In the semi-darkness of the Blazecorp Archives, a yellow anthro Earth Pony stallion worked furiously at a computer, erasing files from it.
"Come on, come on..." Apple Crepe grumbled as the files were deleted. As the files were being deleted, Apple Crepe grabbed a bottle of poison and inserted it into set of sprayers over several jars of what looked like spiders.
What Apple Crepe didn't know was that the cameras were watching him.
Well, at least until the alarms went off.
"Aw, Tartarus," grumbled Crepe as security gates started to close on him. He checked the computer to see how the file deletion was coming along, only to find a very unwelcome sight: his user ID had been revoked.
Damn it! Well, I'd better get outta here while I still can, thought Apple Crepe.
And so, that was exactly what Crepe did. He managed to escape just before security started milling about.
~
"What's going on here?" demanded an orange anthro pegasus stallion with a purple mane and tail wearing a business suit as he entered the lab about an hour later.
A security pony looked up. "Uh. Mr.Blaze, I didn't know-" the pony stammered.
"Answer the question," Roaring Blaze said.
"Sir... Dr. Crepe... he's erased most of the data and killed some of the spiders," the security pony stammered.
Blaze simply stood there, apparently letting the news sink in.
"I need to make a call," he grumbled, before turning his back to the guard and walking out of the lab.
~
Meanwhile, we find Apple Crepe sitting in front of a web camera, apparently making a video.
"Ponies will say I'm a monster for what I've done. Maybe they're right. I just wished that I had more... time. Time to clear this mess up. Time with my daughters and my son. Especially little Apple Bloom. There's so much that I won't get to see her do. Graduate high school. Get married. I won't be able to hold my grandchildren," said Apple Crepe, choking back tears.
"Dad," called the voice of a young filly. "Dad!"
"I'm sorry," said Crepe, before he hurried out of the room.
~
A short time later, Apple Bloom found herself saying good-bye to her parents with her Aunt and Uncle Orange.
"She likes to sleep with a little light on at night, and she doesn't like crusts on her sandwiches," Red Gala, Crepe's wife, said.
"Come on, Gala. It's time to go," said Crepe.
Apple Crepe and his wife kissed their beloved daughter's forehead, before turning towards the door.
"Dad-" said Apple Bloom, grabbing her father's hand one last time.
"Be good," Crepe said, before he and his wife left.
“DAD, WAIT PLEASE!” Apple Bloom called out but the doors had already closed and she was alone with no one but her Aunt and Uncle.
~
As morning broke over the horizon, we find Red Gala and Apple Crepe onboard a private jet.
"I found a safe place for us at Lake Geneva as her husband worked on his laptop. "Are you uploading it to Neutron?"
"Every last bit of it," said Crepe as he started the upload.
Gala nodded, her gaze focused to something out the window. Crepe knew who she was thinking about.
"Gala, we've been over this, it's for the best," said Crepe.
"Is it?" said Gala.
"Our life as we know it is over. We're going to be looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives, never feeling safe. We can't do that to her, or any of our children," said Crepe.
Gala nodded, before getting up and heading to the bathroom.
Crepe simply sat there, watching the upload complete when the co-pilot stepped out of the cockpit, smiling as he looked at Apple Crepe.
"No rest for the weary, eh?" asked the co-pilot as he made his way to the sink.
"No," said Crepe.
The co-pilot noticed the laptop as he washed his hands. "What's that you're working on?"
Crepe noticed that what the stallion was washing off looked like blood. "Just planning ahead. Say, do you think I could speak with the pilot?"
"Need something? Sure I can't help you with it?" asked the co-pilot.
"I just need to check and see if everything's in order for when we land," said Apple Crepe as he got up and tried to move past the stallion, who quickly pulled out a gun and locked Gala into the bathroom.
"Now, Dr.Crepe, I think we both know that that's not option," said the thug.
Crepe sat down in his seat and inconspicously started the upload as the thug put on a parachute.
"They say you're a genius. Obviously not if you thought you could escape," said the thug as he closed the lid on the laptop.
Red Gala broke down the door to the bathroom, providing the distraction that Apple Crepe needed to pounce on the assassin. As the two ponies engaged in a fist fight. Red Gala grabbed a glass bottle and hit the thug over the head with it. The thug in return shot Gala.
"Gala!" yelled Apple Crepe.
Apple Crepe grabbed a dislodged wooden pole and knocked the thug out with it. He then proceeded to attend to his wife.
"Come on, Red Gala, up you get, come on," said Crepe as he lifted his wife into the nearest seat.
"Neutron," gasped Gala.
"Huh, what's that?" said Crepe.
"Neutron," gasped Gala once again.
Crepe reached under the table for his laptop and opened the lid. After a few moments, the upload started up again.
But, at that moment, the thug came to and pounced on Crepe. Not even a moment later, the plane hit some turbulence, causing the deceased pilot's body to shift forward on the controls, sending the whole plane into a steep nosedive.
As the thug and Apple Crepe kept fightning, the thug's gun went off, taking out a window, which in turn caused a big hole to appear on the side of the aircraft. Both stallions reached out for anything to grab onto.
For the thug, that happened to be Crepe's laptop.
Crepe saw this and grabbed the other end of the computer.
Can't... let ... it... go! thought Apple Crepe in sheer desperation.
The thug and Crepe each pulled on the computer. Until the thug, his hands slippery from a mixture of sweat and his own blood, lost his grip and flew off into the twilight skies.
His foe defeated, Crepe opened his laptop and once again restarted the upload. Once it was completed, Crepe gave his wife one last look, and saw that she was already gone.
Don't worry my love... I won't be far behind, thought Crepe just as the plane crashed.
