Hackers

Chapters

PROLOGUE
(ONE)
(TWO)
(THREE)
(FOUR)
(FIVE)

PROLOGUE

Author's Note

Finally getting this back on and with a new set of ideas. I think I got the best formula down despite never having a single idea stick for too long. Hell I came up with a last minute change to the story last night, a detail for later in the story. Anyways here's the newest start to a story I've been trying to get around to finishing for five years (Christ time flies). And hopefully I'll be able to get a better set schedule to do this.

Also a big shout out to my friend LAGGxFitzy. Happy Birthday buddy.

PROLOGUE

When the Chaos wars ended the world began to change. When the nightmare rebellion was ended so was the curse of the sun and moon. From there technology and the world evolved. But while the world became closer, it became more dangerous. New nations rivaled each other, all wanting to take a swipe at now Queen Celestia. Companies grew to monolithic heights, their hierarchy, now seeing themselves as Gods. And the ones below, slowly, began to suffer.

Then came the war, and the wedding, the invasion, the battles, then APEX and Calvary came to the rescue. Sombra went first, and Crystal Empire was all but annexed by Equestria. Then Chrysalis, who was over thrown in a violent coup. Then the nation that started it all. Unicornia.

The war, at least to the media, ended when their capital, along with their government was vaporized.

But the war never truly ended. Soldiers were still fighting abroad, as the economy slowly slipped. Poverty gradually increased. Joblessness, homelessness, you name it. There were those who spoke up. And they soon were taken away. And soon the voices began to grow quiet.

Except for a few. A few who were being hunted....

01001000 01000001 01000011 01001011 01000101 01010010 01010011

3:18 A.M.

If you were to travel about 20 miles outside the city of Chicacolt, chances are you would come across one of many fenced off abandoned properties that are scattered around the hills and countryside. With many gates rusting and dilapidated, with their "NO TRESPASSING!" signs slowly falling off their screws, the sight of venturing onto the abandoned properties wouldn't appeal to the passing traveler. Occasionally one or more would disobey the rusty signs, either a homeless pony looking for shelter on their travels or an explorer filming a MeTube video would explore the unused buildings.

There was one place that, unknown to many, had been occupied for quite some time. It was further off the main road, up a dirt road, that had become overgrown after years of being unused. The gate on this particular site had all but rotted from years of neglect, the former occupants had abandoned the site years ago when the government had shut it down. If one were to make it all the way up to the main property they would find nothing but a bunch of old concrete bunkers, that had belonged to the military. It was part of a defense network in case the Crystal Empire had returned or if Yakyakistan ordered a strike against Equestria. It was after the signing of a defense pact between Equestria and Yakyakistan that the base, like many others across northern Equestria, had been declared obsolete. That was 45 years ago. For the most part the place sat silent, much of the equipment left behind gathering dust. It was left in a perpetual state of suspended animation, almost like a giant time capsule. Then about 2 months ago....they came.

They were soldiers, but not from the Equestrian Army or the EIA. These soldiers were more of a freelance variety. The reach of their group stretched from Chicacolt to Manehattan to Vanhoover and beyond. Their weapons of choice wasn't limited either. While they had a stockpile of guns and explosives, their main weapon of choice was an item that many across the world used. Smartphones, laptops, tablets and more. If it could get them past a security system it worked for them.

At this particular hour, deep inside the old bunker, the old reconverted command room was quietly buzzing with the sounds of the night shift workers going about their business. The room was about 20x20 with 12 foot ceilings. There were a total of 12 desks, each with 2 screens and a PC tower. They were set on a shallow staircase that stretched across the width of the room. At the front of the room was three large computer screens. Originally used by the military personnel until the place was abandoned, the screens fell into decay. When 'they' showed up, they removed the old ones and put in updated ones, which they had gotten through some less-than-legal means. Usually they would be on, showing maps, website, news channels, etc. But for now they stayed off, for in the back of the room, eight other members of the "company" slept on makeshift beds of mattresses, pillows, and blankets that were set on the floor. All of it was stolen months ago in an unsolved burglary of a department store. Each member slept with a bag next to their head. The bags contained supplies for if they got 'evicted'. While it had been a while since something like that happened, they still needed the precautions. At least till they moved away from Chicacolt to a place less hot.

Down towards the front of the control room two of the groups, leaders sat in silence as they continued their shift. Fingers clacked quickly on the keyboards, as the two busied themselves. They were multitasking, messaging other cells on pop up chat rooms, on one screen, ones that couldn't be found by any typical web search, while typing endless strands of code on the other.

The head of the group silently moved her own hands over her keyboard. She smiled as she typed in the next strand of code onto the first screen before moving onto the second, where a video editor was open, along with several webpages. Multitasking was something she was accustomed to and quite enjoyed, especially when it came to her craft. In the corner of one of the screens a small globe blinked constantly as it was being fed updates constantly from the computer. She continued her work effortlessly as she finished typing her last strand of code onto the first screen before pressing 'ENTER'. She then closed the page, revealing a webpage for a company, named 'Omega Pharmaceutical'. She then hit "F5" and the fruits of her labor were shown. The website had crashed. The leader chuckled a bit as she pointed to her partner, who equally found it humorous.

She then returned to her work with a big grin on her face. She was in her natural habitat, enjoying the wonders of cyberspace. Then:

BEEP!!! BEEP!!! BEEP!!! BEEP!!!

A bright red light began flashing as an alarm began sounding. The sleeping teammates quickly woke from their slumber.

"OUT NOW!!!" The leader barked. The once sleeping members shot out of their beds and each grabbed their bag.

The leader hit a button her desk and soon all the computer towers popped open, their electronic guts now exposed to the outside. At the same time a large, hidden door, disguised as the concrete wall, opened on the front right corner of the room. As the others made their exit she and her second-in-command began quickly removing the hard drives from each computer tower, putting each one into a small duffel bag. Within 30 seconds each tower had their hard drive removed, each screen now black from the sudden system failure.

With their job done the two quickly turned towards the same passage their colleagues had fled down. On their way out the leader pulled a panel off the wall, exposing a large, flashing red button. Without so much as a blink, she slammed her fist into it before making her way down the corridor, closing the door behind her. In less than a minute the room had gone silent, save for the sound of the alarm still going.

For what seemed like an eternity the room sat in the same state, the alarm ringing while the red light flashed. Then:

CLANG

BOOM!!!

A bright flash lit up the room as a stun grenade detonated. It was immediately followed by the sounds of boots running on concrete and someone barking orders. Six black figures entered the room, the red-tinted glow from their infrared goggles made them seem like demon's straight from hell. The six made their way down the shallow staircase. They each looked around for any signs of the occupants. But alas, they were already long gone.

"Look's like they've already left sir." One of the soldiers said.
"Which means we need to leave too." The lead Guard replied factually. "Out of the bunker now!" He barked. His team then bolted back towards the exit with him following behind. As they filed out, the captain noticed one of the Guards had reached for something on the front desk. He followed closely behind him as they all ran back up the corridors to the rusted door the busted open only a minute ago. The group bolted right through and out into the night, not stopping till they reached the woods, ducking just behind the tree line.

Then it happened. There was a large "THUMP" with a jet of flames and exploding concrete following closely behind. When the dust settled the entire property was lit up with spotlights, revealing the police and Royal Guard brigade surrounding the now destroyed base. The six emerged from the woods. Their adrenaline was still pumping but they held their composure as they knew it was over. As they moved up to inspect the remains of the bunker, the stalling guard pulled the Captain aside. The two then walked over behind a nearby crumbling wall where they removed their helmets, revealing the faces of a white Unicorn and a yellow Pegasus, both with blue manes.

"Well that could've gone worse Captain." Flash said.
"I suppose Sergeant." Shining Armor replied. "Did you get it?"
Flash then reached into his pants pocket and pulled out what he grabbed. It was a hard drive. He immediately handed it to Shining who quickly pocketed it.
"Good work." He said. Flash saluted his commander, a smile quickly adorning his face before he fell back in line.
"Now Sergeant." He continued. "Now that this mission is complete, I think I might have another assignment for you. If, of course you're up to it."

Flash then smiled and said. "Just tell me what I need to do boss."

Shining smiled.

Vinyl Scratch
Twilight Sparkle
Octavia Melody
Record Scratch
Coco Pommel
Sunset Shimmer
Flash Sentry

(ONE)

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

(TWO)

Author's Note

Co-written with imcrazytwkr, who made the modifications to the original draft and even wrote and rewrote several scenes. Thank you very much.

Finally I got time to do this. Sorry for the wait.

Sadly i came to the decision and Spike is not going to be included in this...at least not yet. I felt it would be better if he stayed in Ponyville for several reasons. But don't worry I have a story I'm planning to write another story after this one is finished. Also a note I was in a bit of a rut when I was writing this. I didn't know what to write, how to write it, or what character to put in it, I even felt like putting Sunset Shimmer in this as the one who would watch Spike, but I dropped it at the last minute. Eventually I decided to start the chapter the way it is now and the rest is history.

Enough of my jabber. Onward!!

Update 2/24/2020
Did a few edits to this chapter, and fixed a continuity error. I'll update the next one tomorrow.

(TWO)

Friday, February 20th 9:00am, Ponyville station

Twilight Sparkle stood at the platform of the town’s only train station, waiting for her turn to board the train. Her face wore dismal look: she was about to leave her friends to travel to Manehattan per request of Queen Celestia. She looked at the only ponies and one dragon who came to see her off. All of them looked equally sad, not wanting for Twilight to go. After all the things that had happened and all the time they had spent together since the purple unicorn arrived from Canterlot it was hard for them to see her pack up and leave.

“I’m going to miss you, guys,” Twilight said.
“We will miss you too,” said Fluttershy, looking as if she was about to cry so much Ponyville would have a new lake when she calmed down.
“I am, for one, absolutely positive that you will come back soon,” Rarity chimed, trying to sound confident. “Right?”
“Oh, Rarity, you silly, of course she will!” Pinkie bounced in circles around Twilight in her everyday cheerful mood.
“The thing is,” Twilight giggled nervously, “I’m not so sure about that. You see, Celestia didn’t mention how long I will have to stay there and even if I will be able to return at all.”
“I really hope you come back,” Spike said. “It just won’t be the same without you.”
“Shh, it’s okay,” Twilight bent down and hugged Spike, “I know you don’t want to come and I’m not blaming you for that.”

All seven ponies looked down with sour looks. Twilight’s friends were lost and even the usually talkative Rainbow Dash hadn’t dropped a word since the group entered the train station. They saw the de-facto group leader leaving and all of them had a feeling that this was the last time they see Twilight. And even Spike was not accompanying her on that trip. She had already started to feel lonely. That feeling only got worse when she heard the train’s whistle blowing and conductor shouting “All aboard to Canterlot!”

Twilight knew that it was time for her to go. Her friends pulled her in a group hug. None of them had really wanted to break from it, but unfortunately they had to let go of Twilight. Parting with her friends, she turned around and started trotting towards the train. As she was stepping into the car, Twilight felt that something was holding her by her leg. She instinctively turned around only to see a crying Pinkie Pie holding onto her. Her mane was flat and her coat had become several tones darker. That spoke volumes to Twilight. Pinkie was losing hope and that was bad. Twilight really needed to cheer her up, she had to.

“Please, Twilight,” she pleaded, “don’t go! I’ll do anything! I promise! Anything!”
“I’m sorry, Pinkie, I’ll get in touch with all of you when I get there,” Twilight tried to reassure the pink pony, “Pinkie promise.”
“I… I can’t stop you, can I? Sorry. At least I’ve tried,” she said, letting go of Twilight.

When Twilight got in the car, getting an annoyed stare from the conductor, she turned to the window to look at her friends. All of them were waving her, Pinkie looking the most miserable of all. Twilight still could not shake the words about trying to stop her, but brushed them off, remembering not to question Pinkie Pie. Suddenly Rarity stopped waving, pulled off her phone and started frantically typing something. Twilight had almost missed the message thanks to another whistle of the train. “Don’t forget to call Coco - remember the number I sent you a month or so ago. R,” it read, and Twilight made a mental note to herself to look for it when she got to the hotel or at least got some more or less decent internet connection.

The train’s whistle blasted one last time as it began to pull out of the station. Twilight’s friends were shouting something she could not hear so she opened the window and were finally able to hear their goodbyes.

“So long, sugarcube! Take care!” shouted Applejack.
“Come back soon!” Spike and Fluttershy chimed in unison, though Spike’s voice was a lot more obvious than Fluttershy’s.
“Have a good time, Twilight!” Rarity called out.
“Make some cool new friends in Manehattan!” Rainbow shooter, opening her mouth for the first time since they entered the train station.
“Have fun, but be careful,” Pinkie said, trying to seem as cheerful as always, but the sad notes in her voice betrayed her.
“Don’t worry about me, girls and have fun yourselves!” Twilight shouted in reply.

As soon as her friends vanished from the view, she slumped on a bench and started crying. Twilight was not good at parting with others and it really hurt her. When she finally calmed down, Twilight sat straight in the chair and pulled out a book she took with her, ‘Future of Equestria’ by Starswirl the Bearded, and started reading. It was the best way for her to dull the emotional pain, a method she had already mastered over the years. It only took the train less than an hour to get to Canterlot central station. There she had to transfer to the express to Manehattan.

The train she saw was different from what she had expected. Instead of classic locomotive with a chain of cars she was greeted by a sleek streamlined caterpillar with almost invisible connections between the cars. “It’s as if I’m travelling to the future,” Twilight thought to herself, entering the train car.

1:23 pm, Manehattan Outskirts

The train was heading from Canterlot to Manehattan. It was heavily snowing outside and the only things that could be distinguished among layers and layers of snow were the houses sprinkled here and there. Twilight Sparkle was reading one of her favorite books while relaxing in the train car’s chair. She was the only one in the car, probably because it was a morning train on Friday. It was the only thing she could do to take her mind off the idea of leaving her friends behind. It was impossible to have a chat with anypony save for conductors who for some reason were not very talkative.

The entire situation still seemed surreal to the lavender unicorn. When she had received a letter from Queen Celestia telling her to try to extend her magic of friendship studies to other ponies and not only to her close friends the week before, she could not even think that she would have to travel to Manehattan where she had not stayed for long ever before. “Why would Celestia even want me to do this in the first place?” was the thought that Twilight could not banish from her head even when she had already passed a point of no return.

She had never liked the idea of leaving her friends behind and at that moment, but there she was, all alone – even Spike decided to stay behind, not wanting to leave Rarity’s side. Rarity and her little sister Sweetie Belle agreed to watch over him while she was away, but it still bothered Twilight that her number one assistant betrayed her for a time he could spend with his crush. “Maybe it’s just hormones and he will come to join me later on?” she could not stop wondering.

Tired of not being able to properly focus on her book, Twilight sighed and put the book she was reading down and look at the passing landscape. Rare country houses started to fade away, giving way to a more urban view: snow covered fields and trees were replaced with bigger buildings, and houses and roads became filled with cars waiting for their turn to enter the city borders. Right at the time when the train crossed the Manehattan borders, P.A. System has announced with its emotionless electronic voice:

“Attention, passengers! We are entering Manehattan borders. Internet connection over WiFi will start working shortly. Thank you for choosing Equestrian Line.”

Twilight decided to pull out her laptop and check the news she may have missed. Upon opening the browser she was greeted with login page asking for identification software installation to which unicorn reluctantly agreed. Just when the installation finished, introductory page shown up, describing various aspects of Smart City program in general and ctOS application in relation to that program. “Wow, I sure did underestimate power of technical progress,” Twilight thought to herself, being not as acquainted with technology as she was with magic. “So efficient yet so simple, and even easy to control.”

Being absorber in her own thoughts, she hadn’t even noticed as the train passed the suburbs where most of the city residents lived and headed to the direction of Bricklyn bridge and only light reflected by the tallest of the skyscrapers brought her back to reality. Five minutes later the train started riding over the said bridge to Manehattan Island. Twilight kept her sights out of the windows between the blue waters and steel and glass buildings that sparkled in the early afternoon sun. It mesmerized her even more than on her previous trip there. Just as Twilight thought about that, all of this beauty vanished as the train went into the tunnel leading under the island. “Attention, passengers! The train will shortly arrive at the Manehattan Central Station. Please, gather all your belongings in advance and prepare for arrival,” the P.A. system announced. Twilight shut her laptop down and put it in her saddlebags. She was ready, but she was still very nervous about her new life, about the future that would follow right after she steps off of the train to the platform.

When the train came to a halt at one of the many underground platforms, everypony left. Twilight walked out of her car towards the lower concourse. She passed by various shops and restaurants before making her way up the stairs to the main floor. It was the same as described in some of the books she had read about Manehattan, but something still seemed off. “Cameras!”, she thought in recognition of what was in fact wrong with the picture she was now seeing, “I don’t remember them being mentioned anywhere.” She sighed, “Right, ctOS uses cameras for activity monitoring. How could I forget about that already?”

Remembering that she had to be in hotel before 2pm to check in without any problems, Twilight hastily made her way outside through the crowd of ponies either leaving the city or just arriving. “Manehattan sure is busy in the afternoon,” she thought. Not having much time to get to the hotel, she opted for a taxi. On a parking lot there were only two chariots and no queues. Twilight cringed at memory of her previous experience with Manehattan’s taxi and were glad that this time everything seemed to be more than pleasant.

Ride to Mane Fair Hotel was short and uneventful: cabbie skillfully navigated through the city and avoided the traffic jams glancing at his smartphone from time to time. Twilight asked him about it and he answered that thanks to ctOS everything is easier now because all the traffic information are publicly available and up-to-date. When the car arrived at the hotel, she paid with a card and entered the building.

Twilight giggled at the memory of Rarity having one of her trademark emotional breakdowns due to what happened between her and Suri Polomare and how she later picked herself up and made a new line of clothing. “Speaking of Suri and Rarity, I should probably call Coco,” Twilight reminded herself, “at least I have a familiar face in this city whom I can probably ask for help.”

1:37pm, Vinyl’s apartment

Vinyl woke up in her bed, her head throbbing violently. “That nightmare,” she thought, “it will never let me go, will it?” The light shone brightly through the open louvers made her eyes felt on fire and sound of the phone she hadn’t understood up until that moment ringing. All of this made her feel as if her poor head will explode then and there. Vinyl slowly dragged her hoof over the bedside table and shut the phone. “Urgh, I need my shades!” she proclaimed. Vinyl pushed her body to her wobbling legs that felt as if they were about to snap and started looking for her shades, doing it slowly so as not to make her headache even worse. Losing hope in finding her glasses in the bedroom, she made her way to the bathroom, thinking that maybe some painkillers would to help dull the pain. When she entered the room, Vinyl did not even bother to turn up the light: her light hypersensitivity made it seem as if the room was perfectly illuminated. Opening the mirror cabinet, she reasonably judged that trying using her horn to fetch the medicine will not help her head and opted for doing it the earth pony way. The pills worked fast and the prospect of being awake started to seem a little bit more bearable to the mare. “I still need to find this Luna damned glasses,” she thought. “Maybe the living room.”

Passing by the cabinet, Vinyl noticed a flashing mail indicator on her PC, but continued to trot, looking for her shades. Not even finding them in the living room, she moved to the kitchen and there they were, laying on the table near the coffee machine. “Here you are, my dear ones,” she said, kissing her sunglasses and pulling them on her eyes. The world just became much better and a lot less bright. She could finally keep her eyes open without feeling the power of thousand suns trying to burn her ruby eyes. Vinyl's phone started ringing again and this time she decided to answer it. She did not make it in time, though. She took the phone and looked the list of the last unanswered calls. The number she saw seemed unfamiliar, but she still opted to call it back.

“Yo yo yo PVL-four-two-oh, one-to-the-three-to-the-three-to-the-seven. Blow that shit and fly to the heaven! Pink’s not in da house! Wait for tone!” the answering machine replied in a familiar voice.
“Pinks,” Vinyl exhaled right before the signal to leave the message did not happen and cheerful high-pitched voice started babbling instead.
“Hi, Vinyl, OHMYGOSH, I thought I won’t reach you! So good you answered!” Pinkie exploded.
“Pinks, please, can you speak a little bit slower? My head is spinning already,” Vinyl asked.
“Sure thing, Vi!” the volume and speed of the voice dropped noticeably.
“Thanks, now what did you want and what’s with this strange new number?” she asked Pinkie.
“Well, to answer your first question, Twilight will soon arrive to Manehattan soon and I’d be very pleased if you could show her around,” Pinkie answered in a way too formal tone. For Vinyl it seemed as if Pinkie had put on a top-hat and a monocle and started smoking a pipe.
“And the second?” she pushed.
“Oh, that’s an easy question,” Vinyl imagined Pinkie throwing her monocle and top-hat away and returning to her regular random self, “420 is now Ponyville’s city code and 1337 is the local phone number after the change of phone number generation system.”
“ctOS?” the white mare asked.
“Yup, version 2.0,” answered Pinkie. That answer made Vinyl sigh and sit on her bed.
“So, Twilight?” she asked.
“Yeeeeah, you know, Twilight Sparkle, Queen Celestia’s student, Shining Armor’s younger sister and sister-in-law of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” Pinkie replied.
“That was not what I asked, but never mind. Answer me one last question, please. Why me?” Vinyl was ready to surrender to Pinkie without even fighting.
“Well, you’re the only pony I know from Manehattan and you were so great at the Party at the wedding so…” she paused.
“Okay, I understand. I’ll ask somepony,” Vinyl reluctantly agreed to help.
“Thanks, Vi, pizza on me!” Pinkie exclaimed right before hanging up.
“And don’t call me Vi, Pinks, nopony is allowed to do that,” Vinyl said mostly to herself as the phone started beeping.

Right as she said that, there was a ring on the door. Vinyl swiftly moved to her cabinet and woke her computer up, opening a camera control application at the same time. “Look at the camera and press your phone to the black panel,” she said in the microphone, activating NFC reader and starting cracked Profiler. The pony in the camera did as he was told and soon the profile data had appeared on the screen. “Swift Step,” she muttered. “Occupation: courier. Criminal record: minor speeding and vandalism. Nothing strange,” Vinyl decided to open the door, but still took the gun with permanently attached silencer from the drawer just in case. She opened the door and courier said “Prepaid big hawaiian pizza with triple hay bacon for miss Vinyl Scratch.” He smiled nervously. Vinyl took the pizza and close the door without saying anything. When the automatic locks clicked, she thought “And here’s the pizza.”

Vinyl went to the living room and dropped the pizza box on the coffee table. Remembering that she still had an unread message, she moved to the cabinet and clicked the mail program icon. The text of the new message was garbage, that is, until Vinyl started GPA program and decrypted the message with her private key. The message now contained the list of new login-password combinations for ctOS access. “I wish we had constant access to this. What we have now is just not enough,” she sighed and shut her computer down. Vinyl went to the kitchen to grab a couple of cans of her favorite beer and then returned to the living room. She sank into the sofa and took a slice of freshly baked pizza. Hawaiian pizza always was her personal favorite and nopony could stop her from enjoying it. When Vinyl had already consumed ⅓ of the pizza and drank all of her beer, she decided it was time to deal with Pinkie’s problem. Namely, with Twilight. She unlocked her phone and started calling. “Hi, Cocs, you free for the end of the week?”

3:38pm, Mane Fair Hotel

The clerk had finished checking Twilight in and gave her the key for room number 602. A quick elevator ride later she was on the sixth floor right outside her room. The room was not as grand as the one she resided in with her friends during her previous Manehattan trip, but was still clean and cozy. The air also carried a barely noticeable smell of lemon and mint which immensely pleased the unicorn. “A smell of a new beginning,” she thought, smiling.

Twilight did not waste any time and started unpacking as soon as she closed the door and dropped her saddlebags. When she finished putting away her books and clothes and locked all of her more valuable possessions in the safe, she thought it would be a good time to call Coco. Twilight pulled the last thing left in her saddlebags, her laptop, out and started looking for Coco’s number in her mail. Just when she started calling, she heard the phone ringing outside. Curious as to where specifically the sound came from, Twilight opened the door only to see Coco Pommel rummaging through her saddlebags in search of her phone.

“Hi, Coco”, Twilight said, cancelling the call, “was just about to call you. What are you doing here?”
“Hi, Twilight,” Coco blushed and closed her saddlebags, “I just got a call from Vinyl who got a call from Pinkie Pie…”
“Pinkie Pie. Don’t say anything,” said Twilight, “come in, I wanted to talk to you anyway.”
Coco went in and Twilight closed the door behind her. They sat at the table beside one of the windows and resumed their talk.
“Great to see you, Twilight. And sorry for that. I’d never had thought it would be so embarrassing,” Coco said, trying to hide her blush with her forehoof.
“Don’t mention it. It’s not that you did anything defensive,” Twilight rolled her eyes.
“So,” Coco finally managed to look straight at her companion, “how have you been? I heard many things have happened.”
“Actually,” Twilight contemplated on that and frowned, “I think I feel good. I just wish my friends were here.”
“Well, I may not be as good a friend as Rarity or Pinkie Pie, but I will be there to help,” Coco smiled reassuringly, “just call or text me. Anytime.”
“Thanks. I think I needed that,” Twilight sighed.

They talked about many things. Coco told Twilight that she had recently started her own fashion company and apparently it started to be appreciated by some of high society members. Their talk was however interrupted by the sound of Twilight’s stomach rumbling.

“Sorry,” she said, “I haven’t ate anything since early morning and apparently forgot to have lunch.”
“Look,” Coco looked at her phone and replied, “It’s 3:40 now so what do you say we hit some burger joint?”
“But don’t you have anything to do?” Twilight asked, ”I honestly hope you didn’t need to be anywhere now.”
“I’m cool. I’ve finished all the orders already so I’m free,” Coco replied, “at least, till monday.”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Twilight had finally remembered, “I wanted to ask you to show me the city!”
“Sure, after we have something to eat,” Coco contemplated, looking Twilight over several times, “and get you some clothes. Weather here is awful, especially spring.”
“Well, thanks, I think?” Twilight replied, unsure if the response was right.
“Don’t worry, everything’s on me since I came here without any warning,” Coco stated, “I have to go to shop really quick. Will be back in 40 minutes. You okay with that?”
“Yeah, sure,” Twilight agreed.

Both ponies stood up from their respective seats and moved towards the door. Twilight closed the door after Coco and moved to the desk beside the other window. She opened her laptop once again, launched Hexchat and logged in to local Ponyville with using her regular nick ‘starswirl_the_bearded’.

The channel she joined immediately exploded in greetings from its residents, namely five specific ponies and one dragon. They were all excited to be able to speak to her so soon despite the fact that she was gone for barely half of a day. Twilight had also visibly relaxed. She felt relieved to see the familiar nicknames of her friends: Pinkie “p4rt1p0n3” Pie, Rainbow “teh-wonderbolt” Dash, self-explanatory “applejack”, “AngelicBunny” Fluttershy, “Duchess” Rarity and Spike, the “DragonKnight”.

[15:45:09] Hey, Twilight~~ How’r u? Miss u already. When u come back?
[15:45:16] Pinks, chill. So, how’s it goin?
[15:45:21] Everything’s alright, I guess.
[15:46:01] You guess, Twi? You sure I don’t need to go pick you up? I’ll be there faster than you say “Starswirl the Bearded”!
[15:46:33] It’s fine, Rainbow. I’ll deal with it.
[15:46:58] If you say so.
[15:47:05] teh-wonderbolt shrugs
[15:47:31] Spike, how you’ve been doing?
[15:49:01] Pffff, Twi, who do you think I am? I’m perfectly fine!

These words make Twilight uneasy. They sounded fake. Her suspicions were confirmed when Rarity queued her.

[15:50:33] Twilight, I know that it may not be my right to say that, but Spike is really missing you despite what he wrote earlier.
[15:51:20] I understand, Rarity, thank you.
[15:51:37] Now that you’ve mentioned it, don’t you think that Pinkie’s too quiet today? She’s usually a lot more enthusiastic.
[15:52:03] I think she took it the worst, actualy. She’s basically like a ghost of her previous self.
[15:52:12] Her mane is flat and she always mutters that she let you down. I think you should try asking her about it for all it’s worth.
[15:53:00] Thanks, Rarity. I think I should return to channel before others start to miss me again ;)

True to her word, Twilight returned to the group channel.

[15:53:11] Hi again, girls, did I miss something?
[15:53:21] Nah, chill. We were just idling.
[15:53:25] >In 10 seconds flat!
[15:53:53] You actually did this =__=”
[15:54:20] So, let’s switch to the more pressing topic on hoof, namely, Twilight.
[15:54:33] Did you speak to Coco already?
[15:54:40] That’s an interesting story. She stopped by and left only ~ 14.5 minutes ago.
[15:54:51] But I didn’t even have a chance to call here. Figures, Pinkie called her through some other pony.
[15:54:52] Yes I did! I had to make sure you have at least somepony there since, well, I can’t be with you and all…
[15:55:03] Pinkie, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, but thanks for that anyways.
[15:55:36] Pinkamena Diana Pie at your service, ma'am.
[15:55:55] Pinkie, you’re so random.
[15:56:09] So, Twi, what are you going to do now?
[15:56:22] Well, at 4:20 Coco will come back then we’re going to have dinner.
[15:57:01] I’m not quite sure what will happen after that, but she promised to show me the city.

Twilight avoided topic of clothes on purpose so as not to offend Rarity in any way just in case.

[15:57:15] Well, that’s good to hear, sugarcube. You may want to try that ‘nightclub’ thing uncle orange was telling me not to even mention till I could take care of myself.
[15:57:38] Thanks for the info, AJ.
[15:57:49] Sure thing, pardner.
[15:58:04] Yeah, that should be great! Wild music! Flashing lights! And you will totally have LOTS OF FUN!
[15:58:06] but please, twilight, be careful
[15:58:22] Right, Pinkie, Pinkie Promise. Cross my heart and hope to fly.
[15:58:23] thanks
[15:58:58] I don’t think that would be that good of an idea and I heard that lots of bad things happen at those places
[15:59:01] If you don’t mind me meddling, that is…
[15:59:10] I agree with Pinkie - she knows what she’s talking about, especially if it concerns any kind of partying.
[15:59:20] I’m with the girls on it - you really have to relax - you seemed very tense today.
[15:59:32] Ok, ok, guys, I give up. I’ll give it a try.
[15:59:50] Gosh, look at the time! Coco will be back in only 20 minutes! Sorry, promise to write later.
[15:59:53] starswirl\_the\_bearded has quit (Quit: Leaving)

Twilight quit the chat and closed the client. Leaving her laptop on with opened audio player, she went to the bathroom and stepped into the shower. The warm water that started flowing from the shower’s head accompanied by a calm ambient melody helped to easy Twilight’s nerves. Despite not showing it, she still felt sad and lonely without her friends by her side. After staying idly for roughly ten minutes, Twilight quickly washed and casted a drying spell on herself. She walked to the wardrobe and started picking what to wear that evening. Since the weather outside was not too cold and Coco had promised they would get Twilight some new clothes, she opted for some casual wear. She put on a black, long sleeved shirt, blue jeans, a purple jacket, and a pink scarf. Just as she finished putting it on, Twilight heard a knock at the door of her hotel room. Shutting her laptop, she opened the door and quite logically found Coco on the other side. She was wearing a white coat, blue stretch pants, and a red shirt with a blue hat on her head.

“Hi, Twilight! I’m not late, am I?” Coco asked.
“I think you’re actually a couple of minutes early,” Twilight answered, pleased with the pony’s punctuality. “I was just figuring what to wear.”
“I think what you chose is cute,” Coco teased. “So, ready to roll?”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Twilight replied, taking her phone before stepping out of the room and closing it.
“That thing is your phone?” Coco mused aloud.
“Yeah, what’s wrong with it?” Twilight answered, not too keen on continuing the topic.
“Well, it’s a bit old if I were to say but as long as you like it, I think it’s ok. Well, let’s roll then!” Coco said and they finally departed unaware of what were going to happen that night.

(THREE)

Author's Note

All these typos here are not really typos. They're my translations of them talking when drunk.

Update 2/27/2020

I updated the chapter, fixing some typos that weren't deliberately put in. And deleted a detail involving Twilight being hesitant on drinking. More on that later. Right now I'm gonna work on updating Morning Blitz and a little something else.

(THREE)

3:57pm, Vinyls’ apartments
Vinyl was lying on her bed, fresh from the shower. She was thinking about what happened earlier today. She knew all too well not to question Pinkie Pie, but the name Twilight Sparkle dawned at her. Vinyl knew that this was not the first or even the second time she heard that name, heck was even the DJ at her friend's fashion show and her brother's wedding. However the ctOS search also did not bring any results. At least, not the ones Vinyl had wanted. Twilight was a resident of Canterlot and Vinyl did not want to remember her early years. One thought of them was enough to make her shiver. “I should think less about such things. Remember, it’s Pinkie Pie,” she was repeating in her mind to banish the unpleasant memories that were ready to flood her mind. The phone rang, snapping Vinyl out of her thoughts. “Vinyl on line,” she answered it without even thinking about it.

“Sup, Vinyl. Just reminding you about the job tonight. I hope you didn’t forget that we have a party at the Electro-Station Club. Or am I wrong and you actually did?!” Neon half-shouted.
“Neon, shut the fuck up. You’re giving me a headache,” Vinyl practically commanded. “I know about it. Why are you acting like some kinda spoiled royalty in the first place? You’ve been doing it since we got here.”
“Aye, aye, boss,” he mockingly answered. “And as for your question, I dunno - probably Manehattan lifestyle rubs off of me.”
“Right,” Vinyl sighed. “You finished?”
“Sure, I guess,” Neon answered uncertainly. “You don’t sound too good. Anything happened?”
“Yeah, if you cound say that,” she replied. “Pinks called - we’re having a VIP tonight. Pull me a room upstairs. Good one too.”
“And who is that VIP person you’re speaking about?” he asked. “It’s quite unusual for you to bother yourself with royalty.”
“Twilight Sparkle, if that name tells you anything. Pinks asked to show her around so I sent Coco,” Vinyl paused. “So yeah, a VIP room tonight. And you’re taking second half of night this time so prepare your best mixes.”
“WHAT?!” Neon shouted in his phone dropping it from astonishment.
“But you’ve never done that before! I’m not ready…” he finally said after picking his phone up.
“Yeah, now I do. Need to take care of some business. Cya,” Vinyl replied, hanging up.
“You wanted to be a star, Neon? Come and get it,” she thought as she got up from her bed and went to the balcony. Neon tried to call Vinyl again, but to no avail - she cancelled all of them. Vinyl leaned on the railing and called Coco to ask about Twilight.

“Hi, Cocs, sup with Twilight?” she asked first thing when Coco answered.
“All’s good, I think?” she answered unconfidently.
“Alright, then what’s not good?” Vinyl tried to find the source of pony’s uncertainity.
“Well, we may need more money than I thought and I kinda wanted to ask…” she trailed off.
“You need some carton, right?” Vinyl asked, relaxing. “That all?”
“Well, that’d be good. Thanks,” Coco said. “The usual way, OK?”
“Sure,” Vinyl answered. “Anything else I might want to know?”
“Probably one thing - I think she’s interested in computers the right way. Her laptop is toughbook, Neighpon import. No commoner or hipster buys them,” Coco replied.
“Hmm…” Vinyl thought about it for a moment.
“Maybe. Will get in touch later. Await fresh shipment soon,” she added and hung up.

2 hours later
Twilight followed Coco down towards the west side of Manehattan Island. After leaving the hotel they stopped of at the restaurant, a small family owned place, to have their dinner. Through out the time the two struck up conversations, either about their lives, what they like, movies, there was no end to what they could talk about. After their meal the two walked out and proceeded west ward towards the Hoofson River. The sky was already dark, with the city lights shining brightly. The beauty of the city was emphasized by the skyscrapers dominating the city. Slowly it seemed as if the environment around them was changing, from the nice shops and hotels to apartments and old warehouses. Finally a few blocks from the piers they turned south heading towards the club. Along the way they met up with other ponies, each had a strange mane and clothing style. Even Twilight could tell these were partiers, and from the looks of them, ones that would make Pinkie look stable.

The nightclub, Electro-Station was on a small side street inside what was once a warehouse, situated above an old subway. The entire neighborhood was full of buildings like this, many of which were being refurbished to be used for lofts, restaurants, or nightclubs. Down a large alleyway was a ramp that led down to a set of double doors. Right above the door was a sign with the club's name on it, all lit up in blue, neon lights. Sitting right outside it was a bouncer, a large stallion with a black coat, a steel colored mane, and eyes to match. His cutie mark was a hoof in a 'stop' motion. He wore a black shirt that had the word 'security' in white letters. Right next to him sat a small cardboard box full of glow rings, glowed with rainbow colors. Sitting in front of him was a line of ponies standing in line waiting to get in, set in place with a red velvet rope.. Twilight and Coco walked down past the line and up to the bouncer.

"Coco!" He exclaimed smiling. "My favorite fashonista! How's it going girl?"
"Hey Buster." She said. "Everything's been great. Hey is Vinyl in there?"
"Yep. Neon's on the board tonight. He's actually doing great for a guy who had to get his mixes together at the last minute."
"Cool." She then pulled Twilight over. "So Ram, this is my friend Twilight."
"Twilight Sparkle." He said a bit astonished. "I've heard so much about you. It's great to meet you."
"Oh thank you." She said as the two shook hooves. He then proceeded to give the two a set of the glow rings that were in the box. The two put the rings on all their hooves, as well as one on their necks, Twilight got an extra to put on her horn.

Twilight and Coco walked past the bouncer and into the club. They were immediately met with a hallway that was colored with several shades of blue with white. After a few feet they were met with a flight of stairs next to an open elevator. A look inside the elevator revealed the walls, floor, and celling was made with glass, with a large wall painting behind it, and the elevator shaft lit up with different colors.
“Come on!” Coco said excitedly. The two then made their way into the elevator, which was giving off a light show, with several others. Both were amazed by the amazing sight before them as they made their decent. Looking down Twilight noticed there was no light at the bottom of the shaft. As they reached the bottom the lights went out, leaving them in darkness. Several shrieked in surprise at the sudden darkness, only for the shrieks to suddenly change to laughter.
“Is this a regular thing?” Twilight asked Coco.
“Just wait for it.” She replied sounding excited.
Suddenly the walls outside the elevator began moving, splitting into two halves, one going up while the other went down. The splitting walls revealed the incredible sight of the main room. It was a wonderous sight to see, the whole room was several shades of blue with white with several lights, all different colors putting on a laser show. The room itself was two stories tall, with a corner room Most of the club was made from the basement of the warehouse, while the rest of it was inside the remains of the old subway station, one section, where the bar was, was on the old platform had a glass wall which looked out into the tunnel. It was one way glass, which allowed the club goers to look out but not the train passengers to look in. The dance floor itself was lit up, with each tile changing from blue to white as the club goers danced. Techno music blasted from the sound board that sat on the first floor on the far side of the elevator.

The two stepped of the elevator and made their way through the crowd of ponies to the dance floor. Looking up at the soundstage Twilight could see two unicorn ponies rocking it out on the mix board. One had a light grey coat with a dark grey mane, sunglasses, a grey shirt over a white t-shirt, and a white tie. She could see he was the one playing the music. The one next to him though really caught her eye. The mare standing next to him she could recognize as Vinyl Scratch. She remembered her from her encounter with her in Ponyville, including when she did the music at Rarity's fashion shows, and the music she played at her brother's wedding. Though she never admitted it Twilight was always curious about the Vinyl, and wondered why she left Ponyville 5 years ago.

The song had just ended. The two walked up to the stage as Vinyl got down to greet them. She seemed in an all too good mood, though Coco did mention that was how she was on nights like this. Twilight didn't mind though, she was actually glad to see somepony else who she knew and could show her around. As Vinyl walked up to them she got pats, cheers, and compliments from the party goers, all of which were returned with "thank you's". Soon she was right with Coco and Twilight.

"Glad you could make it girls." She said with a smile on her face. "C'mon let's head upstairs."

She then led the two to the elevator to the VIP room, which sat just above the stage, just as Neon began the next song. There were two staircases on each side of the stage and another elevator behind it, all leading up to the VIP room. The three stepped in and watched as Neon rocked out as they went up above. When the door opened again Twilight was taken back from the sight of the room. The walls were painted dark blue, while the carpeting, which was soft tot the touch, had the same color as Luna's coat. In the middle of the floor was a section, made of 4 glass panels, which gave view down to the stage and part of the dance floor. The wall facing the dance floor was also made of glass, which gave ponies a better view to the world below them. The celling had a large crevice in the middle that was painted midnight black inside, with several string lights hanging from it, the tips giving off a show as they changed colors, giving off an illusion that they looked like stars. The sides of the crevice also gave off a similar show as the lights that reached around the perimeter changed as well. There were multiple couches and tables around the room, on the walls were several screens made of glass, all except one were TV's, the only one that wasn't a TV was used for selecting music, weather it was from the jukebox, or to request the DJ.

Sitting down at a one of the tables next to the glass wall Twilight also noticed that the back wooden tables had several small sheets of glass. Out of curiosity she put her hand on it, only to be startled as it lit up and revealed itself to be the clubs menu. It had everything on it, drinks, food, desserts, a big selection, especially for a nightclub like this. She looked up to see Vinyl sitting across from her tapping on her screen.

"So who want's a drink?" Vinyl said looking up "It's on me."

"I'll take my usual." Coco said. Leaning back in the couch's recliner.

"How bout you kid?" Vinyl said looking at Twilight. "What's your poison?"

Twilight looked at the screen, feeling awkward. She really wasn't that big of a drinker, even though she had gotten drunk on cider a few times back at home. Speaking of which, she saw it as one of the selections on the menu.

"I think I'll just take a hard cider." She said.

"That's it?" Vinyl asked.

Twilight was starting to feel embarrassed.

"I'm not that much of a drinker." She said.

"That's not what I saw at your brother's wedding."

Twilight's face went red as she remembered the night of her brother's wedding. She had probably had enough drinks to sink a ship, and even she knew she got carried away. Twilight quickly shook the thought from her head and looked at the menu, seeing all the choices the club offered. Unable to decide she gave up.

"Actually, I'll just have what Coco is having." She finally said.
"Good choice." Vinyl said. As she tapped the screen. Looking back up she decided to start making conversation. "So, what brings you to Manehattan? And alone for that matter? Don't you always travel with your 5 other friends in tow?" She asked.
"Yeah, but for some reason I was asked to take this trip alone." Twilight said.
"Really? By who, the Queen?"
"Yeah, actually. She said I should try to expand my circle of friends to new places, and basically I got sent out here. It sounds confusing, I know, even I'm confused by it." Twilight said.
"That is strange." Vinyl said. "Though maybe this will be a good experience for you. There's always something to do here and Coco, the others, and I know how to have fun. So yeah, I'm sure you'll have a good time here."
"I hope so. I'm already enjoying my time here."

Coco then turned to Twilight and began telling her all the things they could do. While that was going on, Vinyl didn't change her expression as a feeling of concern washed over her mind. This whole idea seemed very convoluted and suspicious. Three things entered Vinyl's mind at that moment: she was an informant for the Queen, which seemed unlikely, she sent her out here to unwillingly spy on her, or the Queen was beginning to slowly lose her mind and send her ponies on the weirdest tasks. Though she only knew her for a short time, between here and Ponyville, Vinyl had a suspicion that Celestia wouldn't send Twilight out to spy on her, willingly at least. She could tell that even after all she did with her friends and the elements of harmony, she was still a bit of a Nervous Nellie. All her thoughts soon washed away as the waiter brought over their drinks. All 3 had the same kind of drink, a light blue liquid with ice in a highball glass.

"Um, not to sound clueless bu-" Twilight was interrupted by Coco.
"It's called a Blue Lagoon. Don't worry you'll know the names soon enough." She said.
"Oh yeah." Vinyl said. "We're gonna teach you all the party tricks Pinkie doesn't go near." The three lifted their glasses as Vinyl said: "To our new friend." The three tapped their glasses together as they began their night. Twilight took a sip of her drink, it tastes sweet, but a bit sour at the same time, she could also taste the alcohol moving through her mouth and down her throat. The feeling of it hitting her stomach felt as if a bomb went off, something weird but nice at the same time. As the three enjoyed their drinks they continued their conversations. Within an 2 hours they were already on their fourth set and the three already had pretty good buzzes on.

"So how long have you been in Manehattan?" Twilight asked.
"About a month." Vinyl said. "After the wedding I moved to Chicacolt with my older brother."
"What made you move out here then?"
"Oh just business, the clubs out here wanted me to play here more often, so I got an apartment and me and my crew moved out here."
"Your crew?"
"Yeah I work with a group of DJ's we travel from place to place. The guy down there on the stage. That's Neon, he's basically my right hander. Then there's Record Table, Cereal Killer, Zero, Crash, and several others. You'll probably meet them eventually. But for now let's get to know each other." Vinyl then took another sip of her drink. "So what's your story? I know about your brother and your friend pinkie, also I hear about you being the queen's prize pet or something?"

Maybe it just sounded funny or maybe it was the Vodka in the drink, or maybe both. Either way Twilight couldn't help but laugh at that last part.

"I'm her student, not her pet." Twilight said, with a mix of humor and agitation. By now she was already beginning to talk out of her normal pace, a clear side effect of the alcohol.

Vinyl laughed at the way she sounded. "Sorry, I just hear that you are her personal protégé, which I hear she rarely takes on."

"Yeah, I've been her student since I was a filly. Although I've been questioning recently if I'm really her student or just something else. We barely even talk anymore, and... Ah I can't ruin the mood right now. Let's keep on going."

The three then raised their glasses with smiles on their faces and kept on going.

Four hours later

Twilight was beyond the realm of drunk at this point. She was in the realm known as 'shitfaced'. She went from the type who nonchalantly sips her drink, to pounding it down like it was a glass of soda. Already she had knocked down several glasses off the table, more than once for the same one, slammed into the walls and windows, and ended up knocking over a group like a set of bowling pins. Now everypony was laughing their tails off at her as she was dancing on the bar like a nut job. Vinyl and Coco, tough just as drunk could see she had gone into her own little world.

'Good choice Pinkie. Vinyl thought. Your friend's a hoot and a half.

Twilight then stood up and took another swill from the beer she ordered.

"WHOO!" She shouted her speech slurred. "I am's the party queen!" Just then she slipped on a small puddle on the counter. Her legs were airborne as she went flying backward behind the counter, taking out two of the bartenders. The room gasped and burst out laughing at the sight before them.
"WHOO!" They could hear from behind the counter. Vinyl and Coco quickly ran behind the counter to pick up their fallen friend, who was already being helped up by the two laughing bartenders. One of the bartenders, a white mare with an electric-green mane, and a black shirt on, looked at the two.

"I think this belongs to you Vinyl." She said. The two then grabbed the drunk unicorn, who was laughing hysterically.
"Th-Thanks Shot Glass. Sorry bout that." Vinyl said.
"It's fine." Shot Glass replied. "I think she needs to go dry off though."
"I agreea." Coco said. "Let es go gets her home."
"I'll call a cab." Shot Glass said heading to a back room.

The two then looked at Twilight, the look on her face could tell 2 things: 1 she was on the edge of blackout drunkenness, 2 she was going to have one massive hangover in the morning. Be it as it may, the trio then made their way into the elevator back to the dance floor. Passing the stage Vinyl quickly went over to Neon.

"I'mtaking off dude. I'll s-s-see you tomorrow. Great job tonight." She shouted over the loud music.
"No problem." He shouted. "Have fun sobering up."

The three then left the stage. Vinyl and Coco were basically dragging Twilight to the elevator like she was a prop dummy, her hooves brushing against the floor. Looking at her the two noticed why she was like this, she had already passed out. Getting into the elevator Coco decided to speak up.

"Well that waz f-f-fun." She said.
"Are you k-kidding? That was a blast." Vinyl said. "And I thought the Pink Thing was a party animal. This here...sheis a party munster. Let's see what else she can dooo."
The two the walked out the door to where the cab was waiting. Hopping in Coco told the driver to head back to the Mane Fair Hotel. As they left the club the two could only hope they would be still conscious enough to get Twilight back to her room.

(FOUR)

9:15 a.m. The Next Morning
Chicacolt

The streets were still coming to life from the night before as Saturday began, the sun had long since raised. On this particular morning a small armored car was making it's rounds. It was a large box like truck with steel plating painted in red and black with the company name painted towards the back. Inside the three guards were looking over the route and keeping tabs on how much money was in the bags in the storage boxes. Unbeknownst to them, trailing a few yards behind them was a small white cargo van with crème white pegasus stallion with a blonde mane and brown eyes behind the wheel. He, along with his passengers wore black suits, each with a white undershirt and a red tie. The four passengers all had black ski masks on, each one holding weapons. Two were holding shotguns while the other two were holding rifles, and the driver had a pistol. As the armored car approached it's destination the van turned right down a side street. The leader of the group, a male earth pony, who also had a crème coat but had a red mane and green eyes, spoke up.

"Alright does everypony remember the plan?" The leader said.
"Got it."
"Ready."
"Good to go."
"All set."
"Alright so we're ready, now remember we're on a clock. We go in hit the target, grab the box, and we're out the door in 90 seconds." He said.

"Don't worry Blitzkrieg, we got everything down." The Unicorn mare across said. She had a dark blue mane and eyes to match as well as a chocolate brown coat and a cutie mark with a sniper's crosshairs on it. Her name was Graceful Aim, one of the best hired guns in Equestria, as well as Blitzkrieg's wife. The two met each other in a blind job 5 years before and were inseparable ever since. The van had just stopped in the parking lot of the bank as the armored car pulled up. One of the guards of the truck was just getting out will a dolly in his hooves, a large bag of money sat on it with several boxes on top of it. The guard was a middle aged dark blue stallion with a blonde mane, wearing a black jacket, pants, and hat. Both the jacket and hat had the company name, Secure Gallop Services, in red.

"Ok. Then, we're ready to go. Just one more thing." He said as he pulled out his phone, quickly sorting through the apps till he got to where he wanted. The app with the symbol AP on it. He scrolled through the app until he reached a green button that said OPEN on it colored in red. He looked up to his crew with a smile on his face.

"I dedicate this job to my dearly departed little brother Music Master. My you rest in peace." He said as he tapped the button. "Alright team, let's move."
Quickly the 4 occupants got out of the van leaving the driver inside as he put his mask on. As the guard made his way through the door he was suddenly blindsided by the robbers as they pushed him inside. Customers and employees were in shock at the sight of 4 masked ponies all with guns in their hands. Two of the robbers stood by the door and pointed their weapons at everyone in the bank, while the other two rushed around gathering everyone up.
"Everypony pay attention and nopony get's hurt!" Blitzkrieg barked.
"You! OFF THE COMPUTER!!!" One of the robbers shouted.
"Hand over all your electronics!!" Graceful said. Suddenly a noise from the back behind the now empty teller stations made the crew turn their guns.

"What the fuck is going on out there?!" It was the manager, in the vault area wondering why the door was now open. The manager was a dark blue earth pony stallion with a light blue mane, light red eyes, and a gold key for a cutie mark. He wore a grey suit with a white undershirt, and a red tie. As the remainder of the hostages were being rounded up Blitzkrieg and another robber, a Pegasus stallion named Drill Bit, rushed into the vault where the manager was. Drill Bit had a green coat, dark blue mane, and magenta eyes and unseen because of the pants a cutie mark that was a drill. The sight of the two assailants with guns gave pony a shock as he suddenly dropped to the floor.

"Oh shit. Don't shoot me please." He said, worried. The robbers didn't pay attention to the manager as they got to work. Blitzkrieg began loading up the bags of money on the table in the center of the room into a large black duffel bag. As he was loading up Drill Bit grabbed a large drill from his bag and walked around the vault, looking at the safety deposit boxes. Finally he stopped at the one they wanted #167. Meanwhile outside another robber got to work on the cash drawers while Graceful kept an aim on the hostages from a corner, not one being let out of her sight. Back in the vault Drill Bit was already drilling through the lock of the deposit box, beads of sweat rolled down his face as he continued to edge the drill forward ever so slowly. Blitzkrieg finally just got the last of the bags into his bag as he heard the sound of the lock giving away. Looking over he saw his friend place the drill back into his bag, followed by opening the door and taking out the deposit box and placing it into his bag.

"That's it #3 let's get going!" He shouted. The manager watched as the two left him alone in the vault, too scared to move. He could hear the voice of the lead robber as he ordered his crew out. Back out in the lobby the crew assembled aiming their guns at the crowd still on the ground. Then without a word they turned and fled through the door they came through, taking the money, the deposit box, and even the armored car guards bag, which contained the money for the ATM's, with them. The last thing they all heard was the sound of a van driving away from the bank, then it was silent. The whole ordeal lasted 80 seconds.

Just a couple of blocks away the crew parked the van. Inside they all ditched their clothes and transferred the money from the bags into luggage bags. Meanwhile the driver, Quick Pace, was keeping tabs on his radio that sat next to him, making sure the cops didn't know where they were. As soon as all the money in the bags were cleared out they were stuffed with the clothes and masks from the job. Blitzkrieg had just finished stuffing his suitcase as he assessed the situation, he watched as #3, a grey unicorn stallion with brown eyes and mane named Hot Shot, emptied his part of the score.

"You sure you didn't pick up a dye pack Shot?" He asked. "You know what nearly happened the last time." During their last robbery the crew stumbled upon a dye pack that Hot Shot absent mindedly picked up. Luckily they were able to get it out of the getaway car just as it went off. Their car was compromised due to the paint on the side but luckily they were ditching it for another car anyways. Today they only had the van as they were getting ready to leave Manehattan themselves. After Music Master was killed the month before the crew put off their plans to leave until after everything calmed down and he was properly buried. Which was why they pulled a few blocks from the bank. They decided to leave the switch car next to the alleyway where he was killed. As Blitz got out he grabbed a rose from his bag and walked into the alleyway. Coming to the spot where he was killed Blitz noticed bits and pieces of metal and plastic, no doubt the remains of his fallen brothers phone. He could also see bits of dried blood still on the asphalt, the sight. of which mad him cringe. As he placed the rose on the spot he looked back to all the times they had as children, and everything up until the night before what happened. Letting a sigh escape his lips he turned around and walked back to the van.

As the crew jumped out of the car Hot Shot and Quick Pace dumped several bottles of bleach into the bags and all over the van. Then Hot Shot pulled off the tarp next to him to reveal a five gallon water jug with several wires coming out of a box on top, the wires led into a small box shaped device sitting in a mostly clear liquid. He pressed several buttons on the box until the timer came up with the time left till the bomb exploded. Satisfied he jumped out of the van with the others.

"Alright the timer is set. He said we got half an hour." He said, noticing Blitz coming out of the nearby alley.
"Alright then. Let's all split up and we'll meet at the train station." Blitz said.
Everyone then proceeded to walk away from the van, all except Blitz and Grace went in different directions. As they walked away he looked back towards the alley as a feeling of sorrow went through his heart. Grace gave him a nudge and a smile as a reassurance. He smiled back at his wife as he said: "What would I do without you?"

A few minutes later they were at Breighmont Station waiting on the platform for the train to arrive. Down the street they could see about a dozen cop cars around the area where the bank was. On their faces their expressions were neutral but inside they were cheering, relishing their success. They were lost in thought on everything, so much so that they didn't hear the PA announce the train arriving. The sudden sight of the Red Line passing by gave them quite the jump. As soon as the train stopped and the doors opened they all boarded with Grace and Blitz taking the one car and the other three in the car behind. The crew continued to look at the action unfolding as the train pulled out of the station.

15 Minutes Later
As the gang made their getaway the cops surrounded the bank. Reporters and rubberneckers were being held back by barriers and police. Detectives interviewed everyone who witnessed the crime. No one got a good description of the robbers other than their genders. Even the bank manager who was scarred out of his wits couldn't give a good description despite being stuck in a room with two of them. The armored truck driver was the only one who was able to give them any leads in the case. The only thing he told them is that he saw a white cargo van pulling out of the parking lot and taking off down the street. Immediately the detectives went looking for any van matching the description.

Down the street a patrol car was surveying the area. As procedure he was to look around for anyone or anything suspicious. Pulling down a side street near the tracks he noticed a white van matching the description. Not taking any chances he got on his radio and called for backup. Within 5 minutes several patrol cars had surrounded the parking lot, officers got out with their guns drawn. A few of the officers as well as one of the detectives crept towards the van, it's blacked out windows making it hard to know if anypony was in there. Approaching the back doors the officers held their breaths as the opened the doors with quick succession. The sigh of relief quickly turned to a sigh of disappointment as hey realized no one was in there, some of them were taken back by the smell of bleach coming from inside. Suddenly the lead detective noticed something near the front on the passengers side. A five gallon water jug with a box on top, the timer counting down from 20. In a sheer state of panic he and the officers ran back to the patrol cars.

"RUN!!" He shouted. "BOMB!!!"

Everypony ducked behind the patrol cars as the others ran back. After what felt like an eternity the timer reached zero, setting off the trigger. An electric charge ran down the wires to the small detonation charge in the gasoline. A ball of orange and yellow flames jetted from the van as parts of it were ripped off. Bits of metal flew in all directions, landing on cars, ponies, and the general area, several of them even flew as far as the nearby alley way. The police checked on their wounded, thought nopony was really hurt. Within minutes the reporters were all over the place covering the story. Unbeknownst to them they informed the culprits of their success as they boarded their train, the final stop of which was Manehattan.

Author's Note

Originally removed, but like the opening, decided to repost.

Basically this chapter was a love letter to some of the heist movies I've seen (don't worry these guys serve a bigger purpose in the next chapters). In this chapter I used elements from movies like Heat, The Town, and the Fleeca Job from GTA V. So if your wondering about the idea of Music Master and Blitzkrieg being brothers don't worry about that either, they'll return in a few chapters. Next chapter we return to our three heroes in Manehattan and we'll see if they are doing well with their hangovers.

(FIVE)

11 a.m.
Twilight never knew the last time she had such a headache, let alone a hangover this severe. Her head was 10 sizes too small for her brain, which felt more like a 5 ton lead brick. Just thinking made her head hurt even more as she tried to recollect what happened last night. Slowly but surely, as she tried to remember, she got up off the couch she realized she was laying on and went over to the bathroom, her stomach doing flips along the way.

After a session of emptying the contents of last nights party into the toilet, followed by a session of mouthwash that made the taste even worse, she wobbled back out to her bed. Looking around she noticed Coco sleeping on the sofa, but what caught her eye was the pony sitting at the table. It was the mare from last night ,Vinyl Scratch. The white unicorn was sitting, typing on a black laptop with several stickers on it. Her headphones sat on her head blasting music away, she mouthed the lyrics as she seemed to be dancing to the music. Twi walked closer to the pony who seemed to be lost in her own little world. Just then she looked up at her, not missing a beat to her music. The white unicorn then paused her music and took off her headphones.

"Morning sunshine." Vinyl said. "How's the head?"
"Ugh." Twi groaned. "I feel like my brain is gonna implode."
Vinyl chuckled. "Yeah I felt the same way when I first partied that hard. You...were friggin hammered last night."
"Bleah" Twi just responded.
Vinyl chuckled. "Don't worry about it. If you partied like I do the pain would eventually become...well less painful. Just have some soda and some fried food and you'll be fine."

Twilight thought about it as she moved a chair over to Vinyl's side of the table. The DJ didn't mind the extra company as she continued typing away. The purple unicorn looked on as the DJ did her handiwork. The computer was like nothing she had seen before, it was a black custom made laptop. But it was different. Along with it's usual screen, it had asecond screen that folded out to the left side. There was a second, smaller, keypad that stuck out of the computer on the left side. And on the right side there was a cupholder, holding Vinyls mug of coffee. Twilight was shocked that she would have a computer like this, though it did make a bit of sense, considering her job.

"So what's your big plan here?" Vinyl said as she typed away.
"I'm not sure." Twi said. "I'm just staying her a few days until I can find a suitable place to stay."
Vinyl looked at her curiously. "You didn't plan on an apartment yet?" Twi shook her head sheepishly.
"Well I can easily fix that." The DJ said.
"How so?"
"You can come live at the complex I live at." Vinyl said. "There's a couple of empty spots. The rent's cheap and the place is nice."
Twilight was taken aback by the sudden offer. "Oh. I...uh...well...thank you. I mean I don't want to impose."
"Eh. It's not a problem. My landlord has been trying to fill in the spots for the past few months. Besides I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to stay in a hotel the whole time you're here." Vinyl stated.

Twilight was about to respond when her stomach did a familiar feeling.
"Uh I'll think about it in a moment." Twilight said, then turned around and rushed back to the bathroom.
Vinyl snickered as she went back to her work.

30 minutes and a call to room service later

Twilight was munching on a greasy bacon burger with fries and onion rings while sipping on some grape juice. Coco was having waffles with eggs and bacon. Vinyl was having a spicy burger with bacon spicy fries and a milkshake. The three were sitting on the couch watching the news in silence. Finally Vinyl spoke up.

"So...did you make decision yet?" She asked.
Twi swallowed her recent bite and looked over to Vinyl. "It's a tempting offer. But..."

"You're unsure because you just met me?" Vinyl interjected.
"Yeah. Also I'd like to at least look at the place." Twilight said.
"It's a really cool place." Coco said. "I'm sure you're gonna love it."
"We can go there after were done. That is if you two aren't still hurling." Vinyl laughed as the two gave her the glare
"I think we can manage."

The three then continued gulping down their food and continued to watch the tv. Just then the 12 o'clock news came on. Vinyl turned up the volume slightly as the first repot came in.

Police in Chicacolt are looking for at least four suspects in daring morning robbery of a branch of the Bank of Equestria in the Everfree Park neighborhood near Breighmont Station. Witness say the thieves made off with 500,000 bits and a safe deposit box with unknown contents.

Coco and Twilight paid no mind to the report while Vinyl sat there and listened as a small smile appeared on her face.

3:20 p.m.
Not long after finishing their food the three grabbed their belongings and left the hotel. The sky was mostly clear with patches of clouds in the sky. There was a slight breeze bringing a bit of a wind chill but the sun felt warm. They walked down a block before entering an office building. They walked by the main desk towards an escalator. The sign hung over it read out many ads before switching to telling what was on the next floor. One of the words Twilight read was "Monorail". She was confused, she didn't see it yesterday. Though that was because she had her nose buried in her book while in the cab.

"I didn't know there was a monorail in the city now." She said to the girls.
"Oh. They actually just finished it just last month." Coco said. "It's all part of Mayor Horne's plans to bring the city into the future with APEX." Twilight had known about APEX and their plans to "bring the world of tomorrow into today". That was what they usually said in their ads. "We'll show you around, you'll get used to how transportation works here."

As they got off the escalator they made a right turn and were met with a small crowd standing near a glass tube. They joined the crowd just as the monorail pulled in. It was five silver cars, with a triangular front and back, with glass doors, and a long rectangular window on each side.*

They boarded and were soon traveling uptown, passing through the steel, glass, and brick canyons of the city. Twilight watched in awe as the train zoomed through Times Square. It was a sight to behold. Form the massive buildings to the lights and screens to the activity down below, Twilight watched in amazement. Then they entered another station on the north side of the square.

"Here's our stop ladies." Vinyl said. The doors opened and they got off the monorail and entered a massive atrium that stretched up to the roof, 48 stories above. They walked through the atrium, which was also a shopping mall, passing offices and shops along the way. Soon, they arrived at a set of elevators next to a book store. It didn't take much for Twilight to notice what the shop was before a large grin appeared on her face. As the others walked over to the elevators she inched towards the doorway. She glanced a bit inside, looking at all the titles she could find. Then she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Or rather someone.

In a nearby aisle there was a stallion stacking the shelves. He wasn't some one Twilight would think of seeing work at bookstore. He was a orange-yellow Pegasus with a blue eyes and blue mane that was nicely combed. From the white t-shirt, blue jeans, and green apron, Twilight could tell he was an employee. A second later she saw another pony, a mare, join him. She was a yellow coated unicorn with light blue eyes, and a red and yellow mane. Twilight watched as she walked over to the Pegasus and began saying something she couldn't hear. Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder. She jumped around to see Vinyl standing there, looking like she was a bout to laugh.

"You wanna go look at your apartment?" She asked. "Or do you wanna keep checking out the 'books'."
Twilight blushed furiously with embarrassment. She then picked her bag back up and walked to the elevator. As Vinyl started to follow her, she turned to see the unicorn waive at her, which she returned.

The trio got on the elevator and soon were taken up to the 21st floor, which was where the residential apartments started. The three approached the main desk just off the elevator where an older stallion with a grey coat, green eyes, and a black gel slicked mane sat.

"Ah Vinyl, Coco." He said in a soft voice, a hint of a Brayish accent could be heard. "Another late night?"
"You know it." She said as she hoofbumbed the desk clerk.
"Who's your new friend?"
"This is Twilight Sparkle. She's staying in town for a while and I figured that there's a room or two still open."
"Ah, I know the perfect one." The clerk said. He then looked through his desk drawer ad pulled out a white keycard. "Room 2113 in the east wing."
"Awesome you'll be right next door to me." Vinyl said.
The clerk handed the key over. "I'll let the manager know." He said. "And he'll be up shortly with the paperwork."
And with that the three grabbed their bags and made their way to the room, with Vinyl unaware someone was waiting for her in her own.

The trio arrived at the apartment, a corner unit overlooking the square and Twilight couldn't have been happier. The outside had a very good view of the city below. There was a large deck with a table, chairs, and a grill, that was built into the deck itself. The apartment itself was very spacious and up to date. The living room and the kitchen were both in the same space. The bathroom was recently updated and fitted with the newest modern styles. The bedroom was decently sized, with a king-sized bed, a closet, and a large window that was letting the late afternoon sun in. The place was more than perfect for her. Now all she needed was some furniture. Thankfully Vinyl knew of a couple of places to get some stuff cheap. While Coco helped Twilight get settled in Vinyl decided to head next door to her apartment.

As she approached her door she got a strange feeling going up her spine. As she put her hand on the doorknob she noticed it was unlocked. She immediately reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her pistol, a black Glock 19 with a silencer attached. She quietly and slowly turned the knob, unsure of what she would find behind the door. Then she started hearing it. Music.

The song was all to familiar to her.
'It couldn't be.' She thought.
She then pushed the door open, her weapon at arms length, ready to fire. The blinds to the balcony shut, leaving the room almost dark, save for some rays of sunlight coming through said blinds. Her eyes immediately caught sight of the 'intruder'. The darkened room hid much of his appearance but she could tell who it was. He stood about a few inches taller than her, he wore a white pullover hoodie over a blood red t-shirt, and a pair of blue jeans.

"You never seem to be too hard to find kiddo." The figure said. Vinyl then lowered her weapon, the feeling of danger now having passed.
"Wish I could say the same about you." She said. "Since you seem to disappear without a trace at any second." The figure just stood there. She could see a smirk on his face, parting the white coat surrounding his mouth. Vinyl moved over to the figure putting the gun on the entertainment center. She soon stood within an inch of him, their chests close to touching. Vinyl looked up into the face of the intruder, who was looking down at her, his smile growing wider. He pulled his hood off then threw his arms around her in a tight hug which Vinyl graciously returned.

"How are you doing sis?" Record said softly.
"Hangin in there?" She said. "How bout you?"
The two then let go as they went to sit on the couch. Record then opened the blinds letting in the mid afternoon sun.
"Same shit different day." He said. "How's uh, everything working?"
"Other than the light sensitivity I guess I'm still good. Nothing has broken or anything."
"Thank Faust." He said with a sigh of relief. He then looked around the room. "You got a pretty nice setup here."
"It ain't much." She said. "But it's home to me."
"More of a home than what we came from." He said.
"Don't even fucking remind me of that shit." Vinyl said. "I still get nightmares from those days."
Record then pulled her into a tighter hug. His mind ran wild with all the thoughts of their old home Canterlot. And them. Every time he though of those two he wanted nothing more than to go back there and strangle them both. But he couldn't do that, not yet at least. Right now he was just focused on his kid sister and keeping her safe. Finally the two broke the hug and sat on the couch.

"So what dove you and the crew here?" Record asked.
"Oh. Some dumb bullshit went wrong back in Chicacolt." Vinyl said.
"It couldn't have had anything to do with the blackout could it?" He replied.
"That was not us, Rec." She said minorly annoyed. "Our plan was to shut the building down and trigger a reboot. We only wanted to send a message to APEX." Play looked on and listened. "But somepony else had gotten into the system just as we did. And then...."

Vinyl remembered the horror of what happened next. The power in Chicacolt had gone down completely that night, bringing the entire city to a grinding halt. It took 39 hours for everything to turn back on. In the ensuing chaos 127 citizens died in various way due to the power loss. Vinyl rubbed her temples at the thought of that memory.

"Afterwards we got tipped that the bunker was about to be raided." She continued. "When the Royal Guards arrived, we blew the bunker and caught the first train we could to here. We've been trying to rebuild for the last month."
Record then put his hand on her shoulder. She stopped rubbing her head and looked back at him.

"Hey." He said reassuringly. "It'll be ok. We'll find a new place to set up, and afterwards we'll figure out who set you up."
Vinyl looked at him and smiled. "Does that mean you're staying this time?"
He then patted her on the back. "This time, definitely." Vinyl smiled widened just a bit more.

"Well...until we figure something out, you wanna help me next door?" She asked.
"Sure. With what?" He asked. The two then got up from the couch and headed to the door.
"One of Coco's friends just came to town and I thought I'd help her get set up here."
"Really?" He asked surprised. "Who's the new neighbor?"
"Twilight Sparkle?" She said. Record then stopped.
"Twilight Sparkle?" He asked surprised.
"Yeah. You know her?" Vinyl asked.
"Of course." He said. "She's considered a hero in the Crystal Empire. Her, her brother, her friends, and sister-in-law, are all talked about up there."

Vinyl was a bit confused. "So why can't I find anything about her down here?"
Record crossed his arms. "Probably because Her Royal Highness Queen Sunass has kept news about her quiet in Equestria."
Vinyl was a bit stunned at this revelation. She knew that Celestia had made some strange decisions in the past, but this was odd even for her. But before she could utter another word, her brother interrupted.

"We'll talk about it later." He said. "Right now let's go help them out." And with that they left the apartment, leaving their guns on the coffee table. They didn't need them. There were no enemies here, just friends and family.

Author's Note

Originally published 2/12/2019

This was actually supposed to be 2 chapters but I decided to combine them into one.

Also this is the song I pictured Vinyl listening to.

2/6/21 Just for clarification: Yes this is Vinyl's brother from the IDW comics. I know his fan name is Long Play but I decided to change his name to Record Scratch. Interestingly I wasn't the only one who came up with that. Dragonchaser123 who's picture is featured below named him that as well.

Record Scratch by DragonChaser123 on DeviantArt