Las Vegas

“This is gonna suck.” Simmons said with a sigh as he put the phone to his ear.

All around him, agents were busy trying to repair the damage Ghost had done to the convoy, a task made even more difficult by the way he’d disabled it. The only agents with any mechanical knowledge had already determined that the escorts were useless until they could get back to the city and buy replacement parts, which of course meant that they’d all have to cram together inside the comparatively small command center.

Still, none of them complained.

At least they didn’t have to give Remus the bad news.

“Think of it like cough medicine.” Myles said reassuringly. “Just do it and it’ll be over before you know it.”

“Right. Cough medicine. Because a bad taste in my mouth is the absolute worst thing I have to worry about if this goes wrong.”

There was a sigh on the other end. “The glass is always half empty with you, isn’t it?”

Simmons was about to reply when the dial tone suddenly ended and the slightly anxious-sounding voice of his commander answered. “Captain Simmons, I thought I told you not to call me until you were back in D.C. Where are you?”

Simmons sighed again before answering. “We’re broken down in the middle of the Nevada desert. Sir, the anomaly has escaped.”

There was a moment’s pause.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” Remus yelled, forcing Simmons to hold the phone away from his ear in order to preserve his hearing. “YOU HAD HER LOCKED UP IN THE COMMAND CENTER, SURROUNDED BY GUARDS,…AND SHE STILL GOT AWAY!?”

“There wasn’t much we could do to stop her, sir.”

“BULLSHIT!! YOU TOLD ME YOU’D MADE SURE SHE COULDN’T USE HER ABILITIES!!”

“She had help from the hitman, sir. I-”

“HOW THE HELL DID HE KNOW WHERE YOU WERE GOING!?”

“Ghost does have a skilled hacker working for him, sir. Perhaps said hacker was tracking us as we left.”

Remus groaned in frustration. “This is bullshit. Please tell me that you haven’t been compromised, at least.”

“We have not, though the chances of that happening get better the longer we stay.”

“No one’s more acutely aware of that fact than me.” the commander mumbled, then as an afterthought, “Well, except for you and Myles maybe.”

Simmons breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Remus didn’t suspect his involvement at all, which meant that he and Myles were still safe.

“So far we’ve been able to pass off any ‘mishaps’ as gang-related activity, which has had the added benefit of putting some distance between us and curious civilians.” he continued. “Still, it’s only a matter of time before someone starts doing the math, and then we could have a real mess on our hands. It doesn’t help that the only person who knows exactly where the anomaly is hiding manages to disappear every time we get close to him.”

“Speaking of which, why have I never heard of this ‘Ghost’ before?” Remus asked, wonder evident in his tone. “I mean, you’d think a marksman of that caliber would be famous all over the country.”

“I think it’s because his activity is centralized in Vegas. He’s never operated anywhere else, so he’s not as big of an issue anywhere else.”

“And you have no way to find out who he is?”

“No. He takes extreme care to never leave any noticeable traces wherever he goes, and any digital footprints he leaves behind are quickly scrubbed off by that hacker of his. And, of course, there’s no one left alive who knows what he looks like. We were lucky to capture him for half an hour before he escaped for the city.”

“And?”

“The best I could determine is that he’s about twenty and has some serious trust issues.”

The line was silent for a few moments. Simmons cleared his throat and held the phone away from his ear slightly, just in case.

“What was he wearing?” the commander asked calmly.

“Um…” Simmons began. Of all the ways Remus could have responded to his lack of information, a request for a description of the fugitive’s attire was at the bottom of the list. “…a black trench coat, a gray scarf over his face, and a black fedora. Why?”

“I’ll call you back in a second.” Remus said suddenly, the line going dead immediately after.

Simmons stared at the phone for a second, more confused than ever, then put it back to his ear. “That was…strange.”

“Do you think he knows who he is?” Myles asked, sounding as confused as Simmons felt.

“I think we’ll find out when he calls back.”

((((((*******))))))

Washington D.C.

Remus ignored the stares he received from those he passed by as he hurried to the bathroom. He entered the furthest stall from the door, locked it, and immediately drew his phone out of his pocket.

“It’s not possible. There’s no way it’s him.” he muttered as he opened his browser and began searching old news headlines.

There was only one person he knew that matched the profile that Simmons had just given him, and his mention of the Ghost’s fedora only supported his hypothesis. The problem was that said person was supposed to be dead. While his continued good health was a truly outlandish concept, it would explain why his go-to retrieval man was having so much trouble. But there was only one way to be sure that it was actually him.

After a few minutes of searching, he finally found the major headline he was looking for. His eyes narrowed as he read.

CITY-WIDE BLACKOUT CAUSED BY MURDER SUSPECT

Last night, at around 9 p.m., police were dispatched to investigate reports of gunfire accompanied by an explosion on the Las Vegas outskirts. The investigation quickly escalated into a high-speed chase as a maroon SUV was spotted fleeing from the scene. The chase lasted for about ten minutes before police managed to disable the suspect’s vehicle.

The suspect and their accomplice, both of which remain unidentified, are believed to have evaded capture by use of last night’s city-wide power failure. Investigators suspect that the blackout, which caused the deaths of just over five hundred innocent people as well as thousands of dollars in property damage, was caused by a homemade computer virus created as a contingency plan.

Having lost the suspect, police moved to investigate the aforementioned gunfire, and were shocked to discover a repurposed Cold War bunker littered with close to twenty dead bodies. Sergeant Watson commented on the scene: “We’ve been in a high-speed chase, seen Vegas go completely dark, and stumbled upon what appears to be a recently-destroyed smuggler’s checkpoint covered in corpses…all on the same night. You’d think we’d seen everything, right? So did we.”

Officers were surprised for the fourth time that night when the body of Michalis Frost, the infamous King of Las Vegas, was discovered in what appeared to be his office with two knives buried in his chest and a large bullet wound in his forehead. Watson continues: “Frost was supposed to be untouchable, yet here we find him slaughtered like some kind of animal. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just a little scared of whoever did this to him.”

Even more shocking, the forensics teams tasked with uncovering the identity of the killer are already calling for the case’s dismissal. “There’s no trace of the culprit on the scene or in the getaway vehicle. No fingerprints, no DNA samples of any kind, the security footage was corrupted somehow…whoever they are, they got away clean.”

Remus read a little further, then closed the browser and leaned against the wall. “Well played Flynt. Well played.” he said quietly.

((((((*******))))))

Las Vegas

Simmons leaned against the command trailer, chewing his fingernails while he and Myles waited for Remus’ call.

“If Remus does know who he is, maybe we should tell him to get out of town.” Myles suggested.

“Why? The safest place for him would be right where he is.” Simmons replied. “He can see us but we can’t see him. It’s perfect.”

“Yeah, but it’s just a simple matter of figuring out what happened to the OS for surveillance in the southern district. You do that, and suddenly he has nowhere to hide.”

“And you never tried that because…”

“Because I’d actually have to be there, and field work is for jocks like you. Besides, we were chasing other leads.”

Simmons scoffed, annoyed that his job had been made so difficult by his friend’s unwillingness to travel. “Pansy-ass computer jockey little-”

Suddenly the line beeped, signaling that he had another call.

“Hold up.” he said as he switched lines. “Sir.”

“His name is Allen Flynt.” Remus said abruptly, startling Simmons. "We’ve run into each other one other time and…well, let’s just say things didn’t pan out the way I’d hoped they would.”

“I’m listening.”

“Flynt’s father was a former member of the agency. He sided with the first anomaly when he went on a rampage, believing that we were somehow responsible for his actions. We managed to take care of him early on, but his son picked up right where he left off and wiped out about half of our unit with what we thought was a suicide bombing.”

“But it wasn’t.”

“Correct. It was actually a coordinated maneuver designed to not only avenge his father, but also give himself and the first anomaly a chance to escape. The plan failed of course, and we all assumed that he died in the explosion. Apparently, not only is he alive, but he’s still pretty pissed off about what happened to his dad. I’m not sure what his endgame is, but if he’s still in league with these terrorists, then he’s as dangerous as she is.”

“Great, so next time we’ll make sure to throw them both in a cell.” Simmons replied.

“I admire your confidence, but you’re in over your head. Lawrence Granger was one of the best strategists this country has ever known, and his son is just as good if not better. Only one person has ever managed to successfully outthink Granger or Flynt, and you’re speaking with him.”

“So what’s the plan then?”

“I’m coming down to personally oversee this mission. I want you to get the occupation set up in Nellis Air Force base and await my arrival. I’ll call ahead to let them know you’re coming so they can assign you some space. Don’t do anything else until I get there, understand?”

“Understood sir.”

“Good. Remus out.”

Simmons waited until he heard the line go dead, then switched back to Myles. “So…”

“I believe the part where he said they know each other, but that’s the only part I believe. You think we should tell him who’s coming?”

Simmons thought for a moment before replying. “Later. For right now let’s try to avoid calling him too frequently, just in case someone’s monitoring my call history. But we’ll definitely need to tell him that he’s running out of time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Myles, we’re setting up at a military base right next to the city where Ghost is hiding.”

“Maybe he wants a more reliable base of operations. That trailer’s hardware is pretty obsolete.”

“Maybe…or maybe he already has a plan for ending this.”

((((((*******))))))

Equestria

“I assure you, commander, I completely understand the dangers posed by these shipments.” Celestia said, making no effort to hide her exasperation. They’d had this conversation half a dozen times already, and she was beginning to feel like a broken record. “However, I must also urge you to understand the impracticalities of storming the Everfree to root out these settlements.”

“What impracticalities!?” Commander Stronghammer half shouted, half pleaded. “With all due respect your majesty, if we charge in and arrest these barbarians, we can find out who is supplying them and arrest the suppliers, too! We’ll never have to worry about them raiding the public ever again! I urge you to reconsider!”

“I will not, for two reasons. One, I refuse to send good soldiers to their doom in a forest teeming with beasts that are likely to swallow them whole at first glance, assuming said settlements are actually in the Everfree. Second, even if we succeed, the smugglers will know to disappear in the event that their clients sell them out to us. Then we’ll be no closer to solving the problem than before.”

“Your highness, I-”

“Enough.” she growled, and the commander instantly fell silent. She sighed and put on a tired smile. “I understand your concerns commander, and I find your desire to bring this conflict to an immediate end admirable. However, brute force will not solve the problem we face until your spies come back with a significant lead on the source of these shipments.”

The commander hung his head in disappointment. “Understood your majesty.”

Celestia nodded. “Then let’s not discuss this matter again until we can actually do something about it. You are dismissed.”

She sighed as she watched Stronghammer walked away sadly, then arched her back, which emitted several distinct ‘pops’.

Celestia often found herself comparing open court to an average schoolday: sometimes it was interesting, and sometimes it wasn’t. Some days made her laugh, while others tested the limits of her nigh-endless patience. Regardless of the context, however, open court was a stressful business.

Made even more stressful by the fact that she had something else she’d much rather be doing.

It had been an entire week since Twilight’s disappearance. While Velvet and Moondancer had managed to finish categorizing her notes and were working around the clock to get the gate open, progress felt painfully slow. Maybe it was her being impatient, or just the fact that she wasn’t directly involved with the project. In either case, she longed to take part in the research and help in any way she could, if only to distract herself until her student’s (hopefully) safe return.

Unfortunately for her, her position simply wouldn’t allow it.

She sighed once more, an action that did not go unnoticed. “Your majesty, are you alright?”

She looked to her left at her secretary, whose eyebrow was raised in concern, and couldn’t help but smile. While Ink Blot’s talents in documentation and organization made her invaluable as a secretary, she also seemed to possess the uncanny ability of knowing when ponies around her were distressed and why. “We could probably get away with closing court early today, if it would make you feel better.”

If she wasn't my secretary, she might be my psychologist. Celestia thought privately. “No, that’s quite alright Ink. Who’s next?”

The dark grey unicorn scanned the list of ponies who had requested an audience with the princess, eyes narrowed in an effort to better read her own tiny writing. Suddenly, her eyes went wide. “Oh no…”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?” Celestia asked, slightly uneasy.

Ink looked back at her anxiously. “It’s him.”

Celestia realized who she meant and immediately regretted not closing court early. “Why? Can’t we just take somepony else? Anypony!? I don’t care who, just please not him!” Her voice was almost pleading.

Ink Blot was about to suggest that they hurry up and leave while they still could, when the most unearthly sound filled the throne room.

“Auntie!”

Both princess and secretary cringed visibly at the voice that suddenly assaulted their eardrums. Celestia quickly sat up straight and put on a fake smile while Ink Blot hid her face behind a piece of blank parchment and pretended to write.

The princess watched her blonde-maned flesh-and-blood strut down the red carpet towards her, his muzzle in the air as if this world was beneath him. He walked this way wherever he went, and every time she saw him, she couldn’t help but wonder how in the world they were possibly related.

Very, very distantly. she mused, before addressing her nephew. “My dearest Blueblood, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Blueblood opened his mouth, and she mentally braced herself for whatever self-absorbed nonsense she was about to be subjected to.

Instead of her nephew’s whiny drawl, however, she heard a muffled argument just outside the doors to the throne room.

“I’m sorry miss, but her majesty is currently seeing somepony.”

“But this is extremely important! She’s needs to see this, and she needs to see it now!”

Celestia’s ears perked up as she recognized Moondancer’s voice. Blueblood simply scoffed at the interruption. “The nerve of some ponies. Now, auntie…why-?”

He found himself interrupted for a second time as a golden aura suddenly opened the doors behind him and the argument being held outside became more pronounced. The guards outside were barring the way with their spears while Moondancer angrily pleaded with them to let her pass. All three turned at the sound of the door opening.

“My apologies, princess.” said one of the guards, the other giving the pale yellow mare a curt look.

“No, that is quite alright.” Celestia assured them before addressing Moondancer. “Have you found anything out?”

“Even better!” she said excitedly. “We made it move!”

The princess’ eyes widened considerably, then she grinned and rose from her throne, turning to Ink Blot as she did so. “Would you please close court for me, then meet me at Twilight Sparkle’s study?”

“Of course, your majesty.” Ink replied cheerfully, gathering her various supplies.

“But…but…” Blueblood stammered.

“Oh, I’m sorry Blueblood.” she said as she descended the stairs to the throne and made for the door. “I’m afraid I’ll have to meet you again the next time I hold court.”

“But-”

Moondancer was practically bouncing in place with excitement as Celestia made her way out of the giant oak doors, her guards falling in behind her. He barely registered as her secretary walked past and exited the throne room as well, off to tell the line of ponies waiting for an audience that court was now closed.

Blueblood found himself standing alone inside the giant, brightly lit room. For a moment he continued to stand there, then he hung his head and muttered angrily to himself as he, too, made his way out.

((((((*******))))))

Celestia stared slack-jawed at the fully-powered Breach gate, her usual grace completely abandoned. Her secretary and Spike stood next to her, staring at the artifact in a similar fashion.

The gate had reached full power much faster than last time, and unlike last time it didn’t backfire and send everypony in the study sprawling onto the floor behind them. Instead, it had risen out of the floor, the once semi-circular artifact now a floating disk in the air. The runes and the spaces between the door panels now glowed a brilliant white which darkened the rest of the gate. It was truly a remarkable sight.

Which wasn’t doing much else.

“How did you do it?” Celestia asked Moondancer.

“Apparently, it’s finished recharging.” she answered. Noticing the question in her eyes, she elaborated. “The gate itself isn’t the doorway to another universe. It’s simply the frame in which the actual doorway materializes. However, it also doubles as the battery that allows the portal to stay open. In theory, with a constant supply of energy, the portal could stay open indefinitely. However, if the battery runs out while the Breach is in use, the gate locks down so that it can recharge itself. With nowhere to put the energy that you were trying to open it with, it just threw it all right back at you.”

Celestia returned her attention to the mysterious doorway floating in the middle of the room.

“That makes sense, I suppose.” Ink said, finally finding her voice. “But if the gate’s fully charged again, then why isn’t it opening?”

“I wish we knew. As it is, all we’ve managed to do is turn on the lights.” Moondancer said, shaking her head in frustration. “What are we missing? Why is this thing so difficult to understand? How in Equestria did Twilight manage to get it open to begin with!?”

“Because she took into account the one thing that we didn’t.”

Everypony turned to face Velvet on the upper landing, studying several pages of notes as she tried to make sense of the situation. She suddenly removed one of the pages and floated it down to Moondancer, who took it in her magic and scanned it.

“I don’t see what you’re…” she began, only to trail off as confusion was replaced by comprehension. “Oh. Wait…OH!”

“What is it?” asked Celestia.

“Simple! That’s what it is!” she said excitedly. “The whole system is dependent on lunar cycles!”

“The Cosmic Divide.” the princess said quietly, comprehension dawning.

Spike and Ink said nothing, content to leave the talking to those who actually knew what they were talking about.

“What we didn’t understand before was that the lockdown was only one of two reasons why you couldn’t reach the other universe the first time.” Moondancer explained. “The other reason is that the Divide is still interfering with the gate’s ability to find said universe. So now that the gate is obviously recharged, all we need now is…”

“…a full moon in both universes, during which time the Divide will be at its weakest.” Velvet finished. “According to Twilight's notes, our universe goes through it's lunar cycle twice as fast as the one she traveled to, meaning we'll be able to pass through it this Saturday. The problem we’ll face once the portal does reopen, however, is finding Twilight.”

“Hold on a second…” Moondancer said before suddenly trotting up the stairs to the writing desk and sifting through several binders. “Where is it…where is it…found it!” she said, holding up several pages in triumph.

“Found what?” asked Velvet.

“Basically, a cheat sheet for the runes on those rings.” the younger mare replied. “There are different methods of establishing a link to other universes, which can be selected by rotating those rings on the frame. You can directly connect to the other universe’s gate, travel to a location with the highest concentration of beings from your own universe, or follow somepony who’s already gone through.”

“So we don’t have to find her then!” Spike said happily, speaking for the first time since the conversation had started. “The Breach will find her for us!”

“Now we just have to wait for a full moon.” Velvet said, smile fading slightly. “A full moon which is only another week away.”

“Maybe we don’t have to wait that long.” said Moondancer optimistically. “The closer we get to a full moon, the weaker the Divide becomes. In the next few days, it should weaken to the point where we can simply punch our way through, or at least be able to make contact with her.”

“That could work.” Celestia said, nodding thoughtfully. “Very well, then. Starting tomorrow, we’ll meet here at nine in the morning and nine in the evening to power the Breach. That way, as soon as we’re able to make contact with her, we can.”

“I’ll start making room on your schedule.” Ink Blot said, levitating out a roll of parchment and beginning to write.

“Thank you Ink.” she replied before readdressing the others, simultaneously heading for the stairs. “On that note, I’m afraid I must return to my duties. Remember, everypony: nine o’ clock sharp.”

“We’ll be here.” Velvet said. Celestia nodded and strolled out, her secretary not even looking away from her work as she followed.

The remaining trio returned to the Breach, Moondancer’s horn lighting up as she levitated the “cheat sheet” in front of her and began adjusting the rings on the gate. Velvet sat down next to her as she did so, while Spike went back upstairs to tidy up the mess of notes on Twilight’s writing desk.

“I should go give Night Light and Shining the good news.” the older mare said, getting back to her hooves as he finished. “They’ll want to help with the Breach, too.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow.” Moondancer said as she continued to rotate the three rings.

“Good night.” she replied as she ascended the stairwell to the upper landing. She paused about halfway up and turned back around. “And Moondancer?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.” she said with a smile. “I don’t think I could’ve figured this out nearly as fast by myself.”

Moondancer smiled back. “Of course. It was my pleasure.”

She turned to continue up the stairs and exit the study, Spike also thanking her before hurriedly following. She watched both of them exit the study, then turned her attention back to the gate.

Author's Note

Sorry this chapter took so long. I've been trying to juggle work, life, and sleep for the past two weeks. The problem is that I suck at juggling, both figuratively and in real life.
Be sure to leave me a comment with your thoughts and, if you're enjoying this story, click that like button down there.
Peace.

P.S.-Fuck Blueblood.