The Fast, Dangerous and the Furious

Chapter Fifteen: Mission Insanity

I bumped into Daring while she opened a door to the boxcar earning a look that said to take a step back. Our meeting was taking place on the train ride to Harbor City for unknown reasons. Personally I would have waited until we were set up in the actual city before discussing anything. But, I’m not the leader of this crew so my opinion will stay out of it. From what Daring mentioned to me on the station I knew she had little insight as to what we would be doing.

“Then they’ll be caught and …” Rusty looked up at us with a charming smile. “There they are. Nice of you to finally join us. And you,” he point at me, “great intel.”

Just after I had gotten on the train I spilled everything to War. Every little detail about Sour Tooth’s fight with Sombra had been vital to the plan going on inside his head. From the brief conversation we had I discovered that our grease mare on the inside, whose name I still didn’t know, was keeping an eye on a hotel owned by Dead Eye who had put Sombra inside of a room designed to be heavily armored on all sides.

From the sound of it, Sombra bit off more magic than he could chew when tangling with Sour Tooth, which was already playing to our favor. I’ll admit I had a sheepish grin my face when I figured that out.

Rusty clapped his hooves together. “Please, both of you, sit and welcome to my humble abode.” The boxcar we were in was the last one, which Oceans made sure to lock behind us. No pony but us was going to hear this plan.

There wasn’t much to the boxcar, just some crates and some papers pinned to the wall. War’s magic ripped some of them down, stuffing them deep inside a trashcan, before I could see what other plans they had considered. I’ll admit that was rather strange, but the gems I was going to receive were, as he put it, simply dazzling. “Alright, so you guys dragged me back out from what would have been a decent retirement with my family for some job I don’t even know the name of.” I sat down on a crate crossing my hoofs.

Oceans scoffed after I said I would have been retired. In all honesty a life of crime wasn’t looking as nice as it was a couple years ago. I mean back when Silver Shoe and I … keep it together … back when Silver Shoe and I decided to become professional thief’s it was to help the good ponies in our former prison. After the casino heist this just seemed to be the wrong profession to go at alone. Rusty cleared his throat, “We’re becoming assassins.” I paused every thought in my head.

“Well, that’s a new one for me. Daring?” I looked at her.

Her jaw had dropped with a look on her face that said she didn’t know what to think of that. Yeah, we come from a world of thieves, liars and cheaters. Not the world of stealth takes downs, silent kills in the night with years of martial arts training to back it up. This sounds like I’m taking one step from what I’m used to. “Yeah, War not to punch a hoof in this plan, but we’re professional robbers,” Daring actually sounded a little sassy with that remark. “Our skill set isn’t tailored to this job.” I hummed in agreement.

Oceans opened his mouth, but Rusty put his hoof up and stopped him. “I’m sorry to hear that but you two are going to help us anyway. The job you guys signed up for in Stable Grounds was a two part job.” Yeah, is anyone here forgetting the fact I lost a bet. I’m not trying to sound ungrateful, I mean if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t have found Glider within a day or so of going missing. “The first part was the heist so naturally the second part is going to be a bit more … extreme.” I scoffed. Extreme? That was an understatement.

War was kicking back on a barrel just letting this unfold. It was clear from the expression on his face he was going to convince us to stay in this job until we saw it through to the end. Just when I thought I was out they pulled me back in. I put my hoof up. “Alright, alright. What’s the pay?” Rusty looked at Oceans. They were having some sort of mental conversation with each other. I was beginning to realize these guys had spent a lot of time together. So much time that they could probably finish their sentences.

“Fifty thousand bits worth of gems,” War spoke up pointing at a picture of the gems Daring had won. “And before you ask, yes, Daring, those are the bits you won for us. They were for bribing this stallion to come back.” Daring put two and two together realizing right away that was there plan for any sucker to come back. She had a sour scowl on her face and her teeth were grinding together.

“I’m in, but you’d better pay up when this is over,” I said rather sourly to all three of them. Daring gave me a hoof bump. You know, it actually feels great to be on the same page for once. This mare’s cool with me now.

Rusty shook his head turning his attention to the plans posted against the wall. There was a large map of the city next to our check list of other important tasks we needed to get done before we could attempt our mission. The tan stallion walked over to the plans and whistled to get our attention. “Time to catch everyone up to speed.” His hoof pointed at a picture of Dead Eye. “This stallion is one we all know, Dead Eye. He arrived in Harbor City this morning at ten o’clock with his personal assassin known only as Shelby.” I felt my jaw wanting to drop. So he wants thieves to go up against an assassin. Stranger things have happened in Equestria before. “Now this job will lead into a third job, but after we’re done here if any pony feels strongly about quitting then by all means make your exit.” Daring pulled her helmet down to cover her eyes.

I couldn’t tell if she wanted to quit or not. After all this specific line of work isn’t for us, but if they’re pulling us both back in now then they must be pressed for time. Rusty’s soothing voice drew me back in, “Our mark is Dead Eye, again. This time we’re going to put him six feet under with a bullet through his skull.”

I put my hoof up. “Why didn’t we just do that at the casino?”

“Too much security and not the place.” Oceans cut in.

Rusty cleared his throat with a rather thunderous effect following it. “Look, as much as I wanted to get rid of Dead Eye that night, it just wasn’t in the cards.” War’s horn lit up levitating up more pictures. There were ponies throwing fire bottles at some zebra guards. “This place is better suited for an assassination. The second Dead Eye is confronted with ponies that know what they’re doing the entire city will rise up in rebellion. You think our corrupt casino owner was bad in Las Pegasus, just wait until you see his police force.” I folded my fore hooves together.

Well this job just got a lot more interesting. “Where did you guys get these photos from?” I kept looking them over eyeing the dates printed on them. They were taken not long before the casino heist.

“Not Important,” Rusty answered back.

Daring and I looked at each other. “What do you mean not important.” Daring spat back. “I’d like to know the pony we’re getting this information from is legit and not someone that’s going to throw us under an autowagon.” What the hell is an autowagon? Seriously. Any pony going to … alright. Question for another time.

“Again, Not Important.”

Daring’s teeth started grinding together. Oceans put a hoof on her. “Her name is Not Important.”

OOOOOH!

That makes sense. “Carry on then.” I got quiet.

Daring simmered down a bit to. Good to know they got on her nerves sometimes to. Rusty pointed at a place called the Griffon Feather Hotel. “We’ll be staying here, a street away from Dead Eye’s hotel.” Now I’m a bit confused. Why do all of this with five ponies when you could do it yourself, on top of a roof with a high powered sniper rifle. Rusty pointed at me, “I know that look, and no. See Dead Eye has a room in the center of the hotel. No sniper rifle has enough force to punch through that many walls and critically hit their mark.” Alright that’s good enough for me. “Not Important has gotten involved with the rebel group lying low in the city and gave them a gift to convince them to fight with us when things get heavy, but we’re not ready for that yet.”

“Clearly,” Daring muttered under her breath.

Rusty pointed to a picture of an armory set up near the edge of the city. Celestia, that son of a bitch looks tough to get into, please bless whichever one of us is busting in. From the picture alone I would say that’s at least a five foot deep concrete wall with what’s probably going to be metal support beam reinforcements.

Rusty didn’t seem worried. “We’re pulling off two plans at once. While we’re in the city, you two,” he pointed at me and Daring, “are going to find a way into the glider manufacturing facility for two reasons. We’re going to need something with a lot of power to pull the machine gun that our side of the team will be stealing from the armory. Plus we to need to draw attention away from our side.” A double heist. Now that I did not see coming. “Also, when we get inside we’ll need to travel through the cities blind spots. Runner, stick with Daring I’ve already given her enough information to get you two anywhere you want without being seen much.”

Now see this is the kind of stuff I could get used to doing if it was with a team. I miss doing this stuff with Silver Shoe. I let out a low sigh.

Continuing along with the plan, Rusty pointed to several spots circled in red. “While in the city, when we’re not using the blind spots to get around, you’ll need to keep quiet and out of the way. You must assume that you are always being watched.” My heart rate started picking up. This was beginning to sound very familiar. “And before you ask any questions, our room in the hotel was debugged thanks to Not Important.” That settles my concern about the room, but the more I learn about Harbor City the more I’m starting to worry that this is going to be more familiar to me than I want it to.

Alright, now back to the machine gun these guys mentioned. Rusty said we needed a glider with a lot of power to pull the son of bitch. Machine guns aren’t that heavy. I voiced my observation to Rusty.

“Good point, but you’re thinking small.” Rusty nudged his head up at a photo of a large piece of machinery. Six long barrels took up most of the photograph, there was a crank mounted to the side of it, as well several large ammo crates positioned near the weapon. It was the only weapon I knew that could fire almost as fast as a mini gun not to mention it was just short of it.

My jaw dropped. That is the most beautiful classic weapon I had ever seen. “Alright, I’ll find you something with enough power to move it. Daring, you just keep me company and watch my flank.”

“Watch your flank? Why can’t I choose the glider,” she shot back at me.

“Because you probably don’t know gliders. Do you?” Daring opened her mouth then closed it. Yeah, that’s what I thought. “I know gliders, you know weapons. You also know that I’m going to pay dearly for saying that.” She gave me an unamused hum. The other three stallions in the room were nonchalantly whistling to themselves. Now if only I could stop stealing glances at her. I took another quick unnoticed glance.

Rusty cleared his throat and tapped his hoof against the wall. We both turned our attention back to the planning wall. “I’m going to warn you both prior to entering the city, don’t start any fights you can’t finish. I mean it. These zebra guards are trained in Calenbra, Han’s style, and a verity of ground fighting styles.” I’m starting to dislike this plan a lot more now. I mean it’s a lot of bits, but those are some nasty cops to go up against. “Oh and one more thing, they’re authorized to use lethal force. Remember their martial art styles can kill you with a single hoof strike if you’re not careful.”

I know he turned his back on the crew, but I really wish Han was here. Having him with us would really put my mind and heart rate at ease. Daring muttered under her breath, “Bring it.”

*** ***

“You saw Him!” Daring galloped around the table diving for my neck. I stumbled back into War while Rusty slipped his fore hoof around Daring’s neck, pulling her back.

“Enough! Both of you,” War shouted over us with his horn lit. Daring and I were levitated up away from one another. “Runner is that true. Did you see Han?” I reluctantly nodded. “Why didn’t you say anything to us about it?”

I had to tell them what happened after the heist. It didn’t feel right to keep that knowledge to myself. Plus if I was going to leave this crew after the job was done then I was damn sure I was going out with a clear conscience. “He got the better of my curiosity and showed me how he stole the gems in the vault, or at least how he got to them.” War opened his mouth to speak, but stopped with an understanding nod. He waved at hoof at Rusty. Daring was released. She crouched down but War stepped in between us.

“That’s understandable. I remember the first time I met a thief better than me.” War nudged Daring back a hoof step. There were thieves better than these guys? Bullshit. We’ve got everything we need. The gunslinger-turned-cheater, the charismatic talker and the guy who knows how to get shit done. “He had to lower the support beams under the building to get his score. Things were easier back then.” Daring chuckled at that while she put her helmet on top of the bar. Her eyes shifted between me and the map of Harbor City.

After we got off the train, War gave us directions to the hotel room then we all checked in. I won’t lie, this place was fantastic! At least the room was. Rusty pulled some strings with his share of bits from the last job and here we are, V.I.P suite big enough to house all of us. There was no denying it Rusty had style.

Daring started looking the map over with me, noticing something I didn’t. Her eyes kept scanning the two locations on the map. “War,” she shook her head, “these places are several miles apart from each other. You honestly expect me and gearhead over there to get a glider to you without being seen?”

Rusty pulled out a marker and circled an alleyway. “You’ll use the sewer system to get around the city. There aren’t any guards down there, but you’ll have to be extra careful with the noise level. Infected broke in several years ago.” Every muscle in my body tensed up. I really, really, really don’t like infected. They’re up there on my list of top three things to stay away from. The other two are manticores and chimeras, which I noticed weren’t really around populated areas like cities! Thank the Princesses.

Taking in a slow, deep breath Daring nodded. She had to prep herself for this to. I haven’t seen her deal with infected yet, but I’m willing to be she has more experience than Rusty or Oceans. Please Celestia, let Daring be good at killing those things. “Now it’s important for you both to know, we need you to make as much noise as you can. Get the cops attention and get a lot of it before escaping in the sewers.” My jaw dropped. So what he’s saying is they want us to go in guns-a-blazing, come back out doing the same thing then try to leave with our saddle bags bulging. “Don’t worry they won’t follow you down under, as it turns out martial art styles don’t work very well after an infected’s had time to turn a bit more.”

Good to know seeing as how I’ve literally thrown myself into them a couple of times. War clapped his hoofs together. “That being said, it’s time to break. Good luck and stay out of trouble.” Daring gave team two a sarcastic laugh while they trotted out the door. Once it closed her attention went straight to me.

“How’d he do it,” she spoke bluntly.

I smiled and remembered how he did it. Music and martial arts rolled into one thing. “Laser dance.”

“Laser dance?”

“Laser dance,” I gave her nod with that answer.

We stood together in dead silence. I just stared at Daring’s eyes while she tried to figure out how one zebra could get through the laser field without being touched. The part that stumped me was the fact he had to get back through with all the gems. Either that or he found some other way out.

Daring groaned in defeat. Her hoof pointed at a picture of the standard weapons a zebra was given. “We need to be light on our hooves. These guys are given Assault SMGs and grenades on top of their lethal fighting style.” I sighed.

This day just keeps getting better and better. Daring strapped her saddle bags on and we went out the door. Time was being wasted the longer we stayed here and we were on a schedule. We trotted down the stairs taking note of the ponies keeping their distance. “So I’ve got a question for you.” My adventurous friend gave me a simple hum. “Are you related to Daring Do? The one on the Daring Do books?”

“As a matter of fact, I am. She’s my many great grandmother.” I called it. I so called that. So Daring comes from a long line of ponies that kicked ass on a regular basis. I’m starting to like my chances of getting out of this place alive.

We reached the ground floor and made it through the revolving door. The moment we stepped outside I looked at the brick wall surrounding us on all sides. My heart rate was at a considerably higher pace than usual when I remembered I was inside of a … well it’s something, but’s not what I’m thinking it is. I caught the sight of a large mobile turret positioned on top of the wall. Actually, it was turrets and very large ones at that. “Yikes, he’s got some serious fire power inside and outside this place.” Daring let out an unamused chuckle.

My eyes took their time scanning the area while we walked down the sidewalk. I took note of the ponies going out of their way to avoid the main roads. There was quite a few of them. Daring cleared her throat, “You know this pith helmet actually belonged to the Daring Do you mentioned. It’s been passed down a couple generations, I’ve lost track of how many though.” I smiled. I’m a little surprised she didn’t mention that when we were stuck at the bar. Guess you never truly know everything about a pony.

WHACK!

“GET ON THE GROUND NOW!”

We both halted in our tracks. Some zebra kicked open a door belonging to a hotel, shoving three ponies in front of him, several armed reinforcements kept laser sights pointed at their heads. Violently being shoved to the ground the ponies did nothing to stop them, crowds began to form from all the commotion, while one civilian tried charging the reinforcements. He was shot in self-defense. “Let this be a lesson to any and all ponies conspiring against King Sombra.”

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Daring twitched. Her fore hoof scrapped against the ground. “What the hell are they doing,” she growled lowly. I put my hoof on her, doing my best to hold her back, as every fiber in her body seemed to jolt forward all at once. I bit down on her mane, then pulled her into a tight embrace, just in time as our fidgeting caught a pony’s attention.

“That’s what they get.” One pony said to another.

“Sombra offers us protection and these jackasses want to ruin it.” The other pony nickered.

Daring’s jaw dropped and her former pissed off look was replaced with a scowl the likes of which I never wanted to see on her or any pony else’s face. I slid my hoof around her neck giving her a shocking tug away from the crowd before they had the chance to figure out she wasn’t pissed at the ponies on the ground. “Cool it,” I whispered demandingly into her ear. I pulled her around a corner.

“What the hell was that?” Daring’s hoof pointed at the corner while I walked past her.

She didn’t know? Alright so I wasn’t completely under a rock while living in that prison. Daring has lived, for the most part, a free life where all she has to worry about are infected or corrupt ponies. “That’s my world,” I said almost out of breath.

Memories flashed through my head of every single raid the cops had done to the innocent ponies who were still struggling to this day. Their guns being turned on the unarmed as if hunting some of them down just for sport. This place was slowly becoming something I had been accustomed to.

Daring’s jaw stayed open while she looked back at the corner. Her eyes went from the corner back to me several times. There was no doubt she didn’t believe I could have come from a place like this.

Daring’s angered expression morphed into that of sorrow. “That’s what you had to deal with on a regular basis?” Her tone turned soft.

I gave her a fearful nod while my eyes darted around looking for any pony or zebra following us. This was nothing more than a reminder to make sure this plan was a success. These ponies are living in a prison and judging by the amount of unicorns here, Sombra has a plan for them. All of them.

Daring shut her mouth and we trotted into an alleyway far from the ponies that could rat us out. Her hoof went out in front of me. Stopping me. “Right here. Let’s use these abandoned buildings to get inside the factory. I’m willing to bet there are cameras set up the closer we get.” I hummed in agreement. The boards barricading the windows next to us, engulfed in my magic, ripped away. Following Daring inside, I made sure to reattach the boards to keep any other ponies out.

We ended up choosing a rundown garage to jump into. It was a dump, even the glider sitting inside it looked like a piece of crap, but I felt right at home. Home being defined as standing near a glider. Compared to my Mustang this rusted glider wasn’t in that great a condition, but this, no, this made that look like a million bits made out of the shiniest gems. Daring circled it before giving it a pathetic head shake. “I really don’t see the big deal in getting one of these.” My jaw dropped. “It’s just a jetpack with wings that lets you fall in style.”

Fall in style! Fall in style! “Are you kidding me?”

“It’s a giant tuning fork.” Daring teased as she pretended to hear it ring.

Tuning fork. You’re calling this a tuning fork. “Whoa, whoa, Daring this is more than just a piece of crap … well this one is a piece of crap, but not all of them are like that or look like this.” I galloped over to her, then gave her a playful shove under the rusted stands. Once she was comfortably uncomfortable under the glider I slid underneath it then popped out on the other side. I faced her while she looked at me confused. “You have no idea what any of this stuff does do you?” She shook her head.

I let out a long sigh. Alright, let’s go over the bare minimum basics. My hoof pointed at the cracked glass running along the metal that protected the pony’s body from taking critical damage. “That’s the wing speedometer, pretty self-explanatory, it keeps track of your wing power while you’re moving.” Daring nodded dusting the glass off. Part of it cracked in response. My hoof went to the other side which had several buttons attached to it. “This is where your radio goes and any other gadgets you need a button to power on or off. The only thing that doesn’t go there is NOS; that goes on the other side.” Daring nodded with an uncomfortable smile. “Behind you,” I turned her head to the groove, “is where you would put her back. There’s usually padding that goes there to keep you comfortable while flying.”

Daring hummed and leaned back. She twitched a bit then took a comfortable step back to her uncomfortable position. I looked underneath the glider noticing metal shards sticking out all over. Daring sucked in her gut, slowly squeezing between me and the rest of the glider, she moved over to a staircase upon freeing herself. “As much as I’m enjoying this conversation, I’m pretty sure it should wait until we have a better glider.” I nodded in agreement. However, I did notice she was actually interested in what I was saying!

Daring set her saddle bags down and pulled out two black bullet proof vests for us to wear along with matching masks. I took my vest quickly sliding it on.

“Fine, but I’m not done showing you why these things are boss.” She rolled her eyes at me before putting on her mask. Daring slid her vest on and we galloped up a set of creaky steps to the highest floor. Once we were sure there was a building across from us, my magic ripped boards away; Daring got ready to jump. I did the same thing to the building across from us as well as open the window. Daring jumped over the gap between the buildings landing safely. I followed her and put everything back the way it was.

*** ***

We jumped from building to building for what seemed like forever. At one point I got stuck in between the gap while a pair of zebras were enjoying a peaceful meal together. Thank the Princesses they finished after the longest minute in Equestria history had passed.

I stared out one of the windows spying a blind spot in between the camera system set up along the factory roofing. It was similar to the one Princess Twilight had installed in Fillydelphia which meant we had ample time to do what we needed to do then be back with that spot still open. “Do you have any schematics of the place?” I looked at Daring and she shook her head.

“I figured most of this place is used to build the damn things, so no.” Daring intoned dryly.

I sighed opening the window up. My hoof pointed at my eyes then at hers.

I had my eyes on her.

Daring understood exactly what it meant. No idea how, but she did none the less. With a large amount of focus, along with an abundance of magic coursing through my horn, the window to the factory opened. We jumped over to the window and I hit the wall. Daring swooped down, taking me in her hooves with a tight grip, before gliding us into through the opening.

I slammed it shut with my magic, holding my breath as we landed. We starred at an empty room with nothing more than a mop bucket lying around with two metal shelves bolted to the wall. “Let’s move,” Daring said swiftly pointing a hoof at the door. I put my hoof on the door knob and the door swung open with a pony on the other side.

“Alright, let me just do this and…”

His jaw dropped simultaneous with swift head swing. My magic reacted instantaneously, pulling the janitor in while Daring bucked him against the wall. She delivered a few punches to his gut before planting a hoof right on his neck to put him asleep. I pushed the door shut while the wall in front of me became transparent. Whoever he had been talking with were already moving away. Wait, those weren’t ponies. They’re zebras.

Daring nudged me. “What do you see?” I looked at her and saw my eyes were glowing in the mirror. My hoof rubbed the glow away. Everything slowly became obscured again.

“Two zebras slacking off on the job, thank Celestia.” We both let out a low exhale together. The walls around me became transparent again.

Walls. Walls were everywhere. So much so, that I couldn’t even begin to figure out which way to go. Actually I could name one hallway not to go down and that was the one the zebras went down. “We’re going to the right.” Daring gave me a nod and we bolted out the door while I slid out of my transparency spell.

We trotted down the hall coming to a pair of double doors that were immediately slammed open. I lost my breath at what lie in front of us. The doors shut behind me, quietly, as my hoofs guided my eyes around a machine of such beauty it gave Daring a run for her money as the most attractive thing in the room.

The glider was three times as wide as any glider I had ever seen so far, I’d go as far to say Brave Day’s glider was completely dwarfed by this thing, which was saying a lot. The two metal blocks that held the wing speedometer and radio was partly made of carbon fiber. In fact the spoiler itself looked exactly like a dragon getting ready to breathe hellfire on us. Underneath the spoiler were tail pipes wrapping around two mufflers that ended a few inches away from the pedals.

This beast was nothing but pure muscle and power, I didn’t need to get a look at its engine to know that, in fact I could tell just from looking at the metal surrounding the wingspan that it had a V8 engine installed in it with at least three turbochargers. I pointed a hoof at it. “Do you know what this is? Do you know what this is?

“No, I don’t, do you?”

“No idea, but it looks soooo coooool!”

Daring face hoofed. I spared her a moment of my attention before returning to the huge beast in front of me. Daring slowly walked around it. “Speaking of ‘cool,’ when did you get so calm and collected? Last time I saw you, you were a nervous wreck.” My eyes took in every bit of detail this thing had. I half listened to what Daring was saying to me, all I wanted to do was take this glider apart to find out what made it so irresistible to look at. I mean, this shit was evil looking, but its stance, the weight on the back end. It was so beautiful!

When did I get so calm and collected? This was considered calm? “Ah, sometime between balling my eyes out with my best friend’s sister and waking up the next morning.”

Who knew getting a little emotional could actually help you out. Seriously, I must have had so much repressed thoughts that went beyond just Silver Shoe. It felt good getting it off my chest.

Daring turned to me almost ready to say something. Nothing came out of her mouth. Her eyes darted between me and the glider excitedly. “Let’s take this one.” My jaw dropped in happiness!

REALLY?!

Daring rolled her eyes and nodded. I just about gave her a hug, but something attached under the hood caught my attention as I slid into my transparency spell. Daring waited for me to say something. She nudged me. “You going to at least say ‘thank you,’ come on you’re practically in love with that thing.” Focusing my magic a bit more I slowly made the entire frame of the unmarked glider become transparent enough to look like it was a schematic drawing.

A small device the size of a marble was blinking red near one of the turbochargers. I was right, there were three turbos. I let out a loud groan and threw one of my hoofs up while taking another walk around the glider. “We can’t, there’s a tracking device in it. The moment we set hoof outside this factory, that thing will go off and alert whoever is in charge.” Daring didn’t look ready to throw in the towel. Her next bet was to pop the hood and look inside.

“Well then let’s rip it out,” she hissed.

I put my hoof against her vest slowly guiding her away from the glider. That would be too easy. My horn lit up even brighter until I could see every wire. The wires connected to the engine caught my attention. There were a lot of things wired together around the engine. Something was interesting about this setup though. Another marble sized tracker was attached to some other wires deep down inside the engine bay. “Even if we do, there’s a second tracker wired into the gliders very core. We aren’t getting out of here with it.” Daring groaned while hitting her head gently against the wall. “Unless you feel like trying to pull of some impossible mission here.”

Her head moved away from the wall while she gave me a very irritated look. My hooves went up in self-defense. She chuckled lightly, trying not to let me hear that, while we moved to the double doors. “Let’s just move to the east end of the factory.” I hummed galloping out the doors alongside her giving the glider one last glance.

That’s a bummer. I really wanted to use that. It had all the power we needed and then some. I shook my head and kept moving down the dull grey hallway. We passed a few closets every so often, Daring stopped by our closet making sure to tie the janitor up. It seemed that in this entire factory there was only one glider! We trotted around a few turns until our light walk became a gallop.

I galloped around a corner and slid to a stop. Daring halted next to me with her jaw slightly open. Two zebras looked up at us, but we weren’t looking at them, our attention was on the dozens of zebras behind them.

“Halt!”

I threw the speaking zebra into the crowd with my magic. Daring bolted back down the hallway we had come through double time, her mouth bit down on my mane, pulling my frozen body with her. I zig-zagged down the hall while my left ear twitched. The sounds of zebras landing on the ground attempting to plunge a hoof strike into my neck rang though both ears.

Daring pulled out a pistol with a silencer attached to it. She slid against the tile and aimed at any zebra she could get her sights on. Several low cracks escaped the gun.

Pfft. Pffft.

Pffft. Pffft.

I kept my head straight and galloped around another corner. From the sounds behind us, none of Daring’s bullets hit. That was a surprise!

We kept moving. My hooves pulled me forward with everything I could muster up. I looked back at the zebras to see they were closing in! And fast. Daring tried to reload, but dropped her ammo clip. We turned another corner and galloped down the hall not once looking back.

WA-THUNK!

I shoved the double doors closed behind us wrapping a wire around the handles. Once it was tied in a knot I backed away hearing loud thuds echo from the other side. Daring trotted over to a metal garage door trying to pry it open. It budged a little and stopped part way up. “It’s locked,” she said almost out of breath.

“Locked!” I called back at her.

Shit. What the hell do we do?

My hoof tapped the ground and then planted itself against the cold tile. Daring tried pulling the door back up again and groaned. She released it letting the hunk of metal rattle as it hit the ground. My eyes went straight to the unmarked glider. “Get on the glider,” I commanded. Daring looked at me taking a step back. “You heard me.” I slid underneath the groove putting my back against the cool leathery pads.

I brought one of the panels down and started jacking with the wires. Loud banging caught my attention. My eyes went to the door and I started moving my hooves faster. “Can’t you go any faster?” I gave Daring an irritated look.

Zptptp!

VERRRRRRREUUUUUUUUUU!

VERRRRRRRRRREUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

“I’m about to unleash the beast!”

VEEEERUUUUU! VERUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

“What,” Daring’s voice cracked. She jumped on top of the glider and pulled out a sub machine gun with a silencer attached to it. Her free hoof gripped the block’s edge tightly. The banging continued and I turn faced the doors. My back hoof hit the retraction pedal and every portion of the wings slowly slid inside of the metal blocks. The doors violently burst open and I hit the gas pedal!

VEEEEEEEEEEEEEERUUUUUUUUUUUU!

“Oh, shit he’s got the,” I mowed down the first zebra. Feeling his stomach get crushed under my hooves. Daring started firing off as many rounds as she could while raging flames exploded out the back tailpipes and mufflers. Flames rose up along the walls setting ablaze to anything in its path including several unlucky zebra manes.

The wing speedometer clocked in with sixty wing power after just five seconds on the dot! Had I been outside, I would have ejected the wings out and taken flight, but we weren’t outside, we were stuck inside with tight corners.

My back hoof slammed on the brake making my other three hooves slide against the tiles. Zebras were knocked down like bowling pins having nowhere to escape the giant metal blocks on my sides. The walls started erupting in flames while I power slid to the left and galloped down the hall to my right. Several zebras tried grasping the wingspan, but no matter how many of them there were, each one fell off before having flames doused over them.

Daring rolled firing several more rounds off, I watched each and every zebra stay on the ground frozen. The smile on Daring’s face made my heart jump a little; that was when her smile and my heart stopped. My head snapped forward while my heart went from warm and cozy to frozen with fear. I put my back hoof on the brake pedal and the entire glider shifted its weight a little. The machine swerved forcing the edges to scrape along the wall as dozens of zebras flooded the hallway intersection ahead of me.

Daring fed several of the zebras a mouth full of lead … no … they weren’t being blown to pieces. They were falling to the ground unconscious! Tranquilizers. Daring reloaded her gun then unloaded the clip once more before I plowed through the pack taking out part of the wall with me. A glimpse into the rear view mirror revealed a zebra holding onto the emergency brake with a poorly made melee weapon. A quick tap to the brake pedal made the glider straighten out while I plowed through a small group of ponies the fell like dominos. The zebra fell off while his weapon tore a pair of wires near both brake pedals.

It’s like these guards are just lining up for us!

I could see the end of the hallway not far from where we were. My hoof tapped the brake pedal with the intent to make the machine slide around the next turn. The pedal squeaked.

Oh no.

Please, not that. Anything but that.

I caught a glimpse of Daring looking down at the brakes. She nudged my shoulder while flames began setting off the fire alarms and sprinklers. “We lost the brakes,” I called out to Daring. We both looked at the wall ahead of us then at each other. Daring jumped on top of my back aiming her mouth at the strap near my stomach.

NO NO NO NO NO NO!

NO!

Daring undid the straps and grabbed onto me. Her weight knocked me to the ground rolling us into an open closet while the flaming glider went straight into the wall. Everything around us shook the moment we hit some metal shelving making it fall down on top of us along with buckets and bottles of cleaning tools.

*** ***

“I’m about to unleash a beast, he says,” Daring growled under her breath while we climbed through a large window far away from the glider wreckage. This mare might be an attractive one, but Celestia get her to stop talking! It’s like listening to Silver Shoe go on and on.

Celestia knows how badly I wanted to levitate some ear plugs, but for the life of me there was nothing but roofing tiles all around us. The thought of using my hooves crossed my mind, but then again I can’t walk on two hooves.

“We lost the brakes, he says,” Daring hissed. I avoided eye contact with her for as long as I could. Oddly enough, it wasn’t as difficult as a pony would think. It helped that she was pissed off at me. I kept low to the roofing and crept over to the window a few feet away from us. Once I was positioned in front of the glass I peered inside. “Can’t believe I’m even talking to you.” She grumbled under her breath but loud enough for me to hear her.

GLIDERS! So many gliders! My jaw dropped.

Daring started to comment again and my hoof went straight to her mouth. “Shush it.” Her jaw dropped. I could feel the burning sting from the glare she was shooting my direction. Did I just really tell Daring to keep quiet? I swear my mouth needs a filter on it. “We need to get in there.” Daring poked her head in front of the window and nodded. As quietly as I could, using my magic with as little glow as possible, I opened the window just enough to squeeze our flanks inside.

We dropped down landing atop a wood platform near a wall of crates forming a staircase. There was a path branching off to what I assume is the other part of the factory. The path going to my right was leading straight to an office. I questioned how to get the glider out. Several scenarios passed through my head only to have one seemingly sensible plan catch my attention.

I looked at the window, “We could use that window if it’s opened wide enough. It’s big enough for a glider to fit through, albeit barley.” Daring hummed creeping forward to the edge of the walkway. Our gazes went out to the factory floor where dozens of Challengers were positioned near a closed shutter gate. “Sure could use a distraction though.” Daring reached into her saddle bags retrieving some sticky bombs.

A little bit excessive by my standards, but I’ll go along with it. Two exotic accents caught our attention. We turned to the path leading deeper into the factory and froze. Two zebras were heading in our direction, thankfully caught up in their conversation so much so they didn’t notice us on the connecting path.  Daring jumped into an open crate while I slid underneath a small stack of crates that formed a small fort. My hoof brought down a tarp that shielded me from view.

“Those thieves have raised Dead Eye’s alarm,” one of them said to the other.

The other one hummed, “Very true. They are sending Her to investigate.”

“The winged one,” the first zebra questioned while he walked by. His shadow danced along the tarp like a crappy shadow puppet show. “Shelby is not one to fool around.”

Their hoof steps drifted off and I moved out from cover. Daring crept up behind me with her full attention focused on the office building. “Runner, you get the glider. I’m going to leave a little gift for these guys.” My only concern was that she’d overdo it, so I voiced my concern. Daring gave me a coy smile. I love to hate that look on her face … I mean I hate to love that … she needs to stop smiling. I squeezed my fat flank through the narrow wood railing and dropped down to the factory floor. My head snapped over to where Daring was at. She was gone.

All of my attention went back to the gliders while I hid behind a few crates. I peeked around the corner to get a glimpse of the zebra mechanics working on an unmarked glider that looked eerily similar to the one I wreaked just a couple minutes ago. The unmarked glider became transparent to my eyes. My jaw dropped. A V12 engine was mounted inside the glider making it even better than the one I had used. Just like the other there were three turbochargers ramping up the power output to an unbelievable amount. “I must have wreaked the previous model.” So that leaves me with one question.

What the hell is Dead Eye planning on doing with this? It’s not like he’s going around flying fast gliders.

I looked over to the Challengers with a devious smile. Keeping low to the ground, I moved over to them. The first glider I went to would do just fine. My horn started glowing brighter and a few of the gliders became transparent. From the looks of it the gliders were practically the same. They had about five hundred horsepower a piece. “Yup, this is it.” My horn stopped glowing. You know if Dead Eye’s plan doesn’t actually work out then he could always start selling gliders. Actually, he should start doing that right now. Save all of us the trouble of trying to kill him.

I looked at the ignition slot feeling around for a key. Nothing. My head poked up from behind the glider. All the keys for the Challengers were attached to a bulletin board behind the mechanics. All the way on the other side of the room. I gave out a low groan. Why can’t this shit ever be easy?

Explosions!

Fiery bombastic explosives ripped everything from the office building to the roof apart, sending debris crashing down towards me, along with alerting every mechanic in the area. My horn lit up and I ripped a key away from the board. I caught it in my teeth and slid under the Challenger while several roofing tiles broke apart on top of it. My back went straight onto the padding while I strapped myself in. I threw the key in the ignition slot. More debris came crashing down on me while another round of explosions ripped apart the walkway to the other part of the factory.

“Some pony get Shelby down here!” A zebra called out to any pony listening.

“Time to unleash another beast!” I said that a little too loud.

The mechanics looked up from cover noticing me right away. One of them bolted for the glider and I galloped off to the window. My horn lit up and turned the key just enough so that the easy-lift feature could activate. Several zebras started gaining on me and dropped down to the ground when several loud cracks went off. I looked around for the source of the gunfire to find Daring leaning into a rifle. There was a guard lying unconscious which explained where she got the gun from.

My hooves carried me up the stairs then up the stack of crates that formed a makeshift staircase. Daring and I galloped up the crates as fast as we could; gunfire went off in our direction. Another eruption of bombastic explosions took out a small section of roofing making it collapse down on some zebras.

I jumped out onto the small portion of roof we had climbed on. The Challenger dipped to the right and I slid off. “Daring!” My hooves caught hold of the roofing but the sheer weight from the glider nearly ripped me in half. Every part of my back was screaming to just release the hunk of machinery. Daring came to a sliding halt, wrapping her hoofs in mine.

Half of her body came sliding off with mine while the sound of shouting zebras caught my attention. Daring gasped for air and kept trying to pull me up. “This thing is heavier than a full grown dragon!” My horn started to light up. Hang on Daring, I’ve got an idea. The key started turning more. Come on.

Just as the key began to start the glider up, a throwing knife knocked the key out of the slot and down to the ground. The knife lodged itself in the room. My eyes went straight to the emblem printed on it. There was a gold griffon embedded in the handle.

“YEUP!”

Daring yelped out in pain just as I pulled us both clear off the roof. My hooves wrapped around Daring and held her close while we bombarded the ground with a clatter and loud thud. Daring rolled away from me cringing with pain. Her wing moved away from her stomach revealing a shining throwing knife lodged in her stomach. She bit down on it and pulled it out letting blood drip down. I brought a hoof to my head feeling a bump starting to swell up where I had apparently hit my head. I was so busy paying attention to Daring I hadn’t even felt the impact.

“I’m fine,” Daring spat in panic. “Let’s keep moving.”

Couldn’t agree more. We both stood up breaking into a gallop down the alleyway. Sirens began wailing and I looked at Daring. She rolled her eyes. I’m sure she was thinking the same thing I was. We were causing more than enough commotion to keep the cops attention off of the armory. Daring put her muzzle close to the ground and bit down on something shiny. She threw it to me; my horn lit up just in time to catch it in my magic field. It was my key! “There’s a sewer pipe not too far away from here. Just keep moving!” My hooves poured on the speed a bit more while I slid my key into the ignition slot.

VERRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUU! VERUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

That’s more like it!

I dipped part of the metal blocks down using the tip to knock Daring on top of the Challenger. My back hoof hit the gas pedal and we started moving at fifty wing power. Daring hit my back. “Above us!” I looked up simultaneously hitting the brake while three throwing knifes lodged themselves in front of me. My hooves pushed against the ground propelling me right over the weapons.

THUNK!

My eyes looked at the rear view mirror. Standing on the edge of a partially ejected wing, a griffon wearing a black vest with four pistols strapped to it set her sights on Daring, her gruff expression sent my body into a fit of tension. She reached inside of her vest and threw several throwing knives at Daring. My pegasus friend jumped to a building shattering the window to avoid being hit by the knives. I pushed off against the ground and tried to use the fire escapes to knock the son of a bitch away. She pushed off the Challenger and flew up a story while the window above us shattered. I closed my eyes, looking down while shards of glass rained down on top of us. By the time I opened my eyes there was a dog fight going on between Daring and the griffon. Daring tried punching her in the face, but her hoof was caught, then forced face first firmly into the brick wall.

I jumped up and caught Daring while she shook off the injuries. From the look on her face she wasn’t doing so hot signaling that it was only a matter of time before she collapsed. Daring whipped out a pistol, wiggling free from my grasp in the process, before open firing on the griffon while I hit the ground galloping over a road into the next alleyway. Ponies and zebras looked at us and started trying to catch glimpses of what was going on. Glimpses of zebras in my rear view mirror were the only thing telling me where they were on the roof. They were armed to the teeth.

The griffon grabbed something inside of her vest and threw it at us while she broke a window to take cover. My eyes grew wide. She threw a grenade! A freaking grenade!

Daring’s jaw dropped while I hit the gas pedal down. My head wiped forward and I was greeted with the sight of a metal gate attached to the pipe. “Keep going!” Daring’s voice rang through my ears, through all my senses, demanding that I trust her. I slammed my eyes shut with my ears tuned to the bombastic ear shattering sounds of an explosive going off.  I put my hoofs up as the sound of banging metal replaced the explosive grenade ringing. The strap around my stomach came undone while I grabbed Daring’s hoof. Water came up around me, darkness covering my field of vision, leaving Daring completely gone from my line of sight.