III
Worse than Death

Pinkie Pie was making a comeback, and it was her conscience that told her to do it above anyone else.

So she decided to try on her old black latex jumpsuit that she always used to wear when she was a hired Merc. Sure, it strained a little under her new shape, but other than that it was a decent fit. She also retrieved her night vision goggles and placed it on the top of her head. Unlike earlier that day, her hair was back combed and was all over the place, just the way she liked it. She put on her heavy duty steel-tip boots, grabbed her satchel filled with all little bits and pieces, and she sat and waited in her kitchen.

A honking of a horn was heard, indicating Octavia has arrived to escort her. So Pinkie bounced out the door and into the car, buzzing all the while.

‘You’re looking happy, Pinkie.’ Octavia grinned as she saw the engineer shake with excitement, bouncing the entire car.

‘Oh yeah,’ Pinkie Pie beamed as she almost screamed out her response. ‘I realised how much I loved being with you guys, and all the wacky adventures we’d have!’

‘I wouldn’t say wacky…’ Octavia chuckled awkwardly.

‘Come on come on come on, Tavi, DRIVE!’ Pinkie Pie was rearing to go, so much so she wasn’t even sat in her seat properly, instead leaning forward onto the dashboard of the car in anticipation.

‘If you insist.’ Octavia still stayed calm despite Pinkie’s behaviour. She began to start driving, at a rather fast speed, towards the Harmony Head Quarters.

‘Will Celestia be there?’ Pinkie Pie asked in a giddy fashion.

‘Yes, Celestia asked you to be there personally.’ Octavia gave a warm grin as she focused on the road.

‘Will Twilight be there?’ Pinkie questioned in the exact same manner.

‘Mmhmm, she will.’

‘Will Gilda be there?’

‘You saw her this morning, Pinkimena?’ Octavia started to feel a little awkward but played along anyway.

‘Ohhhhh yeahhhhh, I did!’ Pinkie rolled her eyes and her head followed them, finishing by looking directly at the driver.

‘We also have some new members, like Scootaloo, who’s our primary drug dealer now.’

‘What happened to that Ditzy Doo girl?’ Pinkie asked with interest.

‘We had to let her go,’ Octavia said with negative connotations. ‘She wasn’t dealing out the Hearts as efficiently as we would’ve liked.’

‘Ohhhh, that makes sense.’ Pinkie chewed her fingernails as Octavia drove for what seemed like decades. She finally pulled up to the old derelict warehouse, and Pinkie jumped out of the car and practically wailed in excitement.

‘I can’t believe it, I’m home!’ Pinkie hopped on the spot, her eyes welling up with tears.

‘Well go on in, the doors open.’ Octavia patted her back, indicating for her to speed off and opened the front door in a frantic manner.

‘I’M BACK!’ Pinkie screamed, causing everyone in the room to stare at her in shock.

Gilda had told Celestia of the good news almost immediately as Octavia left to retrieve Pinkie Pie, so she called back the Elite members of Harmony for an impromptu meeting for when she arrived. They were all so surprised to see the Party Planner herself return in person.

‘Welcome back, Pinkie Pie.’ Celestia said with joy, coming up and hugging the ecstatic engineer. All the other members did their own sort of greetings. That was except for Scootaloo, who just stood there, not exactly sure what was going on.

‘Pinkie Pie, isn’t it?’ Scootaloo asked with a hint of uncertainty.

‘Yep, that’s me,’ Pinkie gripped Scootaloo into a deadly hug, with the small girls face planted between the engineer’s large bosom. ‘Pleased to meet ya Scoots!’

‘Pwuuuth tuf mmmmt mm tur!’ The Drug Dealer attempted to muster up.

After a solid thirty seconds of bear hugging, Pinkie let Scootaloo go, causing her to gasp straight for air.

‘So, what did you need me for, we doing some baking? I bake a nasty apple pie when I want to!’ Pinkie gave a serious glare to Celestia, who just chuckled.

‘Pinkie, I have some plans that I need you to review some plans I received,’ The Don of Harmony placed her large hands onto Pinkie’s shoulders as she explained. ‘Since you are the best engineer I know, I have complete faith you will make something of it.’

‘Ooooooh, you got me all excited now!’ Pinkie started to shake as she spoke in an incredibly high frequency.

‘Boss, shall I show Pinkie what we’re on about?’ Twilight interrupted, fixing her glasses.

‘Miss Sparkle, I am more than capable of showing Miss Pie what our grand scheme is.’ Celestia said with a hint of reluctance, before leading Pinkie into the conference room and slamming the door behind them.

All other eyes were fixated on Twilight.

‘Yo, so erm, what is all this about?’ Scootaloo had a lollipop in her mouth, which slightly prohibited some of the words she said.

‘Yeah Twi,’ Spike joined in. ‘You’ve not told any of us this.’

‘I’m sorry guys, but it’s highly confidential, and even then, I only know bits and pieces,’ Twilight sighed and looked to the floor. ‘I’m sure the Boss will tell you all in due time.’

The second in command left in a bit of a hurry into one of the side offices, and slammed the door after herself.

‘Jeez, what’s stuck up her ass today?’ Gilda asked with a nervous chuckle.

‘Ah, it’s just Twilight,’ Spike shrugged it off. ‘Stress always gets to her like usual.’

‘Hmm, yes,’ Octavia decided to speak up at long last. ‘Isn’t it great to have Pinkimena back though?’

There were a chorus of yes’s from all the elite members, bar Scootaloo who just shrugged.

‘She seems cool and all,’ Scootaloo bit onto her lollipop, which didn’t quite break it. ‘But I ain’t convinced that she’s the best engineer we’ve got.’

Spike chuckled as he began to walk after Twilight.

‘Well, don’t act too surprised when she shows us all up again!’ He spoke loudly so everyone could hear.

‘Don’t you have a shipment of Hearts to be dealing with, Scootaloo?’ Octavia folded her arms and raised a single eyebrow.

‘Oh shit, yeah,’ Scootaloo grabbed a small rucksack and placed it on her back, giving a little wink. ‘Don’t worry, I got this.’

Scootaloo ran out of the factory, and back into Tantabus territory to sell Crystal Hearts again. Surely if she survived once, she can survive again, she thought.

‘What the hell?!’ Rarity exclaimed to her Boss. She never usually would contest with him, but this was too much.

‘Are you questioning my authority?’ Sombra grunted.

‘I’m not going out of my way to find out where she lives, just so you can play your silly little games with her!’

There was a chorus of laughter from everyone in the room, bar Rarity who was sticking to her guns here.

Since getting off of work and returning to base to retrieve these plans, Rarity instead has been forced into what she calls a ‘Hack and Track’. This means that she locates another person’s location by any means necessary, from social media to satellites and radio frequencies. The woman is acclaimed for it, but Sombra typically exploits her powers by finding goons from Harmony and Tantabus and torture them. This time it was no different, expect he had a much more notorious target to go after.

‘This gang is ruining our reputation. We need to show them we mean business.’ Sombra began squaring up to Rarity, who was significantly smaller than the brute.

‘No means no, Sombra!’ Rarity scolded. However the argument came to a swift end when there was a huge dark hand covering her neck and blocking her airways.

As Rarity could do nothing but attempt to gasp for air and failing to do so, Sombra pinned the engineer up against one of the concrete walls.

‘You’re seeming to forget where your place in this Gang is, Miss Rarity,’ Sombra spoke softly, in a way that almost seemed calm. ‘I am going to ask again, and if you answer in any way that isn’t a nod I will snap your FUCKING NECK!’

The sudden burst of anger from the leader of Chaos, which echoed throughout the chamber for several seconds, even made Discord and Starlight, who were watching in awe, wince.

‘Now Rarity, will you find the location of Sunset Shimmer?’ He seemed to have dropped his voice to a level as low as before, with a cunning twang to it.

With Rarity not being able to muster up any words, she nodded violently, and was let go from the grasp of her boss. Her face went from a purple that almost matched her hair, back to its usual pale shade in a couple of seconds.

‘Good,’ Sombra fixed his shirt cuffs before starting to walk off. ‘You have thirty five minutes.’

Sunset Shimmer had a pretty relaxing morning, after her girlfriend Rainbow Dash had taken off to do business for Tantabus, whatever that may be. She poured herself a coffee, and spent the next few hours watching whatever crappy reality show was on the air.

She started to wonder where Rainbow Dash was, and why she was taking so long to do business with Luna. Her train of thought was interrupted, suddenly, by the high, shrill, ringing of the doorbell outside, which startled Sunset. She walked up to the phone on the wall and picked it up very reluctantly.

‘I’m very sorry, but Rainbow Dash isn’t in at the moment, you’re gonna have to try again later on this evening.’ Sunset spoke very quickly to whoever was outside. But all she could hear was heavy breathing on the other side of the phone.

Sunset shuddered immensely at whoever this creep was.

‘Look, I’m sorry, sir, but she’s not in at the moment!’ Sunset Shimmer exclaimed.

Next thing she hears, both in static over the receiver, but clear as day downstairs, was the echoing sound of the door being kicked in.

Whoever was at that door wanted Sunset.

‘Shit.’

Sunset went into a full on panic attack as she heard the heavy, rhythmic footsteps grow stronger and louder as they neared her room. In a daze, she picked up one of the empty beer bottles in Rainbow Dash’s apartment and smashed it against the frame of her bed, creating a makeshift shank, of sorts.

The footsteps grew louder and louder, and Sunset grew more terrified, backing herself into a corner, tears streaming down her face. Usually she would be ready for an attack like this, but certainly not within the comforts of her own home. The footsteps then stopped suddenly as they reached outside of the apartment door. And with one swift kick, the flimsy door flew open.

Stood much higher than the door frame, was a very pale, blonde man, wearing a white tank top, black jeans, and steel capped boots. He was enormous, towering close to seven feet tall, and arm muscles the size of tree trunks. He walked towards Sunset like a monster.

‘Wait, you’re one of Chaos’s guys, right? Bulk Biceps isn’t it. I know all you guys, don’t worry, but do we need to strike a deal?’ Sunset shouted through fits of tears as she held the bottle out at arms length.

Bulk Biceps merely grunted as he reached out to grab his target. But Sunset lept and drived the bottle glass directly into his right arm, which was the size of her head, and drove it in as much as she could before her left arm was grabbed and dislocated out of its socket.

Sunset screamed as she fell to the floor in agony. As Bulk removed the bottle from his arm, it shattered, leaving little green glass shards stuck inside. This made him angry, and took out his anger on the fragile Sunset, who received two punches into the stomach, and a punch in the face, which knocked her out completely.

Pulling out a cellphone that was too big for Biceps’ paws to maneuver, he rang Sombra.

‘It’s done.’

‘Excellent, be seeing you soon.’

Bulk Biceps then hung up, grabbing the unconscious body of the assassin, and slung it over his shoulder like a rag doll. He then swiftly exited the building, towards the nearest manhole cover he could find.

Rainbow Dash and Luna ended up parking outside of the base of Tantabus in order to divert from the police. The base of this gang was very remote and actually on the outskirts of Canterlot. It was this old somewhat medieval castle, that has been partially destroyed over centuries of wear and tear. It had made a very homely environment for Luna, however, as she disbanded from Celestia those many years ago.

They made their way into what only could’ve been the dining room, which had now been decked out into a gangs hideaway. Weapons were hung up in neat sectors around the room, and many illegal substances, from cocaine to some sort of legal highs, lay on the table where kings and queens used to feast.

However, at the centrepiece of it all, was Zekora and her epic menagerie of television screens. On said screens were live security feeds, which fed into buildings all around Canterlot. In the centre was the Sisterhooves Social Club, which was now swarming with police.

Zekora was easily the greatest hacker in Equestria. None could top her efficiency and dedication, being able to shut down security feeds, dismantle cars, blow up ATMs, screw up traffic lights amongst so much more, only needing to be sat in front of her little base in the castle to do so. She wore a beanie, which covered most of her mohawk, along with combat trousers and trainers. Her brand of the moon was clearly visible under her crop top, being placed on the left of her ribs.

‘That was an excellent job, Luna and Rainbow Dash!’ She went up and shook both their hands, smiling all the while. ‘Now where are we going to put this cash?’

‘There’s a vault over there,’ Luna pointed to the farmost corner of the massive room. ‘I suggest saving it. We never know when we may need it.’

‘I need to head off you guys, Sunset will be waiting for me, no doubt.’ Dash checked the clock on her phone and swiftly turned to the door.

‘Well done Rainbow Dash,’ Luna congratulated. ‘I hope you see just as well as I why you’re my right hand man.’

‘Pfft yeah, don’t sweat it!’ Dash smiled and turned again.

‘Oh wait,’ Luna ran to the bag and pulled out an huge wad of cash, handing it to her gracefully. ‘How could I forget?’

‘Wait, this much?’ Said Rainbow Dash, perplexed, there must have been thousands of bits here.

‘Of course, you deserve it.’ Luna bowed, and turned to Zekora, who started to talk plans about the next heist, no doubt. Rainbow left confidently, got into her car, and sped off into mainland Canterlot.

‘You could’ve at least had the decency to drug her, instead of just relying on your damn brute force again.’

‘Quiet, Miss Rarity, she’s awaking.’

Sunset Shimmer awoke to the smell of shit, piss and all sorts of other bodily fluids, she was sat in a dark chamber, bound to a chair and gagged with a piece of duct tape, completely surrounded by the elite members of Chaos. Sombra and Rarity were stood together, easily the closest towards her. Starlight Glimmer was chuckling behind them, and Discord was sipping tea behind all three. On Sunset’s right, was Bulk Biceps, having his wound tended to by Chaos’s medic, Apple Bloom.

Rarity stared at her with cold, yet remorseful eyes, rubbing her neck which was red raw.

‘I’m sorry, darling.’ She muttered.

Sombra walked towards her confidently, and kneeled down so that they met on eye level.

‘Well, how’re we doing?’

Sunset tried to speak, but couldn’t due to the tape covering her mouth. Sombra chuckled and swiftly removed it for her.

‘What the fuck are you doing, Sombra, what have I done to piss you guys off?!’ Sunset was immensely terrified, and spoke with a quiver in her voice.

‘Oh no no, you’ve not done anything! We simply have you here because we need to handle a little trade off.’ Sombra spoke with such confidence; he revelled in his position of leadership.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, your little Romeo went and robbed one of my properties today, didn’t she? Rainbow Dash and Luna thought it would be “making a statement” if they were to get our attention.’

‘So why am I so important? I wasn’t even involved for fucks sake!’

‘Correct, but you’re now our little hostage, and you can only end up back in your lovers arms if she pays back what she stole. Otherwise,’ Sombra pointed his finger between Sunset’s eyebrows. ‘We’re gonna send a bullet through those pretty little eyes of yours.'

Sunset, in retaliation, lashed out and bit Sombras finger, startling him and drawing blood. He stood up and immediately pulled out the revolver in his back pocket, pointing it right at his hostage. The air was so quiet, you could hear Sunset Shimmer’s heart beating.

‘If it were up to me,’ Sombra said slowly and menacingly. ‘You would be dead by now. Fortunately, you get to live, since our little assassin has not arrived yet.’

‘You’ve not even sent for her yet, boss.’ Discord chirped in, sipping his tea in the process.

‘My mistake,’ Sombra lowered his gun and looked at the innocent Apple Bloom, removing glass shrapnel from Bulk Biceps arm with a pair of pliers. ‘Apple Bloom, dearest.’

‘Yes, boss?’ She turned with a genuine smile on her face.

‘Could you check on me to see where your sister is up to? Tell her I need her to carry out a job, and the price is high.’

‘Sure can do! I can go to her house now if ya want me to?’

‘That would be nice, thank you,’ Sombra’s calm tone around Apple Bloom was almost refreshing to see, that evaporated quickly when he turned to speak to Rarity. ‘Sort her out.’

Rarity pulled out the duct tape, ripped off a piece ever so elegantly and placed it over Sunset’s mouth. She then pulled out a polaroid camera and took a picture. The flash was far too bright for Sunset Shimmer, which left her dazed and confused.

What was going to happen now?

It was now approaching the end of the day, and the elite members of harmony were called once again for a meeting, this time with Pinkie Pie sat at the table as well. There was a warm atmosphere, as everyone else was excited to find out what the great plans were.

‘Okay,’ Celestia began immediately. ‘This may sound a little bit crude, but I’ve received shipments of a new arsenal from the Crystal Empire.’

Everyone perked up with mixed reactions. New weapons meant war.

‘Like what?’ Scootaloo asked hesitantly.

‘Oooh! It’s so cool,’ Pinkie yelped with a glint in her eyes. ‘So there’s bombs and armour pieces and a load of new guns and--’

‘Wait, bombs?!’ Twilight butted in. She'd never heard this part of the plan before.

‘We’ve never used bombs in combat before,’ Octavia added, polishing her sniper rifle. ‘Though I must say, I do find this devilishly exciting.’

‘I understand we’ve never used bombs before, and they would never be used on the streets unless we’re begging to be arrested,’ Celestia chuckled. ‘If we want to take out Sombra and Chaos we will have to strike them where their whole economic transportation lies.’

‘The sewers?’ Gilda questioned.

‘Oh yes.’ The boss said with a smirk.

‘We know they lie in the sewers for years,’ Twilight exclaimed. ‘But we don’t know where in the sewers their base lies. It’s such a complicated labyrinth of tunnels, we could be down there for days!’

‘You are right,’ Celestia nodded. ‘That’s where my little operation comes in. Octavia and Pinkie are going to run a little errand for me.’

‘Talk.’ Octavia commanded.

‘She is talking, silly.’ Pinkie chuckled.

‘I received a bit of intel from one of our scouts that Sombra himself has guided an arms representative from Yakyakistan for negotiation in the sewers. He will have some kind of coordinations or map to navigate his way to the base from above ground. You need to find a way to assassinate both him and potentially his bodyguard if he has one and steal these coordinates from him. Not only will this get us a location. It will cut off their weapon deals for the time being.’

‘Wouldn’t that put us on Sombra’s hit list?’ Spike muttered.

‘We’ve been on his hit list for five years. Besides, he’s handling a heist that my sister pulled off this morning, he’ll be too distracted to take after us.’ Celestia reassured.

‘What do we have to do then?’ Octavia pulled out a small notepad and began to scribble.

‘Well,’ Celestia began. ‘Pinkie, I need you to track this guys every steps, and hacking certain things on site to get him to where we want him to be. Meaning you’ll be in the field. Octavia, you’ve got to handle the blood.’

‘My speciality.’ The suited assassin smirked.

‘Hacking is not my game though.’ Pinkie shrugged.

‘You’re the best I have Pinkie, I don’t doubt you’ll do well out there.’ Celestia said with compassion. Pinkie smiled in response.

‘What about us, chief?’ Twilight asked.

‘Gilda needs to come with me to the Crystal Empire tomorrow, I’ll be doing trade negotiations there, away from the other Gangs, just to be safe.’

‘Holiday in the mountains, not too bad really.’ Gilda responded.

‘Twilight, Scootaloo and Spike, you simply hold the fort until I get back, which I imagine won’t be too much of a task anyway.’ Celestia announced.

‘You can count on us,’ Twilight replied.

‘I’m going to go and pack my bags for tomorrow's expedition, I suggest you do the same, Gilda.’

‘Aye aye.’ The bodyguard rolled her eyes.

‘And dress a little bit more formally, a suit perhaps?’ Celestia chuckled.

‘Sheesh, I haven’t worn a suit since Holy Communion.’

Rainbow Dash arrived back at her apartment to see a barrage of police investigating. Immediately a panic attack set upon her.

Whilst still in her car she whipped out her phone, and dialled the only person she could in a situation like this, Luna.

‘Rainbow, you’re not gonna like this.’ Luna said immediately after picking up.

‘Dude, some prick has just broke into my house! What’s going on?’

‘Chaos have kidnapped Sunset Shimmer. They’re holding her at ransom. I’m sorry.’

At that moment, all sounds, of police sirens, yelling, and cars were completely blocked out. Dash let out a single tear, before completely circoming to rage.

‘When I find that Sombra guy, he’s gonna have a head on a fucking spike.’

‘Come back to the base, please, we need to discuss plans.’

Rainbow Dash chuckled.

‘With. Fucking. Pleasure.’

And with that, she hung up the phone, and sped off into the sunset. Watching the nighttime totally encompassing the city of Canterlot.

The war had finally begun.

Author's Note

Almost 2 years later I finally update this bad boy. Tell me what you think!

Goodbye for now,
-TheOldRedHills