Through A Darkened Mirror

Chapters

1.0 … How Things Began …
3.0 … In Which Sunset Yells At Some Ponies …
3.5 … Meanwhile …
4.0 … In Which There Is Much Talking …
5.0 … Fancies, Ultimatums And Decisions …
6.0 … In Which Ponies Misbehave …
8.0 … A Simple Job …
8.5 … Elsewhere …
9.0 … In Which Everyone Relaxes …
10.0 … In Which Fast Food Is Consumed …
10.5 … At The Same Time …
11.0 … In Which There May Be Cake …
11.5 … Back At CMS Seattle …
12.0 … Back Through The Mirror …
13.0 … In Which Sunset Is Rude To A Pony …
14.0 … In Which Life Goes On …
15.0 … In Which A Gillette Starts To Find Her Place …
2.0 … In Which Rarity Is Distraught Over The Bathing Arrangements …
7.0 … Doing Favors, Gang Violence And Mexican Cuisine …

1.0 … How Things Began …

It was an idyllic early summer afternoon in Ponyville, Celestia’s sun was shining, the weather patrol had cleared the skies of all but a few clouds, the birds were singing, and there had been no monster attacks or other excessive weirdness for weeks. Most everypony was out and about, enjoying the day.

The Bearers of Harmony, however, were gathered at the Castle of Friendship where they waited, some with more patience than others, for Twilight to finish her modifications on the magic mirror she had “inherited” from Celestia.

“Come ON, Twi’,” Rainbow Dash whined, “How long is this gonna take?”

“Almost done!” the alicorn replied, as she made yet another adjustment to the array of mana crystals, magical amplifiers and magic inhibitors that should, theoretically, both enhance and stabilize the portal to the human world enough for all six of them to go through.

“Are you sure this will be okay?” Fluttershy murmured uncertainly as she watched the princess work.

“Sunset and I worked everything out,” Twilight assured her timid friend, “We’ve confirmed that there is a second Twilight over there, so having multiple copies of us walking about for a short period won’t destabilize the other world’s equilibrium. The school is closed for the summer, so we won’t have to worry about any unexpected witnesses to our arrival or departure, and Pinkie and AJ have assured me that they can put us all up for a three day visit.” The alicorn stopped for a moment and furrowed her brow, “I mean the other Pinkie Pie and Applejack assured me. Wow, that’s going to get confusing.”

“Eh, we’ll figure something out, egghead,” Rainbow did a mid-air flip in her excitement, “We’re going to meet ourselves from another world! This. Is. So. Awesome!”

“I know!” Pinkie Pie chirped, as she bounced in place, “We need to have a ‘Thanks For Inviting Us To Your World’ party, and a ‘Pleased To Meet Us’ party, oh, oh, and a slumber party and --”

Applejack reached out a hoof to cover Pinkie’s mouth, “Simmer down there, sugarcube, we’ve got three days, an’ Ah’m sure tha ponies on tha other side of tha mirror have things they want ta do ta.” The farmpony cocked an eyebrow at Twilight, “Are ya sure that havin’ two Pinkies runin’ around together is such a good idea, Twi’?”

“Not completely,” Twilight admitted with a giggle, as she double-checked her notes and diagrams for the fifth time, “Although I suspect it won’t be any worse than the concentrated “radicalness” of having two Rainbows,” she added, smirking at the blue pegasus, who responded with a raspberry.

Rarity indulged in a small, disapproving sniff at her friends’ coarse antics, but even she was gripped by the exhilaration of the moment, “Just think on it, darlings, new fashions, new sights,” the unicorn leaned over to give Fluttershy a gentle shoulder bump and a smile, “New animals.” Rarity’s smile widened as the pegasus perked up, her nervousness now buried under thoughts of all the different and adorable creatures she could meet.

“All set!” Twilight cried happily, “Now, did everypony read the primers I gave you about fingers and human behavior?” when all of her friends answered in the affirmative, although Rainbow rolled her eyes at having to do homework for their vacation, the alicorn eagerly charged up her horn. After taking a moment to focus, Twilight touched the mirror with her magic causing the portal to spring into life. Unlike its normal manifestation, the augmented portal bloomed out from the mirror that normally contained it to form a shimmering, vertical pool just past the mirror’s surface, “Okay, fillies, let’s go!” with a happy cheer, the mares headed into the portal.

Unfortunately, the portal’s iridescent disk prevented any of them from noticing when one of the mana crystals overloaded. The resulting magical discharge arced into one of the magical amplifiers, and then flowed through Twilight’s carefully designed matrix to super-charge four more mana crystals before it finally struck one of the magic inhibitors and dissipated, but not before the impact knocked the inhibitor out of line.

The six ponies shrieked in agony as magic surged through the portal, twisting its dimensional energies and resetting the exit point while the ponies where still in transit between the realms. Ejecting the now unconscious mares out into its new destination, the portal flared brightly … and then vanished.

________________________________________

Aurora Shimmer – usually known by her street handle of “Sunset” – sat on her idling motorcycle in the rain-drenched Tacoma night as she stared down the alley that the weird, blue flash had just come out of. When a few minutes of further observation resulted in nothing more interesting than some trash blowing in the wind, Sunset almost kicked her bike back into gear, but some odd feeling she couldn’t place stopped her. ‘Come on, Sunset, move it! Whatever that was, it’s not any of your concern, especially this close to the Puyallup Wall!’

Despite herself, Sunset remained where she was, her cybereyes straining to pierce the alleyway’s shadows, until finally, she extended the bike’s kickstand and locked down its controls while growling at herself for her own stupidity. Reaching down, she pulled her LA-15 from its scabbard, a tingle running through her arm as the smart-circuits in the assault rifle activated and a familiar amber targeting spot appeared in her vision.

Striding through the murk, Sunset carefully avoided the piles of wet, rancid garbage that dotted the ground as she made her way deeper into the alley. Sliding around a rusted dumpster, she stopped as her gaze fell on the pile of bodies that lay sprawled in the shadows, “Oh, frag me, a dumpsite …” She almost turned to flee, when her brain finally processed what her eyes’ thermographic system had been telling her: the people, girls really, were alive!

With a disgruntled sigh, Sunset reluctantly stepped closer and dropped to a crouch to take a better look at what she had found. ‘Six teenagers, none of them dressed for Seattle weather,’ reaching out her hand, she touched a few cheeks, checked some pulses and gently slapped a face or two, ‘They’re too well fed and well-dressed to be squatters or to have come out of the Zone, but they aren’t responsive. Maybe blitzed or tranqed?’ rising back to her feet, Sunset looked over her discovery as she brooded, ‘So what are six corp-brats, cute ones too, doing lying unconscious in a back alley? Some drekheaded prank? A ransom job gone sideways? Damnit, if I leave them here they’ll get pneumonia, assuming that a body bank doesn’t find them and turn them into fresh merchandise or some gangbanger doesn’t sell them to a bunraku parlor that’s looking for new meat puppets.’

Stomping irritably back to the mouth of the alley, Sunset activated her cranial cellphone and made a call, “Hey Doc … Yeah, look I need a favor … I found a half-dozen underage twinkies comatose in the alley on 7th street South-East, could you send Johnny and the van around to pick ‘em up? … I don’t know, sixteen, seventeen, maybe? … Thanks, Doc, I appreciate this … Yeah, I’ll play guardian angel until Johnny shows to collect them … What? Why? … But … Fine, alright, Doc, you win … Just tell Johnny to move it, okay? It’s nasty out here, and I want to go home.”

________________________________________

Twilight moaned as her eyes fluttered open, then immediately snapped shut again to keep out the fluorescent lighting that aggravated the headache pounding in her temples. Throwing an arm across her face for good measure, she groaned a second time as the sounds of people moving about encouraged her headache to strive for new heights, “Twilight, darling, how are you feeling?” Rarity’s cultured voice asked out of Twilight’s self-induced darkness, as a comforting hand rested on her shoulder.

“Miserable,” Twilight replied, her sore throat reducing her voice to a rasp that nearly matched Rainbow’s, “Is everypony else okay?”

Applejack’s drawl answered her question, “A'right enough, sugarcube, jus’ sore, cold, an’ a mite confused about where we are.”

Finally forcing her eyes open, Twilight squinted over at the girls, only for her eyes to widen in surprise at the odd pinkish-peach coloring of their skins. Glancing down at her own arm, the academic blinked in confusion at the light-brown, almost chocolate milk-like, color her own epidermis had assumed.

Her brow furrowed as she pondered their strange appearance, Twilight accepted the cup of water that Fluttershy quietly offered with a small smile as she looked around at her clustered friends and the room beyond. While the room had the medicinal smell that seemed to be universal for hospitals (although with a strange, bitter underlying odor that she didn’t recognize), it held several cots, including the one Twilight currently occupied, and portable dividers rather than proper beds and privacy curtains she would have expected. Dull grey walls, a few uncomfortable looking chairs and the small table holding a pitcher and some cheap plastic cups completed the scene.

“Does anypony remember anything after we entered the portal?” Twilight’s stomach clenched unpleasantly as her friends all shook their heads helplessly, “Then how did we get here?”

“Don’t worry your head, silly-billy,” Pinkie smiled at Twilight as she blithely waved off the former-alicorn’s concern and playfully poked her shoulder, “I bet that the pony coming down the hall can tell us.”

The other five girls stared at the partypony for moment, before the sound of approaching footsteps drew their attention away from Pinkie and her smug grin to the door, where a red-haired, bespectacled woman in a lab coat and scrubs soon appeared. “Ah, you’re all awake, good,” the woman smiled at them as she pulled an odd device that looked rather like one of the “smart phones” Twilight’s human friends carried from a coat pocket, “I’m Doctor Reznik, although most folks just call me Doc Razor, and you’re in the Fife Free Clinic. Do any of you girls remember what happened to you?”

Rarity glanced at the others before stepping forward slightly to address the woman, “I’m sorry, Doctor, but we’re all rather mystified about what has happened ourselves. Where did you say we are?”

“Fife Free Clinic in Tacoma,” as the girls stared at her blankly, the doctor tried again, “Seattle Metroplex? Is any of this ringing a bell?” as her patients’ obvious confusion continued, she sighed and started typing some notes into her little gadget while mumbling to herself, “Definitely need to run a toxicology-screen on those blood samples,” raising her voice she continued on, unaware that the six girls had heard everything she said, “Do you remember anything? Your names, perhaps?”

“Oh, my apologies!” Rarity blushed at her gaffe, “I’m Rarity, and these are my friends, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy,” each of the girls waved or nodded to the Doctor in turn as she was named.

“Right …” Razor just raised an eyebrow and entered more notes into her device, “Well, most of you girls seem to be fine physically, other than not remembering how you arrived in the ‘Plex. You, however, Miss Sparkle,” Twilight gulped as the doctor fixed her with a sharp gaze, “Are suffering from Acute Synaptic Distress Syndrome, thankfully without any notable accompanying physical trauma.” Walking over to the cot, she fished a small packet of pills out of a pocket and handed them to Twilight, “Take these, they’ll re-balance your salt and electrolyte levels and help with the migraines and the light sensitivity.” Returning to her place by the door, the doctor rubbed her forehead tiredly as she muttered to herself again, “No credsticks or hardcopy ID, no cash, those names are handles if I ever heard one, and someone dumped them in that alley, oh, and one of them is an esper … What am I going to do with these girls?”

“Er, pardon me, Ma’am,” Applejack smiled apologetically as she broke in on the doctor’s thoughts, “But jus’ how did we get ta yer clinic?”

“How? A good Samaritan found you and called me …” Razor’s tired face suddenly broadened into a calculating smile, “Would you girls like to meet her?” After Twilight and the others eagerly agreed, she tilted her head slightly and began to talk to empty space as the girls watched in bewilderment, “Shimmer, come down to recovery, your baby SINners are all up and they want to meet their guardian angel.”

‘Who is she talking to?’ Twilight wondered, ‘Sinners? Shimmer? Wait, does she mean Sunset?’ fixing her eyes eagerly on the door, she was soon rewarded with the arrival of a familiar figure dressed in motorcycle leathers … only this wasn’t the Sunset Shimmer Twilight knew. She looked a bit older, her face was gaunt, as if she had missed a lot of meals, and her eyes … her eyes were empty, showing Twilight nothing but her own reflection, “S-Sunset?” the surprise caused by the older girl's troubling appearance caused Twilight to stumble over her greeting as her voice filled with worry.

Sunset stopped at Twilights words, “How do you know my name?” she demanded suspiciously as she brought a hand up to the pistol slung under her shoulder.

The room filled with tension as the six girls recoiled away from Sunset’s sudden hostility in surprise, only for Doc Razor to break it by casually backhanding the taller, flame-haired girl in the shoulder, “Knock it off Shimmer, you know I don’t allow fighting in my clinic,” dropping her voice, she continued urgently, “Esper, Sunset! And however she knows you, she seems concerned about you, so just mark this one in the benefits column and roll with it.” With a genial, if slightly forced, smile, the doctor made the rounds of the introductions, clearly trying to calm everyone down and put the recent friction behind them, “And that’s everybody, which brings us to the most pressing issue at hand. Where are you girls going to stay?”

“Where? Aren’t they staying here?’ Sunset blinked at the doctor in confusion while the girls watched the exchange with open curiosity.

“Shimmer, Shimmer,” Razor chided the younger woman while giving her a toothy smile that reminded Twilight of the one Celestia wore on occasion, “This is a clinic not a coffin hotel. You however, have your own doss.”

Sunset’s voice sharpened in irritation as she glared at the doctor, “I don’t even know these twinkies and you want me to take them home?!”

“They have nowhere else to go, and they don’t know anyone in the whole ‘Plex, Shimmer, they need someone to look after them,” the doctor fixed Sunset with a firm look, although her grin never wavered, “And you know full well that if you really didn’t care, you would have just left them back in that alley where you found them.”

Sunset stared at her for a moment before she gave a strangled scream of exasperation and stomped out of the room leaving a trail of swearing to mark her path. Doctor Reznik just rolled her eyes in amusement at the younger woman’s behavior, and then turned a gentler smile on the six girls who were nervously watching as their fates were decided by these strangers, “Sunset will come around, she just has to get her frustration out of her system. She’s good people, even if we do have to occasionally kick her in the hoop in order to remind her of the fact.”

3.0 … In Which Sunset Yells At Some Ponies …

“Not a very friendly bunch, are they,” drawled Applejack as the six former-ponies walked down the street through the pouring rain.

Twilight could only nod in agreement, ever since they had left Sunset’s apartment most of the ponies they met had been indifferent at best, only Mrs. Diaz and her fillies ‘No, humans call them girls,’ had shown the displaced ponies any real warmth.

“I suppose we must make some allowances for local customs, and this horrid weather certainly isn’t helping,” Rarity said, glaring up at the pouring sky from under the pair of umbrellas they were all huddled beneath, “And Celestia’s mane, what is that smell! It’s been with us ever since I woke up at the clinic!”

“I think it’s the air,” replied Rainbow, causing the fashionista to shake her head in dismay, “It’s felt … off … ever since we got here.”

“Oh, oh! Look, a shop!” Pinkie turned to her friends, an eager smile on her face, “Can we go in? Can we? Can we?”

“‘Stuffer Shack’,” Fluttershy murmured as she read the flickering sign above the door, “I wonder what a ‘stuffer’ is?”

“Ah don’t know,” grumbled Applejack, “But if they have any slickers, Ah’m in.”

Heading through the automatic doors, the girls quickly scattered to explore the various aisles. Winching at the fluorescent lighting that seemed to leech away all the colors of the various products on display, Twilight could only shake her head as she passed aisles filled with household goods and small hardware, followed by racks of soaps and detergents, all next to aisles filled with more of the “food” that Sunset had stocked in her fridge. ‘It’s like a small grocery store mixed with a Bargain Barn,’ she thought with amusement as she glanced down an aisle filled with packaged “baked goods” whose provenance she regarded with suspicion, and bottles of something called “Bouncy Bubble Beverage”.

“Over here, darlings,” Rarity called out, triggering a small rush as the Equestrians hurried over to where she and Applejack were standing next to a display of “Use’N’Lose” products, which did include raincoats – along with plates, cups, utensils and even shirts and pants.

“I don’t know, Rarity,” Rainbow frowned, “Disposable clothes? Really?”

“Believe me, I’m weeping on the inside, Rainbow,” the fashionista replied, “But beggars can’t be choosers, as they say.”

“Umh, how are we going to pay for any of this?” asked Fluttershy, as she nervously wound a lock of pink hair around her finger.

“Really, darlings?” asked Rarity when Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow and even Twilight exchanged embarrassed glances, “I’m the only one who thought to bring along some bits?” the blue-haired girl sighed, “Fine, I’ll pay for the raincoats, but we must do something about our financial situation, we are not going to abuse Sunset’s charity, agreed?”

Once the other girls had all nodded their agreement, Rarity headed for the counter, excusing herself past a rather thuggish-looking teenager in a garish jacket with a partial skeleton nailed to a “T” made of metal beams painted on its back. “Excuse me, Sir, but I’d like to buy these.”

“That’ll be forty-six, forty-one,” the man behind the counter didn’t even look up from the cheap flimsy-magazine in his hand as he replied in a bored tone, “Cred, cash or corp-script?”

“I was hoping that this might be sufficient, actually,” Rarity admitted, with a small, slightly embarrassed, laugh.

Finally bothering to raise his eyes, the clerk’s lips pursed in a silent whistle as he got his first real look at the teen, he then blinked down at the gold coin sitting on the stained plastic countertop, “Uh, yeah, sure, Miss, that’ll do great!”

“Thank you, Sir,” waving her friends over to a corner, the six girls quickly donned their new raingear, while Rarity and Fluttershy winched at the garments’ eye-searing colors.

Fluttershy suddenly gave a small “eep” and ducked behind the others, “That stallion with the scary jacket is watching us ….”

“Hey, what’s your problem, pal?” demanded Rainbow as she stepped forward aggressively, “Haven’t you ever seen anypony put on a raincoat before?”

Applejack put a hand on the athlete’s shoulder, “Easy there, Dash, no need ta go borrowin’ trouble,” despite her words, the farmgirl gave the scruffy teenager a hard look of her own, before turning back to her friends, “Everypony ready? Then let’s go.”

________________________________________

An hour later, the rain was coming down even harder as the Equestrians departed a street market that reminded them of Ponyville, while Pinkie and Rainbow were pouting at Rarity’s stubborn insistence on hoarding their small stockpile of bits.

“But they have Slurpee-doos!”

“You don’t even know what that is, Pinkie,” Rarity pointed out in exasperation, “And until we have an income, we simply cannot afford to waste our limited funds on frivolities.”

“Uh, fillies?” broke in Rainbow, “That weirdo from the Stuffer Shack is watching us again, and he brought some friends along.”

When the girls turned to look, the sneering teen and his six equally disreputable companions were easy to find, both for their identical jackets as well as for the noticeable empty space around them.

“Okay …” Twilight said uneasily, “I think it’s time we headed back to Sunset’s ….”

A few blocks later, Fluttershy gave an anxious squeak “They’re still there!”

Almost stumbling on the wet sidewalk as she glanced over her shoulder, Twilight did some quick mental map plotting and turned into a backstreet, “Come on, this should take us almost directly to Sunset’s building!” increasing their speed to a trot, the next two blocks passed the girls in a blur … until they turned down a dead-end alley, “Well ponyfeathers!”

“Well, well, what do we have here?” a voice said nastily from behind the Equestrians, “It looks like a pack of corp-brats are slumming in Crucifixer turf.”

Turning around, the six girls faced the speaker, a hard-faced young woman only a few years older than themselves, while her smirking friends spread out to either side, blocking the alley’s mouth.

Pinkie immediately bound forward, putting herself in the older girl’s face, “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, who are you? What’s a Crucifixer?” bouncing over to another member of the gang, “Aren't all those pins in your face painful?” she asked, before springing back to the group’s apparent leader, “Can we be friends?”

“Back off!” snarled the woman as she flung up a hand – and Pinkie went stumbling back into Fluttershy’s arms almost as if she had been thrown. “Here’s the deal, collars, you jandered your hoops in our turf and dis’ed one of my boys,” she continued, her tone shark-jovial, “So you’re going to give us all those shinnies your carrying, and each one of you is going to show my boys a good time. Do a good job, and maybe we won’t mess up those pretty faces of yours too much.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” said Rainbow as she, Rarity and Applejack stepped forward aggressively.

“They got spunk,” laughed one of the gangbangers, “But we’ll have you moaning and begging like a proper joygirl soon enough, sweetness,” he added, making a crude gesture at Rarity.

“Oh, it is ON!” the fashionista lunged forward, her right-cross landing solidly on the surprised ganger and sent him stumbling, easy prey for Rarity’s follow-up roundhouse kick to his head.

Applejack and Rainbow surged forward behind Rarity and quickly dropped their chosen targets as well, Rainbow grabbed her victim by his jacket, pivoted around and slammed his face into the brick wall, while AJ’s roundhouse punch threw her target back like he’d been kicked by a mule.

“You fragging slitches want to play, fine!” roared the gang boss as those of her men who were still standing pulled pistols or knives from beneath their jackets, “Play with this!”

A distortion in the air launched from the woman, leaving a furrow ripped into the asphalt as it streaked at the girls – only to splash harmlessly across the magenta shield that Twilight threw across the alley, separating the Equestrians from the gangers.

‘It kind of feels like a focused telekinetic strike,’ Twilight observed, her eyes narrowed slightly as the woman continued to pound away at her shield, ‘But where is her aura? And why are her spells affecting the street as well?’

“The gendarme will be coming!” the librarian shouted, trying to be heard over the older girl’s constant swearing and the rumbling shriek caused by her attacks tearing through the blacktop, “Just leave us alone and we’ll call it even!”

“Gendarme? What?” the gang boss paused in her attack to blink at the trapped girls in confusion while her dazed minions dragged themselves back to their feet, “You mean the Star? Badges don’t bother with this neighborhood, slitch, and nobody gets between two espers unless they have a death wish,” she gave a short bark of ugly laughter, “I’ve got all the time I want to beat down that shield, and then your asses are mine!”

‘Why is she so obsessed with hurting us?’ Twilight wondered as the other woman resumed battering away at her shield, ‘Okay, yes, Rarity, AJ and Rainbow did attack first, but they had already made their intentions very clear … And is she serious? No pony is going to investigate this?’ that last thought worried the librarian, her magic wasn’t in danger of failing any time soon, but if this madmare could just keep pounding away as long as she wanted, then eventually Twilight would tire and her shield would drop, leaving her and her friends exposed to the angry, and armed, gangers.

Twilight blinked, for a moment she was certain she had seen a figure, masked by the rain, at the mouth of the alleyway, ‘Maybe they’ll get help?’ she hoped, before the figure reappeared, closing on the stand-off faster than Twilight thought humans could run.

The murky shape quickly resolved into Sunset, rushing down the alley to come to a halt directly behind the gang boss, who stopped her assault as she suddenly arched backward, her mouth open in a silent scream. Sunset’s right arm came into view from behind the woman, revealing a pair of gore-splattered blades protruding from her forearm – which the flame-haired girl quickly slashed across the gang boss’ throat, spraying Twilight’s shield with blood as the Equestrians recoiled in horror.

One of the gangers spun around and opened fire, his big pistol echoing loudly in the alley as his shot slammed into Sunset, causing the girl to stagger as she dropped the gang leader’s corpse.

The blades retracted back into her arm with a faint “click” as Sunset pulled her own pistol from beneath her long coat, the gun barked twice, the first shot causing a spot of blood to appear on the front of the ganger’s jacket, while the second smashed through his head, covering the nearby wall with gore and brains.

The five remaining gangers abruptly decided that they had urgent business elsewhere and bolted, but not before Sunset’s parting shot sent one stumbling, clutching at his arm as his friends dragged him away.

Snatching up the pistol from its owner’s limp fingers, Sunset turned around to face the six girls, her face twisted with anger, “Get your fragging hoops back to my doss, now!”

________________________________________

The smell of friend eggs and potatoes drifted through the apartment as Sunset glared at the six girls from where she stood by the table, looming over them all in her anger, despite actually being shorter than both Applejack and Rarity. ‘She’s clearly furious,’ Twilight thought as she anxiously watched Sunset, ‘But it doesn’t touch her eyes at all. Is it just an act? Or is she really that empty inside?’ her mind flashed back to their reluctant host’s recent display of brutality and the librarian shuddered, ‘Can we trust her? Dear Celestia, what could make a pony so vicious?’

“‘Stay out of trouble’ I said”, Sunset growled, “A simple request, but no, you twinkies had the stunning idea to go out sprawling! And then you picked a fight with the fragging Crucifixers! I should’ve cut my loses and left you for them!”

“You killed those ponies!”

“What?” Sunset snapped, “Speak up!”

“You killed them!” repeated Fluttershy accusingly even as she shrank into Rarity’s arms, “How could you?”

“You’d rather I’d left you all to be gang raped or worse?” Sunset retorted coldly, causing the timid girl to flinch away again. The flame-haired girl frowned as she looked over her charges and finally noticed the horrified shock on all of their faces, how Pinkie and Fluttershy were cringing away from her, while Applejack and Rainbow were tense and ready to spring between her and the others. “Oh frag me … you lot really are streetmeat,” Sunset wiped a hand over her tired face as some of the ire faded from her stance, “Listen this isn’t the archology, or enclave, or fragging underground vault that you grew up in, so ka? This is the street. There aren’t any badges just waiting for the call to come swooping in and save your hoops from whatever stupidity you’ve gotten yourselves into, especially in a C-Security neighborhood like Milton! You have to keep your eyes open, know who to mind your manners with, and be ready to defend yourselves, ‘cause I’m sure as hell not going to be around to play guardian angel all the time!”

“You’ve gone over the wire,” she continued in a gentler tone, “Whatever corporation you belong to might be looking for you, but to the government, the other corps, the Star, you don’t exist. You’re all just more blanks, some more street dregs to be ignored or stepped on.” Sunset finally sat down as the last of her anger drained away, “I don’t know if you ran away or got extracted, but you obviously don’t belong out here in the wilds, and you girls need to think really hard about going back home before you get eaten alive.”

Twilight couldn’t help but frown as Sunset’s dismissive words pricked at her pride, and she could see her friends bristling as well, unsurprisingly, Rainbow Dash was quick to vent her annoyance, “Hey, we may not be killers, but we can look after ourselves! And what about you, what the hay kind of pony has bucking knives in their arms?”

“Rainbow! Language!” Rarity scolded the athlete while Sunset just looked at her in confusion.

“Okay …” the flame-haired girl’s face hardened as she sat up and put a hand on the pistol sitting on the table, “Weird corp-lingo I can buy, freaky-assed esper powers that don’t follow the rules everyone knows, maybe, but there’s no way that anyone, especially a corp-brat, doesn’t know what cyber-implants are! Who the frag are you girls?”

“That’s kind of an odd story,” Applejack admitted with a weak chuckle as the Equestrians looked at each other, “An’ we didn’t think ya’d believe us ….”

“Try me.”

3.5 … Meanwhile …

“Director Coalson?”

The man at the desk looked up from his terminal to frown at the woman wearing a skirt suit and lab coat who had disturbed his work, “Yes, what is it?” he demanded, peevishly.

“We’ve had some unusual results from the Psionic Waveform Detection project,” the woman replied, apparently unruffled by the Director’s poor attitude as she reached up a hand to brush back a lock of light blue hair, “The data should be in your secure e-mail now.”

His frown now meditative rather than annoyed, Coalson leaned back in his chair, “Give me the primary points.”

“Yes, Director, we were running a wide-arc scan by the primary unit as part of a calibration test when we detected a Class-Ten esper event in South-Western Tacoma, possibly in the general vicinity of the Puyallup Wall, at ten-twenty-five last night. The event lasted for seven-point-five seconds before we lost the signal.”

Coalson blanched as he sat upright in his chair, “A Class-Ten? Who was it? Do we know what they were after?”

“We don’t know,” the woman shrugged, “None of the identified world-class espers were reported to be anywhere in the metroplex. According to our intelligence assets, the only one even within several hundred kilometers was The Empress, and she was in San Francisco. Furthermore, the Alpha-Five readings for the event showed some minor, but distinct, deviations from standard.”

“That’s not possible!” Coalson stared at the woman, “The Alpha-Fives are baseline for a reason! Every esper we have managed to scan has the same Alpha-Five readings, the only difference is in the strength of the other wavelengths!”

The woman arched an eyebrow at him as irritation flashed briefly across her face, “I am aware of that, Director, nevertheless, this esper’s Alpha-Five readings do deviate from the standard our research has established.”

“So we have an unrecorded world-class esper wandering about, throwing around enough psionic power to level a building, and they’re an aberration as well?” Coalson shook his head, “Were there any other developments?”

“Yes, at nine-twenty-three this morning, during another wide-arc calibration scan, we detected a Class-Four-point-Five esper event in South-central Tacoma, lasting thirty seconds. Our current analysis indicates at least two espers were involved, which is confusing the readings, but we believe that one of the espers involved shows the same Alpha-Five deviation as the Class-Ten event from last night.”

Coalson idly scratched his chin as he thought, “Hmmm … How many of the remote scanners have we gotten installed?”

“A dozen, scattered throughout the ‘plex for beta-testing and data acquisitions.”

“It’ll have to be enough,” grumbled Coalson, “I want wide-arc scans of the entire ‘plex on an hourly basis, and have any data we receive regarding these aberrant espers classified Top Secret and sent to me directly.”

“The PWD project is not ready for such heavy usage, especially over such a large area,” the woman objected with a frown, “That kind of over-use could cause data-corruption in the readings and it will put us behind schedule for project completion. And shouldn’t we be sending this data to the Home Office?”

“You have your instructions Doctor Lulamoon,” Coalson replied stiffly, “I’ll deal with the Home Office, and you focus on the PWD.”

Once the door had closed behind the doctor, Coalson leaned back, with an ugly smile upon his face, “After all, what Ms. Celestia doesn’t know, can’t hurt me.”

4.0 … In Which There Is Much Talking …

Now that they were on the spot, the six girls exchanged uneasy glances, uncertain exactly how to, or even who should, begin explaining their situation to their increasingly suspicious host.

Eventually, Rarity decided to bite the bullet, “Well, as you may have guessed, we’re not from around here,” she began with a nervous laugh.

“You don’t say.”

“Please, dear, there’s no need for sarcasm,” the fashionista chided Sunset, “We want to be forthcoming with you, but our circumstances are … unusual, even for us.

“The heart of the matter is, and trust me, we do realize how preposterous this will sound, but we aren’t from this world.”

“So, you’re all highriders off one of the orbitals, what’s so unbelievable about that?” frowned Sunset, “But every highrider has a com implant … so what the hell is the deal with the six of you?”

“No dear,” Rarity sighed patiently, “You’re not grasping what I’m trying to say, we are, literally, from another world.”

“Wait a second there, Rarity,” Rainbow broke in as her sudden enthusiasm overrode her mistrust of Sunset, “Are you saying that we’re aliens? Awesome!”

“Actually, that isn’t the correct terminology,” lectured Twilight, “Technically, we are from this planet, just not this version of it. We’re not aliens per say … I suppose we’re inter-dimensional visitors?”

“Really?” asked Sunset sourly, “You expect me to swallow this fiction?”

“Actually, Twi-Twi’s fanfiction is pretty good,” Pinkie chirped, apparently having recovered from her earlier shock, “She’s no A.K. Yearling, but I like them.”

“Why thank you, Pinkie …” the purple-haired academic suddenly blushed under her friends’ grins, “Wait, how did you know about my fanfiction?”

“As amusing as all of this might be,” Sunset cut in, “I’m still waiting for the truth.”

“Dang it, filly, we’re tellin’ ya tha truth!” snapped Applejack, “If’n we was goin’, ta lie ta ya, we’d have conjured up a better story!”

The flame-haired girl was clearly unimpressed by the farmgirl’s reasoning, and her face hardened with irritation as she tightened her grip on the pistol sitting on the table, “What, I’m supposed to believe you because your story is so fragging absurd?”

The six Equestrians shifted anxiously as tension began to fill the room, but before anyone could speak, Sunset’s eyes flickered slightly off to one side as she started talking to the air, “Not a good time, Doc … Yeah, they’re right here, trying to feed me a line of drek … Huh? … In English, Doc … So they’re from one of the orbitals … But … Um, yeah, about that … Well, they kinda went off on their own and got into a brawl with a street gang … Hey, I told them to stay put! … They’re fine physically, but I seem to have traumatized them when I geeked two of the Crucifixers … Damn it, Doc! … Alright, alright,” she sighed wearily, “You can stop beating the horse, Doc, I’ll keep riding herd on them. Talk to you later.”

Sunset’s gaze returned to the six girls as she ejected and pocketed the clip and chambered round from the pistol, before she rose to her feet and walked over to her fridge. Pulling out a bottle of Tío Miguel’s, she half-drained it in a single draught, “I’m too fragging sober to be dealing with this drek,” she muttered as she turned back to face her guests, “Doc Razor says that your toxicology reports and bloodwork bears out your story. Not a trace of tranqs or other drugs, and there’s nowhere near enough environmental contaminates for you to be from Earth. So … I have a pack of …” the older girl shot Twilight a thin smile, “‘Inter-dimensional visitors’ in my living room,” Sunset shook her head and finished off the bottle.

________________________________________

Twilight breathed a quite sigh of relief as the air of impending violence bled out of the room, ‘I know some of us have tempers, but Sunset really needs to work on hers!’ “So … now that we’ve told you a bit about us, would you be willing to answer a few questions?”

Sunset pulled another bottle from her fridge and dropped back into her seat, “Sure, I guess … why not?”

“Okay, first … um, do you have anything I could take notes with?” the older girl pulled a pen and pad of paper from a drawer while Twilight’s friends chuckled, “Thank you, hmm … okay, what’s an ‘esper’ and why is everypony so worried about them?”

“Esper? It’s sort of a catch-all term for telepaths – people who can read your mind and change your thoughts to what they want – and telekinetics – folk who can move things, or break them, by force of will alone.” Sunset paused in her explanation to take a swig from her bottle, “Why everyone is worried about telepaths is pretty obvious, as for the telekinetics … their powers all have collateral effects, and the more powerful the esper is, the worse the collateral. Some of ‘em, like DJ Pon-3, are trying to break with the whole ‘esper weapon’ label though.”

Twilight frowned at Sunset in angry disbelief, “Wait, your culture has branded an entire sub-set of its population as weapons?”

“You have DJ Pon-3 too?” asked Pinkie eagerly as she interrupted the former-alicorn, “Is she all radical and cool?”

“Yes, yes, and yes,” Sunset answered with a small smirk and then shrugged, “And it’s not just my culture, pretty much the whole world is waffling between being fascinated by espers and fragging terrified of them. They used to just be a story, a myth, but ever since the War, something like one percent of the population are born with esper talents, which is a lot of people.”

“Umm, what war?” Fluttershy enquired quietly, “If you don’t mind me asking ….”

“Uh, World War Three? Wait, different world, so different history,” the older girl ran a hand through her hair, “Okay, quick historical recap: back around twenty-ten the world went to drek, between the pandemics, a few dozen wars and revolutions, and two of the biggest nations on the planet, the United States and the Republic of China, tearing themselves apart, things got really bad. By the time all the dust had settled a decade later, the death toll was half the fragging planet, but at least the nukes and biochem weapons were restricted to only the Middle East and parts of Africa, or it would have been even worse. Even so, they put so much drek into the air that the whole world has trace contamination now,” Sunset cocked an eyebrow at the other girls, “That’s part of what convinced Doc Razor that you aren’t from around here, actually.”

“Oh alicorns …” Twilight whimpered, feeling nauseous, ‘They lost half the population in only ten years?’

Silence descended upon the apartment for a time, with the displaced ponies gripped by horror, while Sunset impassively nursed her bottle.

Eventually, Pinkie shook herself free of her gloom and bounced over to lean over Sunset, staring into the other girl’s cyan eyes, “Is this contamination stuff why your eyes are all creepy, Sunny?”

“What are you babbling about?”

“Your eyes, darling,” Rarity explained with a small cough, “They’re … well … to be honest, I’ve seen paintings with more life in their eyes.”

“What?” asked Sunset with an exasperated roll of the orbs in question, “Are you like those damn luddites who think getting implants cuts away part of your soul?”

“Ya mentioned implants before,” Applejack remarked, “What are they anyway, an’ what do these ‘implants’ have ta do with yer eyes?”

“Cybernetic implants,” Sunset said slowly, “Bio-mechanical modifications. My eyes are machines, cameras and microprocessors, instead of flesh and blood, it’s part of the enhancements I had done for my work.”

“Are those knives in your arm for your work too?” asked Rainbow, her voice hovering somewhere between disgust and fascination.

Reaching over, Sunset gently pushed Pinkie back into a chair before she raised her arm and the paired blades snapped out, “Forearm talons,” the flame-haired girl said as she slowly swiveled her arm, “Implanted weapons are common with gillettes, along with muscular and nervous system augments and ocular replacements.”

Twilight frowned in thought as she scratched away at her notes, “Is a ‘gillette’ a guardpony of some sort?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Sunset chuckled, “‘Gillette’, ‘razorgirl’, ‘street samurai’, they’re all just slang for cyber-enhanced mercenaries. I’m freelance muscle for whoever can pay,” the blades shoot back into her arm as she reached out to scoop up one of the forgotten fast food bags and tossed it over to Applejack, “Here, I bought you all some breakfast, you can reheat it in the microwave if you want.”

“Yay!” cheered Pinkie as she eagerly dug into the other bag, “Sunny does care!”

Sunset shook her head as she gave the other girls an amused grin, “‘Guardponies’, eh? You must really like horses back where you come from.”

Twilight and her friends just looked at each other before collapsing into a fit of giggles as Sunset stared at them in bewilderment.

________________________________________

The six Equestrians found that they all were ravenous, despite the horrifying events of barely an hour earlier, and Sunset barely managed to secure a breakfast sandwich and hash brown patty for herself before the other girls enthusiastically descended upon her offering.

“What brought you six to this reality, anyway?” asked Sunset in between bites, “You sure as hell don’t seem like explorers or the scouts for an invasion to me.”

“It was nothing like that, dear,” responded Rarity, “We were on our way to visit some friends, and … something went wrong.”

“‘Visit some friends’ …,” the older girl repeated slowly, “What, dimensional travel is so common where you’re from that you just hare off to other realities for a fragging holiday?”

“Actually, dimensional travel is rare in our reality as well,” Twilight replied, “That’s why figuring out how to get us home could take me a while.”

Silence filled the room, with even Pinkie looking dejected, as the reality of their situation sank in – they were lost in a strange world with limited resources and they apparently had no legal protection. They had been in this dimension less than a day and they had already been attacked by thugs, their host varied between treating them as an irritant and being violently protective of them, and they had no idea when (or even if) they would see their homes and loved-ones again.

Applejack visibly shook off her gloom as she turned back towards Sunset, “Shouldn’t we be talkin’ ta tha gendarme about them folks who attacked us?”

“What’s the point?” asked Sunset indifferently, “As far as Lone Star is concerned, no humans were involved. And even if some white knight officer does decide to investigate on his own time, it’s not like anybody is going to miss the Crucifixers, they’re all a bunch of psychos anyway.”

“That’s awful,” Fluttershy whimpered.

“That’s life,” Sunset shrugged as she got up to dispose of the trash from their impromptu second breakfast, “So if Sparky is going to be spending who knows how much time trying to puzzle out how to get you all back home, what are the rest of you going to do?”

“Well … I suppose we could seek employment, perhaps?” suggested Rarity tentatively.

“Sounds good ta me,” Applejack seconded the idea, while the other girls all nodded in agreement.

“Doing what exactly?” asked Sunset pointedly as she leaned back against the fridge, “None of you have a SIN and you’re all underage. The only legal options open to you are scut work, housekeeping or fetch-and-carry jobs that could all be done cheaper by a cyberdroid, so you’ll be paid drek. I guess if one of you has medical training, Doc Razor may be willing to take you on as a 'volunteer' and pay you something under the counter, but even then, her clinic isn't exactly flush with cash, so it wouldn’t be regular work, and what does that leave for the rest of you?”

“Well, what about this razorgirl stuff you do?” demanded Rainbow as she waved a hand at the apartment, “I mean it pays well enough for you to have your own place and we already know how to kick flank.”

“What I do isn’t a game and it isn’t always legal,” the flame-haired girl growled as she glared over at the athlete, “Even if you do know how to brawl and Sparky’s an esper, you still have no kit, no contacts and no rep. The only way you could hope to get a decent job is if someone who did have a rep vouched for you …,” Sunset stopped her rant as she noticed the massive grins Pinkie and Rainbow were both giving her, “Oh, drek.”

“Now wait one Celestia danged minute! Ah ain't goin’ ta have any of us turnin’ lawbreaker jus’ because it’s easier than honest work!” objected Applejack, throwing a glare of her own at her two overly excitable friends.

“I don’t like it either, AJ, but it sounds like we may not have much choice,” Twilight sighed, “Not if we want to support ourselves instead of just freeloading off Sunset.”

“Fillies, fillies,” said Rarity in a soothing tone, “While this is an important decision, we don’t have to make it right this second. We do have some assets, after all, which means we have some time to think on it calmly. Speaking of assets,” the fashionista dug a handful of bits out of her pocket and dropped them onto the table, “Sunset, dear, do you know of anypony who can convert these into the local currency?”

“Is … is that … gold?”

“Why yes, yes, it is. … Sunset?” Rarity frowned in concern as the razorgirl continued to stare at the coins, “Are you okay darling?”

“How …,” Sunset shook her head, “How many of these do you have?”

“Only forty-nine …,” Rarity raised an eyebrow as she watched Sunset’s rather dazed behavior, “But from your behavior I suspect that these are worth more in your reality than they are in ours.”

“Yeah, you could say that,” the older girl agreed as she finally pulled her eyes away from the glittering coins, “I can probably handle getting these cashed out if we stretch it out over four or five months, but if you want it all at once we’ll have to go through Mercy.”

Pinkie cocked her head, “Who’s Mercy? Is she another gillette? Can we meet her? Does she like parties?”

“She sounds like a nice pony,” Fluttershy added.

“You think she’s nice just because of her handle? Don’t you have irony back where you’re all from?” Sunset shook her head at the timid girl’s naivety, “Mercy is a Fixer, she arranges jobs and fences the loot afterwards, but yeah, she used to be a razorgirl and freelance assassin. The rumor on the street is that she used to be with Special Operations for Cybertech before she went over the wire,” she went on in a tone the Equestrians all recognized, having heard it often enough from Rainbow whenever she was talking about Spitfire from the Wonderbolts.

“Hmm … I think we should only change a small amount of coins, to start,” Rarity suggested, “It will gives us some operating capital, and then we can exchange more, or even all of them, as it becomes necessary.”

“Fine,” agreed Sunset as she stretched, “But I’ll deal with it tomorrow, you lot have gotten into enough trouble already, and I’m not letting you out of my sight for the rest of the day.”

Pinkie frowned slightly at the flame-haired girl in confusion, “Won’t that make it hard to go to the bathroom?”

5.0 … Fancies, Ultimatums And Decisions …

A month.

It had been a month since these six girls had fallen into Sunset’s life and moved into her apartment, and strangely enough, despite the crowding and occasional bickering, she was oddly okay with the situation.

‘It was damn lucky that Rarity had those coins, though,’ unfortunately, her prediction had proven completely accurate, and Applejack and Rainbow had been reduced to the occasional bit of day labor for income. Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity, at least, had found occasional work that actually suited their talents, with Fluttershy helping out at the Fife Free Clinic, Pinkie babysitting and Rarity repairing clothes and doing the occasional bit of custom alterations.

Now, Applejack and Twilight were off doing more research into how to get them all home, Rainbow was taking (yet another) nap, and Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity were engaging their host in something she had never really experienced before … gossiping about her new friends’ families, ‘Are they my friends? Huh. I-I think they are, when did that happen?’

“So, Sparky’s big brother was in the army?” Sunset winched slightly as shifted in her seat, futilely trying to find a position that didn’t pull on the stitches in her side, a memento from her last job.

“And quite highly ranked, before he retired,” Rarity assured the razorgirl as she sipped her tea, “Shining is the epitome of a proper, gallant aristocrat and was considered quite the catch among the nobility.”

“He’s always so polite and kind,” Fluttershy observed, “And very devoted to protecting ponies, Twilight just adores him.”

“And did we mention that he’s really yummy?” chirped Pinkie as she shot Sunset a wink.

“Indeed,” the fashionista smirked at the other girls, before giving a small sigh, “Pity that he is happily married, but a lady is allowed her fantasies.”

Sunset chuckled, “Any other brothers I should know about?”

“Well, my little brother, Zephyr Breeze, is in Cloudsdale studying to be a mane therapist, but he’s not doing well,” Fluttershy murmured, “And he’s always flirting with Rainbow, but I don’t think she feels that way about him.”

“I don’t have any brothers,” pouted Pinkie, “But I have three sisters!”

“Just an adorable, if trying, little sister for me,” Rarity added.

“So, it’s just Shining and Zephyr?”

“Now we didn’t say that, did we?” replied Pinkie in a singsong tone, “We haven’t mentioned Spikey and Big Mac yet.”

The razorgirl took a slug from her bottle of Tío Miguel’s, ignoring the slightly disapproving looks Fluttershy and Rarity shot at her, “Okay, I’ll bite, who’re Spike and Mac?”

Fluttershy frowned at her, “Umh … should you really be drinking this early,” wondered the timid girl, “And while you’re hurt?”

“Probably not,” Sunset shrugged, “Now stop trying to distract me and spill about these other two brothers.”

Rarity shook her head in exasperation before acquiescing to the older girl’s request, “Well, Spikey-wikey is Twilight’s little brother and her chief assistant,” she gave a small bubbly laugh, “And he has just the cutest chubby little cheeks!”

“He’s really a sweetheart,” added Fluttershy with a small smile, “Even if he does get into the occasional bit of trouble.”

Pinkie leaned over towards Sunset conspiratorially, “Spikey has been crushing on Rarity ever since they first met,” she said, without bothering to lower her voice, which sent Fluttershy off into a fit of quiet giggles.

“Oh really,” Sunset grinned at the fashionista, “He’s got a thing for more … experienced women, huh?”

Rarity reached over and, in a very proper, lady-like fashion, swatted Sunset.

“Okay, okay, sensitive subject, I get it,” chuckled the razorgirl, “So tell me about this ‘Big Mac’ fella.”

“Macintosh Apple is Applejacks big brother,” explained Fluttershy, “He’s very quiet and sweet and gentle.”

“He’s also very hard working and devoted to his family, a true country gentleman,” Rarity nodded, “He also has a wonderful singing voice.”

“Big Mac’s always helping out around the town when he’s not on the farm,” added Pinkie, bouncing idly on the couch.

“A farmer, huh,” Sunset mused, smirking at the other girls, “So … does ‘Big’ Mac live up to his name?”

Pinkie and Rarity broke out into more laughter, while Fluttershy blushed red, even as she nodded happily.

“Does he ever!” declared Pinkie eagerly, “Yum—wait, I already used that one … umh … Big Mac is all hummana hummana, and like half of Ponyville has a thing for him!”

“The farm boy and the soldier boy …” Sunset chuckled as she leaned back, her eyes half closed and a lecherous smile on her lips, “The things they could do to me ….”

“Really now, dear,” Rarity chided, even as she tried to hide her own smile, “A lady doesn’t mention such things quite so blatantly.”

“Hey, you said a girl was allowed her fantasies,” the flame-haired girl protested, “And I can come up with all kinds of fantasies about what to do with two big, strapping, handsome, guys.”

The clicking of the lock caught the four girls’ attention as Applejack and Twilight returned, and Rarity called out in greeting, “Welcome back, darlings, how did your research go, Twilight?”

“Not so good, I’m afraid,” Twilight replied, only to trail off as she noticed Pinkie’s massive grin, Fluttershy’s faint blush and the lascivious smile Sunset was shooting at her and Applejack, “… what have you fillies been talking about?”

“Brothers,” answered Sunset impishly.

“Oh. Oh! No, no, no!” the academic and farmgirl had both turned red as they matched Sunset’s leer with glares of their own, “There will be absolutely no lewd imaginings about big brothers going on here, young lady, none whatsoever!”

“Yeah, what Twi’ said!”

The two stomped back into the bedroom and slammed the door behind them, only for it to open a moment later as Rainbow was unceremoniously ejected.

“What’s going on?” the half-asleep athlete asked, blinking in confusion as the other girls snickered.

________________________________________

“You girls finally cool down?” asked Sunset as the group gathered for dinner a few hours later.

“We know how protective the both of you are of your brothers,” Rarity apologized as Fluttershy and Pinkie nodded along guiltily, “We were just talking about our siblings and … Sunset’s imagination got the better of her.”

“Hey, don’t try and dump this all on me!” grumbled the razorgirl, “You girls are the ones who brought up how ‘yummy’ Shining and Macintosh are. Besides, it’s not like I’m ever going to actually meet them anyway!” Sunset gave a half-apologetic wave, “Look, if by some freak miracle, I do run into your brothers, I swear I will not flirt with either of them without getting your permission first, okay?”

“Shining is married,” Twilight reminded the older girl.

“Then I guess I’ll need his wife’s permission as well, now can we please hear what Sparky found out?”

Twilight exchanged glances with Applejack before nodding, “Okay. It’s … not good. And that probably contributed to my … less than reasonable behavior earlier, so I’m sorry, Sunset, fillies, I overreacted.”

“You’re forgiven and quit trying to dodge the question,” Sunset replied brusquely, “All this beating around the bush is starting to freak out Fluttershy, so spill already.”

“Hey now, ya gettin’ all snappish with Twi’ ain’t exactly helpin’ matters none.” Sunset grimaced at the farmgirl’s rebuke and muttered an apology to Twilight.

Twilight took a moment to gather her thoughts as she sipped from her cup, “I’ve finally narrowed down where the Portal opened on this side, there’s a tiny fracture in the dimensional fabric, but it’s so small I barely found it, and I don’t have nearly enough power to force it open from this side. But things aren’t hopeless,” she hastened to assure her dejected friends, “I’m positive that Celestia and Luna are searching for us, and if I go down there every day and manipulate the fracture to create a sequenced mana flare, surely the Princesses will notice.”

“So, you’re going to what, flash Morse code out at the entire universe and hope that these ‘Princesses’ are looking at the right place at the right time and realize what they’re seeing?”

“Celestia damn it, Sunset!” growled Rainbow as she glared at the flame-haired girl, “Are you trying to get us to give up hope or something?”

“No! No …” the razorgirl sighed, “I want you to have your eyes open, to realize that you’re here for the long haul, maybe even forever, but keep hoping. Yes, hope is poison, sure she’s the lying slitch that leads you on before laughing in your face while she slits your throat and dances in your blood, but hope is also the difference between being alive and just surviving.”

“Well, that there may have jus’ been tha most depressin’ attempt at a rousin’ speech Ah ever done heard.”

“Uhh … Pinkie … What are you doing?” Sunset asked as she tried to breathe through the mass of pink curls that was suddenly covering her face and the arms that were wrapped around her in a bone-creaking hug.

“You really sounded like you could use a hug, Sunny.”

“Okay … thank you. You can stop now.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie.”

Sunset shook her head, “Strange girl,” she muttered as she watched Pinkie bounce back to her seat.

“Sooo …,” Rainbow drawled, “I guess we can’t keep putting off that talk anymore.”

“What talk, Rainbow?” asked Fluttershy, before she noticed Applejack’s angry frown, “Ohhh … that talk.”

“My Granny didn’t raise me ta be no criminal!” retorted Applejack, as she glared at her friends.

“I understand, darling,” Rarity put a comforting hand on the blonde’s shoulder, “And I’m not particularly happy about the concept myself, but we must face facts. Even with my little stash of bits and what money we can bring in occasionally, we need more lucrative income if we are too pay our own way beyond the year, and unfortunately, this appears to be the only real option we have.”

“I’m sure our families, and the Princesses, will understand that we didn’t make this decision lightly,” Twilight added, “Especially if we make sure to cling to our morals, despite what our new profession might ask of us.”

“I think you’re all forgetting about something,” Sunset broke in, as Applejack bit her lip and mulled over her friends’ words, “If you want to get started in the Biz, you’ll need training and at least some kit, and that’ll mean dipping into Rarity’s stash, which means you’ll have even less time until your money gets tight. You girls sure that you want to do this?”

The six displaced ponies looked at each other uncertainly, before Applejack finally spoke up, “Ah’m sure Ah don’t want ta do this, jus’ like Ah’m sure as shootin’ that Fluttershy doesn’t want ta hurt anypony. But Rares an’ Twi’ are right, we ain’t got a lot of choices, an’ we can do this without forgettin’ who we are,” the farmgirl shifted slightly to face Sunset, “Do ya think ya can find us some help with that trainin’ an’ ‘kit’ ya were talking about, Sunset?”

“Ehh … some,” the older girl replied as she furrowed her brow in thought, “I don’t work with any espers regularly, so I can’t really help Rarity and Sparky on that end, but I can beat the physical training, marksmanship and teamwork into all of you, and I know people who can get all of you equipped, including rubber bullets or something since you’re so concerned about killing folks.” The razorgirl pointed her fork at the other girls threateningly, “And don’t you go thinking I’ll be going easy on any of you, neither. The Biz chews up and spits out new meat like you all the time, and I won’t have any of you dying on my watch, understand?”

“We understand,” the six girls responded, Fluttershy squeaking slightly.

Sunset continued to glower at the Equestrians for a moment, then gave them a sharp nod and returned to her dinner.

6.0 … In Which Ponies Misbehave …

“Is it always so loud in here?” asked Fluttershy with a small wince as she and the other girls slipped inside Tchernobog’s Porch, while Fondled Weasel’s newest song blared from the club’s speaker system.

“Depends on the music,” Sunset shrugged, her voice raised slightly, “I’m not fond of this band myself, I prefer DJ Pon-3 or the classics, like Breaking Benjamin.” Leading her friends over to the bar, Sunset ignored Rarity’s mouthing of “Breaking benjamin?” and Applejack’s confused shrug as she called out to the statuesque woman at the other end, “Hoi, Cherry!”

“Sunset!” the redhead, who looked to be in her mid-twenties, chirped happily as she bounced over, “Finally decided to drop by for some R’n’R, huh? Oh, and you brought an entourage too, what’s the occasion? Ooh, ooh, is it a bachelorette party, or maybe somebody’s birthday?”

“I like her,” commented Pinkie to no one in particular.

“Laugh it up Cher’,” the razorgirl gave the other woman an amused grin as she handed her a credstick, “Set my friends up with a tab, will you? But none of the hard stuff, they have a meeting with Mercy in a little while. Cherry will look after you,” Sunset added, turning back to face the other girls, “Go ahead and kick back and relax some, there’s a few people I want to have a word with before we go talk with Mercy.”

Cherry idly waved to Sunset, before turning her smile on the six girls in front of her, “What can I getya?”

After pouring their orders, the redhead glanced around to see if she was needed elsewhere, then leaned on the bar and looked her newest customers over, “So you’re Sunset’s new crew, huh? I have to say I’m a bit surprised, she's always been more of the ‘hired gun’ type.”

“Have you known Sunset for long?” asked Rarity, sipping from her glass of wine.

“Three years now,” replied Cherry as she started wiping down the bar, “I was here the night she first came in, looking half-starved and more than a little feral, the Boss happened to be down here in the main room when Sunset came in and asked for work, and she decided to give her a chance. Sunset’s been working for Mercy ever since.”

“Sunset seems to be quite the admirer of Ms. Mercy,” observed Fluttershy quietly.

“Noticed that did you?” Cherry chuckled as she shot a grin at the pink-haired girl, “Yeah, it turns out the street rumors about Mercy are what convinced Sunset to come here in the first place. She goes out of her way to try and act the complete professional in front of Mercy, but Sunset’s not fooling anyone but herself, and it’s no secret around here that she idolizes the Boss.”

The seven girls shared a brief chuckle and some more small talk, before Sunset finally returned, “Hey, I just got the call from Mercy, so we need to head up. And Pinkie? I know you’re … enthusiastic … sometimes, but try and tone it down, okay?”

“Okie-dokie-lokie, Sunny!”

Twilight and her friends followed the flame-haired girl upstairs to the office where Mercy was waiting. Five of the Equestrians eventually began to shift uneasily as the woman continued to silently watch them, while Sunset simply stood impassively, her hands clasped behind her back, and Pinkie waved happily at the older woman.

‘She looks about the same age as Principals Celestia and Luna,’ the academic thought, ‘But she doesn’t have their warmth … and I’m pretty sure it’s not just the fact that her eyes are probably implants.’

“This is your new crew, Sunset?” asked Mercy dryly, “So you’ve got yourself squad of juvie amazons, vhat do they actually bring to table other than eye candy?”

“Flutters here is a medic,” Sunset replied, while her friends frowned at the woman’s dismissive words and Rainbow grumbled to herself, “Sparky and Rarity are both espers, Rainbow and Applejack are shooters, and Pinkie has a knack with locks and demolitions.”

“I’m still not impressed.”

“You were willing to take a chance on me, all those years ago,” Sunset entreated the older woman, “And I’m taking a chance on them now. Please, Ma’am, give them a shot, they’ll surprise you.”

“Hmmm … very vell. I vill give them chance to prove their vorth, but it is your rep, rep that you have vorked so hard to earn, that vill suffer if they fail, Sunset.”

“I understand, Ma’am, thank you, Ma’am.”

Mercy gave a short nod, and then typed something on her PDA, causing a street map to appear on one of the monitors covering the wall behind her desk. “This is location of CMS’ storage facility fifteen near Lake Everett. Apparently, they’ve installed some new sensor system, and Johnson vants to know vhat it does.” A grainy picture of an unassuming grey metal box adorned with a pair of small radar dish-style antennas popped up on another monitor, “If you can access sensor’s logs and command codes and download them, fine, if not, Johnson vill be satisfied if you tear vhole unit off vall and bring it back for his own teks study. In either case, he vants run to look like common smash and grab, so swipe anything you can carry. Questions?”

Sunset frowned up at the monitors, “Anything unusual about the security to go with this new sensor?”

“Johnson’s information, and some initial observation, shows just usual CMS mileetsya,” the older woman replied with a shrug, “Sensor is on exterior vall of main building, but still vell vithin compound.”

“What kind of time restraints are we working under?”

“Johnson vants it done ASAP, of course,” Mercy responded with a sour chuckle, “But you can take a few days to scope site out and plan your run.”

“What’s the offer?”

“Six thousand after my cut, plus vhatever you steal, of course.”

Sunset started to nod, only to be interrupted as Applejack spoke up, “So jus’ who are these ‘CMS’ ponies anyway, Ms. Mercy, Ma’am?”

“Celestia Medical Systems,” Mercy replied absently, one brow quirked at the blonde’s odd phrasing, she frowned at the six girls as she noticed the troubled looks they were sharing, “Is this going be problem?”

“No, Ma’am,” Sunset quickly assured her as she took the datachip the fixer offered, “No problem at all, we’ll get right on it.”

________________________________________

Once they were all safe back at the apartment, Sunset whirled around to face the other girls, “Alright, what gives? What’s your deal with CMS?”

“We don’t have a ‘deal’ with CMS,” Twilight objected, “It’s just … Princess Celestia is one of our rulers … and it’s very disconcerting to be robbing a company with her name.”

“Plus, we’re robbing a hospital,” added Fluttershy quietly, “And, well, I don’t feel good about that.”

“Alright,” sighed Sunset, “First of all, Flutters, we aren’t hitting a hospital, we’re hitting a storage depot for a hospital supply and research corp. If it makes you feel any better, we can donate some of what we swipe to Doc Razor’s clinic, God knows they could use it. As for ‘rulers’,” she continued, turning to face Twilight, “CMS is only an ‘A-Rank’ corp, it’s the Big Ten who run the world, and I try to avoid anything involving them as much as I can.”

“Now, are we good?” the razorgirl asked as she dropped into one of the seats around the table. Once the other girls had nodded, Fluttershy with noticeable reluctance, she propped her own PDA on the table and slotted the datachip Mercy had given them, “Alright then, let’s see what we’ve got ….”

________________________________________

Four nights later found the seven girls running through a last-minute equipment check in the back of a battered cargo van, “Guns loaded and reserve clips prepped?”

“Check,” confirmed the six Equestrians, as Fluttershy glowered unhappily at the NarcoJect tranquilizer pistol in her hands and Applejack casually spun the cylinder of her revolver.

*Com check,* Sunset subvocalized.

The other girls all checked their radio headsets before nodding, “Coms are green.”

“Flashlights working?”

The inside of the van temporarily lit as six flashlights turned on, “Check.”

“Everyone armored up?”

“Yes,” the rest of the team caroled, although a vexed sniff punctuated Rarity’s response.

“What is it Rarity?” sighed Sunset.

“Nothing, darling, just … the designers could have put a little effort into the appearance of these outfits, is all.”

“Ah don’t know, Rares,” Applejack drawled, “Ah kinda like mine.”

“The cowgirl likes her duster, who would have guessed,” Sunset chuckled, earning a lazy swat from the farmgirl, “And it’s armor Rarity, it’s supposed to keep your blood inside of you, not look good.”

“Says the girl in the tight black outfit that happens to have armor plates added on.”

“Hey, biosteel is expensive!” the razorgirl objected, “And can we continue this discussion after the run, once we’re all back at the apartment counting our take? Now is everybody ready? Good. Cheshire, how are things on your end?”

*I’m in the system and all boards are green, Sunset,* the voice of their hired netrunner came over their radios, *The ice was thicker than what you’d expect on a storage depot, but nothing I couldn’t handle.*

“Ah don’t suppose ya found out what this sensor doohickey does?”

*That’s a negative, Cowgirl, whatever it’s recording, it’s either storing it internally or transmitting it off-site. Sorry.*

“It was worth a shot,” shrugged Sunset, “Alright, girls, when Cheshire gives the word, we head for the gate.”

A few minutes later, the netrunner’s voice broke over their radios, *Go! Go! Go!*

Piling out of the van, the seven girls rushed for the chain-link fence a block away, the gate rolling itself to the side as they approached, only to reverse its course and start closing as the group dashed through and huddled alongside one of the warehouses, *Alright, gang, you have approximately four minutes until the guard I diverted finally comes by on his patrol. Good news is that warehouse you’re next too would be a great place to hide and should be full of swag. Bad news is the maglock is independent from the computer system, so you’ll have to bypass it on your own.*

“Got it,” Sunset replied, “Pinks, you’re up.”

Twilight watched the party girl hum happily to herself as she fiddled with the maglock for a few moments, then leaned over to whisper to Sunset, “Aren’t we supposed to be obvious about our presence?”

“Yep,” the razorgirl nodded, “But a fight avoided is a fight won, and I’ll be happier if we don’t have the Badges coming down on our heads because they happened to notice a busted door. Cheshire and Pinkie will get us in, and I’ll slap a remote charge on the maglocks. Once we’re all back in the van, I’ll trigger the charges and blow the locks and doors, all of the mess and confusion of a traditional Smash and Grab, but with us safely off site when it goes down.”

“I got it!” Pinkie’s happy chirp drew everyone’s attention as the maglock clicked and the warehouse’s side door cracked open, quickly slipping inside, the girls made sure that the door was fully closed before turning on their flashlights.

“Whoa,” Rainbow exclaimed as she looked out at rack after rack of medical equipment and cases of drugs, “And we’re just supposed to help ourselves to all of this?”

“That’s the plan,” Sunset grinned at the athlete as she started prepping the charge for the door, “Poke around a bit and then take as much as you can reasonably carry. Just don’t load up completely here, we need to hit some of the other warehouses and store rooms to make this believable.”

The razorgirl remained near the door on guard, while her friends began to circulate through the warehouse, stopping occasionally to put something into their backpacks, while Fluttershy pulled a paper from her pocket and began to search through the shelves.

“What ya got there, sugarcube?” asked Applejack, drawing a startled squeak out of the distracted medic.

“Meep! Oh, Applejack, uhm … it’s just a list,” Fluttershy explained in a nervous tone as she hid her face behind her hair, “Sunset said we could give some of what we’re stealing to the Free Clinic … so I … sorta dropped by to see what drugs they needed ….”

The farmgirl patted her shoulder, “It’s fine, Fluttershy, if we’re goin’ ta be doin’ this, we ought ta at least be helpin’ out some ponies along tha way.”

Several minutes later, Cheshire broke in on their radios, *Alright ladies, we’ve got a nice big window coming up in the guards’ circuit, so it’s time to move on to the main building.*

“Understood, Cheshire,” Twilight replied, “We’ll head out as soon as Sunset is done setting her explosives.”

Not long after, the six Equestrians stood waiting impatiently as Sunset finished setting her charge on the new door. With the razorgirl’s nod, the group slipped inside the portal that their netrunner had unlocked for them, “What do we have, Cheshire?”

*The ground floor is mostly storage and utility rooms, probably to make getting shipments in and out easier, and the second floor is offices and the breakroom. Your mystery sensor is on the second floor eastern wall, but there’s a door out onto the first floor roof, so getting to it should be pretty simple. Oh, and we have a security guard down at the far end of the building that you girls are going to need to deal with.*

“Copy that. AJ, you’re with me on the sensor, the rest of you take out that corp-cop and then go do some looting, Pinks, here are a few remote charges, make sure you rig the doors as you go.”

________________________________________

The five girls slowly crept down the hall, Rainbow a short distance ahead, only to stop as the athlete urgently motioned to the others and hurried back to them, “The guardpony is just a bit down this side hall,” she whispered, “He doesn’t seem to be paying a lot of attention, so we ought to be able to get the drop on him.”

“Wait a moment,” Twilight requested as the other girls readied their weapons (and Fluttershy prepared her medical supplies), “Sunset said that even these rubber bullets could potentially cause significant injury, let me try the stun bolt spell I’ve been working on first, please?”

“Of course, darling,” Rarity assured her, “However, we’ll be ready to back you up, just in case.”

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, the former alicorn strode purposefully around the corner to confront the corporate security guard, who gaped at her for a moment before scrambling for his pistol and starting to shout the alarm into his headset, unfortunately, he got no farther than “Secu--,” before a bolt of magenta energy crashed into him, dropping the man to his knees, where a second bolt quickly laid him out.

Twilight let out a small, relieved, sigh as her friends gathered around the unconscious guard, Rainbow quickly binding his hands with zip-ties while Pinkie helped herself to his radio, cufftaper, sidearm and passkey.

“Uhm … We’re not going to just leave him in the hallway, are we?”

“Certainly not, Fluttershy,” Rarity declared, “Cheshire, darling, would you be a dear and open storeroom … let’s see now … ah, yes, A-sixteen?”

*One sec … got it, good thing I ran a jammer program through the building’s communication’s grid, nobody outside heard his transmission.*

“Thank you, dear,” the blue-haired girl smiled, “Now let’s get this poor gentlecolt inside, shall we?”

Once inside the storeroom, Fluttershy immediately began to check their prisoner for injuries, while the other girls looked around. ‘Hmm, what’s this?’ mused Rainbow as a hard-plastic case caught her eye, ‘“Medical Assistance Bracer, Field Test Unit X-zero-four”, sounds like something Fluttershy or Twilight might be interested in,’ the athlete thought absently as she added the case to her pack.

________________________________________

As she made her way through the second floor, Applejack’s pack already laden with small items swiped from the offices to add to the veracity of their cover, Sunset took a moment to switch frequencies on her cell implant, *How are they doing, Cheshire?* she subvocalized.

*So far, so good, Sunset,* replied the netrunner quietly, *They’re enthusiastic, especially Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, but they’re trying to play it cautious for now, and I think they show potential … I believe I’m going to like this new crew of yours,* the razorgirl gave a small chuckle as Cheshire continued, *You know, I think these girls will be good for you. You’ve been getting more ruthless over the last few years, and I think they’ll help you get your perspective back.*

*Damn it, Cheshire,* Sunset groaned, *The Doc has already been riding my hoop over my “behavior”, I don’t need to be getting it from you too!*

*I’m just saying that your mates have been starting to worry about you some, and Our Lady without Mercy may not always be the best influence on you, is all.*

*This is not the time, Cheshire!* fumed Sunset, almost walking right out the roof access, but she caught herself at the last moment, “Have you taken care of the fire alarms on the roof door?” the razorgirl snapped crossly as she switched back to the general frequency.

*Yes, you can head right out, Sunset,* the netrunner sighed, *We’re only trying to look out for you …* she added quietly.

The flame-haired girl ignored her, along with Applejack’s questioning look, and strode out onto the roof, her eyes already searching for the point of the whole run. Spotting the small box, Sunset strode over to examine the sensor with a frown as she ran a hand over the sheet metal covering, “There’s no interface jacks or sockets … I guess we’ll have to pop the case,” slipping a small prybar out of the side pocket of her pack, she got to work.

“Any of that make sense ta ya?” asked Applejack as she leaned over Sunset’s shoulder to look at the exposed guts of the mystery sensor.

The razorgirl stared at the mass of wires and circuit boards for a moment, before sighing in defeat, “Not even a little. Oh well,” Sunset shrugged philosophically, “We knew we might have to tear the damn thing out going in.”

Several minutes later, Cheshire’s exclamation of *Oh drek!* came over everyone’s radios as Sunset and Applejack were slowly lowering the surprisingly heavy sensor off the wall.

“What is it?”

*I just got a glimpse of some unexpected visitors before I lost two cameras over by the east fence! Probably hit them with electro-rounds.*

“Damn it!” the razorgirl groaned, electro-rounds had been an attempt to create taser-loads for normal pistols. The tiny capacitors had turned out to be of only indifferent value against even soft-armored targets, but had proven useful for dealing with cameras and other computer systems, where the electrical discharge tended to scramble the last few seconds of recorded memory in addition to shorting out the electronics in question. The sound of nearby gunfire interrupted the razorgirl’s musings, “Well, this run just went south,” bracing herself, Sunset nodded at Applejack, “I’ve got this, go and watch for company. And keep low!”

The farmgirl nodded, and then sprinted for the edge of the roof in a low crouch. Reaching her position, Applejack hunkered down, her eyes sweeping over the lanes between the eastern warehouses, “What’s tha word, Cheshire?”

*Nothing good, Cowgirl, I’ve lost two more cameras, my last location for one of the guards was in the blind zone, the other remaining Badge is making his way towards your position, oh, and he’ll probably radio in an alert any moment now if he can’t raise his buddies.*

“Ah’ve got him,” Applejack confirmed, her voice dropping to a whisper, “He’s comin’ up on my position now.” The blonde carefully peaked over the roof’s edge as the corp-cop approached below her, only to wince as a loud gunshot echoed between the warehouses and the man dropped like a marionette with its strings cut.

Movement between the warehouses kept the farmgirl where she was, as a tall man in a battered duster with a long-barreled rifle in his hands walked out of the lane. The newcomer, likely another freelancer, looked around, but failed to check the roofs, before approaching the downed guard. Giving the injured man a cursory glance, the interloper smirked and began to lift his rifle.

“Ahh, hay no!” snarled Applejack as she dropped off the roof, the sound of her impact caused the freelancer to spin around, the barrel of his rifle slapping into the farmgirl’s hand and stopping as if it was held in a vise.

The stranger’s eyes widened, just before Applejack’s fist crashed into his face, sending him stumbling back, two more hammering blows followed, leaving the freelancer insentient on the ground, his rifle still in the farmgirl’s grip. Applejack gave the freelancer’s chest an angry stomp, before she turned and crouched beside the corporate guard, “Ahh, horseapples,” she muttered as she looked at the hole the rifle had torn through the man’s spectracloth vest, “Fluttershy! Get yer tail out here! We need a medic somethin’ fierce! Ya stay with me, colt, ya hear me?” the blonde girl added, her hands already soaked in red as she tried to staunch the bleeding.

The thud of running boots soon heralded Fluttershy’s arrival, the pink-haired girl dropping to her knees beside Applejack, her medical kit already open, as she started working on the injured man.

“Cheshire, you said there was two of ‘em?” asked Sunset as she dropped off the roof, her knees flexing to absorb the force from her landing.

*Yes, but I’m still looking for the other gatecrasher, and I haven’t lost any more cameras.*

“So, we have two bodies unaccounted for …” the razorgirl sighed, “Alright, Pinkie? Switch packs with me? And be carefully, that’s got our pay in it.”

Twilight frowned at the older girl, “What are you up too, Sunset?”

“We can’t leave those last two people unaccounted for, we need to track them down, and you girls are still green, so that leaves me.”

“You are not going alone, darling,” Rarity said firmly, “Somepony has to watch your back.”

“Fine,” grumbled Sunset, “If you’re so concerned, then you can come with me. Sparky, Dash, keep a guard out while AJ and Flutters work. And Pinks? Grab that cufftaper and secure this drekhead, would you?”

________________________________________

As Rarity made her way slowly between the warehouses, she found the weight of the small pistol in her hands oddly comforting while she followed behind the razorgirl, ‘Ohmygosh, I’m tracking a desperate criminal through the nighttime streets, just like Shadow Spade!’ the fashionista squealed to herself. So far, there had been no sign of the other freelancer or the missing guard, and each door they tried was still locked tight, but Rarity had read enough detective novels to know it was only a matter of time before things went bad.

As they approached another intersection, the pair stopped at the sight of a limp figure laying halfway down the lane, “I think we found the last guardpony,” Rarity radioed in as Sunset crept forward to check the motionless form and she stood back to watch for trouble.

*Is she alright? Do you need me? Where are you?*

The fashionista cast a questioning look over at the razorgirl, who grimly shook her head as she rose back to her feet, “I’m sorry, Fluttershy … we were too late to save her.”

Ignoring the distressed squeak that came over the radio as they regrouped, the two women proceeded down the lane, checking warehouse doors as they went. They were most of the way through the blind zone in Cheshire’s coverage when Rarity reached out to take the older girl’s shoulder, motioning towards a door that didn’t quite seal properly.

“Good catch.”

“Well, I do have an eye for details, darling.”

“So … what’s the plan?” asked Rarity as she steadied her nerves and crouched beside the door.

“Track down our gatecrasher and give him a fatal case of lead poisoning, preferably without getting ventilated ourselves.” At the fashionista’s look, Sunset gave a half-apologetic shrug, “That’s the best I can do without knowing what we’re actually up against and whether him and his buddy were keeping radio silence or checking-in regularly. We’ll just have to play it by ear.”

Slipping inside, the pair found the warehouse swathed in darkness, broken by the occasional faint blue-white glow of safety lights … and the brilliant radiance of a high-power flashlight half-hidden in the depths of the depot between shelving and stacks of crates.

Sunset quickly put her hand over Rarity’ before the blue-haired girl could activate her own flashlight, leaning forward, she put her lips to the fashionista’s ear to avoid the risk of feedback from the other girl’s headset, and whispered, “Leave your light off, it’ll just announce our presence. Keep your hand on my shoulder and I’ll lead you in.”

After Rarity nodded, the razorgirl slowly made her way deeper into the warehouse, the thermographics in her optics combining with the safety lighting to let her lead her charge through the maze of cargo, several obviously plundered boxes of drugs catching her eye as they passed by, ‘Looks like we weren’t the only ones who thought that raiding CMS would make for a good payday….’

Finally, the two women closed in on the source of the light: an average-looking man with his flashlight clipped to the front of his spectracloth jacket and a bullpup-style machine pistol slung over his back, who was currently busy emptying cases of drugs into a pair of duffle bags.

Easing down behind what cover they could find, Rarity watched anxiously as Sunset raised her rifle and carefully sighted in on the freelancer. But, just as she pulled the trigger, the cement floor around her target cracked loudly as a heat-mirage distortion enveloped the man and the bullet went spanging off into the darkness.

“Ha!” he gloated as he spun around to face the girls, “No one gets the drop on Johnny-Come-Lately!”

“Bloody wonderful!” groaned Sunset as she ducked away from a return blast of telekinetic force, “A fragging esper with some kind of precog talent.”

“It can’t be that powerful, darling,” Rarity chided as she hurled a bolt of pale blue light at Johnny, causing his telekinetic barrier to briefly become visible as it absorbed the energy, “Otherwise he would have ambushed us! Now let’s focus on dealing with this ruffian so we can get back to the others.”

“Right, right,” nodded the razorgirl, before leaning out of cover to fire off a trio of short bursts, all of which failed to breach the freelancer’s telekinetic defenses, “Damn it! I don’t have the firepower to punch through his barrier!” she snarled as she rolled behind the wall of blue light that Rarity had conjured, “Can you get through?”

The fashionista responded by throwing a pair of energy bolts at the freelancer, while neither penetrated, both made Johnny’s barrier flare, and the second caused ripples to spread across it. “His shields have nothing on Shining Armor’s or Twilight’s,” Rarity sniffed, “It may take a few hits, but I can break it.”

“Do it then, Rares, I’ll have my shot ready.”

Sunset smiled grimly as she aimed her rifle, ‘This Johnny-Come-Lately guy has properly screwed himself over. He can’t run unless he drops his barrier, or can fragging teleport, and once his barrier is down, so is he.’ Admittedly, there were some espers who could wrap themselves in a mobile, personal, field of protective telekinesis … just like Rarity was doing … ‘Well, bugger me ….’

Having dropped her own barrier, Rarity was striding forward, a cornflower blue aura wrapped around her and a confident smile on her lips, “Hello there, Mister … Johnny, was it? I know we started off on a bad hoof, but I don’t suppose we can try and talk like civilized ponies?”

“Talk?” chuckled Johnny nastily, “I can think of way better things for a hot little piece like you and your rimbo friend over there to do with their mouths than talking.”

“How crude,” the fashionista sniffed in disdain, “Is such vulgarity really all that you folk can come up with? Honestly, would it be too much to ask for you to have a little bit of wit and class in your invectives? Fine, let’s try this again … hello, you foul-mouthed ruffian, you’re outnumbered, we have the drop on you, and we’ve already dealt with your associate, so you can choose to surrender and live, or you can keep fighting us, I will destroy your barrier, and then my friend here, the young lady you called a ‘rimbo’, will shoot you in the face. Now which is it going to be?”

Johnny-Come-Lately glared at the two women for a moment … and then, with a ripe oath, he raised his hands as his barrier flickered out, “Fine! I surrender.”

“On your knees, ankles crossed!” barked Sunset, “Hands on your head! Rarity, secure him,” only once Johnny’s hands were zip-tied behind his back and the blue-haired girl had taken his weapon and stepped away did the razorgirl rise from cover and approach their captive, her rifle still aimed at the esper’s head.

Looking down at the kneeling man, Sunset frowned in contemplation for a moment, and then brought the stock of her rifle crashing down onto his skull. Rarity’s shocked cry of “Sunset!” went ignored as she struck again, beating the freelancer unconscious, before she turned to look at her friend, “What?”

“Was that really necessary, darling?”

“Yes.”

The razorgirl ignored Rarity's glare as she used her forearm talons to cut a large strip from the man’s shirt and folded it over several times. Only when she was blindfolding their comatose captive did she finally explain herself to her irritated friend, “Espers just have to be able to see their target and think to use their powers, so it was either this or I take his eyes.” Sunset grunted slightly as she hefted the man over her shoulders, “Can you grab those duffels, Rarity? No sense in leaving good loot behind.”

________________________________________

Returning to their friends, they found Applejack glaring down at the still unconscious freelance shooter – who was wrapped up like a Christmas present in cufftape – while Rainbow and Twilight were in the process of hauling the other guard out from the storeroom, while Pinkie was standing watch with her shotgun.

“Drek, AJ,” Sunset exclaimed as she dropped her own burden, “How hard did you hit that guy?”

“Pretty danged hard,” the blonde admitted, “An’ then Twilight went an’ gave him a pair of her stun bolts, so he wouldn’t be wakin’ up while me an’ ‘Shy were working on this stallion,” she added, waving a hand at the injured guard Fluttershy was still looking after anxiously.

“That’s good thinking,” the razorgirl nodded in approval, “Hey, Sparky, could you give this fragger a double dose of the whammy while Pinkie goes to town on him with the cufftaper?” Tossing a glance at the bound guard, she raised an eyebrow at her friends, “And what’s the story here?”

“We need someone to look after this poor colt,” Fluttershy explained, “He’s stable for now, but he needs a real hospital and someone to watch him until he gets there, and to tell the EMTs what I did and which drugs I used.”

Sunset chewed on her lip for a moment, and then gave a sharp, if unhappy, nod, “Cheshire, how quick will folks get here if we hit the Panic Button?” she asked as she knelt down to pick-up the injured guard’s gun.

*Lone Star should arrive within five minutes, depending on the current volume of calls, and CMS security will likely be another ten to fifteen minutes after that. If I trigger a medical alert at the same time, the local medical response personnel will probably arrive around the same time as the Star.*

“Fine,” Sunset said as she rose back to her feet, “Once Pinks is done wrapping up our package, you girls go on back to the van, when you radio that you’re safe inside, I’ll blow the charges while Flutters wakes up sleeping beauty. Once we explain things to him, we’ll head on out to meet you and Cheshire can hit the Panic Button.”

________________________________________

The five waiting girls all gave small sighs of relief as Fluttershy and Sunset slipped into the front seats of the van, “Did everything go okay with that guardpony stallion?” asked Rainbow as the two latecomers buckled themselves in.

“Oh, yes,” the medic replied quietly, “He was actually very understanding.”

“I think that had more to do with you, Flutters, than him,” Sunset grinned, “You planning on holding on to that rifle?” she inquired, glancing back at Applejack.

“Eh? Oh, Ah forgot Ah was carryin’ it, actually,” admitted the farmgirl with a small blush as Rainbow and Rarity chuckled at her.

“Keep it,” the older girl advised, “It suits you,” as Fluttershy started the van and pulled out of the alley and into the early morning traffic, the sound of approaching sirens in the distance.

8.0 … A Simple Job …

“Do stop fidgeting, Sunset,” Rarity admonished the older girl, “You’ll wrinkle your outfit.”

“Sorry,” the razorgirl mumbled, even as she continued to fret with her collar, “Trying to be all proper and “polite society” leaves me jumpy, it isn’t me.”

“Then I guess you’ll just have to pretend, the ponies at Adventures Unlimited are expecting professionals who can look the part as well as act it, you wouldn’t want to disappoint Ms. Mercy after she sent up this interview for us, would you?”

“What? No!” Sunset paused and then frowned at her friend, “Low blow, Rares, low blow.”

The fashionista merely smirked at the older girl while the van pulled to a stop, “We’re here!” Fluttershy called back to the others.

“Alright fi-girls,” Twilight said as they got out of the van and Rarity immediately began fussily straightening her friends’ seems and brushing their shoulders, “First thing, I know it might be hard, but we should probably try not to use any Equestrianisms during the interview, the po-people we’re meeting might not be as understanding about our ‘unusual’ turns of phrase as Ms. Mercy is. Now, we’re supposed to meet with a Mister Jeffery Johnson ….”

A short time later, the seven girls were shown into a conference room where a man with slicked-back hair, a twenty-thousand nuyen suit and a plastic smile stood to great them, “Welcome ladies, can I get you anything? Coffee? Water? No? Well then, let’s get down to business. I have a client who has paid for an adventure package to experience what it’s like to be an actual freelancer, and I want to hire you to assist him with a mock mission.”

“Excuse me, sir, I would just like to confirm … you wish to hire us as actors to provide veracity for a simulated criminal enterprise orchestrated for your client’s entertainment? And nothing else? This entire enterprise is completely above board?”

The sound of carefully enunciated words with a faint posh accent coming out of Applejack’s mouth left Sunset doing her best to not stare at the farmgirl in disbelief while Johnson merely smiled, “While you may be SINless, for the duration of this contract you’ll effectively be temporary employees of Adventures Unlimited, and you will be expected to ensure our client’s safety during his excursion, Miss ….”

“Applejack, sir,” the blonde held out her hand graciously, “Charmed.”

Johnson took the offered hand for a moment, “A pleasure, Miss. So, are you ladies interested?”

After a quick exchange of glances, Twilight pulled out her PDA, “So, what are the particulars of this ‘adventure package’?”

“The experience will consist of one day of mission preparation during which the client, Mister Onyema Adele, will accompany you at all times, followed by a fully simulated rescue-extraction from an abandoned corporate facility in the Avondale district of Redmond. You will be dropped in by VSTOL and will need to commandeer vehicles from the ‘terrorists’, played by other employees of Adventures Unlimited, to escape to the extraction point.

Since this is not a live-fire simulation, you will need to have your weapons equipped with blanks and laser designators, similar to what the military uses for training, our techs will take care of that Thursday morning before you leave to meet with Mister Adele. This will be a two-day contract, for which you will each be paid one-thousand nuyen per day, I’ll provide you with some documentation for the mission’s ‘background’ as well as some limited maps of the facility so Mister Adele can also experience the planning portion of a mission. Are there any questions?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a question,” Rainbow piped up, “What’s the twist?” as everyone’s eyes turned to her, the athlete explained, “It’s in all the adventure and spy stories, the unexpected complication that messes with the heroes’ plans. So, what is it? The person we’re rescuing is a double agent? There’s a third party involved? Zombies? What?”

“You’re quite correct,” Johnson admitted with a thin smile, “Good storytelling, as well as good business, requires there to be something unexpected, in the case of this experience, there will be a second team of ‘terrorists’ waiting at the extraction point. Mister Adele is unaware of this particular alteration to his planned adventure package, and we would prefer he remain in the dark, so as to maximize the impact of the surprise. Now, we just have some forms to fill out to keep the legal department happy, and we’ll all be set ….”

“Okay, what was all that about, AJ?” Sunset asked once they were back in the van.

“What was all of what?”

“That!” the razorgirl replied in exasperation as she waved a hand at Applejack, “That whole posh talk thing you just did with Johnson! And what happened to your accent?”

Oh, that,” chuckled the farmgirl, “Ah learned how ta talk all fancy like when Ah was stayin’ with my Aunt an’ Uncle Orange as a filly, an’ it seemed tha thing ta do with Mister Johnson,” she explained, before frowning at her friends, “An’ Ah aint got no accent.”

“I applaud those farsighted multinationals that have done such fine work in their efforts to move people’s perspectives towards an economically centered ideology, however, more can be done.

I therefore declare the following: I have no parents, only parent companies; I have no family, only co-workers; I have no children, only subsidiaries. Sacrificing these last sacred cows on the altar of free enterprise has freed me, I implore you all too likewise free your minds.”

The image cut back to the commentator, “Economic philosopher Okino Toshi’s latest statement has sparked debates in forums across the Net ….”

“Would ya turn that garbage off before Ah lose ma breakfast?” Applejack demanded, causing the bartender to shrug and switch the trideo set hanging above the bar over to the urban brawl game, “Ah can’t believe ponies could listen ta such a selfish load of horseapples,” the blonde snarled to her friends in disgust, “‘Ah have no family’, buck!”

“Hey, I think Mister Onyema is here!” Pinkie said happily, incidentally distracting Applejack from her ire at the news report, as she pointed at the man who had just come through the door.

“Oh … dear,” Rarity whispered in dismay as she gazed upon their erstwhile client, his ebony skin damp from the morning fog as he stood in the doorway, decked out in the latest in “street” fashions (as proclaimed by the trideo) that were so new that they creaked faintly as he moved, and glared around the bar while the patrons snickered at his obviously self-conscious attempt to look hard.

Finally spotting the group he started over, only to slow as a growing uncertainty spread across his features, “Are you the people Mister Johnson said I was to meet?”

“Sure are,” Applejack assured him as she cocked a brow, “Somethin’ tha matter?”

Onyema frowned at them, “Aren’t you … ladies … a little young to be,” his voice dropped to a whisper, “Freelancers?”

“Yes. Yes we are,” Pinkie replied solemnly, before returning to her usual cheerful self, “Muffin?”

“I’m Sunset,” the razorgirl introduced herself as Onyema bemusedly accepted the pastry, “These are Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie,” she waved at her friends who all smiled or nodded in turn, “Well, let’s get out of here and get to work.”

“We’re not staying here?”

“No offense to the Murdered Mime,” Rarity said with a faintly dismissive sniff, “But we prefer a place with a bit more privacy for handling business.”

The sight of the man heading for the door surrounded by seven teenage girls drew hoots and catcalls from several of the bar’s patrons, to which Sunset replied with a crude gesture while Rainbow jeered back at them, “Snicker all you want, but you know you all wish you was him!”

The ride to Auburn from Renton, with Onyema luckily taking his own vehicle, was filled with Twilight and Rarity admonishing Sunset and Rainbow on the values of “behaving professionally in front of a client”, “showing proper behavior when in public”, and “not encouraging the ruffians”, fortunately their arrival at Tchernobog’s Porch finally cut the lecture short.

“Howdy there, Floyd,” Applejack hailed the bartender, “We got a back room reserved for a meetin’.”

“Yep,” the hulking man nodded absently as he tossed over a keycard that Pinkie snatched out of the air, “Room three, you going to want anything?”

“Nothing right now, darling,” replied the fashionista, “We’ll let you know if we change our minds.”

“So … we met at a bar, then traveled partway across the metroplex, all just to go to another bar?”

“It actually makes perfect sense, darling,” Rarity assured their client, “While the Mime was acceptable as a neutral meeting place between strangers, we don’t know if they provide private rooms, and none of us are regulars so they are unlikely to extended the courtesy of discretion if we started discussing business. The Porch, however, does have private rooms and we are known here well enough for the staff to offer us some considerations.”

“Hmm … okay, so what do we do now?”

Sunset gave the man a toothy smile, “Now? Now Sparky tells us what we’re up against.”

“What? Oh, yes,” Twilight activated her PDA and quickly reviewed the information AU had given them, “Here we are, Irene Andrews, a scientist for Orobas Labs, has been kidnapped by terrorists. Orobas has managed to track them to a former corporate facility in Avondale, and has hired us to retrieve Ms. Andrews. According to our information, the facility was wrecked by a fire recently, which may be why the terrorists have chosen it for their base. Due to concerns about anti-air fire, the airlift Orobas is providing will have to drop us off a half-mile out from the facility.”

“If the place was burned out, then there won’t be any working cameras or maglocks,” Rainbow mused, “Not unless the terrorists brought a few portable ones of their own….”

“Umm …,” murmured Fluttershy, “Do we know anything about Avondale? If you don’t mind me asking ….”

“Avondale is an E security slum, so at least it’s not complete anarchy like in the Puyallup Zero Zone,” Sunset explained, “The gangs and the mobs run things, the locals just try to keep their heads down, and Lone Star pretty much ignores the neighborhood unless they’re forced to deal with it. If we get into a firefight with the terrorists, it’ll be shrugged off as merely another bit of gang warfare as long as no heavy weapons are involved."

“So, we have ta watch out for tha local varmints as well as tha terrorist? Wonderful.”

“Facts of life, AJ” shrugged the flame-haired girl, “And life will kill you.”

“And then you’ll be dead,” Pinkie added solemnly, drawing an approving nod from Sunset while Onyema backed away with a faint look of concern and the other girls merely rolled their eyes at the pair’s occasional antics.

“Oookay,” Twilight said, “Thank you, fi-girls, for that morbid bit of philosophy. So, any thoughts?”

“What was they usin’ tha buildin’ for before tha fire?”

The scholarly girl glanced down at her PDA, “According to Orobas’ information, it was a factory of some kind, with a bunch of offices attached, it doesn’t say what they made, though.”

“A factory, huh?” mused Applejack, “Between tha fire an’ tha owners tryin’ ta clean out everythin’ they could salvage, there’s probably plenty of wide open spaces for me an’ Little Mac.”

Onyema gave the blonde girl a puzzled glance, “Who is this ‘Little Mac’? Another member of your group?”

“You could say that,” Rainbow chuckled, “Little Mac is AJ’s rifle,” she explained, reaching over to give the farmgirl a teasing nudge in the shoulder, “She’s something of a sharpshooter.”

“But what if these terrorist meanies are hiding poor Ms. Andrews in the offices?” wondered Pinkie.

“Then we get to do some CQC,” Sunset replied with a wolfish grin, “and we’re going to be damn glad that you have some grenades, Pinkie.”

“But how do we get to the facility?” asked Fluttershy, “I don’t think I like the idea of hiking a half-mile through only the Princesses know what kind of gang activity only to be walking right up to the facility doors hoping that the terrorists’ guards don’t notice us.”

“I think I may have an answer to that …,” Twilight offered as she typed away at her PDA, “Yes … yes … oh, no. Well … I do have an option, but not everyp-everyone will like it.”

“Well, what is it, darling?”

“There is a series of … tunnels … that should take us to the facility’s basement level with us only having to travel a block or two on the surface.”

“T-tunnels?” stammered Rarity in horror, “Do you mean … sewers?!”

“Not real sewers,” the former alicorn hasted to reassure her fastidious friend, “According to the old municipal maps it’s a mix of storm sewers, maintenance accesses and parts of the old underground bus system.”

“Yes, but … all the dirt and the damp and the bugs,” the fashionista shuddered before taking a deep breath, “Still … if it will get us to the facility unnoticed … I guess we will just have to put on a brave face and endure it.”

“Hey, Pinkie,” Rainbow turned to the energetic girl, “Do you still have some of those thermite strip things?”

“Sure do, Dashie!”

“Sounds like we’ve got a plan for the infiltration,” nodded Sunset approvingly, “Alright, once we’re in the basement ….”

“Alright everyone, listen up!” Sunset had to shout to be heard over the roar of the tiltrotor’s props as they flew through the early morning smog, “The pilot says we’ll be touching down in five, so check your gear!”

As they went through their equipment, Rarity gave Fluttershy a small, worried frown as the medic checked the drug levels in her medical bracer, “You don’t think you’ll actually need that, do you darling? We’re just acting after all.”

“I really hope not,” Fluttershy admitted, “But accidents happen, even on movie sets, and no pony actually knows what we’ll find down in those tunnels, so I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

Once they had disembarked and double-checked their bearings the group headed out, with most of them simply walking down the street while Pinkie, Rainbow and Onyema quickly scuttled from cover to cover in a display of stealth worthy of one of the climatic night-time assaults on the trideo shows … except that it was in the real world and they were doing it under the (admittedly smog obscured) morning sun, which rather ruined the effect.

It didn’t take long for the trio’s antics to exceed Sunset’s tolerance, “Will you three knock it off, you’re just drawing attention! I swear, it’s like dealing with kids sometimes,” she grumbled, while Pinkie and Rainbow both blew raspberries at her.

“Sunny can be a real spoilsport sometimes,” Pinkie apologized to their client, “So what do you do when you’re not out fighting ‘terrorists’, Mister Onyema?”

“I am an executive with Celestia Medical Systems, Miss Pie,” Onyema replied, “Most of my family are executives actually, except for my brother, Dafe, who is in the British military. Father considers him the hero of the family,” He gave a dejected sigh before going on in a quieter tone, “I would like to be the hero, just once, if only for one day.”

“Hey, that’s what we’re here to do,” Rainbow said, slapping the man on the shoulder, “We’re going to rescue Ms. Andrews and all be big dang heroes, you’ll see.”

Continuing on their way, the group had just reached the run-down tenement whose cellar contained the tunnel access they were looking for when Rainbow held up her hand, “We’ve got company,” she nodded at the half dozen gangers that had walked out from the shadows of the alleys and doorways, while a seventh teen, the only one who wasn’t wearing colors, looked them over before swaggering up to Applejack.

“You eyeballin’ me, puta?”

AJ frowned down at the sneering teen, “What did ya jus’ call me?”

“That dumb hat blockin’ your ears, hick?” sniggered the youth as he reached out to shove the blonde in the chest, moving her not a whit, “What, you think you’re a cholita, you goin’ to try and get crazy with me? Don’t you know I’m loco?”

“Oh, he did not just insult AJ’s hat!” exclaimed Rainbow, “Twenty nuyen says he doesn’t last thirty seconds!”

“Really, Rainbow,” Rarity sniffed reproachfully, “A lady does not normally engage in such behavior … that being said, the little ruffian won’t last twenty seconds against our Applejack!”

Sunset reached out to stop Onyema as he started forward, much to the man’s confusion, “Aren’t we going to help her?”

Twilight shook her head, “In this case, our assistance would be counterproductive, as well as unneeded. See, this annoying young man,” she gestured at the teen who was still spewing abuse at the ever more irritated looking farmgirl, “Is trying to earn his place in the local gang by beating up the toughest person he can find, which is apparently Applejack, while the others are only here as witnesses and to discourage the rest of us from interfering.”

Onyema blinked as he absorbed Twilight’s little lecture, “But what if he tries something underhanded?”

“If he pulls a weapon or esper powers, we tear him apart,” Sunset replied with an unpleasant smile, “But if it’s just him fighting dirty, then it’s on AJ to handle.”

While they had been talking, the youth had given up on trying to provoke Applejack and just lunged for her, but the farmgirl twisted away from his rush and casually slapped aside the right hook he tried to follow-up with, before a jab of her own crushed his nose and left the wanabe ganger blinking. The blonde girl looked him over for a moment as he stood, swaying slightly in his daze, and then dropped to the ground, her hands slapping the asphalt as they caught her weight and her legs shot out to slam both feet into the youth’s chest, flinging him across the street to slam into the wall and collapse in a heap, drawing a sympathetic wince from everyone watching. Rising back to her feet, Applejack turned to glare at the other gangers, “Does anyone else got somethin’ ta say about ma hat?”

The old passageways proved to be just as foul as Rarity had feared, with the reek of standing water mixing with the smells of rust, damp concrete and ancient chemical spills to create a fetid air that stung the eyes and nose. As they journeyed deeper into the tunnels, the beady eyes of devil rats, oversized, predatory versions of the normal urban scavengers, gleamed at them from out of the darkness, but the group’s sheer size caused the rodents to remain in their shadows, watching hungrily as the team of freelancers passed by.

“Are we there yet?” demanded Rainbow some time later, as the inky gloom and the weight of the earth that surrounded them combined to leave the displaced pegasus restless, twitching at shadows and eager to be back under the open sky.

“The next juncture,” Twilight assured the athlete as she glanced up from the map on her PDA’s screen and took a good look at her friend’s slightly wild eyes and the faint sheen of sweat that covered her face, “I’m sorry, Rainbow, I didn’t realize that you’re cleithrophobic, I promise we’ll be out soon!”

“I ain't no cleithwhatsit!” the prismatic-haired girl protested, “I just don’t like being stuck underground is all.”

“Well, we won’t be down here much longer,” Sunset observed, “Here’s our stop.”

“Thank Celestia,” Rarity muttered as they gathered around the old, rusted-over door, and Applejack gave it an experimental tug.

“Nothin’ doin’,” she sighed, “It’s shut tighter than a clam with lockjaw.”

“That’s alright,” Twilight replied cheerfully, “Pinkie brought her party favors.”

“Sure did,” Pinkie chirped as she started rigging the door, “Hey, Mister Onyema, when we get Ms. Andrews back from these meany-pants, I think we should have a ‘we’re heroes and everyone got rescued’ party, with cider and nachos and cupcakes, what do you think?”

“That … sounds rather nice, Miss Pie,” the man replied slowly, before turning to whisper to the others, “Is Miss Pie always like this?”

The rest of the freelancers could only shrug in reply, “Pretty much.”

“All set!” the party girl cried happily, “Now everypo-everyone remember, no matter how pretty the lights are, don’t look at them, okie-dokie?” Once everyone had turned their backs, Pinkie gave a cry of “Dragon with hiccups!” and the tunnel filled with a searing light as the thermite strip cut through the reinforced steel of the door.

“Dragon with hiccups?” Sunset arched her brow at her hyperactive friend as AJ and Rainbow lowered the door to the ground.

“Yepper-roonie, it sounds way better than boring old ‘fire in the hole’,” Pinkie grinned, only to stop dead with a gasped cry of “Pinchy knee, ear flop, shudders! Pinchy knee, ear flop, shudders!” as she passed through the doorway.

“Well, Ponyfeathers,” swore Twilight as the girls all dropped into a defensive crouch, with Rainbow pulling their client down beside them, “Something must have gone wrong.”

“What is it?” asked Onyema in confusion, “What is going on?”

“Pinkie has … premonitions sometimes,” the academic explained, “And she just got one that we’re in danger.”

“Miss Pie is an esper?”

“No, she’s Pinkie Pie,” replied Sunset, “That’s way stranger, but we’ve learned to take her warnings seriously.”

Twilight chewed on her lip for a moment as she thought, “Okay, we don’t know what is setting off Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense, it could just be weak floors for all we know, so we’re continuing with the job, but carefully! Sunset, Dash, you’re both on point, Onyema, I want you in the middle with Fluttershy, while Rarity and I cover the flanks, AJ, Pinkie, watch our rear, please.”

“Got it, Twi’,” the other girls muttered as they moved into position and the group started into the basement, the pools of light thrown by their flashlights revealed empty halls, storage rooms and utility rooms as they slowly made their way towards the stairs.

They had just opened the stairwell door, when both Rainbow and Sunset stopped, and RD raised a hand to wave the others off, before moving back to join them, “What’s going on, darling?” asked Rarity as they gathered around the athlete.

“The terrorists’ setup a tripwire in the stairwell and rigged it to a grenade bouquet, Sunset is taking it down.”

“Huh, so tha terrorist folks didn’t jus’ ignore tha tunnels,” mused Applejack, “They jus’ put a bobby trap in ta warn ‘em instead of botherin’ with settin’ guards down here. Danged shame that,” the farmgirl added with a sigh, “I was startin’ ta hope we had bamboozled tha lot of ‘em.”

“Why the long face, Sunny?” Pinkie asked the returning razorgirl, “Is something wrong with the party poppers the meanies left for us?”

“Something is very much wrong,” Sunset replied as she held up one of the grenades, “These aren’t spraypainters or smokers or even flashbangs, they’re fragmentation grenades, whoever rigged this bouquet was trying to kill anyone who came through that door!”

“What the hay?” exclaimed Rainbow, “Why would they be trying to kill us?”

“They’re not,” Sunset replied, “There’s no percentage in geeking us, we’re just collateral damage, but a corporate executive, that’s another matter entirely, isn’t it Mister Adele?”

“You think this is part of some plot targeted at me? Why would anyone try to murder me? And why would Adventures Unlimited be involved in such behavior? They’re a respectable corporation!”

“Gee, who could possibly want to dust an exec?” sneered Sunset, “And of course the corps never dispose of inconvenient people.”

“Not helping!” Twilight rebuked the older girl, who spread her hands and backed off slightly under the glares the academic and Fluttershy were leveling on her, “Who knew about your excursion, Mister Adele?”

“I told several people about the adventure package,” Onyema said sheepishly, “I was rather excited about it ….”

“It probably isn’t an AU operation,” Sunset offered grudgingly, “If they wanted to geek him, they could have done it back in the hanger. But between everyone Onyema’s talked to, AU’s people and the folks from whatever corp actually owns this place, we’ve got to many potential leaks to pin it down right now,” the razorgirl ran a hand through her hair as she sighed in frustration, “The question is what are we going to do now? If we pull out without any more evidence, AU can claim we broke contract, but if we push on, we won’t know if the people we encounter are just actors or armed hostiles until they start firing.”

“We have to keep going!”

The seven girls all blinked at the corporator’s sudden vehemence, “Is there something we should know, Onyema, darling?” asked Rarity gently.

“Ms. Andrews … Irene … isn’t one of AU’s actors, she’s my secretary … she volunteered to help with my experience … and I am not leaving her with real terrorist!”

“Whoa there, pardner, no need ta get all hot an’ bothered,” the farmgirl was quick to assure him, “We’ll get her out, ya got ma word on it,” the other girls quickly nodded in agreement, although Sunset seemed somewhat resigned about the whole matter.

“Can we call AU for help?” inquired Fluttershy hopefully, “I’m sure they would want to protect their employees, wouldn’t they?”

Sunset shook her head, “I already tried to call out,” she explained, “I could pick up you girls’ signals, but nothing from outside the facility, the hostiles must have some sort of jammer set up.”

“Alright,” Twilight said determinedly, “We keep going and get Ms. Andrews, and any AU personnel we can find, out. Same formation as before, and everyone keep your eyes open for …,” she shuddered slightly, “Live ammo. And if we do encounter anyone, remember that we have friendlies out there and make sure of your targets!”

The smoke blackened windows reduced the sunlight to a dim haze as the group slipped out of the stairwell and immediately sought cover behind one of the arcane machines, too massive to be easily remove, that still dotted the factory floor. Onyema crouched down beside Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Twilight while Sunset, Rainbow and AJ carefully examined the facility’s layout, the later assisted by her rifle’s scope, “What do we have, girls?” the academic asked as the three dropped back into cover.

“There’re still some walls standing over in the office section, so they got cover and rooms to toss Andrews or the other AU people in,” Sunset reported.

“The bottom two levels are completely burned out, though,” Rainbow added, “It’s just framework and exposed stairs until we get to the third floor.”

“They got some lights on up there, an’ Ah saw movement in tha offices, so they likely got a few guards out patrollin’.”

“Oh, oh!” Pinkie broke in with an excited whisper, “I think I found our way to the extraction point!” following her pointing finger, the others soon spotted a battered roadmaster truck sitting in the loading bay.

“Good catch, darling,” the fashionista complimented her, “At least now we know how we’re getting out of this place.”

The little company quickly moved out, now performing in earnest what Rainbow, Onyema and Pinkie had played at earlier, as they crossed the factory floor. Whether by skill or luck, they made it up to the third-floor offices without raising an alarm, where they slowed down again as they carefully checked each room they passed, their progress frequently delayed even further by the assorted holes they found in the floor, ceiling and walls.

As they pressed deeper into the burnt-out offices, they finally came upon signs of inhabitation, a conference room, its windows shattered by the fire, spilled light and the shadows of moving figures out into the halls, “So how do we figure out if they’re real terrorists or just the actors?” wondered Rainbow as they crouched in the shelter provided by a stub of wall.

“Oh, that’s easy, Dashie,” Pinkie replied as she stood up and called “Hey, are you guys with Adventures Unlimited?” at the room, only to be pulled down by her friends as gunfire ripped through where she had been standing and pocked the wall they hid behind, “I guess they’re the meanies,” she declared brightly.

“You. Are. Insane!” Sunset growled at the oblivious party girl.

“What do we do now?” asked Onyema with a worried frown, ducking lower as more shots chewed away at their cover, and almost having to shout to in order to be heard over the din.

The razorgirl risked glancing out from behind cover for a moment, “There’s four gunmen covering us from the window, and more in the room, and these gunshots have alerted every other terrorist in the building,” she chewed on her lip for a moment, before shaking her head, “If we use Pinkie’s smoke grenades we should be able to close to melee with the gunners while they can’t see, but without knowing how many more are waiting in that room, it’s a desperation move.”

“What if one of us got up there and took a look?” asked Rainbow, pointing up to some exposed crossbeams above the conference room, the light shining on them revealing the presence of a large hole in the room’s ceiling, “Shoot, we could just drop the smokers right down on top of them from up there.”

“It’s a great idea, Rainbow, but we can’t fly.”

“I can do it.”

“Huh?” Sunset turned to Twilight in confusion, “What was that Sparky?”

“I said ‘I can do it’,” Twilight took a deep breathe, “I can get up there, give me the grenades … and two of the fragmentation ones as well.”

“Are you sure about this Sparky?” asked Sunset quietly, at the academic’s reluctant nod, the older girl passed her the explosives, “Remember, these frags have a ten meter kill zone, but they can get you farther away, so if you use them get to cover fast.”

The indigo haired girl took a few more deep breathes, trying to calm herself, the explosives weighing down her pockets, and then she vanished in a burst of magenta light.

Twilight reached out to steady herself on the crossbeams as she reappeared, perched precariously over three meters above the floor below. Looking down, she had an excellent view of the conference room, snack wrappers and empty drink cans scattered about, the four gunmen who were keeping her friends pinned down, and four others, all armed, who stood waiting to back up their companions at the window. ‘It looks like they’ve been waiting for us. There’s no sign of AU’s ponies, though,’ the academic sighed, ‘Rushing them, even with the smoke grenades for cover, is looking like a bad idea … maybe if Rarity and I used our shields to separate them?’

A cold dread speared through her guts as the sight of one of the four waiting people heading for the window, pulling a grenade from beneath her jacket as she crossed the room, interrupted Twilight’s musings, ‘No!’ She hesitated for only a moment, anguish gripping her heart as Twilight realized what she was about to do, before arming her fragmentation grenades and dropping them into the conference room, and then she teleported away.

A second eruption of light heralded Twilight’s return as she shouted, “Everypony get down!” and desperately threw a telekinetic wall around the group. On the heels of her warning came the heavy “whump” of grenades detonating, followed a moment later by a second, louder, explosion that shook the floor they were crouched on.

“What in the Princesses’ names was that?” demanded Rarity as they got back to their feet, the Equestrians’ noses wrinkling at the acrid smoke that drifted from the, now silent, conference room.

“That first blast was frags going off, probably the pair I gave Sparky,” Sunset said as she worked a kink out of her shoulder, “The second one sounded like a high explosive grenade, probably got cooked off when the frags went up. Nasty things,” she added with a frown, “I’ll go check for any useable gear, you … should probably all wait here,” the razorgirl immediately headed for the conference room without waiting for a reply.

A few minutes later, a muffled whimper caught Sunset’s attention as she was digging through the ruin that three grenades could make of people in search of serviceable ammo or weapons, looking up the razorgirl saw that everyone had followed after her; Fluttershy had her face buried in Pinkie’s shoulder, whose hair had gone completely straight, while Onyema was quietly throwing up in the corner and the other four girls where staring around in horror, “I told you to wait,” Sunset said resignedly as she slapped a fresh magazine into her rifle and stood up.

Walking back to the group she handed clips to Applejack and Rainbow, and passed a small pistol to Rarity, “This is all that’s salvageable, everything else is either damaged or won’t work with our kit … Sparky? Are you okay?” Sunset reached a blood-coated hand out to the wild-eyed, hyperventilating girl, only for the academic to shrink away from her.

“Best let me handle this, Sunset,” Rarity murmured to the razorgirl, before wrapping Twilight in a hug and leading her over to Fluttershy and Pinkie.

“Don’t let it get ta ya, sugarcube,” Applejack advised as she swapped out her blanks for live rounds, “Twi’s jus’ havin’ a freak out, she don’t mean no harm by it.”

“It’s nothing, AJ.”

“Pull tha other one, it has bells on it,” the blonde retorted, “Yer eyes may be empty machines, but we’ve gotten pretty good at readin’ ya,” Applejack took another look around the room, swallowed thickly, and turned to resolutely face the blown-out window, “An’ ya might want ta wash-up a bit.”

“We don’t have time to waste on that!” objected Sunset, “We still got people unaccounted for!”

“Yes, we do,” Rainbow declared firmly as she joined them, Onyema in tow, “We all need a few moments to try and … deal … with everything in here, so you taking a minute to not look like something out of a horror trideo isn’t going to cost us anything, and it’ll definitely make us feel better.”

A few minutes later, once the group had calmed down somewhat and collected themselves, they resumed their search, checking several more rooms without any sign of either the missing actors nor other terrorists, until they reached an intersection and came face-to-face with a pair of armed men in plated vests coming the other way. Augmented reflexes triggered instantly and three guns roared; Sunset’s burst tore at armor and knocked her target backwards, while his return fire plucked at her own protective gear, drawing blood from her arm, and the other man’s shot ripped through Pinkie’s thigh, dropping the rose-haired girl with a cry, while the high-pitched chatter of Rainbow’s M-24 quickly joined the gunfight, the combined fire drove the men back into what shelter they could find in doorways and corners.

A magenta rampart flared into life as Twilight and Fluttershy rushed to their stricken friend, while AJ and Rarity joined the athlete and razorgirl behind the bulwark, adding their own potshots as the two men desperately scrambled back around the corner and out of sight. Once the terrorists were gone, they immediately turned their attention to their injured, “Flutters, how’s Pinkie doing?”

“The shot went clean through her outer thigh,” the medic reported as she steadied the party girl, “I’ve stopped the bleeding,” she added, turning to her patient, “And pumped you full of PainAway and stims for the shock, but you need some time before you’ll be able to walk, and you need to see a doctor.”

“Alright,” Sunset sighed, “AJ, Sparky, you two stay here and guard Flutters, Pinkie and Onyema, Rainbow, Rarity, you’re with me, let’s go finish those two,” she ordered as she slapped a synthskin patch on her arm.

The trio set off, checking each room they passed for signs of their quarry, until Sunset stopped the other two near the end of the hall, “I’m getting a lot of thermal-bleed from that room ahead, if they’re in there, they’ll be waiting for us.”

“I’ll put up a barrier right before we open the door,” suggested Rarity, “On three?”

The girls moved into position and there was a flare of cornflower blue light just before Rainbow smashed in the door. Inside, seven people lay bound and gagged, fortunately none was particularly close to the burned-away back wall that let out onto a drop to the factory floor, and above them stood the two terrorists, their guns blazing away.

As the men’s bullets flattened against Rarity’s barrier, Rainbow and Sunset’s counter fire dropped the man on the right. The remaining terrorist pointed his gun at the helpless woman at his feet, “Drop your guns or I’ll –,” a bolt of blue light interrupted his threat, striking him in the face and sending the man stumbling backwards – right out the ruined wall. He desperately waved his arms as he tried to regain his balance, only to plummet three stories onto the concrete below.

Rarity, her face pale, let her barrier fade, before she blinked and pointed at the prisoner the terrorist had threatened, “Oh my, isn’t that Ms. Andrews?” asked the fashionista as the bound woman stared up at them in fear.

Any reply was cutoff as the report of a single gunshot echoed down the halls.

Racing back, the three girls found their friends huddled together while Applejack stood not far away over the corpse of a headshot woman, “Ah told her ta put down her gun an’ surrender,” the farmgirl said quietly as Rainbow, Rarity and Sunset gathered around her, “Why didn’t she listen? Ah told her Ah would shoot ….”

“I don’t know, AJ,” Rainbow replied as she put a hand on the blonde’s shoulder and gently pulled her away, “Come on, we found Ms. Andrews and the others, let’s get everyone loaded up and get out of here.”

Although they managed to make it through dropping everyone off at the Adventures Unlimited building (where they received medical treatment and a nice bonus from Johnson for “services rendered”), between the adrenalin crash, injuries and emotional overload, the Equestrians were staggering on their feet when they finally returned to their crowded apartment and Sunset managed to herd them into bed.

Several hours later saw Sunset quietly sitting in a corner, a half-empty bottle of cider in her hand, as she watched her friends toss restlessly in their sleep, while the occasional whimper cut through the dark, “Damn it,” the razorgirl finally muttered, as she activated her cell implant, “Heya Doc,” she subvocalized when the call was finally answered, “Sorry to wake you, but there’s a problem with the twinkies, and I need some help.”

*What kind of problem? What’s going on, Shimmer?*

“A job went pear shaped on us, and there’s some fallout that I don’t know how to handle.”

*You didn’t get them involved in wetwork, did you?* Razor demanded, *Damn it all, Shimmer, I asked you to look out for them!*

“I am!” Sunset protested, “This job was supposed to be completely on the up-and-up! A sweet little corporate gig, but then everything went to drek … and they had to geek some folks … and I think they might need therapy.”

*… I thought you said it gets easier?*

“It does, but the thing is … I don’t think I want it to get easy for these girls. Despite everything, Twilight, Fluttershy, Dash, all of them, they’re all still … innocent, you know? And I don’t want any of them to lose that … I don’t want them ending up like me.”

*Alright, Shimmer, I’ll talk to a few counsellors I know, one of them should be willing to talk to the girls, try to help them work through things. It won’t be proper, regular treatment, but it ought to help.*

“Thanks, Doc.”

8.5 … Elsewhere …

“Doctor! Doctor Lulamoon!”

“Yes, Mister Riggs-Duffy? What can I do for the Security Manager today?” Trixie sighed, ‘Trixie just wants to go home and relax, maybe have some peanut butter crackers, is that really so much to ask?’

“You can start by explaining why six of my data security personnel have been transferred over to your project!”

Trixie blinked in confusion, “What are you talking about? I haven’t requested any transfers.”

“I have the orders right here,” the man snapped as he held up his PDA, “Straight from Director Coalson’s desk!”

“Let me see that,” Trixie frowned as she scrolled down the computer screen, “This all seems correct … but why would the Director reassign data security to the PWD project? And why was I not told about this?”

Riggs-Duffy’s response was cut off as Trixie’s comlink headset began to beep and a small icon flashed in her eyepiece, “Wait a minute the Director is calling me now … Yes, Director? … Right away, Director. Coalson wants to talk to me, Clyde, maybe I can find out what is going on.”

“Watch yourself, Trixie, these transfers aren’t the only hinky orders to cross my desk this week.”

“Thank you, but I can look after myself,” she replied, ‘Damn it, Trixie was really looking forward to those peanut butter crackers.’

“I’ve assigned your project additional staff to get the PWD back on schedule,” Coalson said without preamble as Trixie walked in, “And to help with the investigation that the Home Office wants done.”

“I warned you that using the PWD to study these aberrant readings would significantly impact project completion,” Trixie scowled at him, “And how exactly are these additional people supposed to get us back on schedule? They’re data security not researchers or programmers or analysts!”

“They can still check readouts and do data entry!” Coalson snapped back, “And you will not take that tone with me, Doctor!” the Director took a deep breath and continued in a gentler tone, “Look, it’s clear that you’re overstressed, Doctor, so it’s probably a good thing that the Home Office wants you to step back from the PWD and focus on studying these aberrant espers.”

For a moment, all Trixie could do was stare at him, “You’re pulling me off the PWD project?” she finally managed to get out in a stunned voice.

“You’re not being pulled from the project, the Home Office is just having you take on a more supervisory position, your assistant can handle the day-to-day affairs,” Coalson gave her a small smile, “You’ll still get full credit when the PWD comes online, and you’ll get to do some research in the meantime. Now, here is all the information we’ve acquired on these aberrations,” he added, holding out a OSD, “Go home and get some sleep and you can start fresh on this in the morning.”

Trixie stared blankly into space as the door closed behind her, if it hadn’t been for her car’s autodrive system, she probably wouldn’t have made it back to her apartment, ‘They’re taking Trixie off the project … years of Trixie’s life spent on R&D so that bakebrain Coalson could divert our efforts and resources when we’re only months away from completion, and then they take Trixie off the project to help with his little obsession!’ her fist clenched around the OSD as nearby furniture began to shake and shift while the floor groaned underneath her, until the sound of a glass shattering snapped her out of her fury before her telekinetic outburst could do too much damage.

‘Control, control,’ Trixie admonished herself as she started in on some of the breathing exercises she had learned from a college roommate, ‘If this is what Trixie have been reduced to, then screaming and crying won’t help … even if it would make Trixie feel better ….’

Several hours (and three packages of peanut butter crackers) later found Trixie staring at her computer screen in the wee hours of the morning, ‘Trixie knows she has seen every reading the PWDs have recorded, so why doesn’t Trixie recognize this one?’ she frowned as she leaned back in her chair and rubbed at her burning eyes, ‘The location-time-date stamp has been removed as well … but Trixie has a few tricks up her sleeve …,’ she grinned to herself as she cracked her knuckles and reached for the keyboard.

“This doesn’t make any sense!” spat Trixie in frustration, “We lost all the data from storage fifteen when those criminals raided it, so how is it here … unless …,” she reached for her comlink and typed in a number, “Come on … come on ….”

*Do you have any idea what time it is Lulamoon?*

“I’m sorry, Clyde, but this is important, you mentioned some ‘hinky orders’ earlier, I need you to elaborate, please.”

*You woke me up at three in the morning to pester me about that?*

“Clyde … please.”

*Fine … I got a requisition for housing and armory access for eight people … Alpha-class access for an indeterminate period.*

“What?” blinked Trixie, “But we already have a team of troubleshooters assigned to the Seattle office, why would we need two more?”

*I don’t know, and as the Head of Security, I should!* Clyde gave a long sigh, *That isn’t the only thing that was off about these transfers, Trixie, they had no personnel files attached, no Payroll or HR information … it’s like they never worked for CMS a day in their lives before these orders got cut. Now are you going to tell me why you’re suddenly so interested?*

“I got pulled from the PWD project and made a ‘supervisor’,” she explained, her voice still edged with frustration, “And I was ordered to analyze the information we’ve been getting from the PWDs. Somebody tried to hide it by messing with the LTDS, but some of the data was stolen before we could record it or send it to the Home Office, so how was it in with all the other information I was given?”

*This isn’t good,* Clyde finally said after a long pause, *These two issues may not be related, but they still aren’t good.*

“No, no they’re not.”

*I can already tell that you’re planning something, Lulamoon … just, watch your back.*

“I will, Riggs-Duffy, you make sure to watch yours as well,” Trixie ended the call and typed in another number, ‘It’s eleven-thirty in Canterbury, time for Trixie to call an old friend ….’

9.0 … In Which Everyone Relaxes …

"So, this Princess Cadance is the physical embodiment of love?" Sunset shook her head and smirked at her friend, "I'm not sure if I should be jealous of Shining or pity the poor man."

"Hey, Caddy is a wonderful mare!" Twilight protested as the seven women lay sprawled about their living room, recovering from Pinkie Pie's "We've Made It Two Years" party, "And they have a great marriage ... even if they have had a few ups and downs."

Sunset shot a grin at the indigo-haired girl, before her face dropped into a pensive frown, "Wait, you have corporeal manifestations of stellar objects and even emotions wandering around your home ... and you want to go back? What's wrong with you girls?"

"Well that was rather rude," declared Rarity archly, "And why shouldn't we want to return home, Sunset darling?"

"Because if you have chaos and love literally walking around, then you should have incarnations of other concepts and emotions too, what do you do about fear, or hate, or fragging death?"

"Hey now, don't talk about the Pale Mare like that!" scolded Pinkie, "She's doing a difficult, thankless job, and silly ponies being all scaredy-pants of her just makes her feel bad!"

"As for Hate, Fear or any other embodiments of the darker emotions or concepts, I have never heard of any," Twilight observed, "Although, from a purely philosophical point, they admittedly should exist somewhere."

"So what if they do?" Rainbow shrugged, her voice slurring a bit from all the cider she had drunk, "We got th' Princesses and Harmony to smack 'em one and either send 'em to Tartarus or make 'em behave," Fluttershy gave a startled squeak as the athlete wrapped her in a one-armed hug, "Just like 'Shy did with Discord, right fillies?"

Sunset blinked at the other girls, "Um, yeah, 'harmony' will win the day, go harmony," she sighed, "Still so damn naive," and took another drink.

"No more Miss Grumpy-Sunny!" declared the partygirl, "And no more gloomy-doomy thoughts, either! We're having fun!" she glared at the razorgirl, "Riiight?"

"Yes, right, having fun," Sunset quickly agreed, "How can such a complete ditz still manage to be so creepy?" the older girl muttered to herself. 'Still, they've done pretty well for themselves,' she mused. Her friends had come through over a year in the Biz in excellent shape, other than the scars on Pinkie's leg, and the limp she would have for the rest of her life, the only physical marks of their exploits among the six was the knife scar running along the side of Rainbow's face and the marks in Rarity's shoulder from when a shotgun (fortunately loaded with shot instead of slugs) had torn through her barrier and armor. Mentally ... the fact that they could still be as innocent as they seemed, despite everything the Biz and life in general threw at them, showed how psychologically tough they were ... or was an indication of a shared insanity, she wasn't entirely sure which ....

The fact that they hadn’t gotten themselves upgraded was another oddity. Yeah, esper powers didn’t mix with cyberware, so Rarity and Twilight choosing to stay all natural made some sense, even when their esper abilities didn’t, but the others also refused to get any implants, despite Sunset knowing that Rainbow and Pinkie were interested in reflex and ocular mods. It was just more of the Equestrian weirdness that she had gotten used to.

"Ya know," Applejack's drawl interrupted the razorgirl's musings, "If'n Sunny is goin' ta be a wet blanket, then we ought ta make her decided what we're goin' ta do next."

"Wait, what?"

"Hey, ya're tha one that had ta go getting' all philosophical about 'incarnations' and what not when we're tryin' ta distract ourselves from bein' away from our kin, now get with tha distractin'."

Sunset glared into the farmgirl's smirk for a moment, before she relented and offered the first idea that popped into her mind, "Fine, I think the Underground Solution is having an open mic night, how about we try that?"

But this is also true: that when she's here,
What follows next; a wave of plague and curse.
A person mad, another gone, and we're
To wonder why Zecora leaves us worse.

Sunset turned back towards her friends as Pinkie sang and capered on the stage, "So this 'Zecora' is someone you all know, I take it?"

"Well, in Pinkie's defenses," Twilight confessed as she and the other girls exchanged slightly embarrassed looks, "We were operating under severe misapprehensions about Zecora when she came up with this song."

"So, no concerns about hexes or her trying to cook people anymore then?"

"Oh no," Fluttershy replied with a small shake of her head, "We're all rather good friends now."

"Zecora helps out with tha town's Nightmare Night carnival for tha foals, an' she's been teachin' ma li'll sis about potions an' alchemy an' such," Applejack added.

"We should probably call it a night soon," the razorgirl observed reluctantly, she had been surprised to learn that all six of them could sing, in fact Fluttershy and Rarity's duet had drawn some of the biggest applause of the night, 'This was a pretty good idea, we should go out singing again, sometime.'

"We can't go yet!" declared Pinkie as she suddenly dropped into Rainbow's lap, "I talked with Mr. Hamilton, the manager, and he said we could do a group song or two!" the party girl turned her giant, pleading, blue eyes on the others, "Can we? Can we? Please, with cherries and whipped cream and marshmallows on top?"

The six women caved quickly, only Fluttershy could match Pinkie when it came to puppy dog eyes, "So, what are we going to sing?" asked Sunset as they headed for the stage.

In reply, Rainbow began to hum a tune, with the other Equestrians quickly joining in, "Just go with the flow and let the music guide you," the athlete instructed her.

Sunset blinked, but when she opened her mouth to protest Rainbow's decidedly unhelpful advice, Fluttershy put a hand on her shoulder, "Just trust us," she smiled at the razorgirl, "Go friendship and harmony, right?"

Shrugging in defeat, the older girl followed along, but it seemed that her friends were right, she somehow knew the tune, knew the words, even though Sunset was certain she had never heard the song before in her life.

You're never gonna bring me down,
You're never gonna break this part of me.
My friends are here to bring me 'round,
Not singing just for popularity.

10.0 … In Which Fast Food Is Consumed …

The interior of Hampton Holistic Healthcare looked like a medicine lodge had exploded all over the place as the Spectacular Seven (as Rainbow insisted on calling the group) walked in. The man approaching them didn’t fit the tribal image the store presented, however, being a clean-shaven, middle-aged fellow in a decent suit. He also looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

“Mister Hampton?” asked Twilight, “Nightfox sent us,” she continued when the man nodded anxiously, “We understand you need something retrieved?”

“Not something, someone,” Hampton replied as he flipped the door sign over to “Closed”, “The mob took my daughter, Moxie,” he explained, “I pay them a protection fee to keep the gangs away from my property, but business has been slow lately, and I couldn’t pay this month’s fee. Now the Fratellis are holding her hostage until I can pay them, and if I don’t …,” Hampton shuddered, “They already chopped off the ring I gave Moxie for her sweet sixteen, I don’t want to see what else they might do.

“I can’t offer much – seeing as how I can’t even ransom my own daughter – but I can pay you five hundred each, plus a free toxin flush or a colonic,” he continued, looking at the seven women with the first stirrings of hope.

“Oh, you poor man,” murmured Fluttershy, fighting the urge to hug Hampton, “Of course we’ll help you.”

“Thank you,” Hampton smiled gratefully at the women, “I think your best lead for finding where they took my Moxie is to follow Vic Fratelli. He tends to hang out at the McHugh over on Birch, and is a few crayons short of a full box, so you might be able to pump him for some information without him realizing.”

“We’ll get right on it,” Rarity assured him, “Hopefully we’ll have your daughter back in your arms in a few days.”

Taking their leave of Hampton, the women headed back to their truck, along the way Applejack punched Sunset lightly in the shoulder, “So what’s goin’ on, sugarcube, we jus’ took a low-pay job ta help somepony out, an’ ya didn’t even roll yer eyes.”

“What would be the point?” grumbled the razorgirl, although there was a hint of a smile on her lips, “You six would still take the job, and I’d just get drug along somehow anyway. Besides … I think your whole pie-in-the-sky idealism may be starting to rub off on me.”

“Hee, there’s hope for Sunny after all!” cheered Pinkie as she wrapped the taller girl in a quick embrace.

________________________________________

The women could smell the grease from inside their truck as they sat in the McHugh’s parking lot. The chain advertised its security and super cheap food, but forgot to mention that ordering anything off the menu inevitably ended in sadness and regret, and that whoever was making all their “food” should probably be charged with violating a dozen different environmental laws and health hazards.

But, man, did it smell delicious.

“Alright,” Twilight said, “We’re just going to talk to Mister Fratelli, in a public business, with a number of innocent bystanders around, so no long arms, okay?”

Applejack and Sunset resignedly removed their rifles and put them into the overlong tool box attached to the truck’s floor, while Pinkie just frowned down at the shotgun in her hands.

“It’s okay, Pinkie, I had a feeling Sparky would insist on leaving the heavier stuff behind,” Sunset assured her hyperactive friend as she pulled a short-barreled Roomsweeper and a bandoleer of shells from beneath her longcoat, “Already loaded up with rubber shot and everything.”

“Can we go, darlings?” asked Rarity, “I’d like to get inside before the rain starts.”

With the fashionista’s urging, the group got out and strolled to the restaurant, although Fluttershy shuddered as they passed the statue of McHugh’s clown mascot that flanked the door opposite a huge potted planter, “And now I’ll be seeing that face in my nightmares,” she lamented.

As they entered, the women could see that McHugh’s standards had gone down in recent years; the macroplast tabletops and chairs were battered and scarred, there was dirt caked in the tile grout, and instead of three security guards, there was only one bored looking sentry standing out in the open in his red and yellow plated vest, which was either incredibly arrogant or extremely foolish.

The restaurant was surprisingly empty, given the early evening hour; other than Vic, dressed in a suit jacket and tie as he worked on his pair of burgers, the only customers were a young man in his early twenties who was apparently working on his ninth cup of soykaf while he focused on his palmtop, and a middle-aged man sitting with a young girl, likely a father and daughter out for dinner.

Needing some time to look the place over, and not wanting to stand out, the seven women placed orders and then gathered at the large, central table, “While I admit that I am not a connoisseur of fast-food establishments,” confessed Rarity as she picked at her salad, “But don’t the workers here seem rather rough-and-tumble for burger flippers?”

“And Vicy called the guard ‘Lucy’ and the guy mopping the floors ‘Dipsy’,” Pinkie added as she started in on her second Jolly Meal.

Twilight frowned as she considered her friends’ words, “Alright, something is off here, but we still have a job to do, and I don’t want to risk spooking Vic by having all of us go up to him at once. Rarity, you’re the best of us at talking to ponies, so how about you approach him, maybe with Sunset tagging along, and we’ll wait here in case you need backup?”

The pair nodded and got up, with the razorgirl hanging back slightly to give her friend room to ply her schmoozing talents. As Rarity approached Vic and started to chat up the mobster, he gave both women a glare that practically oozed suspicion as he idly tugged his earlobe, ‘What the frag?’ Sunset wondered, ‘Yeah, getting your meal interrupted by strangers is annoying, but having two attractive girls walking up to you doesn’t normally merit a look like that.’

Sunset did her best to appear nonchalant as she kept an eye on the rest of the restaurant, only half-listening as Rarity smooth-talked her way past the mafioso’s hostility and began to ensnare him in her conversational web.

As the fashionista worked her verbal magic, the razorgirl resisted the urge to shake her head, ‘Hampton was right, this guy’s pretty slow on the uptake, he’ll probably spill what we want without Rarity having to do more than butter him up and imply an interest in a more “private” meeting.’

Unfortunately, Sunset wasn’t the only one who had noticed Rarity’s success at playing Vic, “Damn it, Vic, ya putz!” snarled the man working the register as he pulled a pistol from beneath the counter.

As her augmented reflexes triggered, Sunset’s own cry of “Gun!” was almost swallowed by the roar of her Ultra Power firing twice, dropping the staffer as all hell broke loose around her.

Vic immediately went for the pistol under his jacket as he started to stand up, only to take a blast of cornflower blue energy to the face that bounced his head off the wall behind him, while the lone guard tried to smash Applejack aside with his cybernetic arm as he pulled his Manhunter heavy pistol, tried being the operative word, as the farmgirl caught his blow on her crossed forearms as she surged out of her seat.

The man mopping the lobby had pulled a light pistol from under his apron, only to be tackled by Pinkie and Rainbow, while Twilight and Fluttershy both headed directly for the other customers, with Fluttershy pulling the young man beneath his table with a murmured “I’m sorry!”, while Twilight hurried over to the confused father and daughter and flung up a barrier between them and the rest of the restaurant. This proved to be the right decision, as an automated sentry gun dropped from the ceiling and, in a glaring example of why you shouldn’t buy your targeting algorithms from the bargain bin, started firing at the ten-year old girl.

Rarity blasted Vic again, leaving the mafioso in an unconscious heap, as she turned her attention to the sentry gun that was blazing away, ignoring everyone else in the restaurant in its single-minded effort to kill a child. After a quick glance confirmed that Twilight’s shield was holding up fine, she wrapped the auto turret in her aura and pulled until, with a bang and a shower of sparks, its supports twisted, the control cables snapping, as the sentry gun hung limply from the ceiling.

Rainbow crouched on the mop man’s back with one arm wrapped around his neck, pinning him to the floor as Pinkie zip-tied his wrists and ankles together while she chattered away at him, “Why were you wearing a gun? Doesn’t it make it hard to mop with a pistol in the front of your pants? Vic called you ‘Dipsy’, is that you’re nickname? We know a mare named Ditzy back home, she works for the postal office, do you know anypony named Ditzy? Hey, why were you and the cashier stallion carrying guns? Wait, are you ponies both mobsters like Vic? Is everypony working here a mobster?”

Ignoring Pinkie’s babble, Sunset quickly moved over to the guard who was straining against Applejack, the wrist of his gun hand clamped in an iron grip that kept it pointed firmly at the floor, and calmly kicked him in the back of the knee. Dropping with a startled yelp, the guard’s eyes widened as the razorgirl pressed the still hot barrel of her pistol to his head, “You have two choices; one, you let my friend have that gun, surrender and get tied up like your buddy over there, two, I pull this trigger, which is it going to be?”

“I surrender! I surrender!”

“Good choice.”

The sound of running feet and a cry of “What the frag?!” brought the freelancers spinning around as a man in shirtsleeves and tie and carrying a shotgun, probably the manager, came pounding out from the back, only to stumble to a stop at the sight of his staff scattered across the floor and the assorted firearms pointed at him, “Well, drek.”

________________________________________

Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash elected to remain behind with their prisoners and the civilians while the rest of the group swept the building for any other staff that might be lurking about, “Hey, do ya hear that?”

“It’s coming from over here,” said Twilight as she led the others back to the walk-in freezer, from which a faint pounding and muffled shouts emanated, “Who puts a maglock on a freezer? Pinkie, if you would be so kind?”

“I got it Twilight,” smiled the partygirl as she pulled out a passkey.

“Where did ya get that from, Pinkie?”

“From the manager, Mister Frank, of course silly.”

The three girls shrugged at each other as Sunset and Applejack raised their pistols to cover the door, with Sunset silently counting down from three before Pinkie yanked the door open, causing the teenage girl on the other side to stagger back in alarm, “It’s okay! It’s okay!” Twilight hurriedly assured the frightened girl, “We’re not going to … Moxie Hampton?”

“W-who are you? How do you know my name?”

“It’s a’right, sugarcube,” Applejack said soothingly as she gently pulled the girl out of the freezer and wrapped a comforting arm around her, “Yer pa sent us ta find ya.”

“What happened in here?” asked Sunset as she looked at the large, unconscious man lying on the floor, partially buried by an overturned rack of shelves.

“He was guarding me,” explained Moxie, “I pushed the rack over when I hear the shooting, and that box hit him on the head, but then I couldn’t get out.”

“Hmm, ‘Processed Soyburger Patties, twenty kilos’,” the razorgirl read off the indicated box, “That’d do it,” while behind her, Moxie began to cry as the stress of the last few days finally overwhelmed her.

A concerned Pinkie stepped over to help Applejack soothe the distraught teen, “Twi-twi?” she threw a glance at the last two members of the group, “Why don’t you and Sunny take care of things back here, while AJ and I take Moxie out to Fluttershy and the others?”

“We can handle this, Pinkie,” the razorgirl promised her friend, shortly, the man was bound hand and foot, and his pistol, another high-caliber Manhunter, was resting in Sunset’s hands as she looked around the freezer, “Sparky? Is it just me, or do those look a lot like bodies?” she asked, pointing at a pair of objects wrapped in dark plastic.

The former alicorn shuddered as she glanced at the items in question, “Yes, yes they do, Sunset.”

“You’re going to insist we call Lone Star, aren’t you?”

“Yes, yes I am.”

________________________________________

Fluttershy and Rarity both sniffled happily as the seven women watched Hampton tearfully hug his daughter, before they turned and walked away leaving the family to their reunion.

“Let’s see, we took out a bunch of mobsters, rescued a kidnapped girl, oh and we helped Lone Star solve two murders,” Rainbow grinned as she stretched, “I’d say we put in a good day’s work.”

“And didn’t it feel good to help the Hamptons?” asked Fluttershy as she reached over to nudge Sunset.

“Yeah … fine … it did feel pretty good,” the razorgirl conceded, “So, who’s up for pizza? My treat.”

10.5 … At The Same Time …

*Director Coalson? Doctor Lulamoon is here for her two-thirty meeting.*

“Very good, Jamal, send her in.”

Coalson barely glanced up from the financial forecasts he was studying as Trixie walked in, “Good afternoon, Doctor, how are things going with that new project the Home Office assigned you?”

“We’ve made something of a breakthrough, actually, Director.”

That got his attention, “You’ve done it? We can track espers by their powers?”

“Not yet,” cautioned Trixie, “Although the project does show promise. We can, however, track these aberrant esper signatures.”

“How closely can we narrow down the location?”

“It depends on the frequency, strength and duration of their power usage,” the scientist responded with a shrug, “Like with any other form of signal tracking. But once we connect the analyzer to the PWD, we should be able to start narrowing down at least a general location for these aberrant espers. Of course, it would work much better with a completed and fully functioning PWD,” she added pointedly.

“That’s not your concern anymore, Doctor,” Coalson impatiently waved off her jibe, ‘Is she still upset about that? She really needs to get over it.’ “How soon can you have this analyzer installed?”

“It should only take a few hours.”

“Then you’d best get to it,” Coalson ordered, “I want it up and running today,” turning back to his monitor, he paused to glance back at Trixie, “You’ve done excellent work, Doctor Lulamoon, I think the Home Office will be quite impressed.”

As soon as the door had closed, Coalson let out a contemptuous snort, ‘You’re a fragging genius, Lulamoon, but so gullible. All it takes is a few compliments and the empty assurance that the Home Office is giving the orders and you’ll follow my every instruction blindly.’ Shaking his head at how easy it was to manipulate the scientist, Coalson placed a call on his cranial cellphone.

*This is Burke,* said a woman’s voice.

*Start preparing a containment cell for … two espers, just to be safe,* Coalson instructed, *Appropriate any materials you need from the medical and security divisions. Use the existing holding cells if you have too, but I want this done immediately. If Lulamoon’s work lives up to her claims, we may have subjects as early as this weekend.*

*Understood, but are you sure you want to keep the subjects at the facility? Moving containment and research to an off-site location, maybe a warehouse or something, would keep CMS personnel from becoming too curious about the operation.*

*So what if the peons get curious,” Coalson retorted, *I run CMS in this ‘plex, I AM CMS in Seattle! None of them will dare cross me if they know what’s good for them!*

*… Right. Whatever you say, Coalson, we’ll need to stock up on gas grenades and AP ammo from the armory while we’re getting the containment cells ready, so just keep that Riggs-Duffy bloke off our backs.*

*Fine, just have your people ready to move when we get a location on these abberants.*

11.0 … In Which There May Be Cake …

Rarity carefully lined up her scope on the guard, if she could pull off this shot, she’d be able to free the prisoners without the rest of the raiders being any the wiser, but just as she was about to fire … her PDA began to beep.

“Well, ponyfeathers,” the fashionista grumbled as she paused her game, “I was just getting into the story too.” Looking at the flashing icon, Rarity raised an elegant eyebrow as she recognized the caller, Romeo.

Romeo was a fixer of Rarity’s acquaintance, although a much smaller fish than the likes of Mercy or Imaginary Annie, who had hooked the girls up with a few jobs in the past, “Hello, Romeo, darling.”

“Rarity, babe! Sorry I haven’t been in touch lately, but I got just the thing to make it up to you, sweet cheeks. I’ve got a sweet little honey of a job lined up for you, a real cakewalk.”

“Indeed? Do tell me more,” replied Rarity as she maintained a smile of polite interest. As sleazy as Romeo could be, dealing with such personalities was an unfortunate reality of the criminal world, or the fashion world, for that matter. In truth, Romeo had been more useful in connecting Rarity with clients for her fashion and seamstress work, ‘Still, work is work,’ the fashionista observed.

“So listen, babe, Syntech is transferring a shipment of cybernetic parts from a warehouse to one of their research facilities. I’ve got a buyer who would love to get his hands on that shipment, and he’s willing to pay good nuyen for it. All you and your hot little friends need to do is arrange a little accident for that truck somewhere between the warehouse and the lab. You’ll get a third of the street value for all the parts you manage to recover, and I’ll even pay you one-thousand nuyen each as a retainer. The truck’s gonna leave at twenty-two hundred tonight, so I recommend you get that team of yours together and get to work.”

The fashionista nodded and reached over to disconnect the call, as Romeo added one final caveat, “And don’t keep any samples for yourself ….”

Glancing at the paused game, Rarity shrugged philosophically, ‘Well, I can always save the Capital Wastelands some other time,’ before she turned to call out to her roomies, “Fillies, we have a job!”

“I don’t like this …,” Fluttershy said, her hands tight on the steering wheel, “Won’t the guards be paying more attention while they’re in low-security areas?”

“I’m not exactly thrilled with it either, Flutters’,” Sunset replied as she leaned forward to look out the windshield between the shy girl and Twilight at the truck they were trailing, “But it’s the best plan we’ve got. At least we’re unlikely to run into a random Lone Star patrol, and none of us really wanted to try and intercept the truck while it was on the freeway.”

“A bit more time to prepare would have been nice,” admitted Rarity from her seat, “Still, Romeo assured me this job would be a piece of cake.”

“Hey, we should go out for cake after this is done!” chirped Pinkie, “Or pie! Or pie-cake!”

“First thin’s first, sugarcube,” the farmgirl reminded her hyperactive friend, “Once we hit Tukwila an’ all tha traffic clears out, we’re goin’ ta stand out like a cat at a canary convention.”

“We’ll need to close in fast,” Twilight agreed with a nod, “We’ll be entering Tukwila in … approximately five minutes, everypony make sure they’re belted in, this will probably get rough.”

Soon after, they turned a corner to see their target had pulled away and was accelerating, “Drek, we’ve been made!” swore Sunset, “Floor it ‘Shy!”

The truck surged forward and quickly overtook the slower delivery vehicle as Flutershy leaned on the gas. A panel in the back of the Syntech vehicle popped open while the they closed, and the rip of automatic fire roared through the streets as a guard sprayed the truck with SMG fire. “Yer friend, Romeo, has a mighty odd definition of ‘cake’,” Applejack grumbled at Rarity as she ducked down.

“Not the time, darling,” the fashionista admonished as she threw up a wall of pale blue light before the Syntech truck, causing the fleeing vehicle to swerve. Clipping the telekinetic barrier with one front tire, the vehicle started to spin out, before the driver got it back under control.

Unfortunately for him, his control proved to be short lived. Fluttershy veered in to, very carefully, ram the delivery truck from the side, which, coupled with Twilight raising an angled magenta barrier of her own in front of the speeding vehicle’s hood, set the delivery truck rolling.

Fluttershy pulled her truck back around alongside the Syntech vehicle as the echoes of the crash faded, and she and her friends got out. Walking over to the truck, Twilight’s aura wrapped around one of the gun ports and forced it open just long enough for Sunset to toss in a pair of stun grenades, before slamming it shut.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Rarity were helping the stunned driver out of the cab, “Oh my, are you all right?” the timid girl asked, as she ran the scanners in her medical bracer over the man.

“Y-yes,” the driver slurred, staggering slightly as Rarity held him up, “I think so.”

“That’s wonderful!” Fluttershy beamed at the man, causing him to hesitantly smile at her, “Oh, and I’m really sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“For this,” replied the former pegasus as she raised her pistol and shot him.

The two Equestrians carried the limp body over to where their friends were laying out the guards from inside the cargo bay, “Everything go okay?” inquired Twilight as she bound one of the unconscious men.

“Oh, yes,” the pink-haired girl responded as she began to check the men for injuries, “But I’m afraid the driver will be very cross with me when he wakes up.”

“We could leave them all cupcakes?” offered Pinkie.

“Yes, Pinkie, I’m sure that some cupcakes would make them feel much better,” Sunset snarked, “You know, if we had any cup …” she trailed off as the grinning partygirl pulled two boxes of cupcakes out of her pack, “Nope, not going to question it,” the razorgirl declared as she turned to start loading crates into their truck.

“Is everyone okay back there?” asked Twilight as she used her telekinesis to trigger the Panic Button in the crashed truck’s cab.

“As okay as we can be, Twi’,” answered Applejack with a small groan, “We’re squeezed in here like apples in a cider press.”

“We’ll get everything dropped off, and everypony all comfy as soon as we can,” Fluttershy assured her friends as she pulled onto the I-Five and accelerated towards Tacoma.

A while later, Rarity decided to break the silence, “I think that went rather well, over all, don’t you?”

“Eh, I guess so, but your guy’s ‘cakewalk’ could have used more cake,” Rainbow grumbled.

“Aww, we’ll have cake soon, Dashie!” Pinkie promised the athlete, “Just as soon as – Twilight!”

The girls reached for the academic as she slumped over, only for her to wave them back, “I-I’m alright, fillies, really, it was j-just feedback.”

“Feedback from what, darling?”

“I put a ward on the dimensional tear we came through, so I would be alerted if anyone tried to manipulate it,” Twilight rubbed her head, “It hit me harder than I was expecting, is all.”

Sunset stared at the indigo-haired girl, “Wait, you can do that?”

“You mean espers can’t?” Twilight shook her head in bemusement, before turning her attention to Fluttershy, “We need to get back to 7th street right away, before the Princesses move on!”

“O-okay, but to get there really fast, I’ll have to break all the traffic rules.”

The academic flinched at her friend’s words, “I guess we’ll just have to make an exception,” she sighed resignedly, “But only because this is a special, emergency situation!”

“Uh, Sparky? You do realize that as a SINless criminal, most things you do are breaking the rules, don’t you?”

“Oh, shut up,” grumbled Twilight as her friends grinned at her, “And no pony tells Celestia about this when we get back! Or my parents!”

A rumble of thunder announced that another storm would soon descend upon the metroplex as the seven women climbed out of the panel truck to stare at the blue glow that was pouring out from deeper in the alley, “Come on!” Twilight urged the others, “We don’t know how long the Princesses can keep the portal open!”

Following after her friends, Sunset rounded a dumpster only to come to a dead stop as she stared at the oblong of blue light, about the size of an old full-length mirror, that floated in the air a few meters away, “Well, ain’t that some hoodoo drek.”

“Home,” Fluttershy breathed happily, “We can go home!” the Equestrians shared a cheer, while Pinkie wrapped the shy woman in a bone-creaking embrace.

“Well? What are you all standing around for?” demanded Sunset, wiping a bit of moisture – probably some early rain – from her eyes, “Get going!”

“There’s no need to be pushy, darling,” Rarity admonished the flame-haired girl.

“Yes, there is!” snapped Sunset, “Your families, your lives are waiting for you, and the door could disappear at any moment! You need to go now!”

“Sunset’s right,” sighed Twilight unhappily, “We don’t know how much time we have, Fluttershy, Pinkie, you two go first, I don’t want to risk overloading the portal again, and you can reassure the Princesses that we’re alright and will be coming through shortly.”

Nodding at the academic’s instructions, the two women delayed only to give Sunset a final embrace and wish her a tearful farewell before they passed through the portal, Pinkie leaping through with a loud “Wee!” as she cannonballed into the shimmering blue field.

“Okay, Apple—” whatever Twilight was going to say was interrupted by the roar of an engine and the screech of heavy tires on pavement.

Rainbow and Sunset cautiously peeked around the dumpster, only to return grim-faced as they urgently motioned to the others to keep down.

“What is it, darlings?” asked Rarity in a tense whisper from where she crouched on the stained pavement.

“A Citymaster riot vehicle just boxed us in!” replied Sunset, her voice carrying a mix of incredulity and dread, as she unslung her rifle, “And it’s unloading a squad of riot troops!”

“It’s only eight troopers,” Rainbow corrected the razorgirl as she checked her M-24, “With darkened face plates and no insignia,” she glanced at her friends, “Maybe they’re looking for somepony else?” she added hopefully.

“Attention, the group hiding behind the dumpster!” an amplified voice called out, “Send out the esper, unarmed, to be taken into custody, and the rest of you will be free to go, you have thirty seconds to comply.”

“So much for that hope, Rainbow,” exhaled AJ as she raised Little Mac, “Well, ‘em varmints ain’t gettin’ Rares an’ Twi’ without a fight.”

“No, they’re not,” Sunset declared as she shifted to face back towards the alley mouth, her muscles tensing as her augmented reflex kicked in, “Because the four of you are going through that damn portal right now, while you still can!”

“What?!” exclaimed Twilight, “But what will happen to you?”

“Doesn’t matter,” stated Sunset firmly, “As long as the six of you get back home safe, it’ll be worth it.”

Any further protests were interrupted by a shot tearing through sheet metal, armor, flesh and bone to knock the razorgirl onto her back, blood pouring from her shoulder, as a pair of energy barriers, one magenta, the other cornflower blue flickered into being, cutting the five girls off from their attackers.

Rarity’s eyes flickered up, and then her telekinetic wall shifted to rest upon Twilight’s, deflecting a pair of grenades back the way they came, where they burst and quickly began to fill the alley with gas.

The four displaced ponies exchanged a look, and then Applejack and Rainbow scooped up a cursing Sunset and ran for the portal.

“I do believe we should leave these ruffians with a proper farewell for their atrocious behavior,” the fashionista observed, nodding at the dumpster as several gunshots spanged off their barriers.

“I think you’re right, Rarity,” the academic agreed. With a slight flicker, the barriers vanished, only for Twilight’s aura to envelope the dumpster and send it hurtling down the alleyway and into the gas cloud as the two girls turned and plunged through the portal after their friends.

11.5 … Back At CMS Seattle …

Horatio Coalson, Director of Celestia Medical Systems’ Seattle branch and all local subsidiaries was having a wonderful day; he’d manipulated the payroll system so that his two teams of ‘troubleshooters” were receiving triple pay, but only a third was actually going to them, he’d had an excellent lunch at the Eye of the Needle, and any time now his mercenaries, the very same people the Security budget was currently housing, feeding, outfitting and paying, were going to call in with a captured aberrant esper “volunteer” or two for R&D to process, all of which results would never be seen by the Home Office, but should net him a very tidy sum.

A slight “ping”, as much felt as heard, alerted Coalson that he had an incoming call on his cranial cellphone, “How many subjects did we acquire, Burke?”

*None, the targets are … gone.*

“What?! What happened?”

*We located the targets in a dead-end alley near the Puyallup Wall, and thermal scans showed five people behind one of those old metal dumpsters. We demanded their surrender when we pulled up, claimed that we’d let the rest of them go in exchange for the espers, didn’t really expect them to take the offer, but if they did, so much the easier for us. But then they put up these two barrier … things.*

“‘Barrier things’?” scowled Coalson, “What are you talking about?”

*I don’t know what they were, telekinetic walls don’t glow, and you can’t stack them on top of each other, but that is what these espers did! They stopped all of our shots except for the first, and kept out the gas grenades as well, once the barriers went down and the gas thinned out we rushed their position, but they weren’t there anymore,* Burke’s voice hardened, *You sent us against espers with freaky-assed abilities who are strong enough to teleport multiple people and didn’t even bother to warn us? I don’t like being played, Coalson.*

“No one is playing you, Burke,” Coalson hastened to assure the mercenary, “It seems that Lulamoon’s machines don’t live up to their hype, is all.” ‘And you would have charged me vastly more if you knew that I was hunting a potentially world-class esper.’ “We’ll talk when you get back, I’m sure we can come to an understanding.” ‘I can offer to double their retainer, I’ll just use the funds I’m diverting from payroll to cover it.’

Disconnecting the call, Coalson stared at the wall for a moment, “God damned fragging espers, slotting up my plans! Who do they think they are?! Worthl—,” his door being kicked in interrupted the growing tirade, leaving Coalson to stare stupidly at the two men in grey fatigues and clamshell cuirasses who were pointing assault rifles at him.

“Hands above your head! Do it now!”

“Celestia Medical Services does not negotiate with terrorists,” Coalson informed the pair stiffly as he complied, “And security will be here any minute.”

“Actually, security won’t be coming,” a cheerful voice said, as the two gunmen parted to let a woman in a skirt suit, her long, pale cyan hair marked by a white streak, through, “You’ve been a very bad boy,” she smirked at him.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Oh, where are my manners? I’m Lyra Heartstrings, with CMS Internal Affairs, Ms. Celestia has a number of questions for you, Horatio, and she isn’t happy.”

12.0 … Back Through The Mirror …

Twilight’s hooves clattered on polished stone as she passed through the Portal’s energy field, transferring between grimy alleyway and palace hall in the blink of an eye. With a relieved sigh, she turned to smile at Celestia and Luna who stood flanking the mirror, the auras of their magic fading from the now quiescent Portal, when an agonized scream echoed through the chamber!

Her friends were clustered around a familiar-looking orange unicorn as they tried to restrain the thrashing mare, while Spike and Cadance stood nearby, uncertain of how to help.

“Fluttershy, what’s wrong with her?” Applejack demanded as she caught a flailing foreleg and pinned it to the floor just as Sunset’s cybernetic talons snapped out, causing the young dragon and the Princess of Love to start back in surprise.

“I don’t know!” the worried pegasus replied as she checked her diagnostic bracer, which had somehow come through the Portal unchanged, “Her readings are all over the place, but her body is rejecting her implants!”

“Is there anything you can do, Flutters?” asked Pinkie anxiously as she held down one of Sunset’s back legs.

“I can sedate her,” Fluttershy offered, and the unicorn’s violent writhing form quickly went limp as the gentle-natured pegasus gave her an injection, “But she needs a doctor.”

“The Palace has a medical wing,” Luna suggested, “Darling Cadance, will thou run ahead and let the churgeons know we are coming?”

“I’m on it, Auntie Luna.”

“Thank ya kindly, Princess,” Applejack said gratefully as Rarity and Rainbow carefully hefted Sunset’s limp body onto her back and Pinkie picked up the crossbow the farmpony had discarded in all the commotion, “Twi’, sugarcube? Why don’t ya get tha word from Princess Celestia while we get Sunset looked after?”

At the purple alicorn’s nod, the ponies quickly filed out, hurrying to the medical wing. Turning back to her mentor, Twilight shook slightly as a small figure slammed into her and wrapped a pair of stubby arms around her leg in a desperate hug, “It’s alright, Spike,” she crooned comfortingly as she enfolded the quietly weeping dragon in her wings and gave him a neck-hug, “We’re back, we’re safe.”

“May Faust be thanked,” Celestia prayed fervently as she wrapped the pair in one of her own wings, “Poor Spike has barely slept since Sunset Shimmer sent word through the journals that you were missing and the she could not open the Portal to search for you,” the princess added, giving the dragon a quick nuzzle, “Speaking of Sunset, that young mare ….”

“Is the Sunset Shimmer from the other side of the Mirror, yes,” confirmed the younger alicorn, “Although, I suppose we should start calling her Aurora … Sunset is just a nickname,” Twilight clarified, seeing Spike’s and Celestia’s confusion, “H-how long were we gone?”

“Five days, my faithful student.”

“Only five days?” blinked Twilight in surprise, “Such as extreme temporal divergence between the two worlds,” mused the academic, “It’s almost like the stories about somepony going into Feyholme ….”

The next morning, Spike and the six Bearers of Harmony joined the other three princesses for breakfast, “Did everypony sleep well?” asked Celestia as the little gathering got comfortable.

“It was heavenly, Princess,” Rarity assured her diarch as her five friends nodded in agreement, “Sunset, bless her cynical little heart, tried, but her place was never meant to house four ponies, let alone seven.”

“Indeed, it sounds like thou have had some most interesting exploits,” Luna commented as she nodded at the computerized medical bracer Fluttershy was still wearing, “Would thee mind telling us somewhat of thy tales?”

The following hour was filled with boisterous, disjointed, storytelling as the six mares gave an abbreviated, and, on occasion, slightly edited, accounting of their time on the other side of the Mirror.

“Well, it sounds like the six of you have had quite the adventure,” Cadance remarked as she started on her fourth plate, “And I bet it’s given you plenty of ideas for your writing, Twily,” she added, reaching over to give her sister-in-law a playful nudge with her wing.

Twilight blushed slightly, even as she threw her sister a concerned look, “Are you feeling alright Caddy? You’re kind of eating a lot ….”

“Well of course she is, silly,” Pinkie giggled, “She’s eating for two now!”

“How did ---,” Cadance’s question was interrupted as the others descended upon her in a jubilant mob.

“I’m going to be an uncle! I’m going to be an uncle!” chanted Spike happily as he bounced up and down on his claws.

As the cluster finally separated back to their chairs, Fluttershy stopped in her tracks, her ears dropping flat as tears gathered in her eyes, “Oh, oh my, here we are rejoicing in being home and Cadance’s baby, but poor Sunset…,” a shadow descended upon the gathering as the other five returned mares exchanged grim looks.

“Enough with such dour thoughts,” Luna admonished them, “Thou do thy friend no service by letting such feelings grip thy hearts. Although … in truth I had hoped to hear from Sunset Shimmer’s churgeon before I retired for the day.”

A knock at the door drew everyponies’ attention as a hoofstallion stuck his head in, “Your Highnesses? A Doctor Healing Spring wishes to see you.”

Celestia smiled at the stallion, “Of course, Snowy Day, please send him in.”

The door opened wider to admit a white-maned, burgundy-coated earth-pony stallion, “Good morning, Princesses, ladies. Gentledrake,” he added at Spike’s pointed cough.

“And a good morning to you as well, Doctor,” the solar diarch returned his salutation, “And how is our patient this morning?”

“That … is a problematic question, you Highness. We removed an arrowhead from deep within her shoulder, and the muscle spasms seem to have stopped, but she is suffering from moderate, but systemic, toxic shock and a weakened immune system … and then there is the matter of all the other foreign materials.”

“‘Foreign materials’? Pray, of what do thou speak Doctor Spring?”

“Based on our examinations, both of Miss Shimmer’s eyes have been replaced with prosthetics, and her entire body has been invasively modified with metallic filaments and what I can only guess are additional prosthetics of some kind, including parts of her brain … and she has what appears to be a pair of knives inside her right foreleg,” the stallion cocked an eyebrow at the gathered mares, “I don’t suppose you have an explanation?”

Rainbow Dash just shrugged at the doctor’s inquiry, “Implanted weapons are common among gillettes.”

“Yeppers,” Pinkie nodded, “And most of them get ocular replacements and muscle and nervous system augmentations too.”

“She is a foreign guardspony, Doctor,” Celestia gently informed the confused earth pony, “And it appears the prosthetics and other materials were part of a medical procedure for her previous posting,” she raised a cautioning hoof, “And any discussion of their possible removal should wait until Miss Shimmer can join us.”

“Very well, Highness, as you wish, but it will likely be several days until Miss Shimmer wakes up, and then we’re looking at two or three days of physical therapy and additional treatments before she will be fit to be released.”

“Our thanks, good Doctor Spring, mine sister and I have the utmost faith in thou and thy staff’s abilities, and we shall not delay thou further.”

As the doctor returned to his rounds, Fluttershy looked up, chewing on her lip in thought, “Uhm, Princesses, I think I can help, w-well not with Sunset, but ponies in general. Maybe?”

Cadance looked at the yellow pegasus curiously, “What are you thinking of, Fluttershy?”

“I know we probably can’t replicate the computers and sensors in my bracer,” Fluttershy held up her foreleg as she explained her idea, “But what about the drugs in its reservoirs? I mean, we only have a few doses of each, but couldn’t it help with our own medicines?”

“Hey, good thinkin’ there, Flutters!” Applejack clapped the smaller pony on the back, staggering her slightly, “That QuickHeal stuff is right handy.”

“That is an excellent thought,” the elder diarch said with an approving nod, “And I believe we can find some research chemists and alchemists who will be quite interested in what you have to share.”

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo sat doing their homework as various medical doohickeys quietly beeped around the room.The return of the three fillies’ big sisters had been greeted with tearful hugs, and when they had learned that one of their sisters’ friends had been hurt, the foals had quickly volunteered to help keep the mare company.

Since then, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had learned that watching somepony sleep … was pretty boring, actually.

Admittedly, it was fairly entertaining when the strange unicorn started talking in her sleep, even if the fillies didn’t always understand what she was going on about.

“You promised me a pony … with lasers … I want my laser-pony!”

Case in point.

The Crusaders giggled at the older mare’s sleep-addled silliness, only to stop as they realized the unicorn’s eyes were open and she was blinking at them owlishly, “Hello!” Sweetie chirped as she waved at Sunset, who began to confusedly wave back, only to stop and stare at her hoof as if she had never seen one before.

“Nope,” the orange unicorn declared firmly as she laid back and closed her eyes, “There’s an esper fragging with my head, or they’ve got me pumped full of the really good drugs, but I am not a horse and you three are not real!”

“Hey!” objected Apple Bloom, “We are too real!”

“And what’s wrong with being a pony?” demanded Scoots indignantly.

“I am not having this argument with a herd of hallucinations, no matter how cute they are,” Sunset stated adamantly, her eyes still closed, “Now go on,” she added, waving a hoof at the fillies, “Go back to wherever delusional figments stay when they’re not working, I’m going to wake up now.”

“But you are awake,” Sweetie pointed out, her muzzle scrunched in a confused frown.

The orange unicorn opened one eye a slit to look at them, before resolutely closing it again, “No, I am not, and stop being adorable at me!”

“Ah bet ya’d believe Twilight if she told ya that ya was awake,” Apple Bloom challenged the mare.

“Yeah, well Sparky isn’t in whatever drug-fueled coma dream this is, now is she?”

The three fillies smirked at each other, “Ya jus’ stay there, an’ we’ll be right back.”

Sunset kept her eyes closed as she snuggled deeper into the pillow ‘You know, for a dream this bed is pretty comfortable. Although,’ she sighed, ‘I should probably start trying to wake up now.’

“Aurora?” a familiar voiced called out of her self-imposed darkness, “The fillies tell me that you won’t believe that you’re awake?”

“Sparky?” Sunset’s eyes snapped open to stare at … a purple unicorn-pegasus critter that was smiling at her, ‘Same hair, same voice, same eyes … it really is Sparky.’

“Yes, It’s me, Aurora.”

“You’re a horse.”

“We told you that we were ponies,” Twilight rolled her eyes in annoyance as she walked over to the bed, “And I’m an alicorn, actually.”

“Like I would actually believe that,” retorted Sunset as she reached up a hoof and booped Twilight on the nose, eliciting giggles from the trio of fillies watching from the doorway, “Holy drek! You’re real, aren’t you?” dropping back into her bed, she stared at her friend, “What the hell happened? I don’t remember anything after I was shot and AJ and Rainbow dragged me into your portal thing. Why am I a horse? … And why are you calling me by my first name?”

“Well, in order,” Twilight replied as she settled into one of the chairs and waved the Crusaders back in, “Your body reacted … poorly to the Portal’s transformation, so you’ve been in the hospital. And you’re a pony because part of the Portal’s magic is to transform anyone who passes through it into an appropriate species for their new dimension, which is why we were humans back on your world, and you’re a unicorn here. As for your name, I was trying to avoid any confusion with our, ‘native’, Sunset Shimmer ….”

“‘Native Sunset Shimmer’? So, what, I have a doppelganger? Or am I a doppelganger?” the unicorn frowned for a moment and then shrugged, “Whatever, someone has been doppelganged.”

“That isn’t even a word!”

“You’re just jealous that I invented a word,” Sunset smirked at the flabbergasted alicorn, “So who’re the squirts?”

“Aurora, meet Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, fillies, this is Aurora.”

“Ah, so you’re the little sisters I’ve heard about,” the bedridden mare grinned at the three foals, “And call me Sunset.”

“Aurora …,” Twilight sighed.

“No, Sparky,” Sunset said firmly, “It’s my name, I worked and bleed for it, and I’m not giving it up,” glancing around her hospital room, she continued in a milder tone, “So, how long have I been out?”

“Six days,” came Sweetie’s ‘eager to be helpful’ reply, “Did our sisters really talk about us?”

“Sure did, short stuff,” the flame-haired mare assured her, “Only six days, huh? That’s not so bad, I think I’ll …,” Sunset started to rise, only to collapse back into her bed with a pained grunt, “Try getting up later.”

“Just like Rainbow Dash,” Scoots observed sagely as the other two Crusaders nodded, “Always trying to get up while she’s still sick.”

“Actually, Sunset,” said Twilight with an embarrassed cough, “You haven’t been gone for just six days.”

Sunset cocked an eyebrow at the academic, “But you just said ….”

“You’ve been here, in Equestria, for six days,” the alicorn clarified, “But we’ve determined that the temporal deviation between realities is rather … extreme.”

“How long have I been gone?” asked the unicorn apprehensively.

“This is going to be rather a shock, Sunset, so please try to remain calm and remember that we’re all here for you.”

“Twilight. How. Long?”

Twilight smiled at her friend nervously, “Three years.”

The alicorn and the fillies began to shift anxiously as Sunset just stared at them impassively, until the mare finally spoke, “I think I’d like to be alone right now.”

13.0 … In Which Sunset Is Rude To A Pony …

Sunset lay in her hospital bed, starring idly at the ceiling in boredom, she knew she should be trying to rest, Doctor Spring had said she was starting physical rehabilitation in the morning, but she wasn’t ready to go back to sleep yet. Unfortunately, she had nothing with which to pass the time, no trideo, it was after mandatory lights-out so she couldn’t read, and Sunset had already spent over an hour listening to nothing but static as she fruitlessly searched for a radio broadcast, any radio broadcast, on her cranial cellphone.

With nothing better to do, and unwilling to indulge in any more brooding over what she had lost, Sunset tested all her implants, and she was quickly reassured to find that everything seemed to be working, her talons making a faint “snikt” as they snapped out, although she couldn’t check her smartgun link without a weapon, and she was beginning to have some doubts about her cell … ‘They have to be broadcasting something. I mean they have all these medical monitors, so they must have developed radio … right?’ she glanced around her room, ‘Even if most of these machines look like something from out of the history files about the mid-twentieth,’ shaking her head in bemusement at the archaic technology, she dropped back onto her pillow, ‘I wonder how the girls are doing?’

The woman strode resolutely across the burned-out conference room, the sound of autofire ripping through the air as her companions at the window kept the freelancers pinned down, as she pulled a high yield grenade from her belt. Something, some sound or instinct, cause her to stop and look up, meeting Twilight’s eyes just as the pair of frag grenades the alicorn had dropped through the hole in the roof went off, time seemed to slow to a crawl as everyone in the room was slowly torn to shreds by incandescent metal shards.

‘No, not again!’ thought Twilight desperately as she tried to force herself awake, ‘I don’t want to see this again!’

“Be at peace, Twilight Sparkle,” a gentle voice comforted the alicorn as great, soft-feathered wings folded around her.

“Oh, Princess,” Twilight shook as she buried her muzzle in the lunar diarch’s shoulder, “I-I thought I was getting better … I thought the nightmares had stopped ….”

“It is alright, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna gave the young academic a reassuring squeeze, “Please, tell me what is troubling thou so.”

“Those ponies,” sniffled Twilight as she waved a hoof at the blue haze that had swallowed up her dreamscape, “I killed them! I-I could have found another way, I know I could have! But I didn’t!”

Luna raised an eyebrow at her young friend’s admission, “What could possibly have driven thou, thou of all ponies, to such extremes, Twilight Sparkle?”

“They were going to kill my friends.”

“Ah,” the Princess of the Moon gave Twilight a measuring, if worried, look, “And have thou discussed these nightmares, this guilt, with anypony?”

“Yes,” Twilight nodded, “Doctor Razor arranged for me, and the other fillies, to speak with a therapist a few times about what we saw … what we did on that job.”

“‘A few times’?” Luna frowned, “I was under the impression that psychological therapy required a multitude of sessions.”

Twilight gave her fellow alicorn a sad smile as she stepped out of her embrace, “It does, but we didn’t, officially, exist on the other side of the Mirror, so a session every month was the best that Razor was able to arrange for us.”

“I see, and do the other Bearers of Harmony also still suffer from their mental distress?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted sheepishly, “We don’t really talk about it … but, yes, they probably do.”

“Very well, then the six of thou will seek out proper psychological counselling until such time as thy emotional wounds have been healed,” Luna gave Twilight a small smirk, “And please inform Fair Applejack and Rainbow Dash that I will make this a Royal Edict if I must.”

“Well, that might just get through their stubbornness,” admitted the scholarly alicorn with a small giggle.

“And are thou feeling better, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Yes, Princess,” Twilight smiled up at Luna, “Thank you.”

“Then sleep well mine friend.”

Sunset resisted, barely, the urge to grumble as the orderly, an earth pony named Breezy Cloud, ‘And just what is the deal with all the ridiculous names these ponies have?’ pushed her through the halls, her earlier protests that she could walk just fine having been overruled by Doctor Spring. “Hey, where are we going?” she asked as the halls went from institutional, if outdated, to polished stone, tapestries and stained-glass windows that had no business anywhere near a hospital.

“You have a bunch of visitors, plus a meeting with Doctor Spring and Princess Celestia,” Breezy explained, “So the Princess thought everypony would be more comfortable in one of the Palace’s meeting rooms.”

“Oh, okay … wait, ‘Palace’? What kind of palace has an attached hospital?”

“Well of course we have a hospital,” the mare replied in surprise, “Between all the Palace staff and guards, not to mention the Princesses themselves, it would be silly to not have a medical wing, even if we are technically an annex of Canterlot Mercy General.”

The unicorn shook her head, and then did a double take as they passed a ceremonial guard of some kind, ‘Metal plate armor? Seriously? Well at least it looks nice, I guess.’

Shortly thereafter, Breezy wheeled Sunset into a fair-sized room where several ponies waited, only to have most of them eagerly descended on her, “Girls?” the slightly overwhelmed unicorn asked as she tried to match the babble of familiar voices to the strange, brightly-colored, faces in front of her, “Well, would you look at you.”

“How are you feeling, darling?”

“Okay, I guess, Rares, Fit Fiddle said I should be done with physical therapy in two or three more days,” the razorfilly rubbed at the base of her horn, “But I’ve got this damned pain in my horn that just won’t go away.”

“Thaumic buildup,” Twilight observed with a nod, “It’s common among young unicorns who haven’t learned to properly channel their magic yet, but it’s more a nuisance than a serious aliment,” she explained to Sunset.

“Magic? Really, Sparky?” laughed the orange unicorn, only to stop when the others didn’t join in on the joke, “Wait, you’re serious? I can do that freaky esper drek you and Rarity do now?”

Healing Spring and Celestia, who had been completely ignored so far, exchanged bemused glances at Sunset’s odd words, before the Doctor stepped forward and cleared his throat, “Yes, Miss Shimmer, of course you can do magic. Although the … modifications,” he said the word with clear distaste, “To your brain and nervous system have severely impaired your abilities. I’m afraid that even if we are able to successfully remove all of the invasive materials, the damage is likely irreversible, and you will probably never reach your full magical potential.”

“Aww that’s too … you want to remove my implants?!”

“We wished to discuss the possibility of removing some of your, I believe Pinkie Pie called them ‘augmentations’, yes,” Celestia admitted, “I gather you are rather opposed to the idea, however.”

“Damn right I am!” snapped Sunset, “And I wouldn’t let your butchers try it even if I wasn’t!”

“Butcher!” exclaimed an affronted Healing Spring, “Why I never!”

“Doctor Spring is a highly capable and accredited physician, Sunset,” the Princess scolded the flame-maned unicorn, “I would ask you to be a little more open minded.”

Sunset glanced at her, “Who are you, anyway?”

“I am Princess Celestia,” the solar diarch replied, unruffled by the mare’s blunt question, “Co-ruler of Equestria.”

“Oh, so you’re the one Sparky is always going on about,” Sunset nodded, “Well, listen up, Princess, these girls,” she waved a hoof at her friends, “Had never even heard of implants until they met me, so there’s no way I’m going to believe any of your doctors actually know how to extract them. Oh and then there’s the little matter of I don’t want them removed!”

“There’s no need for such hostility, darling,” Rarity prodded the razorfilly in the shoulder reproachfully, “I’m afraid Sunset is often rather abrasive with new ponies,” the fashionista said apologetically to Healing and Celestia, “And, well, she has had her augmentations for some time, I suppose it’s only natural for her to be reluctant to give them up.”

‘Humph,” Healing Spring snorted, clearly still irked by Sunset’s comments, “Other than your prosthetic eyes, these ‘implants’ of yours serve no medical purpose, and the stress they put on your body contributed to the crisis that brought you into my care in the first place. You would be better off without them, young lady.”

“Not happening.”

“Very well,” the doctor sighed, “Perhaps, given some more time to think on it, you will change your mind, regardless, I need to get back to work. Princess, ladies.”

Fluttershy frowned disapprovingly at the orange mare as the stallion left, “I know you don’t like what he was suggesting, Sunset, but you didn’t need to be so rude to Doctor Spring, he was only trying to help, after all.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Sunset gave the yellow pegasus a faintly apologetic look, “But I wouldn’t even trust the Doc to pull my implants, and she installs them.”

“Doctor Razor, yer Highness,” explained Applejack, seeing her diarch’s puzzled expression.

“Ah, yes, I believe Luna has mentioned her,” Celestia nodded, “I know you have not be awake for long, Sunset, but have you given any thought to your situation?”

“My ‘situation’,” the razorfilly sighed bitterly, “Believe me, Princess, I’ve thought about it. Three years ... I’ve been declared dead by now, my place and stuff have all been confiscated, my SIN’s deactivated – and after everything I had to go through to get one – my rep is a ghost, and god only knows if any of my contacts will even talk to me anymore. I’ll have to start over from scratch ….”

Twilight put a comforting hoof on the mare’s shoulder, “You could stay here with us,” she suggested hopefully.

“And just what will I do, Sparky?” Sunset asked gently, “From everything you’ve said, there’s no real call for gillettes here, and the only other thing I know is scavenging in the Zero Zone ruins, and I won’t be a damn freeloader.”

“We’ll think of something,” Rarity declared firmly, “And you will not be a ‘freeloader’,” she raised a hoof to forestall the orange unicorn, “Friends can help friends, darling, just like when you took us in.”

“I hate to bring it up,” Rainbow said, shuffling her hooves uneasily, “But would Sunset be better off in the other human world?”

Twilight shook her head, “No, Sunset – the other Sunset – and I have already discussed that option. Sunset would still face the same difficulties in finding employment as she does here in Equestria, but there is also the concern of her implants being discovered if she ever goes to the hospital, and that’s assuming she doesn’t have another adverse reaction to the Portal, it’s safer for her to stay here.”

“We have a few days to consider our options while Sunset finishes her recovery,” Celestia observed, “But for the moment, I would like a few words in private with her, please.”

14.0 … In Which Life Goes On …

Once the others had left, if rather reluctantly on the part of the Bearers of Harmony, Celestia turned to observe the mare seated before her, watching the solar diarch with a wary frown, “Well now, Sunset, I’m sure you must have questions,” she said, turning a brilliant smile on the displaced human.

“Just one to start,” the razorfilly replied, her frown deepening into a suspicious scowl, “What are you up to that you don’t want Sparky and the others to know about?”

‘So angry and suspicious of others, just like my Sunset used to be, despite spending years with Twilight and her friends,’ Celestia mused, ‘What a grim world she has lived in to leave a pony so cynical.’ “I am not ‘up to’ anything,” she assured the unicorn in a slightly teasing tone, “I just thought it might be easier for you to discuss some things without an audience, is all. You know, any concerns for Customs and Immigration, getting you some mental therapy, employment training options, or perhaps debating the flirting potential with Big Macintosh and Shining Armor?” the alicorn gave a slightly disappointed sigh when her banter prompted nothing more than a raised eyebrow, “You really should try to lighten up, Sunset, you’re far too serious for such a young mare.”

“Pinkie may have said something similar a few times,” Sunset admitted with a small smile.

“Pinkie Pie can be a very wise, if odd, mare,” Celestia nodded, ‘Ah, she does have a sense of humor, good, that will make things easier on her.’

“So …,” the unicorn shifted nervously in her wheelchair, “Sparky and AJ told you about the whole flirting thing?”

“Oh, yes,” the solar diarch replied, “Cadance thought it was rather amusing, actually.”

“Yay, the embodiment of love thinks me flirting with her husband is ‘amusing’, I don’t know if I should be relieved or worried.”

“I doubt you have anything to be worried about,” Celestia laughed, “But you should probably stick to your promise and get Cadance’s, and Twilight’s, permission before flirting with Shining … just in case. Are you certain you have nothing else to ask?” she pressed, “Nothing at all?”

“Oh, I’m sure that I’ll think of all sorts of things I should have asked you later,” Sunset shrugged, “But I’ll have to settle for this, why haven’t you chucked my hoop back through that portal or stuck me in a lab so you can figure out the tech in my implants? Why are you so okay with me just … being here?”

“Throwing you back into the bleak world you came from would be poor thanks indeed for looking after Twilight and the others,” the alicorn observed, “Especially when it would leave you homeless and unemployed. As for your implants and prosthetics, while they would be of some interest to our own medical researchers, why detain you, and risk making you hostile and uncooperative, when we could just pay you to come by for periodic examinations and consultations?” Celestia walked over to put a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder, “If you have to start over, Sunset, why should it not be here with your friends by your side?” she gave the young mare a concerned look, “And there must be something you are qualified to do other than just being a … gillette, was it?”

The razorfilly gave a short bark of laughter, “Despite what the trideo and straights seem to think, there’s more to being a street op than just breaking legs and busting heads, or looking good in leathers,” Sunset smirked at the diarch, giving her mane a flip, before she turned serious again, “But what does it matter? Tactics, demolitions, guarding a client, infiltration, urban combat, I mean, what good is anything I’ve learned now that I’m in the land of ‘harmony’ where you beat nation-wide threats by shooting them with a friendship beam?”

“Do not be so quick to sell yourself short,” Celestia admonished the unicorn, “While your instincts may be more violent than what is appropriate for Equestria, your skills, however, are still valuable. Now, have you thought of any other questions? No? Then I will let you get back to your friends,” the wheelchair was enveloped in a golden aura as the alicorn wheeled Sunset back to the door, “Here we are,” she said as she returned the mare to the care of her friends, “I hope you all have a pleasant day, my little ponies, oh, and Sunset? Please think about what we discussed.”

“And hold it … hold it … and forty! Good job, Sunset.”

“Thanks, Fit,” the razorfilly replied as she mopped her muzzle with a towel, she knew she was in good shape, but somehow, she was worn out after every physical therapy session.

The pegasus passed her some water, “So, you’re checking out today, got anypony coming to pick you up?”

“Yeah, my friends are coming by to get me soon, just some paperwork and one last check-up and then I’m out of your mane.”

“Where are you headed to?”

“Some place called Ponyville,” Sunset shrugged.

“Ponyville, huh? I’ve heard of it, little town on the edge of the Everfree, they grow some good apples and carrots. The new Princess lives there, so it’ll probably start expanding soon, if they can get around the whole ‘random monster attack’ thing,” the stallion observed, “Now, you’re all set, but if you start having any relapses, I want you to check in with the local hospital, understand?”

“Hey, girls!” Sunset waved at the approaching ponies, “How’s it going, Princess?”

“Are you ever going to stop teasing me about that?” grumbled Twilight as she and her friends gathered around the razorfilly.

“Let me think about it … nope!” Sunset smirked at the alicorn, “I had fragging royalty bunking in my doss for three years, and you didn’t think to tell me?”

Rarity gave a long-suffering sigh, “Would it have really made any difference, darling?”

“Not in the least,” declared the orange unicorn impudently, “But watching Sparky squirm is to fun to pass up,” Applejack reached out a hoof and cuffed her upside the head, “Okay, I deserved that, so, what’s the plan?”

“We were thinking of grabbing a light lunch, before catching the train back to Ponyville,” Rarity explained, “And then, once you’re settled in at the Palace, Pinkie has her ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party planned.”

“I wanted it to be a surprise party,” the pink earth pony pouted, “But Applejack reminded me about how you don’t always take surprises well, Sunny.”

“I appreciate your restraint, Pinkie,” Sunset assured her, “So, what fine, upscale Canterlot establishment are we off to, then?”

“Actually,” Fluttershy replied in her quite voice, “We were thinking of going to Donut Joe’s, if that’s okay with you.”

“Donuts, huh?” the unicorn rubbed her chin, “Sounds good to me.”

“Uuurrp,” Sunset burped, drawing giggles from Pinkie, Rainbow and Applejack and an exasperated sniff from Rarity, “Those were some good donuts. So, this is Ponyville?” she added, “It looks … nice.”

“Oh, I admit it looks a bit rustic,” the fashionista observed, “But that’s part of its charm. Ponyville is home to many wonderful ponies and is an excellent place for you to start again.”

“Speaking of home,” Twilight broke in, raising a hoof to point at the Castle of Friendship, “Here we are.”

“It’s very … purple … and crystaly … and kinda spiky,” the razorfilly cocked her head, “How many folks are living there, anyway?”

“Well, there’s me, and Spike, and Owlowiscious, and … you now.”

Sunset gawked at her friend, “Wait, you’re telling me that there’s only three people living in that thing? That place is huge!”

“I know,” the alicorn blushed in embarrassment, “But Spike, Owlowiscious and I look after each other, so I don’t have any staff, and I don’t have any guards, and nearly everypony in Ponyville has their own houses already… I know it’s a lot of empty space, but I’ve moved the new Ponyville library into the Castle!” she added enthusiastically.

“We crammed the seven of us into a three-room doss, and here everyone has their own house?!”

“Equestria does have its problems,” Fluttershy quickly assured Sunset, “It’s not all rainbows and bunnies.”

Rarity nodded, “We still have crime and corruption, it’s just not as pronounced as it was back in Seattle.”

“Ponies, and the different races, don’t always get along as well as they could.”

“An’ then there’s tha random monster attacks from tha Everfree.”

“Ancient evils from a thousand years ago (or more) returning to try to conquer everypony.”

“Snooty, uptight, self-centered nobles.”

“Semi-omnipotent beings of pure chaos who make it rain chocolate milk, and then forget the whipped cream!”

The orange unicorn blinked at her friends, before bursting into a chuckle, “Thanks, girls, I feel much better now,” she reached over and nudged Twilight in the shoulder, “Come on, Sparky, let’s see this castle of yours.”

Applejack glanced at her friends as they started after the two mares, “Ya know, Ah reckon she’s plumb serious.”

‘Pinkie can sure throw a shindig,’ Sunset mused as she took a quick look around the Castle’s hall, currently filled with happy ponies, many of which she still hadn’t met, ‘I think at least half the town is here,’ taking a sip from her cup, she tossed an appreciative glance at the muscular red earth-pony stallion with the blonde mane who was currently chatting with a much smaller brown stallion wearing a long scarf, when a familiar voice brought the razorfilly whipping around to stare into a pair of misaligned golden eyes, eyes she hadn’t seen in a very long time, “Ditzy?”

“Hello!” chirped the bubbly grey pegasus, “Did we meet already?”

“W-what? No … I … I need to go,” the unicorn turned and dashed off, leaving the confused mare behind.

“Get ahold of yourself, Shimmer,” the displaced human berated herself as she huddled in the room Twilight had given her, “She’s not Ditzy, not some ghost come back to punish you, she’s just Dee’s trans-dimensional pony counterpart, that’s all, now suck it up and get back out there!” Sunset stood up and faced the door, only to sink back down onto her bed a moment later, “… I can’t go back out there,” she moaned.

“Sunset?” Twilight’s voice came through the door, “Is everything all right?” the alicorn slipped inside before the razorfilly could answer, “Pinkie said you ran from the party like you’d seen a ghost right after talking with Ditzy.”

“A ghost?!” Sunset’s eye began twitching, “Oh no, nothing so normal as a ghost, no I run right into the fragging doppelganger of my first friend who I betrayed and left to die! Oh, and joy, she lives in this town, so I’ll be seeing her all the fragging time!”

“Sunset, you need to calm down.”

“Don’t you tell me to ‘calm down’, Sparky! I hate it when people tell me to ‘calm down’!”

Twilight reached out and grabbed her hooves, “Sunset, Calm. Better?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” the alicorn sat next to her friend, “So, why don’t you tell me about Ditzy?”

“Jeez, Sparky,” Sunset gave a sour chuckle, “Go straight for the jugular, why don’t you?”

“Putting it off will only make things worse,” Twilight observed, “Besides, do you want to spend the rest of your life hiding from Ditzy, and leaving the poor mare always wondering what she did wrong?”

“Fine, fine,” the unicorn scowled at the princess, “You were paying attention when Razor got you in to see that straightener, weren’t you?”

“Well, it was rather fascinating … and you’re trying to distract me, talk to me, Sunset.”

“Damn it,” the razorfilly grumbled, “I almost had you. Fine,” she got more comfortable on the bed, and started her tale, “You and the other girls probably already figured out I was born in the Zero-Zone, but it wasn’t Zone City or Bartertown, where folks have rebuilt something like civilization and were just trying to get by. No, I grew up out in the Wastes, where the crazies and the loners scratch out a living, and the corps can do “product testing” and the occasional bit of open fighting. I can’t remember who looked after me at first, but once I was, I don’t know, I guess it was five? I was running with Ditzy, just the two of us.”

“What was she like?”

“Sweet-tempered, cheerful, clumsy as hell, Dee was a few years older, so she tried to look out for me; taught me a little of how to read, traded off with me during the night so the devil rats wouldn’t get us while we slept, occasionally tried to give me her share of whatever food we’d scrounged, that sort of thing,” Sunset smiled at the memories, “Dee was a real softy, you know? She could endure damn near anything and was brave to a fault, but she didn’t have a speck of killer instinct in her. I mean, she felt bad about the birds and rats we killed for food.”

“‘Killer instinct’?” Twilight stared at her, “You were foals, Sunset!”

“We were trying to survive, Sparky! Almost a million people were sealed off in the Zone and left to rot, and we were living in the worst part of it, a place where being a ‘little kid’ just meant you were smaller, slower and weaker, and that made you a better target,” the unicorn sighed, “I’m not saying it was a good way to grow up, it wasn’t, but Dee and I managed, yeah, we had problems and close-calls and the damn Rafterkids were after us, but we managed.”

“Rafterkids?”

“A gang, probably the biggest in the Wastes, mostly kids and teens, but there might have been two or three adults calling the shots, they lived in the tops of the ruined high-rises. Creepy fraggers, lots of spider imagery, very cultish mentality, and then there was the cannibalism.”

The princess hoofed her in the shoulder, “Now I know you’re just making things up to freak me out!”

“Believe me, Sparky, I wish I was. There were always nasty rumors about the Rafterkids for as far back as I can recall, but one night me and Dee were up in one of the tumbledown skyscrapers and we noticed firelight in a nearby high-rise. Ditzy had found an old pair of optical binoculars that still mostly worked, so we decided to see who our neighbors were. It was a pack of Rafters, and what they had on the spit …,” Sunset shivered at the memory, “At least we found out the truth about how they planned to ‘guarantee you’ll never go hungry’ before we let them pressure us into joining.”

“You almost joined those ponies?!”

“They had a good line, until we found out the truth, offering us a ‘family’ and a ‘place to belong’, and the whole ‘never go hungry’ thing. When they first approached us, I bought into it completely, it was Ditzy who was suspicious of them and wanted time to think it over, thank God.”

“But the Rafters, they didn’t take our refusal well, or maybe they realized that we’d stumbled across what they were really up to, I don’t know, but the Rafters started hunting Dee and I, so we had to run and hide from them, as well as all of the other crazies in the Wastes. That was what finally got Ditzy killed ….”

“Sunset?” Twilight gently prodded her friend after the silence had stretched out for several minutes, “What happened to Ditzy, Sunset?”

“When I was twelve, a pack of Rafterkids was hounding us ... too many of them to fight, all we could do was run … I got ahead of Ditzy as we went through an old ruin, and then I heard her cry … her leg had gone through the rotten floor, I could see it was broken even from where I was, and the Rafters were almost on her … I knew what they’d do to Dee if they caught her … but I turned and ran … I left her to the Rafters ….”

“Oh, Sunset,” the alicorn wrapped her forelegs and wings around the razorfilly, who merely stiffened at her touch, “You said that you were outnumbered, what good would it have done if you had stayed?”

“I could have gone back for Dee! I could have fought! I could have died with Ditzy instead of sacrificing her to save my own miserable life!”

“No!” the angry exclamation brought the two mares around to stare at the door, where five ponies stood in a mixture of shock at Sunset’s story and embarrassment at being caught listening in, while an irate Ditzy Doo strode into the room, “She wouldn’t have wanted you to just throw your life away!”

“I left her behind!” the orange unicorn protested, bolting up from Twilight’s embrace to glare at the pegasus, her empty, mechanical eyes staring into Ditzy's misaligned golden ones, “I owed Dee my fragging life, and damn near the last thing she ever saw was me betraying her!”

“So she would rather that you sacrificed yourself for nothing?” the grey pegasus demanded, leaning forward until she was nose-to-nose with Sunset and stomping her hoof. The two mares glared at each other for a moment, until Ditzy finally took a deep, calming breath, “Look, Pinkie explained that I’m a ‘cross-dimensional duplicate’ of the pony you knew, and I know we don’t have the history that you and your Dee had, but I don’t think any version of me would want you doing this to yourself,” she sighed, “You clearly have lingering issues about what happened with Dee, but I’m not her, so there’s only so much I can do to help,” she held out a hoof, “Can we try and start fresh? Hi, I’m Ditzy Doo, I love muffins and my daughter, Dinky, and I work for the post office, who are you?” When Sunset simply stared at her, the pegasus gave her a hopeful smile, “Please?”

The orange unicorn blinked, and then slowly reached out and shook the offered hoof, “I’m Sunset Shimmer, I’m from another world, currently unemployed, and I have issues.”

“That’s okay,” giggled the mailmare, “Lots of ponies in Ponyville have a few issues, but they’re still good ponies. Maybe you’d like to come back to the party with us, Sunset?”

“Yeah, sure,” the razorfilly started for the door alongside the others, only to stop and frown, “Wait, why the hell aren’t I still freaking out over this?”

“Welcome to Equestria, Sunset,” Rarity smiled, “Where the ‘magic of friendship’ is more than just a trite phrase and ponies trying to help each other can literally work wonders.”

“We’re still going to get you an appointment with a therapist, though,” added Twilight.

“I think I’m good with that.”

15.0 … In Which A Gillette Starts To Find Her Place …

“So, how’s it goin’ over at tha Castle, ya finally startin’ ta settle in?”

“Fair enough,” Sunset replied as she tried to work a kink out of her shoulder, “Still trying to find a decent cover, but I’ll think of something, and I think I might be getting the hang of this whole telekinesis thing.”

“‘Cover’?” Rarity frowned at the orange unicorn as she, Futtershy and Sunset took a short breather from helping Applejack with the family farm, “Really, darling, there is no need to treat everything as another street job.”

“Well, unless I want to start from scratch, I have to rely on my street op skills to get by, don’t I?” the razorfilly countered, “And I don’t have the right kind of discipline to make it in the Guard, so that leaves mercenary work or hiring on somewhere as a private bodyguard. So, why not combine them and be the agent of Princess Twilight and the Elements of Harmony that no one notices until it’s too late?” Sunset suddenly chuckled, “‘Princess Twilight and the Elements of Harmony’, God, you girls sound like the newest idol-pop band when I say it like that,” she observed, causing her friends to break into giggles.

Fluttershy glanced up from where she was giving AJ’s dog, Wynonna, a belly rub, “Um, you do realize that you don’t really blend into the background, don’t you?”

“Doesn’t matter, Flutters,” the former human waved her hoof dismissively, “Let’s be honest, how much attention does anyone, even you and Rares, really give the staff when you’re not directly interacting with them? The problem is, the best positions to explain me always being around are either Twilight’s personal assistant, which Spike handles quite well already, or as her … what was the word … a ‘handmaiden’, I think, and, well, Sparky just isn’t the type to have personal servants, a castle staff, sure, but not her own, private, retainers.”

“So, what’s yer plan? Ya’ll jus’ be around like?” the farmpony asked with a vague wave of her hoof, “An’ what, when somepony tries ta start somethin’, ya’ll jump on ‘em?”

“Something like that,” Sunset agreed, “I’ll let everyone focus on you girls and the guards in their shiny armor, and they’ll never think that me and my network, once I get it built, are waiting behind them with knives ready.”

Fluttershy frowned at her bloodthirsty friend for a moment, before turning to the fashionista, “Would you pass me that copy of the Foal Free Press, Rarity? Thank you,” turning back, she whapped the razorfilly on the muzzle with the paper, “Bad Sunset! Bad! Stop thinking like a criminal! Bad filly!”

“What? Ow! Flutters, stop I’m – Ow – I’m trying to help!”

“By creating an underworld empire, darling?”

“No,” Sunset growled, “By getting contacts and favors among the kind of people who know what’s happening in a town, but don’t talk to the guards, and doing what I can to protect all of you!”

The other three mares stared at her for a moment, “Sugarcube, ya don’t have ta look out for us no more,” Applejack pointed out gently as Fluttershy nuzzled the orange unicorn’s shoulder.

“Is Miz Sunset a’right?”

The razorfilly gave a strangled yelp as she spun around to see the three Cutie Mark Crusaders blinking up at her, “Where did you come from?!”

“Uhm, our clubhouse?” replied Scootaloo, exchanging confused looks with her two friends.

“It’s okay, fillies,” Rarity assured the foals, “Just a few things Sunset needs to bring up with her therapist. Perhaps a change of subject is in order?”

“Oh, oh! Could you tell us a story about what you did in the other world?” Sweetie Belle’s eager request brought instant agreement from the other Crusaders, and uneasy looks from Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity, who were still uncomfortable telling their friends and family about the less-than-legal activities they had gotten up to.

“Hey, I’ve got a bit of a tale, or a boogeyman story, I could share,” Sunset offered, drawing the fillies’ attention away from the relieved mares, “Just a quick question first, can your Equestrian magic raise the dead?”

“What? No, darling, of course not, you've played too many trideo games.”

“Just checking,” shrugged the razorfilly, “The story wouldn’t be near as impressive if you could. So, back through the mirror, there’s a guy named Ran … Rarity might have run across some word on him when she was learning about espers.”

The fashionista pursed her lips in thought, “Ran … Ran … oh, the … mentally unstable gentlecolt who lives in the Neo York Zero Zone.”

“That’s him,” Sunset nodded, “The world’s most powerful esper weapon with a mind like a bag full of cats. Rumor is that even The Empress walks a little softer if there’s a chance he might be around,” seeing the Crusaders’ confusion, she quickly explained, “Espers is what we call the folks with powers back home, kinda like how unicorns have magic and pegasi control the weather here.”

“Anyway, the story goes that about a year before I met your sisters, this group of folks gets it into their heads to kill him.
Nobody knows if they were acting on the orders of some megacorporation or government, or if they just wanted the reputation for being the ones who put down Ran, hell, nobody can even agree on who they were, but they had resources and they had a plan … the twelve of them were going to ambush Ran with enough firepower to turn the Atlantic ocean into sushi.”

“I thought you said that espers had all the powers,” protested Scoots, “That’d be like trying to ambush Princess Celestia or Princess Luna!”

“The Princesses are powerful, but they don’t know everything, that’s how Chrysalis got into the Palace, remember?” Fluttershy softly reminded the little pegasus.

“Flutters is right, plus Ran is known for crushing tanks by looking at them, not for reading minds or seeing the future, so getting the drop on him is a pretty solid plan, as far as it goes. Anyway, they went into the Zone, though it must have cost a truckload of money to get all those weapons past the guards manning the Brooklyn Bridge checkpoint, and headed for Southside, where Ran tends to hang out. Once they got into position, they set up a commotion to get Ran’s attention and bring him to them.

“Once Ran showed up to investigate, they hit him, and hit him hard. Multiple lines of attack to split his focus, gas and stun grenades to keep him off-balance and fra--mess with his concentration, when one part of the team had to reload or pull back to treat their wounded another would step in to keep the pressure on.

“And the fighting went on for hours, most of the people living in the Zone just went for cover and hoped they could wait it out. They say you could see the smoke all the way back at the Bridge, but, eventually, the strike team managed to wear Ran down, and finally, they dropped him, and because they’d seen a few horror sims, they put another dozen shots into him, just to make sure.

“After they gathered their gear and their dead, the three surviving members of the strike team went back to Neo York and started celebrating and bragging about how they had ‘killed the dragon’,” Sunset glanced at her audience, “Now this is where the ‘boogeyman’ thing comes in. So about three days after everything goes down in the Zone, the three survivors head off to their favorite bar to continue celebrating, but the bouncer isn’t at his post. They just shrug it off, figuring that he got called away to deal with something and head on in, but once inside, however, they notice that most of the lights are out and nobody seems to be around. They realize something is wrong, of course, but the door locks itself when they try to run back outside. Turning around, they see a light has turned on over one of the far tables, and sitting at it … is Ran, back from the dead and not looking like there’s a scratch on him. And Ran, he just looks at them and says, ‘So, I hear you killed me.’”

Fluttershy gave a small “Meep” while the Crusaders giggled, “Did any of that really happen?” Sweetie asked.

“I don’t know,” the orange unicorn admitted, “But I do know that Ran is very much alive, and right when that story first started going around, a club in Neo York was completely destroyed by an ‘esper event’ that Lone Star – that’s the guards – still haven’t bothered to really investigate.”

“Welp, time for us ta get back ta work,” drawled Applejack, drawing good-natured grumbles from Rarity and Sunset.

As they headed back into the fields, Sunset looked over at an approaching Big Mac, “Hey, AJ, about your brother ….”

“Sorry, sugarcube, tha answer is still no.”

“Enjoying your coffee?”

“Mmhmmm,” Sunset murmured, the mug clutched in her hooves as she nodded at the earth pony stallion sitting across from her, “You ponies have no idea how good your food is here. I’ve eaten more real food in the last three months than in the previous six years combined, and it was all wonderful,” she gave a contented sigh as she leaned into the mid-summer sunlight streaming in through the window.

“It’s good to see you embracing your new situation, Aurora,” Glacial Pond observed as he leaned back in his chair, ignoring the small glare the unicorn threw at him, “Perhaps it is time for you to welcome some more changes, to help you start afresh.”

“You’re going somewhere with this, I can tell.”

“Now, now, there is no call to be snippy,” the stallion chided her, “I just want to discuss your distaste for your given name, and your … potentially excessive efforts to ensure the wellbeing of your friends.”

“And just what is wrong with looking after my crew?”

“There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with being concerned for your friends, Aurora, but there is a concern that you may be taking it to unhealthy levels. Princess Twilight and the Element Bearers are quite capable of taking care of themselves, after all, as they have proven more than once.”

“I know that the girls can handle themselves!” snapped Sunset, “Hell, I ran with them for three years, I’d have to be blind not to know what those girls are capable of when pushed.”

Glacial shook his head, “You know intellectually that the Princess and the Bearers can look after themselves,” he disagreed, “But you haven’t accepted it yet. You continue to act like an overprotective big sister, and you’re allowing this drive to protect them to push you back into the same sort of extra-legal activities and relationships that you once engaged in because you had no choice, even when this is your chance to move beyond such ill-advised entanglements.”

The unicorn chewed on her lip as she considered the earth pony’s words, “Maybe, maybe I have been going a bit overboard trying to keep the girls safe ….”

“Making that realization is a good first step, Aurora,” the stallion nodded approvingly, “All I ask is that you try to think before you act, and if your first impulse when confronted with a situation or a problem is to do something illegal or immoral, please take a moment to reconsider your options,” he smiled at the mare, “Now, about your rather hostile reactions whenever somepony calls you by your name ….”

“Damn straighteners, always have to find a meaning in everything,” growled Sunset, “Maybe I just don’t like my name? And why is this such a big deal, anyway? What, is there a law against having two ‘Sunset Shimmers’ or something?”

“Of course not, that would just be silly, but you clearly desire to distance yourself from the pony you once were, even as you insist on clinging to the criminal identity it would benefit you to shed.”

“And maybe I like being ‘Sunset’? I worked my hoop off building a reputation with that name, and even if that rep doesn’t mean drek to all of you, it’s still important to me,” the razorfilly retorted, before taking a deep breath and visibly forcing herself to calm down, “As for ‘Aurora’, she was a worthless little slitch who ran away when her only family needed her the most, why would I want anything to do with her? Let her stay dead, were she belongs.”

“Failing to perform a meaningless sacrifice is not something to regret, Aurora,” Glacial reproached her, “What happened to you and Miss Doo, and the choice you were forced to make, was horrible, but by refusing to face it, by denying who you once were, you are preventing yourself from truly moving on and fully accepting the possibilities offered by your new life. And this is doing a disservice to yourself and Miss Doo,” the earth pony glanced up at the clock, “We’ll have to continue our discussion next week, but please, think about what I’ve said?”

A crisp autumn breeze blew through Ponyville as Sunset made her way back to the Castle of Friendship, her saddlebags filled with fresh supplies of paper, quills and the mail, after bumping into Ditzy, occasionally stopping along the way to look at the Nightmare Night decorations that adorned the town.

Reaching her residence, a deep gong announced her arrival as she pushed the gates open, drawing an amused smile from the unicorn, ‘Sparky is really getting into things, I wonder what’s next, creepy music from nowhere, or the shadows moving in the corner of people’s eyes?’ “I’m home!”

“We’re in the kitchen!” Spike called back, “You’re just in time for lunch!”

“Hey, I … hello, Rarity, I thought you were still in Manehattan opening your new store?”

“Did you now?” the fashionista smirked at the other unicorn from behind her teacup, “But I’m sure Risky Task has kept you apprised of any changes in my schedule.”

“‘Risky Task’? Who’s that?” Sunset asked innocently.

Spike looked up from the sandwiches he was making, “Isn’t Risky Task one of the ponies you’ve been getting mail from?”

Sunset facehoofed, “Yes, yes he is, thank you Spike.”

“Now don’t go blaming Spike, darling,” Rarity chided her, “Risky did his best, but he was no match for a Lady of my skills, and once he described his employer, well, it was clear who had arranged for my ‘extra hooves’.”

“Really?” grumbled Sunset as she slumped into a seat next to Twilight, who reached over to pat her shoulder consolingly, “That obvious, huh?”

“I’m afraid so, darling,” the white unicorn apologized, “A unicorn mare with your coloring, calling herself ‘Mercy’, and with, I quote, ‘creepy eyes’? Anyone who knows you would recognize that description immediately.”

“So, how did the opening go?” inquired Twilight.

“Oh, it was just wonderful!” gushed the fashionista, “Celebrities, entrepreneurs, and I believe I may have even found a new market, Mr. Task was quite taken with the bowler hat I gave him.”

“Damn it, Rares, I already paid Risky!”

“But of course you did, darling,” tutted Rarity, “I merely gave him a bonus for a job well done, is all. Believe me, I have no interest in subverting your little ‘network’.”

“Sunset,” Twilight sighed, “Didn’t Doctor Pond ask you to think twice before engaging in … morally or legally questionable activities?”

“I did think twice, Sparky,” Sunset assured the academic, “I just decided to go through with it anyway,” she added with a cheeky smirk, earning her a bop on the back of the head, “Aw, come on, Sparky, it’s not like I’m actually doing anything ‘questionable’, Pond just has a bug up his hoop about me ‘falling back into old patterns’.”

The other three just shook their heads as Spike laid out lunch for everyone, before Twilight turned to the white unicorn, “Oh, Rarity, Fluttershy has agreed to come out with us for Nightmare Night!”

“She has, why that’s fabulous!” Rarity clapped her hooves eagerly, “I can’t wait to see what everypony dresses up as!”

“How can you girls get so worked up over a kids’ holiday?” wondered Sunset as she lifted her sandwich in a red aura, “Heh, telekinesis, gotta say, I see why you girls like it so much, this is fun.”

“Nightmare Night is for everypony, Sunset, not just the foals,” Twilight protested, even as she gave the razorfilly an approving smile for her improved magical control.

The fashionista nodded, “Indeed, Nightmare Night is a beloved tradition where, for one night, even the Princesses can embrace the carefree joys of foalhood,” she encouraged her friend, “You really should join us, Sunset, dressing up, games, a few harmless scares, it will be fun.”

Sunset looked at her three friends, their eyes brimming with hope and enthusiasm, and sighed, “Fine, I’ll join you, maybe I can throw something together.”

“You’ll do no such thing!” declared Rarity adamantly, “‘Throw something together’, really now!” she tapped her chin as she looked the orange unicorn over, “Hmm … yes! A police pony! It’ll be perfect!”

“A cop? Me?!” Sunset stared at the blue-haired mare, before sighing in defeat “I’m not going to win this one, am I? Can I at least be a sexy cop?”

Spluttered coughing, as Spike choked on his sandwich and Twilight pounded the young dragon between the shoulders while she glared at Sunset, filled the kitchen for a minute before Spike finally croaked out, “I’m okay.”

“Sorry there, Spike,” the razorfilly apologized sheepishly, “Sometimes I forget how innocent you are.”

“Hmp,” Rarity sniffed, “Well, darlings, I need to get back to Carousel Boutique, thank you for lunch, Spike dear, and I’ll see you all Thursday night,” as she headed for the door, the fashionista paused to look back, “Oh, Sunset, I’ll see you on Thursday afternoon to get your costume fitted, ta-ta, darlings.”

The two ponies began to clear the table as Spike headed off to enjoy his free afternoon, however, once the young drake was gone, Twilight put a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder, “Is everything alright, Sunset? The fillies and I have been a little worried about how well you’re adjusting to Equestria.”

Sunset cocked an eyebrow at the Princess of Friendship, before giving her a small smile, “Yeah, Sparky, I’m adapting, even if I have pulled a few gumbys, but hey, I haven’t fragged anything up to badly, huh?” she reached up and squeezed the alicorn’s hoof, “Don’t worry, I know you and the girls have my back, just like I have yours’, whatever your cutesy, magic world throws at us, we’ll get thought it. Together.”

Twilight returned the smile and nodded, “Together.”

Author's Note

Thank you for reading, everyone.

2.0 … In Which Rarity Is Distraught Over The Bathing Arrangements …

The six girls sat awkwardly on the plank benches in the back of a van, as the man who had introduced himself with the bizarre name of “Johnny Retro” drove them through the dark city, trailing along behind Sunset’s motorcycle.

“So, Twi’,” Applejack said in a hushed voice, “Since Ah’m thinkin’ that this ain’t tha world ya wanted us ta visit, do ya have any ideas about us goin’ home?”

“Until I have a better understanding of how magic works in this world, or if we even have our magic, I’d be operating purely on guesswork,” Twilight whispered back to the farmpony, “We’ll just have to try and not attract any attention to ourselves while I do some research.”

“At least we have a place to stay,” Rarity pointed out, “Even if Sunset Shimmer isn’t being particularly gracious about it.”

“Yeah, she’s acting like a real grumpy-Gus,” Pinkie added as she bounced idly on the bench, “Hasn’t anypony told her that that’s no way to make new friends?”

“But we aren’t her friends, at least, not yet,” Fluttershy murmured, “To Sunset, we’re just six mares that she is suddenly responsible for, I-I might feel a little put-upon too, if it happened to me.”

“So we play it cool and try to make nice with Sunset Shimmer while Twilight figures out how to get us home,” Rainbow proclaimed with an indifferent shrug, “What I want to know is what’s so dangerous around here that Sunset has to keep a weird-looking crossbow on her, whatdidya call it, motorcycle, and have a second weapon on her too?”

“It’s a rifle, Rainbow, not a crossbow,” Twilight patiently informed the athlete, “And Sunset is carrying a pistol, a smaller, less dangerous weapon that is mainly intended for personal defense,” she frowned, “Actually, I’m pretty sure that Mister Retro is carrying a pistol as well.”

The girls exchanged troubled looks as the van turned to follow Sunset into a dark parking structure and up three ramps to stop alongside where the flame-haired girl had parked, “Here’s your stop girls,” Johnny said, as he slipped around the van to open the sliding door, “Mind what Sunset says, but don't let her run roughshod over you. Sunset has trouble dealing with people, but she's damn loyal if you can get on her good side.” Getting back in and closing the door, he waved to Sunset as she approached, “The Doc will be in touch,” he added, before driving away and leaving them to the mercies of their rather unenthusiastic caretaker.

Sunset looked them over with a sour expression as she adjusted the rifle slung over her shoulder, “Well, let's get this train-wreck over with, come on.” Leading the group over to a door, she punched a code into the adjacent keypad, “Welcome to the Royale Apartments,” she added sardonically.

A hallway led past a set of twelve doors (six on each side) to end at an elevator. Leading the girls halfway down the hall, Sunset stopped to punch more numbers into a keypad before opening a door and waving them through into a room with a hallway branching off from one side.

As the Equestrians started to spread out into the room, Sunset shot a pair of deadbolts home on the closed door and then coughed loudly to get their attention, “Well … this is my place, I need to get changed, so you all can grab a seat. The bathroom is the first door down the hall, and there ought to be some drinks in the fridge.”

Twilight and the others scattered around what was apparently a combination living room and kitchen. Fluttershy and Pinkie started poking around with the appliances that folded out of the kitchen wall, while Rarity and Applejack contented themselves with merely taking seats on the battered coach. Twilight inspected the small collection of what she assumed were entertainment media on a shelf under the wall-mounted television, until she stumbled across Beauty and her Beasts V, after which she retreated to a chair to try to control her furious blushing.

Rainbow had found the refrigerator and immediately began rooting around inside, “Wow, she sure has a lot of bottled water. Let's see … 'Fizzypop' … 'Soymilk' … 'Brain-Burn Cola' … 'Synth-Orange' … Oh, this looks good, 'Tío Miguel's Old Fashioned Hard Cider'!”

“No, Rainbow,” Rarity declared firmly.

“But, the cider!” Rainbow protested, “And Sunset said we could have drinks!”

“Ah'm with Rares on this one, RD,” Applejack agreed with the fashionista, “Jus’ because Sunset gave us access ta her fridge don’t mean we should be raidin’ her liquor none.”

As Rainbow pouted, Sunset finally returned, having swapped out her biker leathers for a ratty set of pajama bottoms and a tank top, with a pillow and some blankets in her arms, “Okay, so it looks like you already found the NutriSoy dispenser. The cabinet below it is full of MREs, and there's whatever is in the freezer. The drawer on the left has soy sauce and hot sauce packets if you want to spice things up some. As for bathing, I've been gone for most of the week, so the water ration should have enough left for three showers.”

“So only three of us can have a shower tonight?” Rarity asked, clearly hoping she had misheard the older girl.

“Tonight? I mean three showers total for the whole week!” Sunset began laughing as the fashionista recoiled in horror, “You could fit two of you in the stall, I guess, if you're real friendly,” the flame-haired girl smirked at her guests for a moment before continuing, “There's more bottled water and alcohol-wipes under the sink for the rest of us.”

“Anyway, some of my clothes might fit you, and you got my bed, the coach and easy chairs, and my sleeping bag for sacking out, I left the spare pillows and sheets on the bed.”

“Wait jus’ one danged second, if we have yer bed where are ya goin’ ta sleep?”

“On the floor, of course.”

Applejack opened her mouth to protests, but reluctantly relented when Rarity put a hand on her arm and shook her head at the blonde girl, “Thank you, Miss Sunset, for your hospitality,” she said as graciously as she could manage after her recent shock, before looking at her friends and nodding towards the bedroom, “Fillies? I think we should prepare for bed ourselves ….”

The six friends made their way into the small bedroom, where a still fuming Applejack vented her ire as soon as the door was closed, “It ain’t right, Sunset shouldn't be sleepin’ on tha floor in her own home!”

Rarity sighed as she put an understanding hand on the irate farmpony's shoulder, “And what would you do, Applejack darling, if you had more guests than beds at Sweet Apple Acres?”

“Why me or Big Mac would give one of ‘em our bed … Oh.”

“Doctor Razor and Mister Retro did say that Sunset was a good pony,” Fluttershy reminded them, “She just seems kinda bad at showing it.”

“Oh, oh! I know, we can give Sunny friendship lessons while we're here!” Pinkie chirped happily as she bounced on the bed.

Twilight exchanged amused looks and rolled eyes with her other friends, “Maybe we will, Pinkie, maybe we will.”

________________________________________

Twilight rubbed at her eyes as she sat up in the sleeping bag, the muted sounds of her friends' conversations leaking through the closed door of the bedroom, blearily throwing on some clothes, she shuffled towards the kitchen in search of liquid stimulants.

“Morning, Twi-Twi!” Pinkie greeted her from where she sat on the floor, eyes glued to something on the television.

“Coffee ….”

“Right this way, darling,” Rarity assured Twilight as she got up to guide her friend's stumbling steps over to the small kitchen table, “Here, drinks this 'Soykaf' while Fluttershy and Applejack are finishing cooking breakfast.”

“We're just re-heating precooked servings,” Fluttershy disagreed with a small frown of disappointment, “I'm not sure Sunset could do any real cooking with these appliances.”

“What would she cook?” Applejack added in disgust, “Look at this stuff, 'AlmostEgg', 'BacoSoy' an’ that 'Synth-Orange' instead of actual juice, it's like these poor ponies have heard of real food, but never seen it.”

“Where is Sunset, anyway?” Twilight glanced around for their host as she sipped from her mug.

“Gone,” Applejack answered with a shrug, “She left while most of us were still sawin’ logs, an' told me that we was ta 'stay out of trouble'.”

Twilight nodded, absently wrapping the plates in Fluttershy's hands in a steadying magenta aura as she finished her soykaf, “ … What?”

“Darling, you have your magic!” Rarity exclaimed, as Pinkie, Fluttershy and Applejack cheered.

Grinning excitedly, Twilight levitated the still sleeping Rainbow, chair and all, several feet into the air before gently returning her to the floor, and then teleported into the bedroom and back to the table in a pair of magenta flashes.

Having watched Twilight's little display, Rarity took a moment to concentrate, and a pale blue aura filled the room as tossed aside bedding and discarded clothing levitated over to pile in the unoccupied easy chair. With a short, satisfied nod, Rarity leaned back in her seat, “So, what shall we do today, fillies?”

“Actually, I was thinking we could go out and have a look around?” Twilight suggested, “Possibly learn a little about this 'metroplex' we're in?”

Fluttershy frowned slightly, “But didn't Sunset say not to get into trouble?” she protested quietly.

“We won't get into any trouble,” the librarian assured her timid friend, “We won't go very far, and Rarity and I have our magic just in case anything does happen. I know it will be a little scary, but we do need information so I can get us home, and this will give all of you a chance to experience life as a human,” her four friends eventually nodded, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, “Great!”

“Pinkie, darling, would you be a dear and wake up Rainbow Dash's lazy bones so we can all eat breakfast?”

“Okey-dokey-lokey!”

________________________________________

Dressed in a dark skirt suit under a reinforced military greatcoat, the raven-haired woman presented an unusual, if intimidating, appearance as she went through a series of image files and notes on her PDA, “Is this everything?” she asked, her Russian accent clear as she glanced up to where Sunset stood waiting patiently across the desk.

“Yes, Ma'am,” Sunset nodded, “I wasn't able to get into the offices or main condoplex, but I did manage to get limited access to the staff area for a while, and I got a good close-up of some of the maglocks into the public areas.” The razorgirl resisted the urge to shuffle her feet nervously, she would not act anything but the complete professional in front of Mercy, “Ma’am? If I may ask … why did you choose me for this job, brush-ups really aren't my specialty ….”

“So vhy did I send you instead of bloodhound?” the older woman's lips quirked in a faint smile, “Because sometimes I vant volfhound's perspective, da?” Sliding a data-chip out of the mini-computer and pocketing it, Mercy pulled out a pair of credsticks and tossed them to Sunset, “Your pay for Adriaansen reconnaissance, and bonus for Cihuateteo Labs job last veek, client vas very happy vith additional files and samples that you brought back.”

“You are showing lot of potential, Sunset, keep up good vork,” Mercy added, waving the younger girl out as she turned her attention back to her PDA.

“Thank you, Ma'am,” Sunset slipped out and closed the door, before leaning against the wall, hoping that the DJ Pon-3 song the club's staff was currently playing would cover her muffled squeal, 'Mercy thinks I'm showing potential! She thinks I'm doing good work! Yes, yes, yes!' eventually she got herself under control, and Sunset headed down the back stairs, bouncing along to the song, 'Maybe I could grab some breakfast for those girls ….'

________________________________________

Her hands full of bags of breakfast sandwiches and hash brown patties from You Shouldn’t Eat So Much, Sunset kneed the door of her apartment open, “Hey, corp-girls, I brought food!” When her proclamation failed to draw a response, Sunset dropped the bags on the kitchen table and looked around, ‘Pillows and blankets are folded and stacked on the chair … dishwasher is running ... no sign of a fight or esper activity … front door was still locked …’ “Oh, those fragging idiots!”

Spinning around, Sunset rushed out the door only to nearly run over her neighbor, “Mrs. Diaz, sorry! Did you see a pack of teenage girls leave my place?”

“Sí, I saw them when Isabela and Ximena left for school. They said they were going out to have a look around,” the older woman smiled as she patted Sunset’s shoulder, “It’s good to see you making amigas, Aurora, you are alone too much for such a pretty young lady.”

“What, friends, yes,” the flame-haired girl replied distractedly, “Thanks, Mrs. Diaz, I really should go and find them.” Excusing herself, Sunset almost ran back to the parking garage, ‘It’s only been about thirty-minutes and they’re on foot, they can’t have gotten into too much trouble … Oh Lord, let me find them before they get really hurt,’ she prayed desperately as she kicked in her synaptic accelerators and stretched her legs out into a flat run for her bike.

7.0 … Doing Favors, Gang Violence And Mexican Cuisine …

It was a dark and stormy night, and there we were, waiting eagerly as random lightning flashes illuminated the insides of Potts’ Grocer, as we watched for whoever it was that kept sneaking past their security and making off with the Hyper Krunch Cherry Crazie Sweeteez, what would we find, gangers with a sweet tooth? An esper with a Splenda addiction? Experimental cyborgs that needed the energy from the Sweeteez to supplement their power cores? Only the Princesses knew, but whoever it was, the Spectacular Seven would be ready for ‘em!

“Really, Rainbow, there’s no need to be so dramatic,” Rarity shook her head at the athlete while their friends chuckled, and several of them raised their eyebrows at Rarity of all people accusing someone of being overly theatrical, “Honestly, darling,” the fashionista continued, turning to face the PDA on the table, “It was a simple investigative and security case. Shadow Spade has done dozens of them in her books, even if ‘The Case of the Pilfered Sweeteez’ does lack a certain dramatic flair.” She threw a mildly annoyed sniff at Rainbow, “And it wasn’t even raining particularly hard, either.”

*How did you girls end up getting roped into this job, anyway?* asked Cheshire.

“Mister Potts was havin’ problems, so we offered ta help out some,” Applejack explained with a shrug, “It was jus’ tha neighborly thing ta do.”

*Being “neighborly” doesn’t normally involve a seven-man crew,* observed the netrunner, *Never mind that you actually talked Sunset, of all people, into helping out on such a low-pay, goodwill type job … how did you manage that, anyway? Inquiring minds what to know.*

Twilight and the other Equestrians (excepting Pinkie who was currently off babysitting for Mrs. Diaz while she pulled a double-shift) laughed lightly from their places scattered around the living room of their shared apartment, while Sunset fidgeted in her chair.

“I just asked politely,” murmured Fluttershy, a small blush darkening her cheeks.

“Yeah, ‘asked politely’,” snorted the razorgirl, “While looking at me with these huge, pleading, blue eyes. I swear, Cheshire, I felt like I’d just kicked a puppy for even thinking about saying no,” Sunset frowned faintly at Rainbow, “And since when are we the ‘Spectacular Seven’?”

“Well, I wanted to call us the ‘Power Ponies’,” the polychromatic-haired girl replied with a slight pout, eliciting reminiscing grins from the other Equestrians, “But nopony besides the fillies would get the reference.”

“It’s a long story, darlings,” explained Rarity, her voice tinkling with laughter, as she noticed Sunset’s confusion, “We’ll tell you another time. Now, where were we?”

It had only been two hours since the grocery had closed and the Potts had retreated to their apartment above the store, but it felt far longer to the seven young women who waited, with varying degrees of patience, in the darkened aisles, their flashlights turned off so as to not advertise their presence to any observers.

“Sooo bored!” Rainbow groaned quietly into her radio from her spot near the radiation treated fruits and vegetables, “Is something ever going to happen? We’ve been here for forever!”

*Aw, come on, Dashie, it’s just like waiting for a surprise party!* Pinkie transmitted from her own position, *Only instead of a friend, we’ll be surprising those meanie-pants who keep stealing from the Potts.*

*Ah know we’re all gettin’ a mite skittish from waitin’, but hows about we cut down on tha chatter some?*

*Fillies?* broke in Twilight, interrupting Pinkie’s and Rainbow’s apologies, *I’ve got somepony running down the street and trying all the doors. She looks pretty desperate.*

The other six girls quickly moved to join Twilight as she peered out the darkened window.

“She’s wearing Barons colors …,” Rarity murmured as she watched the approaching figure.

“But this is Barons’ territory,” objected Rainbow in confusion, “Why would one of them be running scared on their own turf?”

The ganger, who looked to be barely in her teens, had reached the Grocery while the girls talked and began to desperately pound her fists on the armored glass door, “Please open up, they’re coming!” she begged the shadowed figures she could make out inside, “Just hide me, please!”

While the young ganger was pleading, six new figures, their own gang colors barely visible in the dark and distance, turned onto the street, and immediately rushed for the girl with cries of vicious glee.

Twilight quickly yanked the door open and the seven women piled out to confront the newcomers, although Sunset shook her head in exasperation, and Applejack gently pulled the frightened ganger behind them to stand alongside a nervous, if determined, Fluttershy.

Seeing their prey suddenly reinforced, the gangers slowed, but didn’t halt, their advance, with several of them drawing pistols and one popping a set of forearm talons, while the freelancers readied their own weapons.

*Wait, wait,* Cheshire interrupted, *It doesn’t sound like Twilight and Rarity were making with the telekinetic mojo yet, but you still outnumbered them and had bigger guns, and these gangers kept advancing on you? Were they bakebrains, or just that bloodthirsty?*

“Well it turns out that they were all Crucifixers,” Twilight explained, “So their mental stability was rather questionable to begin with.”

“An’ we … didn’t really bring our rifles with us,” Applejack admitted sheepishly, “This was jus’ supposed ta be a quite look-and-see job, weren’t no call for tha heavy firepower, after all.”

“Which means the only long gun was Pinkie’s shotgun, and Dash’s Berretta M-24 was all we had for rapid-fire,” Sunset added, “That left us with mostly pistols against pistols, and only a small numerical advantage … Considering how desperate the Crucifixers turned out to be, it’s no surprise that they thought they had to take us.”

*So, what was the deal, then?*

“Well, from what Jinx, the Baron’s filly, told us later, the Crucifixers were on a … forced recruitment drive,” murmured Fluttershy as she gave a small shudder, “Apparently, after Sunset … killed … their esper and that other stallion, a lot of the neighboring gangs had been trying to drive them out of the district.”

Twilight nodded as she picked up the shy girl’s explanation, “This was evidently their last chance to bring in fresh blood and prove that the Crucifixers were still a power in the district before they were all forced out or killed by the other gangs.”

Lights flared across the darkened street as Twilight threw up a telekinetic wall to separate them from the gangers, while Rarity wrapped herself in a protective sheathe. Unfortunately, the ganger with the talon’s enhanced reflexes were boosted enough to let her leap past Twilight’s forming wall, and she charged straight for the dark-skinned girl, her talons raised, only to be intercepted bodily by Sunset, the impact knocking them both to the ground.

Rainbow and Applejack were quick to open up on the ganger as she attempted to rise, with the heavy boom of Pinkie’s shotgun joining in moments later, and the ganger was swiftly driven into oblivion in a hail of rubber bullets.

Sunset tossed the three girls a brief smile as she rolled to her feet, “Hey, I know this slitch,” the razorgirl exclaimed as her gaze dropped to the unconscious ganger, “She’s one of the Crucifixer’s heavy hitters!” Sunset frowned over at the remaining gangers, their Crucifixer colors now clearly visible in the glow from Twilight’s barrier, who were futilely blasting away at the telekinetic shield keeping them from their prey, “I don’t think they’re going to give up.”

“They do seem rather fixated,” Twilight concurred, “I don’t suppose we’ll be able to settle this peacefully?” she added hopefully.

“I rather doubt it, darling,” Rarity observed as she looked over her friends, “So … concentrate our fire on one or two at a time, while Twilight and I use our barriers to ward off the others’ shots?”

“Should work,” Sunset agreed, “Especially with how spread out they are, girls?”

“Sounds good to me,” Rainbow said enthusiastically as the others nodded, “I’ve been itching to have another go at these Crucifixer nags.”

“On three then,” instructed Twilight with a sigh, “One … two … three!”

The Crucifixers gave out triumphant shouts and eagerly surged forward as Twilight’s barrier faded away, only for their cries to change to surprised anger as the wall reformed, splitting the group while Rarity raised a bulwark of her own for the girls to shelter behind, from which they quickly directed their fire at the two gangers that had been caught within Twilight’s shield.

Even as the pair of Crucifixers went down under a barrage of bullets, both rubber and lead (as well as a few tranquilizer darts), their three cohorts continued to fire on the wall, their furious swearing echoing through the street alongside the gunfire.

“Damn, these guys are some stubborn fraggers,” swore Sunset in exasperation, “Hey, kid! What the hell did you do to piss them off so bad anyway?”

“I didn’t do anything to them! And my name is Jinx!”

“That I believe!” the razorgirl retorted as she ducked down to reload, “Okay girls, one more good push and I think we’ll have ‘em.”

This time, when Twilight’s glowing magenta field dropped, only one ganger attempted to rush the eight girls as they crouched in the shelter of Rarity’s rampart, and he was quick to fall before the combined might of the librarian’s stun bolts and the fashionista’s carefully aimed gunshots.

The last two Crucifixers had finally had enough, they broke and ran back the way that they had come, leaving the seven freelancers, and the girl they had championed, in possession of the street as the echoes of the gunfire faded, to be swallowed up by the sound of the rain.

“I’m home!” caroled Pinkie from the door as she walked in, her arms filled with foil-covered pans, “What have you fillies been up to?”

“We was jus’ tellin’ Cheshire about tha job we did for tha Potts,” Applejack informed the party girl, “What ya got there, anyway?”

“Mrs. Diaz made us all dinner as a ‘thank you’ for all the help we’ve been giving her with her daughters,” Pinkie grinned, “Let’s eat!”

“Umm, it’s not quesadillas, is it?” asked Twilight apprehensively, her sudden alarm drawing another confused look from Sunset.

“Nope, chimichangas!”

The razorgirl leaned over to Rarity as a relived Twilight went to help Pinkie lay out their meal, “So, what’s with Sparky and quesadillas?”

“Some foalhood trauma apparently,” the fashionista replied quietly, “We try not to make an issue of it.”

*Well, I’ll leave you girls to your dinner, then,* Cheshire broke in as the seven teenagers settled down for their meal, *But I’ve got to ask, did you ever find out who was stealing the grocery’s Sweeteez?*

“Oh, that!” giggled Pinkie as she poured pepper sauce over her chimichanga, “It turned out that Mrs. Potts had put Mister Potts on a diet and he’d been sleepwalking!”