The Fast, Dangerous and the Furious

Chapter Twelve: Plan of Action

I had been mesmerized by the click-clacking from the train’s wheels moving along the tracks for over an hour. In that time I had gone over what happened between me and Silver Shoe. That memory played back over and over and over again with no end in sight. The catwalk collapsing. Silver Shoe plummeting to her death. The fact that it was my fault.

“Runner.”

If only I had just kept my mouth shut. She’d still be here and we would be hanging with Glider right now. Speaking of Glider I don’t even know where she’s at. I need to track them all down once I finish this job. I’m going to have that talk with her at some point. I don’t even know if I’m ready for that conversation. I can barely handle thinking about Silver Shoe let alone saying it out loud.

This morning, when I woke up, I was drenched in sweat. The bed had been damp right where I had been laying. I had the most vivid dream of her falling down. I could feel something metal going through my body like I was her.

I ran my hoof through my mane. It was a little damp.

“Runner.”

Something hit my leg. My head snapped away from the window and I looked at War. I was breathing in fast pants. “You doing alright? You looked stressed out and depressed.” I nodded and went back to looking at the window. War shifted in his seat and pushed his hat up. Daring was too busy looking out the window to notice us talking. I stared out at a sign that put a small grin on my face.

Welcome to Las Pegasus:

A Place Where Dreams Come True!

Yeah for the casino owners. Why couldn’t Silver Shoe and I have come here? This is Las Pegasus the home of Equestria’s fastest rush and ten times better than that Nightmare Moon carnival.

The train pulled into a station and we all got off. This was where we were supposed to pull whatever job War wanted us to do. I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting this place to be his mark, but I won’t complain. The clouds above us had darkened making the colored lights at each casino stand out like they were performers with stage lights on them. Several large spires were positioned in front of one casino each lit up in so many different colors I thought my eyes might fall out. War pointed to the casino right across from us. “That’s our mark.”

The sign lit up in beautiful scarlet red lettering that drew all of my attention away from the other casinos. The letters spelled out, “The Redemption Casino.” It was five stories tall with tinted windows that made it impossible to see inside. Daring’s jaw dropped. She pushed her pith helmet up slowly turning at War. “This is our …,” all she could do was smile. A pony whistled at us.

The stallion had a tan coat and light brown mane, he had on a suit jacket that looked like it was made for high rolling. War trotted over to him and I followed. “Runner, this is Rusty Horseshoe, he’s a part of that thing I told you about.” A wagon was attached to him and all three of us jumped inside of it. Daring looked at her vest, then took a rather curious look at the ponies walking out of the casino. I don’t know about her, but I feel severely underdressed for this place.

“Shouldn’t we be dressed in some nicer clothes?” Daring voiced my concern.

War just chuckled and gave Rusty a pat on the back. “It’s good to see you again Rusty. Is Han waiting at the restaurant?” All Rusty did was hum. He galloped down the road then pulled into an alleyway just several blocks away. We got out; I already started noticing ponies looking at us. If I had to guess I’d say only ponies that have flank tons of bits can get into Las Pegasus.

Daring and I jumped out of the wagon looking at the place that I assumed was our base of operations. Pretty desecrate place. War tossed me a key. I caught it in my levitation field. “All the way to the back, basement. We’ll meet you two down there.” I looked at Daring while she shrugged. We walked inside the restaurant immediately dodging every server within a five table radius. I took a long inhale, bringing in smells so wonderful I swear my mouth was drooling from the hay being cooked. Once we got to the back of the building we turned left to find a locked door.

I put the key in the lock and turned it. The door swung open and we both trotted down a staircase leading us straight to the basement. Daring pushed open the last door revealing to us a large room with bookcases set up around us. For all these book cases set up there wasn’t enough books to fill the space. Funny thing was that there was only a history book lying around. I walked into the open coming face to flank with a zebra dancing to the tune of some song he was playing through his headphones. There was a chalk board set up in the center of the room and it was a big one at that.

The zebra landed on his fore hooves, holding the lower half of his body in the air, sweat slowly dripped from his mane. He stuck out his front right hoof and kept a graceful pose before pushing off the ground. One back flip later and he was back on all four hooves. I walked past a bookshelf luckily spying four things I wanted to read. Equestria: A History in the Making Volume II, Equestria: History of the Wonderbolts, and Swordmares issues eight, nine and ten. Rusty Horseshoe walked past me and stopped. His head faced the bookshelf. “You can have those if you want I don’t really read them anymore.” He brushed his mane forward then walked over to the chalkboard.

“I can,” my jaw almost dropped, “I really can!” I scooped everything up into my bags. Everything was sorted right then and there. The two history books went with my other history book and my new comics went with my other comics. Daring walked past me, scoffing just loud enough for me to hear, shaking her head trying not to laugh. She chuckled a little.

“Careful, you’re drooling.” She didn’t look back but she knew I was staring at her. Yeah, yeah very funny Daring.

Once I was done I got up and walked over to the chairs set up in front of the chalk board. It was freaking huge. There was enough room to draw up any plan you wanted, that was after pictures of our mark had been taped to it, then plan out what we each wanted to do for the rest of the week.

Silver Shoe and I had something similar. It was bulletin board in the sewer system. Most of our information was later burned excluding the information from our last job which I was planning to hold on to for another job, before everything went crazy.

My attention went to the zebra. I had read a lot about them and how their homeland was far from Equestria, but to actually see one was another feeling entirely. According to my books their lands were far from Equestria. Daring noticed I was staring at him, she slowed down enough to give me a nudge when I caught up to her. “You’ve never seen a zebra before have you?” I shook my head and gave her “nu-uh” as my answer.

War whistled at everyone while we both took a seat in front of the chalkboard. The zebra took a seat right next to me! I need to talk to him and ask questions! Reading is one thing, but actually seeing and talking with one is better experience than any book could ever offer. War pointed a hoof at the zebra, “Runner, Daring this is … just call him Han.” Nicknames. Alright. The zebra shook both of our hooves then went back to starring at the chalkboard. “He’s our eyes on the inside, has been for a while now.” I looked at his flank and saw what I assume is supposed to be his cutie mark.

From what I had read, zebra’s had markings that were similar to our cutie marks. His looked like the spoiler for a high end glider. “I thought zebras had markings based on things from their homelands,” such as welcome masks. Han turned his attention to me only sparing a glance at his flank once.

He nodded. His accent was more exotic than anything I had ever heard or even read about. “Like you pony folk, we to, have markings that depict our special talents.” Han cleared his throat and his accent was gone! “My special talents are flying gliders and disguising myself.” What! He can change when he has an accent! That is the coolest thing I have ever seen a zebra do. I mean it’s the only thing I’ve seen a zebra do, but how many zebras can actually do that? I looked at Daring and she was having the same reaction I was. Now that was a shocker. She blinked, turned away, then pushed her helmet up pretending she wasn’t impressed.

WHA-THUNK!

A pony trotted through the open door. It was a stallion wearing a dress shirt and suit jacket, he had a clean cut salt and pepper mane with a light brown coat. “There’s the stallion I’ve been waiting for. Eleven Oceans, this is Runner and you already know Daring,” War laughed pointing a hoof at us. “This is Oceans, he’s our heist planner, organizer, information scout and general go-to stallion for work like this.” Oceans stopped in front of us taking the time to shake our hooves along with a proper introduction. I spared a glanced over at Daring and noticed she was shaking her head. If I had to guess she wasn’t surprised by these ponies being picked. I’m sure we were both surprised about the zebra though.

“So you two are our spare members, pleasure to have you aboard. Daring, I knew he’d pick you.” Daring gave him a hoof bump with beautifully confident smile. There was something about this guy that I liked. He looked like the kind of stallion that was just down-to-earth. From the smooth tone of his voice all I wanted to do was go along with whatever he said. If he told me to go in guns blazing I’d do it. Honestly if he told me some bull shit right now that I knew was a flat lie I’d believe him no questions asked. Eleven Oceans just has so much charisma flowing from his voice!

Oceans and Rusty took a seat next to Han. All of our seats were taken and from the look on War’s face everyone was here. He pointed a hoof at the pictures of the casino. War’s horn lit up commanding several schematics of the building floated up in front of us. Rusty chuckled. “Nice to see our methods haven’t changed.” Shit, these are the kind of methods that Silver Shoe and I had to use. I wouldn’t be surprised if most criminals in this line of work use similar methods.

War nickered. “We’re about to pull off a heist on a corrupt multimillion dollar casino relieving it of its most valuable assets. No, the methods haven’t changed, not even for this job. We can’t risk leaving a trail on some faulty hard drive system.” That’s a good point. We can burn paper and make sure the evidence stays gone. Computers can be hacked and traced. Rusty couldn’t help but crack a grin. What did I just get myself into? I can deal with stealing a few nice weapons, some food and even some engines from a train, but this is just insane. “Oceans, would you please explain the plan.”

My eyes went to Daring. I could see she was taking in every little detail she could from the schematics. I started doing the same. Analyzing all the entry, exit or any door that could be used to leave the building. This was something I loved about working with plans. It all made sense to me.

Daring slowly nodded her head, clearly having everything setup in her head, while she looked at the others who apparently already had the floorplan memorized. Eleven Oceans stood up and took War’s place while a piece of chalk levitate up next to him. Oceans was an earth pony, so was Rusty, War’s horn was aiding them to make this move faster. “Alright, just so we’re all caught up,” Oceans exclaimed while his hoof went straight to a picture of our target. “Our marks name is Dead Eye, he’s the casino owner that were going to hit and the stallion that practically runs Harbor City. He’s also King Sombra’s right hoof.”

Oh, shit. This guy’s been busy with his resume. I kind of want to be a part of this job now. Kind of. Not just doing the job because I lost a bet. Oceans voice though, he has such charisma when he speaks! “We’re targeting his casino’s most valuable assets.” The money. Right. “The unicorn slaves he ships off to Harbor City for Sombra to feed on. Rusty’s grease mare gave me some information regarding a spell Sombra uses that draws out a unicorn’s magic then turns it into his own.”

Yeah, I’ve seen that spell used right in front of my own eyes. In fact I’ve had that very spell used on me! I’ve even seen it used against him. And … wait. We aren’t doing this for the money.

Han cleared his throat. “You’re telling me that you’ve been planning all of this with the intent of stealing slaves and not the one hundred fifty million plus bits in Dead Eye’s vault?” Rusty turned his head at him and nodded. Okay, so I’m not the only one that thinks this heist is crazy. Well … then again we’d be freeing a lot of ponies from harm’s way. You know what this is just like Brave Day’s mine. I’m all for it. Saving ponies is what other ponies should be doing.

I turned my attention back to the board while Han was trying to put this all together. Oceans tapped the board and Han looked up at him. “Don’t worry, Rusty and I don’t work for free either. That being said we’re sending two high rollers inside the casino to gather up one hundred thousand bits for us.” I looked at War, he reluctantly nodded with that part of the plan. Alright so I’m hoping War has this all thought out. I’m really hoping I don’t get stuck with gathering the bits. My gambling skills suck, which reminds me of why I’m here in the first place.

Han folded his hooves together and nodded. “Right, you said we were robbing the casino of its most valuable assets.” There was no doubt he was pained about not going for the bits. After some careful thought his mood seemed to turn from sour to accepting. “Alright, well now that I’m aware of what we’re going after. How do you suppose we break into the jail cell? It’s four floors below the main floor and the door into the jail room itself is a bitch to get open even with an access card. You can’t hack it either.” Rusty exhaled and got up from his chair. He reached into a pair of saddle bags lying on the ground retrieving a picture of a large drill. That … that’s the drill from Brave Day’s mine!

Oceans pointed to the picture. “That’s why we got this. We’ll take the drill underground and punch a hole right through the wall.” That’s a great idea. If we can get the keys on the pony using the drill they can unlock everything. Every slave can get out through the sewers. I noticed a schematic of the sewer system was taped up as well. That also solves the issue of getting the unicorns out. It’s not like we can bring a few dozen unicorns up through an elevator into the casino. Especially if that casino is rigged to capture unicorns.

My eyes traced the pictures a few times and I noticed that knockout gas was intended for the heist. The AC units look like they have sensors that can detect knock out gas which, from the looks of it, ruled that out. My eyes stopped on a list of plans that were put in the failure pile. Daring spoke up, “I’m surprised you didn’t try Opalescence in a Handbasket for this.” A what in a handbasket?

“We can’t train a cat that fast and not enough ponies,” Rusty retorted.

Daring, you have some seriously funny plans to try out. Maybe after this is done … no. I’m going to Glider after this. Screw another heist. I continued looking through the plans before taking interest in one that involved using the great hall that led to the vault housing the monetary payload. “What about that plan with the great hall, what happened there?” There was a scoff from Han.

He cleared his throat, “Pinkie Laser Grid System. It’s programmed to move at random and only one pony is said to have ever gotten through it since it was built two hundred years ago.” Damn. Two hundred years and this system hasn’t been beaten another time. “My favorite failed heist was the one with the zebra trying to dance his way through the laser field. Tripped the fifth laser.”

Rusty chuckled and slapped his leg. “My favorite was the one where three griffons ran out of the casino drunkenly saying ‘we stole mad stacks of gems,’ and then got shot.” War burst out laughing along with Daring. Sounds like a lot of different crews have tried to break the bank with this casino and failed. Hopefully we’re not one of those crews.

Daring pushed her helmet up and looked at me. She leaned close to my ear, “My favorite was the one where a unicorn tried to teleport inside. Dumbass got stuck inside the vault!” I laughed at that. Damn, that must have been some surprise! I brought my hoof to my face, slowly shaking my head. If you’re going to steal something make sure you can at least pull it off.

I hadn’t noticed how off track we were getting until Oceans tapped his hoof against the chalk board. “Are we done here?” His voice raised a little. Daring cleared her throat and put her attention back on the board. You know there was a time when I wanted to get involved with racing. This isn’t racing and I’m starting to question why I’m here. Aside from being a small time thief myself.

War got up and motioned for Oceans to sit down. He did so letting War take the stage again. “Alright enough talking, listen up.” Han faced forward and Rusty acted like he was paying some attention. From the diagrams on the board it looked like he was on drill duty. “Before we break I want to make sure we’re all clear on this. I know three of you aren’t here doing what’s best for Equestria, well I am, now my plan to get you three money is simple. Runner, Daring and I will pose as high rollers. I’ll cheat on some of the machines and get caught, after I’ve given Daring my bits, then Han throws me in the jail cell with keys to get every unicorn out.” Okay, that sounds good. Next part please. “While that’s going on Daring will be using every trick in her and my book to cheat, rig then win her way to one hundred thousand bits. Runner will keep an eye out for potential screw ups, dealing with them accordingly should they arise. Once this is all done, Oceans, Rusty and Han will divide their payment amongst themselves. We load the slaves up in a train and drop them off in Ponyville. Oh and no pressure, but this is the only time we’ll get to pull this off, because Dead Eye is sending those unicorns out to Harbor City a couple of hours after our exit strategy pulls out of the station.”

Sounds good to me. I can keep a plan going and help Daring out the best I can. That’s assuming nothing goes wrong, but with a heist this big, something’s going to go wrong. Han looked a bit disappointed, but he nodded just deciding to go with it. Although having me Daring and War try to earn that much money sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. War clapped his hooves together. “Good, now that we’re all on the same page let’s break. Oceans, Han I need you guys to get the drill in place for tonight. Rusty go get us some clothes, make sure they are fancy.” Thank Celestia I won’t feel underdressed any more. I looked down at my lack of attire. Alright, well I don’t usually wear clothes to begin with, but still.

Every pony got up from their seats and trotted off to do their jobs, except for Han. The zebra walked over to War and pulled him to the side. “Tell you what, you can give my share of the money to Rusty and Oceans. I’ll take some pride knowing I did this job for the right reasons.” I couldn’t help but smile at that. Doing something good for the sake of doing something good. Han met up with Oceans just before walking out the door.

Daring joined War at a table with several different casino games set up next to it. “Let me guess the casino is rigged isn’t it.”

“That’s right and I’m going to teach you everything I know on how to swindle everything you can from them,” putting the odds in our favor. Who says the house always wins? That just means … I have nothing to do until we start the mission. “Runner, why don’t you read some of those books until were done. Study the floorplan if you want.” Then I will do just that. I found a cozy spot on the couch and opened my history book. A topaz gem fell out.

My horn lit up and I focused my magic on it. The world around me blurred while colors filled my vision. Everything was ripped away at once.

*** ***

Whoever I was inside of right now, blinked. My eyes were staring down at a newspaper with the headline ‘Second Break-In at Fillydelphia PD’. I could see my host’s reflection in a dark computer screen. It was Princess Twilight.

I wonder. Alright. Focus. My eyes closed.

I opened them to find I was standing in front of Twilight with nothing but her desk between us. She couldn’t see me, but this gave me a lot more insight in how to use a memory jewel. Looks like they can let me see things through one pony’s perspective or through my own. Whoever made these is a genius.

Spike burst through the door holding stacks of papers in his claws. “Three missing Princesses and three times the work. Twilight, I don’t know how you do it.” An owl came flying in and perched itself on Twilight’s chair. The thing flew right through me and it … ugh … felt just … it didn’t feel right.

Twilight looked up from her paper work slowly opening her mouth. Her yawn lasted for a few long seconds before she closed her mouth. Her eyes were bloodshot. If I was in her place I’d have collapsed by now. “It’s nothing I can’t handle without my two assistants.” She gave us her best smile. Twilight yawned again and pulled open a drawer. I trotted over to the open drawer noticing her hoof pull out a large energy drink. Oh, come on Twilight. Those are just plain bad for you. “Just remain calm and collected and you can get through any job.” I could have used that lesson a while back.

Spike waddled over to the Alicorn with a chair being pulled right behind him, he spared a moment’s notice at the headline. His claws gripped the paper, tossing it in the trash, before turning a concerned eye to Twilight who was beginning to look a bit disappointed. “Aww come on Twilight. Don’t get so down, maybe you should have Rainbow Dash and Applejack help you re-design the security system in Fillydelphia.” Twilight’s eyes closed for a second almost making her look asleep. She opened them. “I mean you’ve taken on so much extra paper work on top of designing five new systems. You could use a break.” Any pony could see he was right. Twilight’s head fell forward and she jerked it back up. She blinked several times before chugging a gulp from her energy drink. The sheer amount of will power she must be using to stay awake was admirable.

Twilight tapped her computer screen. I took a look at what was on the screen and … hey … this system looks pretty good. I mean a few tweaks could be done to it. Those cameras have a large window of time before any one of them can cover that area with the statues. That’s probably how ponies are getting in. Overall it’s a good looking system. “Maybe my number one assistant can give me some advice.” Spike opened his mouth only to have the door swing open. “Who’s my number one assistant?”

“I am!”

It was the pink mare from the carnival sign! She spoke at an alarmingly fast speed. “Helloooooo Twilight. When Spike told me how stressed out you were I knew I couldn’t let my bestest friend in all of Equestria buckle under that kind of pressure. That’s when I had the craziest most thoughtful idea ever. I’m throwing you a surprise party!” Breathe! Breathe you lovable pink mare, breathe! “Aww I guess it’s no longer a surprise now that you know, but we can still have a great time anyway! I got chocolate covered apples and a chocolate fountain!” Her ears flapped simultaneously with her buckling. “We can even get some for that spy that’s eavesdropping on us.” Twilight looked at her security cameras. I looked at them to. Nothing was out of the ordinary. My horn lit up and I looked around the transparent walls. No pony was hiding anywhere.

Sweet mare, but she’s a bit to hyper.

“Pinkie I …”

“What? Those things are good!”

Who has the energy to keep up with you? I’m getting exhausted from listening to you. Sorry Twilight, you’ve got a good friend, but I can’t understand how you keep up with a pony that hyperactive.

Pinkie Pie needs to use her energy to make some energy drinks. Bet they’d be healthier than the one Twilight’s drinking. Oh, she finished it. Pinkie Pie looked at some sphere with small pegs pointing out of it. Somehow I missed the machine in my observation of Twilight. Pinkie waved her hoof around it while Twilight hit a button with a grin. The lights dimmed. Blue lasers became visible throughout the entire room, I traced them all the way back to the sphere that Pinkie Pie was messing with.

Twilight hit a few more buttons until she commanded the lasers to start moving around. One of them hit my eye!

AGH! I blinked and put a hoof to my right eye. What the hell? So ponies and other moving objects can pass me, but when a laser hits me it still hurts? Screw you memory jewel! I raised my hoof at the stupid machine.

Pinkie Pie started ducking under the lasers. It’s an impressive system, Twilight did a wonderful job, but Pinkie Pie was making it look like a child’s exercise machine. She flipped over one of the lasers and balanced on one hoof just like Han. “What game is this Twilight?” Princess Twilight’s jaw was down on the desk while she watched what was going on. “It’s a bit to predictable though, don’t you think?”

It is not … predictable … holy crap. That laser field is predictable. It took me a couple minutes to figure it out and I missed a lot of the conversation between the two friends. This was crazy though. Each laser had a specific movement after each couple of seconds. It wasn’t a noticeable pattern, but with the right eye you could catch it moving in a pattern.

Twilight’s head slumped down to the desk while Spike was bumped by Pinkie Pie’s flank. The princess looked up and tilted her head. She moved her hooves back to her key board. I turned to the screen noticing her type something I couldn’t really understand. A few minutes went by until the screen displayed a new formation for the lasers. “Pinkie you’re a genius!” Twilight stood up and she dwarfed me in size. I’m not very tall, but Celestia would have a run for her money if her protégé kept growing like this. “Spike get the girls together as soon as you can. We’ve got work to do.” Looks like that energy drink finally set in.

Pinkie Pie stopped moving while the lasers moved all around her, they never actually touched her, but it was like some weird sixth sense was telling her where to stop. Her puffy hair deflated like a balloon. It even sounded like one! “What about your surprise party that’s not a surprise anymore?” Pinkie tilted her head.

“If this next system works, I’ll party all night!” Pinkie’s hair bounced back up becoming puffy again. She looks better that way. Her hair being deflated makes her look depressed. Pinkie gasped and tried to sit patiently while Twilight continued working on the system. I yawned and sat on my haunches.

Several hours went by! The jewel has hours held in it. And. I. Can’t. Leave! AGH! I’m going crazy here. I didn’t dare leave the room for fear that I’d somehow ruin the memory or the jewel itself and get stuck in here. Pinkie Pie had fallen asleep leaving Spike to go off to get Twilight’s friends.

Twilight hit one more button on her keyboard before pushing away from the desk. She spoke to no pony specific, “The Pinkie Laser Grid System is done.” Princess Twilight took in several deep breathes before installing it into a mechanical box on her desk. Pinkie Pie lay snoring on the carpet. “Pinkie,” Twilight’s warm voice like a hot chocolate on a cold winter night, “I’m finished.” The pink mare’s eyes bolted open, her body springing up onto her haunches. I let out a loud yawn that I’m so glad they couldn’t hear. Pinkie Pie’s head snapped around looking for a noise. She can’t hear me can she? No. No. That’s impossible.

The next thing I knew, the memory flashed forward a few minutes. My vision blurred for a second and returned to normal. I looked around at my surroundings. And saw beautiful glass depicting major events in Equestria’s history. Sombra being stopped by Spike. Twilight harnessing the Elements of Harmony with her friends. The defeat of Discord. Princess Twilight triumphing over Lord Tirek. Those were just a few of the events that I could name. There were several others, but I hadn’t read about them yet.

It was a ballroom. A beautiful one at that. Several other mares accompanied Princess Twilight into the room with Pinkie Pie. One of them was a … wow … she had a stunning purple curled mane with a blindingly white coat. “Whatever is the fuss Twilight? Spike said it was urgent. Oh, and how are you darling? It’s been ages since we’ve seen you out of your office.” Twilight galloped over to a security box mounted high up on the wall. The box was attached near a piece of tapestry that almost made the entire box blend in. From within her saddle bags a similar looking box was retrieved, it was the one the new system had been downloaded to, before I could even blink it replaced the old model.

Twilight rejoined her friends at the other end of the ballroom. Once they were all behind a certain line Twilight opened up a brief case. With the press of a button the entire ball room was filled with thirty six lasers all moving in … another pattern? “I need you all to help me test this system. Pinkie Pie helped me develop it. Since she is the very definition of random I used that to develop the way the system moves.” Wait. I looked back at the lasers.

“Don’t worry sugar cube we’ll help you out,” A mare in a cow pony hat gave Twilight a pat on the back.

“So you programmed the laser grid to move … at random?” Rainbow Dash looked a bit skeptical. I was giving Twilight the exact same look. You couldn’t program a system to move randomly. That’s just impossible. It can’t be done. There I go being that pony again. Then again this is Twilight Sparkle, personal protégé to Princess Celestia. She could do anything. Right?

Rarity sat on her haunches, her head moving in time with the lasers. “Then Rainbow Dash can be the first one to test it.” I turned my attention to the two pegasi in the group. Wait. I just realized the one with the butterfly cutie mark is Fluttershy! Her bandages have saved my flank so many times. She has my utmost respect.

Rainbow Dash trotted over to the unofficial starting line. She crouched down doing a few practice sprints in place. One of the mares with a bit of a country accent spoke up. “Good luck there Rainbow.” The pegasus shot her a smile brimming full of confidence.

“Luck, I’m all the luck I need, AJ!” Rainbow Dash pushed off against the ground and flipped past the first three lasers. She landed on her back hooves and she let the next laser move past her. Once it went by her she took off flying. Five more lasers got in her way; she froze. Rainbow Dash jerked her head around and started going back. Two lasers passed through her. They blinked red alerting Twilight through her briefcase. “Oh, for the love …” the pegasus muttered some stuff to herself while she went back to the starting line. “Applejack, your turn,” she reluctantly gave the country mare the floor.

Applejack gave Rainbow a pat on the back. She took off her hat and put it in the other mare’s face, “Hold mah hat.” The country mare galloped off, sliding underneath the first laser, with her blonde mane waving behind her. Her hooves pushed off against the ground letting her dive right over two more lasers. Her back hooves went down and missed the lasers by an inch! Phew.

She rolled to the right letting another laser move towards her. I lost track of how many lasers she got past, she was doing better than Rainbow Dash though. Four lasers went down to the ground and started searching for hooves. Applejack jump over them just as two of them moved up. Her back hooves hit the edge of one laser. Twilight’s brief case went off. “Aww shucks.” Applejack walked back over to Rainbow Dash, taking her hat back, before muttering some foul language to herself.

Once the country mare took a seat next to Twilight it was Fluttershy’s turn. She flapped her wings looking back nervously at the group. Twilight waved her hoof with an eager look on her face. Fluttershy looked back at the lasers. Gently flapping her wings a bit harder she inched herself forward, arching her back while she moved around the first laser, beads of sweat rolled her muzzle She circled around the second laser running right through the third. “I’m so sorry Twilight, I’m not very good at this kind of stuff.”

Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes, “I’ll say. I bet our spy would do better than that.” We all looked at Pinkie Pie. WHAT SPY? I’ve looked around here several times … wait. My horn lit up. The tapestries became transparent but no pony was hiding behind them. I looked at each one of the walls and nothing was out of the ordinary from what I could tell. “Would you stop looking for the spy he’s right there.” She pointed in my direction. Twilight’s friends exchanged worried looks with each other until finally paying her no mind.

Rarity smiled and stood up. “It’s really more of a dance, if you ask me.” She brushed her mane back, slowly perusing one of the laser, her hooves moved in time with the lasers. Her body spun around, gently gliding around the first laser. She bowed her head gracefully letting a laser swoop right over her mane without touching it. Rarity brought her four hooves together and spun around while five lasers moved around her without ever getting close to reaching her. She took a large hoof step to the right; avoided the laser that passed through her last location. Her front hooves pushed against the ground and she stood on her back hooves while three more lasers came near her. Rarity took a few hoof steps to the left while the lasers traced the floor around her. She landed on all four hooves, then bowed while another two lasers went over her head.

My jaw was on the floor. You’ve got to be kidding me. She’s dancing through the lasers! That’s kind of cool.

Rarity slid along the ground and threw her hair back. The end of her hair hit what I counted as the twenty fifth laser. She stomped her hoof against the ground with the most irritated look on her face. “I was so close darling! Maybe I need to dust off my ballroom dancing skills.” Twilight could only smile at her results. I trotted over to her, taking interest in the briefcase, noticing how it kept track of how far the others had gotten. It was a little surprising to see Rarity get the closest to beating the Pinkie Laser Grid System. I guess she’s just as amazing as she is beautiful. “If you don’t mind me asking dear, however are we supposed to get through here when there’s no set pattern?”

Lesson learned; don’t judge a book by its cover.

“That’s just it, you’re not supposed to. It’s designed so that no pony can get through it. Even if they do they couldn’t get through it a second time,” Twilight chimed to them with a tired smile. She, like me, needed some decent sleep. Seriously, you can only watch a mare type at a screen for so long before you want to try to find a way out of here. Dear sweet Celestia please say this is almost the end.

“That’s a mighty fine system Twi.” Applejack tipped her hat at Twilight.

Rarity took one look at the brief case’s screen. I swear that’s something out of a spy ponies hand book. “It’s wonderful, elegant, graceful and most of all, daring.” Twilight blushed and scratched her mane.

“I got the idea from Pinkie Pie’s random sense of nature and her pinkie sense.” I looked up from the screen noticing Pinkie was trying to dance through the lasers. My attention went back to the screen. “It’s programmed to move at random and avoid using predictable motion patterns.”

“I did it!”

We all looked up and our jaws dropped. WHAT! Pinkie Pie … she … the other end of the … the lasers … she did it! Twilight blinked and looked at her friends. They all shared the same reaction. Rarity giggled giving Twilight a nudge, “Pinkie sense.” Spike came up from behind Twilight and closed her jaw.

The world felt ripped away from me while everything blurred together.