One Last Job

“Are you sure you’ll be okay, Laz?” Fizzlepop said, her voice practically allowing no silence for the past ten minutes.

“Fizz, you’ve been asking for the past hour, and I keep telling you I’ll be fine. I’m training along the way, and I’ve been training for two weeks. I’ll be fine.”

“But…but you’re not-…” Fizzle nibbled on the tip of one of her hooves. “At least let me come with you.”

“No. Too dangerous. Besides, I need to be stealthy, and…you tink-tink a lot.”

Fizzlepop’s expression went from worry to minor annoyance. “I told you, I don’t do that.”

“Suuuuure.” Lazuli smirked and flicked her tail, keeping it out straight as she began to slide her tight, pitch black combat suit on.

Even after a few years of being completely unused, the suit fit her like a glove. She was a bit surprised that there was no tightness at all, despite the fact that she only exercised in the barest sense and that her pastry consumption levels had gone up exponentially since she first met Pinkie Pie. Almost immediately after putting it on she removed it, knowing she couldn’t go out in public like this. She folded the suit up, placing it in her left saddle bag.

Fizzlepop, although she wouldn’t directly say it, didn’t like seeing Lazuli in the suit. It made the mare look a lot more…sinister. It didn’t help that Laz had elected to take the bun out of her mane and sweep it to one side like she used to, letting it drape very slightly over one eye.

It had been two weeks since they had returned from the Gala, and Lazuli had been training heavily ever since.

The unicorn spoke up again. “I…I really don’t like you doing this, Laz. You can’t even fly anymore, what if they corner you?”

“They won’t.”

“Laz, you- I-…” Fizzle struggled to form the right words. “I don’t…like this. At all. You’re not the same way you used to be, and a week or two of travelling and training along the way isn’t going to get you back to the way you were.”

“You’re worrying too much.”

The argumentative voice spoke up louder, gaining more anger by the second. “What if you die, Laz?! What’ll this all have been for if you die out there? You’re so much better off here!”

“Yeah, maybe…but I’m kind of obligated to do it now.”

“No, you’re not! You can send that folder back to the Princess and just say you didn’t want to do it, there’s no harm in that!”

Lazuli paused briefly, sliding her tail under the blade sitting on the floor and starting to place it in her saddlebag. “I can’t do that. When I accept a contract I never-“

“You’re not an assassin, Lazuli!” Fizzlepop walked forward, putting both front hooves on the Dracony’s shoulders. “You’re not. You can’t be anymore. This isn’t safe, even your stubborn head can see that! This is bigger than any contract you had before, and now you’re physically nowhere near the shape you were then!”

“I’ll be fine.”

“No, you won’t.”

“Yes I will.”

“I’m not letting you go.”

“Move.”

Fizzlepop physically tried to hold Lazuli, but the Dracony shrugged her off and started walking towards the door. “I-…” She tried to speak up, but she wasn’t sure what she could say anymore. “I…just…” She sat back against the bed, sighing deeply. “Don’t want to lose another friend…”

The purple unicorn had changed quite a bit since she moved to Ponyville. Her attitude had mellowed out – she wasn’t sure she could fight or kill like Lazuli used to anymore, and she certainly couldn’t go with her in a journey against cybernetically enhanced ponies…but those promises of fixed limbs and enhanced bodies were exactly what made Fizzle nervous.

“I told you I’ll be fine, and I told you I have to do this.” Lazuli replied.

“But why, though?! You’re making it sound like this is something personal, when it isn’t!”

“These ponies go after innocents. They destroy for the sake of destroying and they’re led by a mad mare. The Guard can’t do anything…so I have to at least try.”

The door swung open, and Lazuli began to step outside. “I’m sorry, but I promise I’ll be back. Okay?”

“Y-you…” Fizzlepop shuddered, covering the side of her face. “You can’t promise that, though…”

“I can, and I am.” Lazuli’s tail gripped the handle of the door and began to close it behind her. “I’ll be back. I swear.”

As the door swung shut behind her and fully closed with a click, Fizzlepop was left staring at it and blinking to try and clear her head.

Hearing Lazuli’s hooves disappearing down the corridor, the dark unicorn suddenly stood up and dashed to the closet, dragging out a dusty box that jingled metallically inside.

Some twinge of regret panged at Lazuli’s chest when she got on the train. Regret was quickly mixed with a bit of anxiety, recalling what had happened the last time she was on one alone, but her fears were somewhat allayed by the amount of ponies on the train. While she had been attacked when there were only a few ponies around, this time the train car was at least half full.

She slowly settled herself down in a seat at the far back of the car, reaching into her bags and pulling out the simple beige folder that she had been given. She had skimmed it twice already, but she knew that she would need to have all of the information down perfectly.

Royal Equestrian Guard, Official Document

Dossier: Ayize

Status: Leader of the Gifts of Mutation (Terrorist Organization)

Species: Zebra

Gender: Female

Danger Level: Extreme

Physical Description: Refer to picture enclosed.

Lazuli glanced down at the picture. It was a zebra alright, and she looked unpleasant from the start. Piercing blue eyes, a strong and toned physique, compounded with her right front leg, made completely out of metal. Her mane was styled in a mohawk, similar to Fizzlepop’s, only with a braid of white and grey hair running down the back of her neck to secure whatever couldn’t be forced into the style. She wore a stark grey breastplate on her front, one that she assumed was stolen from the Royal Guard, and underneath it was a tight but padded combat vest. Overtop of it all she had a dark grey coat with metal armour stitched into the shoulders and back flap.

Along her jacket were a few bandoliers that seemed not to contain much besides tools. Lazuli scanned the image for a few seconds, and grimaced slightly. The zebra didn’t look like an easy target, and the photograph had clearly been taken from an extreme distance and zoomed in.

Crimes:

Arson x15

Accomplice to arson x23

Murder x36

Attempted murder x22

Assault: x19

Assault with a deadly weapon x28

The list went on and on. Lazuli was fairly certain that even if her own criminal record was to be put forward in the same way, it wouldn’t fill up an entire page.

The rest of the notes were mainly about past attacks, current affiliated members and known hideouts. The only one Lazuli was interested in was their main base of operations, located deep in the Badlands. In order to get there, she planned to get off of the train at Dodge City and make her way south. While the exact location of the base had never been officially mapped, she was sure it wouldn’t be too difficult to find, especially with what went on there.

She inhaled deeply and slowly closed the folder, slipping it back into her bags. Gazing out the window, she laid her head up against it and allowed the gentle rocking of the train and the sound of the tracks rumbling beneath it lull her into a state of what she called sleep.