Hexes and Horsepower

Chapters

Ch. 1
Ch. 2
Ch. 3
Ch. 4
Ch. 5
Ch. 6
Ch. 7
Ch. 8

Ch. 1

“Hello? This is Twilight Sparkle speaking.”

“Good afternoon, Miss Sparkle. This is Dial Nine calling on behalf of your application to Wendigo Magical Research and Development. How are you doing this fine afternoon?”

A smile grew on Twilight’s face as she came to a stop at the red light, her Toyota Corolla feeding her the woman’s voice on the other end through its Bluetooth speakers.

“Just fine!” she replied as the light turned green and she eased herself on the pedal.

“That’s excellent to hear! Now, we’ve reviewed over your application that you had submitted a month back, and after careful consideration, we have decided to accept you into a starting laboratory intern in our current arcane department.”

Everything Twilight had ever worked for had let up to this moment, all the college and grad school, nearly ten years of effort. But it was completely worth it.

Dial Nine spoke from her side. “Though your details and resume are extremely promising, we would like for you to get some hands on experience with our organization. Does that sound acceptable?”

The faintest of sighs escaped Twilight’s lips. Being the only person out of her friends who studied the mysteries of magic in her world, she was ecstatic when Wendigo Magical Research and Development had come into fruition. A corporation that had also discovered the presence of magic and wished to understand its abilities and mysteries got Twilight even more excited about the future of magical research.

However, it seemed that even after every detail she had put into her application, Wendigo MRD still wanted to go the safe route with her, giving her an internship.

Nevertheless, as prestigious and advanced as a company they were, she had to accept the chance to join their quest at unlocking the full potential of magic.

“That sounds fantastic! Any schedule for me to come in?” Twilight asked as she rounded another corner, driving to where her friends were waiting.

“Oh, well… there isn’t a schedule yet, but would Friday next week work for you? I’m sure that you’ll have much to take in and learn, so I’ll try to get you started as soon as possible!”

“Friday will work just fine.” Twilight was keeping herself from exploding with joy inside her car in hopes of not freaking out the driver next to her.

“Are there any questions you have?” Nine gave the obligatory closing.

“Oh, not really. I think I’ll be asking them when I actually get there.” Twilight kept herself humble, not adding about how much research she herself made on the subject and would like to present it to the heads of Wendigo. The call operator probably didn’t want to hear it.

“Excellent! We await for you on next Friday.”

“I’m looking forward to it!”

The call ended, and Twilight suddenly got another incoming call. Unsurprisingly, it was Rainbow Dash.

The name “RD” was shown on the touch screen, and quickly gave way to the time counter as she picked up. “Hello?”

“Twilight, where the hell are you? We’ve been waiting for half an hour for you to show up!” the familiar raspy voice loudly projected the voice into the car, getting Twilight to dial down the volume quickly after cringing at the sudden burst of noise.

“Sorry! I had to run an errand to pick up food for Spike!” she explained, knowing that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t press on the subject too hard if she knew that she was still coming.

“Ah, whatever. Speaking of Spike, have you seen Rarity? She’s usually just as punctual as you. What gives?” Rainbow Dash’s voice was continuously cut off by the background noise of screeching car tires, of which she addressed immediately, “Pinkie! Stop doing donuts on the track! I’m on the phone and you’re just destroying your tires!”

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle. Sounds like Pinkie got bored waiting for her and Rarity to show up.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be at the track in three minutes and about forty seconds, give or take.” Twilight turned her car onto an off-branching road that was free of intersections and stops, the path to Rainbow Dash’s track.

“You know, I’ll time you on that one.” Rainbow Dash laughed on the other end and hung up. Twilight rolled her eyes and blew a raspberry as she advanced upwards along the road, coming over a hill to see the winding ribbon of black asphalt that snaked into a circuit. Garages and other buildings were located near the finish line. Twilight noted four other cars already present.

Rainbow Dash’s Mustang GT was in the garage, an abnormality for her machine. The Grabber Blue-painted muscle car was always tearing it up on the track, despite the rather questionable state the asphalt held. If it was indoors, she was probably modifying it in some way. Again.

Applejack’s 1989 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck was currently stationary in the rather small and roughly paved parking lot that indicated the condition the track had fallen into before Rainbow Dash had taken it over. The black truck always had dust and dirt swathed over the wheels and sides, the reliable powerhouse chugged on through the decades it had seen ever since it was purchased for Sweet Apple Acres by the late Granny Smith.

Fluttershy’s hand-me-down 1994 Burgundy Subaru Outback was sitting in the parking lot as well, the animal carriages that usually sat in the back absent due to the blistering high ninety degree weather. Twilight still had her own objections about Rainbow Dash’s suggestion to get together at the track when the weather report called for a possibility of crawling into the triple digits. Thank god Fluttershy had her day off today.

And Pinkie... the spinning car in the middle of the billowing cloud of smoke was unmistakable. The Pink Volkswagon Beetle was tearing it up in circles as usual, its energetic driver never seeming to get bored of donuts. Or dizzy, for that matter.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never seen her replace her tires…” Twilight wondered as she parked her Corolla adjacent to Fluttershy’s Outback, and stepped outside. Oh, how she missed the air conditioning already. Nonetheless, the previous phone call with Wendigo MRD did quite the spell to give Twilight an aura of confidence and satisfaction in her step. Sunglasses still on her face, she swung out the door into the garage where Rainbow Dash was leaning down underneath her Mustang. Applejack was on a creeper, asking Rainbow Dash to hand her a wrench.

“Oh, Twilight’s here!” Rainbow Dash looked at her stopwatch, “Wow. Two seconds off.”

Twilight giggled a bit as she walked in, growing used to the smell of gasoline and grease, “You actually timed me?”

Applejack rolled out from underneath the muscle car and swiveled around until she was sitting up. “Glad ya’ could make it, sugercube. Just in the middle of trying to get this kink in RD’s nitro worked out. Rainbow, ah’ swear that ah’ know more about your car than you, and ah’ don’t even own the damn thing!”

“You want another beer or not?”

Applejack grunted, got onto her back, and slid underneath the car.

“So, you’re looking a little proud of yourself. Did ya get the job at Wendigo?” Rainbow Dash was about to crack open a can of beer, but stopped herself before doing so. It appeared that she wanted to go out on the track.

“Yeah, actually! Well… more of an internship-”

“Oh my god, really?” Rainbow Dash immediately turned her head.

Thunk!

“Ow, son of a-!”

Applejack slid out from under the Mustang, rubbing her head and looking towards Twilight.

“Wow, congrats Twi’! They’d be stupid not to hire ya, after all.” Applejack smiled as she wiped the grease off of her forehead, “They called back?”

“Yep! They said I’ll go in next Friday for an internship right into their labs. I mean, it’s just an internship.” Twilight sat down on a stool by the workbench of the garage, catching Fluttershy coming into the garage out of the corner of her eye.

“Congratulations Twilight, I knew that you’d get in.” Fluttershy was thankfully heard as no power tools were being operated as she spoke up, “Should I tell Pinkie Pie? She’d be ecstatic to hear.”

All of a sudden, it was apparent to the girls that the screeching outside of Pinkie’s donuts had stopped, and her VW Beetle was parked neatly in the lot. Twilight gave a smile and braced herself.

She was bear-hugged from behind, lifted from the stool from Pinkie’s explosive strength as she screamed in glee, “Omigosh, congratulations Twilight! I can’t believe that you got in! Well, you’re the only one of us that studies magic, so it’s like the perfect match! Like sugar and spice, Gummy and dental appointments, and Twilight getting into that super-duper high tech company that studies the same thing that she does… and parties!”

She quickly set Twilight down and pushed her forehead to hers, eyes wide as dinner plates.

“I’m throwing a party.”

Twilight giggled, a bit uncomfortably yet genuinely, “Of course you are.”

Applejack threw aside a dirty rag and set the wrench down on the workbench, “Tell ya’ what Pinkie, ah’ know that next time it was my turn for us to do something, but ah’ think you should throw a party instead of us just hangin’ around the barn and doin’ nothing all day.”

“Nothing? But I love shooting your Winchester at the rotten apples!” Pinkie deflated, but instantly rose back up again, “But don’t worry! I’ll throw the biggest party ever! You won’t regret this Applejack!”

“Wait a second, hold on. Ya like shootin’ the rifle? Ah’ just brought it out that one time cause’ we were bored and had nothin’ to do at the barn.” Applejack looked back, an eyebrow raised in complete confusion.

“Uh-huh!” Pinkie nodded rapidly, and Rainbow Dash also chimed it.

“Kinda fun. But not as fun as getting on the track and tearing it up!” Rainbow Dash patted her Mustang’s hood, “Too bad none of you really got anything to compare.”

Then, the door opened again, and a familiar lady in a white designer shirt and black pants walked in, her signature and very well styled violet hair at a short hairstyle. After all, short was the new long.

“Hello girls! I’m so sorry that I’m late!” Rarity waved to the others waiting for her.

“Rarity!” Pinkie came up and hugged another dear friend of hers, “We thought you wouldn’t make it today! You would have missed hearing that Twilight got into Wendigo!”

Rarity gasped, “Oh. My. God! Forget for a minute what I brought, from the deepest depths of my heart, congratulations Miss. Sparkle! There was no doubt that a company as prestigious as them would let you in with open arms.”

Twilight pulled her hair lightly and bit her lip, her face turning a bit red, “Okay, I think that’s everyone who wants to thank me. Like I said, it’s just an internship! An internship at the research firm that studies and wants to understand magic for us all to advance in co-existence with it…”

“There is no need to be overly humble about it!” Rarity batted her eyes and embraced Twilight, “This is such a huge accomplishment!”

“Alright, anyone else here need to congratulate me?” Twilight chuckled as she looked back at her friends.

“Congratulations-”

“Oh hush up, Rainbow.” Applejack smiled and shook her head as she cracked open her beer can, “Anyways, you were tellin’ us about some sort of ‘surprise’, Rarity? Not to be rude or anything, ah’ just don’t think it’s gonna compare to Twilight gettin’ into Wendigo, ya know?”

Rarity shrugged, “Maybe not. But it is something that might get Miss Dash to put her money where her mouth is.”

Rainbow Dash cracked a smile, “Really? In what way?”

“You always say that nothing we have can compare to your Mustang, of course.”

At this, Rainbow Dash immediately took a lot more interest in Rarity’s surprise, as did the rest of her friends, “You sure about that? What are you packing, a Lamborghini out there?”

“You may be let down at first, but you’ll eat those words like a fresh out of the kitchen coq a vin.” Rarity motioned for her friends to come outside.

“Cock-a-what?” Rainbow Dash blanked.

“French dish of chicken braised with wine, lardons, and mushrooms. Speaking of European…” Rarity walked out of the door, followed by her eager and curious friends to see what was parked out in the front.

Standing out like a un-sore thumb against a sore parking lot was Rarity’s new car, an imported Jaguar XJ. The luxury car had a crisp dark blue paint job, free of imperfections. The girls were amazed in their own rights, particularly Rainbow Dash who took no pause to lift her palm over her forehead to peer through the window.

“Aw, it doesn’t have the pop-out wine table? I was sure that if you’d get a Jag, it’d have that.” Rainbow Dash turned after she could see Rarity join the window’s reflection.

“No, Rainbow Dash. That was the thirty model limit exclusive back in 2013 that was over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. And besides, it was far overpriced for what it really had to offer.” Rarity crossed her arms and looked over her new set of wheels, “But mind you, this is no ordinary XJ. A friend of mine from Britain, Red Velvet, wanted to get me one after I had collaborated with her on a fashion line. I couldn’t let her just pay for it just like that, of course. But when I saw the car she picked out, I just had to have it.”

Rarity giggled, “Too bad not even being a lead fashion designer at age twenty eight can get you an Aston Martin One-77. But nevertheless, a seventy-five thousand dollar investment should more often look as gorgeous as this.”

“It’s so fancy…” Fluttershy peered in and glazed her eyes over the beige interior.

“Yeah, fancy as this is, I don’t think it’s gonna have a chance against my souped up baby in the garage. No offense, it’s a really sweet car.” Rainbow Dash crossed her arms and looked over to Rarity with a half-smug, half-doubtful expression.

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure. It’s had its fair share of tuning.” Rarity swiveled back and matched Rainbow Dash’s look.

“Tuning? I don’t even think you know what that word means if you think you can think that’s gonna beat me. Honestly, I’d hate to see the thing get dirty.” Rainbow Dash was about to open a can of beer before Rarity interjected.

“How about we prove it? I got the right tires, even brought my own neck brace and helmet so I don’t have to borrow one of your sweaty ones.” Rarity placed her hand over the hood of the Jag.

Dash put the beer can down, “Alright. Looks like you came here to race. Who am I not to give you one?”

“Excellent.” Rarity opened the door to her Jaguar, and waved back at Rainbow Dash as the engine started up, a solid purr emanating from the hood of the car, “Don’t be too surprised, dear.”

Rainbow Dash snorted and smiled as Rarity’s car started to roll out towards the track, “Is the nitro fixed, AJ?”

“Yep. And just as Rarity had arrived too. Been meanin’ to tell ya.” Applejack pointed back to the garage.

Rainbow Dash grinned back, her smugness as dense as diamonds, “Perfect.”

The wreckage shifted, metal lifting to reveal an arm rise from the carcass of the armored truck. Fire licked the vehicle from the gasoline spilling down the side of the overturned mass of metal. The door came open, and a man emerged from the slag and flames.

“Urgh…” he grunted as he clambered up through the door, then stood on top of the side-stricken vehicle. He looked ahead on the road to find the silhouette of his escort disappearing over the hill, riding away as if nothing had happened.

Reaching back inside of the cabin, he slung his ACR rifle and squinted down the scope of the gun. Just as the crosshair came over the motorcycle, it vanished over the hill. Gone from the scorching desert in front of him.

A brilliant execution, he had to admit. Explosives placed both within the cargo chamber of the armored truck to destroy the machinery inside, and a large swath lined within the interior of the truck, just above the back right wheel.

No one would have known. His escort did the inspection.

Full Metal Jacket took a glance back at the unconscious driver, the poor soul tossed and turned during the time the truck had gone airborne, and then back at where the motorcycle was supposed to be. No point in tracking the escort right now. Full Metal Jacket’s ride had been immobilised and the rider would have had the brain to remove their tracking device.

He thumbed his radio, “Aurora, this is FMJ. The arcanic stabilizer’s been destroyed.”

He hefted the rifle over his shoulder as he glared back at the hill which the motorcycle escaped over.

“But that’s gonna be the least of our problems.”

Ch. 2

“Woooo, whooo! Go Rarity!” Pinkie waved her foam finger with Rarity’s name printed on it before glancing back to Rainbow Dash, “No offense, Dashie!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes with a chuckle and waved back before she walked up to Rarity again, “Alright, fashionista. You know the rules.”

“Of course.” Rarity shook hands with her friend before donning her helmet, “May the best driver win.”

“You mispronounced car as driver.” Rainbow Dash slipped her own helmet over her head, and held up two fingers, “Two laps. No automatic. Hope you know your gears’ sweet spots.”

Dash climbed into her set of wheels, and secured her neck brace. Seatbelt locked in, she ignited her five-liter V8 engine. The turbocharged combustion machine roared to life as the key was turned. A little pressure on the gas pedal revved the engine, provoking the beast to roar at its opponent. The silver horse logo on the front gleamed as Rainbow Dash ushered the car to the starting line.

Rarity got her safety gear in place, and rotated her key. The sharp, yet powerful growl escaped from the hood as the AJ Gen III V8 engine awoke from its slumber. Another rev was given by Rarity, containing a more menacing drone than a fierce roar that came from her adversary. Slinking towards the starting line, as if it were the predator it was named after, Rarity’s car stopped parallel to Rainbow Dash’s.

The straightaway gave into a banked curve to the left, to which Rarity was closer. Dash knew that making the tighter turn wasn’t always the way to guarantee victory. The straightaways would test a car’s power, and she was genuinely looking forward to seeing how Rarity would keep up.

Sitting on top of the flat roof of the garage, three of the women spectated what was about to unfold. Twilight, Fluttershy, and most prominently Pinkie Pie were watching with great interest and enthusiasm.

“I’m glad that Dash’s track is finally getting a good race. I hope that she filled in the pothole halfway in.” Twilight turned back to Fluttershy, “She did, right?”

“What?” Fluttershy held a cupped hand to her ear, revealing the earplugs she was wearing.

“Fluttershy! We’re on the roof! It’s not like we’re next to the track!” Twilight spoke louder but quickly gave up when Fluttershy still made the expression of not being able to hear what Twilight was saying.

“Oh, nevermind.” Twilight gave up and witnessed Applejack walking towards the side of the track, brandishing a green flag.

“Alright girls, let’s not kill each other out there! Ah’d hate to see a big dent in any of your rides!” Applejack raised the flag, both drivers gripping their steering wheels, their right feet aching to blast off their brakes and slam the gas pedals.

“Oh, it’s gonna start!” Pinkie drew a pair of binoculars from deep within her hair, and pressed them to her eyes.

The racers glared ahead. They only looked towards what lay before them, and not to who might pull into that place.

“On your marks, get set-” Applejack swung down the flag, “Go!”

The tires of the Mustang and Jaguar screeched as the gas felt the full force of both of the drivers’ boots. Smoke plumed from the bottom of the back wheels before both cars shot past the starting line and charged down the track. Both racers shifted quickly from their first gear to their second instantly, resetting the rpm needle back down and letting their cars gather more speed.

Second gear was all they would need for now as the first turn approached. Rarity was given the opportunity of starting on the left side, giving her the tighter turn. With a sudden crank of the steering wheel and a quick tap on the brakes she unbalanced the car, throwing it into a drift around the curve. Rarity kept her eyes on the road, glancing at her mirror to find Rainbow Dash attempting to match the drift behind her.

However, the raw power of the Mustang and the weight force it into a wider turn, allowing Rarity to keep the advantage of navigating a sharper move.

“Nice…” Rainbow Dash thought to herself, “But you’re no match on the straightaway.”

She eased onto the pedal and steered her car so Rarity’s Jaguar wasn’t blocking her advancement. Third gear was quickly punched in, and the RPM gauge reset once again. The Mustang started to gain ground on the Jaguar easily, the powerful engine roaring as it chased its prey.

Rarity switched into third gear as well, but the pure power of the Mustang was giving her opponent more and more speed. A glance again in the mirror, and indeed, the object was far closer than it appeared. She could have sworn that a look of pure bloodlust pierced through the tinted visor of Rainbow Dash’s helmet.

Then, more curves started to come up ahead. The straightaway had ended, and now the racers would find themselves in a series of successive turns. Perfect for the Jaguar. Not a moment too soon, Rainbow Dash was neck-to-neck with Rarity. The first turn went right, which would steer into a wide half circle heading left. Rainbow Dash had the right of way as she was closer to the right-side curve, and threw her car into a drift, with Rarity trying to match a wider drift on the outside of the curve.

“Shoot.” Rarity bit her lip as Rainbow Dash overtook the Jaguar, and found herself also hugging the wall of the left-sided turnaround. Rainbow Dash was ahead now, and Rarity could only feast her eyes on Rainbow Dash’s self-referential vanity plate.

More turns lay straight ahead, both cars dropping a gear to navigate around as perfectly as they could. The screech of the Jaguar fought against the growl of the Mustang. Had it not been for the specially modified AJ Gen III V8 engine of Rarity’s Jag, the Mustang would have left her in the dust. Both coming out of the turns, were at each other’s sides again. The straightaway was ahead, leading to the finish line, marking the second lap.

Then, Rainbow Dash floored the gas pedal all the way down. Her Mustang jolted as nitrous oxide rushed into her engine, the car roaring as it easily started to gain ground against Rarity’s Jaguar.

“And there’s the nitrous.” Twilight said to herself as Dash’s car pulled ahead of Rarity’s effortlessly on the straightaway. In just a second, she had overtaken Rarity’s Jaquar by a hoodlength.

“What?” Fluttershy put her hand to her ear again.

Rarity pursed her lips under her helmet as Rainbow Dash had pulled ahead an entire car’s length ahead of her, giving her the first priority to cross the finish line into the second lap. Rarity could only watch as the Mustang drifted into the turn after.

“Alright…” Rarity downshifted to match the drift, “It. Is. On.”

At the second she came out from the drift, she floored the gas pedal as she approached the next set of turns. Rarity didn’t drop a gear as she slid through each of them, almost touching the boundaries of the track. Skidmarks were painted again and again as Rarity kept at the turns, slowly gaining ground on her opponent.

Rainbow Dash glanced into her rearview. The fashionista was catching up, and she was catching up fast. That Jaguar had impressive handling and maneuverability, but Dash was ahead. As long as she stayed in front, the final straightaway to the finish would be all hers.

Even through all of this, Rainbow Dash could feel her grip tightening. She hadn’t had a good race like this in a very long time. It felt almost as good as outracing Flash’s Camaro after graduation.

“Alright Rar’, what’re you hiding in that car?” Rainbow Dash thought for a split second as the last turn to the final straightaway was ahead. A glance into the rearview, and Rarity was getting close from all of the perfectly handled turns. It was if she could feel her determination to win.

But not this time.

Dash threw her car around into the half-circle curve, and straightened out for the finish. A car length behind, Rarity equalised out.

Rarity opened up a switch’s guard, and thumbed the device forward. A thunderous roar screamed from the Jag as its engine was pushed into overdrive. The speedometer climbed rapidly as the massive amount of Nitrous Oxide was dumped into the engine, throwing the car far over Rainbow Dash’s speed.

“Woah, what the hell?!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but say aloud as Rarity’s Jaguar blazed past the Mustang, showing no signs of slowing down. She watched in horror and amazement as Rarity’s car came right next to hers, neck and neck once again as the finish line and Applejack’s checkered flag came closer and closer to them.

SHROOOM!

VRENNNN!

Applejack waved the flag down just as the cars passed through. She didn’t need a high-speed camera to see who won. Rarity had won by the length of a headlight. Rainbow Dash eased into the brakes of her Mustang as Rarity did the same, the Nitrous shut off.

“Yeah! Woooo! That was amazing!” Pinkie Pie waved her foam finger around. Fluttershy had her hand on her chest, feeling her heartbeat slowly reset to its normal speed, and Twilight called down to Applejack.

“Who won?!”

“Rarity! By a headlight!”

Twilight looked back at the stopped cars and smiled. What a great chance that it was Rainbow Dash’s turn to plan this hangout at the track.

Then, but doors of the cars opened after the engines were shut off. Rainbow Dash and Rarity, clad in their helmets removed their neck braces and walked towards each other.

Then, Rainbow Dash took off her helmet, revealing the glowing smile underneath.

“Good race, Rarity.” she outstretched her hand. Rarity’s helmeted face looked down at it, tilting slightly as in surprise. All of a sudden, she quickly removed her head protection and took Dash’s hand immediately.

“Oh my god, forgive me for being so rude! It’s just that-” Rarity was about to start.

“Yeah. Usually if I lose, I’m not happy about it. But this isn’t high school anymore, fashion girl.” Rainbow Dash chuckled.

“Good race.” Rarity smiled back, and both glanced back to Pinkie cheering.

“Awh! That’s so sweet!” she scrunched her face with her hands, “Now I gotta make two parties! One to celebrate Twilight getting into Wendigo, and for this awesome race! Oh, I’ll make a cake version of both of your cars!”

“Pinkie, let’s take life one party at a time.” Twilight giggled as she patted her friend’s back.

“One party at a time?!” she outraged, but was quickly interjected by Fluttershy.

“I thought that was amazing. Even if it’s loud, it was so great to watch.” Fluttershy nodded as she climbed down to meet the two returning racers, who were already deep in conversation.

“So, ya gotta tell me. How much nitro do you have in that thing?!” Rainbow Dash begged for the answer.

“Let’s just say… absurd amounts. I honestly should get it removed before I go back on the road.” Rarity chuckled back.

“Forget that! The next time Fast Track comes over with his Porsche, smoke him!” Dash offered.

“Maybe. But get that pothole on the third turn fixed. I almost hit the thing.” Rarity pointed out before walking back to her friends.

Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head, “Oh yeah. Keep forgetting about that.”

The Rainbooms decided to stick around longer than usual, each of their cars parked neatly in the not-so-neat parking lot under the stars. Applejack had started a fire in a small barrel, and Pinkie had brought marshmallows. Something she always seemed to have handly somewhere just in case.

“Hey, how do you think Twilight back in Equestria is doing?” Rainbow Dash turned towards Twilight.

“She’s still been sending letters every week. Just seems that her life never ceases to stop being exciting.” Twilight suddenly pulled her marshmallow from the fire, ablaze, “Crap! Shoot!”

As Twilight was trying to desperately blow on the marshmallow to extinguish the flames, she gave up and let it melt off the prod and into the barrel, “Another, Pinkie?”

“Sure!”

“Well, ah gotta admit. One heck of a race ya’ll put on back there.” Applejack pressed her marshmallow between two graham crackers.

“Heh, thanks.”

“Why thank you.”

The women eventually found themselves staring at the makeshift campfire, unable to bring up another topic. The fire had died down, little embers rising from the barrel as it was getting later and later into the night. At this point, they agreed to say their goodbyes.

“Well, was a blast hangin’ with ya’ll today, but ah’ gotta get up early.” Applejack got up and waved to her friends, “See ya’ll round.”

Fluttershy yawned and stretched her arms, “I think it’s getting pretty late too… goodbye everybody! That was an amazing race…”

Rainbow Dash smiled and waved her hand back at her friends as she got up as well, “Alright everyone, take care.”

With that, she stretched as one by one, her friends poured out to the parking lot, started their respective cars up, and left. Rainbow Dash put a hand to her mouth as she yawned, closing up the gate to the track, and locking up the garage. Stepping towards her Mustang, she unlocked the door and climbed inside.

“Don’t worry bud, we’ll get her next time,” she thought to her car as she put it into reverse, straightened out, and headed back out onto the road away from the raceway. Her headlights lit the way in front as she kept the speed limit, despite no surveillance around the road she was driving on.

“Ugh, why does the track have to be so far from home?” Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but mutter out loud as she came over the hill and peered at the city that crawled into view below, all of its nighttime lights illuminated. She was heading straight home for some much needed shuteye.

Reaching the city, the continuously hypnotising allure of the street lights made the shadows in her car seem to crawl towards her then snap back, though it made no difference to Rainbow’s alertness. Ahead, a traffic light turned red. She exhaled as she put her foot on the brake, drumming the fingers of her right hand on top of her steering wheel.

The light changed, but the next one down the street flipped to red. She grumbled and stopped for that one, too, waiting obediently but not patiently until it changed.

Accelerating from the light on an empty street, Rainbow Dash muttered, “Why is every red light coming up for me? I swear to god...”

She groaned as she braked for the fifth one in a row, just in time to see a motorcyclist stop in the lane beside her. The biker was clad in a black leather jacket and blue jeans, sitting astride a black Kawasaki Ninja. The windows were down in the Mustang so the cool and crisp outside air flowed into the muscle car. The red light kept the two parallel, unmoving from their idle vehicles.

The light never seemed to change. Rainbow Dash glanced down the streets to her left and right, and sure enough, there were no approaching cars. The biker was doing the same, though more urgently upon closer observation. Still, the signal refused to shift colors.

“Fuck! It’s been two minutes!” she shouted, her teeth grit. The biker turned their head towards the voice, then back to the road.

Suddenly, the helmeted head swung back to the Mustang. The concealing visor couldn’t hide the obvious fact that the rider was eyeing her. Rainbow Dash gave a bit of a glance back towards them, and noticed that the shade of red around her had turned green.

“Finally.” she accelerated away from the light, as did the motorcycle. A police car headed the opposite direction, the rider’s head turning as it went past.

And yet, there was one more red light.

“For god’s sake.” Rainbow Dash sunk herself backwards in her seat, tightening her fingers around the wheel as she came to another stop.

Rainbow Dash and the biker were still stuck together, fated to hit red light after red light. It was almost like a temporary camaraderie. The rider glanced at her gain. Rainbow Dash nodded back.

The biker twisted the handgrip, revving their bike. Rainbow Dash glanced at the stoplight. The challenge was clear.

But looking at the Kawasaki Ninja, Rainbow Dash knew that even her Mustang couldn’t compete. The motorcycle’s power to weight ratio was off the charts, it was literally one of the fastest in the world. She shook her head.

The biker revved again, all the way to the Ninja’s 14,000 RPM redline. They clearly wanted this race. It killed Rainbow Dash not to give it to them, but she wasn’t going to try it. Two losses in one day might be too much for her to bear.

Again, Rainbow Dash shook her head. The biker’s expression was impossible to read through their visor, though they looked surprised.

But that was nothing compared to Rainbow Dash’s surprise at what happened next. The rider reached up to the back of their neck, under the high collar of their leather jacket, and pulled out a wave of scarlet and gold hair.

The light turned green and the biker was off like a shot. Stunned, Rainbow Dash grabbed a gear and put her foot to the floor.

Ch. 3

Fluttershy pulled her Subaru back into her driveway next to her Pruis.The headlights flickered off, and the two chirps came from the Outback as Fluttershy pushed the lock button on her key. She winced as the noise echoed around, despite her living a fair space away from any other homes. Opening up the door, she turned on the lights, to which she heard a whine come from her right.

Angel rubbed his eyes as the light awoke him from his slumber, to which Fluttershy quickly flicked the light switch back down, “Oh, I’m so sorry!”

Her night vision gave her ample view to navigate, as well as the fact that being accustomed with the layout of her home allowed her to walk through even if she was blind. A few tasks had to be done before she headed off to bed. Fluttershy undressed to her shorts and shirt, and took to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Flossing too, as her dentist always insisted.

Spitting the toothpaste back in the sink and rising her mouth, she heard a sort of buzzing noise conflict with the sound of the running water flowing into her mouth. After another spit back out, she turned her head and realised that her phone was ringing. It was back on the dining table when she had entered the house, placing it there when she walked in.

She was about to run for it, until Angel hopped in, carrying the vibrating device.

“Aw, thank you Angel.” she cooed as she picked up her cellphone. The screen showed Rainbow Dash’s name, along with her signature smirk as her contact photo, “Rainbow Dash at this hour? It might be important….”

Fluttershy tapped her thumb on the display, and the call started.

“Hello…?” Fluttershy knew the tone of exhaustion was clear in her voice.

“Hey, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash’s raspy voice however, sounded wide awake, “I… I think I saw someone.”

Fluttershy put both of her hands on the phone, “Oh my, is someone following you? You’d better call the police instead of me.”

“No, Flutters. I think I saw Sunset Shimmer.”

Fluttershy looked back at the phone, as if Rainbow’s face would be there, before placing it back to her cheek, “Rainbow Dash, Sunset has been-”

“Damnit, I know that she’s been gone! I’m telling you, I saw her! Red and yellow hair! It was her!” Fluttershy could actually hear her stand straight up from wherever she was sitting, throwing her other arm in the air.

Fluttershy walked to her bedroom and sat down on her bed as she kept talking, “Rainbow Dash, I know that it felt awful when Sunset wouldn’t contact us when we went to college, but maybe she has her own life now. Maybe it’s one where she can’t see us, even if she really wanted to.”

“Well what kind of a life is that? She was my friend! She was our friend, and to just ditch us like that without a single text message for what, eight years by now?”

“Dash, I don’t think that-”.

“Whatever. I know who I saw. Even if you don’t believe me like the others, I kinda hoped you would.”

“You called the others?”

Rainbow Dash hung up.

“Hello?”

Fluttershy knew what had happened when the small click had come from the other end. She just felt the need to say “hello” one more time. But before she knew it, Fluttershy was rushing out to her Prius, thumbing the power button, and heading down the road back to the city. She was no longer tired, but now deeply worried about her friend’s troublesome state and voice.

It took several minutes to get all the way to the center city and pull up to Rainbow Dash’s apartment building. However, the street curbs next to the building were already occupied, and the parking lot next to Rainbow Dash’s place had no vacancy as well. Heading into the underground parking lot and climbing out, Fluttershy locked her Prius as she approached the elevators knowing the long climb it would take to the fourteenth floor. Thumbing the only button to head up,the elevator to her right opened immediately, as it was already resting on her level. Pressing the number “14”, the doors closed and she rested herself against the handrail.

The gradual climb up made Fluttershy more and more anxious about how Rainbow Dash was handling things. She wasn’t a girl to shed a tear, but Fluttershy remembered her saying she called the others. What could this be about? Sunset Shimmer? Soon, Fluttershy would know, and comfort her friend.

The doors opened, and Fluttershy walked out into the hallway.

Then, to her left, another “ding” sounded off. The other elevator opened, and out poured her other four friends.

They stopped as they saw Fluttershy.

“So… uh… she called you too?” Twilight rubbed her head as she asked Fluttershy.

“Oh yes. Did she bring up Senset?”

“Yeah.” each of them replied at the same time.

Fluttershy tapped her shoes on the ground and scratched her arm, “Huh. Well, I guess we’re all here to comfort her?”

“Depends on what comfort means. Ahm’ here to try to get her to forget about Sunset.” Applejack had her arms crossed.

“Forget about Sunset? That seems a bit harsh, don’t you agree?” Rarity chimed in her view.

“Now look here, Sunset just left us and hasn’t even shot us a text for what, ten years?”

“Eight, actually.” Twilight pointed out.

“Yeah, eight whole years, and not a single word. We already tried all we could to get in touch with her. Trying to find her parents, other people she knew, all of it lead to nowhere.” Applejack leaned against the wall.

“It still nags at the back of my mind that something bad could have happened to her…” Fluttershy leaned against the wall as well.

“Sunset? Don’t be silly! She’s one of the toughest and coolest girls I know!” Pinkie wrapped her arms around Applejack and Twilight before changing her expression to one of deep thought, “Speaking of tough and awesome, shouldn’t we be comforting Dash?”

The others looked at each other for a few seconds before Pinkie knocked on the door, “Rainbow Dash? Are you okay in there? We’re here to turn that frown upside down!”

The group waited a tiny bit before some shuffling sounds came towards the front.

“What the- what are you doing here? What are you all doing here?” Rainbow Dash peered through the peephole, not opening the door.

“Well, we were so worried about you that we came to see if you’re doing okay.” Twilight explained on behalf of her friends.

“To hell with this, they may be here to sugarcoat some things, but ahm’ coming inside to talk some sense into you. Ya’ need to face the truth, Dash. Sunset left us.” Applejack came up to the door.

“You all talk like there’s something wrong with me! I saw Sunset Shimmer! She flew right past me on a motorcycle! The same leather jacket!” Rainbow Dash’s voice projected away from behind the door, indicating that she was sitting on the floor of her apartment room, back to the door. Applejack backed away from the door, looking at her other friends around her.

“Dashie, there’s nothing wrong with you. We just want to be there for when you’re stressed.” Fluttershy leaned her shoulder to the wall.

“Isn’t it late for you guys to be here?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“We don’t care, quite frankly. You’re much more important than our bedtimes.” Rarity chimed in.

Then, the door opened up. Rainbow Dash’s eyes kept staring at the floor, all the energy and confidence that occupied her being had seemingly been sapped from her. One by one, Rainbow Dash’s friends entered the room. Applejack couldn’t even bring herself to start with her original plan to get Rainbow Dash to get over Sunset Shimmer. But even someone gone for eight years could still have the impact as Sunset did.

Rainbow Dash stood in the center of the hallway to her apartment housing, looking up from her feet, her eyes hidden partially by her never dulling multi-colored hair. She rubbed her arm and looked away.

“God, look at me. I got all of you to come here as if I was murdered.”

Her friends gathered around and swarmed her with an embrace, the warmth of each of them coating Rainbow Dash in affection and love, with her at the center of it all.

“Hush now, Rainbow Dash.” Applejack even joined in the group hug.

“I never wanna see you down in the dumps like this! Never!” Pinkie smiled, knowing that every second that passed meant that her dear friend was feeling a bit better.

The group had eventually disbanded the hug, and found themselves sitting on Rainbow Dash’s couch, her living room chair, and two dining room chairs that Twilight and Applejack moved over to sit down in. Rainbow Dash had recovered from her overbearing emotions earlier, but still maintained profusely that she had seen her lost friend.

“Are you sure it couldn’t have been anyone else?” Twilight had her arms in her lap as she was seated in Rainbow Dash’s dining room chair, “There could be a lot of women who ride motorcycles going around town. It isn’t that much of an uncommon sight.”

Rainbow dash shook her head, “She had blonde and red hair. Who else could it’ve been?”

“Miss Dash, I’m afraid that’s only one detail. Hair dying, wigs, or it could just be another girl. I mean, it’s only one distinct feature of someone we haven’t seen for eight years now.” Rarity came back from the dining room, pouring Rainbow Dash a glass of water.

“Thanks.” she took a sip, “I mean… well… I guess it really wasn’t much to go off of.”

Applejack turned her head to Dash, sitting next to her on her couch, “Well, if she was really Sunset Shimmer, ah’d think that she would have shown you her face, or talked to you right there and then. Kinda seems like somethin’ she’d do, no?”

Rainbow Dash found herself nodding a bit, “Yeah… that seems strange.”

Pinkie Pie was scribbling down in a notepad about another party to cheer up Rainbow Dash. Unsurprisingly, she was finding herself a little overbooked. Maybe Twilight was right about taking life one party at a time.

“What if something’s going on? Maybe she couldn’t speak to me at the time.” Rainbow Dash suddenly threw the idea into the air. They didn’t show it, but the girls internally sighed. They were making such good progress.

“Well, what could Sunset even be doing now? She hasn’t even sent us a text, or mailed us over the years.” Fluttershy herself was starting to go into the speculation territory.

Twilight pointed a finger up. “Well, whatever it is, I’m sure Sunset’s fine. It’s not like she’s a pushover at all.”

“Well, how would we know? Like Flutters said, not even a single text for these past eight years. If she’s our friend, then Sunset would’ve kept us up to date.” Rainbow Dash found herself staring at her feet again.

Pinkie Pie gace a big smile, “Well, if she does come around, I’ll be sure to ask her all about what’s been going on!”

Just then, someone knocked at the door.

“I’ll get it!” Pinkie was closest and hopped off the living room chair to answer the door. She looked through the peephole, and opened it up.

“Hey Sunset!”

Full Metal Jacket dismounted from the executive helicopter, having already applied his own bandages and first aid. He walked away from the helicopter, rotors still churning on the helipad, and past two armed guards to enter the building.

The massive property had a sophisticated and modern aura, white buildings and palm trees littered across the artificial island. Though it appeared to have the appearance of a business property, or some would even call it a massive private estate fused with the aforementioned, soldiers walked around, armored Land Rover trucks patrolled the island, and heavily secured crates were being unloaded off cargo trucks with forklifts.

The view from above disappeared as he entered through the automatic sliding glass doors, greeted by artificial waterfalls and marble interior. Taking an elevator up, he pressed a button, and thumbed in a code on a keypad inside of the elevator. The electronic ding sounded as the cabin slowly lifted up a few floors, until it reached the very top, away from the helipad that jutted from the side of the building.

The doors opened and he stepped through a glass door into a penthouse, his burly and bloodied appearance looking completely out of place. He walked inside, looked around at the expensive imported furniture, searching for someone. He peered outside to the high-risen outdoor swimming pool. She wasn’t there. Already frustrated from before, Full Metal Jacket sat down on the sectional sofa.

Whatever cuts or gashes he sustained from before had stopped bleeding. The expensive white couch was safe from his fluids staining it. Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time the couch was replaced due to bloodshed.

“You didn’t knock.”

Full Metal Jacket turned towards the voice.

“The door was open.”

A woman, skin pale as snow, walked down the spiral staircase. She was dressed in grey business attire, her dark hair cut short, just off her shoulders. She stepped from the staircase, and looked at Full Metal Jacket, sitting on her couch.

“I’m impressed you survived all of that. The driver later died from the injuries sustained to his head.” the woman sat down across from FMJ on a loveseat, her legs crossed as she flicked some lint off of her pants, “Though, the loss of the arcanic stabilizer is a bit concerning.”

“My escort for the mission-”

“I know about the treachery. No need to remind me.”

“And the tracking device-”

“Has been removed. It’s not too much of a surprise.”

Dispassionate as she usually was, FMJ was still not sure that she understood the full situation. “Aurora, I need to find her. She could compromise everything that we’re doing.”

Aurora nodded, “I’ve already planned for that.”

“So what do you expect me to do? Sit on my ass and let this happen?” Full Metal Jacket sat up.

“It’s simple. Proceed with your mission, and find any means to obtaining more intelligence on acarnic energy. I believe the escort’s destination would have some very promising leads.” Aurora tapped the tablet, and a buzz was heard from FMJ’s phone.

“And what about you?” Full Metal Jacket turned to leave before stopping and looking back.

“Vegas. Remember my poker tournament?” Aurora reminded him. She smiled for the first time, more predatory than friendly.

“You’re already loaded. What on earth do you need to go all the way to Vegas for anyways?” Full Metal Jacket walked back.

“The winner gets a car. A really nice car. A rare car.”

Full Metal Jacket shook his head. “You’ve got plenty of those.”

“I know I do.” Aurora acknowledged, “but not that one.”

“You’re obsessed with them.” Full Metal Jacket interjected.

“Just as you’re obsessed with me telling you what to do.” Aurora walked up and gave a little kiss to FMJ’s cheek, “Now go.”

Full Metal Jacket snorted as he left the penthouse. He had a destination, an objective, and new men at his side. If he ran into his escort, there was a bullet in his gun reserved just for them.

And by that, he meant every single bullet in every single gun.

Ch. 4

Pinkie had gotten up to answer the door, and none of the girls would have dreamed who it was.

Sunset Shimmer entered Rainbow’s apartment. She still wore her trademark leather jacket over jeans and boots. She walked as if she’d learned quite a bit about being human in the eight years since they’d seen her. There was something else in her body language, something the rest didn’t recognize.

For half a second, there was absolute silence. Then, pandemonium broke out. All of them were trying to talk at once, trying to greet Sunset, asking questions, expressing their own personal surprise.

Rainbow’s voice carried over the rest as she pointed her finger at Sunset. “I knew that was you!”

Sunset raised her hands. The others respectfully fell silent. To Rainbow, she said, “I couldn’t say hello at the time, but I’m here now. It’s been so long.”

“I was just about to say that m’self,” remarked Applejack.

“We were just about to have a party!” Pinkie broke in. “Though even I didn’t know you would be showing up, Sunset! Here, take off your coat and stay awhile.”

She yanked off the jacket before Sunset could react, though Sunset did try, hands moving in a blur, though not quite as fast as Pinkie.

As the jacket came off, everyone saw a handgun holstered on her right hip and extra magazines on her left.

Sunset’s hands poised as if trying to cover herself but wasn’t sure where to put them. The rest of them had already seen, however, so there was no point in trying to hide anything now. She crossed her arms and looked at the floor.

Her old friends fell silent once again as their eyes gazed upon the firearm in its holster.

“So I suppose you all have a lot of questions.” Sunset rubbed the back of her head.

“That can wait just a second,” said Pinkie. “You’ve got so much tension in your shoulders! Here, I bet it’s this.”

Sunset made another grab for the next thing Pinkie pulled off her but was again too slow. Pinkie came away with a black wooden object, about eighteen inches long and slightly curved. It had been strapped to Sunset’s back.

“What’s this?” Pinkie asked. She turned it over in her hands.

Shhhh-clang!

A polished blade slid out of the sheath and fell on the floor.

“Oh, a wakizashi!” said Pinkie. “Cool, I’ve never seen one.”

“I-Is that a samurai sword?!” Twilight moved towards the blade on the ground, looking over the thousand-folded nippon steel weapon.

Pinkie picked it up and resheathed it, putting it with Sunset’s jacket on the couch. Twilight gave her a look, finding Pinkie’s nonchalant attitude about discovering that her friend was harboring a sword to be severely out of place, even for her.

Sunset let out a long sigh and took off her pistol belt. “Here, you might as well take this, too.”

As Pinkie took it and turned to set it down, Applejack glanced down at the gun in the holster. “Wait, what’s that there switch?” Her eyes widened. “A Glock 18!? Ain’t that full auto?”

Sunset sighed and continued to look at the floor, arms folded. She shifted from foot to foot. “Well, if you didn’t have questions before, you probably do now,” she muttered.

The girls were silent for a few seconds longer, until Pinkie raised her hand.

“Alright Pinkie. Go ahead.” Sunset braced herself.

“Well, I got like a million billion questions, but here’s one to start! Did you know that Twilight got accepted to work at Wendigo? Isn’t that amazing?!” Pinkie smiled and put both of her hands on Twilight’s shoulders.

“Oh Pinkie, I think Sunset should have the spotlight here…” Twilight turned back to Sunset, and saw that the color seemed to drain from her face.

“Uh, Sunset? Are you okay?” Twilight asked again.

“Oh my, it’s like she’s seen a ghost.” Fluttershy remarked.

Sunset shook her head, then took a deep breath. She exhaled. “Okay.”

She looked over the faces of the six girls, now women who had taken her in after all of the chaos and destruction she had caused back at Canterlot High. Even with Princess Twilight Sparkle still back in Equestria, she felt complete once again as she was finally reunited with her friends. It only made what Sunset had to tell them even harder to wrench from her mouth.

“I disappeared from college because Wendigo sought me out.”

The six other women simultaneously asked in amazement, “You went to work for Wendigo?!”

“So why didn’t you tell us? Why didn’t you talk to any of us for these past eight years?!” Rainbow Dash pressed further for an answer she’d wanted for a long time.

“Because I couldn’t!” Sunset snapped back, but regained her composure as her friends were taken aback, “I… couldn’t. They wouldn’t let me at all.”

“What the- why would they do that? Is that what they do to all of their researchers?” Twilight asked.

Sunset shook her head, “Wendigo Magical Research and Development is a facade. Wendigo is a private military organization.”

They all fell into shocked silence once again, still processing what Sunset had said. Then, Applejack spoke. “Wait, wait, hold up here. As in, Blackwater kinda stuff? As in the same kind of company that tried to hire my brother after he got out of the Marines?”

Sunset once again shook her head. “Listen, I’m… being tracked. Sort of. They planted a tracking device in my motorcycle, but I finally figured out where it was hidden and got it out. Everything I’m telling you, I can get killed for.”

At this point, the girls realised that Sunset probably wasn’t in the safest of situations, and as Rainbow Dash went to shut the blinds of the glass doors to her balcony, she lifted an eyebrow, “Then why aren’t you telling the cops about this? And what the hell is going on?!”

Sunset, once the blinds were closed, and getting up to look through the peephole of Rainbow Dash’s door, sat down in chair she got from Rainbow’s dining table.

“I’m sorry I’m telling you all so late at night, but you’re the only ones I trust in spilling these secrets. As for the police…” Sunset looked down at the floor, “Let’s just say that Wendigo has influence and reach wherever they want, whenever they want, and to whoever they want.”

As Sunset spoke, her friends started to get more and more afraid on what was going on behind a set of curtains they didn’t even know existed.

“You all ready for what I’m going to tell you?” Sunset asked.

The women all nodded.

“Wendigo is a private military organization that’s attempting to unlock the potential to weaponize magic.” Sunset started.

“Weaponize?” Twilight asked in confusion.

“Yeah. Equestrian magic is… a bit more consistent than the magic you guys have. No offense.” Sunset strayed off a bit, “But these guys, they want to get that consistency, and put it into soldiers. Super soldiers. Think about it, a fighting force that can teleport, lift tanks with just a gesture of their head, conjure impenetrable energy shields, and other, more horrible things than any of us could conceive.”

Sunset paused. “It would be the most sophisticated fighting force the world has ever seen, controlled by a company who wouldn’t think twice about using it for profit.”

“So you’re telling us that Wendigo is in fact not a research firm focused on understanding magic for the betterment of humanity, but a paramilitary organization attempting to exploit it all in the name of profit and power?” Twilight looked like she was about to be sick.

“That much power in the hands of people who value the dollar over human lives…” Sunset looked at her knees, “The sorties I’ve run for them. The kind of equipment they’re transporting around the country. The number of people jumping onboard to get a piece of the profit… and the kinds of people…” Sunset shook her head, “It’ll be a disaster. And they’re keeping every research breakthrough secret inside of their operations.”

“But you’re here. You had to escape from them?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah. It’s not about knowing what they’re up to, because the pay and equipment satisfy the kinds of men and women who come aboard, but it’s what happens when you try to leave.” Sunset explained.

“Which is…?” Pinkie’s attitude deflated, as if knowing the answer already.

“You try to run, they kill you. They find out beforehand, you’re beaten over and over, or locked up. All communication with the outside world, gone.” Sunset kept going on.

“Oh my god…” Rarity clasped her hands on her mouth.

“Well, why not run with this to the news? The police? Wendigo can’t bribe every single one of them.” Rainbow Dash asked, a huge swath of suspicion in her voice.

“Trust me. They can, or they have contingencies in place to discredit you. And when you do run, they’ll pick up your trail and silence you.” Sunset Shimmer shook her head, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve already gotten to the police in town and either paid them off or fed them a story about some made up crime I did.”

Rainbow Dash stood up, looking down at Sunset.

“You know what, why in the hell should we trust you?! You went off to work for Wendigo, even if it wasn’t what you thought it was, and never told us? That could’ve at least been a starting point to know what you could’ve been doing! You just disappeared and fucked off! How do we know you didn’t do some kind of crime and are using this story to get us to help you?!”

Sunset stood back up, fire in her eyes, and walked towards Rainbow Dash, “After what I had to go through, don’t you think for a fucking second that I’d be lying to you! And why would I lie? All of you are the only people I trust out here! That’s why I came!”

“So where’s the proof?” Rainbow asked as Sunset was in her face.

“It’s not here.” Sunset admitted, flat out.

“Well, there we go, girls.” Rainbow Dash ducked out of the way of Sunset.

“You know, I had a feeling that none of you would believe me. I at least thought you would, ‘Miss Loyalty’.” Sunset shot back at Rainbow Dash.

“I’m loyal. Not gullible.” Rainbow Dash stared at Sunset and then shook her head. “I don’t believe this. Just get out of here.”

The others fell silent.

Sunset didn’t say a word.

“Get out.” Rainbow Dash insisted. “It’s your problem now. Not ours. Whatever guns and shit you’ve got on yourself, the guys chasing you must have more. I’m not going to endanger myself, or my friends to them.”

“And I’m not your friend?” Sunset crossed her arms.

“Eight years kinda does some damage to that word.”

“It wasn’t even my fault. I couldn’t-”

Rainbow Dash snorted, then spoke again, “Show me proof. I want to know that everything you say is true. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. Hard evidence of what Wendigo is doing.”

Then, Fluttershy spoke up, “Rainbow Dash, she wouldn’t have come in so distressed if she didn’t need our help.”

“Help. Yeah, but with what?” Rainbow Dash walked back up to Sunset, “What do want from us?”

Sunset was silent for a few seconds before she replied, “I want your help to stop a force that could endanger the entire globe. You might be the only ones who can. And if you want proof…”

Sunset trailed off, then looked back at Rainbow Dash, “I have proof. I’ve been compiling it and sending it to a deposit box at the local bank here. Secretly.”

“And how in the name of hell have you managed to do that-”

“Do you want to see it or not?!” Sunset almost shouted.

The remainder of the group of women had been silent through all the arguing. Only Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer seemed to be locked in the verbal exchange.

“Bank’s closed right now.” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“First thing tomorrow. I’ll get it.” Sunset held out her hand, “Deal?”

Rainbow Dash looked at Sunset’s palm, outstretched.

She took, and firmly grasped it, shaking it once.

“Deal.”

“First thing tomorrow. I’ll get it. Deal?”

…

“Deal.”

Two men listened in from the adjacent apartment’s rooftop, a laser microphone mounted on a tripod. The latest in technology, it detected minute vibrations from the apartment window and deciphered the conversation into the headphones that the men wore.

“So this is where the escort went to.” one said to the other, “I’ll go inform FMJ.”

“Alright. I’ll keep listening for anything else.”

One walked away, and pulled out a cellphone, dialing up the secure line.

“Report in,” the voice came from the phone.

“Sir, we tracked the escort down. They’re staying in town, it looks like. And she’s been talking about ‘proof’. Think she may have evidence about what we’re gonna do,” the Wendigo soldier explained.

“How many are with her?”

“Looks like five or six others. Wait… yeah. Six.”

On the other end, FMJ cursed, the background noise of the armored Land Rover truck droning in the background.

“I won’t be arriving until around four, over there. The bank over there opens at nine. Right?” FMJ asked.

“Yeah. Should be.” the soldier replied.

Full Metal Jacket inhaled, then spoke back into the phone, “Do you think the others are armed?”

“Doubt it. Though, we did just started to listen in about fifteen minutes ago, after following her here.”

Full Metal Jacket spoke again, “Keep tabs on them. Do not engage. When I get down there, we’ll assess, then act. Got it?”

“Yessir.”

Full Metal Jacket thumbed his cell phone, disconnecting the call.

“If anyone’s putting a bullet in her head, it’s me.”

Ch. 5

She’d had worse nights. Literally sleeping under a bridge with nothing but her clothes was hardly the most uncomfortable rest Sunset ever had to go through. Though, after a few hours, she started to have second thoughts on all the girls offering to let her stay at their places for the night. Sunset would have it if there wasn’t a possibility that she was being tracked.

Even if Wendigo found her, she wouldn’t let them find her friends.

But what if they’d been tracking her the whole way since riding off from the escort mission? What if Wendigo already knew of her friends and where they lived? What if they had spied on her that very night she reunited with them?

Sunset’s mind pounded her with more and more concerns from her paranoia. A headache started to form, and he exhaled. Sunset shivered again and closed her eyes, praying every second that a soldier clad in black wouldn’t drag her out from her overnight refuge and put a bullet through her head. Or capture her and haul her back to do much worse.

One hand was always on her Glock’s holster, her wakizashi leaning beside her. Her motorcycle was concealed by plants and moss from the river, propped up onto a few folded out cardboard boxes. Every little movement from a frog jumping into the water, to a shadow of a car passing overhead from the bridge’s streetlights got her eyelids to stretch apart again, just as they were about to close.

An owl hooted in the distance as after the fifteenth or so splash from a frog, Sunset’s eyes refused to stay open, and complete darkness swallowed her vision.

The spot to meet up was Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie had already gotten a swath of vacation time off from her hours practically running the place now. Mr. and Mrs. Cake would watch over the shop while she was gone, just like when Pinkie was still in high school.

Though both of them wouldn’t have the faintest of ideas what Pinkie was really going off to do with her vacation.

The girls were sitting at a table, their cars parked in the back lot. Pinkie had already gotten them milkshakes, free of charge, with one still sitting there for Sunset.

“Anyone seen Sunny?” Pinkie asked for the seventh time.

“She’ll get here.” Twilight reassured her, then looked towards the doorway as the bell rang, “There she is!”

Sunset trudged in, her face, and in fact most of her body, soiled. She gave a little smile and waved, and sat down next to her friends.

“Sunset, your face is so dirty… here, let me clean that up for you.” Fluttershy got a handkerchief from her purse, and helped wipe the smudged dirt from Sunset’s face.

“Aw, christ! You reek!” Rainbow Dash cringed and covered her nose with her hand.

“Rainbow Dash, don’t be so-” Rarity took a whiff, “On second thought…”

Rarity handed Sunset a bottle of perfume, “It’s not going to clean you up, but let’s just hope that it cancels out that horrid stench!”

“Ah’ don’t think two bad smells are gonna cancel each other out.” Applejack cracked, getting everyone else except for Rarity to either giggle or grin. Sunset wanted to tell her friends about how amazing it felt to be back with them, how they took care of each other, and how much she’d missed that - and them. But there was another, more pressing matter.

“Alright, let’s get down to business.” Sunset nodded, “You guys just wait across the street from the bank. I’ll go in and get the evidence.”

“You sure you don’t want us to come inside with you?” Rainbow Dash’s eyebrow rose.

“I need to do it. If I get caught in there or something, I don’t want you to be near me in that building.” Sunset replied.

A glance around the table betrayed the emotions of her friends. Rarity and Fluttershy had a sinking feeling in their gut that this was all real, and really happening. As with Twilight, Sunset felt that she was still recovering from the shock of her friend telling her of what Wendigo really was. Applejack kept a stoic expression the whole time, after the subject of the bank and the evidence inside was brought up again.

Could it be that… Applejack fully trusted her? She didn’t seem to raise as many objections as Rainbow Dash had back at her apartment. Pinkie was actually listening to everything that Sunset was saying with dedication, something that she didn’t expect her carefree friend to do a lot.

And Rainbow Dash… it was a bit hard. Her face seem blank the whole while, but her suspicions were still inside of her. Sunset Shimmer knew that.

Sunset finished her milkshake, and nodded to her friends, “Let’s get going.”

Not a word was spoken as they exited the sweet shop, got into their respective vehicles, and drove down towards the bank. Sunset stopped by the side of the building while her friends all parked in various places that were free. She didn’t look up, but knew that there was a security camera peering down on her.

Rainbow Dash watched the most intently, sitting inside of her Mustang as Sunset entered.

A wave of air-conditioned breeze hit her face as she walked into the bank. A baseball cap on her head hardly did much to conceal her face, but it hid her eyes and most of her features from the camera around the ceiling. Approaching the teller, she had no choice but to raise her chin up.

“Good morning m’am, how can I help you today?” the teller flashed a smile.

“Hey, I need to get something out of storage here. Lockbox A235.” Sunset spoke.

“Okay, and can you tell me what’s inside there? We just need to verify.” the teller asked again.

Sunset looked up for a few seconds, before answering back, “Photos of me and my friends.”

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had parked across the street, Twilight and Fluttershy on the corner of the block being two buildings away, and Applejack and Pinkie Pie had parked in the parking lot behind the bank. Rarity was parked around the curb. Sunset’s motorcycle was leaning against the wall of the bank within the same lot.

Only Rainbow Dash could see what was going on inside, and even then, there weren't a lot of angles she could actually peer through.

Sunset had encouraged the girls to refrain from talking on the phone. It’s not that they thought someone would be listening in on them, but a resurfaced phone conversation that detailed nothing but the descriptions of what was going on inside of a bank would draw quite a few suspicions from the police.

Sunset still waited for the teller as she typed on her computer.

“Just a minute…” she instructed Sunset, now standing at the counter for five minutes, getting nowhere.

Then, she noticed something. The entire bank was empty, save for her, and a few other tellers at their places. No other people doing their business inside.

Before Sunset could come to the conclusion that this was a trap, and quite fast with it being obvious, she felt something press against her spine.

She tried to turn her head, but the man in the business suit pressed his hand against the side of Sunset’s head, “No, eyes in front.”

Sunset bit her lip as the disguised Wendigo soldier escorted her away from the teller.

“Thank you for trusting Mane-Branch Bank.” the teller said without looking up from her computer. She could already see the money being transferred to her account.

“Oh fuck.” Rainbow Dash could just barely see that when the man walked up to Sunset, and they both turned away with him behind her, the shape resembling a handgun in between them was apparent.

Her immediate reaction was to unlock her phone, and dial emergency services. The dialing tone didn’t even go through. It simply said, “Call failed” on her phone’s screen.

“Shit…” she looked out the window of her car again as Sunset and the man disappeared from inside. The phone was out of the question. She looked back at her screen, and no bars were present despite it being in the middle of town. From her knowledge of action and spy movies, or rather remembrance, she could figure that there was some sort of cell phone jammer preventing any calls.

Rainbow Dash peered back inside of the bank. Sunset hadn’t returned. She didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary coming from the building, though that could be for the worse.

She made her decision. Rainbow ignited her Mustang’s engine, and pulled away from the sidewalk. The closest to her were Applejack and Pinkie Pie within the bank’s parking lot. The unmistakable pink VW Beetle and the rugged 1989 Tacoma were stationary, with both of their occupants in the driver's seat of their respective vehicles. Rainbow Dash pulled up to the side of the parking lot, and motioned towards both of them. She rapidly pointed her fingers towards the bank, and had a distressed look on her face.

It clearly gave the impression to the two that something was wrong. Rainbow Dash didn’t want to take any chance with shouting, should someone inside of the bank overhear the commotion.

Applejack pointed to her cellphone, and shook her head. Hers was out too.

“Go figure.” Rainbow Dash thought to herself.

Time was wasting, as the girls started to feel more and more helpless to the possibilities of what was going on inside of the bank.

Then, Pinkie’s eyes widened, and she made a motion to Rainbow Dash.

Behind you!

She had no idea how she missed the sound. Two men on black motorcycles pulled up. They wore casual riding clothes and had their visors up, as if they were just out for a casual ride.

The Mini Uzi machine pistols they produced from their sides betrayed that completely.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as they approached her Mustang, both firearms pointed at her car door.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie sank down in their seats, seeing that the two armed men hadn’t yet noticed them. Their attention was clearly on the Grabber Blue muscle car.

Before Rainbow Dash could react by stepping on the gas pedal, the pair of thugs threw open Rainbow Dash’s door just as she was about to lock it. Applejack and Pinkie Pie watched in horror as their friend and the assailant struggled with the seatbelt, before it coming free. Rainbow Dash was sent to the asphalt, both guns pointing down at her.

“You think we don’t know who you are?!” one man kicked Rainbow Dash on the ground, preventing her from getting back up immediately and earning a sputtered gasp from her, “We heard the whole fucking thing last night!”

Then, a gunshot came from within the bank.

The soldiers smiled, and one spoke through a grin, “Hear that, Rainbow Dash? Looks like your friend just bit the dust.”

Just as one grabbed her hair and moved the barrel of the Uzi to the back of Dash’s head, a voice called out.

“Hey!”

The other motorcyclist swung his Uzi to see Applejack, out of her truck, with her Colt Python .357 Magnum in hand. She focused the sights on the head of the thug with his gun to Rainbow Dash. The other pointed his Uzi at Applejack.

“Ya’ll try any more shit like that, I’ll fucking shoot!” Applejack had both of her hands on the grip.

The soldier with the gun trained on Applejack gave a little smile.

“Easy there, cowgirl”, he spoke as the Uzi was trained on Applejack’s chest, “It’s one versus two here.”

Pinkie kept her head down, and couldn’t watch even if she wanted to. Applejack made a movement of focusing her grip tighter on the revolver, her finger already on the trigger. She really meant to fire.

“Don’t get any funny ideas, buster! You know how many friends Sunset has. What’s to say that two of them aren’t watching you right now?” Applejack bluffed.

The one with his Uzi to Dash’s head looked up at his partner, to which he shook his head.

“Don’t try this shit with me, or we’re killing both of you!” the soldier bashed the back of Rainbow Dash’s head with the magazine of his weapon, getting Applejack to scowl even deeper, and rest her finger on the trigger.

“This way up. We’re gonna reunite you with an old friend of yours, traitor.” the soldier with the handgun to Sunset’s back pushed her up the stairs to the second floor.

Sunset knew just who that “old friend” was. With his image in her head, she knew that she couldn’t go further. It was now or never.

She smashed the back of her head against her captor’s nose with one swift and precise movement. An audible crack was heard as she swung around to the man’s side, just as he fired his pistol. The round barely skinned her jacket. Sunset thrust her elbow into the man’s neck, earning a gag, and he raised his hands to protect himself.

Before he knew it, Sunset was behind him, her own Glock to his ear.

“Hey newbie. First rule, always confisticate the weapon first.” Sunset’s eyes narrowed at the back of his head.

Then, the door at the end of the hallway opened. Two more soldiers, these ones clad in full black body armor rushed out, HK416 rifles trained on Sunset and the her now captive captor. She could only know that two lasers were dancing around the man’s chest.

Then, another figure walked out from the door. The bald and muscular man, tattoos all over his arms stepped out, hand on his HK45 handgun.

Full Metal Jacket was all too unmistakable.

“Miss me?” Sunset quipped, braver than she felt right now, gun still to her captive’s head.

“Hardly. I just got here, and you’re still causing trouble.” he raised his Heckler and Koch, “But not a minute too soon, it seems.”

Full Metal Jacket motioned for the other two soldiers to move up, keeping his handgun trained on Sunset. They got the motion, and with their rifles, they inched closer.

“You come closer, I shoot him!” Sunset jerked the Wendigo soldier she had in her grip, forcing the soldiers to stop.”

Full Metal Jacket smiled.

“I can live with that.”

He raised his handgun, and fired. Sunset reacted just as the first bullet struck the man’s chest, stopped by lightweight body armor that he was wearing underneath his disguise of a business suit. The man gasped in pain as the bullet’s kinetic energy slammed into him, feeling as if a baseball thrown by a professional pitcher was thrown straight into him.

Sunset fired back at the two advancing men with rifles, scoring the one on her left between his eyes before he could react and fire. He dropped to the ground, and his rifle clattered on the floor.

Sunset threw the man off of her as a salvo of rifle rounds riddled her captive, blood flying onto the massive glass windows and shattering them. The man stumbled backwards off the stair railing, and fell outside of the bank, the stairs overlooking the street.

Sunset used the opportunity to drop a story down by vaulting over the staircase railing and rolling on the bank floor, firing her pistol back up as she ran outside.

Then, two gunshots came from outside. They weren't sharp like pistols or rifles, but blunt and powerful. She witnessed two men next to newly-arrived motorcycles go down outside, them clutching their chests in agony. One fired his machine pistol in the air as he went down, and Sunset could see Rainbow Dash scramble away.

“They know my friends.” Sunset’s mind raced as fast as she did towards Rainbow Dash, coming around the corner.

“Are you okay?!” Sunset asked frantically, checking Rainbow Dash for any sort of major wounds.

“I’m fine no thanks to AJ!” Rainbow Dash breathed in relief, as Sunset turned and saw the barrel of Applejack’s revolver smoking. The man falling out of the window had distracted Rainbow’s assailants, allowing Applejack to gun both of them down.

“We need to go. Now.” Sunset looked back, finding for the moment she was still ahead of her pursuers. “NOW!”

At this, Rainbow Dash clambered back into their car, but looked back.

“Where?!”

“Anywhere but here!”

Then, from the other side of the block, Twilight’s Corolla and Fluttershy’s Prius swerved away, two motorcyclists going after them.

“I’ll help them out! Just get out of here!” Sunset ran off to her motorcycle, jumped on, and rode off as the three other girls in the parking lot looked at each other, nodded, and headed off in opposite directions.

Sunset accelerated on her Kawasaki, her helmet over her face as the wind snapped her jacket around. She could see her friend’s cars turn desperately around an intersection, the motorcycles effortlessly keeping up with them. She began to gain on them, and figured that they must have seen her in their mirrors.

One decreased speed, flying towards her, her opened fire with his Uzi. 9mm rounds flew around her, peppering the pavement in front and behind her as Sunset nearly put her stomach flat on her bike. Sunset lifted her own weapon set to full auto, and squeezed off a burst. None of the rounds hit, save for one striking just below the rider’s seat.

The Wendigo soldier opened up again, Sunset ducking beneath her glass. Scratches and cracks adorned the windshield as she bid her time against the Uzi’s magazine.

Then, the machine pistol stopped firing.

Sunset pounced. She threw her motorcycle to its edge with the nitrous oxide system, racing towards her enemy like a bullet of her own. From a compartment on her motorcycle, she drew her wakizashi, and swerved straight into him. The motorcyclist couldn’t pull away. The sword connected with his neck, blood flying through the air and all over the controls of his motorcycle.

Almost instantly, the Wendigo soldier swerved onto the sidewalk, and smashed into a streetlight. The motorcycle ignited into flames as the limp body was thrown across the pavement. Shocked pedestrians either watched in horror, shot a video from their phones, or, at least the sensible ones, phoned for the police. If Sunset knew Wendigo, they must have been jamming cellphones. Or probably bribed the police anyways. The latter was far more concerning to her.

She didn’t have much time to delve. The other motorcyclist was gaining towards Twilight’s Corolla and Fluttershy’s Prius. He was much further away from Sunset, and she could see him draw his Uzi from his side. Sunset throttled forward again on her Kawasaki, desperately trying to get into range to fire her handgun accurately.

Then, a screech echoed from the intersection that Twilight and Fluttershy passed through.The Wendigo rider only managed to turn his head as Rainbow Dash’s Mustang drifted straight into him, sending the vehicle and the rider airborne. A sickening thump and the proceeding whine of the damaged motorcycle rang through the air. The Mustang screeched around after performing the hit, and turned towards her friends for the run. Sunset watched as the sprawled soldier could hardly get up. His right arm was twisted in the wrong direction when he landed on it. Just as she passed by, Sunset let loose a volley of pistol rounds, a few shattering through his visor, ending the suffering.

Sunset rode up to Twilight’s Corolla and shouted through the open window, “Are you all okay?!”

“Yeah! I think so!” Twilight shouted back.

“Where do we go now?!” Fluttershy managed to raise her voice loud enough over the numerous engines, an impressive feat indeed.

“Look out!” Rainbow Dash suddenly hit the brakes, smoke pluming from her tires. Her warning was just in time for Twilight and Sunset to get their rides to stop after Rainbow Dash spotted a row of deployed spikes on the road.

Fluttershy gasped as she couldn’t see in time, slamming on the brakes and throwing herself forward as the inertia reversed on her. Her seatbelt locked her safely in place, but her car sailed straight into the hazard. The metal spikes punctured through her front tires, and tore through her back ones. The sudden jolt sent the Prius straight into an electrical box on the side of the street, several pedestrians jumping away just in time.

“Fluttershy!” Sunset got off of her bike, and ran towards the wrecked Prius. Fluttershy stumbled out of the car, smelling the distinguishable fume of gasoline.

“Get out of there! The gas’ll ignite!” Rainbow Dash could only stray there, helpless as the spikes prevented her from getting to her friend. She didn’t have time to contemplate the irony of a burning hybrid being more dangerous for the environment.

“Uhnnn…” Fluttershy had noticeable scratches and bruises from Sunset’s view. Just as she came up to Sunset Shimmer, a whooshing fireball soared skyward as the gasoline caught fire from the short-circuiting box and the leaking fuel from the crunched tank. Sunset threw Fluttershy to the ground, her back towards the explosion.

Sunset looked down at Fluttershy, “Are you hurt?”

“Just some scratches and bruises. I’m okay.” Fluttershy rubbed her temple. Sunset pulled her up and both of them made their way to Rainbow Dash’s Mustang.

“Dash, get her out of here.”

Rainbow didn’t argue with that. The Mustang drove off.

“What about you?” Twilight asked.

“I’m gonna find where Pinkie and AJ went. Rarity too. Just get anywhere away from here.” Sunset instructed. With that, Twilight drove off.

Sunset was thankful that the rest of her friends had made it out of the battle in one piece. They regrouped at Fluttershy’s house, due to it being far away from town, and coming up from an underused road. They wouldn’t be staying for too long, of course.

“I’m just glad that you’re all alive.” Sunset professed. Not even Rainbow Dash was in the mood to start to deconstruct Sunset again. She too was thankful of her continuing life.

“Well… what do we do now? They’ll be looking for us there. We can’t go back in town.” Twilight asked, “My brother must be worried sick. My parent’s too.”

Applejack was sitting against the wall. No one spoke to her after she had shot those two motorcyclists. She told Rarity to hold her revolver for her. Rarity was sitting next to Applejack, letting her lean on her shoulder.

Pinkie’s hair had deflated a long time ago. She didn’t say a word after coming to Fluttershy’s house. On the other hand, Fluttershy was desperate to call her insurance company, but there was a nagging thought in the back of her head telling her that it wouldn’t be the best idea at the moment.

Sunset looked around, and her heart sank once again. “Oh god…” she said to herself.

“Well, I believe you now.”

Every head turned to Rainbow Dash, who had gotten up from her seat, “I think we all do.”

Sunset shook her head, “Dash, it’s okay.”

“No, it isn’t.” Rainbow Dash walked up to Sunset, “I doubted more than just Wendigo being nothing but killers. I doubted that you were still my friend.”

“Rainbow Dash, what does that have to do-” Sunset started, but Rainbow Dash cut her off.

“I know what you’re going to do. You’re going to ask for our help again.” Rainbow Dash interrupted her.

It was quite the contrary, yet Rainbow Dash kept speaking.

“Whatever is going on here, it’s big. Bigger than anything we’ve ever been in before. And you know what kind of shit we got into back in high school.” Rainbow Dash acknowledged.

“I’m not going to put you through all of this. Look, Applejack literally just killed two people. You killed someone!” Sunset pointed to Rainbow Dash, “Doesn’t that phase you at all?!”

“Hey, don’t act all moral with me. You killed the guy I wiped out. I was trying to save my friends from a fucking machine gun.” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes.

Sunset lowered her eyes, then exhaled through her nose. Then, Rainbow Dash turned around.

“Look, we all know this is big, and messed up. Like, really, really big. And insurmountably messed up.” Rainbow Dash started, “But think of what’s gonna happen if these guys get their way. They had no mercy trying to kill us, they’re gonna kill more. I mean, magical super soldiers? We know how powerful magic is. What happens if these guys get it?”

Twilight pursed her lips. She didn’t have to look too far into her mind to visualise.

“If we don’t do something, we’re no better than them. We need to stop them.” Rainbow Dash affirmed, “Somehow. Together.”

Sunset looked over towards Rainbow Dash, “Wow… kinda did my speech for me. But look, you all don’t have to-”

“I’ll go.” Twilight pushed her glasses back onto her face, “I’ve heard enough, and I’ve thought enough. Wendigo needs to be stopped.”

Pinkie then rose her hand, “If Twilight’s in, so am I. And Rainbow Dash.”

Fluttershy had a moment to recover before she spoke up, “I… I want to go too. Like Rainbow Dash said, I won’t stand by while Wendigo does to others what they did to us.”

Rarity looked over towards Applejack, who tilted her head up.

“Ah’ll go.”

“Applejack, are you sure?”

The cowgirl turned back to the fashionista, “Where mah’ friends go, ah’ gotta be there for them. To protect them from anything that comes their way.”

Then, Applejack pointed to Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer, “Sides’, those two together without me, now that’s just trouble waitin’ to happen. Now just give me a moment while I convince myself that there’s no other alternative.”

Rarity nodded, “Well, then I’ll be rounding it out to seven then. Looks like we’re back together, huh?”

Sunset Shimmer looked around, “You all sure you want to do this?”

They all nodded in unison.

“Alright. Get your belongings, and your cars. We’re gonna head off. I’ll explain later on the road, and when we’re far away from here.”

Full Metal Jacket trudged through the glass-littered floor of the bank, his ACR strapped to his back. He already made contact with Aurora about the events that occurred.

His boss told him that Sunset was now the least of Wendigo’s concerns. Their facade would still hold, and where she did turn up, she would either be disposed of or her pleas to the media would go unanswered.

Though, the nagging curiosity still poked the back of FMJ’s mind.

He went straight to the lockboxes.

“Let’s see… what was it…” Full Metal Jacket trudged through the massive amount of panels on the wall, each containing something valuable inside, to the holder that is.

“Here we go…” a soldier opened up box A235 with a high-powered saw, and the lock no longer bolted the little door shut.

FMJ reached inside, and pulled out a small wooden box. It too had a place for a lock, but it was absent. He opened it, and found a plethora of pictures inside.

However, on closer examination, the pictures were not of classified images or evidence, but rather photos of Sunset Shimmer along with her six other friends. They looked younger. They had to have been teenagers when these photos were taken.

Full Metal Jacket realised what Sunset had done.

He simply took one of the photos, and snapped a picture of it with a camera. With a lighter, he ignited the bottom corner of the picture, then placed the burning paper back into the box with the others.

“You, get the security footage. You two, sweep for anything else. We’re packing up.” FMJ ordered, and the soldiers under his command went to fulfill their duties.

FMJ watched as the pictures burned, the fire crawling over each smiling face.

“How manipulative, Sunny. You gotta trick your friends about ‘evidence’ to get some help.” he couldn’t help but smile.

“Some friend you are.”

Ch. 6

“Son of a- ughhh.”

Sunset looked down at her motorcycle, already having felt a small loss of power beforehand. However, the damage had caught up to her, and the Kawasaki’s radiator failed. The girls pulled over to the side, with Applejack getting out of her truck to help inspect the damage.

“Yep, looks like yer’ radiator’s done for.” Applejack bit her lip, “No thanks to a couple of bullets it might seem.”

Gone unnoticed before were two small holes in the front of the bike. Tiny, but the Uzi bullets had done their job, damaging the radiator until it had overheated from prolonged use.

“Welp, just toss the thing into the truck’s bed and you can ride shotgun with me.” Applejack offered.

“Yeah, that sounds- shit. Forgot. This thing is like five hundred pounds.” Sunset scratched the back of her head.

“Hey girls! Get out here!”

After that was said and done with an enormous strain and possibly a thrown out back from Twilight, Sunset clambered in the truck’s passenger seat, and looked at the expanses of the desert as Applejack started the truck up again.

The pack continued down the road, absolutely no scenery to relieve their aching eyes.

“Hey. Applejack.”

She looked over to Sunset, “Yeah sugarcube?”

“Just… again. Thanks. Thank you so much for helping me out. And-”

“And you’re sorry that I had to shoot those two.” Applejack exhaled out her nose.

Sunset stopped talking, and went back to staring out at the barren wasteland.

“Ah’d just leave it at that. Someone was going to pull the trigger at some point.” Applejack’s eyes fell to the glove compartment just above Sunset’s legs where her revolver still was.

“But it bothers you still.” Sunset asked, but quickly regretted pressing.

“It bothers me that you’ve probably killed quite a bit more than at the bank.” Applejack shot back, her eyes still on the road, “And yet I’m still doin’ this. Still doin’ this because there really is somethin’ big that’s gonna happen.”

Sunset nodded. Applejack agreed simply to stop Wendigo. At least that was the most logical conclusion for why she’d want anything to do with what happened back at the bank. Perhaps, that was why all of them were going along with this. It wasn’t for Sunset, it was to stop Wendigo. And she would be fine with that.

Well, maybe save for Pinkie. Sunset suspected that she was coming along to hang out with Sunset again after eight years. And probably thinking that this was still a massive “adventure”.

Oh how Sunset missed those back in Canterlot High.

“Just… thanks.” Sunset couldn’t help but let her lips move without a thought.

“Ya’ keep sayin’ that when you know I already got the point, Sunny.” Applejack turned to her. Sunset swore that she gave a tiny smile, but given the circumstances, it was probably unlikely.

“Hey, gas station coming up. Should we?” Sunset gave a slight point of her finger towards said station.

Applejack gave a quick glance at her fuel gauge, “Yeah, might as well.”

Sunset stuck her arm out of the window, and waved towards the gas station on their approaching right just as Applejack turned on her blinker. The others got the idea, and they started to slow down as the station drew closer. One by one, they turned off of the highway and went into the station, seeing no other cars present. Applejack pulled her truck up to a pump, opted to go to the clerk inside to pay with cash, and started to fill her tank.

“So, would you mind telling us now why we’re driving around in the middle of nowhere in Nevada?” Twilight downed a five hour energy bottle.

“Oh! Are we gonna go to Vegas? I know that they throw some of the biggest parties there!” Pinkie asked, carrying an armful of Twinkies out of the convenience store.

Sunset Shimmer made the motion with her hands for everyone to quiet down a bit, “Keep it down a tiny bit, girls. We don’t know if anyone could be listening in.”

“Out in the middle of nowhere?” Rainbow Dash rose an eyebrow.

“I don’t think we should take any chances, dear.” Rarity offered her concerns, “But following back with Twilight, I think it would be nice to know where we’re going.”

Sunset nodded, “We’re going to Vegas.”

“YES!” Pinkie threw up her arms in celebration.

“Wait, really now?” Applejack’s face was scrunched in puzzlement.

Sunset nodded once again, “Alright girls, time for some more stuff you need to know about Wendigo. That, and who’s running it.”

“Your car, Miss.”

Aurora Aether looked over the red Bentley Continental Supersport. Not the favorite of her collection but still a fantastic car for traveling. The keys were placed in her snowy white palm, her fingers closing around them.

She opened the door, and started up the engine. Aurora let the car idle just a bit. The sound of a resting machine always sounded different from the hundreds of thousands of different cars that existed. The adjustment of the seat, angling of the mirrors, tasks that anyone would overlook and not pay any mind to. It was always something she loved to do. It was an incredible machine being handed to her, and every little modification she did, it was like saying “you are mine”.

Then, she lightly and slowly put her foot down on the gas pedal. With the car in neutral, the Bentley growled into a fierce roar. It almost sent a shiver down Aurora’s spine. Almost.

With that, she drove away from the airport. The Bentley was one of the most economic and comfortable cars in her collection, and so came along on her travels via a cargo plane. She took a look back, and several Land Rovers started to pile out of the plane off of the ramp.

Then, her car’s hands free device alerted her to an incoming call.

“What is it, Jacket?”

“Everything’s been deployed. Your men are awaiting your orders.”

Aurora kept her eyes on the road, “They don’t need any other orders right now. Just leave that worrying to yourself. I have a poker tournament, and a car to win.”

Whatever prize vehicle they were cooking up at the Venetian, it had to be enough to come to the city of sin for. More than enough.

The seven of them stood in a circle near the cars after filling up at the gas station. Sunset finished telling them who they were up against.

“Aurora Aether is the head of Wendigo. I know her personally, and… she’s as cold-blooded as they get.” Sunset explained, “One of the wealthiest people in the world, and an eye for having soldiers at her disposal. That, and cars.”

“Cars?” Rarity asked.

“Oh yeah. Aurora is the biggest car enthusiast you will ever meet. It’s the one thing she likes more than money and the possibility of her commanding an army of magic-pumped super soldiers.” Sunset kept going on.

“Alright, and she’s behind what happened back at the bank?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Sort of. The guys we fought back there were with Full Metal Jacket. He’s her right-hand man, and ex-Delta Force. He’s essentially the brawn to her brain, but knows how to use his own to the best of his deadly ways.” Sunset pointed out.

“Wasn’t that the man staring down at you from the second floor of the bank?” Rainbow Dash asked another question.

“Yeah. The big, bald, and muscular guy.”

“Oh boy…” Twilight nervously tapped her feet on the concrete.

Sunset said, “But there’s some places we gotta get to. One before Vegas, and one while we’re there. For the one in Vegas, we’ll be going to From Scratch.”

At this, Pinkie gawked, “From Scratch? You mean the body shop that only the head honchos get their cars all flashy and cool from?!”

“Yeah, that’s the one. I have a feeling that the owners would be more than happy to help us out. That, and I got the funding for what we’ll need.” Sunset cracked a smile.

“That sounds awesome! Hear that Rarity? After a round in that shop, there’s no way anything will beat my Mustang!” Rainbow Dash pointed smugly back to her muscle car.

“Well, I wouldn’t be surprised. A Mustang is a pretty open car for modifications.” Rarity gave a small grin back.

“Dang, don’t know what they’ll do to my truck if I leave it in there.” Applejack patted her tried and true pickup.

“Trust me. If it has wheels, it’ll turn out great. Now let’s get back on the road, and I’ll find us a hotel or something.” Sunset then looked over towards Pinkie, “May I?”

“Oh, sure thing Sunny!”

One Twinkie was exchanged before the girls headed back onto the road again. The store manager watched the girls pull away, and leave his gas station to its own once again. He gave a small sigh, and sat back at the counter, watching the small television that was suspended in the corner of the store. Just as he started to settle himself into his chair behind the counter, a news bulletin flashed.

“This just in, a botched bank robbery and ensuing gang violence leaves a rather lively community panicked and outraged that this could happen in their own town.” the news reporter was standing in view of a bank that had broken glass thrown everywhere, “One witness claims that a group of women looking around the ages of twenty to thirty were responsible, but no license plates have been taken down.”

The store clerk decided to pay attention a bit more, “The police have just released these impressions on the suspects. Be warned that they are still at large, and are considered armed and dangerous.”

The clerk squinted his eyes at the television. The drawings looked… very similar to the women who just filled their cars at the gas station. His hand twitched as he looked towards the phone to dial for authorities, but stopped himself.

They gave him just enough business to make his quota for this month out here in the desert, and besides. The girl who came in and bought all of the Twinkies? As if she was capable of harming a fly.

“Alright girls, this is our stop before Vegas.”

In the darkness, Sunset walked the girls out to a dried out cactus sitting on a small sand dune.

“Um… can you remind us what’s here?” Fluttershy asked as she exited her Outback.

Sunset Shimmer looked at the cactus carefully, from every single angle. Before the girls could start to question what exactly was so interesting about a cactus in, once again, the middle of nowhere, Sunset found what she was looking for. There was a gash that had been made in the cactus with her own Wakizashi, years ago when it was still dying.

“This is the one. Fluttershy, get the shovels I told you to bring. We’re digging for treasure.” Sunset motioned.

“I don’t see an ‘X’ anywhere.” Rainbow Dash cracked a joke.

“Yeah, but Indiana Jones said that ‘X’ never ever marks the spot. Here, it’s a cactus, so he’s right,” Sunset came out with two shovels, “Now help me dig.”

Dash shrugged as she took her own shovel, and the girls started to shovel loads of sand from the dune.

“How deep are we digging?” Twilight asked as the night sky hung overhead.

“Until you hit something! Maybe a while, don’t know how much sand’s been blowing around!” Sunset spoke through the sound of grunts and shovels flinging sand.

They group kept going at the dune, more and more as they stuck in their shovels, and flung their load of sand behind them.

“I think we’re almost there!” Sunset stomped on the side of the shovel to bury the head nice and firmly into the ground. The girls thanked the lord that it was night, and that the sun wasn’t cooking them alive. Nevertheless, it was tireless, and sweaty work.

Then, Twilight hit something.

“Hey! I think I got it! That wasn’t all that hard.” she said as the girls then took to digging around a green metal box, until it was fully exposed for the girls all at once to heave out of the hole. As they did so, they found another green metal surface just a few inches away from the box they hauled out.

Through more and more digging until the girls nearly collapsed from exhaustion, three crates were unearthed and brought to the surface. Green, and with the uncanny resemblance to military supply cases, the girls watched as one by one, Sunset Shimmer unlocked them with a key she pulled from underneath her shirt, suspended around on a piece of string like a necklace.

She opened up the crates, and smiled. The other girls had a reaction that contained the mix of uneasiness, and rather dangerous curiosity.

“Alrighty… now this is what we need.” Sunset nodded.

Within the first crate was an assortment of handguns, as well as the magazines, ammunition, and even a couple of suppressors.

“Those are… guns…” Twilight pointed out, “So… we’re gonna kill people, then.”

Applejack looked over towards her, “Yeah, ah’ think that was kind of what was gonna happen when we went along with this.”

Twilight bit her lip, then nodded, “Okay. It’s just… what if we get caught with these?”

“I think we got bigger problems. Does ‘Wendigo’ ring a bell?” Rainbow Dash reached in and grabbed a firearm, loaded in a magazine, and racked the slide, “Besides, just think of it as ‘self-defense’.”

“Well then, Rainbow Dash, way to throw out any moral sense.” Rarity huffed, but still found herself looking over a handgun from the crate. A Glock, it would seem.

One by one, the girls each took their firearms, surprising Sunset with how well they handled the weapons. Never pointing them haphazardly at each other, loading the weapons smoothly and efficiently…

“You guys shot before?” Sunset rose her eyebrow.

“One of our favorite things to do at AJ’s farm. Blow some rotten apples up.” Rainbow Dash admitted.

“Well, that simplifies things,” Sunset said.

The others dug in. Pinkie found it neat that the sights of her pistol glowed in the night. Soon, the crate was picked clean, save for one more pistol. Fluttershy was the only one without a weapon.

“I’m sorry… I just can’t. I couldn’t bear the feeling of taking someone’s life, even if they would try to take mine.” Fluttershy admitted.

“Hey, Flutters, it’s alright. We’ll keep you safe, just like we’ll keep each other safe. Alright?” Applejack reassured her.

“But… then again… what if you all need me when everyone else is in danger? I’d be useless.” Fluttershy now started to have a conflict within her own mind.

“Here, I’ll hold onto the gun for you if you end up changing your mind-” Sunset held up her hand, but found her friend picking up the handgun anyways. Fluttershy inspected the pistol, and nodded at it, as if she signed some sort of forbidden pact with the weapon.

“I pray that I won’t have to use this.” Fluttershy bit her lip as she loaded in the magazine.

Sunset could easily see that Fluttershy was still having doubts, but decided to move on. She opened up the second crate. This one was noticeably larger than the other, and much heavier as well when they brought it out of the ground. Opening the crate, much larger weapons were housed inside. On the top layer of foam, an MP7 and an MP5SD rested on top. Several magazines were at their sides or below the personal defense weapon and the suppressed submachine gun. The next layer of foam housed two even larger weapons.

A Kel-Tec KSG shotgun rested on its bed of foam, already housing a reflex sight and a vertical grip on its pump. Accompanying it was an HK416 rifle, decked out in a SOPMOD complete with laser, flashlight, grip, hybrid sight, and a suppressor. More magazines were found deeper in the box, as well as boxes of ammunition was well.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about.” Rainbow Dash brought the rifle up, inspecting it.

“Easy there, partner. These aren’t toys.” Applejack lifted the shotgun and gave it another look, “But ah’ll admit. Feels kinda empowering.”

“Quite a lot of suppressors, don’t you think?” Twilight loaded up the MP7, and held up the currently unattached modification for her gun.

“Well, the last crate has much… louder stuff.” Sunset cracked the box open.

Inside was an assortment of explosives. Fragmentation grenades, stun grenades, smoke canisters, and tear gas, all resting in rows next to each other. Layer upon layer of grenades rested inside, until the very bottom was revealed.

“Girls, this is a specially made Heckler and Koch forty-millimeter grenade launcher.” Sunset held the odd and compact device up to view, as well as a bandolier of grenades.

“Ooh! I call that one!” Pinkie pointed at the grenade launcher.

Before anyone else could object, Sunset handed the weapon to her.

“An explosive weapon for an explosive personality. Just… aim in the general direction of the bad guys.” Sunset smiled.

“Okie dokie loki!” she checked to make sure the safety was on, but loaded in a grenade anyways, “Just in case!”

“Uh… no offense to Pinkie, but are you sure that’s a good decision?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Sunset winked, “If everything goes well, we won’t need it. Or perhaps any of these guns. But you know, like what Pinkie said. Just in case. Now let’s get to the body shop, and I’ll explain the rest. You girls tired?”

They all nodded.

“Well too bad. Time’s a luxury we don’t have.”

Ch. 7

Vegas was as lively as ever. The night sky had no stars in sight from the overbearing light pollution that emanated from the various hotels and casinos that literally made up the entire city. As the posse drove through the packed and crowded streets, Pinkie couldn’t help but gawk at all of the famous and huge hotels that littered the city of sin.

Rainbow Dash had heard about “From Scratch” before. The body shop had only sprung up a few years ago, but from their work on cars advertised in magazines and online, the custom shop gained a massive influx of business off of its reputation and quality.

Almost any car was welcome there. From old yet firm classics, to the most high-end luxury machines, and even motorcycles, From Scratch customised and tweaked them all, and with outstanding results to boot.

It had secretly been one of Rainbow’s biggest desires to have work done on her Mustang from this very shop. But with the combination of trying to get her race track out of disrepair, as well as the hefty price tag that shop charged, it was hardly a possibility.

Then, after delving deeper into the city, driving past all of the neon plastered everywhere, they found a huge spike in cars that sported custom paint jobs, hydraulics, and accessories. As the street next to them was empty for whatever reason, the girls quickly realised why. Two cars, a Corvette Z06 proudly wearing a chrome wrapped coat of paint, and an Audi R8 with a simplistic, yet attentive wash of white barreled down the road, with people cheering and hollering on the sidewalk.

“Woah!” Applejack couldn’t help but shout as the roar of the cars shot past them, “Guess we’re in that part of Vegas.”

“Yeah, looks like it. Hey, just around the corner here.” Sunset pointed, and Applejack turned.

Coming around a bend, a solid concrete structure with a sign sporting “From Scratch” in blue neon on a white background presented itself. Open garages revealed sparks flying from cars and the incessant sound of power tools. Unlike many buildings in Vegas, the neon on the outside hardly distracted from the real eye-candy on the inside. A clean and very well lit interior presented the slew of cars being worked on or displayed. Other vehicles were parked on the streets surrounding it, as well as a crowd of people hanging around as well.

“Pretty busy…” Twilight noted mentally as her Corolla felt out of place in a land of Challengers and GTs. She could see the dirty glances some members of the crowd were giving the group as the beat-up pickup and the plain Outback rolled up the the renowned shop.

“Pull over there.” Sunset pointed once again to six free parking spaces.

“Those say ‘reserved’, Sunny.” Applejack rose an eyebrow.

“It’s for us. Trust me.” Sunset glanced back at her. Applejack shrugged and pulled in. If some asshole keyed her truck, it really wouldn’t subtract much from the already aged pickup.

The Rainbooms hopped out of their vehicles, with Fluttershy trying not to cover her ears at the sounds of drilling and engines revving all around.

“Alright, we’re gonna go talk to the owners!” Sunset motioned towards the shop.

“Are you kidding?! This is From Scratch! What makes you think you could walk up and just demand for them to work on our cars?!” Rainbow Dash yelled through the noise.

“Just come on!” Sunset already started to walk towards the shop. Noticing that the drivers of those (mostly) shabby vehicles were women, and very fine looking ones too, some of the men in the crowd turned their heads and followed them with their eyes, either hollering or getting disapproving glances from their girlfriends right beside them.

“How rude.” Rarity snorted as she turned her head away from the crowd, heading into the interior. The sounds of drilling only got louder as they went inside, various mechanics in welding visors modifying all sorts of cars. An impressive clientele awaited the group inside. A Ferrari 458 was the centerpiece of the cars being worked on, surprising the girls as usually the company itself would often handle modifications and work done on their prized car line. A Bentley Flying Spur was just having its logo polished, as well as a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud from the fifties and sixties having its paint restored inside.

“Oh my god. Look at all of this!” Rainbow Dash gawked at the assortment of automobiles, “Look at that Ferrari!”

“Well ah’ll be damned. Looks like we’re pretty far out of our league here.” Applejack scratched the back of her head.

“Even I have to admit, it’s incredible!” Fluttershy witnessed a Dodge Challenger roll away from the shop as the mechanics did a final check, then gave a thumbs up.

Then, one of the mechanics walked up after popping up his visor, a blue skinned man sporting a double toned grey hairdo, “Can I help you?”

Sunset nodded, “We’re here to see the owner.”

“You got an appointment?”

Sunset came up and whispered into his ear, then after that was done, the mechanic looked over the group and nodded, “Hold on a sec. Hey boss! They’re here!”

Then, one of the mechanics in a white jumpsuit turned their visor towards the group that had arrived to their shop. Upon standing up, it was clear that it was a woman from the way the jumpsuit hugged her body, the curves and breasts noticeable apart from the men. The owner walked towards them, looked over the group, then took off her helmet.

Revealed to them was the all too familiar blend of white skin, striking dark and light blue hair in a spiky and wild style, and those unmistakable red eyes.

“Hey guys! Long time no see, huh?” Vinyl Scratch greeted her old High School and University acquaintances.

“Vinyl Scratch?!” the Rainbooms, save for Sunset stammered.

“You run From Scratch?! How-... oh. Well… I guess I should have expected that.” Twilight gave an awkward smile, “How did you get all of this?”

“Heh, long story short: DJing was fun and introduced me to a lot of people, and I figured out that there was a higher demand for my technical skills in cars than DJ music, and… hey, remember my old car?” Vinyl mentioned.

“Oh yeah, the… ‘Wubmobile’ was it?” Rarity remembered far back from the Battle of the Bands.

“Yeah! Turns out that when people saw that online, they said I should open a sort of car shop! I mean, it was really more of a promotional thing, but I decided to give it a try, and…” Vinyl then motioned to everything around her.

“Wow. You really found your success. I’m happy for you.” Fluttershy nodded and smiled.

“Aw, thanks. Yo, Tavi’! Our old friends are here!” Vinyl called to another mechanic, who upon walking over and flipping up her visor to reveal her grey skin and black hair done into a bun, turned out to be her roommate and best friend.

“Oh my, I thought you all were coming next morning.” Octavia wiped her brow, “It’s great to meet you all again!”

“Still play the cello?” Applejack asked as the sounds of machinery droned on.

“You bet she does! She’s even part of the Las Vegas Philharmonic!” Vinyl came over and put an arm around her waist.

“Oh Vinyl, it’s really not that-”

“Come on! Bloat your ego once in awhile!” as the two intermingled, Twilight suddenly popped the question.

“Wait, are you two dating?” Twilight asked and couldn’t help but feel a little giddy at the sight of the two.

“Well…” Octavia slipped off her glove and revealed a wedding ring.

“Oh my god! Congratulations!” Rarity nearly squealed as she took the two into a hug, “I’ll have you both know that you have my best wishes!”

“Wait, you two are actually married? How come I never got invited to the wedding?” Sunset laughed a bit.

“Oh, I thought you were still working at-”

“Who wants drinks?!” Octavia suddenly burst out.

“U-uh… yeah! You girls must be parched from all that driving! And hungry. In fact, after the shop closes, I’ll get you all some dinner.” Vinyl offered.

“Okie dokie loki!” Pinkie nodded and followed them off along with Sunset. The other five girls stood there, shrugged, and followed them deeper into the shop.

Closing down the shop, and with the crowd gathered before now gone, the girls settled themselves in a break room within the shop. Some beers were handed out, and each girl, even Fluttershy were aching for some booze after the previous events and labor.

“So, what brings you all here?” Vinyl asked, taking off her glasses and setting them down on a countertop.

“We need help.” Sunset declared before any of the others could answer.

“Well, yeah. Not to sound rude or anything, but I think all of your rides could do with some extra ‘omph’. That, and maybe just a touch up.” Vinyl shrugged, “Sure, I’ll help. But ya guys shoulda made an appointment first. You know how busy we can get?”

“She’s right, you know. Though we appreciate the reunion after all these years.” Octavia sat down after getting out of her jumpsuit and undoing her bun on her head, “What have all of you been up to?”

“Oh, well I’ve been trying to start up an animal rescue project housed in the Everfree Forest.” Fluttershy started, “It’s been tough to get some volunteers, but I think with some dedication it could become a national park.”

“Bought some run-down race track to restore.” Rainbow Dash shrugged, “Guess I’ll kinda see where it goes.”

“I manage Sugarcube Corner now!” Pinkie explained, “Still, I kinda missed the Cakes. They both went into sales to support their kids.”

“Well, I don’t want to brag or anything, but I’ve climbed the ranks of the fashion industry and have become a leading designer in France and Britain.” Rarity only took a few sips of the beer before putting it down, “Hence where the Jaguar had come from.”

Octavia turned her head, “Really now? It sounds that success has found all of you as well.”

Applejack scratched her head, “Well, don’t know about me. The farm’s kinda been hard work after Granny passed away and Applebloom went off to the University of Canterlot. Mac’s still around, and maybe he’ll marry Sugar Belle. Hopefully she moves in if she does.”

“Granny Smith passed away? When?” Sunset turned her head back to Applejack.

“Round’ three years ago. Bout’ a week and a half after New Years.” Applejack pursed her lips.

“Oh wow, I’m so sorry to hear that.” Sunset acknowledged.

“It’s alright. Gran’ would be more than happy to know that the farm’s still gonna live on.” Applejack nodded.

The room was a tiny bit silent before Applejack turned to Twilight.

“Tell em’ about what you’ve been up to.” Applejack nudged her.

“Oh! You sure? Okay.” she cleared her throat, “I’ve been given an internship for Wendigo.”

Vinyl and Octavia’s eyes widened, “Really?!”

“Yeah… but…” Twilight glanced to Sunset, who completely started her with what she said.

“Tell them. It’s why we came.”

“Huh?”

Vinyl rose an eyebrow, “Something I don’t know here?”

“Yeah, and let’s hope you’re way past the legal limit for what I’m gonna tell you.” Sunset handed them another beer from the table.

“You can’t be serious. Wendigo is this private army that’s trying to create magically enhanced super soldiers? What in the name of fuck?!” Vinyl turned to Octavia, “Do you believe any of this?”

Octavia shook her head, “It’s impossible. They’ve strived so much for breakthroughs in magic to further our lives and future. Though… it does explain why their facilities are shown to have top-level security… but that still hardly justifies these claims.”

“But it’s true! We didn’t even believe Sunset at first until we almost died trying to dig deeper!” Twilight fought back.

“What other proof do you have?” Octavia put a finger on her chin.

“Destroyed. They attacked us at a bank when I was trying to get it.” Sunset admitted.

“Wait, that was YOU?!” Vinyl shot up, “I saw you yesterday on the news! I thought those sketches were just coincidences but- holy shit.”

Vinyl sat back down, “I don’t think it’s good for you all to be here. What if they’re tracking you and come to the shop?”

“It’s inevitable no matter where you go. But I’ve managed to throw them off for quite some time. I was part of their project too, remember?” Sunset reasoned.

“Well, what do you want us to do about it?” Octavia asked.

“We need your help. And I’ll be willing to pay handsomely for it. Over five year’s work of the most well-paid private military company and the funds that come with it could be yours,” Sunset offered.

“Forget the money, they’ll probably have a sniper waiting for us when we walk out the door from what you’ve told us about them.” Vinyl shook her head.

“Well, consider this. How about you help us out for the sake of the entire world. If Aurora Aether finished her project and had magic equipped soldiers, what’s going to stop her from selling them to the highest bidder like animals? Imagine what North Korea could do with that shit,” Sunset fought.

“No one in their right of mind would ever give super soldiers to-”

“For fuck’s sake!” Sunset threw her hands onto her forehead, “Look at us. Do you know who we are? Do you know what we’ve done? We’re the Rainbooms. They pulled me back from being a goddamned demon with a zombie army, we stopped sirens from another dimension, and don’t get me started on what happened in the Everfree.”

“And your point is?” said Octavia.

“They sound dangerous enough even without magic,” added Vinyl.

Sunset put her hands up. “You’re right. They could kill us all even without magic. You’re already involved. They could come for you even if you don’t help us. Not to mention, the longer we argue this, the more national and even global security is jeopardized.”

Vinyl and Octavia glanced at each other.

Octavia stood and gestured to the door. “Vinyl, come out here with me.” The two of them left the room.

The break area had gone silent. Yet, none of the other Rainbooms dared call Sunset out on her underhanded persuasion. They too agreed on the merits of the greater good. That, and friends stuck with friends. Even after roughly ten years have gone by.

The Rainbooms at one point heard a shout come from outside, but quickly followed up by an apology. The voice had both come from Vinyl. Sunset exhaled through her nose. It wasn’t like she was enjoying this as much as they were.

The door opened back up, and Vinyl and Octavia came back in. They stood still for a few moments before Octavia spoke up.

“What’s the plan?”

Ch. 8

“Hello? Texas Armoring? I’d like to call in that favor now.”

The sounds of heavy machinery and drilling drowned out whatever conversation Sunset Shimmer was having on her phone in the room away, as Scratch Customs had once again come to life. Even though the shop was supposed to be closed, there was work to be done. Work that came out of nowhere.

“Alright, hey Fender Bender, roll those tires here!” Vinyl called to one of her mechanics, flipping up her visor.

“Gotcha boss.” the gruff man extinguished his cigarette and started off with his task.

Then, Sunset Shimmer came back from the break room.

“Alright girls, I called a buddy of mine. We’re gonna be modifying your cars to help out with what we’ll do a bit later.” Sunset tucked away her phone, “In the meantime, I gotta run off to do an errand. Fluttershy’s Outback, Twilight’s Corolla, and Rarity’s Jag will be up first.”

“What kind of mods are we lookin’ at here?” Applejack crossed her arms.

“Mods that you’ll want to cherish after they save you from a rifle round. Oh, and some that might fire some as well.” Sunset winked.

“So, are we getting like, machine gun turrets on our cars?” Rainbow Dash asked, her interest renewed in the conversation.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous-”

“Maybe.” Sunset cut off Twilight.

“Well, ah’ don’t want to come back to Sweet Apple Acres in a tank.” Applejack bit her lip, “But if that’s what’s necessary, ah’ won’t complain no more.”

“Well, I’ll be going now. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.” Sunset waved as she exited the shop. She had chosen to go on foot, as her motorcycle was still undergoing repairs from being stricken by an Uzi.

With that, the girls found themselves willing to help Vinyl and Octavia with their duties.

“So, any of you girls feel like hitting some slots?” Rainbow Dash asked, “I mean, after this all blows over. We are in Vegas.”

“Slots? Ah’ think a nice game of Texas Hold’em would be great.” Applejack handed a wrench to Octavia, who slid underneath Rarity’s Jaguar with a creeper.

“There’s so much to do in Vegas, I’ve always dreamed about coming here!” Pinkie smiled, but shrugged when she wiped some grease from her forehead, “Although, I didn’t expect it to go over like this.”

“You think Sunset will be okay?” even Rarity was getting down and dirty with working on her car, “She did go off alone. In Vegas after all. With Wendigo probably lurking around.”

“This is Sunset we’re talking about. I’m sure we have nothing to worry about.” Twilight reassured.

Sunset had taken a taxi a considerable distance away from the body shop, finding herself walking through some of the lower-end apartments, and the alleyways they seemed to endlessly draw everywhere. Finding the right one, however, was a bit more of an easy task. She had chosen to hide her goods near some graffiti, with three prominent racial slurs spelled in red.

Ducking into the correct alleyway, Sunset scanned her surroundings. No windows in the rising apartments looked down at her, and she had no followers. She could tell, as the shadow stretched from the corner of the entrance, revealing any who stood there.

Choosing the correct day and time, the dumpster was free of trash, having been emptied just minutes ago. Sunset pushed the metal on wheels to the side, and after kicking away a cockroach, she started to feel the brick wall behind the dumpster. It didn’t take long for her to find the correct one, with her remembering that it was three bricks up from the right-hand wheel of the dumpster, then two bricks left.

With a little pull, the masonry come out, and a tiny plastic case was tucked away in a hidden compartment.

“Three years of work, all in this little box.” Sunset ran over in her mind, securing it within her jacket. Then, it was off to making a visit to an old friend.

Within the same apartment complex walling the right side of the alley way, she made her way up the stairs. The pungent smell of tobacco and dampness infested the apartment, even when she was out of the rooms, climbing the stairs.

Fourth floor. Room 4-E. Already with an eviction notice on the door. Damn.

Sunset knocked on the door.

“Fuck off!” a gruff voice came from within.

Sunset knocked again, prompting the sound of footsteps approaching the door. She could swear that she heard the sound of a revolver's hammer cocking in place. Then, after a few seconds, the door opened, revealing a man in a tank top, camouflage cargo pants, and tattoos on his arms.

“Hey there, Mess Hall.”

Mess Hall looked over Sunset, then looked back at her face.

“So, it’s time now?”

Sunset nodded.

“Alright.”

Mess Hall went back inside, and after a tiny bit, came out with two duffel bags.

“They’re heavy. Can you carry them?”

“I’ll manage.”

The two were standing there, face to face.

“Why don’t you come on in?” Mess Hall offered.

“Sorry. You know what’s going down. And why time’s of the essence.”

“Right. Wendigo.” Mess Hall exhaled, “Kinda wish I knew what there were all about before I settled with Blackwater.”

Sunset rose her eyebrow.

“Jesus, it’s a joke.” Mess Hall ended up cracking a smile, “You know I’d help you if I could.”

“Well, you already are.” Sunset nodded, “What’s with the eviction?”

“Lost job. Apartment’s gonna go. But it’s all good. Got a new job as a crane operator. I’ll be moving into a slightly less shitty place now.” Mess Hall nodded. “Maybe I’ll finally be done and twelve will be it.”

Sunset shifted her feet. “I’m at twenty eight, plus...two or three from yesterday.”

“Jesus fucking christ.” Mess Hall whistled, “You better stay away from Johnny Law.”

“I think I’m his best hope of making sure the world doesn’t fall apart.” Sunset shrugged, “That, and probably my friends too.”

“Yeah. I’ll try and see you around. Keep your head down.” Mess Hall chuckled.

“You too, bud.”

Rainbow Dash had gone off and gotten lunch for everyone, and upon coming back, Sunset had arrived at the shop as well.

“Huh. Nice timing. Didn’t know what you wanted, so I just got you a meatball sub.” Rainbow Dash handed her the sandwich.

“Thanks.” as the crew took a break from working, Sunset then dropped the duffle bags on the ground, and opened them up, “Alright girls, this is what’s going to keep you safe, providing that you don’t go and stick your head out.”

Sunset Shimmer started to take out vests upon vests of body armor, laying them along a couch in the break room, as well as the table, “This is a custom made multi-curve body armor. One of my old friends made this himself, and I even helped him test it out.”

“Huh. Bullet-proof-”

“Resistant.” Twilight corrected Rainbow dash, “How much does this weigh?”

“Try it on.”

Twilight slipped on the vest, adjusting it a tiny bit, “Huh. Not as bad as I thought. Feels like… fifteen or so pounds?”

“Give or take. These things can stop armor piercing bullets from an AK-47. Though, the trauma afterwards will always be a concern.” Sunset patted the vests, “You guys should know that these are not a substitute for your brain. You want to be safe? Don’t go flailing your body in front of a machine gun. That also goes for sticking your head out.”

“So, we have automatic weapons, and body armor? Are we going to literally fight an army?” Twilight asked after taking off the vest.

“Think of it as… insurance.” Sunset compared.

“Well, I am in favor of staying safe,” said Rarity, fingering the material of the vests.

“But you aren’t gonna wear that in the casino,” said Sunset.

The girls deadpanned.

“Huh?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah… you all might want to take a seat. Here’s what’s gonna go down.”

Sunset Shimmer made sure everyone was at ease, including Vinyl and Octavia themselves as well.

“So, remember what I said about Aurora Aether, the head of Wendigo being a massive car lover? Well, back when I was working for Wendigo, she was going to attend a poker game at the Venetian, sponsored by an unknown car company to win whatever they put up for a prize. Whatever that car turns out to be, the prospect of it alone has gotten Aurora to come away from her army to attempt to win it here.” Sunset started off.

“Dang, wonder what that car is.” Rainbow Dash wondered aloud.

“I think we have some more pressing matters. So what do we do?” Twilight asked.

Sunset then placed a small plastic box on the table, then opened it up. Inside were four devices with three looking similar to each other, and a single USB drive.

“Ooh, what do we have here?” Pinkie scanned over the little devices.

“These three right here are a personal invention of mine. ‘Skeleton Keys’. Just as the name says, it scans the interior of a car’s ignition, three dimensionally prints the corresponding key inside, and inserts in electronics to override security locks in a car.” Sunset smiled, “If you can’t tell, I’m really proud of these babies.”

“Oh my god, that is so fucking awesome!” Rainbow Dash took a key and inspected it.

“Careful! They’re good for one use!” Sunset snatched it back, “These are just another form of insurance should you need to get away. Get into a car, plug this in, wait a few seconds, and you’re good to go.”

“Wow, you made these all by yourself?” Fluttershy couldn’t help but be impressed at the ingenuity.

“Heh, yeah. Took a while to perfect it. And a lot of trails as well.” Sunset admitted.

“What about this?” Applejack motioned to the USB.

“Wendigo-grade software for cyber warfare. Stole this one a while back. Now the question is…”

Sunset looked over to Twilight.

“Can you hack?”

The group looked at her.

“Uh… well, in high school I discovered magic and then designed and built my own electronics to study it. Yeah, I’m pretty sure I can figure out some computer code,” Twilight explained.

“Okay, that’s all said and done, but what do we actually do?” Rarity asked.

“I’m very glad you asked. You see, out of the players coming into the poker game, there is one who can’t make it. A woman from the UK with an extensive car collection known as ‘Miss Violet’.” Sunset showed a picture of her face on her phone.

“My word, she looks almost like me.” Rarity then felt her heart sink as realization dawned, “Oh no, you cannot possibly expect me to-”

“Oh yeah. You go in, and play at that tournament. Get any information you can out of Aurora. Get close to her. Get me her room number wherever she is staying,” Sunset explained.

“Oh dear god, I…” Rarity started to fumble with her hair.

“Hey, think of it like you’ll be a spy! Like… uh… right! James Bond!” Vinyl pointed out.

“Really?” Octavia rose her eyebrow at Vinyl.

“Rarity, we’ll all be there to bail you out should something come up,” Sunset reassured her, “Right girls?”

“Of course we will.” Fluttershy put her hand on her shoulder, “I’m sure you can pull it off beyond all odds.”

“Yeah! Plus, you’ll have the excuse to wear something really nice!” Pinkie smiled.

“Well… as long as you’ll be watching over me… okay. Now someone get me a drink. Something hard.” Rarity felt as if she was about to faint.