Magic Rifles

Part 1 – This was NOT planned…

You give a quick glance at the TT-42, checking if the guards have returned from their brake.

It’s clear in the north hallway, great. Time to execute phase two.

The TT-42, one of your most valued devices. It was used to connect to hacked CCTV sources, allowing you to monitor various video feeds while being mobile. It was also used for remote controlling various things. A mini version of a hacker’s setup. It looked like a military grade iPad.

You tap into the remote control panel and disable the north entrance alarm system, putting the TT-42 away, you open the steel door and enter the hallway.

This is too easy, the guards must really be slacking off.

Moving alongside the left wall, you make your way to the presentation room, scanning every door and corner you pass.

To your surprise, you reach the room you were looking for 20 seconds earlier than what you had originally planned.

Always one step ahead!

You peak in through the window on the left side of the door, the target was inside the room, working on a computer. He looked pretty stressed, not that you cared.

Pulling out your trustworthy Glock-17, you check that the sound suppressor is attached correctly. Check.

Making your last checkup on the guards, you crouch and move past the window over to the door.

Quite as can be, you push the door open, while moving closer to the target.

You pull up your gun and aim directly for the back of his head, you were almost within range of the kill.

As soon as you are right behind the target, you squeeze the trigger, sending your custom lead bullet into the back of his head, his body starts to collapse.

You quickly jump a couple of meters, catching his body before it hits the floor. Snatching his body over your shoulder, you start carrying him outside.

Making sure all doors and other various details are accounted for, you close the outer door and re-activate the alarm system. Now, you only need to dispose of the body. You slowly make your way to your car, making sure nobody sees you.

You quickly grab the car keys from your pocket, pressing the remote activator for the trunk. The back of the car quietly opens up allowing you to put the body into the trunk. You check his vital signs. Yup, his out cold.

Trunk, closed. Better move now before somebody needs to consult him.

You get inside the BMW, and turn over the ignition. The car starts perfectly like it always did. This car was special too you in so many ways, you've had it since your first mission, always modifying it as you made more money. It was a beast. 900 HP pure engine power. Not getting into all the NOS you also had installed, it could almost outrun everything you had seen. Also with special armor and computer systems, you could basically live inside the damn thing. Which you had done a couple of times while being on the run from crazy revenge schemes.

Since you didn't have to rush, you pushed the gear into automatic, and started to pull away from the mission zone. Slowly getting onto the freeway, you turned on the built in computer that was a pretty big touch screen right above the gear. Pushing in the coordinates for the ‘pay zone’, you activated the GPS function. You usually never needed the GPS for getting around, but for the purpose of safety, you always had it running.

You always memorized your plans, so you knew you had around 20 miles ahead of you.

“Why not.”

You turn on the music player in the computer and press the shuffle option.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1f7eZ8cHpM

Activating the cruise control mode on the steering wheel, you lean back and let the sweet tunes of The Steve Miller Band invade your ears. And with a luxury sound system installed, it couldn’t get any better.

About 15 minutes later, you pull of the freeway, onto a smaller road leading towards a big forest. Pay zone incoming.

The ‘pay zone’ was your word for the final part of any mission. Usually that’s where you hide the bodies for disposal and grab your final payment. Always in cash. You never trusted the banks, so you always had your money in cold hard cash.

The next song came up while you turned onto a dirt road and drove towards the forest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GzMx9CnhVk

OH yeah… This was one of your favorites. Boston always knew how to make for a great rock ‘n roll song.

The dirt road was a secondary route, which eventually let onto an ordinary pavement road. You pulled up in speed as you drove onto the primary road through the forest. Driving around 50 mph, you had a good clear vision of the road.

Glancing down at the GPS interface, you nodded as it stated 1.8 miles left till you reached the pay zone.

As soon as you looked back on the road, an extreme amount of light blinded you, causing you too flinch.

You stepped hard as you could on the brake, still blinking your eyes frantically to regain vision.

Eye sight returned very quickly, the only thing you saw in front of you was something that looked like a small horse, standing in the middle of the road. Everything felt like it was going in slow-motion, you could hear the high pitch sounds emitting from your tires, screaming as they tried to stop the car.

You realized the car was not going make the stop, you were just about to turn the steering wheel to the left when you felt the car float into the air. Momentum of the speed still in progress, the car smashes to the ground, you rip the steering wheel to the left, while still applying full force too the breaks.

After sliding a bit, the car comes to a full stop. Sitting in the car, you use a couple of seconds to process what just happened. What was the sudden outburst of light? Where did the horse come from? Why was it so small? How the hell did the car suddenly take off!?

With too many questions compared to answers, you shake your head a few times and open the door. Stepping out of the car you

perform a status check.

Head? Check.

Upper body? Check.

Lower body? Check.

The car? Not too good.

The paintwork was more or less ruined. The front bumper was crumpled after the touchdown and needed to be replaced later. The suspension had almost given in at the landing, but was still going.

Walking over to the rear end of the car, you notice some scratches under the bumper. They had a bit of purple too it, like if you had dragged the bumper over a cheaply painted wall.

You turn to where you had seen the horse, there’s a slight outline of something on the road. Stepping closer to it, you realize it’s purple.

Sticking your hand in your pocket, you grab a flashlight, lighting up the area, you notice quite a few things about the horse.

“What the fuck is this for a joke?”

The horse was definitely small, around the size of a pony. It looked like someone had used a tremendous amount of time on faking a horn on its head. Turning it in to what you guess should be a unicorn. Its eyes were really big, bigger than any other horse, pony, or whatnot you had ever seen.

“Always while I’m on a fucking job. Jesus.”

Normally, this wouldn't have been a big problem too you. But you had a couple of rules you always followed while on a job. One of those rules involved leaving no trails of you behind. And a dead, whatever that is, right next to your tire marks was not a good way to hide evidence. It might seem like trivial details, but you never took any chances.

“For fuck sake… Guess I got no choice…”

You had to bring this thing along with you, it was simply too big a risk to leave it behind.

You picked up the purple pony and carried it to the car. Putting it on the passenger seat next to you, you close the door and starts to drive onwards. This time, only around 30 mph. You didn't want to trash your car even more.

Only a mile left until you would reach the exchange point, you just wanted to end this shit ASAP.

You could see a few people waiting near a couple of cars. One SUV and another one that looked like an old classic sedan type of car. You pull up around 20 meters away from the cars and exit your own.

“Finally! I was beginning to think you wouldn’t make it…”

It was the guy who hired you that spoke. He had a huge shit eating grin on his face.

“I got the body in the trunk. Show me the payment.”

One of the bodyguards leaned over and whispered something to his boss. He had his hand on his gun, he was giving you a look of disbelief.

“I wouldn't try that if I were you. Your gonna be dead before you even un-holster the fucking gun.”

The bodyguard kept his hand on the gun, awaiting orders from his boss.

“Now, take it easy, no one is shooting anyone!”

The boss tries to whisper something too his bodyguard. He is obviously pissed at him, since he is more or less yelling.

“Are you fucking stupid? This guy would rip you apart and use you as a towel afterwards! Get the hand of the fucking pistol you stupid grunt!”

The bodyguard scoffs and releases his grip on the weapon. The boss turns back around to face you.

“I’m sorry about that, some of my employees can be a little slow in the uptake. Now, we were discussing payment?”

You let out a mental sigh, trying to keep cool.

“No, you were about to give me the payment that we already have agreed on. No negotiation.”

It looks like he respects your rules. He turns around and pick up a briefcase and tosses it over to you. You catch it and open it. Check the paper too see if it’s legit. It all checks out. 50.000 Dollars in cash.

“Everything seems okay, where do you want body?”

He points on the ground between you.

“Put it there, I’ll confirm and my men will take care of-“

“I know how it works. I’ll go get it.”

Just as you turn around, you hear the boss whisper something to one of his grunts.

Really? Are you so dense you’re actually going to try that?

The familiar sound of an amateur trying to silently load his gun catches your attention. You’re preparing yourself to run for cover. Your car should be perfect, the armor and windows are bulletproof, so behind the rear should be acceptable.

You glance at the windshield catching the reflection of the bodyguard raising his gun towards you, at that point you take one big step and toss yourself behind the car. You hear a few silenced gun shots hit the spot you were standing merely a second ago.

You take cover and pull out your Glock-17. You think quickly about the situation. You were clearly outmatched. You knew that they had a couple of extra guys in that SUV, they properly had auto-weapons instead of only a 9mm. You only had a Glock and a couple of mags. The odds was not exactly in your favor.

You lay down, looking under the car, you can see 6 feet, the boss and the two grunts. You aim your gun at the bodyguard to the right, putting a bullet in both of his feet. You wait until he collapse on the ground in pain, then putting a bullet right in his face he’s out cold.

You quickly do the same to the guy at the left as well.

At this point the boss screams for help and runs behind his car for cover. Making sure his feet is behind one of the wheels. You hear several car doors open, guessing it’s the backup from the SUV stepping out. You hear several weapons cocking. Yeah, that’s auto-weapons alright, sounds like ‘Vectors’ based on the sound.

A Vector is a good close combat weapon, it fires bullets faster than a junkie running, getting news of free drugs. The only downside with that weapon is that its precision is severely damaged due to the rate of fire.

Still, you would have to gain more distance to use that advantage, right now there was only about 10 meters between you. They would pump you full of lead if you made one wrong move.

Desperately trying to find something to help you, you start searching your pockets for anything useful. You realize you haven’t taken out the TT-42 from your pocket yet. You pull it out and turn it on.

Thinking back a couple of minutes, you remember you left the car and the computer interface running when you stepped out. You quickly load up the remote control panel and connect to the cars computer system. A few seconds pass before the message ‘CONNECTION ESTABLISHED’ appears. The program looks like a more sophisticated PlayStation controller. You can hear a small click from the car as you release the handbrake, putting the car into reverse, you start backing it up slowly.

Keeping your pace behind the car, you start to gain some distance between the bodyguards and yourself. Some of them are starting to walk along with the car, looking extremely dumbfounded. You even heard someone say, “Is this some magic crap!?”

You really wanted to laugh at his stupidity, but his leader broke in.

“He got remote control, scan your sectors! He might try to run off!”

You had already thought about that, but you had other plans. You pulled up the TT-42 and changed steering mode from Dynamic to Static. Turning the wheel a bit to the right still applying reversal, the driver seat slow started to turn in your direction. It was just a matter of seconds.

As the door closed in, you grabbed the handle and swung open the door, quickly getting inside and closing it. The bodyguards started firing at you in vein, until they realized the windshield was bulletproof. You gave them your middle finger and switched the gear to first.

Pouring everything you could out of the car, the turbo kicked in, causing the front of the car to raise of the ground, and speeding straight towards the bodyguards jumping for their lives. Totally Fast and the Furious Style!

After a couple of seconds, the front of the car returned to the ground, letting you turn the wheel. You looked in the rear mirror, you could see all the guards and the boss running towards their cars. A car chase? So be it…

You turned off the TT-42, causing the music player to continue spouting out music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu6gntFWHYU

Aha, not exactly the right song from that movie, but why not.

As you turn around another corner, you can see two sets of head lights closing in on you from behind. The only option you had was actually to try and outrun them, since you couldn't drive with all these turns and shoot out of a window at the same time.

Giving the car all it could take, you start speeding uphill. You remember the layout of the forest, the hill would lead to an X section, where you could drive either in town, or towards the badlands. Deciding your car would need a long clear road to escape, you chose the badlands.

Reaching the top of the hill, you rip the handbrake and drift around to the left, releasing one of the NOS bottles as you make the turn. It instantly push you back in your seat, you can see the speedometer surpassing 100 mph as the bottle drains. You keep pushing more power out of the car, watching in the rear mirror as the headlights that was following you slowly becomes smaller, eventually ends up disappearing completely.

You keep up the speed, not taking any chances on them returning. It’s dark, they could just have turned off the light. You bring up the GPS and check for motels within a 100 mile radius. There’s one that looks rather small and isolated. Confirming your destination, you lean back in your seat and start to relax a bit. It was going to be a long ride…

Part 2 – Introductions

It’s been around an hour of driving, you could finally see the sign of the motel. You were really looking forward to some sleep. Slowing down, you turn and drive into the parking lot, making sure to find the most secluded place to park.

You stop the car, switching it off and pulling up the handbrake. You let out a huge yawn right before you grabbed the briefcase. Opening it, you crabbed a couple of thousands and head out of the car. You make sure to lock it completely before heading into the reception.

You were greeted by a man with a classic cowboy look. He even got the Stetson on.

“Howdy there stranger!”

“Good day sir.”

Realizing that your pursuers would properly check the motels around the area, you had to hide the car, and the fact that you were here somehow. Time to put the ‘Social Engineering’ skills to use!

“Ya look like ya just been runnin’ from the other end of the state!”

This might be less complicated than you thought. You prepared the best Texas accent you could.

“Mah’ neighbor thought I stole his cattle, so I need a place to stay a couple ’a night’s.”

“Well, did’cha son?”

“Nah, but he won’t believe me! I just need some time to figure it out”.

He scratched his beard and looked over at a board with keys.

“Alright, I’ll help ya out. Ya gotta car with ya?”

“Yeah, if I could rent a garage or somthin’, I would be very grateful.”

He walks over to the dashboard and picks out two keys. He hands them both to you.

“Theres a garage behind the main buildin’, park it there. If ya need tools, just tell meh.”

“Thank you sir, that’s awfully kind of ya.”

He smiles and tells you it’ll be 250 dollars including the garage rent. You give him a thousand and he looks at you with a weird expression.

“Uhm, son? Ah, only said 250 dollars?”

“Ah know sir, but in case he comes round, could ya be kind and tell him that ya don’t know me?”

He lets out a laugh and takes the money, he gives you 500 dollars back. You refuse and tell him he can have it as a token of your gratitude.

“Thank ya son. Hope everything works out for ya, if ya need to stay some more, just tell me.”

“I will, thank ya sir.”

You leave the reception, walking straight to the car. You unlock it and drive it around the building into the garage. Grabbing the briefcase, you notice that the purple pony is still lying at the passenger seat.

You completely forgot about it in your escape. You lift it up, carrying it and the briefcase. You manage to close the garage, locking it firmly. Walking up to the first floor via a balcony, you find the room designated on the key.

1. You unlock the door, walking inside and putting down the pony in the bed. Maybe just check if it’s still alive…

You check for a pulse, and nods as you can feel it’s still going. You sit down next to it on the bed, gathering your thoughts. You could only spend a couple of days here, then you had to move on. You glanced over at the pony again. What the hell are you gonna do with this? You actually felt bad when you considered just leaving it be somewhere, maybe it was wounded?

“I guess I didn't check that, maybe I should do a quick run over.”

Looking over the body, it didn't seem as there was any injuries. There was a little bit of blood coming out of the horn.

“How the hell is that possible?”

It couldn't be a fake if it was bleeding. Could it? Not sure. Maybe I should try cutting it off?

“Okay, pull yourself together man! What kind of idea is that!?”

Deciding to help the pon- uhh, unicorn? You walked out of the room, walking to the reception. The guy was still standing there, smoking a cigarette.

“Hey, is there any like, stores round’ here?”

“Yeah, just a few hundred meters down the road.”

“Alright thanks.”

After retrieving your car, you drove down to the store. It was one of those quick stop places.

Grabbing a few basic first aid kits, you decided to bring something it could eat when it woke up. Not quite sure what to pick, you just bought some mixed salads of sorts.

“Good day.”

“Thank you.”

The girl behind the register was one of those annoying teenagers that never paid attention to anything. You really hated those kind of people.

After driving back to the motel, you lock up the car and the garage, heading upstairs to your room. The unicorn was still sleeping. You snatched one of the first aid kits and started pulling bandages around the horn, you could hear the unicorn produce a few small groans as you rolled it around.

“I know it properly hurts a lot, just hang in a little longer while I get this bandage around. Then you can rest.”

Did you really just do that? Christ… You’re turning soft already…

Have to stay ahead, when they start searching, it’s gonna be state wide…

You were getting tired, you really needed some sleep. Since the bed was already occupied, you decided to take a few curtains and pillows from the cupboard and sleep on the floor. It wasn't comfortable in any possible way, but you figured the unicorn had already been moved around enough for today. It didn't take long for you to fall asleep.

“M-my…happ-…what is that!?”

You shoot up from your improvised bed, turning your head around trying to find the source of the noise.

“Eeek!”

You turn to the unicorn, finding it awake. It’s looking at you with a scared expression. You sit there for a couple of seconds, just starring at it. It was just starring back, not knowing what to do.

Finally you’re brain catch up with what’s happening, you realize it’s properly terrified about what’s going on. You stand up slowly and straighten your clothes.

“Hey there, I see you’re awake. Glad you’re okay. Nice too meet you.”

You gave a content smile. It was a long time you had been able to talk with anything living like this. Everything about your job was serious business. No jokes anywhere.

You were just about to continue talking when-

“Where am I!? Who are you? What are you?”

You froze. Like a video being paused. What the hell just happened? The unicorn just fucking spoke. Since when did unicorns speak!? Since when did unicorns exist!? This was just too much for your brain to process. You could handle multitask plans when you were about to take down a target, but this? This is just plain fucking wrong.

“I- What?”

Now you’re face was just as confused as the unicorn.

“Where am I? What are you?”

“Wher- you? What!?”

The unicorn let out a sigh and sat down on the bed. It was just looking at you. But this time, it was having a curious expression on its face.

“Can you talk?”

Okay, this is just fucked up in such a scale that science can go fuck itself. A unicorn asking you if YOU could speak!? Come on!

You snapped out of your stupid facial expression and tried to concentrate.

“Yes, I can. Now, what the hell is going on? Is this some horrible prank?”

It looked at you with a face that said, ‘Are you for real?’

“What do you mean ‘prank’? Who should be playing pranks?”

Okay this was just too fucking weird. You seriously needed some fresh air. And a smoke too.

“Okay, you've totally lost it now Dan. Point of no return 2 miles back.”

You said that sentence with as much sarcasm and irony in your voice as possible. You walked over to the door and went down into the reception. You could hear the unicorn shouting something after you, but didn't make any of it. You didn't care. It must be some hallucination, you never did drugs. Maybe it’s a poison? Did the families finally get to you? Is this some side effect from the poison slowly killing you?

“Nope, not gonna go there.”

You arrived in the reception. The man with the Stetson hat was standing in the same place as earlier, you asked him if you could buy a pack of smokes, and luckily he had one. You said you were going to borrow some tools from his garage, in same time handing him a hundred dollars for borrowing the tools.

As you walked into the garage, you lit up a smoke and turned on the radio. You found a channel playing some various rock music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHY0YxdswyY

You took a look at your car. Christ, you had to re do just about everything on the outside. You started by pulling of the plates, changing them to some different ones you had. After that you got to work on re-painting the car. Silver would do fine. Luckily this guy had just about everything a mechanic could wish for. You drove the car onto a lift and started checking everything. You had to replace the suspension with something of less quality. At least until you could buy some new ones.

An hour had passed, and you were almost done with what you were capable of here. The car was re-painted plates refreshed, new front bumper and the spoiler was straightened out.

When you heard something walking up behind you. You pulled out the Glock from your holster and swung around aiming it at… the unicorn…

“Seriously! What kind of acid trip is this crap?”

It stops and looks curiously at you.

“What do you mean by, ‘acid trip’?”

You sighed and sat down against the wall.

“I give up. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I’m guessing it’s beyond my comprehension.”

It walks up in front of you, looking at you with some seriously big eyes.

“I didn't thank you for helping me with my horn. I don’t know if it would have worked if you didn't patch it up. Thanks.”

It gives you a smile, even though you don’t notice. Your head is buried in your hands. You couldn't care less right now.

“Whatever.”

It stomps a hoof in the floor, producing a reverbing sound through the workshop.

“What is wrong with you? Is it normal to be so weird for whatever you are?”

It sounds frustrated. It really want you to start answering its questions. You look up at the unicorn and pull yourself together. Might as well see where this goes.

“No, it’s not. And I’m human. Talking about norms, I've never heard or seen a talking unicorn before. For that matter, I've never heard about them being THIS intelligently developed.”

It looks at you in utter surprise.

“W-what? Where are we!?”

You look around you. Your brain has switched off. Couldn't comprehend what was going on anymore.

“Well, we’re in a garage. And for location, what I would call outskirts Texas.”

The curiosity returns to its face.

“What country is this?”

“It’s the US. Or, if you want the full name, The United States Of America. USA. Mostly just pronounced as ‘the states’ or ‘the US’.”

It looks like its enjoying finally getting some answers. But it still have a tiny look of worry.

“How far away is Equestria relative to, ‘the US’?”

Equestria? What the hell was that? A country? A state? A city?

“Is that a country? A city?”

“It’s a country.”

“Hmm, I know about most countries, but I've never heard anything about something called ‘Equestria’.”

Now the look of worry is all over its face. Its ears drop and it looks down into the floor. From what you could make of the facial expression, it had a look of surrender on its face. It turned around, walking a couple of meters away from you. You could hear some slight mumbling, not enough to make out what it was.

Even though you didn't really believe anything that happened at the moment, you thought you might as well try and play along. Who knows what kinds of crazy shit you would witness?

“Hey, you got a name?”

It stopped its mumble and turned around. At the same time, you heard the radio host announced that the news would be on in a couple of minutes. You really hoped that the bodies from yesterday had been removed. The last thing you needed was the authorities getting involved.

“I do, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m a unicorn from a place called Equestria. Do you have a name?”

It was still looking rather upset about you not knowing about its home. Even though, it seemed as if it was a little relived with you finally talking with it. You still thought the name was a bit weird.

Just as you were about to tell it your name, the tunes of Boston started flowing through the air.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXuKD4NluKk

You loved Boston. Their music was some of the best you had ever heard. Realizing you had been frozen for a little longer than normal, you returned your gaze to the unicorn.

“Nice to meet you Twilight. My name is Dan Long. Also, sorry about almost running you over last night. I don’t know what happened, but somehow I think I flew straight over you…”

It gave you a little smile. And then started to giggle a little bit.

“Oh, that was me! I used my magic to lift that metal thing of yours away.”

You what? Magic? Seriously? Maybe that’s what it meant with its horn still working…

“I guess you use your horn for that, right?”

It looked a little surprised. But nodded a couple of times.

“Yes, every unicorn uses their horn to channel magic. How did you know?”

You chuckled a bit.

“Well, you mentioned your horn wouldn't have worked if I didn't help out. Just connecting the dots.”

It rolled its eyes, obviously a bit embarrassed that it didn't notice that itself.

“Anyway, judging by the voice, I guess your female, right?”

It nodded.

“Yes, you sound like your male. Right?”

You nodded.

“Well, I don’t exactly know where I am. I don’t suppose you could-“

She got cut of when you shushed her. The news was starting on the radio. You walked over to the radio and listened carefully.

“Hang on a minute… Just need to hear this.”

She looked a bit confused, but waited nonetheless. The intro sequence started leading up to the host giving a short description on what today’s program was.

“Welcome everybody! And thank you all for joining us. This is 85,6 news, and I’m Jerry Faltzer. Today, we have many surprising events, brought directly to you. Only on 85,6!"

"First off, two dead bodies was found in the north district forest area. So far, the police have not been able to ID the victims, but have stated that the cause of death involved a bullet straight in face."

"The police also found several tire marks on the road, hinting a car chase had taken place. The police have asked for any knowledge from the public, if you know something, or have heard anything, the authorities ask that you contact them straight away…”

This was bad. Usually the police would have found out of these things about 3 days after. Somebody must have found them and reported it. This means you had to leave now. You turn around and quickly open the car door, making sure the briefcase and various other items is inside the car. You close the door, turning to Twilight Sparkle.

“Listen, I have a problem, and I really don’t have time to explain right now. But I need to get outta here. I’m not sure about the whole, ‘Equestria’ thing. I really don’t care if you leave by yourself or you tag along, but know this, if other humans would find you, it could be catastrophic. Magic, intelligent Unicorns isn’t exactly a normal thing to humans. I’ll go grab my stuff from the motel room. I’m gonna leave when I get back, so if you’re not here by then, you’re on your own.”

You walk past Twilight and start making your way towards the motel room. Just around another corner and...

“Get ready to breach!”

You recognize the voice. It’s the leader of those mercenaries from the woods. Quickly, you grab your Glock and makes sure it’s loaded, the sound suppressor is in the car, so if your gonna start shooting, everyone will know.

You glance around the corner, you notice about 3 of them, all wearing full urban kits.

“Fuck this…” you whisper to yourself.

You turn around and start running towards the car, trying not to make any noise. As you reach the car, you notice Twilight examining a box of tools. You run over to the lift the car is placed on, quickly press the descend button. The life starts descending down towards the ground. You turn to Twilight and tells her its decision time.

“I-… I think its best I come with you for now Dan. If that’s okay.”

“It is Twilight. I wouldn't be asking if I didn't mean it.”

The car lift finally stops, the car is ready to go. You run over to the right side of the car and open the passenger door. You motion for Twilight to get inside, she looks a bit nervous but eventually complies.

Without wasting any time, you grab a jerry can and start pouring it from the garage door into the motel buildings passage. The motel was mostly made of wood, so it would do nicely.

You get back inside the car and turn over the ignition. The car starts with a huge roar. You had replaced some damaged parts when repairing the car, the exhaust system was almost wrecked and the only replacement you could find was some stupid street tuning kit. Specifically designed for making the most noise as possible.

“Hold on Twilight, this might get a little bumpy.”

She nods and tries to position herself as safe as possible. You put the car in reverse and starts backing up towards the garage entrance. Before driving all the way out, you roll down the window, grab your Zippo and lit it.

“Sorry dad.”

You toss the Zippo down onto the fuel line you had poured out earlier. You've had that Zippo for about 5 years, it was a little emotional for you too simply toss it out like that.

Quickly backing all the way out of the garage, you switch back into first gear and starts speeding towards the road. As soon as you get there, you hear something that sounds like a helicopter. You glance out of the still open window, only to find a helicopter with snipers on each side passing over you.

“Fuck this shit.”

You speed it up some more, getting around 80 mph. You try reaching for a small armored suitcase in the back. Unfortunately you can’t reach it.

“Twilight!? Can you reach the silver colored box that’s back there!?”

You point into the back of the car, indicating where it is.

“Hang on!”

She doesn't move, she just looks into the back with a lot of concentration. Suddenly a purple aura starts forming around her horn. It was slightly faded, properly from the bandages surrounding it.

“I got it!”

Suddenly, the case you had asked for comes floating in midair, right next to your face. You look at the case for a few seconds before grabbing it.

“Magic?”

“Yup.”

It was amazing! But you had to focus on the mercenaries currently trying to kill you.

You managed to drive while opening the case. You grabbed the Uzi and a few mags. Tossing the case back onto the seats, you realize you can’t both drive and shoot.

“Twilight!? I’m gonna need you to steer for a while!”

Now she looks scared. You were already moving fast, around 110 mph.

“N-no! I can’t!”

You look over at her for few seconds, giving her a smile that says, ‘you can do this’.

“If you don’t, we won’t be here for much longer!”

She looks at you for a few seconds, then nods.

“Okay, what do I need to do!?”

“Good! You control using the steering wheel! This thing! Turn it left, the car turns left! Turn it right, the car turns right! Don’t turn it too much, it’s very sensitive! What you have to do, is basically make sure we are on the road all the time. If you look out in front of the car, you can see the road is the dark black area! Stay within that, and I’ll take care of the rest!”

She nods, and you notice her magic takes a hold on the wheel. She turns it a bit around and the car makes a few sharp shifts.

“Easy! Not that much!”

“Just getting the feeling for it!”

You nod and bring up the Uzi, you punch in a new mag and load it up. Leaning out of the window, you got a pretty clear shot on the chopper, flying sideways in front of you. Just when you’re about to take aim, one of the snipers fire a bullet that hits you straight in the right shoulder.

“Hnnnng, fucking amateurs!”

Twilight looks over at you for a few seconds, she notice the blood streaming out of your shoulder.

“Dan!? Are you okay!?”

You begin taking aim with the Uzi again while responding to Twilight.

“I’m fine! Just concentrate on the car!”

You found a suitable aim at the chopper and started firing barrages of bullets. One of the snipers got a hit straight in the face and fell out of the copper. He landed on the road a few meters behind the car.

Firing some more, this time aiming for the motor section, you manage to get a few good hits in. Smoke starts to eject from the exhaust system. You sit back in the car and take over control. The chopper starts to fly off in the opposite direction of the road. You had managed to pick them off again. Smirking a bit of your own success, you speed up the car some more. You had to find a place where you and Twilight could be safe for a while.

“So, how did I do?”

She looks at you with the eyes of a student that just finished their first interesting project.

“Good, considering you’re a unicorn.”

You put a bit of sarcasm into that sentence and give her a sly grin.

“Gee, thanks.”

END OF ACT 1