PART(ie) Hard

“What about a smart flip phone?” says Trixie, still at the desk and her pen in hand. “Smart flip phones are all the rage, right?”

Applejack sighs and runs her fingers through her hair. “How 'bout you stop worrying about a phone and focus on school?”

Trixie scoffs. “I can't believe you!”

Applejack casts a sideways glance at Trixie, and Trixie slouches a bit and averts her eyes to her catalog.

“Okay, I can believe you,” says Trixie. “But still, a phone is vital. It has everything I can possibly need.”

“So does prison,” quips Applejack.

“Oh, ha. Ha. Give me that, you pleb.” Trixie yanks Applejack's book away and turns her back to her so she can read it, despite the protests. “You're kind of nerdy for a farmer. Why would you read all this Aura stuff when you can have hands on training? Its way more fun that way.”

Applejack uses only one hand to push Trixie across the room, and when she hits the wall with a loud yelp a picture of a flower vase falls and breaks on her head. She rolls to the sitting position and rubs her head, seething and glaring at Applejack with a head shaped indent in the wall.

“Hhhsssss... Why would you do that?” says Trixie.

Applejack picks up her book and flashes a smug smile at her downed teammate as she flips to her page.

“I just wanted some hands on training. Kinda hard to do much of it being stuck in a wheelchair and all,” says Applejack, now leaning back into her wheelchair and calmly reading her book.

Trixie continues her glare until the door opens seconds later. Applejack and Trixie turn their attention to the door and watch Rarity and Astro enter, both giggling and looking light on their feet.

Seeing this twists Applejack's face to that of confusion and Trixie's lips curl to a sneer, but the other two keep on smiling without a care.

“Howdy, Rarity. Got yourself a friend?” says Applejack.

“Yes. Applejack, Astro. Astro, Applejack,” says Rarity, motioning her hand between the two. “Astro is going to be my... partner for the upcoming dance.”

Astro leans over to shake Applejack's hand, giving a simple greeting, which she returns, and Astro looks at Trixie.

“Oh, hey, its that Pixie girl,” says Astro brightly. He leans against Rarity whispers not too quietly: “She gets second place in everything.”

Trixie growls, jumps to her feet and jabs Astro in the chest hard enough to make him stumble back.

“First off, Trixie's name is Trixie, and secondly at least Trixie has medals and fame and fans and artwork dedicated to her and a proud lineage going to the beginning of time itself! What do you have? Nothing!” yells Trixie.

Everyone stares at Trixie as she breathes heavily with a red face and fingers hooked like claws. Seconds later she takes a deep breath and runs her fingers through her hair, messing up its curl, and she tugs on her vest and brushes off nonexistent dust from her sleeve.

“Also, Trixie thought you didn't like nerds, Rarity,” says Trixie, casting the subject a harsh glance.

Rarity's eyes snap to slits and she slides her hand across her throat, baring her polished teeth in a defensive snarl. But she is done before Astro can see this, so when he looks at her with sadness bubbling in his eyes like the tears of a kicked puppy, he only sees her annoyance.

“Is that true?” asks Astro.

“That was the old me, darling,” says Rarity. She wraps her around him and nuzzles into him, staring viciously at Trixie. “Trixie is just stuck in the past, like an old drape infested with moths.”

Trixie's jaw and fists sets, and Applejack's eyes dart between the two girls before she slowly brings her book to hide her face.

“Oh, that's a relief,” says Astro. “I was beginning to think that you weren't actually into a nobody like me and were only wanting to use me to further your own agenda.”

Rarity looks at Astro with bugged out, panicked eyes and tight lips, but he is not aware of this since he is looking around the room, taking a special interest in the makeshift bunk-beds.

“This is a nice dorm you have. Organized. No B-O... Very creative use of space,” says Astro.

“Yes, well, why don't we have a seat on my bed and you can help me with my special problem,” says Rarity.

Astro nods and takes a seat on Rarity's bed, and she climbs on next and lays her smooth legs out across his, smiling sweetly and prompting her victim's face to burn up.

“I know you'll have no problem with this,” says Rarity.

**********

Out in the hallway, Pinkie Pie steps out of the elevator, skipping and humming lightly, and very satisfied about her meeting with Octavia. She can't help but snicker to herself about how well the rest of the plan has gone, despite the setback of Flash and Twilight being jerk-wads and not helping. Then she sees them.

DAFT and Radish Head.

Outside her dorm.

Pressing their ears on her door.

Her skipping slows to quiet steps and when she is by her door DAFT still has not moved, but she does hear Rarity and Astro talking and giggling. She also smells burnt rope again, but she quickly pegs it on Radish Head, which she is making a mental note on how to best repay him for his kind words about her hair. Bleach in his shampoo comes to mind. But as much as Pinkie Pie wants to make the unwelcomed skunk suffer, she has more important things to do. Namely getting into her dorm.

“Um, excuse me,” says Pinkie Pie.

She taps on Fluttershy's shoulder and the normally quiet girl shrieks and in a blur of yellow Pinkie Pie feels an all too familiar sensation of getting slapped. And hitting the floor.

When Pinkie Pie hits the ground her tongue pops out, her eyes spins and the hallway feels like it is orbiting around her while her Aura crackles around her. She hears voices and laughter, and when she is helped up by a pair of amazingly beefy manly hands made of pure testosterone her body sways on her wobbly knees despite the support.

“You okay? That was a heck of a hit you took,” says one of the four Drakes.

“I'm fine,” says Pinkie Pie, having to hold Drake's arm, and she points at Fluttershy -or one of her, anyway- causing her to partially shrink behind Drake. “You hit hard.”

“I'm sorry,” says Fluttershy.

“You just learned a hard lesson on rule number three of DAFT,” says Thorn, grinning.

“Let me guess. Don't scare Fluttershy?” says Pinkie Pie.

Thorn frowns. “Party pooper.”

“Hey, can we come in your dorm to see if Bistro is taking my advice?” says Zephyr.

Pinkie Pie, Drake, Thorn and Fluttershy all glare at him, and he shrugs, completely oblivious to his sin.

“No,” says Pinkie Pie flatly.

She then worms her way past the group, unlocks the door and barely gives herself enough space to squeeze through the door. Which, given the basic anatomy difference between male and female, and once she is inside she leaves the door open just a crack so she can look at DAFT.

“Go do some team training stuff,” says Pinkie Pie.

“You have our sniper,” says Drake.

“Do training stuff without your sniper.”

“But we need our sniper.”

“Jeeze, give the guy some space, will you? It's not like we're going to do horrible things to him.”

“But-”

“Buh-bye!”

Pinkie Pie slams the door shut, lodges a chair underneath and sighs as she leans against the door, running her fingers through her hair. Thankfully her Aura has rekindled, so the palm print on her face fades, but unfortunately it did not escape Applejack's prying eyes.

“What on earth happened to your face?” asks Applejack.

“I scared Fluttershy,” says Pinkie Pie. She smiles and waves at Astro, who is working on the cuff on Rarity's ankle. “Hi, Astro. How's it going?”

“Fine until I started doing this,” says Astro, He looks at Rarity curiously “Why exactly am I tricking the bracelet?”

Pinkie Pie slides next to Astro and hugs him against her so her chest is squished against his arm ad her breath tickling his ears, bringing a hot red tint to his face.

“Because girls just want to have fun,” says Pinkie Pie in a husky voice. She then pulls away with her hand still on his shoulder and adds in her normal tone: “And by fun I mean going around the city like college aged kids do without the school spying on us.”

Astro looks at Pinkie Pie, she smiles back. He looks at Rarity, she wiggles her feet and gives him a vixen smirk. He looks at Applejack, bu she has her face buried in her book, and when he looks at Trixie she points at her eyes and then at him. He then swallows and looks at Pinkie Pie again. She is still smiling and has yet to pull her hands off of his shoulder.

“Um, this doesn't seem very honorable,” says Astro, carefully placing his hands on Rarity's leg. “I'm actually pretty sure this is illegal.”

The girls look at each other, and Pinkie Pie sighs and rubs her brow.

“Fine, we'll do it this way.” Pinkie Pie leaps up, grabs Astro by his collar, rips him off the bed and throws him down on the floor with a loud thud and a surprised yelp from him. She then straddles his waist and holds his arms down as she glares deep into his eyes. “Listen here you little punk, you're gonna do as I say or I will have my friend bury you out in the desert Las Pegasus style. Broken knee caps, six foot hole, cowboy hats and obnoxious Western apparel, the whole nine yards and if you do anything to jeopardize this like telling anybody anything about the everything you have seen heard done, do, will do I will personally put a dead dog over you so when they come sniffing for your body they will find a dead dog not a dead geek so what do you say do you want to help me stop Discord or get a spot in the obituary?”

She finishes with her face red and chest heaving from her panting, and even her hair has flattened and now hangs down and cascades off her shoulders. Around her her team stares at her, wide eyed and frozen stiff, and below her Astro is pale like chalk and his pupils are tiny dots.

“What's it gonna be?” says Pinkie Pie.

Astro swallows. “...Who's Discord?”

~~~~~~~~~~

Some minutes later Pinkie Pie, Trixie and Astro are in the dorm elevator, with the former two having their cuffs temporarily modified for the purpose of the mission. The two girls are also sporting vastly different expressions, for Pinkie Pie's excitement is very much alive whereas Trixie's dread makes a graveyard cheerful. As for Astro, sweat is quit literally dripping off of him and soaking his clothes, which unfortunately brings a lot of body odor in the tight space that Pinkie Pie wished she did not have to smell.

“So, you aren't going to flip out when we go see whoever these guys are, right?” says Trixie venomously, wearing a new vest, soft blue dress shirt and jeans that cover her ankle bracelet with her cape clipped around her neck.

“Don't be silly. I'm cool as a cucumber now,” says Pinkie Pie, wearing a pink shirt with a trio of balloons on its center, a blue jacket, a pair of Applejack's jeans and Rarity's jogging shoes so she can comfortably hide her bracelet.

“I sure hope so because Trixie does not want to get shot again. Especially over something stupid like this.”

“You're not going to get shot.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“How positive?”

“Like infinity squared times pi positive.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Look, you aren't going to get shot. It's like the movies. We go in and out with what we need and poof. Done. No harm. No foul.”

“No harm? No foul?” Trixie jabs her thumb at Astro. “You threatened to go mob psycho on him.”

“Oh come on. He knew I was joking.” Pinkie Pie smiles nervously at Astro. “You knew I was joking, right?”

“O-of course,” stammers Astro, his voice gravely and shaky. “Just joking around between friends.”

Pinkie Pie smiles at Trixie. “See? He even called me his friend.”

Trixie wrinkles her nose. “You need help.”

“You are helping me.”

“No, Pinkie, I'm talking about real help.”

“You are giving real help. Real, reluctant, help, but still help.”

Trixie scoffs and turns away. “Whatever. Keep your denial.”

“For the record, I know what you're trying to say,” says Astro.

“Shut up,” snaps Trixie.

Astro's head dip. “Okay.”

Pinkie Pie shakes her head and looks at the polished door in front of her. Her reflection stares back, but her toothless smile looks fake to her. Actually, she knows its fake, but seeing her mask in plain sight brings an uneasy feeling to her gut, like slugs crawling around and spreading the icky slime of anxiety. From the paranoia of others seeing through her masks, to the mission going haywire, and getting tossed in jail for trying to stop Discord (again). There's is also the thought of Trixie getting shot (again) and Flash finding out that she is taking two of his teammates along for a field trip. Those will definitely put a damper on the situation.

Such thoughts are interrupted when the elevator door slides open with a pleasant ding. The trio steps into the dormitory lobby and sees Rainbow Dash and Octavia sitting in the lounge. Rainbow Dash is sitting on the couch with her feet up on the table and her focus on a football game, wearing a blue windbreaker with a lightning bolt on its shoulder, her sneakers and stripped jogging pants. As for Octavia, she is wearing a gray suit with a dray duster coat and has her hat on her lap; she sitting in a chair with her back against the wall and her eyes on high alert. When the three reach them, Pinkie Pie is the first to smile and wave.

“Guess who I brought?” says Pinkie Pie.

Rainbow Dash looks away from the television and frowns at Pinkie Pie when she sees Astro smiling at them nervously.

“Seriously? You brought him?” says Rainbow Dash.

“You didn't say anything about him,” says Octavia.

“Well, we gotta take care of the thing on you leg don't we?” says Pinkie Pie.

Octavia hesitates. “He better not follow us when he's done.”

“Don't worry, he won't.” Pinkie Pie grabs Astro's arm and swings him to Octavia's lap, getting a girly squeak from him and bugged eyed surprise from her. “Work your magic, big boy! Time's a ticking!”

125 minutes later...

“Four girls on a dangerous quest to save a city ruled by sin,” says Trixie theatrically. “Each with their own set of skills, their own dark pasts and vices. But they are skilled. They are dangerous. And they will save the city. Starting with a bus ride.”

The bus they are on hisses and jolts to a stop, shaking the girls into each other, and the door cranks open to let in a group of dark skinned guys with black stripes on their hands and faces, and streaks of white going through their hair. They pay their toll without much care for their obnoxious voice volume. For the most part the girls ignore them, but Octavia stares at them cautiously. With that stare comes her hands tensing, but no one seems to notice this but Pinkie Pie.

“Relax, Octavia,” says Pinkie Pie, placing a hand on her lap.

“Move your hand,” orders Octavia.

Pinkie Pie immediately complies and Octavia switches seats so she is next to the emergency exit where she quietly watches the new group. The rest of the girls carry on without acknowledging Octavia's behavior.

“Did anybody else think it was weird that we had to do that stuff in the janitor's closet?” says Rainbow Dash. “I mean, what if he spreads some crazy rumor that makes people think we're one of those Equestria Untamed girls?”

“He won't spread anything, trust me,” says Pinkie Pie.

“How do you know?”

“I talked to him before we came down. Plus last time I told him I slept in the nude he got mad at me, so he won't do any weird closet story stuff.”

Rainbow Dash raises a brow. “Sleeping the nude, huh? Like Applejack?”

Pinkie Pie cocks her head. “What? She doesn't sleep in the nude.”

“She doesn't?”

“No!”

“Huh... That's not what the word on the campus is.”

Pinkie Pie covers her face with her hands and bangs her head against the window, groaning loudly. “Oh, goddess. You're joking, right?”

“No. That whole rumor started when she wouldn't get out of the sleeping bag the whole night when we first got here and watched that kick ass movie. Seriously, how have you not heard this? Its about your cousin and teammate, that's like being oblivious to someone punching you in the face twice.”

Pinkie Pie screams into her hands. “O-M-F! I was a joking when I said that! Applejack just hates being around a lot of people. Its like a really weird phobia she has.”

“Oh... Well, good luck getting rid of that rumor.”

Pinkie Pie groans in her hands.

“That certainly does explain why we get a lot of guys sitting near our table,” says Trixie with disappointment. “And here I thought it was because Trixie was in the vicinity. But, no, they wanted to peek at your cousin.”

“Sorry Applejack is stealing your thunder,” says Pinkie Pie sourly, her hands still on her face.

“Me too.”

Pinkie Pie throws down her hands just to glare at Trixie, but her teammate doesn't notice, so she goes to looking at Rainbow Dash, who is laying on the bus seat, legs stretched out to the fullest. She also has her phone out and is vigorously mashing away on her touch screen. Pinkie Pie can feel the envy radiating off of Trixie, and she does feel a little bit of withdrawal from not having her phone for a while. She briefly wonders how many messages she missed, but pushes that aside when she Octavia has yet to take her eyes off of the group, and that her knuckles have turned white from how hard she is clenching the bar.

“You okay over there?” asks Pinkie Pie.

“She's fine,” says Rainbow Dash. “She's one of those people watchers. Nothing to it.”

The bus stops, the doors slide open and the group gets off while another gets on. This group is quiet, and Octavia's grip has loosened, but she still watches the newcomers. One is a light brown women with flowing dark hair wearing a dark dress that is open to her thighs, a green corset and knee high boots. The other is a copper skinned man wearing a spiffy black suit with diamond cuffs, sunglasses and his long black hair is tied to a ponytail.

Pinkie Pie immediately gets a painful tingle running through her hands, and she flexes them and looks at Octavia, who has once again tightened her grip on the bar. Trixie and Rainbow Dash have also followed their lead in staring at the strangers.

“How much you wanna bet that they gambled away all their money?” says Rainbow Dash, smiling at Octavia.

Octavia pulls a wire above her head and a ding echoes in the bus, bringing it to a gradual stop. Once it stops, the door next to Octavia opens and she jumps to her feet.

“This is our stop,” says Octavia.

She hurries off the bus, bringing the others to scramble after her in a less than delicate way, and when they all stagger on to the sidewalk the bus drives off without a second thought. This brings the three to look at Octavia, who is now looking at an illuminated map of the city bolted to the brick wall in a protective case.

“I really need to get a car. All this bus riding is boring,” says Rainbow Dash. “Plus the sudden stopping makes me feel sick.”

“You and me both,” says Trixie.

Octavia remains quiet, and her finger stays pressed against a red rectangle on the map, and she barely flinches when Pinkie Pie puts her hand on her shoulder.

“Octavia, are you okay?” says Pinkie Pie.

Octavia briskly walks down the sidewalk, staying close to the walls and leaving Pinkie Pie behind.

“Let's move. We don't have a lot of time left,” says Octavia.

Trixie and Rainbow Dash exchange looks before they follow her. Pinkie Pie, however, remains in place. She takes one long, hard look down where the bus went, but all she sees is passing cars, all oblivious to the dangers they are facing, and after taking a moment to observe Octavia's speedy steps she hums quizzically and then jogs after her.

~~~~~~~~~~

On the bus, Sombra stares out the window, watching the buildings speed on by, listening to the passing engines and pushing against the advertisements plastered all over the walls, Products, politicians, movies, all of it he doesn't care about, but they are constantly in his face like a never ending psychological war urging him to surrender to the giants. So far the only battles he has failed at is the clothing industry... and shoes... and jewelry... maybe some fancy hair care products and soap. Makeup, too, but that is to keep his complexion fabulous. However, he has yet to cast a single ballot so he's doing great on that part.

Evil advertisements aside, he looks at Chrysalis and feels a painful pressure build in his chest. She looks beautiful in her dress, and he wishes he can see more of that smile of hers when they are working. Or even when they are not working. Right now she looks agitated. She's probably hungry. He knows he is and he knows that his mother was a real ogre when she was hungry, but he never saw his father eat yet he was the opposite of an ogre. It was an oddity he never could figure out.

“If you don't mind me asking, what's a couple of nice folks like you taking the bus for?” asks the driver.

“Our car got stolen,” says Chrysalis.

Sombra nods. He always told her to lock the car doors, but did she listen? Nope. But the car wasn't even theirs to begin with since they stole it from a park not too long ago, and it ran like shit and nothing was in it so he really doesn't know why she's upset. If anything having their getaway car stolen will throw the cops off their trail since they did kill six people in a recycling plant and threw their bodies in the trash dicer. But a list is a list and its got to get marked off one way or the other.

“Oh, man that sucks,” says the bus driver. “So, do you live here or are you visiting?”

“We're visiting friends,” says Chrysalis.

“That's nice. Where are you from?”

“A nice town called Unmarked Grave.”

The bus driver nods slowly. “Okay, I'll shut up now.”

“Thank you.”

Sombra smiles and shakes his head.

That's his girl.