apricots all lay stuffed within the bowl, but Sunny failed to see the most important fruit of all.
“So, no mangoes then?” Sunny asked, looking back at her sister.
Marigold pulled out a frying pan from one of the cabinets underneath the counter next to the stove and plopped it down on one of the burners. “You know how expensive those things are? If you want them, then you buy them every week.”
“You like them, too,” Sunny said, grabbing several pieces of fruit and starting to chop them up. Taking the knife in her mouth, she held down each piece of fruit with her hooves and and cut them up into small pieces with which she started to make a large pile with. “You’re just going to be depriving yourself of one of the many wonders of life. Those pyramids down in Zebrica? You know, the one that all of those fucking conspiracy theorists claim were built by aliens? Yeah, mangoes are better than those.”
Marigold snickered as she sat down next to her sister. “So what? At least I know when to quit indulging and playing into my vices once in a while.”
“You gonna tell me that I’m fluttering my eyelashes at too many stallions again?”
Sunny sprayed down the frying pan with a thin coat of spritzable butter before turning to her sister and raising a challenging eyebrow. Marigold shook her head and turned the correct burner on before laying her hoof on her sister’s shoulder.
“Well, it would be kind of hypocritical of me to tell you that you should slow down with your work,” Marigold said.
“Yeah, it would be,” Sunny interrupted, grinning.
“Especially being that me, you, and Starlight used to be a team together only a year ago,” Marigold continued, shoving her sister gently for interrupting her. “But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t still try to be careful. We’ve both seen our share of adventures, good and bad. You remember Rocket, right? You remember how that shit turned out, right?”
“You have to admit it was fun at first.”
“Yeah, up until we became his prostitute slaves earning bags of coke instead of bits as payment,” Marigold said sternly. “He was going to sell the two of us off to some fat griffon in the Griffon Kingdoms before Zumas stepped in and saved our asses, if you don’t remember. You’re not looking to repeat that again, are you, Sunny?”
“I didn’t come to your place for a lecture,” Sunny replied grumpily. “Look, you know as well as I do that bits and intimidation don’t always work on someone who’s got information you want. You meet a drunk stallion at a bar, though? Who’s going to say no to pretty, little me besides those uptight gangsters who enjoy watching money slip through their hooves more than a mare dancing in their lap, hm?”
“And what happens when you meet the wrong stallion? I’ve already had to bail you out of this BS a few times, not counting the job you had as a maid for two years.”
“Oh yeah? When?” Sunny asked, dumping the pile of fruit into the frying pan and then turning around to face her sister. “Name one time when I needed your help to get away from a guy who decided to turn a one night stand into a kidnapping!”
“Okay, just four months ago when you were trying to get some information from one of Zumas’ goons on one of his top pony trafficking officers, the guy ended up locking you in a gloryhole and fed you his jizz for two days. I had to get Starlight to help me bust you out of there before he decided to sell you off to the same guy you were trying to get information on. Star and I found the documents on the deal and everything. He even renamed you to Batty Spunk!”
Sunny waved her hoof dismissively and turned around to stir around the fruit in the frying pan. “Pffft, I had a plan to bust myself out, thank you very much. All I needed to do is bite his dick the next time he stuck it in there, let him open the door, then with a bit of my ingenuity and knack for getting out of precarious situations, kick his ass and get out of there.”
“Knack for getting out of precarious situations?” Marigold asked, skeptical. “You mean luck? Sunny, you’re a very lucky bat, but some day or another all of that luck is going to run out and then where will you be? Stuck.”
“Can’t you have some faith in your sister?” Sunny asked, scrunching her nose up as she looked over the fried fruit. Seeing as they appeared to be cooked well enough, she grabbed a plate out from the cabinet above the stove and poured them out of the frying pan. “You used to when we were working together. Now that you’ve got this job crunching numbers for an insurance firm, sounds like you’re trying to get me to join you.”
“I lost faith when the jobs you went after became more personal,” Marigold said defensively. “I know pony trafficking is the bane of your existence, Sunny, especially after you let the aftermath of the situation with Rocket get to you. Zumas, the most powerful pony trafficker in Canterlot freed two sisters from another pony trafficker because he thought it was unethical. As ironic as it is, you’re trying to pick a fight with a bear while you’re a rabbit. How do you think that’s going to work?”
“What do you want me to do, join you sitting behind a desk?” Sunny asked, tearing off the apron, picking up the plate, and then carrying it over to the kitchen table. Her sister followed and together they sat down with the plate in between them. “Can you see me sitting behind a fucking desk, Goldie? Pushing paper, crunching numbers, taking orders to do stupid, rudimentary jobs day after day for a regular pay that pops into my mailbox every other Friday? Where’s the fun? Where’s the spontaneity? You know for yourself that that’s not me.”
Marigold sighed as both she and Sunny picked at and ate the fruit that sat in front of them. “I’m not asking you to quit your mercenary work altogether, Sunny, just, you know, let up on Zumas. I don’t agree with him either, but I know my limits and he’s far beyond them. He’s the wrong kind of pony to be fucking with, and I don’t want you to get hurt because you’ve got some kind of score or grudge to settle with him, okay?”
“How can I give up trying to disrupt ponies like him? I’m not fucking reputable or someone that a mom would want their kids hanging around, but at least I don’t go selling off ponies for a profit. Ponies every day are taken from their homes and thrust into being slaves and prostitutes against their will, then are sold on the Black Market as if they’re nothing more than some piece food or a couch. Worse yet, Golden Talon gets a hold of them and transports them to another fucking place in the world.”
“Golden Talon?” Marigold asked quietly, then turned to look out the window that faced the general direction of the Talon Industries building. The silhouette of the dark plume of smoke against the dark sky was still visible despite the city guard probably having gotten to the scene. “You went after Golden Talon tonight, didn’t you, Sunny?”
Sunny’s ears flopped back against her head as she saw the dark shadow cast over her sister’s face. Nervously, she said, “Who else would have money that they didn’t need?”
“Not only are you fucking with Zumas,” Marigold growled, “you’ve gone and both stolen money from who is perhaps one of the most powerful griffons in Equestria and blown up part of his Canterlot office? What in Luna’s fucking graces were you thinking?”
“Goldie, someone has to do something about Talon,” Sunny protested. “You know as well as I do where a significant portion of Talon Industries’ profits go towards. There aren’t any records of that company donating a single bit to charity, yet despite the business that they receive both from international corporations and from Equestria itself, the profits they make break even with the cost of building the tech that they design. Where is that money going? There’s only so much that Talon stuffs into his fat, greedy pockets.”
Marigold shook her head. “So what if the money is going towards the griffon terrorists up north? I know that’s not why you fucked with him tonight. It’s the pony trafficking. But even so, Sunny, leave this business up to the princesses. They have the means, the resources, and the power to investigate Talon Industries. You’re just one pony.”
“I’m the only pony fucking doing something!” Sunny said, slapping her hoof onto the table. “The princesses aren’t doing shit, Goldie. In the eight months since the griffon terrorists have popped up, all of the blatant gossip about Golden Talon’s involvement has totally swept underneath the princesses’ noses. They haven’t issued statements, they haven’t launched investigations, they haven’t even met with the guy. This is fucking inaction if I’ve ever seen it.”
“Then let someone else do it! Do you have any idea what kind of mess you’re slowly entangling yourself in? This isn’t a routine infiltration mission or a gang fight that we’ve seen and been so much a part of two years ago, Sunny. These aren’t small time thugs that you can stomp on a few times and they’ll leave you alone. These are cartels, organizations. These are guys who have power and know what to do with it.”
Sunny stepped away from the table and paced back and forth across the kitchen floor. “All the more reason for someone to get involved, and if no one else is going to step up then it’s got to be me. I know that fucking face you’re giving me. “But Sunny, you’re a coward who avoids getting her hooves dirty when she can.” You’ve said it before, but there are exceptions that we gotta make. We all can’t just sit idly by and let that fucking griffon push innocent ponies around!”
Marigold got up from her seat and plopped herself down in front of Sunny, grabbing her sister’s cheeks by her forehooves and forcing her to look into her eyes. “Will you fucking listen to me, you dumb bitch? I’m not asking you to give up because I disagree with you, I’m asking you because you’re my sister. You’re my family, my bloodline, my twin, my other half. You think I’m going to fucking sit here and let you throw yourself into danger like some martyr? No! What would mom and dad say about the two of us if I did?”
Sunny’s ears flopped back against the sides of her head as she finally understood her sister’s protests. She searched Marigold’s eyes, not finding the anger or the frustration that she heard in her voice but finding the worry and fear that anyone might feel if they thought their loved might make a rash and stupid decision. She felt her whole body relax and her eyes drop, unable to look at her twin.
Before Sunny had a chance to open her mouth to respond, a heavy thudding sound echoed through the apartment. Both sisters looked up and over at the door, their ears perking as someone knocked on the door again, their hand or hoof heavy against the thick wood on the other side. Sunny looked over at the clock hanging on the far side of the kitchen and scrunched her nose up.
“Who the hell is knocking on pony’s doors at this hour?” she asked. “It’s almost half past midnight.”
“Could be the city guard tracked one of the culprits of the explosion to this apartment complex,” Marigold said dryly. She looked at her sister and ruffled her mane. “I’ll go answer in case it is. You just stay back here and keep Wilbur close.”
Sunny picked up her spear, watching as tiny sparks of electricity pulsed through it from her touch. She doubted that any of the city guard would be individually knocking on the doors of apartment owners, especially at this hour of the night when the dancing ponies from earlier were probably turning off their lights. The investigation would take place in the morning, which means that whoever was knocking on Marigold’s door must have been someone who either sought Sunny or Marigold out specifically.
Thinking back to Starlight, Sunny shook her head. He was almost definitely still mad at her over the mission that they completed tonight. From how he reacted to her admittance about needing the banknotes to pay off a debt, she figured he deserved a full explanation. She dragged him into a desperate situation with relatively desperate consequences for only a mere ten thousand bits, but they were successful and once she delivered the money she could tell him, right?
As Sunny’s gaze drifted towards the bag of banknotes, her eyes widened. Her sister already had her hoof on the door as Sunny shouted, “Wait, Goldie, don’t open the door!”
Sunny’s warning was door late, and as her sister opened the door they both let out a terrified squeak. Standing within the doorway stood a massive, armored minotaur, his shoulders too wide to fit through the door and the top of his head spanning high above the top of the door frame. His armor was scratched and dented in several places, showing wear and tear from years of use, and it covered the entirety of his body aside from his hooves. Not even the minotaur’s face was visible as it was hidden behind a thick frogmouth helmet with a crest full of blue horse hair.
Without so much as a warning, the minotaur slammed his metal hand into Marigold’s face, sending the bat pony flying backwards to crash on top of the banknotes within the center of the front room. Sunny shrieked, picking up her spear and charging the minotaur, but with a swift side step and then a kick to the side, the minotaur sent her sprawling into a corner with a groan. The minotaur ducked through the doorway and stepped into the apartment, advancing on Marigold.
Sunny unsteadily got to her hooves, staring the minotaur down as he reached out for her sister. “You fucking leave her alone, Mongol! I have Zumas’ money right there!”
Mongol paused, his head twisting slightly to stare back at Sunny out of the corner of his visor. When he spoke, his voice was deep, gravely, and metallic, muffled only slightly by his helmet. “I’ve come to collect Zumas’ end of the deal, little bat pony. You have failed your part of the bargain and now you must suffer the consequences.”
“I have the money right there!”Sunny shouted, pointing at the bag of banknotes underneath Marigold. “I have the rest of the money that I promised Zumas, and I got it before the fucking date we agreed on!”
Sunny’s sister groaned, rolling off the bag and onto her belly, but her brief movement caught Mongol’s attention. With a large hand, he grabbed onto her mane and slammed her face into the floor with a sickening thud. Sunny saw her sister go limp and her heart stopped, but only for a moment before she saw her sister’s back rise and fall from her shallow breaths.
“The date that you two agreed on was tonight at midnight, little bat pony,” Mongol said, getting back onto his hooves. “You may have the money with you, but you did not keep your end of the bargain. Therefore you and your sister will suffer as per Zumas’ request. I will take your sister and I will give her to Zumas, and you will be left with nothing but to wither and moan over your failure.”
“Fuck you, you’re not taking her!” Sunny shouted, charging Mongol. Again, the minotaur side stepped out of Sunny’s way, but this time she was counting on it. With Mongol still lifting his hoof to kick her in the side again, Sunny lept into the air and twisted her body around, flinging her spear around into a loop to drive its head into a little pocket of leather between two plates of metal armor. Mongol growled as electricity convulsed through his body, and whirling around he pulled both Sunny and her spear out of her side to chuck her against the fall wall.
Sunny hit the wall with a slam, then dropped onto her belly. She groaned, feeling both her back and her side screaming in pain from only two of Mongol’s hits. She knew he hit hard because of his size, but she thought her bones were on the verge of breaking without Mongol using even a fraction of his strength. He merely pushed her off of him like she was some kind of insect.
Straining to clamber back onto her hooves, she stared the minotaur down. Mongol still stood over her unconscious sister, cracking his knuckles together as if in anticipation for Sunny’s next move. A little trickle of blood dripped down his hip and over his metal from the wound that Sunny had inflicted on him, but overall the wound seemed to do nothing but add a little color to his armor.
With another scream, Sunny charged Mongol again, but this time the minotaur didn’t wait for her to get close. Twisting around her spear, Mongol reached out with one of his hands and gripped onto Sunny’s hoof, then spun around and slammed her into the television with a crunch. The little bat pony collapsed to the ground, several shards of glass buried into her back while the television itself was left a sizzling, broken mess.
Mongol grabbed Sunny by the scruff of her neck and slapped her hoof, causing her to drop her spear and let it clatter to the floor. She had no choice but to stare into his visor, but even then she could not make out the minotaur’s eyes.
“Do not test your luck once again, little bat pony,” Mongol growled, using his other hand to wiggle around one of the pieces of glass stuck in Sunny’s back. She screamed and whimpered quite loudly before Mongol finally pulled the glass out and tossed it to the floor. “I have been instructed to come here and take your sister away from you, not your life. Zumas doesn’t wish for me to have to kill anyone despite the joy I’d have in squeezing every inch of your pathetic, whimpering life force out of you.”
Mongol grabbed another piece of glass stuck in Sunny’s back, and after twisting it around for a moment and watching her squirm and struggle, he pulled it out and tossed it to the floor as well. With the bat pony still panting in his grip, he threw her across the room and into the barstools that were set up next to the counter that separated the kitchen from the front room.
When Sunny smashed into the barstool, shattering one of them from the impact, she squeaked and tumbled to the floor in a heap. Unsteadily she lifted her head and watched as Mongol picked both the bag of banknotes and her sister up and slung them over his shoulder. She put one forehoof in front of the other, growling, and scraping them across the ground as she made an attempt to crawl towards him in a last ditch effort to pick up her spear again.
Mongol watched her crawl towards him until she was almost at her spear, then walked over and kicked her across the head. “Your luck’s run out, little bat pony. Your sister now belongs to Zumas, and soon she will belong to someone else. I’m sure she’ll fetch a nice price.”
Sunny rolled across the floor and slammed into the couch, her vision blurring as Mongol strode towards the door. She still saw her sister knocked unconscious on the minotaur’s back, streaks of blood running down her muzzle from having her face smashed against the floor. Her mane was in tangles, but at least in her unconsciousness allowed her to look peaceful.
“Please, don’t take my sister,” Sunny whimpered, but Mongol already stepped out of the apartment and slammed the door behind him. She wheezed, trying to move one of her hooves, but it was entirely unresponsive. Marigold was gone and Sunny was left as a broken mess.
Defeated, Sunny only managed to let out a single whimpered before she blacked out.
