Sweetie took a slow, deep breath as she looked out the carriage window, towards the towering sky scraper that seemed to pierce the heavens and tower over the Manehatten skyline. A crowd had gathered in front, filled with ponies taking pictures and yelling at the top of their lungs in an attempt to get the attention of some of the many higher class ponies attending this party. Normally she'd have avoided such a thing. It wasn't like the Grand Galloping Gala, after all. The princesses wouldn't even be making an appearance. In many ways it would be more like a business meeting than an actual party.
However, the host of the event, Hoof Co, had been her target for weeks now. Tonight would be her one and only chance to find out if the corporation had her friend, Apple Bloom, or not.
It had all started a few weeks ago. Sweetie had been on tour at the time and almost hadn't answered the call. She sometimes wondered what would have happened if she'd ignored it, just tried to go back to sleep. But something had driven her to roll over and pick up the phone.
“Hello?” she'd said groggily, barely able to form the words she was so tired.
At first she'd just heard heavy breathing and nearly hung up. Then she heard a soft sob. “S-Sweetie. I-it's Apple Bloom,” the pony on the other end said.
That had made the mare sit up. “Wait, Apple Bloom? What's wrong? Is everything okay?”
“Y-yes. No. Ah don't know. M-maybe? Ah just... Ah... Ah need your help. Ah need... Ah need to talk to yah. And Scootaloo. It's about Hoof Co. Ah went into their system and ah found things. Bad things.”
That had made the mare freeze up. She and her two friends had always tried everything together. And while most of what they did was perfectly legal(at least at the time), occasionally they'd tried other things that weren't so much. It had started with just prying into a few records they found online, swiping a little bit of information. Nothing harmful. At first. But then they'd started going a bit overboard. Apple Bloom had been the best at it, probably because she seemed to get the biggest thrill out of it. She loved the challenge, finding what she could break into without getting caught. “You... didn't. Please tell me you didn't.”
“Ah did. Listen, it was for a good reason. The Templars, they just...” the mare said weakly. “Ah just, ah thought ah could. Ah've been working on the Discord program for a while and just... ah thought it would be fun. Ah got in and ah found...” Sweetie could almost hear the shudder. “It's not... you won't believe it. It's just, Luna is one of 'em. Ah mean, not one of them, one of them. But she's a... it's just... please. Yah have to meet me. You and Scootaloo.”
“Apple Bloom, you're not making any sense,” Sweetie said softly. “Did you have something to drink? Maybe--”
“Ah'm not drunk!” Apple Bloom screamed. “Oh, ah wish ah was, but ah'm not. Listen, it's Hoof Co. They're not, it's not what they... it's just... listen. Come back tah town soon, please, we need tah--” There was a crash in the background, followed by stomping and a scream. Then the phone had gone dead.
“Apple Bloom? Apple Bloom!” Sweetie had shrieked into the phone, but got no response.
Sweetie had called back almost instantly, but the phone didn't pick up. The next day the news had aired a story about Apple Bloom. Apparently somepony had broken into her home and foalnapped her. Her place had been trashed, computers broken, every electronic just wrecked. The only thing that had escaped was a single small hoof pad with a databit installed, which had been hidden in a small loose board under the bed. It housed the Discord program. The only reason Sweetie and Scootaloo had been able to find it was because the mare had used to hide things in there when they were fillies.
The Apples were almost falling apart, trying to find out why somepony would do such a thing, searching day and night for the captors. Sweetie had almost gone to the cops, but had finally decided against it. After all, it was only hearsay and if Hoof Co was behind it she didn't want to tip them off.
Instead she'd gone to Scootaloo. Together they'd plotted and schemed, for weeks trying to find someway to find out where she could be and if she was okay. If they really did have her captured.
The invitation to the main headquarters for this party had been the best way for her to get in and now it was time to strike. She didn't care how rich or powerful Hoof Co was. If they had her friend, she wouldn't stop until she was back, safe and sound.
She pushed the door open and gave a smile to the gathered crowd, stepping out and lightly waving a hoof. She was wearing a red sequined dress that sparkled with every step. She slowly walked over the red carpet, tuning out the ponies calling out and asking about her next record, before walking into the building.
Her heart beat like a drum, but she kept a soft, cool smile on her face. She'd been planning this for what felt like ages now. They had blueprints of the building, they knew what to do. She'd spent a small fortune on tools and items they'd need for this. Besides, she had the easy job. All she had to do was get Scootaloo inside. The mare would take care of the rest. Most of it, at least.
“Ah, you came!” a voice called out, making her look up. A blue unicorn mare trotted forward, a smile on her face. “I could hardly believe my ears when I heard you accepted our invitation.”
Sweetie nodded. “I know you've all been trying for a while, I just felt it was time,” she said with a smile. “I've heard all about your recent work with the zebras and buffalo and I just couldn't pass up this opportunity to get inside and look up close.”
The mare smiled and then slowly held out a hoof. “Ah, our recent charity work. I wasn't aware you paid attention to such things. I'm Sunny, I'll be your liaison for the evening. Please, tell me if you need anything.”
“Of course. Well, first I'd like to know where the main party is being held?”
“Of course, of course!” the mare said, before turning and trotting away. Sweetie looked around, her eyes soaking in all the information she could. The first floor had nothing they needed, but that would be fine. She paused when they came to the elevator.
“Ah, would you mind if we took the stairs? I've never really felt comfortable in those things. Small, moving boxes and all that.”
Sunny stared at her for a moment, before giving a small nod. “Well, I don't see why not.” She turned to the right and walked a little down the hall and pulled open the door. Sweetie's eyes scanned the stairway as they went up. Security cameras, one on each floor. They swept from left to right, it also looked like they always kept the door in view.
“Which floor is the party on?” Sweetie asked with a small smile.
“The sixth. Are you sure you'd rather not take the elevator?”
The unicorn let out a small sigh of relief. “Oh, I'm sure.” She stepped a bit ahead on the fifth floor and pushed the door open.
“Oh! Miss Belle! This is the fifth, not the sixth!” Sunny said quickly.
Sweetie blinked and stopped in the doorway. “What? But it clearly says six right there,” she said, pointing at the door. She then gasped. “O-oh. Oh dear. I would have sworn it said sixth.” She put a hoof to her face, though her eyes still scanned the room. No guards. Three cameras she could see across the room, not moving. The room was filled with cubicles and terminals. Perfect. She turned back around, bumping her hip in the door frame, a small square falling out from under her dress and quickly sliding away. It turned the color of the carpet after a moment. She quickly stepped out and closed the door. “I am so, so sorry. Sometimes I am just such a bubble head.”
Sunny gave a soft chuckle. “Oh, it's quite alright. That's just a work space so there really isn't anything you need to worry about there.” She then turned and started walking up the stairs again. As Sweetie walked under the camera for the fifth floor, her horn glowed for a moment and there was a small tug. The camera kept moving, but the red light on the bottom went out. It wasn't completely disabled, but hopefully it would be enough in the dimly lit stairwell. She let out a soft sigh of relief. She'd practiced for days to be able to do that. Hopefully it would be enough for Scootaloo.
The door was opened and Sunny walked in. The floor was almost identical to the one below it, except without the cubicles and desks. The floor had been cleared off and dozens of people were sitting around the room, chatting up. The room went silent as she walked in and nearly every eye turned to her. She gave a meek little wave, smiling gently at the ponies. Within moments they were talking again, though now in hushed whispers while they kept pointing at her.
“I wasn't even trying to make an entrance,” Sweetie said with a soft chuckle before looking around the room. All three cameras she'd seen on the floor below were in the same position in this room. She also caught three more. One directly over the main entrance, two in the corners on the entrance wall. Six cameras, she couldn't help but admire their efficiency. So long as the ones below were stationed in the same positions, there'd be no problems.
All the cubicles in the room below would keep her little 'gift' from being seen. She just had to be careful. “The board will be absolutely thrilled to find out you're considering representing our company,” Sunny said with a smile. “We think we could really help take your career to new heights. Did you know that Hoof Co has over a dozen different recording subsidiaries? Our agents are also the top in the field. Why, we--”
“I'm not changing my agent,” Sweetie said before glancing back. “Diamond has been an absolute dream to work with.”
“Err, of course. But there are many new and exciting venues we can work with together.”
“Mmmm hmm,” Sweetie said before walking towards the snack table and filling up a plate. She'd half expected them to ask her to sing, but wasn't at all surprised that they were trying to get her to sign up with them. She could already see the rest of the night ahead of her, as they probed and questioned her at every turn, trying to find out what her price was.
Her price was her friend and if they thought bits would be enough to buy her, they were going to be sorely mistaken. She paused and felt a low vibration against her right thigh. “Could you direct me to the restroom?” she asked with a small smile.
“Huh? Oh, of course,” Sunny said, motioning down the hall on the right.
Sweetie nodded and quickly walked off. There were a pair of guards outside the bathroom. They didn't have any badges or anything, but the way they stood and their fancy suits just screamed guards. She wondered if they were afraid somepony would steal toilet paper. She gave a little smile and walked between them, closing and locking the door behind herself.
A quick spell from her horn gave her the comfort she needed and assured her that she wasn't being watched. She moved to the toilet and sat down, pulling out a small hoof pad. She clicked on it and a small outline of the fifth floor appeared on it. She tapped where each of the cameras had been placed, before taking a deep breath.
Are you sure about this? the words flashed below the map.
Yes, she typed back. She tapped a few more times until the words 'Connection Secure' appeared on the screen. She then put it up to her head, her horn glowing.
She was down in the fifth floor, only a few inches off the floor. She was hiding under one of the desks. Slowly, she moved out from cover.
The small box had originally just been a toy, a small little thing for unicorn foals to play with to practice their magic with. But Scootaloo had modified it with a few 'gadgets' she'd gotten from 'totally trustworthy and not at all illegal' sources. The little box began to slowly wheel around the room, hidden by the cubicles. It made its way to one of the desks and moved behind it, long tentacles flowing out from behind it and disconnecting the cords, moments before re-attaching them to the small box.
She was connected to the network. She let out out a soft sigh of relief and began breaking through. The first layer was almost trivial, even she could do it without having to resort to any of the tricks she'd picked up over the years. Really, who used their name as part of the password? Now came the moment of truth. She started going through the network and seeing just what she was connected to.
She tried to grant herself admin privileges, but hit her first real resistance. A grin formed on her lips. She'd never been quite as talented as the others when it came time to break through these sorts of things. However, Apple Bloom adored breaking through little things like this and had created dozens of little programs to get around them. Over the years Sweetie had found a few from the right sellers as well. It took her only a moment to break through using a special program called 'Melter'. It took a few seconds, but she was in. Full access. Her breathing went faster as she tried going through and finding what she could. If they could pull up the right information, well, this would be easy.
Sadly, it wasn't going to be that easy. There was plenty of information stored across the network, but mostly for users. The central server was disconnected it seemed. She grumbled darkly, before she went searching for her next target. It didn't take her long.
Security.
It only took her a moment to find and access the window locks and cameras. She took a deep breath and disabled them. Sixty seconds. That's all she'd have.
–----
Sweetie was back in the bathroom, the pad in her hand. She tapped it a few times. 'Go.'.
–----
Scootaloo grinned as the message popped up on her pad. She took off like a bolt, landing outside the window with forty seconds to spare. Getting in through the window only took a few seconds, but she knew she was racing the clock. She made it to the door, still had ten seconds. She shoved open the door, closing it instantly behind herself and raced forward, slamming her back against the wall.
Time was up. Right on queue, the camera above her started moving again. She was in. She reached down to her side and tapped the little pad. Discord. Oh, she couldn't wait to let it run rampant in their system. If they took Apple Bloom, she swore they'd pay. Nopony hurt her friends. She took a deep breath. The server room was in the basement, not hard to find. She'd be visible for a second, but only on the one camera that Sweetie had messed with. She could do this.
She looked up to make sure the red light on the camera was off, before lifting her hood over her head. She was just another pegasus. The worst kind of pegasus. One out for vengeance. She took to the air and jumped over the ledge, racing down. She felt a soft tingle down her spine as she disappeared from the camera, before disappearing down into the darkness. Hopefully if they saw her, they'd think it was just a weird blur. A glitch even.
Down, down, down she dove, moving so fast she doubted the cameras could even see her, making her descent. She gulped and readied herself for the most painful part. She had to move quick, meaning she couldn't slow down. She flew down at the basement, watching the approaching floor getting ever larger rapidly. She had only a split second to do this.
She passed the camera and tried to pull up. A split second wasn't enough time. She hit the ground, hard, sending pain through her body. Dazed, she quickly looked around. The only camera was the one over her, which she was hiding in the blind spot of.
“Ow,” she whispered to herself and just laid there for a few moments while she tried to let the pain subside. Truly her crashes were the most spectacular of all crashes, Rainbow Dash would have been proud. Slowly, she picked herself up and flew up, attaching her pad to the camera. It only took a few seconds before she had it playing on a loop. Easy. She then trotted to the room and took a deep breath, staring at the door. She tapped her pad and sent out a small message.
Can you disable the cameras again? Another minute should be all I need.
She pulled out a small tube and put it to the door, before pushing her ear against it. She couldn't hear anypony on the other side, but it was possible they were just being quiet. She hoped they were all just distracted by the party upstairs.
She didn't know how long it took, but finally her pad vibrated. The little light on the door went dark.
You have twenty-five seconds. Good luck.
“I asked for a minute,” she grumbled to herself, before pushing the door open. There was a camera over the door, pointing right at her. She quickly stepped in and looked around. There was a long wall of servers across the room, a few computers to access them and no additional cameras. She smirked and stepped in, closing the door behind herself.
The camera was disabled in seconds, looping over and over when it came back on. She couldn't believe it, this was all so easy. She started to trot towards the servers.
She froze as the little beams of light caught her eye. She gaped, her mouth falling open. Laser wires. How had she missed those? A grin formed on her lips before she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a pair of goggles, putting them on.
The world was cast in a green hue and she was able to see the wires easily. They went in all kinds of random directions, creating an impossible network of lines to cross. Most ponies would have given up, no way they could move through that. Even worse, the only openings were in the air.
It only took her a few seconds to navigate through them. They weren't designed to try and stop a pony who had trained her whole life to be like Rainbow Dash. She trotted up to the console with a soft chuckle. She pushed her own datapad aside and pulled out the small pad housing Discord on her side, before attaching it to the nearest computer. There was a soft, ominous laugh from the pad as it loaded up, revealing lines of text that Scootaloo couldn't even begin to understand. She was good, there was no doubt about that. But Apple Bloom was brilliant when it came to stuff like this. Whatever she had designed had to be special. And they'd just uploaded it right into Hoof Co's home servers.
Code flashed across the screen for a few moments before an input popped up.
Search:
She took a deep breath, before typing in 'Apple Bloom'.
It only took a moment before there was a light buzz from the pad. She yelped and hoped there was nothing wrong. Were they busted already? Had they been found? Then files appeared on the screen. Dozens of them. Her mouth fell open as she slowly clicked on a few promising ones, her eyes scanning over as it highlighted them. She let out a low whistle. Before her blood went cold. A single file marked 'Subject: A0B70'. It had Apple Bloom's name in it and, worse, had the date and time of her disappearance. It also said 'Subject collected'.
She ground her hoof into the ground before connecting her pad to the one housing the Discord program. She downloaded the files, before doing a quick search on other 'subjects', downloading them as well. She then paused and clicked on a small button marked 'Previous'.
Other files she hadn't chosen appeared. Some were grayed out, but others were highlighted. She downloaded those as well before taking a deep breath. Hopefully this would be enough. They'd find Apple Bloom. She swore.
A grin formed on her face and then she pulled out a small databit, disconnected her pad and then connected the bit to the pad housing Discord. She then pushed upload. Apple Bloom was the greatest at getting through things, there was no doubt about that.
But nopony could top Scootaloo in making an exit. She quickly disconnected the pad and started making her way out. She pulled the hood even tighter over her face before pulling the door open. She took off into the air and was the fourth floor by the time the alarm went off. A smirk flashed on her face as she dove through the door in the fifth floor and raced to the window. She made it to the window and pulled it open, right as all the lights went off. She barely managed to avoid cackling as she dove out into the night, disappearing into the darkness.
“What did you do?” Sweetie asked, staring at the pegasus. “You almost got me busted!”
“I left a little timed gift in their database,” Scootaloo said with a snicker. “Probably trashed half their system when I did it.”
“You nearly burned the place down, you have any idea how many ponies could have been killed?”
“Oh relax, the fire prevention systems kicked in long before there was any real danger,” the pegasus said with a shrug. “Besides, this way there's no way they can track us down. I just wish we could have hit their backups first, it would have been great to destroy all that for good.”
Sweetie sighed and shook her head. Slowly, though, she smiled. “So, did you find what we were looking for?”
Scootaloo nodded. “Yes. I found... well, I think whatever it was that Apple Bloom found. At least whatever she used Discord to get to, last time. But you were right. At least, I think your were right. They have her.”
The unicorn took a deep breath, before smiling. “Well... then I guess it was worth it. Now if we can just find her. Have you gone through it yet?”
“Are you kidding? It'll take days to go through that load,” Scootaloo said with a shrug. “But we've got it now, they don't know we've got it. It--”
There was a sudden pounding on the door. Sweetie frowned and waved a hoof to hush Scootaloo. She slowly walked to the door. The two had met up at a small hotel just on the edge of Manehatten. She couldn't imagine who would know she was staying here. “Who is it?” she called out.
“Room service.”
The unicorn cocked her head to the side and opened the door. “I didn't order--” Wow, that was a big gun pointed at her head. She yelped and took a step back, her eyes wide. Three unicorns in black tuxedos stood in the door frame, guns out and leveled on her. “C-can I help you?” she asked with a soft squeak.
“Yes. Miss Belle, we need you to come with us. Bring your friend,” the pony added, quickly looking towards Scootaloo. The two shared a look. “Try to run, and we'll shoot you. You're wanted dead or alive.”
The color drained from their faces but, slowly, the two stepped forward. “I... I want my lawyer,” Sweetie said weakly.
There was a soft chuckle from one of the ponies. “That's rich.”
“Yes, Filthy Rich,” Sweetie said quickly.
The pony frowned and growled. “Come on. Move it.”
Sweetie gulped nervously and did as she was told. The front desk was completely empty, whatever pony who had been at the counter had obviously ran off. Or removed. She shivered softly as she was led out into the parking lot. How had they found out? So quickly, none the less? They'd tried so hard. Apple Bloom had been so close.
As they moved out of the building, the ponies quickly moved their guns into their coats, though their horns kept glowing. Sweetie gulped and looked to Scootaloo. If only one of them could escape, maybe they'd have a chance. Maybe--
The gun went off right behind her, making her jump forward and look for cover. She looked behind herself in time to see a cloaked pony body slam the second pony, the first one already down, head smashed like a fruit against the street. The second one didn't even get a startled shot off, a knife drawn from the pony's cloak and jammed into her eye before she could raise the gun.
The third, however, had time. She took a step back and shot into at the assailant. Six bullets into the chest. The pony stumbled back, blood flowing from her chest and leaking through the cloak. The armed guard took three more shots at the unmoving target.
The cloaked pony began to laugh before reaching up and slowly flipping the hood on her cloak back. An orange and red zebra stood under it. Her eyes were narrow, bloodshot slits. “You're using the wrong kind of bullets,” she said before rushing forward. The pony shot three more times, but it didn't even slow the zebra down. She lunged on the pony and slammed her into the ground, before jamming her mouth forward and biting down on her neck, tearing it out with a sharp tug.
Sweetie stared at the bodies, then the zebra, then the bodies again. “S-Scootaloo. Did... did we die?”
“Not... not yet.”
The zebra stood up, blood coating her face. She looked to the two and smiled. “Sweetiebelle. Scootaloo. A pleasure. I'm Huntress of the Templars. I'll be saving you this evening.”
“W-who?” Sweetie asked, staring.
The zebra's ears twitched. “Police are on the way. Listen, we can talk about all this later, okay?” She wiped her face off with her cloak. “Just, right now? We reallllllly shouldn't be here.” There was a light clink as the bullets fell out of her cloak and landed on the ground, covered in blood.
“She... shot you.”
“Wrong kind of bullets. Again. Me or death squad. Time is kind of running out so you'd really better make a choice.”
Sweetie gulped and looked to Scootaloo.
“We can help you find your friend, Apple Bloom,” the zebra said.
“Wait, what?” Scootaloo asked. “How do you know--”
“She was working with us. Come on, cops, coming, us, not being here. Let's make it happen! I can explain everything later!” The zebra gestured enthusiastically towards the street.
Sweetie gulped before slowly nodding. “O-okay. Let's go.”
“Wait, what? We don't even know who she is! We can't just go with her,” Scootaloo objected.
“If she can help us find Apple Bloom, isn't it worth the risk?” she asked, before looking down. “Also, I think she can kill us if she has to. So... not like we have that much choice.”
“Good, you're learning,” the zebra said before turning and galloping down the street. “Don't worry, it's all cool! Mostly! Sorta! Okay, it's really not but it might be eventually! Ugh, I really need to brush my teeth after this. Really should have carried more knives. Or just snapped her neck. Yes, neck time I snap it. Hee hee, I made a pun.”
Scootaloo and Sweetie just shared a confused look, before galloping after the mare.
Neither of them really knew what they were going to do, now. If Hoof Co had foalnapped their friend, then they knew they had a dangerous time ahead of them. A corporation like that had a lot of power, a lot of ponies and a lot of money. Especially now if they knew the two of them were after her. They got lucky in their sneak attack, but they wouldn't get another chance.
But the two had something the corp didn't. The drive and knowledge that no matter what happened, they wouldn't stop until they found their friend and got her back. Something like that was worth all the bits and power in the world.
Author's Note
The first of three little one-shots I wrote. This one is one chapter, the second is two chapters and the third is three chapters. This one is inspired by android netrunner slightly, though I ended up deciding to throw in fae, vampires, all kinds of things that... didn't show up much in this story but likely will if I decide to ever expand on it. Hope you enjoy.
