Twilight sat in silence, the facts coming far too quickly for her to process all at once.

“I know it’s scary to think about-” Allen began.

“Scary? It’s horrific! How can anypony be okay with this!?”

“Most people aren’t, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to do anything about it. Anyone brave enough to try isn’t long for this world, after all.”

“Law enforcement? Military?”

“Cops are either under the gun themselves or being bought off, and this is still too isolated an issue to get the military involved, especially given the war they’re fighting overseas. There just isn’t anyone left with the guts or skills needed to make a difference.”

“Says the one who dispatched all three of my attackers last night.” she countered.

“I’m a…special case…but even I have my limits, and frankly…”

Twilight watched uncertainty cross his features as he trailed off. “What?”

“Nothing.” he replied with just the slightest amount of force, then he continued in a more level tone. “Do you understand now?”

She sighed as she turned to face the road before them, watching as it flew under the hulking machine she now sat in. “I understand, but I still can’t believe it.”

“What can’t you believe?”

“That your kind would go to such extreme lengths for access to magic, or anything for that matter. The ends don’t justify the means.”

“If more people shared your views, Vegas would be a much better place. As it is, anyone who’s tried to make things better has wound up dead in a gutter.”

Silence filled the car, and Twilight found herself running through the possible consequences of her capture. Death seemed inevitable at first, but then darker possibilities made themselves known; possibilities which included imprisonment, experimentation, forced servitude, and other fates she found even less preferable. The longer she thought about it, the wilder her imagination became and the bleaker the future seemed, and the tighter she hugged herself.

A fact that her new benefactor noticed as he pulled into his driveway. “Hey.”

She turned to look at him, and he gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Relax. You couldn’t be in better hands. As long as you stick with me, you’ll be going home safe and sound in no time. Promise.”

He watched as a little of the color returned to her face, but she still didn’t sound entirely convinced as they exited the vehicle and began removing groceries from the back seat. “How am I supposed to relax with a good portion of your world’s population after me?”

“Because they aren’t.” he explained, shutting the door and locking it. “Right now, no one has any idea that you exist. It’ll stay that way as long as we don’t go advertising our presence, so rule number one: keep your head down. No magic in public, and no drawing attention to yourself in any way. If everything goes to plan, we’ll be able to send you home and no one will ever know you were here.”

“And if they do find out?” Twilight asked skeptically.

“We’ll improvise.” he said as he unlocked the front door. Sensing her lack of confidence, he continued. “Those thugs that attacked you are currently the only three people on the planet that know about your abilities, and given how one of them sounded like a mental patient I don’t think their word is going to carry much weight. If anyone else starts looking for you, I’ll have no problem persuading them to stop.”

“What happened to them? The thugs, I mean.” she asked, depositing groceries on the counter.

“Probably arrested. They were stupid enough to go around flashing their gang’s colors all over Vegas and I left them unconscious in an alleyway. I’m sure we won’t be seeing them again any time soon.”

“Great.” she said with a relieved smile. “Need any help putting these away?”

“Nah, I’m good. Thanks for bringing them in, though.”

While Allen put away groceries, Twilight wandered into the living room to search for something to occupy her time. Unfortunately, the room appeared to be bare of entertainment of any kind, and she was left to pace the room aimlessly as she waited for something to catch her attention.

The strange-looking boxes on the far table gave her a few minutes’ distraction as she pondered their purpose. She could try asking Allen, but she doubted she’d receive an answer. He had grown weary of her questioning halfway through their grocery run, politely asking her to stop after only fourteen questions about U.S. politics.

The devices quickly losing her interest, she continued her journey around the room, finally pausing by the front door to look at the picture hanging next to it. It showed a slightly younger-looking Allen in front of three other people, his family she supposed. She cocked her head in curiosity when she realized he didn’t share features with any of them, not even his mother.

Oh, except for their eyes. she corrected herself, looking into the same black pit as she glanced between the two of them.

She turned away just as she heard the fridge close in the kitchen, walking back to sit on the couch and…do absolutely nothing.

Allen walked in just in time to hear a bored raspberry escape her lips and smirked. “Having a good time?”

“Just contemplating the mysteries of the universe.” she replied sarcastically.

“I’ve learned that it treats everyone differently, and that karma is just a holy word used to justify payback.” he explained as he kicked off his boots and hung up his coat and hat.

She glanced at him with one eyebrow in the air. “Sounds like you have time to think.”

“Way too much, actually.” he replied, sitting down in the chair next to the couch and pushing a button on a device she hadn’t previously noticed. Suddenly, the larger of the two boxes flared to life, images and sounds pouring from its previously black surface. Twilight stared in wonder, the device recapturing her interest. Allen noticed her expression and snickered audibly. “I take it Equestria doesn’t have cable?”

“Cable?” she repeated in confusion. He pointed at the screen, and she nodded in understanding. “Oh. No, no we don’t.”

“I pity you.” he said with a shake of his head.

The room fell into a peaceful silence, broken only by the news broadcast coming from the television. Allen silently thanked the universe for moving on from last night’s headline, instead focusing on a recent interview with George Midas in which he once again denied any affiliation with the gang which bore his name.

“Soo…where’s your family?”

He immediately thanked his past self for putting so much work into a convincing poker face. “Uh…who?” Smooth.

“I saw them in the picture by the door. Did they go somewhere today or…” she trailed off intentionally, prompting him to answer.

“They live over in…Ohio. Other end of the country.” He prayed that she hadn’t noticed the brief pause that had been pregnant with his lie. “They moved last year, and I took the house. Worst decision I ever made.”

“Did you try moving back in with them?”

“Nah. It was time for this bird to leave the nest. I might’ve messed up, but that’s not their problem anymore. Doesn’t matter anyway, I’ll figure something out.”

Twilight nodded. “Well, you still appear to be doing pretty well for yourself. What do you do for a living?”

Please stop asking questions. “I’m in a band.”

“Really? Neat! What kind of music do you play?”

Seriously, stop. “Mostly different kinds of rock. We don’t really write our own material, just do little cover gigs for bars and maybe a house party or two. It pays the bills.” he said with a shrug, then noticed an opportunity. “By the way, if you see an old-looking guitar case sitting out somewhere, please leave it alone. I am very protective of my guitar.”

“Understood.” she said with a nod. Inwardly, he began searching for an Oscar to give himself.

“Fantastic. Now, there’s things we need to take care of, the first being your sleeping arrangements. You can have the upstairs bedroom, just let me tidy it up and move some things to the basement.”

“Wait, that isn’t your room is it?” Twilight asked, concerned.

“No…not really...” he said slowly.

She started shaking her head, disbelief evident. “I can’t just kick you out of your own bed. You’ve already done so much for me.”

“No, no, no, you don’t understand; I haven’t slept upstairs for close to six months.” Allen said, waving off her argument. Me and my fat mouth.

“Why?” she asked, puzzled.

Allen sighed. “The house was broken into six months ago. It scared the living daylights out of me and now I feel better if I’m down here where I can guard the door.”

“That’s terrible.” she said sadly, a shrug from her host her only response. “Wait…do houses in this area get broken into often?”

“Surprisingly, no. You’d think they would, considering we’re in the lower-income district. But hey, if you don’t have anything to complain about, y’know?”

“I guess you’re right.” she said.

“Of course I am. And that’s rule number two: Allen is always right. Rule number three: If Allen isn’t right, see rule number two.” he said, grinning.

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle. “Sure thing, smart guy.”

“Great. Now if you’ll excuse me,” he continued. “I’ve got to get your room ready so we can move on to step two.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Which is?”

“Getting you cleaned up.” he said flatly, causing her to look down and cringe at the amount of filth she currently wore. “People might take notice of some lady who looks like she just took a nap in a dumpster.”

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

“Myles, any luck cleaning up the scan from last night?”

“No Simmons, nothing yet.” Myles replied irritably. “Just like the last time you asked, and the time before that, and the time before that. When I have something for you, I will call you to let you know! Now let me work, or I’ll electrocute you with your cell phone!”

Simmons was stunned silent for a moment. “You can do that!?”

“Maybe, maybe not.” Myles replied devilishly. “Would you like to find out?”

His reply came in the form of a dial tone, the link to his partner intentionally and abruptly severed. He smiled devilishly and leaned back in his chair, resuming his work on the satellite scan from the previous day. “Sucker.”

Hundreds of miles away, on a bridge overlooking a narrow waterway, Simmons stared at his phone as he tried to determine whether or not Myles had the ability or the nerve to kill him with it. He decided that while he probably wouldn’t kill him, irritating a man who could drain your bank account with the press of a button probably wasn’t a good life decision. So instead he put the device away and looked around for a distraction, since supposedly this city had many.

It took him a bare second to realize he was standing before one.

The narrow waterway he stood over opened out into a huge lake which caught the midday sunlight perfectly. He had a good view of the dam about a quarter of a mile away, which braced itself against the larger rock formations that lay on either side. The lake was dotted with a few smaller rocks, some seabirds, and even a sailboat a few hundred meters away, gliding across the calm water like a swan.

Inwardly, he wondered why he’d never come to Vegas before. It wasn’t as though the city and it’s attractions were any big secret. Maybe it was the crime rate, or perhaps his lack of skill in card games. Never mind, it was definitely the crime rate.

Midday came and went, Simmons remaining lost in the picturesque scene before him until a loud grumbling summoned him back into reality. He looked down at his gut for a moment before turning his back on the beautiful view and heading back to town to find something to eat. There had been a hotdog stand on the way to the bridge, if he remembered correctly.

He hadn’t gone more than ten feet, however, before his phone rang and flew out of his pocket. “Talk to me.” he ordered without hesitation.

“Sir, I believe we’ve located the epicenter of the anomaly.”

Simmons started jogging back to his car, hotdog nearly forgotten. “Where are you?”

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

Simmons stood in the middle of an old alleyway. Aside from the extreme amount of graffiti on the walls and the overflowing dumpster, there was nothing particularly interesting about it. The six men in full containment suits seemed to disagree, however, as they continued running their devices over the walls near the aforementioned dumpster.

He turned to the officer in charge. “So what did you find?”

“The entire area, especially the small space next to that dumpster, is littered with EM scars, which are the faded remnants of breaks in the electromagnetic field. Normally, in the case of a natural break, the scars would be randomly scattered all over the place with no decipherable pattern. This time, however,” he pointed to the previously referenced area by the dumpster. “the scars have been condensed into a ring of runes located by said dumpster. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the place we’ve been searching for.”

Simmons’ confidence gave way to excitement, then skepticism. “So…what, that’s all? Any evidence that might lead us to the anomaly?”

“Unfortunately, no.” replied the officer. “All the evidence we’ve gathered so far only confirms that they were here, which…given the giant ring of alien nonsense behind me…is kind of obvious.”

Simmons sighed. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting to hear when they found what they were looking for, but he found himself feeling disappointed regardless.

“Alright, give me a minute.” he said, leaving the alleyway and beginning to pace along the sidewalk, getting out his phone as he did so.

Myles groaned in irritation as his phone rang for the seventh time in the past few hours. He would have ignored it, but he knew if he did Simmons would just keep ringing.

“Like the annoying younger sibling I never had…” he muttered in annoyance as he answered. “What!?”

“Calm your tits, will you? We found the site of the break.” Simmons replied with a little heat.

He heard an unusually irritated sigh come from his partner. “Well, that’s several hours of my life I’m not getting back.”

“Sorry.” he replied, irritation quickly replaced by genuine sympathy for the man’s wasted effort.

“Meh. Was that all you called for?”

“Actually, I need you to work your magic on the city’s surveillance.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Because that’s all we found. There’s no telling where they went after they landed. I was hoping you might be able to put that gigantic brain of yours to use and give me some idea of what happened.” Simmons explained, then added as an afterthought, “Also, don’t tell our boss that I told you to do this without clearance.”

“So…hack into something that I won’t have clearance to hack into for another few hours so that we can see things that no one’s told us we’re allowed to see yet?”

“Yes.”

“Can do!” the computer junkie said happily. “Put me on speaker and turn on your Wi-Fi.”

“Out of plain curiosity, why am I doing this?” he asked while he followed his partner’s instructions.

“Because it’ll make your phone a little more open to my software. I’m going to piggyback my hacks into your phone via your call signal.” he explained while he typed command after command on the keyboard. “Once I do that, I can use your phone to find a vulnerable antenna or device connected to the city network, establish myself inside said network, and then we can see if there’s anything in the area that can give us a clue about what happened last night.”

“You can do that?” Simmons said, amazed.

“How do you think I found that terrorist group bent on blowing up the capital building? I called their leader to gain access to their network, then shut down all their security measures so you and the big guns could find them.”

“Wow…you’re good.”

“And don’t you forget it.” Myles said smugly, continuing to type. Finally, he managed to break into the network running the street cameras. “There. Now let’s see what we got.”

He looked through all the cameras nearest Simmons’ position. “Huh, not much.” he said quietly to himself.

“Anything good?” asked Simmons on the other end.

“Not really. Doesn’t look like there was a living soul out last night.”

“Keep looking. There has to be something.”

Myles continued sifting through camera after camera. “Anything?” Simmons asked hopefully.

“Nothing. There’s absolutely nothing happening in any of- wait, what’s that?” Myles suddenly focused on one of the cameras, rewinded, and brought up the focus.

“What’s what?”

“There’s a car leaving the street that alleyway is on. The only car I see on the road right now.”

Simmons could barely contain himself. “Got a license plate? What does it look like?”

“Calm down, Mike.” said Myles. “I can’t see many details considering how far away it was from the camera. All I can tell for sure is that it was a vintage muscle car. It’s hard to tell what make it is, let alone what its plates say.”

“Dammit.” said Simmons. “You can’t switch to a different camera, get a better angle on it?”

“No, this is the best view I have on the best resolution my equipment can give me. The driver heads south into the more low-income portion of Vegas, and they haven’t been maintaining their cameras there.”

“Well, fuck. Alright, let me think for a moment.”

Simmons thought long and hard about all the facts that had just been presented to him. The anomaly appeared shortly before the car left that street, which meant there was a small chance that whoever was in it might have at least witnessed something. The trouble was that they’d completely vanished after leaving the scene, and he had no other leads so far. Without any other cameras to spot the strange car on, he had no idea where they could be right now.

But maybe he could figure out where they’d already been.

“Myles, bring up the Las Vegas news highlights from last night.” he said.

“Alright…may I ask why?” Myles asked, typing audible in the background.

“Whoever was in that car last night made an effort to stay out of sight. I want to know what he was hiding for, and the news might be the best place to start.”

“One second, and… done.” There was a moment’s pause. “Ouch.”

“What did you find?” inquired Simmons.

“The most unfortunate rich guy in the world.” replied Myles, who proceeded to read the news article he’d found. “‘Rich Theater Owner Assassinated’. Millionaire theater owner Eli White was brutally assassinated last night at about nine o’ clock via serious gunshot wound to the head. The triggerman, believed to be the infamous Ghost of Las Vegas, made a clean getaway. Lieutenant Eisenburg commented on this mysterious case. ‘What makes him so difficult to catch isn’t the fact that he sands off the manufacturers label and scrubs the rounds, but that we can never get a visual or any footage of him leaving the scene. The only reason we know he’s a guy is thanks to testimonies provided by the hostages of last year’s state bank heist. All surveillance within a mile of his target is shut down for exactly ten minutes…just enough time for him to cut and run.'”

“That has to be him.” said Simmons. Myles didn’t answer. Instead, he once more resumed typing. “What are you looking for now?”

“I’m hacking into the Nevada State Bank to peek at their archived security data.” Myles replied. “I want to see what you’re up against.”

“Good idea.” agreed Simmons. There was a few more seconds of typing as Myles retrieved the data and sent the feed to Simmons, a small ping informing him that it was received. “Alright, let’s meet the Ghost.” he said, Myles taking his cue to hit the play button.

The video started out like any average heist. A large group of hostages were being guarded by four heavily armed men. Four more men were patrolling the halls, and the last five were grabbing the cash and stuffing it in duffle bags.

Suddenly the feed went black.

“Uh…Myles? What’s wrong with the feed?”

“Nothing. This is exactly what was caught on camera, or rather, what wasn’t caught on camera. He must have another hacker working for him who disabled the cameras.”

“Do I see some hacker versus hacker action in the near future?”

“I hope so.” Myles said wistfully. “Hey, you want those testimonies?”

“Thrill me.”

“Basically, a hoodie ninja came in, knocked out the guards and patrols without being detected, and ran before the cops came in. Not much to go on here. Any ideas for finding him?”

“I’m going to pay L.V.P.D. a little visit. They could’ve missed something on that bullet they found last night.”

Myles sounded doubtful. “The news article said the forensics team couldn’t find fingerprints, a manufacturing company… heck, our guy even bleached the rounds so that we couldn’t find the manufacturer’s fingerprints.”

“He’s careful, there’s no doubt about that, but no one’s perfect.” Simmons said knowingly. “There’s got to be a trace left somewhere, even if it’s not on the bullet. No one can just disappear.”

“Anything you need from me?” Myles asked.

“Yeah, get the other parties over here and tell everyone to exercise extreme caution while we’re here. The Ghost could be onto us at any time, and I don’t need him getting the drop on us, too.”

“Roger that.”

“If I were you, I’d also have a guard or two to watch your back.”

“Simmons, no one knows where I live or work. Do you really think that’s necessary?”

“Yes.” replied Simmons simply. There was a brief silence.

“I’ll look into it, then. Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Simmons hung up, then returned to the research group in the alleyway and walked up to the officer in charge. “Wrap things up around here, then tell everyone to find places to stay the night. We’re probably going to be here a while.”

“Yes, sir.” replied the officer, who didn’t waste a moment in relaying the orders to everyone else. Simmons went back to his car.

“Now, let’s go find that bullet.”

Author's Note

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