Ghost in the shell: Equestrian architecture

Twilight sat alone in the car. She was waiting for Osborn outside the pharmacy, he was in to pick up painkillers and antibiotics for his wound.

“Major?” Applejacks picture appeared in her sight.

“What it is, Applejack?”

“The hack turned out to be a worm and it´s been sending data to an unknown channel for the past three days.”

“What? To who?”

“We don´t know yet. Both Rainbow Dash an d I got attacked while you were out with Osborn and if they could find us they are probably coming after you to next.”

“Copy.” Twilight closed down the link and opened a new. “Osborn, we might be in a fire fight. Get back to the car and drive back to the station.” She climbed over to the passenger seat.

“Copy that, Major.”

Twilight drew her gun, made a quick check of the magazine and removed the safety. The crowd partially blocked her sight and she could only see a part of the people walking along the road. Her eyes darted back and forth, every face that came within her sight was scanned. Hurry it up, Osborn. She leaned back to get a better overview and placed the gun in her lap. No one that she scanned was a registered criminal. In the rear view mirror she could see Osborn. He was walking briskly towards the car with both his arms in his pockets and a white plastic bag hanging from his left wrist.

“Slow down, Osborn.” She said over the com. “Don´t draw attention to yourself.”

Without answering, Osborn went down on one knee and pretended to tie his shoelaces. “See anything?” He rose and started walking again, now with a slower pace.

“Nothing yet, you?”

“No…” He stopped.

“Osborn?”

“You´re in the car, right?”

“Yes.” Twilight turned her sight towards Osborn and saw him staring at something blocked by the crowd. He blinked a few times and walked towards the car, but this time he almost ran.

“Osborn,” Twilight said when Osborn climbed into the car. “what are you doing?”

“We need to get back to the station now.” He started the car.

“What did you see?” Twilight shifted her gaze around.

“You.” The car started and Osborn nodded towards a woman with neck long violet hair and purple eyes. She was dressed and in an open black jacket and grey pants with only thin white shirt covering her torso. Even from a distance the similarities were downright uncanny. “Or that.” He put the car in reverse and pressed the down the pedal.

Only one word could escape Twilight´s lips. “What?”

The woman darted towards them. The speed of her movements where faster than anything humanly possible. “It´s a cyborg.” Twilight quickly concluded as Osborn turned the car rear first down an alley.

“I figured that. Why does it look like you??” He shifted the gear and steered the car back on the road again with the engine roaring and the tires screeching.

The roof on the car was bend inwards. A human fist broke through and reached down. It grabbed Osborn by the shoulder.

“Gaaahhh!” Osborn screamed has the fingers dug into his shoulder.

Twilight took the arm by the wrist and fired of the shoots into the arm. A mixture of red and white fluids splashed over Osborn´s head and two grid covered wire fell out of the wound.

The fingers lost their grip on Osborn´s shoulder and he stepped on the brake. The force of the abrupt stop flung the cyborg of the roof. The arm got trapped by one of the jagged edges from the busted roof and completely tore it off. The dismembered limb dropped onto Osborn´s lap.

The cyborg leaped forward and landed on the hood of the car. The woman and Twilight shared a glance. Twilight could see herself in the car reflecting in the cyborg´s dull, stiff eyes. Twilight had an expression of shock on her face that she had never seen before.

A clenched fist rammed through the windshield, both Twilight and Osborn were showered with a splash of broken glass. The knuckles were racing towards her face.

With one movement Twilight ducked out of the path of the incoming ram and took a firm hold of the wrist. Twilight raised her gun to shoot, but the bone of the dismembered arm pushed into her arm like a disfigured spear. The metallic bone cut through the fibers of her skin and pressed beneath the skin on the other end.

The woman launched forward yet again with her legs and Twilight could feel the arm she was holding slowly pushing towards her neck. She twisted her around the wrist and pointed to towards the cyborg´s temple.

A white light flashed from the muzzle and the woman´s right temple exploded in a mixture of grey metal, white plastic and red blood. The cyber brain was exposed in a narrow crack in the metallic skull.

Her head was thrown back for before she stopped moving, but kept her cold lifeless stare fixed into Twilight´s eyes. Streams of red, white and pink liquids ran from the opening in her skin. Twilight stared back.

Osborn grabbed the cyborg by the hair on the back of her head and pressed a tranquilizer unit into the sockets neck. The moment he fired it the woman´s gaze fell and every one of her limps lost their strength as she fell into Twilight´s lap. “You okay?” He remarked on the wound on her arm.

Twilight stared at the woman. Her hair was tousled and wet with fragments of plastic skin spread over it.

“Hey.” Osborn gave her cheek a light slap when she didn´t respond. “You felling alright?”

She pressed out a breath. “I´m fine. You?” She nodded towards his shoulder.

He pressed the body out on the hood and sat back in his seat. He grunted and squeezed his shoulder. “Just a little stiff.” A few ragged breaths rushed over his lips. “What the hell is this?”