Smash & Grab Special Feature: Twilight Sparkle's Encrypted Notes -- Log #1
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Smash & Grab Special Feature: Twilight Sparkle's Encrypted Notes -- Log #1
This file will serve as my personal encrypted notes for the undertaking which Sunset Shimmer has brought to us. As I've documented elsewhere, when we all met in high school, magic from the other dimensional land of Equestria had leaked through to our world, causing a variety of issues and problems. Some of these were innocuous, others less so, but we dealt with each incident as it came, with the assistance of our magical geodes. Each of these encounters with rogue magic were both exhilarating and terrifying and we all dealt with them and overcame them together.
Time, of course, waits for no one, and before we knew it, graduation had come and with it a whole new class of existential terror which I've also documented elsewhere. Suffice it to say, hard decisions were made by all of us and, given our various pursuits, it became necessary for us to separate for a while. Some for travel to far away places, others for college.
But with smartphones and the internet, we were still able to keep in touch and our friendship intact despite the distance. And when college had ended, over the course of several years, we all found ourselves back in Canterlot City. Sunset (who had never left, feeling the need to keep an eye on the magic portal to her homeland) had monitored the magical activity around the city during our absence and had reported a noticeable reduction. She had been communicating on a regular basis with my counterpart in Equestria, Princess Twilight Sparkle (hereinafter referred to either as "the princess" or "Princess Twilight," for the sake of clarification) who also had a vested interest in the magic appearing in our world.
Then came the unthinkable in two parts.
While doing some research in the Canterlot Royal Library's Restricted section (that would be Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria as opposed to my own hometown), Princess Twilight had found several myths and legends that seemed to indicate our world has long been used as a dumping ground by assorted Equestrian practitioners of magic. Starswirl the Bearded, for example, banished the three sirens we came to know as the Dazzlings from Equestria to our world almost a millennia before the current era in Equestria.
(Side note: We have never been able to get a straight answer out of the Dazzlings as to whether they are far older than they appear or whether Starswirl's portal actually propelled them forward in time as well as across dimensional boundaries. Sonata never seems to understand what we're asking, Aria simply refuses to talk about it, and Adagio is prone to making vague allusions to history without providing any actual proof of her claims. I think she enjoys keeping us in the dark about their true ages.)
Ever since the incident with the Memory Stone, both Sunset and Princess Twilight have wondered if any other magical Equestrian... refuse, for want of a better word, has ended up here. It took several years for her to confirm her findings, but when she had, it was not good news for us.
According to the final message from the princess in the magical journal she and Sunset used to communicate between worlds, no less than 27 confirmed magical artifacts were brought through to our world. There's no evidence to suggest all of these items came through the mirror portal in front of Canterlot High School, but a good majority have. Princess Celestia, the senior ruler of Equestria, has admitted that in the years the mirror portal has been in existence, it was only recently that the dangers to both worlds were realized. As such security around the mirror was much more lax in the 1000 years between Starswirl's banishment of the Dazzlings, and Sunset Shimmer's self-imposed exile from Equestria.
The second unthinkable thing happened before we all started returning to Canterlot City. All contact with Equestria was abruptly cut off shortly after Sunset agreed to help Princess Twilight track down all 27 artifacts and either neutralize them or return them to Equestria before anyone discovered their true power.
We have no idea what's caused this sudden separation of our two worlds. Sunset hasn't been able to contact Princess Twilight in years, and the portal has vanished from the plinth in front of Canterlot High. But, the sudden loss of contact with Equestria did not mean that the magic has fully left this world. Our geode necklaces from Camp Everfree still worked... sort of.
As the years have passed, the magical power of the geodes has diminished. While the magic is definitely stronger when the seven of us are together (in accordance with Princess Twilight's Exponential Friendship Magic Theorem), it's nowhere near as powerful as it once was. As such, we have decided to save our magic to purify each artifact and dispel the magic within it, just in case the geodes' power is limited and will eventually deplete.
When all of us finally moved back to Canterlot City, Sunset Shimmer had already had several years to plan how to deal with the artifacts. She took our return as a sign that we were meant to do this together. The last task of the Princess of Friendship for our circle of friends.
Unfortunately, Sunset's research during those years had only uncovered the location of a handful of the artifacts. Worse yet, nearly all of them were in the hands of private collectors. Sunset refused to risk the innate magic power of the artifacts being accidentally discovered by their owners and so had to resort to drastic action: she had decided to steal them.
How she convinced all of us to go along with what seemed like an insane plan at the time will be documented elsewhere, but suffice it to say, it took her quite some time to convince us all to join her in what seems to be a foolhardy, and most certainly illegal, plan of action.
But here we are. And in an odd twist of fate, it turns out that the various skills we acquired during our years apart have made each of us well suited to this undertaking. Once again I ask, are our choices our own, or is the Magic of Friendship gently manipulating us in ways to serve its own ends?
Below are brief summaries of each of our skills, abilities, and specializations in this endeavor. I have kept these notes brief for the sake of being able to determine which of us is suited for which task as we undertake each heist.
Sunset Shimmer
Primary Specialty: Planning and Execution
Secondary Specialties: Breaking and entering, con games, firearms
Sunset is the undisputed leader of our crew. She has implemented a pragmatic approach to our crimes. Casualties are unacceptable. Under her strict orders, we never intentionally injure or wound any bystander in our capers. Violence, sadly, is sometimes a necessity in our line of work, but we try to keep it to a minimum.
Sunset takes the information all of us acquire and turns it into a viable plan of attack. However, she's also a realist, which means she can improvise on the fly when things go wrong. She's also not a tyrant. If one of us has an idea that's better than what she's come up with, Sunset will incorporate it into the plan immediately.
Applejack
Primary Specialty: Intimidation and Physical Enforcement
Secondary Specialties: Firearms, transportation, support tasks
If you'll pardon the pun, she's our Applejack-of-all-trades. While her primary function in the crew is to provide the muscle, Applejack also fills in wherever an extra hand is needed. Whether we need a second wheelwoman, someone to help Rarity run one of her games, or when Fluttershy needs some extra tutoring in proper gun safety.
Speaking of, Applejack is also in charge of our weaponry. While Sunset's contacts on the shadier side of the city have helped us acquire some ordinance through less than legal channels, it's Applejack who makes sure we all know how to use it safely, and keeps up the maitenance. I should note here, that we only bring weapons in situations where we need to keep any witnesses at bay, and if possible, we will actually load said weapons with blank ammunition. Only in situations where we believe it will be absolutely necessary will we load the guns with the live ammo.
Applejack was the hardest one of us for Sunset to convince on this endeavor, and every so often she will voice an objection if she doesn't like where things are going. This has led to confrontations every so often between her and Sunset, but they usually manage to work things out and when the time comes for the job (or “Showtime,” as we term it), we can always rely on Applejack to back us up fully and completely.
Fluttershy
Primary Specialty: Support tasks and reconnaissance
Secondary Specialties: Firearms, con games
Fluttershy is our second jack-of-all-trades. You would think her shy nature would make her unsuited for what we do, but surprisingly, in her years since college, she's become more adventurous and is fully committed to our cause.
She primarily serves as our reconnaissance expert, occasionally assisting Rarity in her infiltration tasks. With Applejack's teaching, she's also become proficient at firearms and is, in fact, our second best shooter after Applejack herself.
Fluttershy also has a knack for reading people. She has managed to find a way to approach a mark when the rest of us find ourselves stuck for an angle. Fluttershy's unassuming demeanor makes her a natural confidant and she is, if I may wax poetic for a moment, the soul of our crew.
Pinkie Pie
Primary Specialty: Equipment, con games, and... improbabilities?
Secondary Specialties: Firearms, reconnaissance, support tasks
If Fluttershy is the soul of the crew, Pinkie Pie is the heart. Like anything she does, Pinkie has thrown herself wholeheartedly into this. Much to my surprise, Pinkie has affinity for creating gadgets. Her “straitjacket streamers” have proven extremely useful, although we're having difficulty convincing her that her party cannon may be overkill.
Her natural exuberance and improvisational skills have made Pinkie a natural for con games and support tasks. Even Rarity has expressed her pleasant surprise when Pinkie's imagination has saved a con from going south at the last minute.
Additionally, Pinkie's seeming immunity to... well... reality also gives us an edge in our planning. Or lack of planning. Or... maybe... OH FORGET IT TWILIGHT SHE'S PINKIE PIE!
Rarity
Primary Specialty: Con games, reconnaissance, disguises, equipment
Secondary Specialties: Firearms, transportation
Because we often need to know who is in possession of the artifact we're after, we need to get someone close to them to learn what we need. Enter Rarity.
Rarity is our “face.” When we begin doing research and reconnaissance on our target, we send in Rarity and occasionally a couple of others to learn what we can. Rarity knows exactly how to ingratiate herself to anyone, and since most of our targets are from the upper crust, she's perfectly positioned to ingratiate herself with just about anyone.
Rarity's own skills as a designer and seamstress are also useful, especially when we need costumes or disguises to run a con. And, much like Pinkie Pie, Rarity's sense of style and design has also come in handy when preparing equipment. Several of her aesthetic choices have helps turn some of my more obvious designs into something much more subtle and innocuous.
Because we need Rarity to serve as our face, we do our best to make sure she has an alibi established for when it's Showtime. However, she does run rehearsals with us so she can step in in case of an emergency.
She is also a demon behind the wheel. When we need something or someone somewhere fast, Rarity is ready, willing, and enthusiastic to step in.
She terrifies us.
Rainbow Dash
Primary Specialty: Transportation
Secondary Specialties: Firearms, support tasks
On the less terrifying end of the transportation scale, we have Rainbow Dash. In her years away from Canterlot City, Rainbow acquired an interest in cars and street racing and as such, she's in charge of getting us to and more importantly, from our various job sites.
She also has several dozen contacts all over the city to get us any sort of transportation we need. This also includes boats, somehow, which Rainbow is just as proficient at.
Rainbow also is essential in a support capacity. Everything from assisting Rarity, to helping AJ maintain the weaponry, to helping Fluttershy when she needs it. To continue the metaphor, Rainbow is the backbone of the team.
Twilight Sparkle
Primary Specialty: Equipment and Electronics
Secondary Specialties: Support tasks, reconnaissance
As for me, my job is to deal with all the electronic necessities. I hack into databases, security systems, traffic monitoring, and do all sorts of online research on our targets. Additionally, I create specialized equipment we may need for any given job.
As mentioned above, I also collaborate with Pinkie Pie and Rarity on our equipment designs. With their help, we've come up with plenty of gear which, to the naked eye, doesn't arouse suspicion as to its actual purpose.
I have told Sunset that while I understand the need to protect ourselves, and the theatrics needed, I am not comfortable with handling a firearm and refuse to do so. Sunset has agreed with my decision.
This concludes this log. Additional notes and information will be added in the future as we continue. If we're successful, I will be deleting all these logs once we are finished. Hopefully, we'll be able to complete our task with a minimum of fuss and, of course, without going to jail.
I really hope we don't go to jail.
A Lovely Night for a Robbery
SMASH & GRAB
An “Equestria Girls” fanfic by Erin Mills
“My Little Pony: Equestria Girls” ©2018 Hasbro/DHX Media
Four Minutes to Showtime...
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the tuxedo clad MC announced smoothly into the microphone. “On behalf of The Rich Foundation and our generous benefactor, Mr. Filthy Rich and his family...”
The MC gestured and a spotlight fell on Filthy Rich and his wife Spoiled Rich. The couple smiled broadly and waved. Spoiled glanced out of the corner of her eye and nudged their daughter, Diamond Tiara, who rolled her eyes and waved for a moment, going back to her phone as soon as the spotlight was off of them. The MC continued.
“... We are pleased to unveil this latest addition to the Canterlot City Museum's collection of priceless artifacts. No doubt you've heard of it in the news and know that, even more than it's value, the mystery behind it still remains unsolved. To this day, no one is quite sure where it came from. Despite being found in the depths of the Amarezon rainforest, experts are convinced that is not where it originated. Mr. Rich has been generous enough to place this wondrous example of craftsmanship on permanent loan here at the museum so it can be more properly researched, studied, and most importantly, admired by those who visit.
“And so, it is with great pleasure that I now present to you, the Amarezon Carcanet!”
With a flourish, the MC stepped back and the overhead display lights burst to life, illuminating the display case. A mannequin dressed in a costume reminiscent of those seen in South Amarerican Carnivale celebrations was inside. Around the head of the mannequin was a circlet of gold interwoven with seven stunning emeralds that glittered in the spotlights. The lighting and costume were designed to attract attention to the Carcanet and it did admirably. As the orchestra hired for the gala began to play, several of the attendees moved toward the display case, wanting to see the find up close.
Filthy Rich looked off to the side and smiled. At the bar was truly stunning woman, poured into a slinky dark purple evening gown. Small blue diamond shaped accents ran up the skirt and sides of the bodice. Her alabaster skin seemed to glow in the light, and her hair was the same shade as her dress, a wave of it curling on one side of her face, while the rest cascaded down her back. She held a small handbag seemingly made of the same material as the dress.
Rich walked over to the bar and leaned up against it. “Well, I must say, the costume is remarkable, Miss Rarity.”
Rarity gave the millionaire a small smile and looked at him through half closed lids. “Well, I should hope so for the money you paid me to design it, Mr. Rich. Admittedly, I was a bit put off that you needed it to be an accessory for the Carcanet rather than the other way around, but I do love a challenge. And I'm quite pleased with the result.”
“As am I. Well worth your asking price.”
“It is a bit odd though.”
“Odd?” Rich looked confused. “How so?”
“Well, considering that the experts are certain the Carcanet didn't originate in the Amarezon, having it be a Carnivale costume seems a bit presumptive, don't you think?”
Rich grinned again, but Rarity noticed it didn't quite reach his eyes. When he spoke there was a hint of nervousness in it. “Well, ha ha, that's why it's here at the museum. And when it's verified where it does come from, perhaps we can talk about making a more accurate costume piece for the display.”
“Perhaps,” Rarity answered. She smiled again. “Well, this has been delightful, Mr. Rich, but I'm afraid I must be going. I have an appointment elsewhere in the city this evening.”
“Leaving so soon? I was hoping you might take a spin around the dance floor with me.” Rich's smarmy demeanor had returned. Rarity kept her disgust off her face and laughed.
“While I would normally take you up on that offer, my friend for the evening has reservations at D'Oro and I've been trying to get in there for the last month. I'm sure you'll understand.”
“Oh, absolutely. Make sure you try the crabcake. It's to die for.”
Rarity let out a dainty laugh. “I'm sure it is. I'm going to go take one last look at the display and then I'll be off.”
Rich took her hand and softly kissed the back of it. “Whoever you're meeting, Miss Rarity, they're very lucky.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere, sir.”
With that, Rarity disengaged herself and headed toward the display. Rich stared after her, watching her hips sway back and forth. He swallowed and reached for his handkerchief.
“Rich!” came the voice of Spoiled. The millionaire blinked, wiped his brow and went to join his wife.
As Rarity made her way through the crowd, she scanned the faces of everyone around the display case. The usual mix of the elite, the press, and those with more money than brains. A security guard was posted next to the case, and there were five more around the room. One at each entrance and the fifth patrolling the room. Rarity walked up to the ropes surrounding the case and cast her gaze over the costume she had created for the display. She noted the strings of blue and green beads wrapped around the mannequin's hips and nodded in satisfaction.
She turned away from the display and left the main room, making her way to the coat check desk. As she broke away from the crowd of party goers, she reached up and touched her right hand to her ear.
“Everything's ready, darlings. I'm heading out now.”
“Roger that,” came the voice of Twilight Sparkle. “I'm jacked in on my end. Showtime in two minutes. Last check. Report in.”
“Transportation ready,” Rainbow Dash said. “South side loading dock.”
Applejack's familiar drawl was next. “Ready and rarin' to go. Cargo elevator's clear. Headin' for the big room now.”
“Party time!” squealed Pinkie Pie. “I've got all the favors set up on the south side!”
“Um, I think I'm ready too,” came Fluttershy's nervous voice. “I hope.”
“You'll be fine, Fluttershy.” The confident voice of Sunset Shimmer came through the earpieces of all the crew. “Just do like we practiced and you'll be fine.”
“No one's going to get hurt, right?” Fluttershy asked.
“If we do this right, the only thing that's going to be hurt is Filthy Rich's pride,” Sunset answered. “If you want out, now's the time to say something.”
There was silence for a moment then Fluttershy's voice came back with a note of firmness. “No, I'm in. Ready to go.”
“That's my girl.” Sunset was pleased. “Rarity, you're wrapped. Get out of there and get your alibi established.”
“Break a leg, darlings. See you at the after party.”
Rarity collected her wrap from the coat check and left the museum. Her Ryde driver was waiting for her outside. She looked back up at the museum and smiled before climbing inside the car.
Showtime.
Gasps and screams exploded from the guests as the doors in each wall of the room burst open. Four masked figures brandishing firearms rushed into the room. The guards on the doors were quickly and efficiently incapacitated. The two remaining guards drew their guns. One of the masked figures, a woman with bouncy pink hair and a mask resembling an anime character reached into the pocket of her pink leather jacket and threw several small objects at the guard in the middle of the room. He instinctively threw up his arms to cover his face. The brightly colored pellets exploded with a loud squeak and soon the guard found himself falling to the floor, entangled in brightly colored plastic streamers that were unable to be broken.
Another woman, this one with long blonde hair done up in a ponytail, and dressed in jeans, an orange shirt and a denim vest, dashed forward and clocked the guard in the head with the butt of her shotgun. The last thing the guard saw before he lost consciousness was the impassive blank white face of the mask.
The blonde looked up and nodded across the way to the third woman. She was dressed all in black with her long pink hair hidden under her hoodie. Her mask was a cartoon bunny face. She reached into her pocket with her free hand and thumbed a small device resembling a car alarm remote. She pressed one of the buttons.
Across the way, the beads strung along the skirt of the costume in the display vibrated and exploded, shattering the glass and causing the remaining security guard to fly across the room and land on the floor. The woman in the pink leather jacket dashed across to him and put a couple of fingers to his neck. She looked up and nodded to the fourth woman.
The fourth woman, obviously the leader, fired her Uzi into the air. “All right, everybody get down!”
The attendees of the gala complied, whimpers and cries being heard as they did so.
The leader, dressed in a stylish black suit, red silk blouse, and a mask that was gold on one side and red on the other, began to speak. Her red hair, shot through with streaks of gold, flowed behind her.
“Keep your heads down, your mouths shut, and think of your loved ones!” she said, striding across the room. “We're going to let you keep your personal belongings, but if I see one cell phone recording this, it's not going to be pretty!”
She gestured to her accomplices. The bunny and the anime girl rushed to the display case, putting the Carcanet and the costume pieces inside the shoulder bags they carried. The blonde woman held up her shotgun, using it to encourage anyone to keep from moving.
“Silent alarm's been triggered. Police are en route. Two minutes.” Twilight's voice came into the leader's ear. She looked at the two at the display case, who secured their bags and nodded back to her.
“We have what we came for, we're leaving now.” The leader began stepping backward as her accomplices left through the door behind her. The blonde woman stepped beside her, shotgun at the ready.
“But we're watching you on the security monitors. We know who you all are. Anyone calls for the police in the next five minutes, you can be sure we'll find you. Keep that in mind.”
The leader looked at the blonde and nodded. The blonde reached into her own shoulder bag and pulled out what looked like a silver canister. She flipped a latch on the side and tossed it into the center of the room. A couple of seconds later a cloud of thick purple smoke had filled the room, causing the party attendees to begin coughing and choking.
When the ventilation system began to clear the smoke away, the thieves had vanished.
Sunset Shimmer and Applejack dashed back down the corridor Applejack had come from. Ahead of them, they could see the retreating figures of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. The four of them crashed through an “Employees Only” door and down a flight of stairs. The cargo elevator was waiting for them on the next floor down.
“Go! Go! Go!” Sunset chanted as they entered the elevator. She reached up and helped Applejack closed the doors. “Pinkie!”
“On it!” Pinkie hit the button for the loading dock. Sunset put a finger up to her earpiece.
“Dash, we're coming. How does it look down there?”
Outside in a nondescript gray minivan, Rainbow Dash, dressed in a black windbreaker and baseball cap looked around. She didn't see anything, but she could hear rapidly approaching sirens. She quickly turned the key in the ignition and the van roared to life.
“Better hurry,” she said. “We're gonna have company in pretty damn short order.”
“Roger.” Sunset reached up and took off her mask. “Masks off.”
The other women complied. Applejack pulled out a cloth bag from her shoulder bag. They dropped the masks into it. Applejack closed the bag right as the elevator stopped. She and Sunset opened the doors and the four of them dashed down the hallway to the loading dock.
Rainbow looked up as the exit door opened and her friends rushed down the stairs to where she was waiting. Sunset jumped into the passenger seat while Applejack wrenched the side door open. Pinkie and Fluttershy jumped in Applejack followed suit and closed the door after her. Rainbow put the van into gear and pulled out of the loading area, heading away from the museum at just over the speed limit.
In the back, Pinkie and Fluttershy pulled out the remains of the Carnivale costume from the display and were shoving them into the bag with the masks. Sunset nodded in satisfaction and touched her earpiece again.
“Twilight, we're clear. Get us a way out of here.”
“Into the DOT controls now. Make a right on McCarthy.”
Rainbow complied and hung a right, using her turn signal as she did so.
Across the city, in a warehouse which didn't officially exist, Twilight Sparkle's fingers danced across her ergonomic keyboard. Six monitors were mounted on the wall in front of her, displaying traffic cams from around the city, with the main one in front of her displaying the controls for the city's traffic lights. The glow from the monitors, the only illumination in the room, reflected off her glasses.
“Get ready to make a left on Confalone,” she said. She checked the traffic in the area and triggered the light changes. As she expected, the van arrived at the intersection right as traffic got up to speed. She glanced at the cameras for the next block and spoke again.
“Speed trap coming up. Slow down, Rainbow.”
Rainbow followed her instruction, allowing the van to pass by the hidden police car without attracting attention. Twilight checked the other cameras, took a moment to listen to the police band, then got back to her friends.
“Go three more blocks then take a right on Berrow. There's construction over on Vogel, so keep going after that until you hit Polsky. After that, turn left onto Songo, and you should be home free.”
“Gotcha,” said Rainbow.
Twilight leaned forward in her chair, staring intently, until she saw the van follow her instructions and begin traveling down Songo, heading out of the city limits. She leaned back and sighed. She let herself relax for a minute before getting up and grabbing her jacket. The job wasn't done yet.
Rarity had excused herself from the table at D'Oro and went into the ladies room. She pulled her phone out of her purse and smiled at the text message from Pinkie Pie.
Everything's okie-dokie-lokie!After party is a go!
Rarity quickly sent a thumbs up emoji as her reply then went back out to her table. If she had the timetable figured correctly, she had enough time to finish the meal before she had to leave.
“Everything all right?” her date asked. She flashed him a bright smile.
“Oh yes, just a client with a small emergency. I'm afraid I will have to see to it after dinner. I hope you aren't too disappointed, darling.”
He smiled. “No, I get it. I'm kind of a slave to my job too. Rain check on dessert some time?”
“I'd like that.” Rarity picked up her wine glass and raised it. “To rain checks.”
The van trundled down the dirt road leading deeper into the woods outside of Canterlot City. The passed through an old wooden fence. The headlights of the van briefly illuminated a weather beaten sign, the words on it formed of cracked and peeling paint.
Camp Everfree.
After a few minutes, the van pulled into the remains of a parking lot. Several derelict buildings were visible in the darkness. The women piled out of the van and walked deeper into the camp. They came to a large fire pit surrounded by logs which were meant to act as benches. Applejack grabbed some firewood from a nearby pile and got to work building a fire.
She soon got it going and the five women began warming themselves by the fire. Pinkie got out her phone and began monitoring the news sites.
“Good news! Nobody was hurt. The guards are fine. Obviously the police are super duper ticked off that we stole the Carcanet, but we were expecting that.”
“Oh, that's good,” said Fluttershy. “I thought maybe Rarity's beads hurt that one guard.”
“Nah,” said Applejack, grabbing the bag with the masks and the costume. “Ain't enough force for them to do any real damage. Glass might have been a problem, but it looks like he got lucky.”
Applejack tossed the bag on the fire. All five wrinkled their noses at the smell as the rubber and plastic masks began to burn.
Rainbow grinned. “Well, we got what we wanted, and nobody got hurt. I'd say this was a pretty awesome night, right, Sunset?”
She elbowed Sunset in the ribs. Sunset blinked and looked up.
“No, not awesome. Sloppy.”
“Sloppy?” Rainbow asked. “Everything went off as we planned. We have the doohickey – “
“Carcanet,” Fluttershy supplied.
“Yeah, that. Rarity's got an alibi. Nobody saw us and we didn't get stopped by the cops. How can that be sloppy?”
“We need to figure out how to do jobs like this without explosives.” Sunset sat up straighter. “Even if the beads Rarity and Twilight made weren't that powerful, it was enough to send glass flying everywhere. I don't want anyone getting hurt when we go after all the others.”
“I'm sure Rarity and Twilight can come up with somethin' different if we have to take another museum again. We got time right? Didn't you say all the other stuff was in the hands of private collectors?”
“Yes,” Sunset sighed. “But if any of them decide to feel charitable like Filthy Rich in the future, we're probably going to have to hit another museum. We need a better plan than a smash and grab play like this.”
Rainbow gave Sunset a light punch to the shoulder. “We'll figure something out.”
There was a flash of light behind them. The five whirled to see where it came from and got to their feet, drawing their weapons. After a few minutes they heard a pair of footsteps coming closer. Fingers tightened on triggers. Rainbow, Sunset, and Applejack raised their guns.
“Really, darlings, is that any way to welcome us here?”
They relaxed as Rarity and Twilight Sparkle came into the light of the fire. Rarity had swapped out her heels for a pair of sneakers which looked silly yet somehow still stylish with her dress.
Twilight looked approvingly at the burning bag in the fire. “We'll have to scatter the ashes when we're done here.”
“We will,” Applejack confirmed.
“How did the beads work?”
“As planned,” Sunset answered. “But we need to come up with something less likely to hurt any bystanders if we need to do another public job like this.”
Twilight nodded. “I'll look into it.”
“So are we doing this or what?” Rainbow asked.
“Be patient, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity admonished, dusting off the log and sitting down. “Magic items are nothing to sneeze at. You recall the affair with the Memory Stone all those years ago?”
Rainbow blushed and grinned in embarrassment. “Oh yeah, sorry.”
“It's fine,” Sunset said. She held out a hand. “Who has the Carcanet?”
Fluttershy reached into her bag and handed the Carcanet to Sunset. The leader of the crew looked at it then up and her friends.
“Did you all bring your geodes?”
One by one they all produced the magical necklaces they had received at this very camp. They put them on and Sunset held out the Carcanet.
“Okay, everybody touch one of the emeralds.”
Seven fingers reached out and made contact with the gems. As soon as they did, the geodes around the womens' necks began glowing with magical light. Multicolored beams shot from the pendants through their arms and out their fingertips. The emeralds began glowing with a brilliant green light. The light grew in intensity and exploded into a beam that shot into the sky. The young women all gaped as the beam turned into a giant sphere and exploded. Sunset wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a face in the light, twisted by hatred and anger.
Soon the light faded, and the seven friends' eyes cleared the afterimages away. Sunset looked down at the Carcanet. The gems had lost some of their luster, but only if the person looking at it knew what the difference had been. Otherwise, it was completely unharmed.
Sunset put it back in the shoulder bag and handed it to Twilight. “Make sure this gets put in the mail tomorrow. No fingerprints.”
Twilight nodded. “I'll sterilize it before I send it out.”
“So what was it supposed to do before we blasted all the evil magic out of it?” Rainbow asked.
“Raise an army of the dead that would do the bidding of the spirit of the evil sorceress who possessed the person wearing it,” Sunset answered. “We're just lucky Spoiled Rich didn't want to try it on herself before Filthy loaned it to the museum.”
“Would we be able to tell the difference if she had?” Pinkie asked. The others stared at her, then all seven burst into laughter. They waited at the camp site long enough for the bag and its contents to be thoroughly burned, then after extinguishing the ashes, they gathered them up and scattered them in the lake and around the abandoned campsite. They then left; Rarity, Twilight, and Fluttershy in Twilight's car, and the others in the van.
Once back in the city, the cars took two different meandering routes back. Rainbow and Twilight dropped their passengers off on street corners a few blocks away from their residences before heading off themselves. Twilight to sterilize the Carcanet and get it ready for return to the police and Rainbow to dispose of the minivan.
Sunset Shimmer sighed as Rainbow drove away and began walking back to her apartment. She reached into her own shoulder bag and pulled out a battered journal with a hybrid sun-star symbol on the front. She flipped it open to the last page with writing on it. Her last message from Princess Twilight in Equestria before all contact with the magic land had been inexplicably cut off.
The last page was filled with a list of magical artifacts that the princess was certain had been dumped in the human world by assorted Equestrian wizards, sorcerers, and other magical rogues. Sunset pulled out a pen and crossed off the first entry.
- ~~The Carcanet of Caladania.~~
Sunset sighed and closed the book. It was going to be a long road ahead, and there was no guarantee the other items they needed to find were going to be any easier to obtain. But she had her friends, her crew, and no matter what, they were going to carry out the last task the Princess of Friendship had asked them to perform.
Sunset put the book back in her bag and headed home. She had research to do and another heist to plan.
Author's Note
Just an idea which occurred to me today. Anyone want to see more?
