Equestria Girls: Los Santos

The next morning, Aria woke me up at around 8. I ate a light breakfast, then followed Aria into the planning room. Lester was waiting for us. As we walked in the door, he looked over.

“Ah,” he said. “Your, uh, your first time.”

“His, first time,” Aria reminded. “I've been at this for a while.”

“Right,” Lester nodded. “Anyway. First time for Braveheart. Fleeca. It's a two person score, right? One of you drives, keeps the heat off of you. The other goes into the bank, goes to the specific safety deposit box, and then you get out of there. You get that fast armored car, and you get the hell out of that place. Then once you're clean, once you've got no heat on you, come see me, give me the box, and you get paid. Got it?”

“Darn right, I do,” Aria said.

“Guess so,” I shrugged.

“Well, good luck,” Lester said as he walked out the door. As it shut behind him, I turned to Aria at the whiteboard.

“This is it, Braveheart,” Aria said, writing on the board. “Your first heist. Don't expect a lot of cash though. A safety deposit box there can only hold so much. It isn't the Union Depository, holding millions of dollars worth of gold.” I gave Aria a shocked and stern look.

“Is that where you got all your money from?” I accused. Aria froze in place. She didn't say a word, and we were both silent. Aria returned the cap to her black dry erase marker and set it down. I tapped my foot twice. Aria took a deep breath and turned around, a pleading look in her eye.

“What will it take for you to not tell Adagio?” she asked seriously.

“I'm not sure if anything will,” I retorted. “Aria, gold is worth a ton of money, and you robbed the biggest bank in Los Santos?! How much was the score worth?!” Aria hesitated to answer.

“25 million per person,” she quietly said. “There were four of us and Lester.”

“Who were you with?” I asked.

“A guy named Michael, another named Trevor, and a third named Franklin,” Aria listed. “We snuck inside, took the money, and got away. Then Lester gave us all our shares.” I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“I can not put my feelings into words,” I muttered.

“Please,” Aria begged. “Isn't there something I can do to have you not tell Adagio?” I sighed heavily. My conscious told me to inform Dagi, tell her of her sister's actions. But that little voice in the back of my head said otherwise. Against my better judgment, I decided to listen to the voice in the back.

“I won't tell if I get all of the money from this score,” I said. “As in a 100 percent cut.”

“Fine,” Aria quickly agreed. “You can have the money. Just do not tell Adagio.”

“Sure,” I said. “We doing this or what?” Aria nodded.

“Let's go,” she said. We walked out of the planning room. Adagio, Rusty, and Sonata were sitting on the couch, scrolling through TV channels. They clearly couldn't find something interesting to watch.

“Fucking hell,” Adagio quietly cursed. She tossed the remote onto the coffee table, muttering under her breath.

“You OK, Dagi?” I asked.

“Nothing good on,” she said.

“I'm sorry,” I shrugged. I kissed Adagio on the cheek. She looked at me with a smile.

“We'll be back,” I told her. Adagio nodded, and I left the apartment with Aria. The Karuma was waiting for us outside. We climbed in, Aria driving and myself in the passenger seat. As Aria got on her way, Lester's voice came up on the headsets we were wearing.

“Driller, I'm sending you that hacking program,” he said to me. “You need to get on it and start breaking into their system. You need to establish a connection before you get to the bank.” I opened up my phone, and sure enough, the app was waiting to be opened. I started up the program and began to hack the network. I was really good at those Snake games when I was a little younger, so the circuits were not hard at all. They were all done in no time. Lester came on the radio again.

“All right,” he said. “I'm going to talk you through it one last time. We've given you pump action shotguns to take in. They should look intimidating enough. You both go in, you go in hard. There are four security cameras in the foyer. Driver, take them out as soon as you're in the door, then you're on crowd control. Driller, when you're in the network, you'll be able to open the vault door on your phone. Go back to the safety deposit room and start drilling.” Aria pulled up to the bank.

“Sounds good,” I said. “I'm in their network, opening the vault door now.” I watched from the security camera as the vault door crank spun, and the heavy door opened.

“Vault is open Lester,” Aria said.

“All right, here we go,” Lester replied. “Put on a mask if you haven't already and get inside.” Aria slipped on an ugly grey ogre mask with pointy ears, and I wrapped some yellow police tape over my face, tying it in the back. I turned to Aria and nodded, and we got out of the car. Aria stormed inside, blasting her shotgun at the cameras. They were all down within seconds. I followed her inside once she finished her destruction. She pointed her shotgun at the civilians inside.

“Nobody fucking move!” she cried. “Everyone down on the floor now! Move a muscle and I'll blow your fucking head off!” The civilians quickly cooperated, shaking in fear. I ran to the safety deposit room and pulled out the drill from my bag. I found the right box and put the bit of the drill in the hole. Starting up the drill, I bore my way through each lock. They snapped as I cut through each one, sparks flying from the metal. I broke the last lock, and the safe slid open. I grabbed the metal box and slid it into my bag. I ran back to Aria.

“I've got it!” I said. “Let's go!” As I spoke to Aria, the bank teller hit the alarm.

“You asshole!” Aria stormed.

“Save it!” I cried, running to the car. “Come on! We've got to go.” Aria ran back to the Karuma with me, getting in. She floored the gas pedal as I heard sirens behind us.

“Go, go, go!” Lester cried. “You didn't come this far to end up in the back of a squad car.”

“Oh, no shit!” Aria cried. “The gas is floored, but I don't know if we can escape. Not on this open road. You better have us a way out of this, Lester.”

“I've got my getaway guy waiting for you on Zancudo Bridge,” Lester informed. “He's got a plan for the cops if you can just get there.”

“Oh, we'll get there,” Aria said, grinning. The road was completely empty until we came up on a police roadblock.

“Aria...” I said.

“Braveheart, hold on to your shit!” Aria ordered. She did not slow down, and barreled through the roadblock, sending the cop cars skidding away. I lurched forward on the impact. We broke through two more roadblocks before coming up on Zancudo Bridge. An unfamiliar voice came up on the radio.

“Hey, come in,” the voice said. “This is your getaway guy. Lester tells me you're inbound.”

“Damn right we are,” Aria said. I looked to see a cargobob flying overhead with an electromagnet attached to the bottom where the hook would be.

“Smart,” I commented. Aria drove underneath the cargobob, and the Karuma rose up, latching onto the magnet.

“We have liftoff,” the getaway guy said. “Let's go!” The cargobob rose into the air, taking the Karuma and us with it. The cops were left behind on the bridge. In the Karuma, Aria was rapidly pumping her fists, happy we completed the job. I was unwrapping the police tape from my face.

“Nice work in there newbie,” Aria congratulated me. “That's your first heist, completed without a scratch.”

“Thanks,” I said, unwrapping the last of the tape. “I think that getaway could not have gone smoother.” We relaxed in the car as the cargobob carried us away. It took us to the garment factory, where it released the magnet and let us drop onto the road. We got out of the car as Lester came out of the factory.

“Show it to me,” he said. I gave him the deposit box.

“One safety deposit box, as promised,” I said.

“Oh yes, it is holiday season at the Crest residence,” Lester said. “And daddy's out drinking.” He turned to us. “I gotta say,” he said. “You passed. And if something else comes up I'll call you. And in the meantime, if anyone comes to me, I'll mention you as a reliable pair of hands. For a first time, Braveheart, that wasn't so bad, but don't get clingy.” Lester walked back into the garment factory to put the cash into my account. Aria led me to her waiting Zentorno.

“Come on,” she said. “We're going to get something to drink to celebrate.”

“Hope it's none of that Pisswasser shit,” I muttered. I got into her car, and we drove back to her apartment.

As we walked in the door, Adagio was waiting for us with a disapproving look on her face, mostly directed at Aria. I had a bit of an idea why, but I wasn't sure.

“Aria, Braveheart, I need to talk to you two,” Adagio said.

“About what?” Aria asked.

“You will find out soon enough,” Adagio said. “Come with me.” Aria and I gave each other a worried look and followed Adagio downstairs. When we reached the bedroom, Adagio locked the door and stood in front of it.

“Explain yourself, Aria,” she said.

“Explain what?” Aria asked. “What did I do?”

“I heard your entire conversation in that room upstairs,” Adagio said. “About robbing the Union Depository and all that.” Aria's eyes went wide. I looked to the floor, wanting to ignore the worst. “And then you go and commit another heist with Braveheart,” Adagio continued. I closed my eyes. “Aria, this is unacceptable.”

“Oh come on, Adagio,” Aria said. “It's not that big of a deal. I wasn't caught, I'm not in prison, and that's what matters.” I opened my eyes, still looking at the floor. I suddenly heard a very loud smack next to my ear, making me flinch. Shortly after which I heard Aria groan in pain. I saw Adagio's feet come up in front of me. I looked up at her. Adagio's face was one of disappointment for me. She kept that sad look for a moment, then walked back upstairs. I sighed. Aria straightened up.

“I expected as much,” she mumbled, rubbing her sore cheek. “Well, what's done is done. Lester should put in your cash soon. You didn't tell her, she found out. You can keep it.”

“What's the point?” I asked. “She's not happy with me, and I can't stand that.”

“Please,” Aria scoffed. “She's never been happy with me, but you don't hear me complaining.” I gave Aria a hard glare, then walked out of the room to find Adagio.

As I walked up the stairs to the living room, I saw Adagio standing at the window, looking out of it. Rusty and Sonata were waiting for me at the top of the stairs. They walked up to me.

“She hasn't said a word,” Rusty quietly said. “I don't know what happened, but I think you need to talk to her.”

“I was about to say the same thing,” I agreed. As I started to walk over, Sonata grabbed my shoulder. I looked back.

“I wouldn't,” Sonata said. “When she's like this, it's usually best to avoid her.”

“I can't,” I said. “I have to talk to her.” Sonata nodded and walked downstairs with Rusty.

“We'll be downstairs,” she said as she left. I nodded and watched them leave. Aria came up the stairs. I glared at her.

“Make yourself useful and stay in the planing room,” I growled.

“I'm not taking orders...”

“Do it!” I quietly yelled. “Or so help me I will have you killed.” Aria gave me a dirty look, but she walked into the planning room, slamming the door behind her. I sighed and shook my head, calming down from my anger spurt. I turned around and walked over to Adagio. She was looking out over the nighttime lit Los Santos, a glass of wine in her right hand. Her left arm was wrapped around herself. I stepped beside her to her right, but kept a bit of distance.

“You OK, Adagio?” I asked. “You can tell me.” We were quiet for a moment.

“Why did you do it, Braveheart?” Adagio asked. “Why did you go with her on that bank robbery? You used to be against anything Aria ever did.”

“Adagio...” I started.

“And you never did anything wrong,” Adagio cut me off. “Ever. Not once did you get into a fight. You never stole, you didn't hurt anyone. And you didn't spend time with Aria either. Just Rusty and me.” I started to catch Adagio's drift.

“Dagi, are you implying I like Aria?” I asked, shocked and confused. “Because if that's so, that isn't true. I hate Aria with a fire in my blood.”

“Then why did you decide to join her?” Adagio asked.

“I...I don't know,” I sighed. “I was against it from the start, but I guess she kind of...talked me into it.”

“You helped her steal a safety deposit box,” Adagio fumed.

“Adagio, what is this about?” I asked, getting angry. “Is it about Aria, or is it about me?” I paused for a moment. “Or is this about you?” Adagio didn't say a word. I turned around and sat down on the couch facing the TV. I suddenly realized the tone of voice I had used.

“I...I'm sorry Adagio,” I apologized. “If you don't want to talk to me, I understand. You can be mad at me, ignore me, and I'll take it. I can take a hint when I know I'm not wanted.” Adagio and I were silent for a long while. After a time, Adagio walked over and put her glass on the coffee table. She sat close and wrapped her arms around herself. I didn't move. After a time, I heard her start to cry. I wrapped my arms around her and brought her close. Adagio sobbed as I held her, letting out her emotions.

“It'll be OK, Dagi,” I soothed. “It'll be OK. I still love you. I promise that won't change.”

“Stay with me,” Adagio managed through sobs.

“I will Adagio,” I assured. “I promise.” Adagio calmed down a bit.

“Do you really mean that?” she asked.

“Of course I do,” I responded. “I mean it from the bottom of my heart.” I felt Adagio nod, and she went quiet. As I started to doze off, I promised myself I would not do something else to make the love of my life cry again. Never again.