The Runners

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 5
Chapter 22

Chapter 1

Rarity smiled as she sat reclining on her balcony, flipping through the virtual list of audio files. “Let's see, general advice, general advice, simpler advice for those that didn't get it the first time...ooh. Here we go, ‘Thundr5tep tells a story,’ parts 1-4. Those were fun.”

She smiled before she began to play the file, letting the audio play in the speakers installed at the base of her skull.

“Good Morning, kids!” The file began, speaking through her living headphones in a deep, tenor voice. “Your friendly neighborhood Thundr5tep here with something special for you this time.”

Rarity lifted her drink with her horn and pulled it close, sipping on the fruit-flavored soy smoothie as she looked out on the cityscape around her.

“Now, it’s come to my attention that half of you drek-heads didn’t bother learning anything in school, so I’m going to have to fill you in on what happened to our wide world of Equestria. ‘Now Thundr5tep,’ I hear one of you ask, ‘why do we need to know about history? What good is that?’ To which I say, I’m surprised a plank of wood has gained enough sentience to Run with us.”

Rarity smiled at that. Thundr5tep was always a little on the vulgar side, but the way he told you that you were being dumb certainly got your attention.

“Not knowing your history is like not doing the legwork on a run, it means you go in blind, you miss the obvious, and you wind up getting yourself killed without learning a single fraggin’ thing. So I’m going to teach you the important stuff so you don’t get yourselves killed because you think hitting a corp named Marés Industries sounds like easy pay.”

Rarity smiled at that, looking out on the skyscrapers that surrounded her. Decorated with bright neon lights that managed to glow in the setting sun, and bright blue Augmented Reality holo-signs, the whole world was bright with color and sound. Down below, cars, vans, trucks, and more, guided by some of the most advanced AI systems ever produced, drove along, sending up a constant stream of smoke and smog that only made the neon glow brighter.

She really did like this series. It was far too short for her liking.

“The next few episodes are going to cover the rise of magic, the rise of the matrix, and the rise of the corps. This one, is going to be a quick overview, so you know at least a few things before you wind up dead in a ditch somewhere.

“About eighty years ago—”

The feed was suddenly interrupted, and Rarity looked up at the AR prompt that just hovered in her vision. She was getting a call from Carte Blanche, her fixer. She frowned for a second before a quick keystroke command brought up her bank account.

It was less than ideal.

She supposed she really did need to take the call. “Carte, darling!” she called the moment the unicorn’s face popped up in her vision. “How have you been?”

Carte Blanche was a lithe unicorn, that looked to be in her early twenties when she was at least a decade older than that, her white fur with black mane always made such a striking figure that it was easy to forget that. “Gem, there you are! I just found a new job for you. One that I think you'll like”

Rarity smiled. “I love any job that will pay, dear, you know that.”

“Then you will adore this job, dear, trust me,” Carte Blanche said, before a notification on Rarity's AR heads up display let her know that she was being sent an attachment. “Here’s the address of the meetup. I’ll let you gather the team, alright? Just let me know if you’re taking the job or not.”

“Of course, dear. Anything for a friend.”

Carte smiled. “Mr. Ringo will be wearing a jacket with a red flower embroidered in the lapel.”

“Thanks, dear. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must get ready.”

Carte nodded before her face winked away from the AR interface, leaving Rarity with her uninterrupted sunset once again. As she hung up, though, Thundr5tep’s voice continued as if it had never been interrupted, to begin with.

“—back in 915, Equestria was still defending ourselves with mundane swords and the trusty bow and arrow. Princess Celestia ruled from on high, and all was right in the world. That was until the very next year, 916, when the Awakening happened.”

Rarity sighed, and got up from her lawn chair, and wandered into her apartment.

“The Awakening caused magic to flow back into the world as it had never done before in recorded history. Before long, some of the weakest wizards around were still as powerful as Starswirl the Bearded, and it allowed everyone to wield it.”

The apartment was a three-room set-up with a living room/kitchen, bedroom, and bath. A whole thirty-by-thirty feet if she laid it all out, not the best, certainly, but it’s what she could afford.

“With everypony using magic, the unicorns that used to be all-that were suddenly out of a job. So, without much choice, they started working with steel and lightning, until Equestria began to rise to top of the technological pyramid. This culminated into the development of the Matrix, which is not to be confused with the old trideo movie by the same name.”

Rarity kept walking, over into her bedroom, to her closet, where she had a few options to pick from. Double-checking the address with a few keystrokes on her deck showed that she was heading to Club 88, out in the Canterlot Sprawl. Definitely not the place for the black dress with the kevlar weave. Maybe another night, though.

“Now, with all these new business opportunities, we come to our favorite part of the story. The Corps. The corps quickly raised to power after a delivery job went wrong. After that, they were granted the ability to hire mooks to protect their stuff, and because we can’t have nice things, this meant they began to build armies.”

She’d go with the armored synth-leather vest, she decided. It was punk enough that it would blend in at the club, and was bold enough that she could wear it without feeling that she was sacrificing her fashion sense.

“So, before long, these small business were on the verge of starting a war, until the good Princess stepped in to keep them calm. Unfortunately, that came at a price, the price of the corporate court, where the higher-ups can pick and choose to do what they want when they want, and of course that means keeping the poor pony down.”

With her wardrobe selected, and her mane altered to look ever-so-slightly punk-ish, she finally reached for her pièce de résistance, her A09 submachine gun. Sliding that into the armored vest’s hidden holster, as well as a handful of extra magazines that fit in on the other side.

“And that’s where we come in, my fellow Runners, crawling in the shadows and the city’s deep underbelly for everything the corps want. They want you to steal from another corp? We volunteer. They need someone kidnapped? We're right there. Murder, thievery, and more, that’s our job, but when you steal from the amoral, is it wrong?”

Rarity slung her deck over her back, making sure it was plugged into the data-jack behind her left ear, and walked out of her room. Locking the door behind her, she quickly made her way down to the parking garage, checking the timestamps on her audio file to gauge how long it would take before she called the others.

She had enough time.

“But that’s philosophy that’s probably a little too deep for you piles of drek, so I’ll cut it short. Besides, I’m in the middle of a run myself, and these Ahuiztech mercs are going to try and geek me if the dumpshock doesn’t. So, with that in mind, let me give you my usual piece of advice. Shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never make a deal with a dragon. Thundr5tep signing off, chummers. Stay safe in those shadows.”

It was almost as if Thundr5tep was wishing her luck as she walked up to her Yama Streetdart motorcycle. She slipped inside, letting the sleek, black titanium slowly close around her.

The motor revved beneath her, purring through her body as the streetbike’s lights snapped on. It was strong enough that she almost didn’t hear her comm ringing as she initiated a call.

She smiled. She always did love driving this thing.

The Streetdart pulled out of her reserved parking space, rolled down the ramp, and out the gate, which opened automatically as it read the infrared code on her bike.

And she was off, flying across the Canterlot streets and lost in the colors of the setting sun.

“Hello?” a drawling voice said, as an earth pony’s face appeared in her view.

“Steel? It’s Gem. We have a job.”

The earth pony smiled. “Well it’s about Celestia-dang time. I’ll call Wingmare and Rock Candy.”

“Perfect, I’ll let Web know. I’m sending the address now.”

The mare’s eyebrows raised as she read the sent attachment. “Club 88? Ain’t that the new punk-place they opened up three blocks down from the Final Regret?”

“It’s also the place that’s been siphoning their power for the past week,” Rarity confirmed.

The earth pony was silent for a second. “Y’all want me to shoot it up afterward?”

Rarity smiled. “Maybe another day, dear.”

“If you say so. See you there, Gem.”

<><><|><><>

Club 88 was as punk as Rarity thought it was. Dressed in fluorescent colors and decorated with discarded police tape, the whole building screamed “teenage rebellion.” Honestly, it made the unicorn worry just a slight amount that their new boss perhaps had no taste.

Then again, so long as his money had taste, it probably didn’t matter.

Steel Core was waiting for her by the door. “Well, howdy, Gem. Good to see you.”

The earth pony with orange fur and a large stetson on her head, was as much machine as she was flesh. All four of her legs had been replaced with metal machines. Every single one of them had been loaded up with more weapons than Rarity cared to think about, but it certainly made her effective.

Though she did have to admit the small neon bulbs that ran through her hind legs that traced out the trio of apples that used to be her cutie mark was a very nice touch.

“Steel,” Rarity greeted. “The feeling is mutual. Where are the others?”

“Wingmare and Miss Web are already inside,” the metal cowpony replied. “We’re just waiting on Rock Candy now.”

As though she had been summoned, a black van with brilliant, pink highlights careened around the corner. The black wheels with black hubcaps screeched as they ate the asphalt, leaving both ponies with a glance at the mural that had been painted on its door. The whole side of the van was decorated with a scene straight out of a heavy metal album, with a loincloth-clad barbarian wielding a massive guitar-ax that fired lightning into the sky.

It was the tackiest thing Rarity ever saw and was instantly recognizable as their getaway driver’s van.

It screeched as it came around the corner, halting right in front of the pair of ponies. A moment later, the door shot open, and a pink earth pony with obvious cybereyes and a data jack in the back of her head stepped out. “Hey girls!” she said, her voice bubbly and happy despite the steel-studded, black synth-leather vest that was perhaps a little too metal for the punk club behind them.

“Sorry I’m a teeny-weeny bit late, but Peewee needed some last-minute rotor maintenance,” she said, motioning to the flying drone that popped out of a small dock on the top of the van, that hovered next to her.

Steel shrugged. “It happens.”

“Just let me park, and I’ll be ready to go in,” she said before the van roared back to life and drove away, piloted by it’s AI as Candy had told it to. “So what do we have here?” she asked. “Club 88? Sounds like a happenin’ place, huh?”

“Or something like that,” Steel said.

“Come on, girls,” Rarity said. “Our Mr. Ringo won’t wait too long.”

Without another word, they headed into the club, where they were immediately assaulted by a deafening combination of punk and club music. The beat thundered through their bodies, rocking their bones and sending shivers down their rib cages.

Peewee hovered above the trio as they made their way in, forcing their way through a sea of pubescent colts and fillies that were “against the system.” The drone was busy looking around, doing its best to avoid the infrared laser light show that kept the AR dancers swinging with the music, while looking for the rest of the team.

Rarity took it all in with a professional detachment. This was a meetup, nothing more. She wasn’t here to correct the teens, tell them to stop eating corp-packaged rebellion, and move on with their lives. She was here for a job.

She scanned the room again, searching for any sign of the pair of pegasi that they were supposed to meet. Instead, she mostly saw teens with too much cash and not enough sense buying synthol, and some light drugs that a real ganger would turn down for being too weak.

She did spot a handful of older teens hovering around the bar, all dressed in trench coats, with anarchy symbols sewn into the shoulders. Rarity could pick them out as obvious Runner posers. The kind that thought that wearing a trenchcoat made you edgy. She shook her head in disappointment at them, before she looked around again.

“Found them!” Candy yelled into her ear.

Rarity looked over at the driver before the pink mare pointed to one of the tables in the corner. Taking a quick moment to zoom in on them with the telescopic vision that came standard in her robotic eyes, it took Rarity only a second to spot the others. Two mares sat around a table, one light blue with a shock of rainbow-colored hair, the other buried in a hood as she stared at a large spider crawling around on the table.

“This way!” Rarity shouted, wishing not for the first time that she had bought some cyber ears to block out the thudding club music.

The three made their way over, pushing through the sea of teens before coming to the table. The second they were within a foot of it, however, all sound suddenly ceased. There was no thudding music, no cries of ecstasy as the teen took some nice trips, just total silence.

She couldn’t even hear the sound of her eyes whirring in her skull.

Wingmare, the pegasus with the rainbow hair, waved and motioned for everyone to sit down, before pulling out her comm glasses and sending everypony there a text. “Web was getting tired of the music, figured it would be best to quiet everything down for a second.”

Rarity quickly sent a text back. “No one saw her cast?”

Wingmare smiled. “She’s good like that.”

Rarity nodded slowly. She knew that Web wouldn’t do something crazy, the pegasus didn’t like attention anyway, but the idea that maybe someone caught her casting in a club might bring some suspicion their way, especially from the club bouncers.

“Alright,” she said, sending some texts to the party. “Let me sync our comms real quick,” she typed, before pulling out her deck and jacking it into the back of her skull. The moment she sat down, her hooves began to fly across the keyboard, locating their devices before pulling them all onto her own Personal Area Network, pulling them off of public matrix access and making all of their gadgets and toys extensions of her own network.

If anypony wanted to get at them from the matrix, they’d have to go through her.

With a final keystroke, and a confirmation notification from her AR interface, she then turned back to the others. “Alright,” she texted. “We’re safe on that front. Now, our Mr. Ringo tonight is wearing a jacket with a red flower embroidered in it. Look around, but don’t be obvious about it.”

The mares nodded, all except Web, who was apparently not wearing her AR glasses. It took Wingmare actually shoving her a bit before she was woken from her reverie with her tarantula, and a moment later before her glasses were on, and she was catching up on the conversation.

Peewee, meanwhile, was flying over head. Candy was sat, slightly slumped next to Rarity as she took control of her drone, and flew her around for any sign of their contact.

Steel was looking left and right, using her cybereyes to search for him while Candy used her drone. Wingmare was looking through her organic eyes and was a bit of a disadvantage, but this was not her strong suit anyway.

Web, on the other hand, had just caught up with the conversation, and sent a quick message through her comm to everyone else. “I’ll check the Astral, brb.”

Her body suddenly slumped as Web passed into the astral plane, and she was gone for only a few seconds before she was suddenly back.

She grabbed her comm, and typed away, writing. “He’s upstairs, waiting for us.”

Rarity nodded, before sending a quick group text. “Alright, let’s go upstairs. We move as a group, stay close but not too close, and remember, don’t threaten our Ringo, even if you’re sure he’s going to backstab us.”

Wingmare sent a quick text back. “Well, he was…”

Rarity ignored any further texts, and stood up, followed by her team before they all walked out of Web’s ball of silence. The thumping bass and wailing punk guitars met their ears in full force, and Rarity did everything she could to keep her ears from popping as they were suddenly assaulted by sound.

They quickly went up the stairs to a small balcony, where a section was cordoned off by what Rarity could only assume was soundproof glass. Once there, the party was soon met by a large earth pony bouncer waited for them. The massive pony glanced down at her, and raised an eyebrow as though asking to be impressed.

Well, Rarity was always ready to impress.

“We’re here for Mr. Ringo,” Rarity practically yelled, even though the music wasn’t nearly as loud up here. As she spoke, a faint smell began to fill the room, a strange, almost imperceptible smell. The pleasant scent tickled the bouncer’s nose, and while he remained firmly between them and the balcony, he had certainly changed his attitude.

“Ma’am...I...I’ll be honest, you’re not the first ponies to approach me tonight, I need proof that you’re the real deal.”

Well that can be arranged.

“A Miss Carte Blanche sent us. She’s our fixer. You ask Ringo about her, see if it rings a bell.”

The bouncer nodded, before he walked inside the balcony, and quickly whispered to the pony in the jacket with the flower. They shared a few words, before the bouncer quickly made his way back to the balcony entrance. “Mr. Ringo will see you now.”

Rarity bowed to the large stallion before they walked in, leaving the silence behind them as they stepped into the business section of the club. Or at least, the section where ponies are rich enough to buy silence. As they stepped in, though, Rarity did take a moment to thank her stars that she bought that pheromone emitter bio-implant. It was still the best purchase she ever made.

They quickly made their way to the table, and they finally met with Mr. Colt Ringo.

This Colt Ringo was a slim stallion with a coat the color of soycaff. His mane was slicked back, and he wore a pair of sunglasses, despite the fact that it was in the middle of the night, and inside a dark club. “So you're the Runners miss Blanche told me about?”

“That’s us,” Rarity said, turning on her pheromone emitter again, while her cyber eyes took a few photos of their contact.

“Alright, I have a job for you. Simple smash n’ grab.”

Rarity smiled, but she knew better. There was no such thing as “simple” in her business.

He slid a small datachip across the table. “This chip has the address of the location my employer needs you to hit.”

Rarity took it and slot it into her data jack, and was immediately met with a code lock. “You have it locked,” she said.

“This is sensitive information. I cannot release it until you take the job. I’m sure you understand?”

Rarity gave the slightest frown, but continued. This wasn’t the first time a Ringo asked for something like this, and it wouldn’t be the last. “I do, in fact, understand. However, now I have to wonder if the object that we’re stealing?”

“I also cannot divulge that until the job is accepted.”

Rarity sighed. “How much?”

“My employer is willing to pay 600 nubits each.”

Rarity looked to the others.

The team looked to each other.

That was all Rarity needed. “Make it 800.”

Mr. Ringo frowned. “700 no more.”

“Deal.”

“All the information is on the chip. Code is 9712.”

She entered the code, and sure enough, the data was now available. She’d have to go through this later. Right now, she had a deal to close. “Very well, what’s the timeframe?”

“Three days, no more.”

“Alright. I’m glad we could be of service, Mr. Ringo.”

<><><|><><>

“That fraggin’ drek-head!” Wingmare shouted.

They stood outside of the club, gathered around Candy’s van, and Wingmare was throwing a fit.

To be fair she had a reason to be upset.

“We’re getting shafted!” she cried. “Only 700 nubits for taking on one of the big six? We should be getting paid thousands for this.”

“Yeah, we should,” Steel agreed. “We’re getting fragged, and we’re never taking a job from this Ringo ever again.”

“So we’re actually taking this job?” Wingmare asked, shocked.

“We have to. If we back out of this, we get blacklisted. There ain’t nopony that’d do business with us again.”

“Right, so we’re just going to die instead,” she muttered darkly.

“It’s not as hopeless as it sounds, dear.” Rarity said suddenly.

“What do you mean, Gem?” Web asked.

“The building is basically ignored,” she said, tapping away on her deck and eyes flying across invisible AR windows. “It’s a satellite building. Warehouses mostly, with a few offices the higher it goes. It seems to be low security, even. We might just get away with this.”

“But we’re still going to be underpaid.”

Rarity smiled. “Oh, just watch him try to leave with the gem without paying us.”

“Gem?” Candy asked.

“Yes?”

“No, as in, there’s a gem?”

“Ah, yes. The mark. Supposedly, we’re after a small gem. It doesn’t seem too impressive, which of course, means it’s magic.”

“Of course,” Web said, stroking the abdomen of her large spider.

“So we’re not up a creek without a paddle just yet.”

“No,” Rarity said. “But this is certainly no milk run.”

Steel sighed. “So we have three days?” she asked.

Web nodded. "Not my preferred time table, but it's workable. I might need to work through the night, but I might be able to do something."

“Then we better get started on the legwork," the cyborg cowpony said with a sigh.

Rarity nodded, as they all piled into the van.

They were about to hit Harmony Inc. One of the largest corporations in Equestria.

Chapter 2

Two days passed, and Miss Web had done her thing. Rarity watched as a manila file started to fill up, stuffed with information. By noon on the second day, they had enough for her to make a presentation.

“The building has fourteen stories and five basements. The first one is normal storage, the four below that appear to be high-security labs.”

Steel nodded, listening as they sat in the abandoned warehouse they had been renting out. Web was always the best at legwork, though she did have a bit of an ulterior motive for it. It was more than just staying alive for her.

“Luckily for us, the scouting I did gave me the sense that the target is on the top floor,” she continued.

“Just a sense?” Wingmare asked. “You don’t know for sure?”

Web shook her head. “I tried to sense it in the astral, but they have an elemental guarding the place. I couldn’t make an in-depth check without alerting them that I was there.”

“And you weren’t ready for a fight either, huh?” Candy said, from beneath her van, working on something unseen.

“No. I had to move quickly, and I couldn’t pass into the building without setting off their wards. I had to come back. However, there was something very powerful on the top floor.”

Rarity nodded. “That sounds like our target, but the question that’s bothering me is, if it’s that powerful, then why is it being held in a small satellite building?”

“To hide its power?” Web suggested. “It’s what I would do.”

“Fair enough,” Steel said. “O’course, this brings up a bigger problem.”

“If they’re using low security to hide its importance, then where’s the real security?” Web asked, as if anticipating the answer.

“Exactly.”

“Well, there’s a Star building not a block away.”

“Aw, drek.”

“Not to mention what security teams are on-site, though it seemed to me that mostly it's private teams.”

“Not the best sign.”

Web shook her head. “Now for the good news.”

“There’s good news?” Wingmare asked, draped on a chain hammock that hung from the ceiling and was probably not meant to be a hammock. “What do you know, we might actually make this.”

“There’s a food delivery truck that arrives three times a day every day to deliver meals hot. It seems that whoever’s up there wants his meals fresh, and doesn’t like the on-site cook.”

“That’s our in, then?” Rarity asked.

Web nodded.

“What’s the name?”

“Cumin Catering.”

Rarity tapped away on her deck, quickly making her way through. “Well that’s fortunate,” Rarity noted.

“What?”

“Cumin Catering doesn’t have drivers. They hire them per job.”

“Wow, really?” Candy asked, rolling out from under her van, wrench held in her cyberhoof. “How easily could you fake some IDs?”

Rarity smiled. “I’m almost hurt you asked, Candy.”

The pink earth pony smiled before sliding back under the van.

“Well, we definitely have our in, then. What about our out? I can’t imagine that the delivery guys are allowed on the top floor?” the cowpony grunted.

“I could have my van follow behind us,” Candy said. “My baby’ll make sure we get back on the road safe n’ sound.”

“The road ain’t what I’m wonderin’ about. It’s gettin’ out a the building that I’m worryin’ over.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t know,” Web said with a sigh. “The inside of the building is our unknown, and I while I hate unknowns, we don’t have much choice.”

Rarity shook her head.

“Well, if nothing else, we have a plan to get in. We have worked with less in the past.”

“Right, by the skin of our teeth,” Steel grumbled.

“We can work with this,” Rarity said, confidently. “And once we deliver that rock to Mr. Ringo, we’re going to squeeze him for every nubit he’s got.”

That got a few smiles.

“Let’s do this!”

<><><|><><>

They were ready to move by three pm.

The Cumin Catering security guard didn’t even look up from his screen as he swiped the IDs of the new drivers, and all five of them piled into a new, white van with “Cumin Catering” written on the side.

They ran the approved route for an hour, delivering the food as necessary, before the building loomed into view.

A monolith of glass and steel rose out of the border of Canterlot and the Sprawl, just far enough away from the center of the city to be out of the way, without encroaching on the poor side of town. It was almost perfectly smooth on the outside, with only a single, six-pointed starburst to mark who owned it.

Rarity looked up at it with slight surprise. “I thought it’d be more refined than that.”

“You mean fancier?” Wingmare asked.

“In a manner of speaking, yes.”

The van rode up to the gate, which opened as it read the vehicle’s code, and they drove up to loading bay 3.

“Well, so far, so good, right?” Steel asked.

The loading bay was waiting for them, but it was empty, with only a rolling door separating the loading bay from the inside of the building. As they all got out to unload their product, onto the bay, Rarity ignored them, and stayed in the van.

The big problem with everything going to wireless was that it made it much easier to take a system over from a distance.

With a few quick taps, Rarity dove into the Matrix. The world around her faded, and Virtual world of the digital superhighway sprang to life. The first thing she met was a simple dialogue box that read “employee matrix access only. Please submit Employee Code.”

Rarity smiled at the little thing, before she got to work, her avatar, her representation of her being in the Matrix transforming into a pair of overalls and a hard hat.

“It’s alright, dear, I'm just here for some maintenance.”

A quick series of commands later, and she spoofed it into debug mode. A quick scan of valid entries flew by her face, and she selected one of the offline codes to use.

Stepping back out of the debug, she inserted her new code and made it in the building’s Matrix access system. As she walked into this new area, she transformed her avatar again, choosing business attire instead.

She didn't have to keep changing outfits, but it was a nice call back to a life cut short.

The area around her manifested as a castle of some kind, an odd choice, but not the most outlandish she had seen.

Sticking to the virtual walls of the virtual hallways, Rarity gilded her way down, checking the mission clock that they synced before going in. Just under a second had passed since she entered the Matrix, and time was of the essence. A handful of watcher programs, dressed as knights patrolled the halls, looking for anything out of place, but a quick stealth program made them blind to her for a few moments, which was all she needed.

Down a set of virtual stairs, and across the courtyard, Rarity suddenly found herself face-to-face with a gate house, whose door was decorated with a sign. “Level 4 access required,” it read.

Well, this was where she needed to be, at least. Changing her form once again to be that of a medieval peasant, she—

Wait.

There.

A nice medieval peasant, she quickly began to work on the door. Ducking out of the way of Watcher hawks and White knights, she fiddled with the virtual lock until finally the room opened to her.

She checked around.

No alarms.

Perfect.

Ducking inside, she looked around, before quickly coming up to a key. The gate key.

Holding her other hoof up, she began a transfer, and sure enough, there popped an exact copy of the key.

Now this may as well be her castle.

There was just one more thing to do.

<><><|><><>

Three seconds had passed since Rarity had ducked into the Matrix, before she suddenly leaped up. “Alright! The camera feeds are covered, we have half-an-hour. We need to move.”

At the word the whole team moved, dropping their white catering jackets in favor of their usual attire, and rushed the door.

“Code is 4176!” Rarity said, and sure enough, it was.

A second later, they were in, the sterile white walls decorated with a number of color-coded stripes, the kind common in the dark bellies of such corporations. A red stripe led straight to the door they were standing in, joined by a small rainbow a few more steps in.

Candy rushed in first, coming up five feet in before she was followed by a small tank. Her LA assault drone, a police-grade monstrosity armed with a heavy machine gun and tank treads rolled up, passing Candy by and aiming down the corridors of the first intersection. “We’re clear!”

The others rushed in.

Steel, armed with her Smith & Western shotgun, along with Wingmare and her pair of Reighner Superwarhawks, a pistol that was never meant to be fired in a pair, took point, along with the LA drone.

Rarity was in the middle, with Candy behind with a heavy pistol, and Web taking up the rear, ready to cast spells, or fire a few heavy pistol rounds herself.

“There should be a service elevator on the left. It’ll take us to the thirteenth floor,” Rarity said, trying to remember the blueprints she only saw for a second or two.

They ran, down the hall, before sure enough, there was the service elevator on the left, just as Rarity had said.

The moment they were close enough, both Wingmare and Steel leveled their guns at the elevator, while Candy and her drone took the hallway ahead of them.

Web stood behind for a moment, concentrating before she pulled her will through the astral plane. The sloshing of water and the sound of a stream was heard, when slowly out of the ground came a water elemental, shaped like a giant spider. Web smiled at the sight of it, and whispered. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Mr. Elemental, it means a lot. Now I don’t mean to put you out, but can you watch this hallway for us until we get back?”

The spider answered with the sound of a crashing wave.

“Oh, thank you ever so much!” Web said, before she pulled away, and hit the elevator button.

It answered with a soft ding, and opened gladly for the outlaws.

Packing themselves in, Rarity immediately hit the button for the thirteenth floor. “So far so good, girls,” Rarity said, as they began to rise at a speed that only the triple-A corps could afford.

“Almost too good,” Steel said.

“Don’t jinx us, Steel,” Wingmare warned.

But it was true. It was almost too good. They hadn’t met a single pony down below, and they haven't run into any problems so far. The only sign that the building was under any watch at all was the IC programs in the matrix that would have begun smacking her around if she tripped them.

Rarity tried not to think about it. Not yet. Needless paranoia could ruin this job if she started jumping at shadows. If this kept up, though…

Ding, the elevator rang, and the door slid open noiselessly, revealing a much nicer hallway, decorated with art, modern art, and fountains that poured water like waterfalls. The tiles were a shiny gunmetal color, and the exposed part of the walls was a cool steel.

The ponies erupted out of the elevator, checking both the left and right.

Nothing.

This was not helping Rarity’s paranoia.

“Elevator to the top floor is down the right hallway,” Rarity ordered.

The team moved together, the drone watching their backs as they moved forward.

Still, not a soul.

Rarity was starting to chew her lip, trying desperately not to run back for the service elevator and leave. They couldn’t afford to back down, they had to get the gem tonight, or their reputation would suffer. She couldn’t leave, even if this was feeling like a trap.

Which it was.

This was almost certainly a trap.

Wingmare was tense. She already knew.

Web had been suspecting it all from the start. The rampant paranoia that had been plaguing her for years made her perfectly aware of what was happening.

Candy’s drone was scanning the area like mad, doing the best it could on automatic.

Steel’s cybernetically-enhanced reflexes were ready to fire off at a moment’s notice.

But they had to keep going forward.

They hit the elevator, and all walked in, hitting the button for the fourteenth floor.

The tension in the elevator could wind a spring. The group of five Runners was getting ready to burst. There had to be a trap. There had to be sixteen teams of highly-trained security teams, all armed with armor-piercing rounds just on the other side of the door.

It had to be a trap.

Ding.

The doors opened and revealed an office. A singular, massive office.

A cherry blossom tree dominated the middle of the room, and fine silk carpets covered the floor. Fountains bubbled into a living koi pond, and glass tables reflected the soft, purple light that flooded from the ceiling.

A single desk with a large chair sat on the other side of the room, staring out of the wall-to-wall window.

And there was not a soul to be seen.

For a long second no one moved, with only Steel’s leg in the way to keep the door from closing. They waited, fully expecting a team of heavily armored ponies to pop up from behind the desk and start firing. When that didn’t happen, Rarity slowly took a step out of the elevator.

There was no hail of bullets, no instant evaporation, everything seemed totally fine.

The team slowly stepped into the office, watching every wall as they moved, weapons ready, and nervous. They finally came to the center of the room, where they basked in the shadow of the cherry tree before the chair turned to face them.

In that second, they suddenly realize that this was far worse than teams of elite security personal.

They dropped their weapons, they were useless now anyway. Web didn't even think about casting a spell. As Rarity stared at the thing in the chair, she knew the only weapons she still had were her voice and her wit, and one wrong word would seal their fate.

This was far, far worse than a security team. This was a dragon.

“So, you were the poor saps that got hired to steal from me,” the dragon said. His long, serpentine form sat, almost cradled by his chair, and his wings hung to his back like a cloak. Smoke trailed from his nostrils, and his long, powerful talons clacked against each other.

Rarity nodded. “Yeah...that’s what we were hired to do.”

“And you admit it,” the dragon grumbled. “That either speaks of great stupidity or incredibly bravery. Or both.”

“Or both,” Rarity agreed. “I...have to wonder though, why is the CEO of Harmony Inc. doing here, instead of your main office?”

“Why indeed?” the dragon asked amused. “Give me your best guess.”

Nopony said a word for a long second before they all looked to Rarity.

Sometimes she really hated being the face. “You…” she began. “You want to...you knew this was going to happen. You knew that your gem was going to be stolen.”

The dragon smiled before he raised a small remote. With a push of a button, a holographic picture appeared between them. “We’re here for Mr. Ringo,” Rarity’s voice said, as the camera looked down at her.

“Ma’am...I...I’ll be honest, you’re not the first ponies to approach me tonight, I need proof that you’re the real deal.”

A second passed before it clicked. The bouncer had been in on it, this was his view, from his cybereyes.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Miss Gem.”

Wingmare frowned.

“Th-that’s why no one’s here. You knew we were coming tonight,” Rarity said.

“Well, not tonight,” the dragon said. “Admittedly, I had this set up for the past three days. I was getting worried that you weren’t coming.”

“So...why? Why didn’t you stop us sooner?”

“Well, Miss Gem, it just so happens that I need a group of either very brave or very stupid runners.”

“And we fit the bill,” she grunted.

The dragon smiled. “Now, come here, all of you,” he said, before snapping his fingers and use his massive magical might to summon a set of chairs. “We need to have a talk.”

All five mares looked at each other.

They really didn’t have a choice.

Sighing, Rarity crossed the room, and sat down, and slowly, she was followed by the others. Each took their seats, all around the desk of the incredibly powerful dragon.

“So, let’s start with introductions,” he said, before motioning to Rarity. “It sounds like you know exactly who I am Miss Gem, would you care to explain for those who aren’t aware?”

Rarity frowned before she answered. “Ladies this is Spikarunz, CEO of Harmony Inc. A very powerful dragon.”

“Thank you,” he said. “Of course, you can call me Spike, and you are Miss Gem, the decker of the group, as well as the face.”

Rarity shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

“Then we have Steel, the muscle, Wingmare the adept, Miss Web the shaman, and finally Miss Candy, the rigger and driver. I’ll respect your occupation enough to avoid using your real names, but I will say they are very lovely.”

They all shifted uncomfortably.

“Now, business. I need agents, specifically for a number of jobs of very high danger. In exchange for completing these jobs, I will offer you all your choice of money, or a favor that has been already determined once the agreement has been accepted. As an example, Miss Steel, how would you like to have your farm back?”

Steel blinked.

“Your whole family can go back to growing some of the most delicious apples I’ve ever had.”

“Y-you can’t do that,” Steel said eventually.

“Oh, I assure you I can,” Spike said. “One call on my comm, and I will buy that farm, to be transferred to your name, regardless of whatever price those two name.”

Steel released a shaky breath.

“Or what about you, Miss Wingmare? What about an exciting career that your father would approve of?”

Wingmare said nothing.

“Or how about you, Miss Web? Complete safety from those that are hunting you, and my guarantee of a peaceful, calm life. How does that sound?”

Web hid behind her mane.

“Miss Gem, I understand that this wasn’t your first profession choice. How would you like a second chance at that?”

Rarity said nothing.

“That just leaves you, Miss Candy, and quite frankly, you’re the only one that I don’t know how to deal with.”

She smiled. “I get that a lot.”

“I’m sure you do,” Spike said. “But nonetheless you have to consider that money is no object for me, just name your price.”

“And what if we refuse?” Wingmare asked.

“Well then, I’d have to kill you all,” he replied with complete calmness. “And trust me, while I do make a wonderful friend, I am not someone you want to make an enemy of.”

“She was just curious,” Rarity said suddenly. “Just, want to know what our options are.”

Spike nodded. “Of course. So do you take the job?”

Rarity smiled. “Well we’d be remiss to say no.”

Spike smiled. “I’m glad you see it my way. Now, there are a few additional terms to discuss.”

“Additional terms?” Wingmare yelled, indignant.

“You’re welcome to turn the agreement down, if you want,” Spike said. “Of course, you know what would happen if you do.”

She sat back down, still indignant.

Spike smiled before he picked up a comm. “Come on in.”

A moment later, a figure dressed in a corp robe exited the elevator and approached the desk.

“This is Twilight Sparkle, one of the best mages on call here at Harmony Inc., one that I have trained personally since she was a little filly here. She is to go with you, and stay with you, until such a time as the deal is complete. She will be my line to you. If I need a job done she’ll be the first to know. Is that alright with you, Miss Wingmare?”

The rainbow-maned pegasus glared up at the dragon. “That’s just fine with me,” she said.

Spike smiled in response. “Good, I’m glad we’ve come to an understanding. The jobs I have for you all will not be happening altogether. They will happen as I need them, and as such, you are free to take other jobs as they come to you. However, if any jobs are directed against Harmony Inc, I will expect you to inform me that something is happening, so I can best minimize collateral damage. Am I understood?”

“You’re not going to ban us from targeting you outright?” Rarity asked.

Spike continued to grin. “Of course not. I need you to understand, Miss Gem, I’m a business dragon. I understand that your brand is important. I understand your service is important, and I understand that if ponies are coming to you, then you must be doing something right. No, banning you from running jobs on Harmony Inc. and its subsidiaries would be something to expect of the idiots in middle management, when I can simply let you get paid, let you do your job, and manipulate the results of it all at once is a much more elegant answer.”

Rarity nodded.

“Now, when you do perform jobs for me, I will be providing you with equipment to perform them to best of my ability while still keeping you as deniable assets. This includes vehicles, armaments, cyberware, bioware, magical fetishes, whatever you need so long as they are not personal or unique items that can be traced back to me.”

Then, with a push of a button, a keyboard rose out of his desk. “Now, the only thing that remains is your payment. So, what will it be?”

For a moment, there was silence, before Miss Web stood up out of her chair. “I want protection. I want to be able to live comfortably somewhere without having to worry about Ahuiztech coming after me.”

Spike typed that in. “Done.”

Steel stood up. “I want my farm back.”

Tap tap tap. “As you wish.”

Candy spoke up next. “I want a Marés Dragon.”

Spike paused for a moment. “The Rotocraft?”

She nodded, a smile splitting her face in excitement.

“Maybe a waste of a corp favor, but alright. At least you have good taste,” Spike said, before typing that in.

Wingmare stood up. “I want ten million nubits.”

Spike looked up at the pegasus. “Just money?”

“Just money,” she answered, glaring straight into the dragon’s eyes.

“Alright,” he said, taping away. “And Miss Gem?”

“I want...I want my own business. A place where I can make and sell clothing.”

“It shall be done,” he said before all five of them suddenly received a notification.

Rarity opened it. “Is this a contract?” she asked, unable to believe her eyes as she scanned the document.

“I never do anything without a document. I know you’re not used to it in your business, but I think you’ll find this one works.”

“Gem’s Materials Company?” Steel read.

“You’re a construction company,” Spike explained. “You’re going to be helping me remodel some buildings which may or may not be mine.”

Rarity smiled. “Well when you put it that way…”

“I’m glad you like it,” he said, before he slid a purple gem over to her. “As for your current job, take this. Your Ringo won’t be able to tell the difference, and this has been the easiest 700 nubits you ever made.”

<><><|><><>

“Do you have the gem?” Mr. Ringo asked, as they sat around the table of a very nice restaurant.

Rarity nodded, and held it up. “Here it is, but if you think we’re handing this over for just 700 each, you’re out of your mind.”

“Is there something wrong?” Ringo asked.

“How about the fact that we assaulted a Harmony Inc building!” she asked, voice tense and angry.

“We agreed on 700 each.”

Rarity glared.

And Ringo slid over five credsticks.

Rarity glared some more.

“Are you backing out of the deal?” he asked.

Rarity threw the gem. “I hope you choke on it!” she yelled, before grabbing the credsticks and storming away, giving the bouncer a nod as she left.

He nodded back.

And that was the last interaction they had.

Walking out of the restaurant to the van, Rarity climbed in where the four other runners and the corp mage were waiting for her. “Here we go,” she said, handing them out, “the cheapskate wouldn’t give us more than 700.”

The mares grumbled but took their sticks.

The mage hadn’t said a thing the entire time.

“Alright Candy, take us home. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

And all the while, Twilight watched.

Rarity ignored the mage and took her seat before she sighed. After all, you never make a deal with a dragon.

Chapter 3

Rarity sighed. Of all the places the corp mage had to go, she had to follow her home. Twilight Sparkle, the insufferable mare, had quickly realized that they didn’t have a “Runner Cave” to hide out in, and Rarity had, in a sadly misguided attempt to offer the olive branch, offered her a place to stay in her apartment that was just large enough for one, and beyond having some of the best Matrix Access this side of the sprawl, had nothing really impressive to speak of.

Miss Twilight then chose to let her know this. Frequently.

“What is there to eat?” Twilight asked.

Rarity looked up from her deck. “Whatever’s in the fridge,” she said, before turning back to her AR screen.

“You mean you don’t even have real food?” Twilight asked, disgusted. “You don’t expect me to eat that soy substitute, do you?”

Rarity suppressed both the urge to growl and a similarly strong urge to just make a full-body dive in the Matrix just so she could be left alone. “Dear, are you aware of how expensive real food is? I admit soy is not nearly as healthy as real food, but for the price it’s the best we have.”

Twilight, still dressed in her Corp robe stared at her. “Wow...that was the most plebeian thing I’ve heard someone say.”

Rarity’s jaws clenched, and if Twilight had not walked away at that exact moment, she might have just ‘accidentally’ shot her a few times.

Of course, killing a dragon’s pet project was perhaps the quickest way to ensure a long and painful death. Still, that didn’t stop her from thinking about frying everything electronic device on her. All it would take was a single keystroke too.

What? Of course she hacked the corp mage’s comm. She wasn’t going to let her waltz about her home with direct access to a fraggin’ dragon.

Then again, if the dragon found out she had hacked her comm, he may kill her.

Rarity sighed again.

This is what she deserved for breaking the third rule of Running: Never, never, make a deal with a dragon.

Just that was a headache to think of. Was the whole thing a setup and her team had been picked long before they were born for this job that they were just “hired” for? Or was it really a thing of convenience? Was this just a small step in a massive Dragon vs. Dragon shadow war?

There was no way of knowing.

She sighed again, before turning her attention back to her browsing. The Runner Boards that had been so buried in the Matrix that you needed to know it was there to find it offered some distraction from this situation that was going to make her an old mare if she kept thinking about it.

“Rarity!” Twilight called from the kitchen.

“Don’t call me by that name!” she yelled back. “I’ve told you, lives literally depend on it!”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” she muttered. “I’m going to order some Bitalian. Is there a good food delivery service nearby?”

Rarity glared. “Not one that serves real food,” she said.

“You're kidding?” she asked. “Wow, ghetto life is awful.”

Rarity didn't say a word, but she certainly was typing into her deck a little hard.

A little notification showed up on her interface, showing that Twilight was making an outgoing call. A quick scan revealed that it was going to a Bitalian restaurant all the way across town.

She was seriously calling across town.

Rarity shook her head and debating strangling the mare, before getting back to work and checking her paydata bids. The one from the Sorraian Industries jobs from a few weeks ago was still up for grabs, but the current bids were looking good. Some 2k nubits was looking like the highest bid. Personally, she wondered why anypony wanted the deep, dark secrets of a company whose main product was construction items, but she wasn’t going to complain.

A new notification popped up in her view.

Twilight was calling Harmony Inc.

She was calling Harmony Inc.

Taking a short but deep breath to keep from panicking, she tapped into the call.

The first thing she heard was the dulcet, yet instantly recognizable, tones of on-hold music, before suddenly clicking. “Hello?” Spikarunz answered.

“What happened to my bank account, sir?” Twilight asked, a slight panic in her voice.

“Oh, that,” Spike said, and Rarity didn’t even need to see the facecam to see to know he was smiling. “Well, at it just so happens, you are quite visible and recognizable as a Harmony Inc. employee, and that, as you might imagine, is not conducive for the occupation of Running.”

“What does that have to do with my bank account, sir?” Twilight asked, worried.

“Well, certain sacrifices need to be made.”

“You emptied my bank account?” Twilight asked.

“No,” Spike said. “I took your SIN.”

Rarity’s mouth dropped.

“You...you what?”

“You are no longer Twilight Sparkle,” Spike explained. “You are nopony. Your assets, SIN, and general identity will be returned to you at the completion of your job. Until then, the mare formerly known as Twilight Sparkle will have access to your previous bank account at the behest of Harmony Inc. Am I understood?”

Twilight didn’t answer.

Spike waited a moment before continuing. “In the meantime, get some experience, go on a Run or two. I’m sure Miss Gem will gladly put you to work.”

The call ended, and Rarity stared at her AR screen, shocked by what she just heard.

The dragon had just erased Twilight Sparkle. Her Serial Identity Number was gone. Her credit, gone; her identity gone; her medical records, education, any and all records that ever mentioned Twilight Sparkle, was gone.

This was a tragedy for many. It had happened to more than a few ponies across Equestria during the Matrix Crash, and those few had no choice but to turn to Running. It was the only job they could do anymore. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Spike was the CEO of one of the biggest megacorps on the planet, it would have been lost forever.

She was suddenly very, very aware of how dangerous, and how powerful her new employer was.

“Rarity…” Twilight suddenly called from the next room over.

She didn’t answer.

“Rarity…I need your help.”

Rarity exhaled before she did her best to pretend like she hadn’t just heard that. “I told you not to call me that!”

“Rarity, I need a job!”

Rarity sighed, already making a call to Carte.

<><><|><><>

She had Candy pick them up and take them down to their favorite meet-up, a small bar in the Southern Sprawl, the Final Regret. While her Streetdart would have been her first choice, the fully encased, cockpit-like seat would have been a little crowded with Twilight sitting behind her.

The Final Regret was a tiny little thing, an honest-to-goodness bar that had been a bar since before the Awakening, passed down from generation to generation. Of course, that only made the fact that it was the only two-story building amongst proper office buildings and warehouses all the more obvious.

As they stepped out of the van, they were quickly hit by the sound of punk rave music booming down the street, where just around the corner, and just a block down sat Club 88, stealing power from every building nearby.

As they approached the small building, they were quickly met by a young, orange pegasus, maybe twenty years old. “Well, well! If it isn't Gem and Candy, who's the new meat?” she asked.

“Hiyah, Scootaloo!” Candy said as she bounced toward the building.

“Hello, Darling,” Rarity said, “this is the new team member, she doesn't have a street name yet, but we’ll work on it.”

Scootaloo nodded. “Alright, go on in, Wingmare and the others are waiting for you.”

“Thank you so much, dear,” Rarity said, before they stepped into the old building.

The Final Regret had tried to modernize over the years, a trid projector had been set up in the middle of the room, playing the hoofball game highlights from the night before, and there was an AR dancer in the corner, entertaining those with cybereyes and AR glasses. Still, the pub was musty in its traditionalism. Old wood, old taps, and old sports posters clashed with the chrome and steel.

Rarity paid it no mind, she simply walked in and found the table where the other three mares were sitting, and took a seat. “Hello girls.”

“Howdy, Gem,” Steel greeted. “So what's all this about?”

“It has to do with our newest member.”

Wingmare sneered.

“It's the hand we’ve been dealt,” Web reminded her.

“I know…” Wingmare replied. “Don’t mean I have to like it.”

“No one said you did,” Rarity replied as she sat down. “Now, to business.”

As the other two mares sat beside, another young unicorn, about the same age as the bouncer strolled up to them with a pitcher in her magical grasp. “Well, hello, Sis. I was wondering if you were going to show up.”

Rarity smiled as she saw her. “Hello, Sweetie, it’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too, Sis,” the young mare said, pouring her a cup of synthol. Her eyes glanced over to Twilight before she spoke again. “Your friend looks a little rough, does she need some cheering up?”

Rarity grimaced. “Dear, first of all, I told you not to perform your business around me. I’ll let you do it, despite my better judgment, but I don’t want to see it.”

Sweetie smiled. “I know, I’m kidding,” she said.

Rarity sent her a glare.

Sweetie smiled. “I’ll get you some food.”

Sighing, the decker turned her attention back to the group. “Alright, so, this afternoon, Miss Twilight here makes a call to Harmony Inc and finds out that her funds are completely gone. So is her SIN, Spike the Dragon had it transferred to a nopony while she’s with us.”

“So you’re SINless now?” Web asked.

“Welcome to the club!” Candy chirped.

Twilight sulked.

“Well at least nopony’s going to know exactly who she is while she’s with us,” Steel said, looking at the positive side.

“There’s a slightly bigger problem than that, darlings,” Rarity continued. “Our rookie here doesn’t have a nubit to her name, and considering she needs to be here, we might need to look at finding a job for her.”

Wingmare snorted again. “Oh, I see how it is.”

The decker raised an eyebrow. “And what do you mean by that?”

“We never did special jobs for me,” she replied.

“We most certainly have,” Rarity said. “Or do I need to remind you of the time we stole those Wonderbolt tickets?”

Wingmare said nothing.

“Anyway,” Rarity said. “I contacted my fixer, tried to see if we can’t find a good job around town, but in the meantime, we need to consider what needs to be done with the rookie. I’m already transferring a couple of hundred to her account for food, but she’s going to need more than that.”

“Wait, what?” Twilight asked, suddenly engaging the conversation.

“Already done,” Rarity said, before sliding a little datachip her way. “This should let you access the account.”

“What’s this?” she said.

“I’d thought you’d know what a SIN chip looks like,” Rarity said.

“Well, yes, but…”

“It’s a fake,” Wingmare grunted, as she pulled out another four chips. “She’s made basic fake SINs for everypony.”

“She makes em for free too,” Steel said, pulling out three more.

“Yay! You’re now a criminal!” Candy said.

Twilight stared down at her chip.

“It won’t stand up to the Star, but it’ll let you buy things from the FeedBag,” Rarity said, before turning back to the others. “But the point still stands, how do we make the rookie a pony who can at least pretend to be a Runner?”

“I can put her up in my old garage!” Candy said. “It still has the little focus shrine that Web left.”

“The elementals there were mean,” the Shaman explained, as her tarantula crawled out from beneath her hood, as though to defend herself from some accusation.

“That might work,” Steel said. “I might have a few weapons she can borrow or lease from me.”

“I have a pistol,” she said.

“Let’s see it,” Wingmare said.

Twilight reached into her robe and pulled out a surprising heavy revolver. Rarity recognized it instantly, it was the Harmony Roc, a high-caliber revolver with an eight-shot cylinder that could turn the average ganger into half a ganger and red mist. She recognized it because both Web and Candy carried a couple themselves.

“Huh. Well at least you have good taste in guns,” Web said.

A buzz on Rarity’s comm broke the conversation, and Carte Blanche appeared in her vision. “Gem dear! Is now a good time?”

“It’s a perfect time, Blanche, dear. What can I do for you?” Rarity answered as everyone went silent.

“I have the perfect job for your rookie,” Blanche said. “Ever heard of Nokota Unlimited?”

“Yeah, they’re a small computing company aren’t they?”

“Not so small anymore,” Blanche said. “They recently released a new antivirus software that has taken the market by storm, but that’s neither here nor there. The important thing is, they’re trying to up their security to protect their code, and they’re willing to pay some runners to test their new system. It’ll be a milkrun for you, break into the place, deal with some non-lethal measures, take on one security team armed with paintball guns, and all for at least 1k each.”

“1k each? You already worked a price out?”

“I told them no less. After your last job went the way it did with that cheapskate, I made sure you guys get your pay this time around. So what do you say?”

Rarity smiled. “A training day, you say? Well that sounds right up our alley. When do we meet?”

<><><|><><>

A quick meet with their new Ringo, and they were walking away from this job with a comfortable 1.5K in their pockets. It wasn’t going to get much better than this.

As Candy’s van pulled up to Nokota’s new training facility, Rarity and the others were in the back seat, all talking over the plan.

“So if I know my corps they’re probably going to have us check our guns at the door,” Rarity said as they rode along. “So, if anything goes wrong, it’s up to Web, Steel, Wingmare, and Rookie here to deal with any actual threats.”

“Why do you think something’s going to go wrong?” Twilight asked, “and do you have to call me Rookie?”

“Well we’re not going to call you by your real name,” Wingmare said. “It could probably be traced back to your boss, and that wouldn’t go over well.”

Rarity nodded before she turned to the mage. “Always expect something to go wrong. It’s what keeps you alive in this business. Don’t worry, though, you only need to hold whatever’s out there with magic for a bit before Candy can have her drones move in to reinforce us.”

“It might take a second or two,” Candy’s voice said from the speaker only a foot away from her limp body as she drove the van with her mind alone. “But they’ll get here. By the way, pulling up now.”

“Alright,” Rarity said, collecting herself, “and remember Rookie, shoot straight, conserve ammo, and be calm, cool, and collected. You’re a Runner now.”

As the team stepped out of the van, they were quickly met by an armed security team. They wore big scowls on their faces, held big guns in their hooves, and had enough tactical armor to build a kevlar raft. They were tense and trusted the Runners about as far as they could throw them.

Rarity sauntered up to them, pheromones pouring from the emitter in her lower back, and smiled. “Oh, come now, boys. We won’t bite. Well, not unless you pay us to.”

The effect was instantaneous. They began to relax, slowly, bit by bit, and calm began to flood their senses. Of course, that just meant for a lot of them that fear and anxiousness was replaced with disgust. “Runner,” the leader sneered stepping forward.

“Oh, there’s no need for that dear,” Rarity said. “We’re all just here for a friendly game of tag, aren’t we? Here, let me start, you may call me Gem.”

The leader frowned, and pointed over at the van. “Leave your weapons in the van. We have some safer ones for you right here.”

The team looked over at Rarity.

“Well you heard the stallion, ladies,” she said, before lifting her submachine gun from off her waist, and passing it off to Steel.

They obediently packed their guns away, before they slowly approached the table the security team leader pointed out. As promised, it was covered in guns, each marked with a band of neon green tape to mark them as paintball guns.

“Pick your poison," the leader said, still glaring at the Runners.

Rarity smiled and winked at him before she pulled a submachine gun very similar to the one she just left behind.

The others slowly followed suit, slowly re-arming themselves with paint-flinging counterparts of their weapons. The entire time, the security team watched, just waiting for everything to blow up.

The decker understood. Really, she did. Runners were the boogeyman of the corps, they’re only your friend if you pay them, otherwise they’re here to kill, steal, and destroy. So, while still pumping the air with as many calming pheromones that she had, she slowly, carefully tired to get them to relax as she watched her team pick and choose their paintball guns.

Once armed, Rarity nudged Candy. “Give me an aerial view of the building, find the easiest way in.”

Candy smiled, before her Rotordrone popped out of the top of the van, and began sweeping the area. The security team watched it with distrust, but they didn’t raise their weapons at it.

“Well, chummers,” Rarity said, “how do you want to do this? What's our target?”

“There's a server block in the complex,” the security team leader said, “on it is a file labeled ‘test file.’ That's your target.”

She nodded. “Policy on stunning people?”

The security leader, who was actually a little on the short side, glared up at her. “I really, really prefer if you didn’t.”

“Easy, darling. We’re all chummers tonight.”

The short earth pony said nothing.

“What about your team? When do you come in?”

“Once you set off the alarms, we come in and shoot you,” he said.

“With paintballs, I hope?” Rarity asked in a joking smile.

He continued to glare.

She sighed. “I’ll get everypony ready then.”

As she walked away from the security team leader, she called a huddle. “Come here, girls.”

They all gathered together on her, and Rarity began her last-minute briefing. “Alright, these are a bunch of drek-heads. I say we crack this billion-nubit nut open so good, we’re in and out before they have a chance to respond.”

Wingmare smirked. “Sounds like a plan.”

Steel nodded. “So no mercy?”

“Absolutely none,” Rarity said with a smile.

Web nodded. “Rookie, can you cast invisibility?”

Twilight looked offended. “Of course I can.”

“Good, keep that in reserve. It’ll make a beautiful exit.”

“Exit? Shouldn't we be worrying about getting in first?” Twilight asked.

“Oh don’t you worry about a thing, Rookie,” Rarity said with a vicious smile. “Don’t worry about a thing. Candy, what's our way in?”

Candy smiled. “There's a vent in the back. PeeWee can slip in just fine, and he can carry your signal through.”

“Perfect,” Rarity said. “Everyone on my PAN?”

A set of nods.

“Good, let’s go.”

Rarity smiled before she approached the security team again. “Alright, chummers, we’re ready to start. What about you?”

The security ponies looked at each other. “Sure. We’re ready.”

“Great. We’ll see you inside.”

The security nodded, unimpressed, before Rarity joined her team, and began their work of art.

<><><|><><>

PeeWee carried Gem’s PAN inside, and with that, the decker was in. Less than five seconds passed before she came back out and smiled. “Alright, they have forty auto-turrets, with six maglock doors with biometric readers, and enough infrared cameras to fill a warehouse. Web, what’s your report?”

“There’s an elemental, just one, however,” she reported.

“Can you distract him?” Rarity asked.

“I could, but that would set off the alarm,” she said.

Rarity frowned. “Well that’s a shame. In the meantime, I’ve made us invisible to the cameras. As far as they’re concerned, we have clearance.”

“What about the maglocks?” Steel asked.

“I spoofed some clearance, and keyed it into to a fake SIN I have,” the decker answered, before loading a datachip into her comm. “They won’t be a problem.”

“Alright, so as long as we avoid the elemental, we’ll be wiz?” Wingmare asked.

Web nodded.

Rarity nodded as well.

Twilight shook her head. “But...it can’t be that easy?”

“It’s not a candy shop,” Steel said, “but this ain’t that tough.”

“But this is millions of bits of equipment. You can’t tell me it’s this easy?”

Rarity smiled. “You’d be surprised how easy it is to fool a machine, Darling. Our biggest problem right now is the elemental down the hall,” she said, showing the retinal scanner her eye. “Besides, if they really wanted to keep this secure they shouldn’t have spent a hundred nubits on that shoddy matrix system. It’s almost begging to be stolen from.”

The retinal scanner beeped, and the six mares walked through the front door.

“To be fair, Rookie,” Steel said, “it helps when you have one of the best deckers in the world on your team.”

“Oh, please, there’s no need for flattery,” Rarity said, grinning.

“It ain’t flattery. You’re just that damned good.”

“Well now it’s a walk in the park,” Wingmare interrupted, “why don’t we do this all the time?”

“It’s normally a little harder to get fake security clearance,” Rarity said. “Normally they run on a closed system that’s hard to get into the begin with, and then you’d have to file through hundreds of employees and steal an identity, or add one yourself. The problem with adding one is that those systems are monitored. Here, there’s no one monitoring that, so I can add and remove employees as I see fit.”

“Wait, so you can make it so that the security team out there aren’t clearance anymore?” Wingmare asked.

The decker smirked. “Already did that.”

The rainbow-haired pegasus cackled at the thought.

“Still, let’s be fair, the only reason we’re walking in here is because this is a simulation room,” Rarity said. “We should at least try and find another way in to report to the security team.”

“I have an EMP grenade,” Candy said, bouncing beside the others.

“That’d be a little obvious,” Steel said. “We need to make this as convincing as possible, and going in with explosion would be…”

She trailed off.

The entire team blinked.

Four ponies stood on the other side of the room, dressed in a mish-mash of clothing. Two of them gripped weapons, while the other two were elbow-deep in a panel of wires.

There was a moment, a single moment, where the two teams merely blinked at each other, before all Tartarus broke loose.

The two ponies on guard, raised their guns to shoot before Web unleashed a ball of pure magical energy. The ball of mana exploded, popping like a water balloon, and splashing the burning life-energy over all of them.

The team dove for cover, with Rarity cursing all the way. “Drek, drek, drek, drek, drek! Why does something always have to go wrong?”

“It’s alright!” Web said as she summoned a Beast elemental, “we planned for this!”

“I know,” Rarity complained, as spiders crawled on spiders to form a massive pony-spider according to Web’s magical orders. “I just want things to go smoothly for once!”

Wingmare sighed, closed her eyes and concentrated, focusing her own power through her body, before she shot forward at incredible speed, and landing a kick that cracked a jaw into pieces, before flying back into cover as a hail of bullets followed behind her. “To be fair this could be worse!”

Steel raised her left leg over her cover and fired from the mare’s leg hidden there. She had enough time to rack the extending lever and fire again before a spray of automatic fire forced her down. “What I want to know is why there’s another team of Runners here at all!”

Rarity took stock of the others. Candy was slumped against the wall, eyes moving under her eyelids like she was in REM sleep, already moving her drones in as fast as she could. Rarity only hoped that she was warning the security team to come in as backup, as well as warn them of the live-fire that was flying through the air. Twilight, meanwhile, was summoning her own elemental, using precise formulas and rituals to summon a creature of fire to the material plane. This beast had no theme like Web’s there were no spider legs or mandibles, there was only fire, heat, and magma. “Rookie, cover Candy!”

Twilight nodded before she ordered her spirit forward. It leaped, burning its way through the air, and only giving the beast elemental a passing glance.

Meanwhile, Rarity got to work. Poking her head out of cover to check the scene, she fired her submachine gun, while keeping an eye out for the all-important sign of a—there! One of the other Runners had a smartlink gun.

She pulled back around the corner and plugged into her deck.

Spinning across the Matrix, she quickly rushed to find the gun, found it, and began her work. It wasn’t on a PAN, which meant that the other team didn’t have a Decker. All the worse for them. A few keystrokes later, and she had full control of the smartlink weapon, and denied all fire.

He cursed across the way, and ducked out of the crossfire, out of the fight.

Rarity smiled, that’s why you bring a decker.

And that’s when an air elemental flew into the room. The whipping wind of the air spirit filled the room, and it took a quick look around before he passed back into the astral plane.

Rarity blinked. “I hope that belonged to our chummers outside,” she said.

The flame and beast Elementals were locked in combat with an earth pony that was landing thunderous blows, and a pegasus that was casting spells, while Steel continued to fire into the mess with her hidden leg weapon.

Blam! Click-click. Blam! Click-click. “Are we going to ignore my question again? Why are these guys even here? It makes no sense. I mean, I know this kinda question isn’t usually answered, but it’d certainly make me feel better!”

“Actually it does!” Twilight called.

“It does?” Steel asked.

“It does?” Wingmare repeated.

Web spared a glance in her direction.

Twilight was about to explain, only for a spray of bullets to whistle by her ear. She hit the dirt instead, cowering as her spirit went on a rampage.

“Tell us later. In the meantime keep an eye on your elemental, that’s the last thing we need is to fight him too,” Web said.

Steel shrugged. “Well, at least there’s a reason,” she said before she began unloading into the last two Runners on the other side.

The elementals, the Beast with its poisonous bites and the flame elemental with its fire, were ready to end the last two suckers, one of which was still trying to get his gun to work, when the door to the side opened, and another rain of automatic fire tore through the poor, flanked Runners.

The elementals froze, and eventually, Rarity heard a cry from around the corner. “Gem, right? Gem are you still alive?”

Rarity poked her head out of cover. “Yeah we’re here?”

“These elementals yours?”

“Yeah!”

“Can you have your mages dismiss them?”

Rarity nodded. “Rookie, Web, you heard him.”

Twilight nodded, and dismissed the monster of fire with a thought, while Web approached her own Elemental, and whispered her thanks to her own spirit before it dissolved into a mountain of spiders that disappeared across the floor.

“Are we clear?” The security leader asked.

“I think we’re clear,” Rarity responded.

“Alright then, what the frag was that?” The security chief said, turning the corner, and keeping his gun nearby, but notably not pointed at them.

“They were sabotaging your security measures,” Twilight said, slowly standing up.

“Why? What is there to get here? This whole place protects fake info!”

“Because the company has already spent millions if not billions in research on this setup,” Twilight explained. “Messing with this system would force your company to reevaluate, spend even more on researching your defense, and wastes time. This allows another company time to steal the still-vulnerable code, while also forcing your company to spend more, which can leave your company vulnerable to a buyout, especially considering that Nokota’s only investing in this because of a single economic turn. One more turn, and you could be bankrupt, bought out, and spent most of your money on a room that doesn’t work.”

Everyone blinked.

“What?” Twilight asked.

“Well,” Rarity said, coughing to get the attention of the security team leader. “It seems obvious to me that we’re both in a position where we can’t move forward. Your room’s broken, and we can’t break into it since it’s been tampered with. Nonetheless, we found a problem, fixed it, and have possibly saved your company millions. I’d say this was overall satisfactory, wouldn’t you?”

The security team leader sighed. “Just...take your pay and leave.”

Rarity nodded, smiled, and turned. “Come on, ladies, job well done.”

Steel and the others nodded, heading out to collect their weapons before Rarity stopped. “Oh, by the way, maybe a few extra elementals would do the trick. Living brains sometimes just work better.”

Chapter 4

“So, you want to know about magic?” Thudr5tep’s smooth, seductive tones said over Rarity’s internal speakers as she followed Candy’s van in her Streetdart. “Well, it’s not really my specialty, but I know a guy who knows enough. Hoi, chummers, it’s me, Thundr5tep and I’m coming to you live with another history lesson!”

Rarity smiled as she listened, following candy to the old warehouse that she had been working on for the Rookie. It was her big housewarming party, and the rest of the team had learned long ago to let Candy throw her parties.

Especially when they involved C4.

“Now this ain’t the kind of magic you see some street-magician perform, no, this is some serious hoof-waving. This is summoning Elementals, slinging spells, flying, turning ponies to goo, that kind of thing. Now, it didn’t start out that way, sure. Before the Awakening, only unicorns could use that kind of magic, and even then, most could only do that basic telekinesis that you see practically everywhere.

“But, like I was saying, back eighty years ago, the Awakening happened. Well what’s the Awakening, you ask? Well shut your fraggin’ hayhole and I’ll tell ya! Nopony really knows what happened, though the shamans and mages both have their own ideas, I’ll get to that later, but one day, out of the blue, magic began to flow through this world in quantities that had never been recorded before. Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns alike became tiny magical bombs all through the country, causing forests to appear in the middle of cities, massive wind storms, and opening portals to other dimensions.

“It was a real fun time, I tell you what,” Thundr5tep laughed. “Now ponies aren’t the only ones that got a powerup, all kinds of things started wielding magic. Dragons, Timberwolves, Dogs, Cats, and more all began wielding the power of the cosmos. Not everyone did, though, which is why, most likely, you aren’t one of those spell slingers.”

Rarity shrugged. Not that magic would’ve helped her anyway. She preferred a more...technical world.

“Now, along with hoof-wavers, there are other magical beasts that walk the land, like Bug spirits and were-things, but that’s another story for another day. No, you, the average drek-head Runner, and probably more worried about the mages and shamans. Typically there are two major traditions for you to look out for—”

Rarity cut the sound, as both the van and her motorcycle pulled into a walled-in parking area next to the warehouse. Her Streetdart purred as it slid next to the van, shut off silently as the side of the van opened to reveal the team. As the ponies poured out of their vehicles, Candy slipped from the driver's seat and bounced happily toward the rolling garage door. “Ooh, I can't wait to show you!” she said with a face-splitting smile.

“So is this a lair...or…?” Twilight asked, staring up at the large warehouse.

“It's called a safehouse, Rookie,” Wingmare said, “and it was, but with you living here, the chances of someone finding it means it's not so safe anymore.”

“A safehouse? Like in that trid ‘The Bitalian Job?’” she asked.

“No, but at least you have good taste in movies,” Rarity said as she joined them.

“If a job went wrong, we’d come here,” Steel explained. “We’d let things blow over, let it cool down, and then come back, find a new place to live, and all that. This is, or was, a safe place that was ready for us to hide in if things went wrong.”

“In fact, I was going to stay here for a few weeks after the Harmony job,” Rarity said as Candy zipped around the building.

“Hush!” Candy said, suddenly, remote in her hoof.

This, of course, immediately got everypony's attention. Candy smiled, before she puffed out her chest and smiled. “Fillies, and nonexistent Gentlecolts, presenting the new Runner house!” With a click of the remote in her hoof, the rolling door began to rise, revealing the room behind.

The first thing they saw was a garage, built with the van in mind. Tool racks, jacks, a rack of tires, and a rather large airbrush set dominated the front of the room. Just beyond that was where the living space began.

A large section of floor space was dedicated to a shooting range, what looked like an eastern unicorn dojo, and an elemental shrine lodge covered in fetishes, totems, and a bonsai tree.

There was even a tank for Web’s pet tarantula.

Rarity and the other mares stared with wide eyes and gaping mouthed as they gawked at the renovated warehouse. None of them could really believe what they were seeing. “I...I...how?” Rarity muttered, before her eyes were drawn to the matrix datajack set up in the corner, beside a holotable and chairs.

“When did…” Steel began, before Candy smiled.

“I’ve been saving up!” she sang.

“For how long?” Rarity asked. “This must’ve cost thousands!”

“It’s been a few years,” the pink mare replied with a smile.

“Um…” Twilight began. “I’m staying here?”

“Yupperooni!” Candy replied. “I had a guest room put upstairs for ponies we were protecting, but you can have it since this isn’t a safe house anymore!”

“You guys keep saying that, but why does me living here change the fact that it’s a safehouse?”

“Because activity draws attention,” Web said, hovering over the tank to let her tarantula crawl into it. “A web is invisible as long as the spider does not draw attention to it. If the spider stays on a thread long enough, the fly will see him, and the web will be revealed.”

Twilight nodded, slowly. “I...see.”

“That’s alright, though,” Rarity said, eyeing the holotable. “After all, it would have been a tremendous waste of Candy’s time if this were a simple safehouse.”

“Is that a cybernetics workbench?” Steel asked, pointing to a small table covered in tools, with mechanical arms hovering over it like a mantis’ legs.

“It is!” Candy said, smiling.

“Is...is this actual rice straw on this makiwara?” Wingmare asked.

“And real wood!” Candy replied. “Only the best for you, Wingy!”

“I can’t believe you did this, Candy,” Rarity said. “This is...I almost wish that I lived here.”

“I just wanted to make everypony happy!” she replied. “Think of it as an early birthday present!”

“Happy Birthday, indeed,” the decker agreed.

“Is this place built on a leyline?” Twilight asked suddenly.

“Dragon vein,” Web muttered.

Twilight shot her a look.

“It is!” Candy said, bouncing over to the Rookie. “Web picked that out years ago.”

Twilight nodded. “I see.”

Suddenly, Candy grabbed the mare by the hoof. “Come on, let me show you your room!”

Twilight had just enough time to open her mouth, before Candy suddenly yanked her toward the stairs in the back of the warehouse.

Candy leaped up the stairs, taking them two at a time in her excitement as Twilight followed behind her, her curiosity thoroughly peaked. Waking up to the thin door, Candy produced a ring of keys, flipped through them at a dizzying speed, and finally unlocked the door.

The room was dark, with a bed covered in soft, but cheap, purple sheets, that was a far cry from the silk sheets she had back in Harmony Inc. The walls were covered in empty bookcases, while a few fetishes similar to the ones downstairs were scattered throughout.

“Sorry about the bookshelves,” Candy said. “It’s easier to buy totems from the talismonger than books about forbidden knowledge, mana, and other things I don’t really get.”

“No, no. It’s fine, I understand,” she said, putting on a smile.

“I did get a bunch of stuff for a lodge for you though!” Candy said, pointing to the corner, where some chalk, candles, small bones, and other magical materials waited for her. “Webby helped picked some out, but she said your hermasthic or something, so she didn’t know what more to do.”

“Hermetic,” Twilight corrected.

“Sure!”

“Well,” she said, before sighing. “Thank you. Really. It’s...I never realized how much I’d miss having a place to my own.”

Candy smiled. “I know what that’s like.”

Twilight nodded, before she turned back to the pink mare. “Um...what’s the best way to ask questions?”

Candy smiled, before yelling out the door. “Gem! Rooky’s got questions!”

“Well, being her down!” Rarity answered.

Twilight blinked, and sighed, this time from frustration. “I wanted to keep this quiet…” she whispered to herself before following down after the pink mare.

“What is it, dear?” Rarity asked as she caught sight of the descending mage.

“Well,” Twilight began, “um...since now I know this Running thing is going to be a long-term commitment thing, I thought maybe it would be a good idea if I found out more about the team.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow as the other mares gathered around her. “I thought you knew everything already?” Rarity asked.

Twilight shook her head. “Spikarunz knew everything. He just told me your names. I never got to see your files.”

Rarity nodded, before turning to the others. “Icebreakers?”

Steel, Wingmare, and Miss Web all immediately sighed, while Candy grinned and nodded at a supersonic speed.

“Icebreakers it is,” Rarity said, before grinning. “And it’ll give me a chance to try out the holotable!"

<><><|><><>

“...and I said ‘Oatmeal? Are you crazy?’ before I blew up the warehouse, showering everypony with oats, before all of a sudden, the security teams rushed, covered in cotton candy, and began shooting everything!” Candy explained to the ponies around her, including the fascinated and horrified Twilight Sparkle.

“Candy…” Rarity muttered for the tenth time as she sat on one of the chairs around the holotable.

“And I thought that’s a horrible thing to do at a birthday party, so I had all my babies shoot back! I didn't have Rocky and Balboa at the time, I had Siegfried and Roy, so I didn't have the firepower or armor to stand up to a full security team, so they weren't going to make it, but I was going to give him that birthday cake, or so help me, Celestia!”

“Candy.”

“So, knowing I was outgunned, I began to pack all my C4 into the wall next to me, before I rushed further down the hall. They killed Siegfried and Roy, and followed me down before they detonated the C4, blowing out the wall, and giving me my escape route.”

“Candy!” Rarity cried.

“Yeah?”

“Specialty! We need your specialty, not your life story.”

“She does this every time,” Web said.

“I don't know why ya thought this time’d be different,” Steel muttered, her hat covering her face as she stared at the ceiling.

Wingmare snored.

“And that's how I became a Runner!” Candy said, finishing up. “I’m the rigger, and demolitions expert, and the getaway driver.”

Twilight nodded, mouth agape, and eyes wide with terror.

Rarity sighed. “Anyway, I’m the Decker and the face. I have a natural talent for talking to ponies, so I’m generally the one in charge of negotiating with our Ringos, as well as making sure doors are unlocked for us.”

“She’s also the unofficial leader of the group,” Steel said.

“I told you not to call me that, Darling,” Rarity said.

Web nodded. “She keeps her head when we don’t.”

“I’m not the leader,” Rarity said.

“But you’re so good at it!” Candy chirped.

Rarity glared. “Wingmare, your turn.”

The rainbow-maned pegasus snored again before Steel elbowed her in the ribs. “Huh? What? Oh, right!” she said, before hovering in front of everyone there with her chest puffed out. “So I’m Wingmare, and I’m an Adept. That means I use magic to—”

“I’m familiar with Adepts,” Twilight said.

Wingmare blinked. “You are?”

“I’m familiar with most forms of magic, including internal manifestation for increased attributes,” Twilight said.

“Yeah, but the way I say it makes it sound cooler, Egghead.”

Steel chuckled, before she and pegasus shared a hoof-bump.

“I’m also the head of our infiltration. If we need our trenchcoats on, I’m the mare to call.”

“Trenchcoats?” Twilight repeated, wondering how that was relevant.

“It means being quiet,” Rarity explained. “If someone’s Running with their trenchcoat on it means they’re not looking to shoot. They want to be as quiet as possible. On the other hoof, you have your pink mohawks, which is a very nice way of saying there’s no such thing as subtlety.”

“Huh,” Twilight said. “I suppose that makes sense. That and the mohawk does have some very nice imagery to it, I’ll admit.”

“So glad ya approve,” Steel said before standing. “I’m Steel. I’ll let ya guess why. I’m the mare with all the guns and all the chrome. Need somepony shot, I can do that, need ‘em cut, I can do that too. I guess that makes me a street sam, but I was never crazy ‘bout the title.”

“I’m...not familiar with street sam,” the mage admitted.

“It’s short for street samurai,” Steel said. “Don’t know why they picked samurai though. It probably has something to do with all the idiots out there carryin’ katanas around. Don’t know why they’re so crazy about ‘em. They ain’t even that good a sword.”

“They’re so cool, though…” Wingmare whined.

“That leaves me, I suppose,” Web said from beneath her hood. She did not stand like the others, she merely stared deep into Twilight’s eyes while her own remained in Shadow. “I’m Miss Web, you may call me Web, since everypony else does. She,” she said, pointing to the tarantula in the tank, “is Angel II. You may pet her if you want. I am a magician of the shamanistic tradition and healer of the group. Do you know anything about the ancestor spirits?”

Twilight frowned. “I’ve heard of them. I can name three or so. I know they act as totemic guides, but I don’t know much else.”

“Do you know about Papa Spider?” Web asked.

“No,” she answered squirming slightly, “and I’m not sure I want to.”

“Just know he likes it when things walk into his web. To be out there, without a plan is to be vulnerable. Neither of us want that.”

Twilight nodded. “I...see.”

“Web does most of the legwork for our Runs,” Rarity said.

“Because none of you are paranoid enough to do it right,” Web muttered.

“So as well as being the magic, and the healer, she also helps plan most of the Runs we take,” Rarity continued. “Don’t worry about her attitude, dear, she’s just shy.”

Twilight’s face was impassive, and she nodded with a forced smile to hide her abject terror. “Okay, got it.”

Rarity nodded. “So now it’s your turn, Darling. What can you do?”

“Me?” Twilight asked, surprised by being asked for information after all this time. “Oh, right. Um. I’m Twilight Sparkl—”

“Rookie,” Wingmare corrected.

Twilight glared at her. “I’m a third grade initiated mage,” she said.

Web blinked, and refocused, and Wingmare likewise went quiet.

“I’ve been training since I was a filly, and as a result I am very powerful, and I know several spells, which only makes me more dangerous. I can hide my aura, shape spells to my desire, and I can quicken spells to make them permanent. I also have a vast knowledge on the ins and outs of Harmony Inc. and its competitors, and have in-depth knowledge about security, economics, and personal defense.”

“Not bad, Rookie, not bad,” Steel said.

“Not bad? How many magicians do you know that are actually initiated to begin with?”

Web smirked. “They find their ways.”

“Regardless, dear. It’s good to know these things, so thank you for sharing,” Rarity said, getting everypony’s attention. “Right now, however, we need to talk about employment. Because, as it so happens, I know I am running low on funds. I haven’t sold enough fake SINs to make the difference yet.”

Twilight winced.

“So, the question is what are we going to do?”

“Your fixer hasn’t found a new job for us yet?” Steel asked.

“No, she hasn’t,” Rarity confirmed. “She’s looking for something, but we’ve gotten very little.”

“Um…” Twilight began.

“Well, my own contact doesn’t have anything either,” Wingmare said.

“And I don’t want your contact to find nothin’ either,” Steel said.

“Hey, come on now.”

“That last time he set up a Run for us, we were stranded on the top of a skyscraper for three hours! We had to rappel down the building, get back to the street, and then had to wait another hour for Candy’s van to show up, all the while holding a glowing canister of radioactive goop that was going to be poured into the sprawls’ water supply!”

“Um…” Twilight began again.

“We never proved it was radioactive,” Wingmare pointed out.

“My street-doc had me eatin’ Potassium Iodide tablets for three months!”

“That’s...abnormally long for radiation exposure,” Twilight said.

“Yeah...well,” Steel said. “My Street-doc’s better at the cybernetics than actual medicine, but that ain’t the point!”

“No, and I might have a solution,” Twilight said.

Everypony in the team looked at her.

“What do you mean, Rookie?” Wingmare asked.

“So, what with losing my bank account, I decided I’d ask Spikarunz if he could point me in the right direction of some work. He said that he’d look for something since I’m...since I was an employee. He said that he knows the manager for the Ponyville Pounders—”

“The Hoofball team?” Steel asked.

Twilight nodded. “Yes, they might have a job for us.”

“A run for the Pounders?” Steel said. “Well, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Ponyville. I might be up for that.”

“Did they say how much they’d pay?” Wingmare asked.

“No,” Twilight said, shaking her head, “but I trust Mr. Spikarunz. He knows a good deal when he hears one.”

The team turned to Rarity.

She, in turn took a look around, before sighing. “We just, just, had this conversation. I am not your leader.”

“No, but what’s your opinion?” Steel asked with a smirk.

Rarity sighed. “We might as well hear their Ringo out. Find out how much it’s paying.”

“There, was that so hard to say?” Steel asked.

Rarity shook her head.

<><><|><><>

Their Ringo was famous, unfortunately for him.

His name was Hard Ball, and he had been an old linebacker for the Pounders until a pretty nasty tackle blew his leg out. These days, he walked well enough with the use of his cybernetic replacement, but since chrome and magic alike were both frowned upon in the National Hoofball League, he was forced to take a back seat into security for the team.

And Rarity just could not care.

Her father had been the one that cared for Hoofball in the family, and the most Rarity had ever cared for growing up was the team colors of Manehatten, which had been an issue since they lived in Vanhoover.

Still, as she walked in, she quite literally turned on the charm, and smiled as she spoke face to face with her Ringo.

“Well hello, Miss. I understand you’re here to fix a little problem of ours,” Hard Ball said, looking her up and down with a smile as the nearly-unidentifiable pheromones went to work.

“Well, Mr. Ringo, I just so happen to be in the business of fixing problems."

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” Hard Ball said, before motioning to his desk. “Come sit down.”

She obeyed, taking the seat opposite him to face the window behind him. The view wasn’t bad for a nobody in security, a wall-sized window that glanced down at downtown Ponyville, one of the many cities that was almost swallowed whole by the Canterlot Sprawl’s incredible, decrepit reach.

“Tell me, you ever heard of Go Long?” Hard Ball asked.

“The saying or—?”

“He’s a pony.”

“Then no, can’t say I have.”

“Fantastic player. He’s an earth pony that covers ground like a pegasus. Real talent. He’s coming out of college pretty soon here, and we have an opportunity to help him reach a decision as to who he’s going to play for.”

“And you want us to help him with that?” Rarity asked.

“Not so much as make sure we’re the only ones talking to him,” Hard Ball explained. “There’s something of an expo going on, and while we have the home-turf advantage of being able to host it, we can’t approach him during the time of the expo, everypony else has to first, then we have our shot.

“But, the rules don’t explicitly say anything about hiring a team to keep everypony else away,” Hard Ball said with a smirk.

“So you want us to play bodyguard?” Rarity asked. “That can be managed.”

“I hope so, because for everyone in your team, there’s bound to be another group of Runners trying to make sure he doesn’t sign with us. Sports is a fairly cutthroat business after all.”

Rarity nodded. “I’m sure,” she said dryly.

“I’m serious,” Hard Ball said. “I know we don’t have the power of the corps you normally work for, but even the CEOs root for a team.”

“If you want to convince me that you’re serious, Darling, then you better have serious pay,” Rarity said.

“4k, per member of the team, per day,” Hard Ball said. “Plus another thousand for every Non-Pounder scout you manage to take out and confirm.”

Four thousand nubits per day was a very serious price.

Keeping her cool, Rarity said. “Make it 5 thousand per day, and fifteen hundred per scout, and we have a deal.”

Hard Ball waited a moment, leaving a very long and pregnant pause in the air. “I can do 5k a day. I can’t increase the price for the scouts though. 1k, take it or leave it.”

Rarity nodded, pleased to see he was willing to negotiate.

Those who weren’t were typically hiding something.

“Sounds like we have a deal, Mr. Ringo.”

“Done,” he said, sliding a datachip across his desk. “This has the location and times of the expo. We’d prefer if Go Long didn’t know you were there, but if you must, you must.”

Rarity nodded. “Just let us handle the rest,” she said before she stood.

He nodded, as Rarity began to step out. “Um...before you go, want to get dinner?”

Rarity smiled, before turning off her pheromones. “Maybe a night when I’m not about to risk my life. Besides, I’m sure your wife would have a few words.”

Hard Ball blinked, and shook his head. “I...I…”

With that, Rarity left, leaving Hard Ball alone to work his way out of the haze her subtle scent that left him in. Once she was in the hallway, it didn’t take much to find the small crowd of ponies that were her team all clumped together and waiting on her.

“Well, what are we looking at?” Steel asked.

“I got us 5k a day each watching some college kid they’re looking to bring on,” Rarity said.

“Five thousand a day?” Wingmare said with a low whistle. “Now that’s a payday. Good pick, Rookie.”

Twilight smiled. “I’m just happy we have an honest job.”

“Not quite, Darling,” Rarity said with a smile. “But don’t worry, I’m going to make sure we walk away from this as comfortable as we can be.”

Chapter 6

Rarity played the recording again.

“Your first job is as follows:” Spike explained, “In the attachment connected to this call, you will find the location of a Flimflam Incorporated warehouse. Specifically their most well-guarded warehouse. As well as holding their Matrix access core, this warehouse also holds the deeds of several lands all across the sprawl. These are to be ignored unless you want to sell some paydata.

“Your target is a gem. A natural citrine that is as large as a hoof. It has slight magical properties, however, it is currently inert. This will make it difficult to locate. In order to facilitate this, you will soon receive a device keyed to the gem’s specific magical radiation. It is suggested that you keep it, as it will be useful in future jobs.

“In order to further facilitate you, I am putting you in contact with a secondary team of my own employees. Due to their status as employees of Harmony Inc, however, they won’t be able to do more than aid you to get in. If you manage to get inside the warehouse without using my team, you will be awarded additional funds.

“Upon retrieving the gem, the Ringo that will deliver the locator device will collect the gem and deliver it to me. The job will be considered complete upon delivery, and credsticks loaded with 10k nubits will be delivered to you for the purposes of restocking.

“As one final note, this is big. Do not save your special tricks for later, use them now, and refresh upon completion. This is not the time to play games. Do what you need to.”

The recording stopped, and Rarity played it again, still not entirely sure she believed her ears.

This dragon. This fraggin’ dragon wanted them to hit FFI’s heart. This wasn’t some satellite location, this was where they kept their Matrix core. The data kept there would be enough to buy-out the company, which meant that FFI had the security to match.

There was no way they were walking out of this alive, not when they were going against one of the Big Six.

It simply was not happening.

Still, Web was already getting to work, breaking down the legwork piece by piece. “Gem, I need you to focus on deliveries to the facility, not listen to our instructions for the sixteenth time," she muttered, glaring at the decker from her table.

Gem sighed, and turned her attention back to the AR displays of camera feeds taken from the streets and the Gold Star police drones that patrolled the area. She had a week’s worth of footage to go through, and she was slowing herself down by watching in Meatspace. The main reason why she bothered was because of the way everypony else could hear how crazy this whole thing was.

“I’m sorry, darling, this is...this is just so insane.”

“It’s our job, and it’s one I think is worth it,” Web said.

Gem sighed.

Considering that this job could payout in a brand new life, she was right. It would be worth it. She just wished it wasn’t going to lead to her probable death.

Besides, complaining felt nice.

She opened her mouth to continue before she caught sight of Steel walking across the warehouse, carrying a belt of grenades, a katana, and a box of silver bullets. The earth pony had been smiling ever since she heard the name of their target and was pouring money into this little venture by purchasing, well...anything.

Rockets for Candy’s RPG; a brand new shotgun with dragonfire, armor piercing, and hollow point slugs; fetishes, charms, and foci for the spell casters: anything and everything that would stick it to Flimflam hard. Her shopping bill was leaving her broke, and Rarity knew it.

Still the be-stetson-ed earth pony continued to spend, stockpile, and prepare.

Rarity closed her mouth.

She really should be looking at the facility footage, anyway.

<><><|><><>

“Alright,” Web said. “We have a plan.”

“The 'we’re-ready-to-go plan' or the 'we’ll-work-through-this-and-then-discuss-more plan?'” Wingmare asked from yet another hammock she hung from the ceiling.

“Depends on how well you pick it apart,” Web, before she nodded to Rarity.

The decker nodded before she quickly activated the holo-table and brought forth the simple 3D map she built from a free modeling app over the past three days. A simple, large, rectangular building with gently sloping roofs that looked like they were made out of corrugated steel.

“The building itself is nothing unique,” Web said, narrating as Rarity slowly spun the building around. “Large, industrial warehouse that was refitted into a large office building that used to hold Matrix servers before the Crash.

“With the move to wireless storage, much of the building freed up, and now it holds their Matrix net processing core. This is our target.”

“I thought we were leaving their data along,” Twilight said. “Besides, we’re after the gem, aren’t we?”

Web nodded. “We are, now, if you could tell me where they’re keeping the gem?”

“Ah…” she replied.

Web continued. “Using their matrix, and by coming in close to the processing center, I’m told that this will make it easier for Gem to get into the archives, where hopefully, she could locate the gem.”

“So the processor room’s the entry point?” Steel asked.

“If it were next to a wall, I’m sure we could arrange that,” Web said. “Unfortunately we’re not sure where it is.”

“The only available blueprints were from before the crash, so we have no idea what it looks like in there now,” Rarity explained.

Steel nodded.

“So, the first step of the plan is infiltration, reconnaissance, and scouting,” Web said. “Luckily, this job just so happened to coincide with their biannual security check-up.”

Wingmare sat up. “That’s...too convenient.”

“Why do you think we just got the call to go now?” Candy said. “If I were a super, nigh-omnipotent dragon, this is when I would send the ponies I pulled into a life debt in.”

“Thanks for the input…” Wingmare muttered.

“The point is, they need to have a few ponies onsite to check their security, and that’s our way in,” Web said.

“So how many of us can go in?” Steel asked.

“Two before they get suspicious,” Twilight said, “and Gem would have to be one of them. Showing up without a decker would set off every alarm bell they have.”

Wingmare turned to Twilight. “Really?”

She nodded. “Any security consultant worth their salt only needs to send two consultants, and there’s no way Flimflam Inc. Isn’t hiring the best.”

Web smiled. “Way to be useful, Rookie.”

“Hey…”

“Now, we know that Gem needs to go, and we’ll deal with who else needs to go in a moment, but first—”

“I’ll go,” Steel said, raising her hoof.

Web blinked. “A-are you sure?” she asked.

Steel nodded.

“But you never volunteer for infiltration.”

“Eeyup.”

Web blinked again, before turning to Wingmare. “Any objections?”

Wingmare stared at Steel. “Nope.”

Web sighed. “Alright! Steel you’re in. In the meantime, we need to discuss Exmoor Security.”

<><><|><><>

Rarity sat in the van, using her cybereyes like a pair of binoculars to watch the car coming toward them. It was a white, Saddle-Kurpp Pferdwagen that had been dressed to the nines in a mess of Exmoor Security logos, AR advertisements, guarantees, mottos, and operating hours. Just looking at them, Rarity could tell that they were either very in love with their own brand, or very desperate for attention. However, considering they had been hired by one of the Big Six for a consultation, she was willing to out nubits down on the former.

The Pferdwagen rumbled along, past Candy’s ridiculously decorated van. Sliding down the street as any Saddle-Kurpp car should, even if it was their cheapest model, the corporate van slowly pushed its way through traffic to their next stop, a gas station for refueling before they moved on to the Flimflam building.

It was where they were most vulnerable.

Their plan was simple, which meant fewer things could go wrong. They were going to go in, have both spell-casters use their influence spells to get the security mooks out of the car and somewhere quiet, before knocking them out and leaving them behind as Rarity and Steel both began their recon in earnest.

“Are you sure the Rookie shouldn’t go at least?” Web asked, regretting her quick decision to accept Steel’s volunteer service for this mission. “They’ll probably want someone to check on the magic system they have set up.”

“Exmoor doesn’t do magic,” Rarity said as Candy’s van pulled behind the Pferdwagen. “They say it’s too unpredictable. They prefer to put their guarantee behind tech than spirits.”

“That’s still a massive hole,” Web said.

“It’ll be fine, Web.” Steel said. “‘Sides, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

The vans both pulled into a FeedBag, the combination convenience store/fast food restaurant/gas stations that built the base of the Flimflam empire. Steel simply nodded at the thought of taking out the pair there.

Something about foreshadowing.

Rarity was fairly certain she meant an omen because this wasn’t literature, but she wasn’t going to correct the earth pony. Not right now, anyway.

“Do we really need to kill them?” Twilight asked.

“If we don’t they’ll report that a bunch of heavily-armed ponies hijacked their uniforms and van,” Web said. “That means that they’ll report it to all their clients, including Flimflam inc, which means our whole plan goes up in smoke. If you want to leave them alive, then we might as well shoot ourselves and save Flimflam the ammo.”

“I’d much rather cost them as much as I possibly can,” Steel said.

“They’re just doing their job,” Twilight argued.

“So are we,” Web pointed out. “Honestly, I’d much rather leave them alive. Personally, I want them alive, the job needs them dead. At this point, the best we can do is make it quick and painless.”

Twilight sighed. “It just seems like a waste.”

Web shrugged. “That’s the life of a Runner, now we need to move. It’s almost time for us to get to work.”

The two security ponies stepped out of their van and were already filling the Pferdwagen with gas.

Candy’s van pulled up to the opposite pump, and the door slid open for Web and Twilight, who both went through the motions of getting gas themselves. Steel got out and began to wander over to the building. Meanwhile, Rarity sat in the back of the van, her deck open, ready, and probing the Pferdwagen’s digital defenses.

Not three minutes later, the two security ponies both simultaneously decided that heading to the back of the FeedBag was a better use of their time.

They walked in step with each other, oddly coordinated as they made their way behind the cheap, rockcrete and drywall building. They walked all the way to where Steel was waiting for them, with a silenced pistol in her cyberhoof.

By the time the spell broke, both security ponies were dead and were being stripped of their uniforms. “You ready with the van, Candy?” Steel asked, as he slowly took the uniforms off the dead ponies.

“Comin' around!” Candy sang into the comm.

“Let me off, first.” Rarity said, before jumping out of the van to hug the Pferdwagen.

She sighed and began filling their new van as Steel made her way toward them. “Everything’s running smooth,” she said, tipping her stetson at the decker.

“You have the uniforms?” Rarity asked.

“Tucked away someplace safe.”

“And the other two?”

“Candy’s pickin’ em up right now.”

“Perfect. Climb in and get changed. I’ll have to take care of the GPS tracker before I even think about it.”

Steel nodded and hopped in, before Rarity finished fueling the van, and leaped into the back. The moment she hit the tool-packed space of the van, her deck was out, and she was typing away. Checking the inside of the van for serial numbers and AR tags, Rarity quickly spoofed the GPS tag. She kept the spoof running, at least for now, but she was ready to send it in to the sprawl in a heartbeat.

The plan was to make it look like the van was stolen by a go-gang after visiting the warehouse. It wasn’t unheard of for the biker gangs to hijack vans and other vehicles, and Rarity certainly knew a few bad neighborhoods they could leave it to be scavenged. That was an easy sell.

“Alright, I have the GPS marked, I can turn it off at any time.”

Steel nodded. “Great,” she said before her cyber arm popped open a hidden compartment, and one of the stolen uniforms exploded out. “Here’s your uniform, get dressed.”

Rarity picked up the navy blue jumpsuit with black trim and groaned.

“What?”

“Must I wear this? There are so many faux pas…”

“Gem…” Steel began.

“I know…” she sighed. “The sacrifices I make for this team…” she muttered.

“The sacrifices you make?” Candy said. “I have two bodies in my van!”

“My street doc’ll take him,” Steel said.

“Wait, really?”

“He’s an organlegger in his spare time.”

“That’s...slightly unsettling but useful,” Web said.

“Organlegging?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, you sweet thing…” Web said, shaking her head.

“Focus, girls,” Rarity said, “remember, no communication once we’re three hundred feet. Steel and I will be recording everything with our cybereyes for the duration. This is what we’ll use to rebuild our model. After that, we ditch this van in the sprawl and book it back to base. I will do my best to sabotage their matrix defense as silently as I can, but chances are this is just recon.”

“Roger,” Web said.

“Once we go to radio silence, I need you girls ready for extraction. If either of us calls you before we leave the warehouse, that’s your signal that we need immediate help.”

“Got it.”

“Alright, let’s do this, girls.”

<><><|><><>

“Hello, I’m Miss Silicon Chip, and this is my associate, Power Pack, and we represent Exmoor Security,” Rarity said, as she handed over her comm with the Silicone SIN. It was one of her best, good enough to live on if she had the cash, or as long as no one had found the body of the last mare who had it.

The pony and the gate checked te SIN, before looking back up at “Silicon.”

Rarity smiled.

The gate guard checked again, before handing back the comm. “Follow the drone to the parking spot, a representative will meet you there.”

Rarity nodded. “Thank you dear.”

The gate lifted, and the van pulled through, as a small roto-drone led them through the parking lot. Pulling up to the spot, Rarity took one last breath and looked over at her partner. “Are you ready, dear?”

Steel glanced down at her hidden gun leg. “As I’ll ever be.”

“Then let’s go,” she said, slipping out of the van, and closing the door behind her.

A pony in a poorly-fitting suit and a power tie met them. “Ms. Chip! It’s good to see you! How long has it been?”

“Too, long, dear! Too long!” Rarity said. “Any major problems since last time?”

“I’ll tell you inside, but in the meantime, how are you doing, Ms. Pack?”

Steel stared at the pony in the tie. “Fine.”

“Good, good. Was the ride long?”

“Nope.”

“You know she isn’t much of a talker, dear,” Rarity said. “Now, of course, the first thing we need to do is talk rates.”

“I thought we negotiated this already?”

Rarity nodded, while mentally sighing in disappointment. “Oh, we did. I’m talking about what you’re willing to spend. Electricity, personnel, etcetera. As per usual, Exmoor is always willing to provide on-site protection, armored personnel, and more.”

“And while we appreciate Exmoor’s willingness to stand for the cause of safety, Flimflam Inc. has only allowed so much for the security budget.”

“Oh, of course, of course. Still, the option exists. Now, let’s see what you have, why don’t we?”

The pony in the tie and Rarity moved forward, maneuvering expertly in the delicate dance of negotiation, and Steel followed behind.

The pair continued to walk forward into the building, and the moment they stepped inside, Rarity found herself surrounded by thin drywall. Making sure that her eyes were recording what she saw, she was led through the building. Up a flight of stairs, and down a hallway, up towards her target before she suddenly realized that Steel wasn’t following her.

“Where’d Ms. Pack get to?”

“Oh, she’s just checking up on your security. After all, if a mare can just walk through your warehouse it’s not much for security is it?”

“I see…” the pony in the tie said as Rarity was doing her best to hide a panic attack. “Let me just inform my security teams not to kill her.”

“It’s appreciated,” she said, resisting the urge to run looking for their street sam.

“Now, where were we?”

“You were letting me know the best way to access your Matrix system was so I could check it for you,” she said, still wondering where Steel was.

“Ah, yes, of course, follow me.”

<><><|><><>

Steel walked down the hallway, past all the wage slaves owned by Flimflam Inc. She ignored most of them, moving past the poor saps that were under the undeniable rule of the megacorp. She moved down the hall, counting the rooms as she made her way down.

And then finally, she came up onto cubicle 23-B.

She took a deep breath as she looked into the small apartment/office, and stepped inside. She heard the clicking away of a keyboard, along with the hum of an old, physical monitor. The large, red-furred earth pony that was sitting at the desk hadn’t seen her yet, and she was somewhat thankful for that.

“H-Howdy, Big Mac,” she finally said.

The earth pony spun, and stared at her. “AJ? What’re you going here?”

Steel sighed. “I’m on a job.”

Big Mac stared at her. “Oh,” he said, before he blinked, suddenly realizing exactly what she said. “Oh! Are, are you serious? Here? This’d get you ki—”

“It could get us the farm back.”

Big Mac blinked. “A-Applejack, that’s...that’s crazy… that deal’s too good to be true. There’s no way—”

“I have it on good authority that this deal will go through, Mac. I wouldn’t risk this otherwise.”

Big Mac blinked and shook his head. “This is crazy, AJ. This is so crazy.”

“I know,” she said. “I know it’s crazy, and I know it's dangerous. That’s why I need your help, and why I need to warn you.”

“Warn me? Warn me of what?”

“We’re gonna hit this place in a few days, you need to take a vacation—”

“AJ, I told you, there’s no reason to do this. Why do you think I’m working here?” he asked.

“Mac…”

“That’s why I’ve been sending the money back to you and Applebloom—”

“Applebloom is gone, Mac,” she said.

The large, red earth pony stopped. “What?”

“We never got your money, we were broke, moving from homeless shelter to homeless shelter. I could barely keep the two of us afloat, and one day...one day Applebloom just wasn’t there anymore. She’s gone.”

“I…”

“I’m just trying to get us back home, Mac. That’s all I’ve ever been doing.”

Mac shook his head. “We both know that ain’t the case, AJ…”

Applejack didn’t reply.

“Applebloom’s gone?”

“I’ve looked for her everywhere. She wouldn’t come home, she wouldn’t answer her calls. For all I know, she a joygirl on some street corner.”

Big Mac shook his head. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We tried,” Applejack said. “Didn’t you notice you weren’t getting letters anymore.”

Big Mac sighed. “They just told me the censors were taking their time…”

“And it didn’t tip you off that they openly admit to having censors?”

“It’s too keep the materials here safe,” Big Mac said.

“Look, it’s not important, the important thing is that you’re the only family I have left, and I want to make sure you get out of here alive,” Applejack said. “That...and you wouldn’t happen to have a map, would you?”

Big Mac sighed, tears in his eyes, before he turned back to his desk, typed away on a few keys, before a datachip popped out of his computer. “It’s just the fire emergency exits, but it should be enough.”

Applejack took it carefully, before she sighed, and hugged the pony as he sat as his desk. “Love you, Mac, stay safe.”

“I will, but I need to get back to work if I’m going to get those vacation days.”

With one final squeeze, Applejack turned, and left the cubicle-room, becoming Steel once again.

<><><|><><>

Rarity sighed.

Their Matrix system, while not airtight, was still good enough that she couldn’t mess with it.

It offered her a way in, though, and she gladly made sure it was ready for when she got back.

Of course, this was overshadowed by the fact that Steel was nowhere to be found. The only good sign was that security wasn't coming down on them in droves. It meant that she hadn't blown their cover, thank Celestia.

“So I trust everything was satisfactory?” the pony in the tie asked.

“Well, as you well know, I can't release the details until the full report is ready, but, I will say that you are doing well.”

“Well, of course, we are, quality is the Flimflam guarantee.”

“Of course, dear, of course. Now, have you seen my com—”

“Silicon, there you are!” Steel said, coming around the corner.

“Ah! Pack! There you are. Did you find everything you needed?”

“Eeyup!” she said with a smile.

“Excellent. Well, It was a pleasure, sir. You'll receive a full report soon, I’m sure.”

The pony in the tie nodded and saw them off.

Climbing back into the van, Rarity turned to Steel. “Where did you go?”

“I was getting us a floor plan.”

“A floor plan? How’d you get a floor plan?”

“I know a guy inside.”

“What? You have an inside man and you didn't tell us?”

“Any contact that wasn't face-to-face would be monitored. I haven't spoken to him in years.”

Rarity sighed. “Whatever. We don't have time to argue. We have to ditch this van and regroup.”

“Then let's not talk about it, and go.”

They pulled away and were quickly followed by a van with heavy metal album art painted on its side. They made their way down to the poor side of town and found an empty sidewalk to park on.

Stepping outside Rarity quickly took the opportunity to change the digital logos, forcing them to read “please don't take my parts,” while Steel spray painted the same on the sides.

It was nothing more than axles and a GPS sensor in an hour, and the team was long gone.

Chapter 7

Applejack sighed.

Today was the day, the day where she would land the biggest blow against Flimflam Incorporated in all her years as a Runner. This was the gold mine she had always hoped for, a hit on Flimflam’s most important complex, with their most important data.

It was the closest she’d get to putting a bullet through either of the brother’s heads.

Loading her shotgun with the AP shot, the osmium, 000 buckshot pellets weighing twice as much as their more common, lead counterparts, she barely noticed that her arms were shaking as she licked her lips. With nine shells loaded into the shotgun, she lifted it up, and stared down its sights, checking the new smartlink, and making sure everything was properly calibrated.

The ammo counter was up, the AR sight aids were ready, and the ballistics breakdown algorithm for possible spreads of the shot was running optimally.

Nodding, she slid the shotgun onto her back and opened up the loading compartment on her arm. A box of .44 magnum slowly disappeared into the mare’s leg hidden in her arm, before it was followed by another, filling her arm with forty rounds of ammunition.

Finally, she checked her right leg and extended her cyberhoof into its manipulation function. Three, long, mechanical fingers and a thumb emerged from the leg, and carefully whirled as she ran through the movements, checking their dexterity as she went. They all glided through their servos, with motion as smooth as a 34,000 nubit watch. She nodded, approvingly, before they snapped open, with long, claw-like blades protruding from them. Another thought and another blade shot out of Applejack’s arm, turning her whole leg into a vicious club if push came to shove.

With the physical check confirming what her diagnostics had told her across her cyber eyes, Applejack was ready to go. At this point, the only thing that could mess with her implants and weapons was a decker, and Gem would have her covered. That mare could out-hack an air elemental made of blades, she’d keep her network safe and in working order.

Applejack sighed.

Gem knew, didn’t she? Of course, she knew, they’d been running together since the time the unicorn had saved her from having her leg hacked and nearly strangling herself with her own hoof. That was the night Applejack learned to trust your personal network to your decker, despite what all your instincts have told you. Gem knew the beef she had with Flimflam. The question was if she was going to do anything about it? She’d hadn’t pulled a “you’re too close to this,” before, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to start.

Still, she’d probably go anyway, even if Gem told her otherwise.

I mean, she had to know, right? Of course she did.

She sighed, again, before she accessed her cybereyes.

Gem may like the natural look, but this was personal, and she’d even have her eyes let everypony know that.

She flipped through her options, before coming up to a skull that inhabited the middle of her eyes.

She stared at her own reflection, glaring at the death that was literally in her eyes.

Then she thought better of it.

Just red would do, then.

She flipped through her options again, and her irises came away red.

That was much better, and it didn’t make her look like some teen that thought being sad was cool.

With another sigh, she went down her list, checking everything one last time. Her cybernetics were working, her guns were working, her blades were ready, and she had enough grenades to level the whole place.

It was time.

Steeling herself one last time, she stepped out of the door of her small, fifteen by fifteen apartment, and walked down the rickety old stairs that threatened to collapse every time she crossed them.

She thudded down the cheap, plastic stairs, which groaned under the weight of her cybernetics, and stepped outside into the drizzle of rain that filled the Canterlot Sprawl’s twilight sky. Pulling the brim of her hat low over her eyes, she quickly made the short trek to the monorail station.

A few ponies eyed her as she walked onto the platform with a shotgun strapped to her back, and enough chrome to mistake her for a piece of construction equipment, but they kept their mouths shut, and did their best to look away.

A short five-minute wait was all it took before the train arrived, gliding on its magnetic track in pure silence.

“Please step away from the doors,” a voice called over the speaker, before the doors slid open and dropped small gangplanks onto the platform.

Applejack walked in, and took a seat, before putting a call through to Gem.

The white unicorn answered in a moment, and her face popped up on her AR interface. “Steel, dear, there you are. How far away are you?”

“Hoi, Gem. I’ll be there in five minutes, assuming Candy’s there to pick me up.”

“I’ll make sure she is,” Gem replied, as her eyes danced over an unseen interface. “Are you ready, dear?”

“Eeyup.”

“Uh, oh...the one-word answer. A sure sign that things are bothering our dear street sam.”

Applejack glared at her, the fury in her red-tinted eyes boring through the matrix itself.

“Alright, alright, calm down, Dear. Just remember we need your head clear for the run. No running off this time, and no heroics. You can manage that, can’t you?”

Applejack sighed. There it was, the unspoken question she had been dreading. “Can you make this run without letting your personal feelings get in the way?”

She could say yes, of course. It’d be easy to say yes, even though she didn’t know if she could or not, but her team’s lives were on the line for this, and even if she was going to enjoy every second of pumping Flimflam for every ounce of satisfaction, she knew if she got carried away she could get them all killed.

So, she told the truth. “I...I hope so, Gem.”

“Alright, I’ll do what I can to help, but I’m going to ask for some self-control, alright?”

She nodded.

“Good, we’ll go over the plan one last time, and then we’ll move out. See you when you get here.”

Applejack nodded. “See ya soon, chummer.”

The call went dark, and Applejack sat there on the train, with no one else but a sad, pathetic wastrel that sat on the other side of the car. A quick look revealed atrophied muscles, and a gaunt stomach, that was covered in dirt, grime, and other unmentionable substances. His wings were nearly plucked free, with only a few feathers left in either, while an infection stewed on his left side. He glanced up at her, eyes focusing and unfocusing as he tried to view the world around him.

A worn datajack, polished smooth by the pony rubbing it after installing chip after chip told Applejack all she needed to know.

“Muh fin...my fune...my fine…” the wastrel said, trying to move a tongue that was not used to speaking. “My fine ladddy...could I trouble you for directions, I seeedm to have lost my way home.”

“You are, you’re a very long way from home,” Applejack replied.

“Ahg,” he said, his lungs gulping for air even as he spoke. “You recognize me then?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Why I’m Curtain Call, actor extraordin...extrodin...dinaire!”

He was not, in fact Curtain Call. Curtain Call was a unicorn, for one, and had just finished filming the latest in a long line of spy movies in Applewood. No, this was some poor pegasus that simply thought he was Curtain Call. It wasn’t a surprise, though, it’s what he had been dreaming for a long time.

“Are you sure that’s who you are?” Applejack asked, as she watched the pegasus’ face.

A moment of confusion passed across his face for a moment, before he looked down. “I...oh...oh no…I...I guess I’m not, am I?”

Applejack shook her head.

“I...I...I’m sorry to bother you, miss.” He said before he began to wander back to his corner. Halfway there, he stopped. “You...you have any nubits?”

She shook her head. “Spent them all.”

“All of them?”

“I don’t have enough for a Dreamchip.”

“Dreamchip? Dastardly things they are!” the pegasus said, slipping back into being Curtain Call. “Why, the whole indus...dustry needs to clamp down on them, ban them all, I say.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“Well, cheerio, Miss, I must be off, I need to find my way home.”

Applejack nodded. “You have no idea.”

“Next stop, Worker’s Place,” rang the voice over the intercom, and Applejack stood, keeping her eyes on the dreamer as he sat back down, and plugged a nearly-ruined chip back into his skull.

He’d dream on, living a better life, if only in his head.

<><><|><><>

“Alright,” Gem said. “The plan is as follows: with the help of the team that Spikarunz set us up with—”

“Can’t we just call him Spike?” Wingmare asked. “It’s just so much easier to say, and he told us we could.”

Gem rolled her eyes. “With the help of the team Spike set us up with, we’re going to move in once night falls. Spike’s team has infiltrated the power plant and will shut down the power grid for fifteen minutes. Unfortunately, Flimflam has on-site generators that will re-supply the building within five minutes. These five minutes are our window to enter the building.

“We’ll enter in three teams of two. Wingmare and I will enter through the west door, here,” Gem said, pointing to the 3D layout they built from the floorplan Applejack had gotten from her brother. “It’s the closest one to their core system, and we need every moment we have to get past that security as fast as possible. Once we get to the core, we’ll walk the retrieval team to the location of the jewel, and I will simultaneously start downloading paydata.

“Web and Candy will be the distraction. Staying on the outside, you’ll wait for the signal from the retrieval team, and light up the entire south side. Candy, throw everything you have at it, Web, get as many elementals that you can on there, and just let them loose. Web, you’re also in charge of distracting any security elementals there may be.

“Steel and Rookie, you’re moving in and retrieving the jewel. You enter through the eastern entrance and do your best to shut down on-site security. If we need your help during the initial infiltration, you’ll have to back us up, however, once the core is secured, I’ll direct you to the jewel. You’re in charge of getting through to the vault, and grabbing it, once you have it, then you have to warn Candy and Web, and hopefully, it’ll give us enough of an opening to get through.

“Everypony understand?” Gem said. “Last minute to ask questions.”

The team looked around.

“Alright, then we have to move, the light’s are out at 11:15 on the dot. Let’s go.”

<><><|><><>

11:13 pm blinked in the corner of Applejack’s vision. She sat outside the eastern side of the complex, sitting on a bench not fifteen feet from the wall. Twilight sat next to her, staring up at the building as she fiddled with a bullet in her magical aura.

“Ya nervous?” Applejack asked, continuing to glare with her glowing red eyes at the corporate warehouse.

“A little,” the mage admitted.

“Well, you have a minute to set that aside,” she said back. “I know it ain’t the most comforting thing to say, but it’s what we’ve got to work with.”

“I know…”

“If it makes ya feel any better, ya never get used to it. You’re going to feel it every time.”

Twilight sighed. “I figured.”

Applejack stood. “Come on, we need to be ready to go.”

Every light around them immediately shut down. “Let’s go.”

They rushed the wall, and with a single cast of a jump spell, they both lifted in the air, flying the seven feet they needed to clear it in a moment. “So far there doesn’t seem to be any elementals after us,” Twilight remarked.

“Less talking, more moving,” the earth pony warned, as she rushed the door.

The door was equipped with a standard maglock, which normally stayed closed even without electricity. Normally a maglock was one of the cheapest, yet effective ways of stopping intruders, as any tampering with the lock would set off an alarm and could bring an entire corp down on a single door.

Unfortunately, Applejack had an armor-piercing shotgun, and the alarm didn’t have power.

Three shells slamming into the lockbox that held all of the electronics, and the door swung open. Applejack was already in, shotgun ready, and rushing down the hall.

“Steel! Steel, wait!”

“Can’t wait, we have 3 minutes and 46 seconds,” she said, reading off the time clock running in the corner of her vision.

“Who’s there?” A voice called out, and Applejack saw a blind security stallion gasping around in the darkness. She had already switched to night vision.

Blam! Her shotgun roared, and the osmium pellets tore his face to mush, leaving him to fall to the floor. “Yer fallin’ behind, Sugarcube!”

“I can’t see so—ow! I can’t see in the dark! I need to cast a spell for that!”

Applejack groaned and ran back. “Fine, I’m coming ta get ya!” she yelled before she slipped underneath the unicorn.

Twilight yelped in surprised as she was carried away by the chromed-up earth pony, until the street sam shushed her.

“We ain’t got time for yelling, Rookie, we gotta go! We only got a minute and a half to get as deep as we can!”

“Hey!” another security pony said before another shot from Applejack’s shotgun silenced him.

The clock kept ticking. She had four more shells before she had to reload. She had three hundred feet before she needed to be where they planned.

The lights kicked back on, and an alarm began to ring. Trenchcoats were off mohawks out.

Another two ponies were waiting for her, weapons up and ready to shoot.

Blam! Another dead pony hit the floor, as the blades ejected from her arm, and cut the second one down.

“Gem, what’s the status?” asked over the comm

“I haven’t even jacked in yet!” came the reply.

“Are you in the core room?”

“Yes, we’re in the core room,” Wingmare said.

“Great, waiting for instruction.”

Two seconds passed and a message flashed across her vision. “Head to the north side of the building, You're looking for an elevator shaft.”

She knew the one. All the hours spent studying the fire escape plan Big Mac had given enough her was paying off. “Rookie, this way!”

Twilight, who had just enough time to slip off of Applejack's back, spun as the earth pony left her in the dust. “Wait, Steel!”

Down the north hallway, taking a right, left, left, right, Applejack's led the way, emptying her shotgun into a few more security ponies, before she screeched to a halt in front of the elevator, loading the tube with her hollowpoint slugs.

She always thought that they seemed like a very particular kind of “frag you,” and, honestly, that was the message she wanted to get across tonight.

“Where are we heading, Gem?” the earth pony typed.

A split second later, the reply came.

“Hang on, dear,” He's text read, “dealing with some matrix security, right now. Give me a moment. For now head down.”

Good enough.

Twilight ran up next to her. “Sorry, I'm not used to so much running.”

“Ya get used to it,” the colony answered. “Where are the security teams? We should have been swarmed by now.”

“I'm fairly certain that they're being used to prepare the EC Expo.”

Applejack glanced at her. “What?”

“Flimflam Inc was elected to host the Equestrian Corporation Expo, you know, where corps show off all their new stuff for the year to brag to each other and the public?”

Applejack nodded. “Yeah, I've seen the Expo, but that's not for another few months.”

“I know, Flimflam tends to secure the area first, and then hold it, so their security isn't spread thin for a long time, or when it's obvious,” Twilight explained.

The elevator arrived.

Both Runners shot inside, keeping their eyes on either side of the hallway.

“I think Mr. Spike got us in when Flimflam's busy trying to save face.”

Applejack shook her head. “Glad to know somepony's looking out for us,” she said, as she pulled out a hoof-held tablet. “Ya know how ta work this thing?”

Twilight glanced at the tablet, and its four-inch screen. She nodded and grabbed it from the earth pony's hoof. With a click and a push, the tablet came to life, and it immediately revealed the world in a green tint, not unlike the first Augmented Reality programs that flooded the market more than three decades ago.

“There it is,” she said, pouring to a highlighted glow. It seemed a ways away, but they knew what they were looking for.

“Great, now all we need to do is get there.”

A text appeared, from Gem. “Here are some downloaded instructions, I don't have time to walk you through, they've brought the heat in matrix defense if nothing else.”

A quarter-second passed, and an attachment came through, which automatically opened, revealing a floor plan, marked with green arrows.

“Alright, I got the map, let’s go!”

Not two steps down the hall, another security pony, this one dressed in an armored vest that was not thick enough to stop Applejack’s shotgun, though she did need two shells to put him down. They spun around the corner, following Gem’s instructions, before Twilight tackled Applejack to the ground.

As they fell to the floor in a mess of limbs and chrome, a ball of shining energy, as bright as a star, shot past them, rocketing down the hallway before slamming into the far wall, popping like a bubble.

A mage walked down the hallway, followed by a massive, flaming elemental. “Well, well. Two different Runners. That could earn me quite a bonus.”

Applejack cursed, before she pushed herself up, and then felt herself freeze.

“Weapons down, dears,” the mage said, as magic flooded Applejack’s body. Her cybernetic limbs didn’t respond to her commands, she couldn’t even fight, the dead metal unable to distinguish between her and the spell.

“Now let’s see, your weapon’s too long for you to put it to your temple, so I suppose I’ll just have you kill each oth—”

Twilight suddenly shot forward through Applejack’s vision and slapped the Flimflam mage.

He had enough time to blink, before he dropped into a puddle of orange goo.

Applejack felt the spell loosen on her, and the elemental shrugged before dissipating into the astral plane.

The cowpony blinked. “What just happened?”

“Well, I took some advice to heart,” Twilight said, “and once I figured out that conserve ammo applies to spells as well, I’ve started to look at the effectiveness of my spells. Anyway, long story short, the easiest way to get rid of the mage was to turn him to goo, so I acted like I was also under the effect of the spell, praying that he cast Mob Mind, until his guard dropped enough that I could close the distance.”

Applejack blinked. “Huh…” she said, raising her shotgun to blast a pony as he came around the corner. “There might be hope for you yet.”

“While I appreciate the thought, we do need to move. Just help me cut this goo in half first.”

“That carries over?”

“There’s a reason Spike taught it to me.”

“Huh.” Applejack said, ejecting the blades in her arm.

<><><|><><>

Wham! Wham! Wham! Applejack’s legs were a battering ram against the steel door. Her heavily chromed hind legs were designed with the purpose of breaching a door and given enough time, Applejack had yet to find one that she couldn’t break down.

Twilight sat not two feet away, staring into the hallway they had just come down with her pistol in her magical grasp. “How much longer?”

“Don’t worry, Rookie,” Applejack said, before unleashing another kick. “Just give me a minute.”

“It’s already been a minute.”

Wham! The door slammed open, and the poor, broken maglock began to whine.

“Told ya ta give me a minute. Let’s get that gem.”

Twilight raised the tablet again, and glanced into the tinted room, searching for the highlighted gem. “It’s over here.”

Applejack followed the unicorn, rushing through the rows of shelves and racks before they both screeched to a halt in front of a small, glass case.

An orange gem sat, suspended by eight, needle-like protrusions. It gleamed in the fluorescent light of the warehouse and shone with a slight, other-worldly light.

Applejack smashed the case, and opened a compartment in her arm, sliding it in. “Alright, let’s go. Wingmare, we have it!” She cried into her comm, already running back the way they came.

“Roger that. I’ll get Gem out of here.”

“Let’s go, Rookie!”

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Twilight said, hot on her heels.

They ran back through the halls, rushing past the bodies of the guards that the pair had left behind. They finally made it past the elevator, leaping over the bisected parts of the mage, before they ran in, and pressed the button for the main floor.

As the doors closed, and the elevator began to rise, Web’s voice cut in. “There’s a problem with the plan,” she said, her voice strained. “The rest of the security force just arrived.”

“How many of them?” Gem asked over the comm.

“I see twenty APCs,” Candy said, “so, I dunno, a hundred and twenty?”

“There’s that security we were worried about,” Twilight muttered.

“With backup.”

“Have they moved in on the entrances yet?” Gem asked.

“Not yet, they’re gathering forces right now.”

“Okay...okay...let me think…” Gem said.

The elevator shuddered.

“What was—”

The floor beneath them swung open, and they had just a fraction of a moment, before they began to fell. Applejack moved through the air, grabbing a hold of the mage, and pushing off of the still-swinging floor as they tumbled down the elevator shaft.

She reached out with her cyberhoof, the fingers stretching out and digging into the steel and plastic of the far wall as they fell. “I gotcha!” she yelled, holding onto the mage as she tore a gash into the elevator shaft before they both stopped. “I got ya.”

“Good,” Twilight squeaked. “Because we’re a long way up.”

Applejack glanced down and saw the dizzying four hundred foot drop below her. “Well,” she muttered, “at least they gave us enough time to curse Flimflam with our dying breath.”

“I wish I learned levitation…” Twilight whimpered.

“Well, we have some time to think about it,” Applejack said before she began to yell into her comm. “Wingmare, Wingmare, we need an extraction!”

There was no answer.

“Wingmare?”

Still no answer.

She cursed. “We’re in a dead spot.”

Twilight whimpered.

“Come on, Rookie, we’ll be fine,” the street sam said, as she started to glance around the shaft, looking for any sign of a way out. “Look for a vent of some kind.”

“You’re not going to drop me are you?” Twilight asked.

“No, I ain’t,” she grunted, checking around.

“Oh, don’t drop me, don’t drop me, don’t drop me…”

“I’m not going to drop you, now look for a way out!”

“You're going to drop me, you're going to drop me!”

“I’m not going to drop you!”

“I’m going to die! I’m going to die!”

“Rookie!” Applejack growled.

“I’m going to die! I’m gonna die!”

“Rookie! Rookie listen!” she said, shaking the mare in her grip.

The mage screamed, before staring up at Applejack fear in her eyes.

“Listen to me, Rookie,” Applejack told her. “I’m an awful liar. Gem does not let me talk to Ringos, Wingmare doesn’t let me disguise myself, and I couldn’t even talk to my own brother without breaking his heart, cause I had to tell him that our sister went missing years ago, and it's all my fault. I can’t lie to save my life, so when I say I’m not going to drop you, you know it’s the truth.

“I will not drop you, okay?”

Twilight didn’t answer.

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good, now help me find a way up, I can’t climb with only one arm.”

“R-right, right. I’m on it.”

Applejack kept looking around, looking for any sign of a way before Twilight spoke up. “There’s a vent right there.”

The cowpony glanced at it, a small vent that was nine feet up. “That’ll do. Can you climb Rookie?”

“I...I don’t know.”

“Alright, grab that bar right there.”

Twilight obeyed, gripping the oiled bar with both hooves.

“Now, try to climb,” Applejack said.

She pulled herself up an inch, only to slip back down. Her legs trembled.

“Come on, you’ll be alright. Use your hind legs.”

She pushed back up, and slid back down.

“Alright, it looks like it’s too oiled right now. Just stay right here, Rookie.”

“What?”

“I’ll be right back.”

“You’re leaving me?”

“I’ll be back,” she said, already climbing the elevator shaft.

“You’re leaving me?” Twilight repeated.

“I’m getting help.”

“No, no don’t leave me!”

“I’ll be back, Rookie, don’t worry just hang on.”

“No! No! Don’t leave me.”

Applejack kept climbing, listening as Twilight cried and whimpered behind her.

<><><|><><>

Twilight hugged the slippery pole and wondered how long it would take her to die.

Steel had left her, and now she was going to die. She’d probably just become so exhausted that she’d fall asleep and slip off the pole, where the only good news was that she’d die unconscious.

Why did Spike do this to her? Why did he trust Runners? They stole, murdered, and lied their way into wherever they wanted to go and ripped ponies' lives apart for money. Security ponies would leave families behind, scientists were kidnapped, and ponies were simply taken away, all for doing their jobs while in a Runner's way.

And she had been dumb enough to think it was any other way.

Of course Steel left her. Of course she did. She had the jewel, the job would be complete, and all it cost them was a small little mage that they didn’t care for. Oh, sure they got her a room, but that was just kissing up so they could use her. Sure, they kept her alive during the Hoofball job, they needed an extra pair of eyes, but now she was useless to them, so they dropped her like a hot rock.

“Oh, I’m not going to drop you, Twilight,” the mage muttered, mockingly. “I’m a bad liar, so you know I’m telling the truth. Says the Runner, the pony that makes her living lying. No, you didn’t drop me, you just left me, so I would fall on my own.”

She was an idiot.

They were Runners. Professional Runners, they knew all the tricks, all the lies, each and every little thing to say to get people exactly where they wanted them before they ripped ponies apart.

Of course they acted like they were warming up to you, Twilight, they wanted you on their side, they wanted you to trust them, it made you easier to control. And then they leave you to die when you’re no longer useful.

They were exactly like she thought they were, and she'd been dumb enough to fall for the lie.

She sat there, holding onto the pole, wondering how long it would take to die before she heard the beating of wings.

She looked up, searching for the source, and blinked as she saw Wingmare and Steel, both coming down through the shaft.

“The old dropping elevator trick,” the rainbow-maned pegasus said with a smirk. “It’s a classic, even if it doesn’t work on pegasi.”

Twilight blinked before she glanced into Steel’s eyes, which had turned back to a natural green. “Told ya I’d be back, Rookie. Now come on, let’s go.”

“Yeah, the sooner the better, my strength spell only lasts so long,” Wingmare said.

Twilight blinked, and she leaped into the chrome arms of Steel. “Oh, thank Celestia! Thank you! Thank you, thank you!”

“Let’s go, Wingmare,” Steel said. “We still have to get out of here.”

Twilight smiled as Steel and Wingmare carried her up and out of the shaft, only faintly aware that relieved tears were running down her face.

<><><|><><>

Gem’s plan had gone off without a hitch. Candy and Web, instead of assaulting the front of the building, began lobbing every explosive and spirit they had onto the gathered mass of security ponies.

This had, of course, garnered the attention of the hundred-plus ponies, and they began to fill the entire building the runners had been standing on with lead.

Both of them had taken a few shots, but once the word that the others had exited the building reached them, they disappeared into the darkness with an invisibility spell while Web’s spirits continued to throw grenades and spells down on the mess.

Now, they were rushing through the streets, swerving through the busy, night-time traffic to the meeting spot for their Ringo.

Inside of Candy’s van, Web was still administering First Aid to Candy, who was now heavily bandaged as she drove the van, while she herself was bleeding all over the seat.

“How are you holding up, Web?” Gem asked.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, handing the decker a syringe, “just stick this in my leg at a twenty-five-degree angle.”

“Uh...alright…” Gem replied before she tried to follow the instructions as Web continued to move to take care of their rigger.

Applejack watched this all from the back seat while fiddling with the jewel in her cyberhoof, slowly letting it spin in her fabricated fingers.

“This better be expensive,” she muttered.

“It’s more than expensive,” Twilight said. “If it was just expensive, Spike could buy it. No, that’s invaluable.”

Applejack nodded. “I figured as much.”

The van pulled up to the guarded, Harmony Inc. owned lot that Spike had directed them towards, before being waved through by a security pony.

A stallion with a blue mane and white coat was waiting for them, wearing mirrorshades and carrying a katana at his side.

“Alright, we’re here,” Candy said, sounding slightly delirious from the blood loss. “I’m going to stay in the van. I’m a little tired, and I think I need some time off.”

“That sounds like a great idea, Candy,” Gem said. “Steel, grab the gem, and let’s go. Rookie, come with us.”

“Why me?”

“Proof of life among other things.”

“Well, that’s a lovely thought.”

“Come on,” Applejack said, as they all stepped out of the van.

The three ponies approached the unicorn stallion, before joining him in the spotlight that illuminated the meeting ground.

“Do you have the gem?” he asked.

Twilight paused.

“We have it right here, Ringo.”

“Excellent, I—” he began before cutting himself off.

“Shining, is that you?” Twilight suddenly.

“Twilight?” the Ringo said. “You’re a Runner now?”

“Mr. Spikearunz wants me on the job to make sure things are done right.”

“I...he hired you, specifically for this job?”

“Yes.”

Shining blinked. “Can I see your comm?”

“Um...sure?” she said, before handing her small, communication device over.

“Uh...I’m sorry to interrupt, but we have business?” Gem said.

“One minute, Runner,” Shining said, before making a call.

A moment passed.

“Yes, I received some very interesting orders for dealing with these Runners.”

“My sister’s with them, that’s the problem!”

Gem glanced between the two, before scanning the guards.

Applejack pressed close to Twilight, her leg weapon ready.

“So you didn’t order me to kill them?”

Silence echoed in the entire lot. The Runners were tense, while Twilight stared at him shocked.

“I see...I see. Thank you for clearing that up, sir.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Goodbye.”

Shining hung up, and sighed, before turning to the Runners. “Sorry about that, it seems that someone in middle management has been taking some unapproved bonuses lately.”

“Well you’ve made it very hard to trust you,” Gem said.

“I’m aware,” Shining said, handing the comm back to Twilight, “but I’m not going to order someone to shoot my sister.”

Gem glared at him for a long moment, before she took a step back. “Then you wouldn’t mind reschedule—”

“Here,” Applejack said, handing their Ringo the gem.

“Steel!” Gem cried.

She didn’t respond, and Shining took the gem before reaching into a pocket and holding it under a jeweler's loupe of some description.

Shining sighed, before pulling out a credstick. “Alright, this is it. Here’s your payment, just keep my sister safe, and we’ll be on good terms.”

Steel nodded. “I get it. You ain’t the only one with a sister.”

Shining didn’t say anything but turned to Twilight. “Stay safe Twi. You know where to find me if things go wrong.”

Twilight nodded. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. They’re taking good care of me.”

Shining sighed, before walking away.

“Come on, Rookie. Let’s get home,” Applejack called, leaving Gem to stand in the middle of the lot, still unsure of how Steel just took control of the negotiations and walked out without getting anyone killed.

“I...what?”

Chapter 8

Rarity was back on the job board within a few days. Since Steel had spent almost all her money on explosives, equipment, and osmium shells. While useful, this has left her with almost nothing, and according to her frequently more panicked inquiries, she had to pay her rent in a few days and needed a job.

When Twilight offered to just pay the rent for her, the street sam, of course, refused. “I ain’t askin’ fer a handout, I just want a job,” she said, almost missing the hurt look Twilight gave her when her help had been refused.

After letting the poor, nearly-in-tears mage know not to take it personally, Rarity began to search her contacts for some kind of job, for anything that would send just a couple hundred nubits Steel’s way. So far, she and her fixer couldn’t find anything too impressive, as she hopped from table to virtual table, dressed in her best, virtual black dress.

Her avatar, a pony with no face, but perfect fashion sense, and a large, blue gem at the base of her neckline, strode through the Matrix bar, a place for Deckers around the world to gather, share, and consume incredible amounts of media in very short periods of time. The bar, located in a dark corner of the Runner boards was a place for all of the Runners that can make a deck sing to hang out, share info, and be themselves in this wide, and crazy world of the matrix.

She moved carefully, weaving through the watcher programs set up by hundreds of paranoid hackers, leaving the strings of code to do their job as their ribbon-like bodies streamed across the place, trailing lights that danced in the room.

The room itself was built out of golden light, a carefully constructed superstructure made to emulate the world’s richest bars, casinos, and cruise ships. A work of love by some board moderator, this room was everything he dreamed it would, going so far as to spit in the face of physics itself, and allowing the room to loop on itself, making the whole place exponentially fantastical simply because ponies could walk on the walls and ceilings.

It made for one of the most beautiful escapes from reality that Rarity had ever had the pleasure of seeing.

In fact, now that she thought about it, she had an episode of Thundr5tep to listen to.

She keyed up her episode, and it began to play through the club’s speakers, while only being actually audible to her.

“Hoi, Chummers. It’s me. No, not your Dad finally coming back from his cigarette run from ten years ago, no it’s Thundr5tep! Today we’re getting into that history of the Matrix episode I promised you, so let’s go ahead and jump into it.

“Back when the awakening happened, it shook things up in the magic world. One of these shake-ups was for a pony named Quickspark. Now Mr. Spark used to be one of the big boys in the magic world, looking to become one of the most powerful wizards in the world. Then the Awakening happened and shattered his dreams faster than a go-ganger’s brick through a shop window, and he was suddenly left in the dust by ponies that, just a day earlier, couldn’t even cast a basic TK spell.

“This left old Mr. Spark bitter and annoyed, basically swearing vengeance against all magic like he’s a character in a trid, and threw himself into a new form of artificing. Long story short, after hundreds of sleepless nights, he created the Matrix 1.0alpha. From there, the idea caught fire, and before long, there were companies dedicated to bringing this crazy idea of connecting ponies through nothing but electricity. “

Rarity slowly made her way across the room, sitting down at a table as she waited for some kind of inspiration to hit her.

“Now we come to the weird part,” Thudr5tep said. “The Matrix as we know it would be nothing if not for a handful of nameless users. Originally thought to be simple nerds, a number of ponies began to generate code like madmen. They kicked out program after program, building new and incredible things in short periods of time, suddenly this tiny little project became a serious venture. Millions of bits were suddenly being poured into this, security, robots, and new interfaces, and more were pushed out in a matter of years.

“That’s when we learned the truth. These weren’t ordinary ponies. These were Technomancers. Able to see the code of the Matrix like a mage peering into the astral plane, these few ponies could almost breathe life into their code. Once we figured that out, well—”

A call paused the recording, leaving the speakers quiet as the sound of ponies trying to talk over their own soundtracks filled the space. A general buzz filled Rarity’s virtual body, and she began to go through the process of stepping out of the Matrix in order to take the call.

She sauntered out of the club, taking her time to greet the other deckers that were within her social circle, as was properly appropriate. “Evening Chip,” she greeted.

“Morning, Gem,” the computer chip on legs replied back. “Careful if you’re doing any big work, the MOD in Canterlot is cracking down tonight. Knew a guy who got fried a few hours ago.”

“Really? That’s awful, not a friend of yours, I hope?”

“Nah, just some chump who tried the big leagues before he was ready for little league. You know the story.”

Rarity shook her head, and her comm rang a second time. “Thank you for the warning, dear, but I must be off.”

Chip nodded and she stepped out of the club into the public Matrix network. Beams of information shot past her at the speed of light, Megapulses of data traveling on 3.0 GHz wavelengths like speeding cars.

Rarity brought up her menu, and jacked out of the Matrix, coming out of the club just in time for her comm to ring a third time.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Gem! It’s me!” Carte Blanche said, grinning wildly, “I found something.”

“What do you have?” Rarity asked.

“I have a contact inside Saddle-Krupp, and she gave this bit before they were going to make the job an APB for GoldStar.”

“They were going to the Star?” Rarity asked. “That’s typically legal work.”

“That’s because the Corp’s trying to spin it like a missing persons case.”

“Okay,” Rarity said. “You have my attention dear, just tell me what’s going on.”

“Saddle-Krupp lost a Technomancer,” Carte said.

Rarity blinked. “What are they asking for him?”

“One mil, minimum,” Carte answered.

“So...they don’t really trust Runners, but if they go to the Star they have to admit to owning a pony, which can still get them in trouble with the Princess if Star leaks.”

“And you know they do,” Carte told her.

“So we have a kidnapping job?”

“You have a job,” she replied.

“You’re the best, Darling,” the Decker said with a smile.

“You’re too kind,” Carte said. “I’m sending you the meetup info. Good luck.”

<><><|><><>

They met at a restaurant in the heart of Canterlot.

It wasn’t a bad restaurant. The whole place was set up with glass, waterfalls, and a calm piano in the background. Ponies in suit jackets and blazers enjoyed conversation with mares dressed in fine dresses as they ate their small, yet criminally overpriced meals.

Rarity loved it.

The place oozed class. They served real food, they had a live band playing classical music, and they were ready to wait hoof and hoof on them. It was the kind of place where Rarity could wear her kevlar weave black dress and look the part. In fact, she was wearing said dress, leading her team down to their reserved table.

The five other mares were excited about the job. This was the kind of money that they could use to get themselves moving forward, even if it had to be split six ways. At the very least it would pay the medical bills they were accruing. They weaved their way through the place, noting the who’s who of Canterlot’s high life as they quickly crossed the restaurant to finally come to a booth at the very back of the room.

Sitting there was their Ringo. Dressed to match his surroundings, the bulky, yet athletic unicorn stallion sat quietly fiddling with his fork as she spun it around his hoof tip. Beside him was his bodyguard, a massive earth pony with a cybernetic hoof not unlike Steel’s, and no doubt hiding a very high-caliber weapon.

The six mares entered the table’s space, and the Ringo glanced up at them. “And who might I have the honor of addressing?” he asked, in a very calm, posh voice.

“We work for our mutual friend Miss Blanche,” Rarity answered as she slid into the booth.

The Ringo nodded, and the bodyguard dutifully slid a partition in front of them before the unicorn himself activated a box on the middle of the table, a gentle buzz filled the air as the white noise generator kicked to life, and began to muffle their conversation from prying ears.

“Hello,” the unicorn said. “I am Mr. Ringo, and I have a job for you.”

“Gem,” Rarity said, introducing herself as she carefully let her pheromones seep into the air. “Let’s get to business, shall we?”

Ringo nodded, before placing his comm on the table, where it suddenly flashed, revealing a hologram of a pony’s face.

“This is your target. A Mr. Doss, a technomancer, that had escaped our custody. We want him back, for obvious reasons. Our asking price is one million nubits. If you accept, we’ll give you more information.”

Rarity nodded. “Sounds like what we were told. But One mil for a technomancer seems a little thin. How’s 1300k?”

“12, but no more,” Ringo replied.

Rarity nodded. Negotiation was a good sign. “Deal.”

Ringo nodded again before his hologram clicked to a new image. “According to our best intel, Mr. Doss has taken refuge in a building just across the street from an Ahuiztechnology building. If our ponies were to move in, it could cause a shootout between us and the Ahuiztech security teams. This is unacceptable, as it could endanger our target, as well as possibly lead Ahuiztech to discover what we’re looking for.”

“And that could cause problems,” Rarity noted.

“To understate it, yes.”

Rarity nodded, before stealing a glance at Web.

The poor mare was shaking, almost imperceptibly, but her nerves were becoming more obvious. Still the mage nodded. She’d do this.

“Then we’ll get right on it,” Rarity said with a smile.

“Excellent. Allow me to buy you some dinner before you go. If you can do this as quietly as Ms. Blanche says you can, then this is the least I can do.”

<><><|><><>

“What do you see, Wingmare?” Rarity asked. She sat in the back of Candy’s van, talking into her comm as she worked on keeping her PAN—and the rest of her team—invisible to anyone looking for it online.

“A whole lot of nothing,” the pegasus replied. “I’ve checked all the windows on the north, west, and south side of the building, but I haven't seen any sign of our target. If I could check the east side—”

“Then you’d get us all caught, and bring Auhiztech down on us,” Steel grumbled. “And honestly, the last thing I want to do is catch the bad side of those freaks.”

“You’re not the only one,” Rarity said, before glancing at Web.

The shaman was in the back of the van with her, holding a blanket over her head like she was a filly. The poor dear was a mess, but that wasn’t a surprise. She always broke down whenever Ahuiztech was involved.

“Are you alright, Web?” Rarity asked.

“I’m...I’m fine…” she whispered, her voice losing that harsh, merciless quality that Rarity was used to.

“Yeah, yeah,” Wingmare said. “I know why we’re not going to the east side, I’m just saying that it’s making my job harder than it needs to be.”

“That’s what Rookie’s there for,” Rarity told her. “Technomancers aren’t good with magic, so she’s our ace in the hole right now.”

“Speaking of tech,” Wingmare said, “why aren’t you hacking his system?”

Rarity sighed. “Because that’s a very dangerous thing to do. Everything I can do, he can do. I may be able to do it better than him, but he has Sprites too.”

“He has what now?” Steel asked.

“Sprites. Nopony’s really sure what they are, but I’ve heard them described as Tech Elementals.”

There was silence on the line for a second, before Steel spoke again. “That sounds both hilarious, and horrifying.”

“That’s why I’m waiting,” Rarity explained. “I don’t want to rush in there, only to find out he’s broken into my PAN and taken out every gun we have. Not to mention the Sprites, whatever they are.”

“Alright, alright, forget I said anything,” Wingmare said. “I was just wondering.”

“And that’s why I’m not using Tiny, Rocky or Balboa,” Candy said, cutting in. “I don’t want them exploding.”

“Ya know, that’s fair,” Steel said.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I get it,” Wingmare said. “Hang on, I have movement.”

The whole line went silent. They waited, with bated breath as Wingmare glared down at the movement in her sight.

A long second passed.

“Negative, just the pizza guy.”

Steel sighed. “I hate it when they do that.”

“Yeah, but you can’t hate a guy for ordering pizza though,” Candy said.

“Fair enough,” Wingmare agreed.

“Okay,” Twilight said, her voice suddenly cutting into the discussion. “I think I found something.”

“Please don’t bring any Ahuiztech elementals with you…” Web whispered.

“I couldn’t see what he had, but he definitely glows. He has some kind of magic, and that sounds exactly like a technomancer. He’s surrounded by mundane stuff, decks of various kinds, and some other objects that I couldn’t really see. The important thing is, he doesn’t seem to be expecting us.”

“Which room is he in, Rookie?” Rarity asked.

“Oh, right, east side, southern corner apartment.”

“I knew it!” the pegasus grumbled.

“Not right now, Wingmare,” Rarity said, as her mind began to churn. “Okay, so he’s in the southeastern corner, with a bunch of machinery. He’s not expecting anything, but any technomancer that just got out isn’t going to let his guard down. If that’s the case, then why isn’t he worried somepony’s coming for him?”

“Maybe he’s not worried somepony’s coming, because he has something set up? Has traps laid down?” Steel suggested.

“Maybe he’s trying to escape his body and live in the Matrix as ghost code!” Candy suggested.

“That’s not how that works, Candy,” Rarity said, rolling her eyes.

“It could be, he’s a technomancer, who knows?”

That...was actually a point. “Let’s…let’s stick to more plausible theories. We’ll keep that one on the back burner.”

“How did he escape?” Web asked.

Rarity opened her mouth, but then slowly closed it again when she realized she did not, in fact, have an answer to that.

“Ponies like us don’t just escape,” Web continued, “they’re let loose by something. Who let him loose?”

The words rang across the comm line, almost echoing in their collective earpieces as a terrible, awful realization came over all of them.

The Technomancer had a team of Runners.

“Wingmare move!” Rarity suddenly yelled. “You’ve been still too long! You need to move, now!”

There was no answer for a second. “Wingmare?”

“Still here,” she grunted, before crying out with a yell, “but if you had told me a second sooner, I wouldn’t have this idiot trying to stab me.”

The door to the van opened, and two stallions with bladed cyber legs stood at the back, ready to rip them to shreds. “Sorry girls, just business.”

Tires screeched and rubber burned as the van lurched forward, dragging a razorboy with them as they began to careen down the street. Rarity hit the shag carpeting of the back of the van, and landed hard, knocking the wind out of her, and leaving her dazed on the floor.

Web cowered beneath her blanket, and the razorboy, still clinging to the door, grunted as he tried to get into a better position. “Come on! Don’t cower. You’re a Runner, go down like one.”

Rarity answered with a burst from her submachine gun, spraying him with bullets. The razorboy’s subdermal armor absorbed the small arms fire easily, leaving only broken skin as the beast stood in front of her.

“That’s better,” the razorboy growled before he raised his bladed hoof.

Web exploded out from under the blanket, glowing mana pouring from her mouth, eyes, and hooves, before a magical explosion slammed into the enemy Runner, blowing him off, and throwing him onto the asphalt.

Rarity sighed, before checking the shaman.

She was breathing heavily, gasping for breath. “You alright.”

“Better now that we’re further away from that place.”

Rarity groaned, pulling up her comm. “Who's still on site?”

“Steel and I are here,” Twilight said.

“We could move in,” Steel confirmed.

“Negative. I don't trust my PAN to hold up, and at this distance, if he hacks your legs, I might not be able to fix them in time.”

“So what's the plan?” Steel asked.

Rarity bit her lip. She couldn't have them going in against a Technomancer, especially since all of Steel's chrome would be irresistible for him to get his hooves into. No, she needed a plan. If he was out cold, then it'd be safe, but...“Okay, you'll move in, but you're not going in alone. Move slowly, I'll need some time to get things moving.”

Without another word, Rarity jacked in deep-diving into the Matrix.

<><><|><><>

Tall, data superstructures reached for the sky like skyscrapers, and a massive, ancient step pyramid could be seen in the distance.

Ahuiztech always preferred the Tenochtitlan aesthetic. They slapped it onto everything, and even if she didn't like them, Rarity had to admire their dedication to the theme. However, being this close did make her nervous.

Drawing her virtual fedora and trenchcoat tighter around her, she began to search for her target. In headspace, she'd be zipping across the data highway, flying at incredible speeds as she tried to regain the ground that the van put between her and their target. Yet, in the Matrix, she walked, thinking deeply about what she was going to do.

This wasn't her first run-in with a technomancer, she once knew a young stallion that didn't know when to keep his mouth shut in her earlier Running days. She witnessed what they could do first-hand.

They could build sprites to act independently, to defend or maintain programs while the technomancer was away.

That, alone, was scary. The average program was tough, but they were dumb. They needed a watcher program to direct them, and if you were fast enough, you'd be in and out before the lethal Black ICs were even called up.

The head of a Tenochtitlan warrior, an Ahuiztech watcher, hovered overhead, checking for any threats to their system.

Rarity stayed on the path, avoiding suspicion. As she continued to walk, her thoughts continued to churn.

The problem with a sprite was because they could make judgment calls. They could direct ICs like a pony could. They were practically a Spider, and they were dangerous. That meant that a technomancer with a heavy ICs setup could have a sprite on overwatch, ready to act.

It would have to go down first.

She looked up at the building, where a Black Intrusion Countermeasure, dressed as a hulking troll, wandered around the building. If she got hit with that, it'd be more than a little dumpshock, that thing could fry her brain if she wasn't careful.

It was time to get to work.

A quick text to Steel and Rookie, letting them both know it was time move, and Rarity began. She ran a quick spoof program to disguise her signature as an Ahuiztech watcher and she was off.

It wouldn’t let her get too close, the Sprite would figure something was wrong, but it would be a good start.

She hovered over the building, carefully taking her time. A figure, a tiny program that hovered on the shoulder of the Black IC, watching her, but neither of them moved. Attacking Ahuiztech would not be a good idea, especially when you wanted to stay under the radar.

Rarity, meanwhile, continued to prepare her attacks. She had a crash program lined up for the sprite, hopefully crippling it while she dealt with the IC. She did have a hammer program that could send multiple data spikes at the IC, but if the Sprite didn’t go down, then she might have to redirect it at the Sprite.

The large, black troll wandered around mindlessly, following its programming of murdering anything that entered his master’s server space.

Rarity hovered closer, daring as much as she could to inch toward the pair.

The Sprite was becoming suspicious.

Rarity paused, took a virtual breath, and attacked.

The crash program hit the sprite dead on, forcing it down and induced a reboot. It’d be out for seconds, which was more than enough time for her to put this IC in its place.

She slammed her hammer program, spamming the Troll with data spikes that quickly destabilized the beast, but it wouldn’t be deterred yet.

It raised its hands, preparing its own, lethal spike before Rarity quickly began to reconfigure her deck. She altered the programming of her machine to reroute damage elsewhere. It meant she couldn’t counter immediately with her own attack, but it meant she wouldn’t be fried the second that spike hit her.

Pain flared through her whole body, and her vision went white as damaging amounts of feedback blew backward through her brain. Her deck took most of the damage off of her, but she was definitely bleeding from the nose now.

With the attack passed, she reconfigured her deck again, dedicating every pulse of processing power to her data spikes before she spammed the troll with everything she and her deck had.

The data spikes ripped the IC apart, leaving it as nothing but shreds of code, blowing in the datastream.

Rarity sighed. That tactic was always a gamble. There was no way to reconfigure a deck fast enough to move from the defensive configuration to attack and then back to defend for the next counter. It was the kind of strategy that demanded that they only get to attack once.

She didn’t have time to think about it. She had to deal with the sprite. It would reboot any second now, and she had to deal with it now, while it was still weak. Still, in her “glass cannon” configuration she poured even more spikes into the downed Sprite, murdering it while it was still booting up.

Once it’s already incorporeal body faded away, Rarity sighed. So far, things were going to plan. Still, she wasn’t done, and if she wanted to keep Steel and Rookie from walking into what was probably a turret trap, she had to keep moving forward.

She began to scan the network the IC and the Sprite had been connected to, searching for anything that could be running silently in the background as she searched for any trace of devices. It took her a moment, but, as if she were psychic, the signature of three turrets was revealed to her sight.

She began to mark them, taking ownership of them very quickly.

At this point, it’d be almost child’s play to turn them both on the technomancer, and fill him with bullets. Of course, that would mean that their target would be dead, and they wouldn’t be getting paid. No, she needed to get his attention, and if she was going to do that, then all she needed to do was spin them around.

With that done, she waited, prepping her Blackout program along with her Lockdown program to keep him from running, that, paired with her Cat’s Paw executable would keep him from working his own programs.

That was the plan anyway.

A short fraction of a second later, and all three programs were queued up, ready to go.

And that’s when Quickspark stepped into his network. Dressed as Anonymous, the least creative icon on the Matrix, and growled. “Who’s messing with my—”

And that was as far as he got before Rarity nuked him.

First she hit him with the Cat’s Paw, limiting his reaction time, and forcing him on the defensive. She immediately followed up with the Lockdown, taking away his ability to jack out of the Matrix for a moment or two. Once he was locked Rarity began dumping data into him, wrecking his body with biofeedback as she poured everything she had into him.

Quickspark tried to counter, throwing his own data spike back at her, but he shot wide. She didn’t even have to dodge.

Finally, she threw the Blackout program at him, hoping that all the damage and the dumpshock he was about to take would keep him under as Steel and Rookie walked into the room.

The icon twitched. Once, twice, and the went red as he automatically kicked out of the Matrix, the only safety feature the whole dumb network had.

Rarity sighed. That was a tough job, but that’s why she’s the best.

A text to Steel and Rookie that their target was ready for pick up, and she was ready to jack out.

A text appeared. “Gem, you’re bleeding from your nose, is everything alright?”

Rarity smiled. “Everything’s fine, Web, just packing up.”

And with that, she left the Matrix, satisfied in a job well done.

She appeared back in the van, to the sound of gunfire.

"Right," she thought with a sigh.

"Job’s not done yet..."

Chapter 9

Grabbing the Technomancer, getting past the other runners, and getting out was easier than Rarity initially thought it would be. With Rookie and Steel grabbing the conked out body of their target, and rushing outside, all they need to do was stuff him into the back of the van and book it, sending Wingmare coordinates for a rendezvous.

When the enemy team gave chase, Candy decided enough was enough, and dropped a claymore in the road. The moment it went off, destroying the enemy van in the process, every Gold Star officer in a mile radius—not to mention Ahuiztech, which was still only a few blocks away—was called to investigate, and it was now in the express interest of both teams to scatter like roaches.

After picking up their adept and booking it, they met back up with their Ringo. He was a little upset that they caused a commotion, but seeing as how nopony had discovered the Technomancer or Rarity and her team’s involvement, he let it slide and paid them.

Twilight almost complained when she received a credstick that was a little lighter than originally promised, but honestly, Rarity was happy to see their pay had only been docked by a hundred thousand. Saddle-Krupp was known for...well, it’s draconic dealings at times, but it seemed this Emberix was a reasonable dragon who understood that one mistake did not necessarily mean she could wipe out a whole team of Runners.

Mostly.

Regardless, they were paid, a little bruised, starving, and it was good to be alive.

“So, Darlings, I don’t know about you, but I could use a meal.”

“You’re telling me,” Wingmare said. “They sent a full set of drones after me, and the rigger was built like a tank. I could eat a tree right now.”

“I…” Steel began, “I don’t like the FeedBag, but I could go for one of ‘em BagRitos.”

Web nodded from where she was, bandaging a wound on Steel’s real leg. “I could use a snack.”

“What about you Rookie?” Rarity asked, still dabbing a tissue against her nose to make sure the bleeding had truly stopped.

Twilight didn’t answer.

“Rookie?” Wingmare asked.

“Huh? What?” she asked, suddenly startled to reality.

“You alright?” Web asked. “Is there an Elemental chasing us? What’s going on?”

“Oh, no! No, nothing like that, I just...I was thinking.”

The other occupants of the van released a breath they didn’t realize they were holding. Steel slid her pistol back into its holster, and Web went back to dressing wounds as their decker slid to the back of the van. “What are you thinking about, Dear?” Rarity asked.

“Well...it’s just...we had our pay docked, and we succeeded,” Twilight began.

Rarity nodded. “I tried to convince him it was fine, but his version of quiet against ours lost ou—”

“No, no, I understand why, and I told you I wasn’t happy about it” she said. “No, that’s not the problem.”

“Then what’s bothering you, dear?”

“It’s just...the other Runners…” she trailed off and the entire cabin went quiet.

Rarity frowned but kept listening.

“W-what happens to a Runner who doesn’t finish the job?”

No one answered right away. Steel took interest in the wall, while Wingmare examined her pistol more closely. Web kept moving, working on the wound that Steel has as silence echoed in the van.

Finally, Rarity answered. “We were doing a job. It had to be done.”

Twilight sighed. “And I thought corp life was competitive.”

“So!” Candy said over the speakers, “FeedBag?”

“FeedBag!” Wingmare agreed.

“Coming up!” she said, before the van took a hard left, heading straight for the nearest convenience-store-and-fast-food-restaurant combo.

A whole ten minutes later, the van slipped up across the street from the FeedBag, and the ponies began to pile out.

“Why are we across the street?” Twilight asked.

“Candy had an experience at a FeedBag once,” Rarity explained.

“Really? What happened?”

“No idea, she’s never said.”

They crossed the street, and entered the store. A dull buzz to warn the criminally underpaid clerk that someone came in was ignored as the young teenaged pegasus met them without even looking up from his comm. “Welcome to the FeedBag, where quality is our priority,” he droned. “Today’s special is the Triple-bean Chalupa Burger, served with a free 40 oz. soda of your choice.”

Web shuddered as she walked inside, before nodding. “It’s amazing. Every one of these has the same exact feeling of apathy,” she muttered.

“FlimFlam’s good at that,” Applejack answered. “Everyone of ‘em cheap, identical, and bland.”

They pushed forward, past the disposable razor blades, the disposables comms, the disposable underwear, and the disposable frozen food before finally stopping at the “Ready to Eat” meals that were being slowly warmed into oblivion by the glaring infrared lamps.

Applejack grabbed her Bagrito, a measly, greasy attempt at a burrito that dripped with grease as she stuck it in a bag. She thought about getting another one, but decided against it, seeing as how, despite the boast of three different vegetables—even though the rice was a grain—the thing could be crushed to make a brick of condensed soy wrapped in a soy tortilla. “I’ll be back, I’m going to see if I can find any solder to work with.”

This was barely met with a nod as the atmosphere of bland began to infect the team.

Rarity grabbed a few taquitos, some chow mein, and a mess that claimed to be lasagna. Wingmare took some egg rolls, sweet and sour vegetables, a slice of pizza that looked more like grease on a crust than a fake tomato paste, and a bag of nachos. Candy grabbed, what else, candy, as well as a bag of “trail mix” and a box of ice cream, while Web settled for a hay burger and curly fries.

Twilight, the poor mare, probably took the longest time to figure out what she wanted. She balked at the Bagrito, the sweet and sour vegetables that were so thick you needed a knife to cut through the sauce, and even the lasagna, which looked like it might come to life at any moment. In the end, she chose to stick with the hay burger, whose own grease nearly soaked through the buns, making it unpleasant to pick up, even with magic.

“I’m going to see if there are any good pods to listen to,” Rarity said, before taking a step out. “Let me know when you’re all ready to leave.”

“Can do!” Candy replied, the bastion of a good mood in the vortex of apathy.

Web also muttered something, and went on her own, searching the fluorescently-lit bowels of the building.

Candy went off to get oil for her van and drones, leaving Wingmare and Twilight on their own as the group split.

Rarity went off to the Entertainment section and quickly found herself surrounded by equally-disposable media. Holozines about the lives of celebrities, a bad series of porno-sim chips whose episode count got into the triple digits, and a deluge of shovelware games that screamed of poor attempts to find the next big thing.

She shook her head before moving on, coming to the synthol and bug sprays.

As she wandered the aisles, she heard the dull buzz again and looked up out of habit to see who came in. Again the pegasus didn’t look up from his comm as a pair of unicorns, both dressed in full punk regalia, walked in, and was completely ignored by the clerk. The stallion looked dead inside, although, Rarity had to hazard a guess that he probably looked that way before he walked into the soul-sucking vortex that was the FeedBag. Meanwhile, the mare beside him talked at him, and talked, and talked, and talked some more.

After only three minutes of listening to the story of the punk mare’s completely uneventful life, Rarity quickly figured out why the stallion looked so unresponsive.

Turning back to the aisles, she found the hygiene section and curiously picked up a shampoo bottle to give it a sniff. The scent was, surprisingly pleasing, and while it certainly wasn’t going to give her mane the proper care it needed, it would do well as a supplemental post-wash for the scent alone.

“Oh Celestia…” she heard a voice groan behind her, and she turned to see Twilight staring in horror at a large, fold-up display showing off hundreds of individual purple plastic wrappers, each with a picture of a brightly-colored breezie on the front, with massive, massive eyes. An almost inaudible tune wafted from a speaker hidden somewhere in the display as the heart-shaped logo for “My Little Breezie” rocked gently back and forth.

“What?” Rarity asked. “Didn’t like My Little Breezie?”

“I...I was on the committee trying to design these dumb things,” Twilight answered, sounding sick to her stomach. “I...I never thought anypony would be dumb enough to actually try to market this crap.”

Rarity shrugged. “You say that, but first, it’s NERPS so you should have seen that coming, and second, Wingmare says the latest generation isn’t bad.”

“Really?” Twilight asked. “Also, what’s NERPS?”

“New Exciting Retail ProductS. Or garbage, as everyone the street also calls them. It’s just a general term for all the trendy trash that corps push out. In a week or so they'll be gone.”

“There’s a comforting thought…” the mage muttered.

Another buzz sounded, and Rarity checked the door.

A young earth pony mare, dressed in a torn gown rushed into the building, carrying a foal to her chest in one leg.

“Welcome to the FeedBag, where quality is our—”

“Don’t let them know I’m here!” the mare said, her voice panicked and straining.

The clerk had just enough time to look up from his comm and blink, before the mare rushed to the back of the store.

Rarity and Twilight shared a glance at each other.

“Wingmare, did you see that?” Rarity asked over her comm.

“I did.”

“Could you go check on her?”

“Already on it.”

“Twilight, get ready to start casting,” Rarity whispered.

The clerk blinked, still unsure of what happened before the front of the store exploded. Flame, sound, and light erupted at the front, tearing cheap plascrete to chunks as the clerk went flying into a cigarette display. The punks screamed, and ducked for cover, while Rarity and Twilight both took cover behind the shampoos.

“You idiot!” a voice said from outside, before two earth ponies walked into the store, carrying guns. The earth pony with a chin that made his face look like an actual flank, leveled his shotgun at the still-recovering clerk. “Ya don’t cooperate, you’re dead!”

The unicorn that followed him, equally ugly, released a burst of full-auto fire. “Listen, we’re here for a mare. If the rest of you cooperate, we might not kill you too.”

Rarity rolled her eyes from her hiding place. She already spotted by pegasus with the rocket launcher standing right next to the van, as well as the unicorn that slapped him up the head for messing it up. “Right,” she whispered into her comm, audible only to her team. “That’s why you tried blowing up the shop. Candy?”

“In first aid supplies. ‘Bout to run the one with the rocket launcher over, waiting for the signal.”

“Web?”

“Pet supplies, ready to summon. Two civilians by me, had to gag the mare to get to shut up.”

“Steel?”

“In the arcade,” she grumbled. “Close to my high score, too.”

“Wingmare?”

“By imports, found the mare they want. If she makes it out of here, this could pay off.”

“Yeah?” Rarity said, watching as the two armed guns moved forward, checking two aisles down from pet supplies. “Well then, on my signal, let’s tear them up. On go.”

Twilight was almost finished with her spell, only a single motion away from bringing it to life.

“Three.”

Rarity lifted her submachine gun.

“Two.”

The earth pony started to yell. “Don’t hide from us, Donna. We’ll find you sooner or later.”

“One.”

Steel’s shotgun peppered the earth pony, sending sparks off his subdermal armor. Pellets slammed into the shelves behind him, sending up a splash of brightly-colored orange plastic shards, which exploded into his eyes. “Fraggin’—!” whatever else he was going to say was cut off by the car alarms that began blaring across the street since a van suddenly rear-ended them, pinning a rocket-wielding pony between the bumpers.

A fireball exploded across the center of the store, throwing goop, grease, and burning disposable razors through the air in all directions before Wingmare laid down some covering fire before pulling the running mare through the darkness and around the corner.

“Wait! Take me with you!” the pony behind the counter yelled before Wingmare rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the neck.

The unicorn from outside ran into the building, wielding a katana and casting his own spell from a cheap talisman. A bolt of lightning struck through the building but was luckily grounded by the galvanized steel shelves.

Candy answered him with a grenade.

He yelped, leaped out of the way, and dove behind the clerk desk before the fragmentation bomb exploded.

Rarity popped back up and smiled as she watched the earth pony wipe his eyes clean before blades popped out from his arms. “Now aren’t you a specimen, let’s see if you’re legs will cooperate once I’m done with you.”

She pulled out her deck, ready to move, before deciding that AR would be the better option of the two. Couldn't jump full in with this mess going on. Not when a stray bullet could get her. Besides, she could hack a simple cyberlimb without too much—

A warning flashed across her vision. “Threat detected!”

She blinked before the truth dawned on her. She was being hacked. They had a decker, and he had the audacity to try and hack her.

Oh, this wasn’t going to stand!

Steel slammed into the earth pony, her own blades out and ready to rumble as they clashed. “Come on, partner, let’s dance!”

The pegasus outside pushed against the van, wiggling out of the crash and using his empty rocket launcher as a lever. He grunted and pulled, trying to get out, up to the point where he didn’t hear PeeWee, Candy’s armed rotodrone deploy. He pulled, trying his best to move before popping out between the cars with a cry of celebration.

This was cut short by a buzz as PeeWee peppered the ground around him.

Web’s beast elemental suddenly tore through the shelves, a spider-shaped thing made from rats, insects, and other vermin hidden in the store’s depth, howling as it dove into combat, slamming it’s many-toothed head into the ugly unicorn as cheap aluminum flew in a shower of debris.

“They’ve got reinforcements incoming!” Steel yelled as she and the earth pony went head to head in a razor boy battle. Blades flew through the air.

Meanwhile, Rarity searched desperately for the enemy decker’s signal. The moment she could take them out, the Razor boy was hers, but she needed to find him first. Another warning began to flash on her AR screen, signaling another attack. She ran her defensive programs, trying to stop him before raising her gun and unleashing another burst of fire into the street.

Candy’s rotodrone buzzed the pony with the empty rocket launcher, firing the smaller, but incredibly painful rounds into his flank as he ran back and forth in front of the still-flaming storefront.

A fireball exploded over the clerk desk, keeping the unicorn with the sword pinned as Twilight kept him down. Spell and shot from her heavy pistol left the far wall and the cigarette stands a flaming mess of paper and tobacco.

Another car screeched onto the road, and two more ponies spilled out, firing their pistols as they stepped out of the car.

The vermin elemental tossed the pony it was holding aside, before he rushed the open street, slamming into the ponies that were foolish enough to fire without cover.

Rarity continued typing away, activating all of her defensive programs as she tried desperately to keep her deck under her control as she located the enemy hacker. She had almost triangulated his matrix position, and once she had his IP, she was going to spike the fragger for even thinking he could take her deck.

Wingmare poked her head out of the door to the back and fired her own pistol at the ugly unicorn that Web’s elemental left behind, piercing his skull and four cans of industrial shaving cream which expanded at terrifying speed, cushioning the body as it fell backward.

Applejack threw the enemy Razorboy over her shoulder, where he slammed into cans of cat food, which pooped into chunky bits of “meat” that got into every nook and cranny.

The unicorn with the katana rallied, for some reason yet unknown, and Twilight cooked him for his trouble.

One of the ponies outside, deciding he was not going to be swallowed by a terrifying swarm of small animals, ran down the street, dropping his gun as PeeWee dropped the pegasus, still wielding his empty rocket launcher as if it would protect him.

The beast elemental tossed its prey back into the FeedBag, and he too, smashed into the shelves, throwing up milky-white and red goo that might have been toothpaste into the air.

That, or it was some kind of soup.

Rarity found him. She found his IP, and had already marked the machine. As far as it knew, she owned that piece of plastic. Every attack he made was stopped before it even left his deck, and the poor sap probably didn’t even realize it.

She thought, in an act of generosity, that she’d send the decker a warning before frying him, before deciding it’d be incredibly dumb to give up the advantage she had and cook his brain.

Besides, no one touches her deck.

With that she stood up, and looked around at the mess that was the FeedBag. Multicolored goop, plastic, metal, and more lay scattered on the ground, while her team was equally covered in the mess.

“Ehg…” she muttered to herself. “Roll Call!”

“Here, all my pieces together,” Steel said.

“A little drained from the magic, but alright,” Twilight responded.

Web raised a hoof. “I’ll be fine once I dismiss my elemental.”

“Okey Dokey!” said Candy.

“Wingmare?” Rarity called.

“Hang on!” she said, coming out of the back with the mare and the kid from behind the counter. “Ladies, allow me to introduce Donna Madonna, daughter of the don of the Belgrade Family.”

Rarity blinked. “And...how do you know this is the daughter of the local mob?”

Wingmare smirked. “You’re not the only one with contacts.”

Rarity blinked again before her face went red. “And you never used them before now!?”

<><><|><><>

The office smelled of imported cigars and old varnish. A large unicorn sat in the comfortably, overstuffed office chair as Donna stood next to him, cooing at the little bundle that lay in a crib.

“So,” the unicorn said. “Miss Dash, twice now you have saved my daughter’s life, and twice now, I find myself in your debt.”

Rarity watched, fascinated as Wingmare had become the face. Personally, she found it outright fascinating when someone else was forced to do the talking, and this was most certainly one of them.

Despite the fact that this was an infuriatingly rich resource that had yet to be tapped.

“Not a problem Don, it’s the least I can do.”

The unicorn laughed. “The least she says. You save my own daughter and grandson and says it was nothing, when it’s everything to me.”

Dash nodded sheepishly. “Well, when you put it that way.”

“When I put it that way,” the Don repeated, as he stood on his chair and pulled a box off his desk. “Do you smoke, Dash?”

“Still no, Don.”

“Damn shame. I’d love to share cigar with you,” he said, pulling a thick roll of Griffonstone tobacco from the box before lighting it. “First you pull my daughter from a burning car, then you save her from a manic ex-boyfriend, you’ve done me too many favors now, Dash. I simply have no choice but to make you family now,” he said, holding out his hoof.

Dash took it, kissed it softly. “Thank you, Don Belgrade.”

The Don nodded, before turning to the party. “Now then, let me invite you all to dinner, I cannot let such ponies leave my house without first tasting my hospitality. Besides, with Donna’s Uncles...suddenly indisposed with a visit to her ex, there are plenty of empty places at my table for you to sit and eat.”

As the unicorn and his daughter led the team down to the dining room table, Wingmare smirked. “And you said I can’ be the face.”

“Don’t push your luck dear. As it is, the only reason I’m not still angry at you is because our host is about to feed us.”

Chapter 10

Pain.

Fluttershy writhed on the table as long, thick needles pierced her skin, filling her with fluids that burned through her whole body.

Tears ran down her face as the ponies around her worked quickly and callously. They didn’t say a word to her, they merely hovered around her, looking on with clinical interest as they marked their clipboards. Over all her years of being strapped to this table, she had only ever seen one of ponies around her shed a tear for her.

She never saw her again.

The young filly screamed again as pain wracked her body, and her muscles spasmed beyond her control.

She knew they wanted something, she just didn’t know what.

She cried and whimpered, begging for the pain to stop, to just kill her and be done with it, to end her like they did her brother. She cried, and howled as pain shot through her body, lighting every nerve along her spine, wings, and hooves on fire.

Just kill me, you cowards, kill me and take what you want already. Kill me like you killed Zephyr.

They said something, but Fluttershy didn’t hear it over her own cries and the pain that throbbed in her ears, all she knew is that the pain lessened for a moment. Just a moment, before she knew it would begin again. She sobbed and whimpered as the ponies around her left, and the lights went out as sleep threatened to take her.

She brought her will to bear, tried to force herself to stay awake. She bit on her lip until she drew blood, but the exhaustion took her, and darkness followed.

When she opened her eyes next, the room as dark and abandoned, the needles that tore through her skin were silent, empty, and still. She whimpered again before she grit her teeth, and lifted her head.

She slammed it against the table with all her might. She lifted it, and slammed her head again, and again, and again. She tried again, driving her head into the steel beneath her until her vision went white.

She tried to cave her own skull in until she exhausted herself, and went still. She dropped back to the table, laying still, and stared into the blinding white void until the ceiling faded back into view. Slowly, her eyes focused, even as she cursed the fact that she didn’t have the strength to end her own life until her eyes fell on a tiny spider that was slowly dropping from above, gliding on a single thread of web.

Her voice croaked as she spoke to it. “Hello, Angel,” she said, greeting the tiny spider by the name she gave it so long ago.

The spider flailed a leg as it got caught in the updraft of her breath.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I just don’t know how much longer I can last with this.”

Angel didn’t offer an answer.

Then a long, chitinous leg reached down from the shadows above her. “And so one must wonder why the hunter sits in the trap?” a voice said as seven more legs pulled the body of a massive spider through the shadows, and into the room above her. Eight pony eyes stared at her from the head of the spider, and large, dog-like lips sat over his fangs.

Fluttershy didn’t even blink. “What more can I do? I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember.”

“And that’s the excuse you offer?” the spider asked. “I sit because I must? I let my food eat me because it’s what I know?”

“What else can I do? They killed my brother a long time ago for trying, and now they’re too afraid to kill me. I don’t have anything else.”

The spider gave a contemptuous snort. “Such a waste. You can do so much better, yet here you are, caught in a web of beasts far lower than you.”

“Just kill me and end it, please,” she whispered. “I’m just too tired.”

The spider shook his head. “No, I have a much greater plan for you.” A cluster of spiders began to descend from the shadows, dropping on their silken threads, and landing on her body. “This, dear Fluttershy, is the beginning of a new relationship.”

<><><|><><>

Fluttershy, or Miss Web as she was more frequently called, sat at her shrine, taking a moment to breathe as she meditated on the world around her. The astral plane was a thought away, and if she wanted to, she could let slip her bonds to the mortal coil and drift away among the stars.

She wasn’t going to, though, not yet.

When Papa Spider found her, he taught her one very important lesson. Be the one that sets the trap, build your home, and know its every inch. The day you are caught unawares is the day everything you built comes crashing in on you, so, simply put, don’t fall into a trap.

Was a trap set for her when she entered the astral? Unlikely, but any Runner would tell you it’s better to be safe than sorry, and being safe is what she lived by.

Taking another, steadying breath, she used her mind’s eye to check the astral plane around her. The dead grey of lifeless concrete, and fake wood echoed around her for miles, only the blurred, downtrodden and desperate signature of life on the physical plane shone through, appearing like fireflies across the grey landscape around her.

Twilight was nearby, shining like a beacon, and Gem was behind her, shining as well, if more muted than the mage.

Fluttershy always had thought it odd that Gem would waste her own magical talent in the pursuit of Matrix work, but considering how important a decker was, Web certainly wasn’t going to complain.

With no elementals in sight, and no other signs of danger nearby, Fluttershy finally let herself relax, and drift away from her own body. Once free from her mortal shackles, she flew on powerful, spectral wings.

Before she knew it, she was walking along the old familiar paths that took her down to the dark corner of astral space that she called her second home. The silvery, gossamer threads of Papa Spider’s Web met her within moments, and she happily began to float around them, moving closer and closer to the heart of his lair. She slowed as she approached the center of the web, before carefully strumming a strand to announce herself.

Papa Spider approached, climbing along his web. “And there is my daughter, back from the mortal plane. What brings you to my parlor?”

“I just wanted to relax a moment, Papa,” she replied, before she slipped onto the web, relaxing as Papa Spider’s silk enveloped her.

“It has been a while,” Papa Spider agreed. “Still, I am surprised.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I know,” she muttered. “I can’t be too mad, though, it’s what you called me for.”

Papa nodded.

“I’m just,” she began. “I’m not ready, not yet.”

Papa gave her a look, but said nothing.

Fluttershy waited, but when Papa Spider didn’t throw her out, she gladly found a corner of his great web to hang from, and relaxed against his long-reaching strands. She felt them tug beneath her, each one connected to another shaman, each using their connection to the mentor spirit to build a network of information that stretched across the material and astral plane.

Papa Spider worked across his web, weaving strands upon strands into the artwork that was his home. He didn’t say a word as he worked, working carefully and meticulously as Fluttershy relaxed in the one place where she was safe.

“Fluttershy,” Papa Spider said in a calm, fatherly voice.

“Yes?”

“You are being called upon, and you need to get ready.”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.

Papa Spider didn’t answer, but merely pointed with a long, leg.

Fluttershy looked confused, but obeyed, flying back across the astral plane to her body.

“Web, are you with us?” Gem said in her ear. “Equestria to Web?”

“I’m here, I’m here,” Fluttershy said, looking up from her hood.

“We have a job.”

“Oh, what kind?”

“One of Spike’s. Against Ahuiztech.”

And Fluttershy felt her heart freeze. “Ah…” she said.

“I’ve sent it to your comm,” Gem said, motioning to her. “Look it up when you have the chance, we need to get to work.”

Fluttershy nodded again before she slipped on her AR glasses. Instantly, she saw the dragon’s face in the corner of her vision and heard his voice through the speaker built into her eyewear began to rumble. “I have your second task. I know it’s early, but time is of the essence. Your next target is a gem, much like the first, a piece of rose quartz that will emit magical radiation much like the first. It is currently located in an Ahuiztechnology facility that will be sent in the attached file. Evidence from my own efforts of espionage shows that the gem rest in this particular facility’s basement, in a project labeled under ‘Operation Sapphire.’ All evidence suggests that collecting the gem will end Sapphire, and will, therefore, be heavily guarded.

“As was with the last job, I will have a secondary team on standby, ready to move with you, and if you manage to make it through this job without contacting the team, you will be awarded a bonus...”

Fluttershy stopped listening. She opened the file, and began scanning its contents. The building was marked as being out beyond the Sprawl, between Canterlot and Las Pegasus, along the northern reaches of the San Palmino desert.

She knew that building.

She would recognize it anywhere.

She suddenly felt nauseous. Standing Fluttershy took off her glasses.

“So, Web?” Gem asked, noticing that the shaman had stood.

“I’ll be alright,” Fluttershy answer, before she calmly walked to the restroom. She stood there for a moment, and then vomited.

<><><|><><>

“Alright,” Fluttershy said as she took a moment to steady herself. “You’ll be alright, Fluttershy, just focus on the job. It’s just another job.”

She repeated her mantra two more before she moved, hovering over the Ahuiztech building in the Astral plane. She slowly approached the building, disguising her astral signature to one of an unbound elemental, and hopped nothing grew suspicious as she neared the Ahuiztech building.

The whole place stank of anger, fear, and pain, imprinted there by years of torture and terrible, terrible things. She knew some of the atrocities that happened in those lifeless, tainted walls, and she knew she wasn’t prepared for what she would see if she looked into that building. That’s why she wasn’t getting where anywhere near it.

No, she was simply going to check over the building once or twice, and scout out the magical defenses of the building. Once she had that, she’d wait for Gem to get back to her with the building blueprints, and then she made a proper plan.

But the less time she spent out here, the better.

She hovered around the building, moving as casual as possible as no less than six watcher spirits watched her move. She made her first pass, moving down past the building before she made her way out of sight, and changed her signature again.

Moving back along a different path, heading in the opposite direction, she checked the other side, noting which watcher spirits kept their eyes on her.

She made a third pass before the watchers became too suspicious, and she began to pull away, heading North, where, if the wailing from the echoes of the pained spirits that lived there were anything to go by, they buried the bodies.

Pain, sadness, guilt, and self-loathing permeated the dump that apparently doubled as graveyard. A handful of ghouls, ponies infected with a disease that made them powerful, magical, cannibals, lingered and wandered across the refuse, looking for something to eat. Their eyes, which could only look into the astral plane, saw her as she flew over, and one of the ghouls shook his head before he went back to his search.

Fluttershy floated by, safe and far out of their reach when she felt a presence reach out from the landfill below her. She hesitated a moment, before she hazarded a glance.

“Fluttershy?” a voice called, and a figure formed from the world around her.

Professionally, she knew that it an echo, a spiritual imprint left by the souls of the departed. Professionally, she knew this wasn’t a pony, this was leftover energy. Professionally, she knew her brother was dead.

But Celestia, did it twist the knife.

“Hello, Zephyr,” Fluttershy answered. She knew it wasn’t actually her brother. Magic couldn’t bring the dead back to life, if they were gone they were gone. The echoes were little more than dogs, creatures that barely understood the world around them, unable to process any new situation beyond the one where the person they represented died.

But that didn’t mean she had to be a jerk.

“Are you okay?” the echo asked.

“I’m fine, Zephyr.”

“It hurts so much,” the echo moaned.

“I know it does, Zephyr, it’s a terrible pain. It burns, and breaks, and doesn’t end. It’s terrible.”

“I don’t know if I can take much more.”

“I know, Zephyr, I know, but you won’t have to, not much longer.”

“Are you sure you’re okay, Fluttershy? What if they come to get you?”

“I’m fine, Zephyr, I’m safe, they can’t get me now.” That was a lie, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Good, good,” the echo said, before he slowly turned, fading back into the background noise.

The echo was gone, its short lifespan already swallowed up by the surrounding trauma to manifest as something else.

She sighed, before continuing back, on her way to Rookie’s place.

<><><|><><>

She had a corkboard. She had debated once or twice on making it a string board, but then she thought it looked too much like she was trying to be a paranoid conspiracy theorist. So instead of the nice, if stereotypical, red yarn connecting and organizing all her points, she had to live with organizing it all mentally instead.

In the middle she had the building, and to the right of it, she had methods of getting in. Working from the top-down, they could approach from the roof. This allowed them the most direct access to the building, however, this meant they’d have to work to get through the whole building in order to get to the basement.

The idea of meeting halfway, starting at the roof and rappelling down had its own merit, but it was still fighting through levels of the building that were unnecessary. The idea of accessing the roof, and then rappelling down the elevator shaft occurred to her, although this offered problems if they had any defense built into the elevator shaft. Still, this was the best option if approaching from the top.

Approaching from the ground floor meant they’d be facing their bog-standard security guards, after which they’d have to either fight for access for the elevators, fight for access stairs, or fight for access to the Matrix security. All of those sounded awful.

Finally, she toyed with the idea of drilling from below, but that would require either many earth elementals, or millions of nubits in equipment.

So far, the elevator plan was the best idea.

That said more for their chances of success than she cared to admit.

To the left of the building was possible costs. Miniwelders for 250 nubits, and fuel for another 80 each, would allow them to get through a few small walls, doors, and glass if need be, but it would do nothing for the hundreds of cubic feet of concrete and dirt they’d need to go through.

A monofilament chainsaw would help with the concrete at least, but that cost a cool 500, and considering that grapple guns and winches cost only 50 nubits each. The only real cost would be microwire, which would come out 200 nubits for 400 meters of rope. However, without knowing how deep the basement went, another 200 meters wouldn’t be out of the question. And of course, if you get the microwire, you need the gloves, and six pairs of those would be another 300, bringing the price of rappelling down to being 2,400 nubits.

And then on the other hoof, if they did decide to dig through, using elementals to dig them a path, there was no guarantee that it would be quiet. Anyone of those watcher spirits would notice the earth elementals digging, sound the alarm and bring the whole building down on them.

She knew that Gem had invested in a maglock passkey and a keycard copier after the first run, so they wouldn’t have to worry about any maglocks or keycards, but in exchange they would have to look out for any Matrix spiders noticing duplicate cards.

Still, those alone would make getting through the basement much easier, at that point they’d only have to worry about bodies getting in their way.

Below, she had the major problems. Getting in below, of course, the time, effort, and chance of getting caught, whereas coming from above would cost 2.4k in nubits, and they’d still need a way to get to the top of the building.

At the top of the board, she had their basic strategy once they were in the building. Assuming that the blueprints of the first level of the basement mirrored the floor plan for the lower levels, then they would just have to work with the relatively easy task of locating the gem, before making their way back out, ideally, back up through the elevators to the ground floor, and rushing out back into the street.

The problem was locating the gem. While the instrument that read their signature would be useful, it could only give them general directions, and they would need some way of being more accurate, if for no other reason than to avoid taking the wrong turns. With that in mind her general strategy was to have both her and Rookie sense their way through the floor, each watching the other’s back in the astral, after making a secure location for the rest of the team to hold while they wait. This would also give Gem some time to break the Matrix defenses, and that had a whole slew of benefits.

Hopefully, Rookie can shape the wall spells in order to best make defensible positions.

Once the two of them locate the gem, they break out, hopefully using enough explosives to clear the hallway, and turn any gun drones onto the security teams.

That was the plan, anyway, but plans hardly survive first contact with the enemy.

She turned, before pulling up the AR reports that she had bookmarked in her browser. It seemed Spike’s timing was impeccable yet again. Apparently there was a board meeting happening, and hundreds of higher-ups across the company were all meeting at their headquarters, and many were taking their elite security teams with them. It was perhaps, the only real good news they had, and the only reason why this had any chance of working.

Sighing, she took a picture of her plan, before sending it Gem, along with a quick text that read “What do you think?”

A few minutes later, a reply came back. “How do we get to the roof?”

“We might need to use that as our favor from the Harmony Inc. team.”

A moment passed before she texted back. “Sorry, just got out of the Matrix, heading for the shower. Do you want to use the favor for an airdrop?”

“No, but do we have much choice? We can’t really swing in, like Daring Do.”

“Did you really just mention Daring Do in a legitimate Runner conversation?”

“Not the point, Gem.”

“Alright, alright, just remember not to bring her up around Wingmare, you know she thinks that mare is real.”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. Yes, Daring Do was probably made up, but she is supposedly a legendary Runner, and it made her point nicely. “Look, are we going to call in the favor or not? All we miss out on is a bonus.”

A sighing, animated emoji appeared across her vision. “Fine,” Gem responded, “we’ll call in the favor. I’m not happy about it, though.”

“It’ll pay off,” Fluttershy responded. “I promise it will.”

“If you say so, I believe it,” Gem replied. “I'll let Rookie know that we'll need an airdrop, you have a way out?”

“Candy's van through the front door, or some variation thereof.”

“Tried and true,” the decker replied. “Don't forget to go eat.”

As if suddenly reminded that her stomach did, in fact, exist, it growled loudly, echoing in her tiny, one-room apartment.

Sighing, she turned to the section of her apartment that would generously be described as a kitchenette and ate the now-cold ramen noodles that she had cooked an hour ago.

She took two bites before deciding that they were far more edible warm and stuck them back into her mini-microwave.

She took two steps to her cot, and laid down, staring up at her ceiling before clicking on her AR glasses and opening her favorite anime streaming service. She needed something light and fun to watch, maybe that new show Goblin Killer would be fun.

Chapter 11

They sat in an Marés Dragon. The spinning rotors of the aircraft purred as Candy grinned out the window. Nearly silent, the double-prop cargo rotorcraft slipped through the air as it was piloted by expert hooves.

“I want one soooooooo bad!” Candy groaned, fogging up the window that looked out on the neon-lit city of Canterlot.

“Candy,” Gem scolded, “You’re leaving marks on the glass, back up.”

“But...but it’s so pretty, Gem!” Candy whined.

Twilight shook her head as she watched the two, and adjusted her parachute as they made their way through the night sky. She tugged on the straps, checked the grappling hook, and hoped this went at least as well as their assault on Flimflam.

Unfortunately, the cabin of the dragon was rather small, there was perhaps enough room for another two ponies if they clumped together. Her gesture didn’t go unnoticed.

“‘Fraid of heights, Rookie?” Wingmare asked.

“Oh, no,” she replied, “It’s just the last time I was in a Dragon, I kinda hijacked it, and I didn’t know how to fly.”

“You’d still be working off that debt, Miss,” the pilot said over his headphones.

“Thanks, Plate,” Twilight muttered.

“Well, at least you had fun.”

“Fun? I nearly died! That and I crashed a very expensive piece of equipment.”

“As I said, had fun.”

“Did it have mods on it?” Candy asked, suddenly crossing the cargo bay.

“What?”

“Did it have mods? A rigger sling? Secret compartments? Stealth capabilities? I need to know!”

“I...I don’t know, Candy sorry.”

“Aw…” Candy pouted, before looking back to the window, only to be held back from squishing her face back against the glass.

Twilight sighed, leaning against her wall of the rotorcraft, before she heard Web chuckling behind her.

Looking behind she saw Web likewise leaning against her wall, smiling as she watched something on her AR glasses. “Web? What are you watching?”

“Hm? Oh, it’s just a show. It’s pretty funny.”

“Oh? What’s it about?”

“It’s about a guy who hates goblins.”

Twilight blinked.

“Alright, ladies,” the pilot said, getting their attention over the intercom. “We’re approaching the target building, and we are one the edge of Ahuiztechnology airspace. We will begin the final ascent now, and as we do, now is the time to make final checks on equipment, because we’re approaching the point of no return.”

Steel began running through her final checks, and Wingmare began stretching. She and Web were in charge of landing first and clearing the roof of any security teams before things went bad. If they didn’t make it, then they were in charge of warning everypony to land elsewhere.

Twilight, meanwhile, began wondering which outcome she preferred as she checked her harness for the tenth time. She wanted to get the job done, of course. Her boss was trusting her to get this done. She needed to get in there, and mess up some Ahuiztech personnel. Besides, it’d serve those bloodmages right.

On the other hoof, this was walking right into the belly of the beast. The rumors floating around the corporate circle about Ahuiztechnology were as numerous as they were terrifying. Built on the backs of native earth pony tribes, the whole company was rife with tribal ritual and ancient superstition. Ponies all the way up the ladder swore loyalty to old, bloodthirsty gods, as their leader, a beast unlike all others, sacrificed life for power.

The truth, according to Spikarunz himself wasn’t so far off. A creature of some description, either born from, or improved upon by the Awakening, took control of several tribes in the jungle to the west and used their old superstitions to begin a cult of bloodmages.

Twilight shivered at the thought.

It was old, dangerous, and powerful magic, enough to give any mage reason to pause, and she was moments from entering what amounted to a coven of the things. Honestly it made her skin crawl.

“Alright ladies, we’ve reached the optimum height. Jump is in five minutes.”

The pegasi nodded, and stood before they both became invisible with a careful cast of a spell. The cargo door slid open, and both Web and Wingmare slipped out of the vehicle.

Twilight gulped as the door closed before she checked her grapple gun again.

“Alright, everypony!” Gem said, standing. “Ten seconds, no more. Let’s get ready to jump.”

Steel, Gem, and Candy all stood up, and moved to the cargo door, before Twilight slowly followed after them.

“Five, four, three, two, go, go, go!”

The door opened, and the four ponies leaped out of the Rotorcraft.

Twilight felt her eyes fly open, and the wind rushing past her face was too strong to close them again. The building was getting close, way closer than she thought as the darkness only accentuated the bright lights on the roof of the building.

“Pull the chute, Rookie!” Steel yelled over the comms. “Pull the chute!”

Twilight grabbed her release cord and yanked, releasing the chute before she felt her stomach drop as she felt that she was pulled up in the air.

The four parachutes glided down into the roof of the Ahuiztech building, and the moment Twilight landed she peeled the harness off of her, and thanked the sun that she hadn’t been born with wings.

A team of six ponies lay dead at the hooves of Web and Wingmare, their helmets pulled free, keeping them silent. “Alright, Gem,” Wingmare said. “Get us in.”

The unicorn answered with a smile, before she reached to pull her maglock key, before pausing and grabbing one off of the guard. The door beeped as soon as she slid the card across the sensor, and the six ponies quickly made their way inside, where a pair of elevators waited for them. “Steel?” Gem called, before the Earth pony used her cybernetic arms to pry the doors open, revealing a shaft that stretched down into the earth. “Alright, everypony, like we practiced,” the decker said again, before the pegasi both hooked four of the six grappling hooks to the frame that held up the massive processor in charge of activating and deactivating the magnets in the rails of every elevator in the building.

“So, we had to buy these, right?” Twilight asked as Web took her hook.

“Yup, no Boss to buy it for us, it’s gotta come out of our own pocket,” Steel said, sounding oddly proud about the declaration.

“So why didn’t we save money and only buy four? The other two can fly, right?”

“They’re backups, Rookie,” Steel said, smiling knowingly as she patted the mage’s back. “Ya know, just in case if’n they get hurt and can’t fly, or if one of the hooks break, that kinda thing. Web always gets backups.”

Web hooked the last one on, broke their conversation with an order. “Gloves on, it’s time to go.”

Steel nodded, before she slipped on a pair of black gloves, and swung into the shaft, pulling the almost-invisibly-thin wire taut and hanging safely in the air.

“These wires will cut you without the gloves,” Wingmare said, hovering next to the street sam by her own wingpower. “Put them on, and let’s get climbing.”

Candy swung into the elevator shaft a split-second later, followed by Gem, and then finally Twilight herself, who stared down into the depths of the building with a slight gulp.

“Ya alright, Rookie?” Steel asked.

“Y-yeah, just remembering the last time I was in an elevator shaft.”

Steel chuckled. “You’ll be alright. ‘Sides, we got out o’ that one alright.”

She nodded, but didn’t reply.

“Wingmare!” Gem called from her wire, holding onto it with a delicate hoof, while holding the guard’s Maglock key in the other. “Would you do me a quick favor and return this to the guard outside. They might be monitoring when the door opens and closes, so this gentlecolt needs to get back to his post.”

She nodded, before she dipped into the hallway, opened the door, and tossed the card out on the bodies outside.

“Web, help me close the door,” Wingmare called, before the two pegasi slid it shut, locking them in.

“Alright, we’re looking at five hundred meters to the ground floor. That’ll give us another hundred meters of wire to find the basement before we need to rest and re-attach,” Web said, explaining the situation. “Hopefully, we can get low enough that we reach the basement without having to take the time to find a place to rest, but in case things go poorly, we need to be ready for that.”

Gem nodded, already sliding down her wire as the winch in her grapple gun began to unwind. Candy joined her a second later, humming the theme from a spy trid, followed by Steel, and then, finally Twilight.

The winches went to work, slowly lowering the four ponies down into the depths of the building. The seconds slowly passed, and Twilight felt increasingly on edge. In ten minutes she was floating in the air, surrounded by nothing as hung there, completely in the open, and a long fall beneath her.

“I’m not afraid of heights,” she whispered to herself. “I’ve never been afraid of heights. This is ridiculous.”

A one-ton box of steel and plastic shot past her, inches from her face, followed by a terrible wind that sent her swinging in the air, nearly hitting the opposite wall. Twilight grabbed her wire with both hooves, nearly hugging the incredibly sharp monowire as she paused.

Web flew down next to her, steadying her to stop her swinging. “Are you alright, Rookie?”

“Fine…” Twilight squeaked. “Never better.”

“Hang on, we’re almost halfway to the ground,” Web said, before she moved to steady Steel, while Wingmare took care of Candy and Gem.

Another elevator shot past them at terrible speeds, powered by the rails of magnets on either side of the cab, shooting them up and down the shaft at the speed of bullet trains.

Twilight gulped as they continued to lower herself further and further down the shaft.

Another twenty minutes passed, and they finally made it down to the second floor. Wingmare took a second to drop further down before she came back up. “It looks like we’ll make it to the first basement level,” she said, smiling.

“Good,” Gem said, “I don’t know how much longer we’re going to go unnoticed. They’re going to notice the camera loop eventually, and once that happens, the roof crew will be noticed.”

The shaft was suddenly flooded with red light, and the elevators above them screeched to a halt. “Ya just had to say it, didn’t ya Gem?” Steel asked.

“Let’s go ponies, we need to drop lower,” Gem ordered, and Twilight began unwinding her winch faster, her vertigo forgotten in the face of corporate violence.

She didn’t need to open her astral sight to know that the mages in the building were going to start summoning search spirits, no doubt made of blood. “Let’s go! We need to get out of here before they get the elementals down here!”

The others agreed, and began dropping faster, the winches whirring as they unwound faster and faster before they finally dropped to the basement level. Wingmare hovered in front of the elevator doors before a sudden burst of strength let her rip the doors apart. “Let’s go, ponies!”

Gem began to swing forward, with Web giving her a push.

She landed in the hallway, her submachine gun raised and ready to fill anyone full of holes. Steel landed next to her, hitting the ground in a combat roll before coming up with her gun leg up.

Candy was next, deploying her rotordrone, which buzzed as it leveled its small gun around, tracking for targets. Twilight landed after them, and Web followed right behind her, holding a fetish, and beginning to chant.

“Wingmare, in the circle!” Gem yelled, keeping her gun level before they clumped together, and Web finished her incantation.

“By the powers of the earth, I summon you to protect us!” she called.

A deep part of Twilight felt an urge to roll her eyes but decided to wait to get out the soon-to-be warzone first. It helped that her appeasing of the “powers of the earth” were, in fact, raising a defensive wall.

“Alright,” Gem said, dropping her gun to pull the locator device from her pocket. “According to this, the gem’s somewhere in front of us.”

“Then it’s time for us to start looking,” Twilight said.

Gem nodded. “I’ll start working my way into their matrix system. Steel, Candy, and Wingmare will make sure our bodies will be alright. It’s up to you now.”

Both mages nodded, and they quickly slipped their mortal bonds and flew into the Astral.

<><><|><><>

The astral was hurt here.

Twilight shivered as she felt the space around her, feeling it reach into her soul as the dead and tortured cried out in agony. Beside her stood the faint forms of Candy and Steel, the bright, awakened form of Wingmare, whose magic flowed through her body, and the surprisingly warm glow of Gem.

This wasn’t the first time Twilight had seen the aura of Gem. She still felt horribly confused that a pony with enough magical talent to compete with either Web or herself would go into Matrix work, but she knew better than to ask by now.

“Alright, are we going together?” Web asked, breaking her train of thought.

“Yeah, we need to head straight, right?” Twilight asked.

“That is what Wingmare said,” she agreed.

Twilight nodded. “Let’s go then before the elementals show up.”

The pair of mages began to move, searching through the dead concrete and the warped pits of pain and depression that peppered the place. “Wow, they really did a number down here,” Twilight muttered.

Web didn’t reply.

They floated through the bowels of the building when they suddenly came across a mass of glowing figures. The security teams of the Auizhtech facility were mobilizing against them. Twilight knew they couldn’t hide their presence forever, but this was too soon for her taste.

“Come on,” Web said. “We need to keep moving. We planned for this, there’s nothing outside normal operation. We keep going forward.”

Twilight nodded, and followed.

Further and further back they traveled, wandering through the dead walls, and avoiding any of the brilliantly-glowing mages they came across, along with any twisted astral space created by pain and suffering.

Passing through another wall, before both mages suddenly stopped.

While the other rooms around them had been the dull greys of computers and concrete, this room was filled with the vibrant colors of magic. Macuahuitls, the ancient, tribal club-swords of the original tribes, of various sizes hung on the walls. They shone in the astral space, each a powerful weapon foci, along with obsidian knives and fetishes.

Web let out a low whistle. “We might need to come back this way.”

“You want one of these?” Twilight asked. “These were probably enchanted with blood magic.”

“Yes, but if we grab it, then it’s free,” she said, “and that’s not something to be scoffed at.”

“I thought you’d be against blood magic. You’re a shaman, you’re all about life and stuff like that.”

Web turned to her. “If this is blood magic, then the poor ponies that died for this would want nothing more than to get back at their murderers. I know I would. If I pick up those weapons, its to avenge them.”

“The both of you talk far too much.”

Both astral ponies spun, just in time to see a blood spirit behind them, grinning theoretical ear to theoretical ear. Unfettered by the neurons in their bodies, both of them managed to leap out of the way as the monstrous tornado of sanguine fluid slashed at them both, ripping the astral air in two.

Twilight’s hooves began to glow as mana flowed through them, and with her mental strength backing the attack, she stood ready to beat the blood elemental down. Web was next to her, her own mana manifesting as claws that dug deep into the astral surrounding them, ready to rip and tear.

“Oh, this is going to be fun…” the elemental growled, before shooting forward, straight into the waiting claws of Web, who went straight for the eyes. Twilight followed close behind, slamming hooves into the back of the blood beast, trying to smash him into a stain.

The elemental tossed Twilight aside with the back of his hand before he ripped Web off of his face. “Feisty little one, aren’t you?”

“I always was,” Web replied.

The elemental chuckled. “You will make a fine addition, dear.”

Web crouched, ready to pounce. “I’m going to give you a chance to leave. We don’t need to fight tonight. This is your only chance.”

“Nice try,” the elemental said.

Web nodded, and leaped, claws outstretched as Twilight came from behind, both mages slammed into the elemental, throwing empowered strikes at the elemental as they began to rip at each other.

Limbs of blood and mana swung through the air in a fast, terrible flurry. Though, the power of both mages made quick work of it, even if they did walk away with a few mental wounds.

“At least we won’t have to worry about catching a disease,” Web said.

“Why did you do that?” Twilight asked.

“What?”

“Why did you offer it a chance to leave?” she asked. “It would have given us away, worst-case scenario, but it was just an elemental, and not a nice one either.”

Web nodded. “I know, but a spirit once showed me more kindness than ponies, so I do my best to try the same.”

Twilight blinked. “Really? Are you sure it didn’t just want to serve you? Spirits and elementals are naturally predisposed to service.”

Web smirked, and her aura appeared amused to the mage. “Maybe, maybe not.”

Twilight shrugged. “Well, we need to keep moving.”

Web nodded. “Operation Sapphire won’t wait for us.”

They shot off, flying through the walls, before entering a large, domed room. In the corners of the room hung massive cylinders filled with blood that echoed with the faint screams of the previous owners. More importantly, however, a podium took the center of the room, with the pink gem sitting on it. The gem burned like a star in the astral space, and Twilight had to look away. “Alright, we found it, now what?”

“We take care of the guard,” Web said.

“What guard?”

“You need to learn to look up more.”

Twilight glanced upward, and immediately wished she hadn’t.

A terrible, twisted mass of mana, pain, and hate clung to the ceiling of the room and stared down at the two mages with the eyes and faces of countless victims of Ahuiztech’s cruelty. Long, terrible legs spanned the room, locking the beast in place as it stared down at them. “Beast-pony,” one of the faces whispered, “beast-pony,” another agreed. “Why have you returned, Beast-pony?” the collective asked. “Were you not free?”

“Beast-pony?” Twilight thought, confused. That was a strange choice of words, especially considering spirits very rarely chose their words for no reason.

Web stepped forward. “I was.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow toward her.

“Free,” a face repeated. “Free, free, free,” the faces agreed before the spirit spoke. “Yet you return? Why?”

“I…” Web began. “I have a job.”

“Job, job, job,” the faces said, condemning her with their tone. “So, then you did not return to help?”

Twilight looked over at Web. She knew how to play this, right? You say of course I was, help the spirit, and move on. Anytime you faced a massive thing like this, it’s the only real response. She has to know that, right?

“No, I did not,” she admitted.

Twilight’s eyes bulged. “Web!” she hissed, trying not to be heard by the thing that began to roil across the ceiling.

“Didn’t come to help? Not here to help? Left us! Left us all!”

“You would have left me!” Web yelled. “Any of you would have done the same, but just because I didn’t come here to help doesn’t mean I won’t.”

The spirit quieted and watched as Web stepped forward. “I did not come to help you, but I will. I will do what I can to avenge you now that I am here, but I will need your assurance.”

“What? What? What? What assurance do you need, Beast-pony?”

“I have a team,” she said. “This mage is one of them, we need your assurance that you will not hurt us when we enter the room. In exchange, I will release the blood, and kill their sorcerers. The magic chaining you will be released, and you will be free.”

The spirit gurgled and grumbled.

“Do we have an agreement?” Web asked.

“Yes, yes, yes...So be it, Beast-pony, we have an accord.”

Web nodded, before turning to Twilight. “Come on, Rookie, we need to get back.”

<><><|><><>

Twilight’s body shot up, panting as her spirit returned. The sound of small arms fire ricocheting off the dome told her that the Ahuiztech security team had found their little earthen shelter, and they were doing their best to break through.

Web’s body spasmed as her own spirit returned, and she shot up, yelling. “They’re bringing explosives!"

“Gem’s almost got the security drones hacked,” Candy said. “We’re about to have reinforcements.”

“If we don’t get blown up, first!” Steel yelled.

Web was already on it, summoning a spider made of concrete and steel from inside the wall. She waited until the firing slowed, giving them a second to set the bomb before she turned back to the spirit. “Push the wall that way, please,” she said, directing the elemental of ponykind before leaving it loose to slam into the dome wall and crack it open.

With a mighty heave, the spirit began to push, shoving the wall down the hall, along with the explosive, closer and closer to the line of ahuiztech security.

And then drones opened fire. Screams echoed from the other side of the wall as their own security measures were turned against them. The explosive went off, blowing backward into the corpses, even as it shattered the wall.

In seconds, the hallway was quiet, up until Gem returned to her body. “Alright, good work, team. Web, Rookie, good to see you made it back. Lead the way.”

“Rookie will have to lead,” Web said. “I have a deal to keep.”

“What?” Gem asked.

“I bought safe passage from the spirits, and I have work to do in exchange.”

“Alone?” Gem asked.

One of Web’s bones popped out of place. “I suppose so,” she said, teeth elongating.

Everypony else took two steps back as the feathers in her wings began to drop onto the floor.

Twilight watched, eyes wide as saucer as Web transformed in front of her, even as all the pieces slid into place.

Web’s eyes went red, and her ears perked up, pushing her hood back to reveal a scarred, furious face. Her wings, now skin stretched thin against long, bony fingers, flared as her muscles and sinew popped into place.

And then she was gone, rushing down the hall at terrible speeds.

Twilight blinked before she turned to Gem. “She’s a werebat?”

Gem stared back at Twilight for a long second, before she hefted her deck on to her back. “Come on, we need to go.”

“She’s a free werebat?” Twilight repeated.

“Come on, Rookie,” Wingmare said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“Are we all just going to ignore the fact that she’s a werebat?” Twilight yelled.

“Yup,” Steel told her. “Now come on.”

Twilight blinked, mouth agape, as she slowly realized that Web was a werebat, and not just any werebat, but one previous owned by Ahuiztechnology. She had to be, that’s the only explanation.

“She’s a werebat…” she muttered to herself.

“Rookie, let’s go.”

Twilight led them forward, still reeling from the news, up to the point where they crossed the first massacre. Blood ran along the walls and dripped from the ceiling, onto the ripped arms and legs of the security teams.

After that point, Twilight focused on the job.

She led them down the hallway, past the room with the weapon foci, and down to the large, domed room.

The great cylinders that occupied the corners of the room were shattered, and a large pool of blood sat in the middle of it, surrounding the pedestal and the rose quartz at its center. Twilight reached out a grabbed it with a telekinetic spell and held the small gem in her hooves.

“Well, I guess we have to go deliver this, huh?”

“We do,” Gem agreed. “Alright, ponies, we head back, climb up to the ground floor, and get out in the van. Hopefully, Web will join us before we get back to the elevator, but we need to go.”

They quickly made their way backward, toward the elevator, and Twilight was surprised to see Web already waiting for them.

“Web, are you finished?”

“Yes,” she replied. “I took the opportunity to pick a new weapon focus while I was at it.”

“You just picked up a focus?” Wingmare asked.

“Two. I got one for the Rookie,” she said, pulling up her hood. “Besides, I need something to do while I wait for this to blow over.”

“That, Web," Gem said, hooking herself to her grapple, "sounds like the most reasonable thing I’ve heard you say since you came out of the astral. Now let’s go.”

Chapter 12

“Drek! Drek! Drek!” Twilight cursed, slamming the doors to the van behind her once Gem’s unconscious body was loaded into the back. Candy, bleeding from two bullet wounds, even as her armored drone began firing grenades into the pursuing security.

“Come on, baby, start for Mama!” Candy said, before turning out the window. “Come on Rocky, we need to go!”

The machine gun-armed, lightly armored drone puttered on, following as fast as it could. Between the damage to its left track, the numerous bullet holes, and the fact that it was carrying Steel—whose hind legs were now nothing but oily stumps—it was a miracle it was moving at all.

Steel, barely holding on to consciousness, fired shot after shot from her leg-gun at the encroaching Gold Star, a fairly prominent privatized police force. Rocky puttered on beneath her, trying to make it to the dented van. Wingmare limped just in front of the street sam, her front left leg broken in two places, both wings hurt and useless, while her back right was fractured as well.

The Van roared to life, and Candy revved the engine. “Let’s go!”

“Come on!” Twilight yelled form the open door. “We have to go!”

“Really, now?” Wingmare yelled, dragging Steel up and into the van before leaping in herself, and dragging Rocky in as well.

“Let’s go!” Wingmare roared, before the van’s tires squealed.

The van shot forward, roaring across the parking lot of the Holtstein LTD building, before it pulled onto the street, slamming into the side of a sports car that was passing by before it pulled into the traffic.

“Rookie,” Candy called. “Rookie, do you know any healing spells?”

“I know one, but I’m nearly burnt out. Why?” Twilight asked.

“Because I need something or I’ll pass out at the wheel.”

Twilight didn’t need to be told twice. She ran up, and cast her spell, hoping that she would pass out as the mana began reversing the latest wound Candy took.

“Oh how did it go this poorly?” Twilight thought to herself.

Gem had called a meeting just three days ago with a job for them. “Just a little Milkrun, Darlings,” she said, “a little something to keep us busy while we wait for Web to join us again.” Instead, here they were, shot to drek and barely holding on. Holstein, a small tech company, had a unicorn that was moments away from developing a new communication device that would have propelled them ahead of every single communication company in Equestria.

The developer had to be put down, but he was in a lightly-guarded facility, and Holtstein wasn't big enough to arm their security well. It should have gone without a hitch.

As it was, they barely had time to shoot the developer in the center of mass before they had to book it.

It shouldn’t have been this hard.

“I’m calling Web,” Twilight said. “We need a healer and a doctor.”

“I have a street doc,” Steel said.

“Can you trust her?” Wingmare asked.

“Until they post an award for us,” she said, looking down at her oily stumps.

“Calling Web!” Twilight yelled louder as her comm rang.

The shaman picked up. “What? What is it? Is Ahuiztech coming after me?”

“Web! It’s Tw-Rookie! We need a healer!”

There was silence on the line.

“Web, please! Gem’s unconscious, Candy’s bleeding—”

“Did you just call me to be your doctor?” Web asked. “DocWagon exists!”

“You know none of them have a subscription! Look we need somepony to heal us, and I don’t trust Steel’s streetdoc.”

“You know just talking to me can bring Ahuiztech down on me, right? If they get even the slightest whiff—”

“Please, Web! Please.”

Web sighed. “Fine. Go to the Final Regret. I’m not bringing everyone down on my safe house at the very least.”

“Alright, we’ll meet you there, thank you so much.”

“If I get hunted down and die, I’m haunting you.”

“That’s fair.”

Web hung up, and Twilight turned to the mare behind the wheel. “The Final Regret, and step on it!”

“I’m already stepping on it!” Candy yelled, still bleeding.

Twilight turned back to look at the other three ponies in the back. Steel had grabbed her legs, trying to keep the oil from spilling all over Candy’s van, while Wingmare had fallen into some kind of trance.

Gem stirred. “Wha...what happened?”

Twilight carefully took Gem in her hooves. “Everything went awful!” Twilight almost yelled into the decker’s possibly-concussed face.

“That’s nice dear,” Gem said, nodding sagely.

“No, it’s not nice! We all nearly died!”

“Good job, Rookie! Way to hit the monkey!”

Twilight sighed. “Just don’t die, please.”

A few tense minutes passed in the back of the van before Candy finally pulled to the van to a stop. “We’re here!” she said, before Twilight slammed the door open.

“Woah, what’s going on?” the orange pegasus bouncer asked as the team all limped from the van.

“Scoots, help me carry Steel,” Wingmare ordered, and the younger pegasus obeyed, grabbing the chromed-up pony can carrying her inside.

Candy and Twilight both carried Gem inside, only to be met by the young, white Unicorn that Twilight only vaguely remembered meeting. “Rarity?” she mumbled, surprised.

“Sweetie, we need a room.”

“Uh...yes, yes!” she called, shocker from her stupor. “Tap! Tap! Lock my room down! I’m not taking anymore customers tonight.”

The earth pony who ran the bar nodded but didn’t comment.

“This way!” the younger unicorn called, leading them up a set of stairs in the back of the bar. “Hurry!”

The team followed, climbing the stairs as fast as they could carrying a pony with two missing legs, and an unconscious decker.

The younger unicorn opened a door to a room that reeked of air fresheners. “Put her on the bed,” she ordered. “I think I have something for y—”

“Don’t worry about me,” Steel said. “All I need is a workbench and some oil.”

“You’re going to need to some hemofluid too,” Candy said.

“Probably,” Steel admitted.

“Web will be here to take care of us all,” Wingmare said, taking a moment to find a comfortable spot on the wall to lean up against. “Alright, I’m going to nap over here now.”

Candy sighed and slid to the floor. “I’m sorry I’m leaving blood on your floor, Sweetie.”

“It’s alright, Novableach takes it all out,” she said.

“Okay,” she mumbled back before she began to snore.

The ponies all shook, taking a breath for the first time. They slowly began to droop as Wingmare slowly bandaged the worst wounds on some of the others.

“Alright, food, soycaff, anything?” the unicorn asked.

“I could go for a soycaff, actually,” Wingmare said.

“Alright, I’ll watch them, you go ahead and get them stuff, Sweetie,” Scootaloo said.

“Sure,” she replied. “Do you mind helping me?” she asked, turning to Twilight.

“Hm? Oh, of course,” she said before following along.

The two descended the stairs, quickly coming back down to the bar. “Tap, I need some soycaff and something to eat.”

“Alright, Sweetie” the earth pony said, “I’ll have to take it from your paycheck, I can’t afford to hand out free food.”

“I can pay for it,” Twilight said.

“No, it’s fine,” the younger mare replied. “I drain Tap’s funds enough anyway.”

“Really, why?”

She looked up at Twilight with a knowing look. “I’m a joyfilly.”

“Oh…” Twilight said, “Oh! I uh…” she stammered, now unsure how to talk to the mare that so openly admitted to being a prostitute.

“You’d think this kind of job would bring in more money than it does,” the young mare continued. “Unfortunately, with how many options are available to your average pony, they tend to overlook somepony that’s only young and beautiful,” she said with a laugh. “More often than not, I just eat Tap’s food, and sleep in my ‘office.’”

“Don’t remind me,” Tap muttered, as he prepared a tray of steaming soycaffs and trail mixes.

“You know, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced,” the mare said. “I’m Sweetie Belle.”

“They call me Rookie,” Twilight said. “They say I haven’t earned a proper street name yet.”

Sweetie nodded. “Yeah I can see Gem saying that.”

The door to the bar opened, and Web slipped into the bar. She looked exactly as she always did, except for her hood, which somehow seemed deeper than normal. It was as though she were desperately trying to hide in her own clothes.

The only other difference was the knife at her belt.

“Rookie, Sweetie. Where is everyone?”

“Upstairs,” Sweetie answered. “Come on.”

Twilight took the tray, while Sweetie led Web upstairs. The rest of the team was waiting for her in various states of pain. “Alright,” Web said, before calling on an earth elemental. Covered in living vines and flowers, the elemental stood no larger than a housecat and hopped up onto Web’s waiting withers. “We need to get to work, Rokrak.”

The elemental nodded, and together they began work, knitting flesh back together as they began to work. “Rookie,” she called.

“Yes?”

“I’ll need your help. Open my bag and prepare the medkit, there’s only so much magic can do to heal.”

Twilight nodded and obeyed, grabbing the large white box marked with a red cross. She opened it quickly, and the mechanical arms inside the box whirred to life. “Running Diagnostic,” it said in a robotic voice before Web spoke up again.

“Alright, Rookie, repeat after me. Override Diagnostics.”

“Override Diagnostics.”

“Subject has a fractured left scapula and has taken a small puncture wound to the left subclavian vein. There is bruising to the surrounding muscle tissue. Additionally, she has a concussion, and bruising of her jugular vein on her right side.”

Twilight repeated it to the medkit, and it readily took the information. “Place onto the subject,” the Medkit demanded.

Twilight obeyed, and it immediately went to work the second it touched Gem’s body.

“Alright,” Web said. “Rokrak and I have gotten Gem out of any immediate danger. The Medkit can take care of the rest. I’m going to get Candy back on her hooves, and she should be able to help Steel with her legs. Once I get her up and check on Wingmare, I’m leaving, because I don’t need to get caught out here.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, that’s fair.”

“Glad you agree,” Web said. “Now let’s get Candy off the wall.”

<><><|><><>

After a few long hours of work, the team was finally on the mend, and ready to get back into some semblance of work. Web had already taken her leave, which left only the five mares in the Final Regret, cursing and limping as they went.

The team, all nursing their sore bodies, slowly made their way back down to the bar. Sweetie Belle helped her sister down the stairs, who still wobbled on her own legs as she descended. “Okay,” she mumbled as Sweetie got her to her seat. “That one didn’t quite go to plan.”

The others mumbled their consent as Gem tried to lead them with her injuries. “So, the question is, what do we do now?”

“Let this all blow over,” Steel said, holding her leg in place as Candy used a ratchet to get a spare prosthetic on.

“Obviously,” Gem replied. “I mean once we re-emerge.”

Wingmare sighed. “We’ll need time to recover.”

“I know, Wingmare, I mean once we re—”

“No, no,” the pegasus interrupted. “We’ll need to recover from the loss. We’ll need to do more than physically recover, we’ll have to take it easy, and take some low-paying jobs.”

Steel grimaced. “A tight wallet ain’t why I started doing this business.”

“No, but we did well for ourselves for the past few runs. We can ride that cash until we get back on our hooves.”

“That was surprisingly well thought out, Wingmare,” Gem said. “Though that may be the concussion talking.”

“One of us needs to think,” she said with a shrug. “Besides, I’ve had enough broken bones to understand recovery.”

“Besides, we’re still getting paid for this job, right?” Twilight asked. “We killed the pony, right?”

“We don’t know,” Steel said, “but considering that we got the job from RENUMA, it’s probably not a good idea.”

“Why not?” Twilight asked. “RENUMA’s a perfectly respectable business.”

“When dealing with other businesses, sure,” Wingmare said. “They are tough on Runners. If you do a sloppy job, they will hunt you down and kill you. At this rate, it’s better to just disappear and hope they think we’ve died.”

“They hunt you down?” Twilight asked. “That’s too much effort.”

“It’s better than those Ahuiztech meanies. They sacrifice you in a blood ritual,” Candy said with perfect authority that she honestly had no right to.

“They have an ancient Eastern Unicornian Bushido code to follow,” Wingmare said. “So I’ve heard anyway.”

Twilight shook her head.

“So, we don’t get paid, we run, we hide, and when we get back into Running, we stick to some street jobs?” Gem asked.

“That sounds like a plan,” Steel said, finally getting a leg under her. “It’s going to cost me a fortune to get these legs replaced.”

“How long do we hide out?” Twilight asked.

“Holtstein LTD isn’t a big corp. We don’t need to worry about them too much. It’s RENUMA that we need to worry about.”

“Three weeks, I would say,” Steel said. “By then either the bullet we put in the developer does the job, or they’ll have sent another team to do the job. If they get it done, the heat’s off us, if they fail, then they’re the target of RENUMA’s coming hissy fit.”

Gem laughed. “Hissy fit. That’s good.”

“So three weeks?” Wingmare asked.

With one final look for confirmation around the table, the team split up. Steel left with Candy, to have her drop her off at a workshop somewhere, while Wingmare took off on her own. That simply left Twilight and the decker, who still swayed under her own weight.

“Darling, I think you’re going to have to take me...take me to my...safehouse,” she said. “I don’t trust myself to get there.”

Twilight nodded. “Sure. Come on Gem.”

“You better take care of my sister, Rookie,” Sweetie said as they left. “I can’t guarantee your safety if she doesn’t come back to me in one piece.”

“I got it, thanks. See you around.”

“See ya, chummer.”

“Bye, Sweetie Belle, don’t...don’t…” Gem began, stumbling over her words. “Just don’t get pregnant…”

“I won’t sis,” Sweetie Belle said with a small grin, “I won’t.”

Twilight led the decker away, onto the cold streets of the Canterlot Sprawl. The Sprawl’s labyrinthine roads, sidewalks, and alleys stretched all the way to the coasts, turning Canterlot into a Supercity, worthy of the Megacorps. The sky-scraping, ivory towers looked down at their reach and nodded in approval as ponies left for their homes, like termites to their mounds.

The streets, covered in grime and obscured by thick smog, spiderwebbed through all of Equestria. They reached to the farthest borders of the country and were filled with the width and breadth of all kinds of ponies.

Twilight wasn’t really interested in meeting any of ponies, nor was she interested in following the long roads to the very edges of the world. Instead, she took the subway.

The subway station was dark and cramped, much like how the streets were dark and cramped, leaving the cold feeling of being surrounded by strangers everywhere you went. Twilight especially, hated that feeling, mostly because everyone you knew in your ivory tower was a friend.

It was oddly less lonely at the top, despite what so many novelists tell you. In fact, here, in the blackest pits of the city, Twilight felt more alone than anywhere else. The only thing that helped mitigate the loneliness was the concussed unicorn beside her, who had trouble standing, and had to be told three times what was going on.

She kept a stiff upper lip about it, best she could, anyway. She did her best to sally forth, even as she tumbled and slipped down every stair.

“We need to gettoffon...Canter…” she mumbled, her brain still trying to recover from the blow it took. “Canterlot Station, and take the blue...blue line.”

“Blue line got it,” Twilight said.

“How’d you know we were getting on the blue line?”

“You just told me.”

“I did?”

“Yes, you did.”

“Oh.”

With careful directions and some long-suffering sighs, Twilight eventually led Gem back to her little secret hideout, an even smaller apartment with even fewer amenities. The room was bare, with only a small couch, and a cot to sleep on. “Here you go, Gem,” Twilight said, as she carefully let the decker down on her couch.

“Thank you, darling. I simply don’t think I would have made it without you.”

“You would have been fine, Gem.”

“No, seriously, Darling,” Gem said, as she rolled on her couch. “I would be completely useless out there on my own, thank you so much for getting me here.”

“It’s fine Gem.”

“No, really...It’s so kind of you. I...I need to know, do you have a place to stay?”

Twilight hesitated. “I have the warehouse?” she said, though her tone said more about her uncertainty on the idea.

“Oh, no, dear, no, no, no…” she muttered. “If you go there, you increase the chances of the whole thing exploding. They’re looking for you now, so if you want your stuff to be safe there, you can’t go there. You need a place to be safe.”

“Okay...well, I don’t…”

“Just stay, it’ll be fine,” Gem said. “It’s not like you haven’t stayed at my place before.”

“It’s fine,” Twilight said, “Really. I can find a pla—”

“With what money and what contacts?”

“Well, I mean…”

“Just stay,” Gem said. “You can pay me back by picking up food.”

Twilight sighed. “Fine. Do you have any good trids here?”

“Unlimited Trixflix,” Gem said with a smile before Twilight’s comm received an attachment with an account to the aforementioned streaming service.

Twilight smiled. “Eh, I’m a criminal anyway.”

“That’s the spirit!” Gem said, before groaning. “I’m going to need some Ibuprofen.”

Twilight smirked. “Alright, alright, I’ll head out in a moment. First things first, though, I’m queuing up Maredevil.”

Chapter 13

“Alright, Chummers,” Thundr5tep said. “This is the last bit of my story, the last history you need to know. We’re talking about the Corps.

“The Megacorperations have always been around, kicking the little guy since ponykind first discovered fire. Or, at least, that’s how it feels sometimesf. The truth is that the first megacorp only showed up some 65 years ago. Can you believe that? Most of these things are still run by their founders.

“It will do you anarchists well for your soul to know that the first megacorp died shortly after it became a megacorp, and it was started by a pony named Quickspark. Quickspark, you history buffs will know...meh, who am I kidding, you drek-heads don’t know where you were last Tuesday. Quickspark was a unicorn that used to be hot drek in the magic world. He was on his way to becoming one of the greatest minds of his generation, up until the Awakening happened.

“He didn’t do well in the Awakening, he didn’t bloom like some of his less powerful peers, and before he knew it, he was surpassed by earth ponies and pegasi. Suffice to say, he didn’t take this well. With his fame as a wizard taken from him, he turned to what we now call technology, and is basically responsible for the creation of Matrix.

“Now, shortly after the Matrix was bought out by Good Celestia as a public service, Quickspark’s business died, but the others quickly began to rise. New magic, new tech, new types of power all suddenly became available, and the sudden opportunities came with a lot of profit.

“So far so good, right? Just a lot of money, a lot of business, but how’d we get the Megacorp? Well, if you stop interrupting me, I’ll tell you.

“A power company, whose name I don’t recall, was trying to dispose of some magiwaste from their magic reactor. Nasty stuff that can cause quite a few issues, and they took it through the poor city once known as Baltimare, which had suffered through a nasty famine. The poor, starving ponies thought the van carrying the waste was filled with food, attacked it, and nearly wiped the city from the map as magiwaste suddenly went free.

“So the company lawyered up, and won a case before Celestia herself, and earned the corp the right to protect their assets with any force they deem necessary.

“And that’s how I found out that Good Celestia wasn’t perfect, because that bit her in the flank hard. Next thing you knew, small corps began massing forces to protect against corporate espionage. Then they were massing larger forces to fight those forces, and before long they had armies larger than Equestria’s.

“Then it got worse because they soon began hiring and training their own politicians to go to Good Celestia’s court until one idiot decided that he would threaten Good Celestia with war if he didn’t get what he wanted.

“Now, some stories say she beat the pony within an inch of his life and told him not to do that again, others say she gave in, I don’t know, I wasn’t there. The important thing is that soon after that, the corps started acting like sovereign nations, even building their own court. Though personally, I think it’s because Good Celestia got tired of listening to all their garbage. After that, it was just a matter of time before they started going to war, and assimilating each other until the Megacorp as we know them, were born.

“Now, if you think that Good Celestia’s gone soft and let these corps walk all over her, then I have one more great piece of news for you. In a still possibly questionable move, the Princess emptied her treasury and bought 30% of all shares of the Big 6 Megacorps. With 30% in Saddle Krupp, Harmony Inc., Ahuiztecnology, RENUMA, Marés Industries, and Flimflam Incorporated, she guaranteed that they would respect the laws enough to keep open war from breaking out across Equestria, and keeping the average citizen safe. Or, at least that was the plan.

“That’s the idea, anyway. She did good, but in the end, it wasn’t good enough to keep the corps from doing some shady stuff. But that’s where you come in. You facilitate the corps in keeping their secret backdoor deals going, out of the eyes of Good Celestia...”

<><><|><><>

“Alright, so…” Rarity began. “Slight setback there but we’re ready to move forward.”

The others nodded. They all sat around the table at the Final Regret, nursing mugs of synthol, and looking up at their glorious leader, who had finally recovered from her concussion. The three weeks had passed by slowly, and while no news of whether RENUMA had succeeded in the mission, the team was happy to find that they weren’t any signs of them being actively hunted down.

“First off,” Rarity said, “I’d like to thank Web for coming to our rescue there, you have reminded us yet again that you are absolutely vital to the team, and we shouldn’t do anything without you.”

Web nodded.

“Secondly, these three weeks may have left us out of practice, especially those like myself who had to recover. As a result, I would highly suggest we take some low-paying jobs for a bit.”

Wingmare nodded as if it hadn’t been her idea from the start.

“With that in mind, I spent a few weeks looking for some easier jobs to do. There were a few that I think would be good. We have one where a local business owner is trying to overthrow a gang’s protection racket. A bounty hunter job, looking for whoever’s been killing the joyponies on the streets in the Southern Sprawl, I personally feel this is an important one.”

Sweetie Belle smiled as she delivered some drinks. “Thank you, Sis.”

“Not a problem, Sweetie,” she replied. “Another one to locate a Saddle-Krupp’s Chairman’s car, which promises to pay relatively well and finally, bodyguard duty.”

“Who for?” Steel asked.

“Didn’t say,” Rarity said. “Which is both a good and bad sign, as usual.”

“Because they don’t want to draw too much attention, but it hides info for us?” Twilight asked tentatively.

“There ya go, yer getting it, Rookie,” Steel said giving the corp mage a nod before tipping her drink back.

“Now, as I said,” Rarity said, “We should probably take a few jobs like these before things get too serious. I’d say we can hold off on the Bodyguard job right away, and take something smaller to make sure we get our hooves under us. Besides, we’ve been around the block once or twice, we can probably do a few of these before the week is out.”

“And making sure Sweetie's safe is just a side effect of the job, right?” Wingmare asked.

“A very important side effect,” Rarity agreed. “Still, this does leave the question of what we’re going to do.”

Candy smiled. “I’m all for keeping Sweetie safe!” she said. “I could get PeeWee in the sky in a jiffy!”

“Thank you, Candy, but we’re going to be democratic about this.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Steel said. “Let’s go save yer sister already.”

“Wingmare?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, let’s go save the kid.”

“Excuse you,” Sweetie Belle said, taking Wingmare’s mug. “I’m a grown mare, thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Web?” Rarity asked.

Web didn’t answer.

“Web?”

“Hang on,” Twilight said, before slumping slightly, then sitting back up. “Yup, she’s already sensing.”

Rarity smiled. “Alright, you’ve all forced my hoof, I suppose.”

Steel rolled her eyes. “Come on, let’s go.”

<><><|><><>

Rarity made a full dive into the Matrix.

Once the team had decided to begin searching for the prostitute-killing sicko, it was immediately decided how they were going to begin looking for him. With Web and the Rookie both sensing past crime scenes to try and find the echoes of the dead joyfillies and joycolts and ask them what happened.

Steel would operate as the magic-users’ bodyguard, keeping their bodies safe while they worked their magic. Meanwhile, Candy and Wingmare would take to the sky, giving an aerial view of the Sprawl. With Candy taking full advantage of PeeWee’s Infrared and Ultraviolet scanners, she’d be able to pick out any sign of any living creature running from the scene, while Wingmare could keep one physical and one spiritual eye open in case Candy missed anything.

That just left Gem, who immediately began hacking every single corporate video camera in the area. Most of the ancient things were erected years ago by Gold Star, when they were still an effective police force out in the Sprawl, they still recorded their findings, but most of the footage just went straight to the recycle bin.

Luckily, said recycle bin typically wasn’t purged until the computer techs were told off for not deleting the excess footage.

It was like walking into a candy store, where the clerk was in the back, with no cameras and a bad sense of inventory.

So, with all the grace of a noir dame, she stepped into the virtual police basement. “Cardboard Boxes” filled with digital folders hugged every wall and filled every virtual shelf. She walked in, through the door with the frosted glass that simply read "basement" and shook her head.

“You tempt me too greatly,” she said before her dress morphed into a trenchcoat with a wide-brimmed hat.

“Now, on to business.” Rarity got to work, flying through the videos at the speed of data. One month of tapes was processed in less than a thousandth of a second. Most of it, of course, was just watching for joyfillies that disappeared from the sidewalk, or likewise not show up to work the next day, but so far everything was clea—

There!

She pulled open the file she was working on, and double checked it against the face-recognition system she had set up. Sure enough, the mare was one of the reported bodies that were probably sitting in the morgue still waiting to be claimed.

She played the video forward, carefully checking for the exact moments when the joyfilly disappeared, never to be seen alive again.

3:00 am, a client showed up. 4:00 am, she was back.

6:00 am, a poor, desperate client showed up. 6:30 am, she was back.

4:45 pm, a client in a nice car showed up. 5:00 pm, she was back.

9:00 pm, a client in a black car appeared.

And…

And she didn’t come back.

Back to 9:00 pm, she began tracing the car, cross-referencing the date and time of every single camera around the block before she found where it went. Then came the next block, then the next and the next, as Rarity began to recreate the car’s path out.

She followed it out, around, left, right, and so on to a single alleyway eight blocks away from the Joyfilly’s stand. The car sat still for twenty minutes or so, before the Joyfilly stepped out of the car, yelling.

“That’s not a good sign,” Rarity thought to herself, as she watched the Joyfilly stomp off angrily. She seemed unharmed as she watched her move back onto the street, before taking a shortcut down another alleyway.

She watched as the mare disappeared from view of her camera, and she quickly switched to another camera, facing the other entrance of the alley.

She didn’t come out.

A Probe IC, one of the many programs patrolling the area, passed by the frosted glass door, and Rarity ducked beneath a virtual desk, holding the video file in front of her face as she tried to watch. She might’ve been delayed. Possibly bought some novacoke or something as she passed her dealer or something.

Still nothing.

Rarity poked her head back up over the desk and went back to scouring the various cameras for any sign of a living joyfilly.

Finally, a figure emerged, crawling, dragging herself with her one remaining leg, and leaving a trail of blood behind her.

A large, mechanical hoof grabbed the mare and dragged her back into the alleyway.

Rarity began switching between the cameras, trying to find the best angle to look down the alley.

Not it, not it, not it…

There had to be at least one camera that had a shot down the alley. “Come, on, come on…” she said, “where are you?”

Not it, not it, not it.

There.

Oh…

Oh, Celestia.

Rarity found herself staring down a monster. Forty percent of his body was replaced with cybernetics, and what sixty percent remained organic nearly made Rarity’s stomach turn. A hulking form of a pony with no fur, and greyed, patchy skin stood in the alley. His glowing red cybereyes pierced Rarity’s soul, even through the camera, and its chromed, metal jaw unhinged before he bit down on the mare’s flank.

Sweet Celestia above, it's a ghoul. A chromed-up ghoul.

The Probe IC was back, hovering at the door.

Cursing, Rarity quickly took a series of screenshots, getting as many pictures of the thing as possible, before copying the whole video just to be on the safe side.

“Come on, come on,” she whispered, glaring at her various progress bars. “Come on…”

Her deck was chugging, fans spinning in meatspace as she downloaded the file.

“Come on, little buddy,” Rarity whispered.

60% copied.

A giant police badge slammed through the door, and scanned the virtual basement. It’s golden star-shaped eye glaring across the room to where Rarity stood, moments ago.

Rarity ducked beneath the desk again, watching as the progress slowly climber across her vision. 72% done.

The Probe hovered forward, glancing about as it tried to find whatever disturbance tipped it off.

“Come on,” Rarity mentally whispered as the deck slowly climbed to 83%.

The badge kept going, walking down between the shelves of virtual boxes before it came up to the desk. It stood there a moment, glancing left and right before it glanced under the table.

Nothing but dusty, excess code.

“All systems are nominal.” It said before it continued on its way.

<><><|><><>

Rarity gasped as she jacked out of the Matrix, sweat pouring from her brow. “That was close,” she muttered, before making a call on her comm. “Alright, team, here’s what I found. We have a chromed ghoul running around.”

“A chromed ghoul?” Twilight asked.

“That is what I said,” Rarity said, as she sent the screenshots over.

“Sweet Celestia,” Steel said. “I don’t reckon I’ve seen one of those before.”

“That’s because ghouls are sensitive to implants,” Web said. “That many implants on a ghoul speaks of a very high essence, at the very least.”

“Why would anyone put cybernetics in a ghoul?” Twilight asked, aghast.

“Well, sometimes they do it themselves so they can see!” Candy explained. “After all, who doesn’t want to see, and cybereyes let you do all the cool seeing stuff like looking at things closely from far away.”

“That’s called magnification, Candy.”

“I know, I just like saying ‘looking at things closely from far away.’”

“Um...well,” Twilight said, put off by the answer. “That’s not the point, anyway. The point is why would someone take a monster and put cybernetics in them?”

“Hey, I know a lot of ghouls who are cool guys,” Wingmare said.

“What do you mean, they’re all monsters,” Twilight said. “They want to eat pony flesh, and they—”

“Woah, Rookie. Woah. Rein it in, girl.”

“Have you not met a ghoul?” Twilight asked. “They can’t even speak, they just wander around like animals and—”

“And some of them are perfectly able to speak, think, build, and carry on conversations,” Web said.

There was silence on the line for a moment. “What?”

The others sighed.

“Rookie, how sheltered are you?” Wingmare asked. “Like, seriously? How do you not know that?”

“What, do you mean that ghouls are actually sentient?” Twilight said.

“Like, half of them are!” Wingmare said. “Some go feral, the others still stay as smart as they were before that.”

Twilight sighed. “You know what? I shouldn’t be surprised anymore.”

“Not that this wasn’t a fascinating discussion,” Rarity said, “but we are getting off the topic of the crazed, maniacal, cybernetic ghoul killer.”

“Right, so we’re looking for a ghoul?” Steel said.

“That does seem to be the case.”

“Then we need to head for the sewers,” Web said.

Rarity slowly nodded. “As much as I hate it say it, I agree.”

“Even if he’s chromed up, what skin he does have will break out if he doesn’t get back to the shade,” Steel added.

“Alright, meet up on 103rd street, we’ll go from there.”

<><><|><><>

“Sewers” is a word that paints the wrong picture. When Rarity heard it back in the day as a young Runner, the image that popped in her mind was cramped, round tunnels filled with pony waste. The truth was less disgusting and far less claustrophobic. With the population boom that came with the massive advances in science and magic, there was a need for new property, and waste management. As more and more buildings were made, there were fewer and fewer opportunities for rain to run off into the dirt. Flooding began to be a problem, and so, massive rain tunnels were dug to deal with the problem, eventually overtaking the sewers completely.

As a result, the Team now stood in a large, spacious rectangular tunnel, that stretched on into the darkness. “Alright, Web, can we get a tracker for this thing?” Rarity asked.

“Only if he’s been here recently,” she replied.

“That’s not great,” she said, pulling her deck from her back.

“Nope, but it’s what we got.”

Rarity sighed. “Alright, I’m going to try and find any trace of his cybernetics,” she said, activating the AR systems in her cybereyes. “They should be the biggest devices down here so they shouldn’t be too hard to find, but I’m going to need someone to watch out for me since my focus will be split.”

“I gotcha,” Steel said.

“Alright, let me work my magic,” she said, before she clacked away at her deck, and began running a locate device program.

Her eyes watched as a signal shot through the Matrix, rippling out from her as it pinged electric boxes and flood valves. It spread outward, going past her vision, however, a number of devices pinged off to the left. “This way,” she said, putting her deck away and drawing her submachine gun.

The mares began following Rarity’s directions as she slowly took them through the sewers. They ran down the long, rectangular corridors, dry all but for a thin film of scum-covered water that laid across the floor. Their path twisted and turned as they moved through several different intersections. They moved quickly, led by Rarity as she chased the devices she saw through the Matrix.

“Alright,” she whispered. “We’re getting close, stay together. Candy, do you have explosives?”

“A few grenades, and a breaching explosive,” she answered.

“Perfect,” Rarity said, “keep a grenade close. We’re going to need it.”

Candy nodded.

“Alright, keep quiet everypony,” Rarity ordered. “We’re communicating through texts from now on."

The others quickly turned their cybereyes to AR, or slipped on their AR glasses, as Rarity quickly sent a text to them using nothing more than her eyes to type it. “Move carefully, we’re almost there.”

They were on the move again, following closely behind the decker, who occasionally sent them a text with instructions. “Move here. Get your weapons ready. Prepare this spell.”

And then it was time. “He’s right around this corner,” she said over text. “I’m going to try and hack his cybernetics to hopefully stop him in his tracks. We go in on three, ready?”

The mares nodded.

“One. Two. Three.”

The team turned the corner, and ran smack dab into a furious, hungry ghoul.

Before they could say a word, a massive cyber-hoof slammed into the concrete, throwing rubble across the cistern that the ghoul was resting in. It roared, cybereyes whirring as it tried to find the target of its next attack.

“Hey ugly!” Steel yelled before she answered with her own, super-powered kick. “Let’s see what kinda chrome you got!”

The ghoul roared again, charging after Steel, and giving the other ponies a moment to breathe.

Rarity ducked behind cover, working quickly to try and affect at least one of his cybernetic parts before she became a stain on the ground. Her hooves clacked furiously across her deck, not daring to enter VR, where her body would be helpless and still against the hulking beast.

Steel shoved it away and didn’t dare to close the distance until the others moved. As if on cue, Candy yelled, “Grenade!” and tossed her explosive at the monster’s hooves, just before Web finished casting a spell. Tracing lines of spider silk in the air with her hoof and the tip of her obsidian dagger, webs of mana leaped from the walls and bound the hulking monster where he stood before Twilight unleashed a lightning bolt. Lightning burst and conducted along the metal shell before the explosion sent shrapnel up into the ghoul.

Rarity worked quickly, finally accessing the ghoul’s PAN, before realizing, to her horror, that it was backed by RENUMA IC. This wasn't some random ghoul, with random cyberware. This was a corp-backed project, possibly a weapons project gone AWOL.

Rarity groaned. “This is going to take a while!”

Steel slammed back into the ghoul, trying to take advantage of the overloaded cybernetics and hit him before he could bring his power to bear. Her blades shot out of her leg, slamming and slicing the ghoul’s necrotic flesh, trying to cut it to pieces as he hung still, caught in the binding web spell.

Rarity kept working, running programs to try and beat the IC built into the cyberware. Sweat poured down her brow as she tried to break the defenses, not daring to go into VR for fear of being crushed by the ghoul, but cursing her meat body for not being fast enough.

Web quickly began casting another spell, calling on the spirits of ponykind to bring forth fire and tried to ignite the ghoul’s flesh.

He roared again, before his hoof came back to life, and shot a grappling claw into Web’s chest. The shaman barely had time to blink before the wind was knocked from her lungs, and she was sent flying across the cistern, trailing the claw with her.

Wingmare jumped in, throwing a magically enhanced punch to the monster's grappling arm, in a vain attempt to separate the ghoul from his cyberware. “That’s not going to work!” Rarity yelled from cover. “He’s a corp bioweapon! He’s made to fight!”

“What corp is making a ghoul soldier?” Twilight asked.

“You’re the one from a corp, you tell us!” Steel answered.

Wingmare went for another hit, this time, her hoof bursting into electricity as she dove into her powers as an adept, and her own heritage. The blow landed hard, denting the hard shell of the cybernetics, and overloading the circuits. The cyberghoul howled and snarled, bring his still-organic left arm, and slammed it across Wingmare’s face, sending the pegasus spinning through the air.

Steel moved in to keep the ghoul busy, throwing her powerful blades into the monster’s gut, making barely enough time for Twilight to help Web escape from the monstrous clutches of the cyberhoof.

“Come on, come on,” Rarity growled through gritted teeth as she tried to slip through the monster’s digital defenses.

The cyberghoul roared again, throwing up the large, cybernetic arm as it deployed some kind of shield, blocking Steel’s next strike, before he came around, and bit her on her cybernetic arm.

“Dagnabit!” Steel yelled before she brought her back legs up and bucked the ghoul away.

“Holy drek!” Wingmare yelled, getting back up to her hooves. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, he bit steel, I’m alright,” the street sam answered.

“Almost!” Rarity yelled from behind cover, before the cyberghoul recovered, and raised its massive cyberhoof.

“Got it!” Rarity said, right before the cyberghoul punched itself into unconsciousness. “Yes! Take that, you ruffian!”

“Well,” Twilight said. “That was surprisingly effective.”

“And that’s why I get on the Gem’s PAN,” Steel said. “The last thing I need to do is strangle myself.”

“At least, not without a partner, right?” Wingmare said.

Steel punched her.

“Ow…”

“Not bad, ladies,” Rarity said. “Let’s pack this one up, and get paid.”

Chapter 14

“Well done, Ladies,” Rarity was as she twirled her credstick around its keyring. “We managed to complete the job.”

“Well, it’s not like it was that hard,” Wingmare said.

“No, but it’s good to know that we still have what it takes, after all that downtime,” she said. “More importantly, we did well enough that I believe we need to go for a higher paying job.”

“The bodyguard job?” Steel asked.

“That’s the one,” the decker replied. “Carte managed to convince the stallion offering the job to give us a little more info. Apparently, a singer had a falling out with her manager, and she’s signing a new contract in three days' time to make the full switch between her old manager and her new one. During those few days, she will technically be a free agent, so some other runner teams might show up to recruit her, and a few might be sent by the old manager as well.

“The jobs pretty straightforward from there. We have three days to keep the target safe, and keep any other runners off of her.”

Steel furrowed her brow. “Ah don’t remember any singers havin’ an issue with their managers.”

“Oh, I wasn’t aware you cared for pop culture, Steel?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t,” Steel replied. “Least not about all the drama and whatnot. I have a friend in the business is all.”

“Really?” Wingmare said with a smile. “Who knows, maybe we’ll meet him?”

“Don’t hold yer breath.”

“Well, if nothing else, it’s nice to know you have a contact,” Rarity said.

“She ain’t a contact. She’s a friend, and I ain’t asking her no favors.”

“Alright, alright, settle down dear,” Rarity said. “Nopony was implying anything.”

Steel snorted.

“Besides, the more important fact is that we have a job to get to.” An AR token hit all of their comms simultaneously, just as Rarity planned before she continued. “These are our entry tickets to the venue. Once inside, the token will get us access to the backstage, and our Ringo, who will give us the job proper.”

“Alright,” Wingmare said with a smile. “Free party. So far so good. Where are we going?”

<><><|><><>

Deep City Rock, an inner-city club, whined with the wails of electric guitars and thumped to the beat of drums. The thundering rock and roll that squealed though the building nearly deafened the team as they stepped inside, if it were not for their various methods of cutting off their hearing, they most certainly would have been.

The no-name opening act blasted on sub-par chords, all of which were played loudly to overcome the fact that they weren’t good. And they were very loud. Rarity felt her cybereyes rattle in her head and felt her teeth vibrate against each other.

At the very least, they were getting to the end of their set as she and the rest of the team walked in, for which the unicorn was incredibly thankful. “I almost hope these are our VIPs,” Rarity sent to the others by text. “No one would spend money on a runner team for them.”

“Thank you Canterlot!” the lead guitarist yelled into the mic to semi-enthusiastic applause.

A few texts came back, generally agreeing, before they began to push their way forward, across the club’s floor, and navigating around the various dying mosh pits, to the door in the back of the room.

“And that, Fillies and Gentlecolts, was Rock3!” the announcer roared, “But now, for the main event you all have been waiting for…”

The crowd, mostly bored teens suddenly sat up as new life washed across the club.

“That’s right, it’s the one, the only, the Silver Countess herself, Coloratura!”

The whole team froze and glanced up at the stage.

The pale blue mare strode forward, commanding the stage as the lights flickered off her perfect, chrome cybernetics. The mare oozed confidence and sex, and she rocked her synth-tar as she began to play her million-nubit song “Glitz and glam.”

Meanwhile, everyone in the team thought two things, simultaneously. The first was “what is a household name like Countess Coloratura doing in a club like this?” which was quickly followed by “Oh, frag. She’s our VIP.”

The song flew by, the team still too stunned to properly realize she was playing as they slowly began to process the fact that they were seeing none-other that Countess Coloratura, dancing in a run-down, no-name venue.

Rarity recovered first and picked her jaw off the floor before turning to the others. They all stared with wide eyes as the Countess slipped into another song with the grace of a diving heron.

Steel’s mouth was agape.

A quick text from Rarity flashed across their collective vision, breaking them from their stupor. “Come on, ladies. We need to go.”

Wingmare blinked, and looked her AR glasses, before nudging Steel. “What, you never saw Coloratura in person before? I thought you had connections, Steel?”

Steel gave the Adept a look. “Sure, Wingmare, sure.”

Coloratura continued to sing, her synth-tar’s notes playing the synthrock melody directly from her brain, ripping on chords, and shredding mechanical riffs. Meanwhile, the team pushed through the crowd until they finally got to the locked door. A swipe of Rarity’s comm against the key scanner opened it for her, and the six ponies quickly stepped inside before they were met by a massive unicorn.

“Can I help you ladies?” he asked.

“Yes,” Rarity said, stepping forward as her pheromone emitter activated. “We’re here to speak to Mr. Ringo.”

The Bouncer narrowed his eyes before he put a hoof to his ear. “Boss. Do you know anything about any Runners?”

A moment passed.

“Six mares?”

The bouncer shrugged. “Mr...Ringo will see you now. Good luck.”

The six mares glanced at each other before they followed the bouncer inside.

The first thing they saw of their Ringo was his curly, almost greasy, pale vermillion mane that peeked out over the couch. As they came around, they found him to be an earth pony in a cheap, knock-off suit staring at a large screen on the far wall, holding a glass of synthol champagne.”Ah, you must be the Runners!” The pony said. “Nice to meet you, I’m Mr. Rin—ah, who am I kidding, you know who I am. I’m Svengallop, one of the best in the business.”

A shared look between the runners all said that none of them knew who he was.

“So you’re the runners, right?” Svengallop asked as he poured them all a glass of his fake champagne. “You don’t look professional.”

Rarity spoke up. “You mean we don’t look like the trids, and that’s a conscious choice. We don’t want to show our hooves prematurely.”

“I suppose,” Sven said with a frown. “Well, let’s talk about payment. You already know the job, right?”

“We take care of your client once her contract falls through, and she can sign a new one?” Rarity asked.

“That’s it. I’m thinking 400 a day,” Sven said.

“Four hundred for each of us is a little slim,” Rarity said, before sitting across from her Ringo, which gave her his name. “Especially since we’re working with Cou—”

“Each? Are you kidding? 400 period.”

Even Twilight turned her head at him.

Rarity blinked. “You are paying the six of us 400. For a three day job. For protecting Countess Coloratura?”

“Who told you it was the Countess?” Sven asked.

“Who else would it be?” the decker asked in a deadpan. “No one would pay to save the last band. The Countess is the only one worth kidnapping, much less protecting.”

Sven grumbled. “Fine. 400 each.”

“5k per day, at least,” Rarity said. “Or we walk, and I let every Runner team I know that you have a high priority VIP without protection.”

“Woah, woah, easy...easy…” Svengallop said. “There’s no need for that. Look, I can’t do 30k a day, alright? I might be able to do 10k for the six of you tops.”

“15k,” Rarity said.

“12k.”

“If I may,” Steel said, approaching the agent. “I wanna strike a deal.”

Rarity gave steel a sidelong glance.

“And who are you to make a deal with me?”

“T’ain’t no one in particular, but that ain’t the point. Look, you, us, and the Countess are going to be stuck together for a few days or so, and I can’t tell ya how invaluable it is to have a team that can stand each other. So look, I think that if the Countess and us get along then you should pay the premium 15K for us. If not, we’ll take the ten.”

“And why would I do that?” Svengallop asked.

“Because, I’m a gambling mare, and I like the chances that the high-and-mighty Countess might like some freedom with us Runners, and if I’m wrong, you get to pay us less.”

“A gambling mare, huh?” Sven asked.

Rarity raised an eyebrow. Steel most certainly was not a gambling mare. She was hiding something and doing a decent job of it too.

“Alright, you have a deal, Runner,” Sven said with a smile, before shaking on it. “In the meantime, have some drinks, the bar’s open.”

Slowly, the team crowded around the minibar that Sven offered to them before they realized it was all cheap synthol that was barely worth it, especially since they were duty now. After examining the bar, they quickly scattered again, taking up posts with the bouncer, the windows, and the other exits.

Coloratura continued to rock another three songs before she bowed out and stepped backstage, and into the VIP room.

“What’s up!” Coloratura said, kicking in the door as she rode her performing high. “Whadaya think of that, Sven?”

“It’s great dear, but I’d like to do a venue that actually brings in the cash.”

“Ah, lighten up!” Coloratura laughed, before grabbing her manager and giving him a noogie.

“Coloratura, stop this!”

“So you’re the Runners, right?” she asked, glancing around the room at the other mares while releasing her manager.

“Yes,” Rarity said, stepping forward, suddenly noticing that Steel was up with the bouncer. “That’s us, we’re here to keep you safe.”

“Sweet,” she said, before brushing her mane out of the way. “Tell ya what, let me get into something more comfortable, then we can talk business.”

“Of course,” Rarity said before the mare slid back to a room with a star haphazardly stuck to the door. She turned back to Sven. “Well, I think we’ll get along just fine.”

Sven smirked. “Hang on, we’re not done just yet.”

A few minutes later, and Coloratura stepped out, wearing an Eastern Unicornian Kimono, and with a look of absolute, almost apathetic peace on her face. “Hello everyone,” she said quietly. “Thank you for your help, I suppose.”

“Um...you’re welcome,” Rarity said.

“Will you be able to keep me safe?” she asked her tone of voice even and calm. “I’m terrified of possibly losing my life in a firefight.”

“We don’t plan on letting you get shot,” Rarity assured her while trying to gauge where her sudden change in personality came from.

“Good, because I’m terrified of guns. Oh, you have one, don’t you?”

“I do?” she admitted, confused.

“Oh, I don’t like that,” she said with a frown, and a tentative step back.

Sven smiled.

“Now Rara, how can ya say that I’m part gun myself these days,” Steel said from beside the bouncer.

Again, her personality shifted widely, and the apathetic, uncaring earth pony transformed into a school girl. “Applejack!” she screamed, before tackling the street sam.

Sven frowned.

“Hey, Rara,” Applejack said as she hugged the earth pony back. “Long time no see.”

“Long time?” she asked. “A long time? Applejack, the last I heard of you, your farm got bought out. I haven’t seen you in years!”

“Yeah, well…”

“Wait, you’re a Runner now. Is that because of the farm?!”

“Well, there ain’t many opportunities out there for us honest folk.”

“Why didn’t you tell me! I could have given you something.”

Steel shook her head, before patting Coloratura’s head. “You needed it more than I did at the time.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“That’ll come up later,” Steel said with a gentle smile. “In the meantime, here are the others, lemme introduce you.”

“Oh, yes!” she said, her personality still bounding around wildly.

“So these are Gem, Candy, Wingmare, Web, and the Rookie,” she said, pointing to each of the slack-jawed ponies as they all slowly began to realize that Steel knew the Countess Coloratura, “and Sven here has hired us all for Two thousand, five hundred nubits a day each.”

“I didn’t—” Sven began.

“Sven, how could you!” Coloratura said.

“I didn’t—!”

“I will not have my friends paid so little! Double that immediately!”

Sven’s lips went tight. “Alright, Ms. Coloratura.”

Rarity grinned.

“Thanks, Rara, you’re a doll.”

“Oh, it’s nothing, Applejack, just think of it as back payment from when you and your family were going through such a hard time.”

“Steel, please,”

“What?”

“You should call me Steel.”

“Oh! Right! You’re a Runner! When did that happen, by the way?”

“Oh I’ll get to that, but when did you and Rogue Beat fall out?”

Coloratura’s face twisted. “Oh, well…It’s a long story, and—”

A knock sounded on the door, and all six ponies looked up at it. “Rara, stick close to Wingmare,” Steel whispered.

The Bouncer stepped up to the door and opened a small window in it to see. “Hello?”

The door blew open, killing the bouncer as splintered plexi-wood riddled his body. Wingmare dove at their VIP, dragging her to the ground as a burst of fire erupted from the charging ponies.

Four earth ponies, each with glowing red eyes slammed into the room, before unloading their submachine guns into the space. The team all dove for cover, and pulling out guns or keeping the heads of their VIPs down, all the way up until the charging ponies had to reload.

Wingmare was the first to leap up, unleashing both of her heavy pistols on the intruders, even as Rara lay at her hooves, whimpering with her hooves over her ears. Steel did the same, standing over the blubbering Sven as her cyberleg unleashed .44 magnum fury.

A headshot from the street sam took one out, but the heavy-caliber bullets of Wingmare’s pistols tore through the bodies of the attacker, even if it did little else to slow them down.

“Headshots! Headshots!” Web said, popping up before a bolt of acid slammed against an intruder’s head, eating away at the flesh and bone. “They’ve got magic in them, and that stuff’s nasty!”

Twilight unleashed a fireball that exploded as it stopped between the three that were still standing, cooking a grenade to explode, and take out another two intruders before the last came stumbling forward, body burned, and face bubbling before he fell to the ground.

“Oh, drek,” Wingmare said.

“What?” Steel asked

“These guys are Yakkuza.”

“What?”

“Yakkuza, they’ve been moving in on the Belgrade family businesses lately. We need to get out of here.”

“Great, the yak mafia’s on us now…” Rarity said. “Candy get the van!”

“Already here!”

“Alright, everypony, we’re picking up our VIPs and moving. Escort formation, everyone! Escort formation!”

Steel went first, shotgun out, followed by Candy, who began unpacking her folding grenade launcher. After her came the VIPs, with a magic user on either side, followed by Rarity and Wingmare.

“Don’t worry,” Web whispered to the two civilians. “We’ll get you out of this alive. I promise.”

“Let’s go! Go, go, go!”

Steel rushed forward, shotgun pumped and ready as she burst onto the now abandoned dance floor. She quickly crossed the room, followed by others in quick succession as they ran. A second later, Steel burst from the club’s front door and unloaded a slug into the gut of another Yakkuza agent.

The side door of the van slid open, and they all slipped inside.

Candy quickly took the wheel, while the rest quickly climbed into their seats.

Rarity quickly pulled up a safe house address she was saving. “Candy, take us to this address.”

“You got it!”

“Wingmare, watch the back if anyone follows us let me know.”

“Ya got it.”

“Steel, keep that door secured!”

Steel checked the breach of her shotgun and smiled. “Like to see them try anything.”

“We're getting you to safety,” Rarity said, smiling at Coloratura.

“Okay, just stop shooting, please.”

She nodded. “One final thing, Steel.”

“You know the Countess Coloratura?!”

<><><|><><>

The van pulled up to an apartment complex out in the sprawl, and the eight ponies all quickly made their way in, as Candy ordered her van to go park itself.

They rushed upstairs, with Rarity stopping only a second to pass a hundred nubit credstick to the landlord with the instructions that they were never here.

Finally they burst through the door of the safe room, closed it, and locked it behind them. “Alright, everypony, here are the rules, no calls in or out, do not call your fixers, your family, or your friends until we're out of here. We are not here, and the only way we're going to get the world to think that, is by not accessing the Matrix without my supervision. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Ma'am,” Rara said with a nod.

“Hang on, now,” Sven said, “I've got ponies I need to talk to and—”

“No calls!” Rarity said. “In fact, hand over your comms, both of you.”

“What, you don't trust me?” Sven asked, even as Rara handed over her comm.

“If my Grandmother invited me over for cookies, I still wouldn't go without doing the legwork first,” Rarity said, straight-faced.

Sven blinked a moment before rolling his eyes and dropping a comm into her waiting hoof. “Fine.”

“Thank you for your cooperation,” Rarity said. “Alright, there’s not a lot of room for us, but you will have some privacy. Privacy, however, is not a good thing. Beyond having to use the facilities, stick together, don’t split up. The better we can see each other, the better we can react.”

“Right.”

“Good, glad to see we’re all clear,” Rarity said. “Steel can I talk to in the other room, please?”

“Oh, uh...sure, I guess,” Steel said, looking up from her perch by the window, and slipped into the side room, which was barely big enough for either of them to stand side by side.

As Rarity closed the door, she sent a text that flashed across Steel’s cybereyes. “What’s the situation with the Countess? What are we walking into?”

“I barely know more than you on the why, but I don’t think we need to worry about the old manager,” Steel texted back.

“Why not?”

“Because the guy’s probably more heartbroken than anything,” Steel answered, mentally typing as fast as she could. “Rara and Rogue Beat were close, and have been for years. He always liked Rara, and he was the one who got her out of therapy to get back on her hooves after the...well, look. I was sure that those two were going to get hitched before too long.”

“So why break up now?”

“That’s what I want to know.”

“Alright, but again what’s the matter with her? I’ve never met a pony that bounces through so many highs and lows so fast, what happened to her?”

Steel grimaced. “Alright...look, I’m thinking about telling you cause I know you just want to us through out onto the other side, alright? But I need you to swear not to tell anyone. Don’t sell this to anypony, don’t type this to anypony, don’t breathe this to anypony,” she wrote, complete with italics. “Can you do that for me?”

“I mean…” Rarity texted back. “I don’t normally lock out sources of revenue, but I suppose I can accomodate for you.”

“Rara used to be a Dreamer,” Steel texted.

Rarity blinked, staring at the last six words that crossed her vision. “She…” she typed. “She used Dreamchips?”

Steel shook her head. “It was bad. She barely knew who I was anymore when I dragged her out of a gutter. We contacted her parents. Got her set up in rehab, and then she disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

Steel nodded. “She showed up three years later in a different rehab center with the chrome, and barely remembered who she was. That’s where Rouge found her, learned of her singing talent, and nursed her back to the point where she remembered her parents and me.”

“Wow, I...I never knew…”

“Yeah, and Rogue paid a lot of money to make sure no one would find out.”

“Well that explains the personality shifts,” Rarity wrote. “Wait, then he could ruin her, couldn’t he?”

“In a heartbeat.”

“Then why not try and get her to stay? He could do that fairly easily, or at least make sure that she never works again.”

“I’d say Rogue is better than that, but the thought did occur to me.”

“I don’t like this,” Rarity texted. “Something’s going on, but I just can’t see it.”

“For once, Gem, I wholeheartedly agree.”

Chapter 15

The cars on the street just outside the apartment buzzed loudly. Too loudly for the cheap, thin walls of the room where the team and their two charges were attempting to sleep. Rarity stared up at the equally-cheap ceiling, and mentally bemoaned the fact that she wasn’t higher off the street, at least.

The near-constant buzz of the world outside made sleeping tough, but she needed to get a few hours of rest in before she and Steel started investigating. With any luck, she could still grab a quick nap before she was called up for watch, though at the rate of the cars driving by, she wasn’t holding out much hope.

That and the fact that Candy snored like a freight train.

Rolling onto her side with a sigh, she tried to fall asleep again, hoping that she'd eventually slip into unconsciousness, before the night went on too long. Another truck roaring by broke her hopes again, before she sighed and sat up.

Web sat, staring out at the small window of the apartment, on watch as a water elemental carefully spun a web of gossamer threads of dew, to detect anything around them that may accost the team while they slept. “Having trouble sleeping?” she asked.

“A little,” Rarity admitted.

“I have a spell for that.”

“I’ll pass.”

“Your loss,” Web said, shrugging. “When a spell works, it works.”

“At this rate I’ll probably just go down to the FeedBag and get some earplugs.”

“That’s fair,” the shaman said, before turning back to the window. A handful of more cars flew across the street below, kicking up yet more noise while Web watched them go by silently, tracing the path of the cars as they passed. “Do we have a plan?” she asked.

“Kind of,” Rarity told her.

“I don’t like ‘kind of’ plans.”

“I know, I know, but we’re not sure what’s going on just yet,” Rarity said, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Steel knows something is happening, but she doesn’t know what. The two of us were going to head up to the Countess’ apartment some time this morning to investigate, and maybe pick up some stuff for her so she’s not living in her kimono.”

“Wouldn’t be a bad idea. They’re hard to run in, I’ve heard.”

“That and that thing is at least 100k nubits, and I don’t want Ringo here trying to get us to replace it.”

Web smiled. “He does seem the type,” she said, as the water elemental finished her web and crawled back toward the summoner. “Are you sure you should leave us, though? We wouldn’t have any CQB protection if you take Steel.”

“That’s fair, but you still have Wingmare, and she has been dying to put a hoof through someone’s face. Besides, Rookie can always back her up with a fireball.”

“Fireballs are always good,” Web agreed.

“You’ll be fine,” Rarity assured her. “If the matrix noise gets to bad for the distance, Candy can always send PeeWee to be a relay for us.”

“Right, right,” Web said, “well I hope—”

The water elemental squeaked.

Web pulled her knife focus, and Rarity followed by pulling her submachine gun. “What is it?”

“Two vans. Stopped at the back. Could be nothing, but I don’t like it. How much do we give them?”

“A foot from the front door.”

A second passed, and the water elemental chirped again.

“Let’s move!” Web yelled.

The Runners were shaken to consciousness in a flash, and every hoof went to a gun. Svengallop and Coloratura were both dazed by the sudden activity, and they both had to be secured by Steel and Wingmare.

“Out the window, go! Go! Go!” Rarity yelled. “Candy we need the van!”

“ETA ten seconds!” She replied, before planting a plastic explosive in front of the door.

“That’s long enough! Everyone out the window, go!”

The pegasi began ferrying the ponies down, before Rarity and Twilight both used the grapple guns from the Ahuiztech run to swing down from the window.

The van was already there by the time they were all down, and they were loaded up and ready to go in thirty seconds flat.

“What’s going on?” Coloratura asked.

“We might have some ponies coming after you!” Rarity yelled, climbing into the passenger’s seat.

“Might?” Svengallop asked. “Isn’t this a little much for ‘might?’”

An explosion blew out of the window they just escaped, and a fire alarm began to ring.

“With that nice bit of dramatic timing, no.”

Rubber burned and tires squealed as Candy hit the gas, and the van lurched forward, pulling down the street.

“How did they find us?” Steel asked.

“Don’t know, but I’m trashing the comms,” Rarity said, before she threw Coloratura's and Svengallop’s comms out the window at high speeds.

“Hey! My comm!” Svengallop yelled

“Either your comm, or your life, Ringo!” Rarity cried.

The van roared down the street, before Candy asked from the driver’s seat. “Where next?”

“Northeast Sprawl!” Rarity said, still gripping her machine gun. “We’ll head to Manehatten if they keep finding us.”

Candy nodded, and she stepped on it.

“Keep the guns ready,” Rarity ordered. “We don’t know if they have anyone else that could follow.”

“Roger!” Steel said, keeping her mare’s leg ready to fill anyone she saw with lead.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled up at an abandoned warehouse, not unlike Twilight’s safehouse. “Move out, but don’t get comfortable. If they found us once, they can find us again.”

The ponies ran to the warehouse, rushing inside and closing the door. “Candy, explosives on the back wall. Wingmare, check the rafters. Web, check for any spirits that could have followed us. Rookie, Steel, secure the clients. I’m going to double check the Matrix footprint.”

The other ponies nodded, and moved to obey.

Rarity quickly jumped into AR, checking the cameras around the building. There were no signs of anyone following them, but she still felt like there was something creeping up on her. She muttered under her breath before setting up a firewall, and opening enough sentry programs that they could be considered a small army.

“Clear,” the various teams called.

“Clear,” Rarity grumbled back. “Looks like we can get back to sleep. Who wants to take watch?”

“I’ll take it!” Candy said.

“Thanks, Candy,” Rarity said with a nod, mentally thanking her stars that she wouldn’t have to listen to the pink mare snore anymore.

<><><|><><>

Morning finally came, and Rarity yawned.

Pigeons cooed outside as the morning light filtered through the smog and glass. Steel was up, brewing coffee for everyone while they slowly gathered together to listen to the plan for the day.

“I was wondering when you’d all get up,” Steel said.

Wingmare groaned and mumbled.

“Ah, come on where’s that pegasus pep?” Steel with a smirk.

“Go frag yourself,” Wingmare grumbled, before downing her coffee in a single gulp.

“Alright, here’s the plan,” Rarity said. “Steel and I will see if we can head to Coloratura’s apartment, and get her some clothes that are loose enough that it'll keep her from being caught next time some Yakkuza thugs show up.”

“Are we sure it’s the Yaks?” Web asked.

“They hit us the first time, it was probably them the second time too,” Wingmare muttered. “They won't stop until the job's done right. It's the Yak way.”

“Can you pick out a Yak thug?” Rarity asked Wingmare.

“It'd take me a second, but yeah,” she responded.

“Good. Web, I'll need you to keep an eye out for the Yaks. If you find anything that looks weird, and you're not sure who they are, ask Wingmare.”

Web nodded.

“What do we do if we have to move and you two aren’t back from the client’s apartment?” Twilight asked.

“You just keep heading for Manehatten. We have a few good safehouse up that way, then just send me a text, and we’ll meet you at the next closest safehouse.”

“Straight forward plan,” Steel noted. “I like it.”

“I knew you would, dear. Now, we need to get moving. The less time you and I spend outside, the better,” Rarity said, before tuning to the others. “You have to hold the fort, am I understood?”

“Perfectly,” Web replied.

“Good. Now break. Steel, we need to talk to the Countess.”

<><><|><><>

After convincing Coloratura that getting to her apartment would be a good idea, as well as getting a list of things she needed and the key, the two mares hit the road. Driving in her Streetdart, that came to her on autopilot, they quickly made their way downtown, to the massive skyscrapers that dwarfed the once impressive Canterlot Castle.

The clean-enough-to-eat-off-of streets welcomed the Streetdart with open arms, as Rarity and Steel were quickly swallowed whole by the glass and steel giants that covered the heart of Equestria. Only the richest of the rich lived here, surrounded by the very definition of the upper crust. In fact, of the Big Six, five of their CEOs lived here, in the penthouse suites of the tallest towers.

Rarity felt out of place as she stepped off of her Streetdart in her dusty, slightly blood-splattered street clothes, and almost wished she were in the Matrix so she could rectify that situation.

“Woowee, I don’t think I’ve seen a street this clean since...well, ever.”

Steel, luckily, seemed immune to the feeling of inadequacy.

“It’s quite the spectacle,” Rarity agreed, before swiping a credstick under a parking meter, which immediately charged her one hundred nubits for the first hour. “We won’t have time to appreciate it at this rate, though.”

The pair made their way to Silver Towers, the home of the Countess, and flashed the RFID key, and the approved ID card to get inside. Their presence did earn a number of suspicious glances thrown their way, and a security guard did approach them, until they managed to convince the guard that they were, in fact telling the truth.

“Alright, you can go in, but I’m watching you!” he said with a glare.

“Of course, sir,” Rarity said, her pheromone bioware working on full blast. “You’ll have no trouble from us.”

“Unless somepony pays us…” Steel muttered.

A quick elevator ride later, and they arrived at Coloratura’s penthouse. A wide foyer met them, filled with Eastern Unicornian artwork, including scenes of bamboo forests, and secret waterfalls.

Glass walls led them inside, to the living room, which, despite the open, almost sterile-white room, was a massive mess. Beer bottles were strewn about the place, alongside papers scratched with lyrics and musical notes.

“The artist at work,” Rarity said, before whispering “I’m so jealous.”

“Focus, Gem,” Steel said. “Ya got the credstick?”

“Right here,” she said, holding it up from the chain around her neck.

“Go ahead and start filling that, I’ll take a look around before I grab her clothes and a bag.”

“Sounds good,” Rarity said before she pulled out a disposable comm, and finished cloning the Countess’ software and accounts over. A moment later, she had full access to all of Coloratura’s personal information, including her back account.

Six figures met her, and Rarity took a conscious second to blink, as if it would change the number she just saw.

It did not change.

Releasing a sigh, Rarity resisted every thieving bone in her body, and moved a mere one thousand onto the empty credstick, before dropping the comm on the floor. If the Yaks were going to track that piece of plastic, they could, they were not going to find anyone—

“What in the Sam hell!” Steel yelled, and Rarity cleared the room in a second. She slid beside Steel, machine gun raised, and blinked as she found a disheveled stallion in what appeared to be a guest bedroom.

An empty bottle of wine rolled away from him, and between that and the reek of alcohol, Rarity could tell that he just woke up with a splitting hangover. “Wha-? What?” he muttered, dazed and confused.

“Who are you?” Rarity asked. “What are you doing here? Are you after the Countess? Who hired you?”

Steel asked none of these question. She simply stared at him and said. “Rogue, is that you?”

“A-Applejack?”

“You know him?”

“Yeah, he was Rara’s fiance. Rogue what are you doing here?”

“Applejack?” Rogue Beat asked, still trying to get a grasp on what he was looking at. “AJ, is that you?”

“Yeah, yeah it is, what’s going on?”

“Have you seen Rara? Do you know where she is?”

“She’s with us,” Steel said. “Rogue, what happened? Why’d you split?”

The stallion, a grey pegasus with a messy, dark mane sat on the messed up bed, his eyes bloodshot and wet. He sniffed, and brought his hooves to his head before he simply fell backwards onto the bed. “I...I was framed. Ya gotta believe me, AJ, I was framed!”

“Framed for what?”

“She said she found Dreamchips in my office,” Rogue said. “Dreamchips! She thought I was dealing them, AJ!”

“Dreamchips?” Steel repeated, surprised.

“She...she was so hurt, so angry...she didn't believe me when I told her I’d never seen them before.”

Steel glanced over at Rarity, with a look that said everything. That wasn’t Rogue’s style. He wouldn’t do that.

“I just wanted to apologize to her, but I haven’t seen her for the past three days. I don’t know what’s happened to her.”

“Don’t worry, Rogue, she’s safe.”

“I don’t know what to do, AJ!” Rogue whined. “She left me! She told me she isn’t going to renew the contract, and that she never wants to see me again! What do I do?” he asked, staring up at Steel with the most pathetic, puppy dog eyes.

Steel gave a helpless look toward Rarity, and the decker sighed.

“Alright, stand up,” she said, before giving Rogue a shove. “Collect yourself. We’re professionals, and we don’t work for slobs, and we don’t work for free.”

Rogue, slowly stood up, sniffing as he gathered himself. “You’ll...you’ll help me?”

“We can help him?” Steel asked, referring to their current job.

“Our job is to keep Ms. Coloratura safe, not determine who she signs with,” Rarity said. “As long as we’re hired to do the job, we can get it done.”

Steel nodded. “Yes Ma’am. Rogue, can you pay us? We don’t need much, but we need something.”

“I...I…” Rogue stammered, still trying to get a grip on all his faculties. “With...without...I can pay two thousand.”

“The friends and family discount will cover that, you have a deal.”

“Now, Mr. Ringo, you need to let us know everything that happened,” Rarity said, “and while you’re at it, think of any reason that the Yakkuza would be after Ms. Coloratura.”

<><><|><><>

Rarity rushed back to her street dart, cursing as she raced against the clock. She lept onto it seconds away from the second hour, and peeled a whole four feet out of the parking spot, saving her credstick from being charged a second time.

She gasped for breath, sighing, before Steel leisurely walked up next to her. “Made it?”

“Just climb on,” Rarity said, before her comm beeped.

“Did we just get attacked?”

Rarity sighed. “Yes., everyone got all out alright, but that means we still had to move.”

“Gotcha, let’s go.”

Steel climbed into the Streetdart, and they pulled off.

Not thirty minutes later, Rarity received another text. “Oh no.”

“Oh no, what?” Steel asked.

“They’re being chased. There are two vans coming after them, and Candy’s not able to shake them. We’re going to have to intercept and help them out.”

Steel nodded. “Good thing I brought the heavy slugs,” she said, before loading some of the last of her Osmium slugs into her shotgun.

“I’ve told Candy to meet us on H35. She’s five minutes away, be ready.”

“Locked and loaded,” Steel said with a smirk.

The Streetdart slipped onto the highway, and as though on cue, Candy’s van squealed up the on-ramp, followed by two black, unmarked vans. A unicorn leaned out of the window, and buzzed Candy’s van with a submachine gun, even if the tires were bulletproof.

“There they are,” Rarity said. “You ready to send them a message?”

Steel smiled, and stuck her hat into her belt. “Like you have to ask.”

The titanium cover of the Streetdart opened, and Steel sat up, shotgun in her shoulder.

It roared, and a massive slug punched a hole through the plastic and steel body of the van like it was paper. The unmarked van swerved as someone or something important exploded, before the vehicle rolled on its side, and crashed into the concrete barrier.

The other black van suddenly pulled out, reacting to the sudden destruction of its brother before the unicorn hanging out the window spotted the earth pony with the shotgun.

Steel stuck her tongue out at him, before diving back into the cockpit as a hail of bullets slammed into Rarity’s Streetdart.

“My Bike!” She yelled in horror, as the titanium, steel, and plastic bent, dented, and broke beneath the gun fire. “Do you know how much this will cost to fix?”

“I’ll foot half the bill, now get me closer.”

Rarity pulled behind the van, out of the line of fire form the unicorn hanging out the window, before both back doors swung open to reveal a pair of ponies, both armed with machine guns.

“Gem, is that you?” Wingmare asked over the comm.

“For a little bit longer,” Rarity replied, weaving through the hail of bullets.

“Keep them distracted, I’ll take care of it from there.”

“Aw, come on! I have six more of these slugs!” Steel said. “When else are they going to be so effective? I took out like, five ponies with a single shot!”

“Just distract them!”

Steel sighed, before she set her shotgun aside, and fired her mare’s leg at the shooters in the back of the black van. They took cover along the sides cargo space, returning fire with their own shots.

And that’s when Wingmare jumped out the passenger window, slid across the roof of Candy’s vehicle, and fired a shot straight through the pursing driver’s skull.

The van buckled, and Rarity had just enough time to pull around the unmarked vehicle before it skidded and slammed into the concrete.

“It’s about time you got here!” Wingmare yelled from the top of the van.

“Yeah, yeah. Now get in the van and quit showing off!” Steel replied.

“What? Me? Show off? Never!” Wingmare said with a laugh, before suddenly realizing that climbing back into the van would be increasingly more difficult at high speeds.

“Candy, can you hear me?” Rarity asked through her comm.

“Loud and clear!” the driver chirped.

“We’re changing the plan, follow me,” she said, before pulling ahead of the van.

“Can we slow down first?” Wingmare asked. “I can’t fly this fast.”

<><><|><><>

Rarity’s Streetdart and the van pulled up beside an abandoned parking garage. A number of homeless ponies watched them come in, up until they ran into a barricade of debris. “Who are you, and why are you here?” A near-toothless stallion with a missing eye asked.

“I’m Gem,” Rarity said, before reaching into a pocket and pulling out a long, flat token. “We did a favor for your Boss. We’re cashing it in.”

The toothless stallion motioned his head to one of the guards, and another homeless pony approached to look at the small plastic piece Rarity held up for them.

A nod from the guard later, and the one-eyed stallion spoke up. “What’s you using it for?”

“We need a place to hide. We’re being hunted by some powerful ponies, and we need to stay hidden, and protected.”

The one-eyed stallion glared at them for a moment more, before she motioned to the ponies around them. “Get them through the gate. They have the protection of the Gutter King.”

“The Gutter King?” Twilight asked over the comms.

“He’s a ghoul that runs a lot of the underground around here. A homeless pony powerful enough to hire runners, if that says anything,” Wingmare answered.

The horde of homeless ponies quickly deconstructed a hole in the barricade, allowing both vehicles to pass on through before they built it once again. Rarity’s Streetdart pulled forward as a pony led them into a mostly empty garage.

“You can stay here,” the homeless pony said. “There are a few hovels to the side that you can sleep in. Left corner is the one for your business. Don’t stay too long.”

“Never, Dear.” Rarity said as the team slowly exited the van.

“Good,” the homeless pony said, before walking away.

“So, Gem,” Wingmare said. “I’ve got to ask, why are we cashing our favor in here?”

“I’ll tell you,” the decker replied, a text went straight to all of their comms.

“The plan’s changed.”

Chapter 16

The end of the second day was quiet for the team, as the Gutter King’s hospitality kept them safe from Yakks, though there was the occasional burst of automatic fire through the afternoon hours. Luckily the concrete of the old parking garage was thick, and the wall of homeless ponies willing to sacrifice everything for the Gutter King kept the intruders at bay.

By the time dusk came around, everything was perfectly silent.

Sven was the exception. He paced most of the day, keeping an eye on concrete walls and pausing whenever he heard the sounds of fighting. Once every hour, he would step away, only to return to the parked van and pace.

“Y’all right, there, Mr. Ringo?” Steel asked as she cleaned her shotgun on the roof of the shot-up van.

He jumped at her question, before grumbling. “A-are you sure it’s safe here? These ponies look like they want to—”

“Ya better be careful what ya say there,” Steel said as her cyberhoof carefully held the pieces of her gun in the light, “ya don’t want to be insulting the hospitality of our host none if you like to keep yer tongue in yer mouth.”

Sven hesitated. “I...I just feel like I have a lot to lose here.”

“Oh, lighten up, Sven,” Coloratura said as she sauntered across the concrete floor, dressed in a rough-and-tumble leather jacket with her hair done in a ponytail. “AJ thinks they’re cool.”

“Steel, please,” Steel gently corrected, before replacing the spring in her shotgun.

“Right.”

“I just...I don’t like it here,” Sven said.

“Well, I ain’t the biggest fan either, but we’re keepin’ ya safe, and that’s the important thing.”

“I mean...I suppose, but...how confident are you this place will hold up?” Sven asked. “I mean, look at it! There has to be a weak point in it somewhere, right?”

Steel shrugged. “Heck if I know. I’ve never been here before. You’d have to ask one of the ponies that live here to be sure,” Steel said.

Sven sighed before he checked the time on his watch. “I’ll be back. I’m going to the bathroom.”

“You really should have taken it easy on the caffeine,” Steel yelled after him, as she slipped the last pin in place, and built her beloved shotgun back into one piece of blued steel.

Sven grumbled and muttered to himself as he found the small, secluded area that he had been retreating to.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a cheap, plastic, disposable commlink, and placed a call to the only contact programmed into it. He grumbled as it rang, checking behind him as the patrolling homeless ponies slowly circled his niche of debris.

The comm rang once before it was answered by a hard-faced earth pony mare. She had a glare that could cut through steel and a frown as sharp a razor. “Mr. Svengallop,” she greeted simply.

“Look, I’m trying Miss LeRoot, I’m trying, but—”

“I was not aware I was asking for excuses,” LeRoot stated simply.

“I don’t know where to look for a back entrance!” Sven whispered. “I’m trying but I can’t find anything.”

“Are you telling me that you aren’t prepared for this job, Mr. Svengallop?” LeRoot asked. “Because I was under the impression that you were a competent pony. Is that assessment incorrect?”

Sven shook his head, and tried to desperately hide the sweat forming across his brow. “What? No, no, I’m competent, I just—”

“Good,” LeRoot interrupted, her voice slicing through whatever pitiful placation Sven was about to offer. “Because the Yaks have very particular tastes when it comes to who they work with, and they do not work with worthless failures.”

“Y-yes ma’am…” Sven said. “I just wished you weren’t shooting at me.”

“That’s the point, Sven. That’s why you hired Runners in the first place. Either we capture you and Coloratura alive, and we make her sign, or she is so indebted to you she signs with you anyway. The only failure along that line was that you had to pick runners that actually care about the asset.”

“How was I supposed to know—?”

“I don’t want to hear it, Sven,” LeRoot growled, biting down on his argument. “You messed up, and now we can’t risk it. If those runners figure out what we did just to get you in contact with her, then this whole plan is ruined, and you will owe us quite the sum of money.”

Sven nodded.

“And you know how Yaks are when someone doesn’t hold up their end of the deal.”

“Hey, hey!” Sven said, putting on all his bravado as he gulped. “Don’t worry, we’ll get her, we’ll get her. The Runners may suspect something, but they don’t know. There’s no way that they could know about the planted chips. Coloratura didn’t tell them anything. We’re in the clear. No reason to worry.”

“Oh, Mr. Svengallop,” she said, her smile cold and malicious, “I’m not worried at all. We’ll get our pound of flesh. One way or another.”

The comm went dead, and Svengallop nodded, holding his confident smile for a second or two.

Then he threw up.

<><><|><><>

Sven started looking for a way out. Or rather, a way for the Yakkuza teams to get in. He wandered along the back walls of the parking garage, where a wall of concrete car barriers and broken concrete columns lay blocking all the windows. Without a team of pullers or heavy machinery, it’d be nearly impossible to open up a path inside. The gate, guarded by the homeless and made of more concrete, rebar, and steel than he cared to think about, was also nearly impossible to move.

The derelict garage was a fortress, and when combining that with the fact that the neighborhood was bad enough that the corps couldn't move in without making a stink, there was not a lot of chances for him to secure being captured.

Nervous sweat was pouring out down Sven’s forehead. This wasn’t supposed to be how this happened. The Runners were supposed to suck, die, and he’d be the strong, suave hero, and Coloratura would be so thankful, she'd sign on to his contract, he’d milk her for cash, pay off his gambling debts, and even cut the Yaks a deal of another 20% going forward. This wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

He nervously searched the edges of the garage, looking for any weakness he checked a second and third time. Tough, pitted concrete was the only thing that met his search, leaving nothing for him to exploit.

“Come on,” he growled to himself. “There has to be something…”

A homeless pony, armed with a gun made from some old copper pipe gave him a curious glance as he walked by, and Sven quickly closed the distance between them. “Hey, hey buddy, look, I’ve got a question for ya.”

The homeless stallion just barely resisted the urge to raise his gun on the manager.

“Look, I’ve got a deal for you. I’m...uh…” he stopped a second, his brain trying to process the best possible excuse for what he was about to do, “Scared. Yeah, I’m scared, and I just need to know if there’s a way out that’s not through the main gate.”

“Right...look, I don’t know you, and quite frankly, I have a hard time trusting anypony in a blazer.”

“Look, how does a hundred nubits sound?” Sven asked as he opened a wallet filled with empty credsticks.

The pony with the pipe gun gave Sven a look, before sighing. “A hundred’s not enough.”

“What?”

“On a bad day, I make three hundred begging. You’ll have to do better than that.”

Sven blinked, grumbled a quiet “I knew it,” and said. “Five hundred.”

The pony with the gun shook his head. “One thousand.”

“A thousand?” Sven asked, clutching his chest. “You’re going to give me a heart attack with those kinds of demands. Take two hundred.”

“Two hundred? I just said you need three to get my attention.”

“Fine, three fifty.”

The pony glanced up at him and began to walk away.

“Frag,” Sven muttered, before loading a credstick. “Fine, here’s a thousand.”

“Thank you very much!” the pony with the gun said with a smile. “There’s a hallway on the second floor, that leads into the apartment behind us. Nobody living in there except some dreamers and Novaheads.”

“Thank you, thank you so much.”

“Yup, a pleasure doing business with you!” the guard said, pocketing his money, and walking away.

Sven smiled, and rushed back to his niche to make the call. He found a way to make this work.

<><><|><><>

The day continued to pass slowly by, and the attacks were slowly progressing. Still there was no progress into the garage. Finally, the evening came, and the night slipped past them.

“Alright ponies, we have a less than an hour left on the job,” Gem said. “Once we hit midnight, we can get this contract signed, and we’re in the clear!”

Sven nodded. “And not a moment too soon. I don’t know if I can take waiting here much longer.”

“No, we all want to go home at this point, don’t we?” Steel asked.

Rara nodded in agreement. “A night in my own bed would be nice.”

“Now, it’s time to move out,” Gem said.

“What?” Sven asked.

“Well, we’re in the last hour, if the Yakks are going to try to pull anything it’d be right now, so we need to leave.”

“Okay, so let’s climb into the van—”

“No, they’d be expecting that. We know the back way out, so we head that way, go on hoof for a bit, and then wait the rest of the night out in a different building.”

“Oh…” Sven said before a smile grew on his lips. “Sounds brilliant.”

“Glad you think so,” Gem said.

“Yup, I’m just going to run to the little colt’s room real quick, hope you don’t mind.”

“Nope,” Steel said, hopping off the van. “We have to leave now, we don’t got time for potty breaks.”

“Um...but…”

“But what about the van?” Rara asked.

“Yeah! The van! We should wait a moment and make sure it—”

“I’ll just call it back later,” Candy said with a grin.

“Now come on, Ringo, we need to move.”

“Um…but I…” Sven offered before he was shoved forward by Wingmare.

“Go man, we don’t have all day.”

“But I—!”

“Go!” Wingmare said.

Pushed forward by the team, the runners led Sven up onto the second level of the parking garage, despite his many protests. He tried and failed to stop them on two separate occasions, but the mares simply pushed him forward. “Honestly, I just need a few minutes.”

“Do you hear that?” Web asked. “I think I hear the Yakks coming!”

“They’re not going to break through the concrete that fast! We have a few minutes!”

“Nope, can’t risk that," The rookie said.

"We have to keep you two safe, and that’s final," Wingmare said.

Finally, they made their way to an open breezeway that straddled the alleyway below, before leading into the rundown building on the opposite side. “Alright, Ringo, you and Rara go first,” Steel said. “We’ll cover you in case they follow.”

Sven gulped. Sure, having six mares cover your retreat was great, but the Yakks weren't coming at him from behind.

A terrible choice now faced him, lead, and get possibly shot down by the Yakks, or let Coloratura get shot instead. He could either get shot and maybe die, or risk getting his only meal-ticket, his only chance at getting out of incredible amounts of debt, shot and killed.

She had to live because if he didn’t deliver on the money, his death would be long and painful at the hooves of the Yakks. So, with little choice Sven took the front, and prayed that the incoming team of armed ponies wouldn’t shoot him down.

He stepped into the building and was quickly met with the smell of pony refuse. Many of the walls on this level were knocked out, making more room for the thirty or so nearly-desiccated ponies that littered the room.

Coloratura gasped as she saw them, and Steel could only offer a hoof in comfort.

“Fraggin’ Dreamers,” Sven muttered under his breath, before kicking a leg away.

“Just keep moving, Ringo, we can’t afford to wait around,” Wingmare muttered. They began to move forward slowly, through the building, shuffling through the ponies around them too lost in the better lives they mantled to notice the runners walking by.

“Oh, Celestia…” Coloratura muttered. “Oh, Celestia…”

“We gotcha,” Steel said. “We gotcha.”

Sven kept walking through the mess of ponies, covering his mouth with the edge of his sleeve. “Oh, this is disgusting,” he said before he glanced back up to the door at the end of the room. The Yakks could be walking through that at any moment, and he’d be swiss cheese.

Moving past the half-lucid Dreamers, and slowly picking his way through, Sven led the team into the building, before coming up on the stairs. The long, twisting staircase descended down into the depths of the foundation but more importantly led out.

“I found the stairs!” Sven yelled, hoping that one of the incoming Yakk teams would hear him and know not to shoot immediately. Chances are it didn’t help, but he had to do something.

“Good! Start heading down!” Steel yelled.

“To the first floor?”

“The basement,” Gem said.

“Alright the basement,” he said, trying to decide whether this was good or not.

Down the stairs they came, slipping through the otherwise silent halls until they finally came to the basement door. The cheap door had come off two of its hinges a long time ago, and after a little maneuvering, the runners managed to spin the door open and crawled inside.

The basement was somehow worse than the upper floors, covered in a thin layer of gunk and slime that threatened to make Sven lose what little of his lunch remained, while only two ponies wandered around, muttering about their fancy parties or their latest album. It wasn’t until the ponies had all crawled in did they notice a third figure, curled around themselves, half-starved and filthy.

“Forward,” Steel said, “through there.” She pointed to an old, nearly-rusted steel door along one of the far walls.

“D-do you...money?” one of the more lucid ponies asked the group as it passed, staring up at Rookie as she stood beside them.

Wingmare came up behind her, and shook her head.“If we did, do you think we’d be down here?”

The poor dreamer looked up at her before his eyes lost focus again. “...was I doing?”

The team walked past them all, and up the steel door, that Steel’s cybernetic strength barely managed to creak open. “Alright, let’s get inside everypony.”

Clambering in, the team shut the door behind them, encasing the collected ponies in darkness for a brief second before Coloratura and Steel had the eye-light systems in their cybereyes flood the room with four pairs of white light beams. “Can somepony get an actual light?”

“I’ve got it,” Web said before a magical ball illuminated the room.

The concrete cube they found themselves in was surprisingly dry, a blessing counted by everyone there, and Sven finally had a moment to relax again. He was in the back, behind the wall of flesh and steel he hired. If the Yakks were going to kill anyone, it was the runners.

He was safe at last.

And then, Gem turned the deadbolt, and everypony turned to face him. “So we’re safe here right?” Sven asked.

“Well, Mr. Ringo,” Gem said. “Why don’t you tell us, since you’re the one sending the Yakks after us?”

Sven’s heart skipped a beat. “Wh-what? That’s crazy! Why would I call the Yakks after us? That could get me killed! Besides, they’d take my star, and I can’t have anypony—”

LeRoot’s face suddenly appeared in front of them, projected in real space as Gem’s Cybereyes began to replay the previously thought-to-be-private conversation.

“That’s the point, Sven,” LeRoot said to the room. “That’s why you hired Runners in the first place. Either we capture you and Coloratura alive, and we make her sign, or she is so indebted to you she signs with you anyway. The only failure along that line was that you had to pick runners that actually care about the asset.”

“I…” Svengallop gulped. “I’ve never seen that mare before, in my life! I have no idea who—”

“How was I supposed to know—?” Sven’s voice whined on the call.

“I don’t want to hear it, Sven. You messed up, and now we can’t risk it. If those runners figure out what we did just to get you in contact with her, then this whole plan is ruined, and you will owe us quite the sum of money.”

The call clicked away, and Sven was left in the room, surrounded by Runners, and one very angry Starlet.

“And what did they do to get you in contact with me?” Coloratura asked.

“Well...I mean...nothing crazy…”

“Did you frame Rouge with Dreamchips?”

“What? No, no, never! I’d never do a thing like that.”

“Did you frame him?” she asked again.

“I told you, I’ve never done anything like that!”

“I’d tell her the truth at this point, Mr. Ringo,” Steel said as she double-checked the shells in her shotgun. “It’s not like it’ll keep her from liking you.”

Sven shook his head. “No, no, I’m perfectly innocent, I assure—”

Coloratura closed the distance and glared into his eyes. “If you don’t tell me, that’s fine. I’ll find out anyway. That’s not why I’m asking,” she said, her voice low, and threatening. “I’m asking because whether or not you tell me is going to decide what I do with you.”

“Pardon?” Sven asked, his voice squeaking.

“You know what a Dreamchip does, Sven?” she asked. “Most of the time, it lets you live a new life, you run a little simulation in your head that’s just better than what most ponies have. Others just change how you perceive the world, rose-colored glasses of euphoria, anger, or sadness. Others still change your actual personality, and the next thing you know, you think you’re the biggest big shot this side of Canterlot, but do you know what makes them so unique?”

Sven didn’t answer as Coloratura’s cybereyes glowed red.

“They feel real. More real than reality itself. Sweet tastes sweeter, warm feel warmer, pleasure, and pain both become realities you’ve never been able to imagine. And that’s why, if I find out that you stood here and lied to me, while you planted that garbage at Rouge’s hooves, then I will be sure to find the one thing that will make that pain your reality.”

“Easy Rara,” Steel said. “Easy. There ain’t no need to sully yourself with that kind of talk. Besides, we’ve got our own solution for this.” Wither shotgun prepped and leveled at their Ringo, she gave a nod to Gem.

Gem nodded, and dialed the one contact on Sven’s burner Comm. “Hello, Mrs. LeRoot?”

“And who might this be?” The earth pony responded.

“We’re the Runners your ‘partner’ hired.”

“So he failed?”

“Spectacularly,” Gem responded. “Now, our contract with him lasts another hour or so, but I’m fairly certain he’s going to back out of paying us, so we are currently open for negotiations.”

“Really, now?”

“Yes, I think we can work out a deal,” Gem said. “After all, if he doesn’t pay out, and we complete the job then whatever happens to him is not our concern.”

<><><|><><>

The second the clock ticked over, a team of Yakkuza ponies came to collect the now incredibly fearful Svengallop away to be “talked to.”

“Well, Ms. Gem,” LeRoot said over the comm. “I’m happy to see you’re a mare of good business sense."

"It's a gift," Gem replied.

LeRoot nodded on the other end of the call. "It helps that we want to make an example more than earn the money he promised."

"As I would expect of your reputation."

LeRoot smiled. "We will, of course, take him in exchange for the Yakkuzan lives you’ve taken over the past few days, so we’ll count this as even.”

“And, that will suffice for now,” Gem said, “Though I do ask you keep us in mind if you need some work done.”

“That sounds agreeable, Ms. Gem,” LeRoot said. “Again, your business acumen is impressive.” The call ended a second later, and the ponies were left in the basement room, with their charge.

“Thank you so much for this, AJ,” Coloratura said, as Sven was carried off. “I’ll make sure you’re paid for this.”

“Thanks, Rara, that means a lot.”

“Don’t mention it, AJ, I’m just happy I can go back to Rogue. I need to call him.”

Gem held up her comm. “I have his contact on here, Darling,” she said. “We need to let him know about the job well done, anyway.”

Steel motioned her head over, and Coloratura gladly followed. The two quickly made the call and tried talking to Rogue, who was so incredibly relieved to hear the voice of his fiance again.

“Well, I reckon that gives us a happy ending fer a change,” she said with a smirk before she turned to leave.

And then she froze.

One of the dreamers stood in front of her, barely on her feet as she looked at Steel with dulled, orangish-yellow eyes. Her mouth hung slack, barely moving as she mumbled about cash for a new chip, still not lucid enough to know better. Her pale, yellow coat was covered in filth and clung tightly to her thinned frame, speaking volumes of a poor diet, and cold nights on the streets. Her red mane hung wet against her coat, but even then it was obvious to see the terrible knots and long, overgrown strands that were beyond control many years ago.

“Got...got som bits...juss...juss need som bits,” the young mare muttered, not even properly seeing Steel.

But Steel saw her, she saw her and she knew who that was. She knew exactly who this mare in front of her was.

“Ap-Applebloom?”

Chapter 17

Pinkie Pie watched, fascinated as Steel ripped through the Harmony Inc. Building.

“I need to see yer dang boss, now, ya Chicken-hearted wagesalves! And that means now you fribbling fussbudgets!” the street sam yelled.

Pinkie wasn’t even sure if those words were real, but they certainly were hilarious.

“Ma’am! Put the grenade down!”

“I said I want to talk with yer boss!” Steel roared.

Pinkie watched, sipping a cola as she gazed through the eyes of her favorite little Rotodrone PeeWee. The small helicopter drone hovered behind the cyborg on a rampage as she stormed her way through the compound.

“Ma’am! Calm down!”

“I’ll calm down when I get to talk!” she yelled back. “You let him know that Steel needs to talk to him, and that she wants to renegotiate!”

So far, Steel had knocked out every single one of the ponies that came after her and had the mare that was working the front desk as a hostage. Honestly, it was her own fault, though. If she just made the call twelve minutes ago, then Steel would have probably been in and out of her meeting.

Still, it impressed Pinkie deeply that Steel got this far with no plan.

“Ms. Steel,” Spikarunz voice called from the down the hall before he walked into view. “I do not like it when my employees are being held hostage, and I would strongly suggest that you put her down, now.”

The security ponies that had surrounded the street sam began to slowly back up behind their CEO, more confused that he somehow knew this crazy pony.

Steel dropped the secretary, as ordered. “I needed to talk to you, and she wouldn’t let me in.”

“I know, that’s why you’re still alive,” the dragon said simply, before he sighed, and rubbed his temples. “You said something about renegotiating?”

“I want to change my payment,” Steel said.

Spike nodded. “And it says much about either your bravery or stupidity for asking for it. Most learn quickly that deals with dragons are final. There is no negotiation, and no altering the deal. I’ve already bought your farm, you know that, right?”

“You can keep it,” Steel said, though after she did, her lips and voice trembled. “I...I need something else. Something more important.”

Spikarunz raised an eyebrow, every obviously intrigued. “What?”

“My...my sister. I found her, and she needs help,” Steel said, as the security teams around her slowly began to lower their weapons. “She needs help, and I need you to give it to her.”

“And what kind of help does she need?” Spike asked.

“She’s...she’s been a dreamer. For a long time. The other docs I took her to said she’s too far gone. I want you to give her the best treatment you can, and wipe her slate clean.”

Spike nodded, and snapped, magically summoning a pair of chairs and a desk, before taking a seat. “Captain, clear the hallway, and bring me the document labeled GMC, please.”

“But sir—”

“Now, Captain,” the dragon growled.

The captain spun around. “Clear the hall! Back to your posts ASAP! Bring me Document GMC here on the double.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Spike said, before motioning to Steel. “Have a seat, Ms. Steel.”

Steel took the spot without a word.

They waited a moment or two, before a pony returned to them with a datachip and a deck. Spike nodded his thanks to the pony, before plugging in the chip, and pulling up a contract, one for Gem’s Materials Company. The document hovered in AR space between them, and with a few clicks of his fingers, Spike pulled up Steel’s terms. “So, you don’t want the farm anymore.”

“No, sir.”

“Then at the very least, you’ll have to pay that off.”

Steel grit her teeth. “Whatever needs to be paid.”

Spike pulled up a receipt. The one for purchasing the land from Flimflam Inc. The price was...high.

“Well, I don’t think you have that much,” he said simply.

Steel didn’t answer.

“However, I have come up with a relatively elegant solution to that.”

“What?”

“Simple. I have a farm now, and I need ponies to work it. So, the simple solution would be for you to pay me in work for the rest of your life, your brother’s life, and your sister’s, once she’s recovered.”

Steel grit her teeth again.

“The land will never be yours. It may not even be your children’s. It will always be mine, and I will own your family until the debt is paid.” Spike said. “With all that paid for, I will gladly make sure your sister receives the best treatment magic and technology have to offer. Sparing no expense.”

Steel glared up at him. “Whatever needs to be paid…”

Spike nodded. “I’m glad you agree,” he said, before typing quickly, adding the amendment right before her eyes. “There we go, you and your family work for me on my farm, and your sister gets the best rehab available.”

“She gets treated first, right?”

“Of course, I’m a businessman, not a monster.”

Steel nodded. “Then I agree to the terms.”

“Perfect, sign here, and we’ll pick her up. Where is she?”

“Just outside waiting in the van,” Steel answered, signing her name.

“Perfect,” Spike said, standing. “And while we’re walking down to the van, I can take the opportunity to tell you about your next job.”

Pinkie grinned, before setting PeeWee to return, and turning to the young mare in the back of her van. “There, see. Your sister’s coming to pick you up.”

Applebloom just rubbed her chip slot in the back of her head, wondering why she wouldn’t wake up from the nightmare.

<><><|><><>

“Alright, ladies,” Gem said, as the team gathered around the holotable again. “One last time before we get going.”

A hologram blueprint, one a few years out of date appeared before them. “Our target is a light blue zircon, held by none other than Saddle Krupp. Now Rookie here knows our CEO, another dragon by the name of Emberax. Rookie is going to be heading up to the party on the 90th floor of the building, and will see if she can’t get the dragoness to just hand us over the gem.”

“I still don’t like that part of the plan,” Web said.

“According to what Spike’s told us, she had already agreed to this kind of handover, but communication has gone dead, that’s what we’re investigating,” Gem said.

Pinkie nodded, following along, perfectly.

“While Rookie is schmoozing upstairs, the rest of us, going in as her entourage, will access the elevators like we did back in Ahuiztech and steal it from the penthouse. If Emberax hands over the gem, no harm, no foul; if not, we’ll have to take it ourselves. Candy, what’s your job?”

“The party!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“No, you need to blow your way into the vault, that’s why we bought the detcord for you,” Gem said with a sigh.

“Even better!” Pinkie said.

“Wingmare?” Gem asked.

“Make sure that we survive the elevator shaft,” the Adept recited.

“Web?”

“Elemental overwatch,” the shaman answered.

“Steel?”

“I’m with the elevator team, ready to shoot anything that needs shooting,” The mare replied, her southern drawl muddled by anger.

“And Rookie,” Gem said, rounding out the team.

“I’m with you trying to get Emeberax to hand it over peacefully.”

Gem nodded. “Right, now. Let’s pack up and get ready, the party starts in four hours.”

“Break!” Pinkie yelled, before leaping back to her van.

The others simply shook their heads before they ran off to start their preparations, leaving Candy along with her many toys.

PeeWee, Rocky, and Balboa were all running through their final diagnostics checks inside the van. PeeWee, her favorite Neighsan Phoenix Rotordrone was a well-oiled machine at this point, armed as he was with only a small-caliber defense turret. PeeWee was fast, agile, and as stealthy as a set of spinning rotors could be.

Rocky, her Light Armored Neighsan Timberwolf model hummed gently. Rocky, unlike his commercially-available Rotodrone cousin PeeWee, came armored enough to be widely accepted as a police model drone, ready to climb stairs and ledges with its canine body before releasing several armaments at the target, including taser, light machine gunfire, and a nasty set of replaceable tungsten carbide claws. All of Rocky’s systems turned green, he was ready to go.

That just left Balboa. A heavily armored, Steel Chimera model, Balboa shouldn’t even be available on the market. A military-grade drone, Balboa had the treads, armor, and caliber befitting a small tank. Pinkie only broke him out for the dearest of situations, one that...well...ones where you needed a small tank to take the lead.

For this mission, with most of the security on the party floor, a smaller drone would do well. Unfortunately, PeeWee did not have the space to carry the detcord, and Pinkie herself wasn’t confident in her ability to climb while lugging around thirty pounds of military-grade explosives. The only problem was she couldn’t really justify bringing a drone that weighs twice as much to carry it for her.

She had a few plans floating around, maybe air-dropping Rocky in, maybe hooking him up to a winch, but these were neither viable nor fun. No, she’d have to add a new member to the family if she was going to get that work. Instead she’d have to use one of her much earlier models.

One of her very first drones, an older Saddle Krupp Courier drone that she dubbed Surprise, finally looked like she was ready to come out of retirement. Surprise’s main, rectangular delivery compartment had long ago been filled with a small gun that could not be detected without some difficulty. She made a killing back when these Couriers were everywhere. Quite literally, actually. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been the only Runner to come up with that idea, and Couriers were soon viewed with as much suspicion as ponies in long trench coats during the summer.

But this was Surprise’s home, and she’d fit right in. Better yet, Surprise still had enough room for the detcord and a small swarm of Hackney Parasprites.

The Parasprites were not something that Pinkie liked to use. The small flying drones did a wonderful job of hunting down other small spy drones and ripping them apart, but in a swarm, they could take on a drone PeeWee’s size.

It just wasn’t a nice way to go.

Still, with her limited carrying space, it was probably the best she was going to get on this job.

The good news though, was that since Surprise was relatively small and easy to hide at Saddle Krupp, Gem had already approved the plan, which left PeeWee once more as the only drone she could bring with her. “Don’t worry, babies,” she said, whispering to her larger drones, “Mama still loves you both.”

The drones said nothing but ran their diagnostics.

Pinkie smiled and nodded at her favorite children, before reaching down to the bottom of the van, and pulling up the carpet to reveal a footlocker. Popping it open to retrieve a perfectly pressed suit, that Pinkie quickly donned, before taking on the mantle of Ms. Sparkle’s bodyguard.

She took a moment to center herself, to relax, and to find the smile within the smile. Tight, lips drawn, suspicious of everything. The perfect guard, calm, but vigilant; imposing, but invisible; only ever seen when she is needed.

And with that, Pinkie slipped on some mirror shades, stuffed a few extra grenades down her coat, and cleared her throat. “Get down, Mr. President! Get down Mr. President! Get down Mr. Presi-DENT!”

“Candy?” Wingmare called peering into the back of the van. “Are you oka—”

“Get down, Mr. President!” She yelled, jumping up into a full-body tackle.

“Ah!”

Several tools crashed and clanged, sending them flying out from beneath the table of bodies. “Candy, what was that for?” Wingmare moaned.

“We need to get you somewhere safe, sir!”

“Candy!”

<><><|><><>

Saddle Krupp’s Vanhoover location was lit up like a Hearth’s Warming tree, and as the Harmony Inc.'s favor of a limousine pulled up to the front, Gem smiled.

Pinkie could never remember if she ever saw Gem as happy as she was right now. Dressed in an ebony-black dress, that pulsed with the hint of circuitry. Rookie likewise was dressed to the nines, in a dress that sparkled like the night sky.

Web, Steel, Wingmare, and Pinkie herself, were all dressed like the security detail. All serious suits with Surprise sitting between them. Hopefully they crowded the small drone enough that nopony would notice they until they got inside.

“Alright ladies,” Gem said, “remember, we go in silent, make it to the elevator, and enact the plan. We’ll keep a channel open with you on comms until we know that Emberax is not going to cooperate.”

“Roger,” Wingmare responded.

The limo door opened, and Gem whispered. “Let’s go.”

The door gave way to a red carpet, and the flashing lights of digital cameras trying to catch every pixel of the best of the best that Saddle Krupp wanted to honor. The pair of ponies and their entourage were led up the short flight of stairs to the doors without so much of a complaint. The only thing that could have possibly slowed them down was a paparazzi that got too close to their eyes with the flash.

“Name?” A bouncer asked at the door, holding a dataslate.

“Sunset Shimmer, from Harmony Inc.” Twilight answered. “We’re on the list.”

They were, mostly because Gem put them there.

The bouncer double-checked his datapad, found the name, and let them pass. “Sunset Shimmer” strode through the door like she owned the place, laughing and talking with anyone she could, if only to get them to pretend that they recognize her.

They moved and glided their way to the elevator without so much as a pause. Meanwhile, Surprise slowly went around, hugging the wall of the foyer until she met up with “Shimmer” and her party. With the first floor easily navigated, the team quickly took to the elevator.

The moment the doors closed all appearances of being innocent party goers lasted only long enough for Gem to run a loop, before they got to work. Pinkie, Wingmare, Web, Steel, and Surprise all quickly began assaulting the access panel on the elevator, prying it open before they slipped up into the massive shaft.

“Do you have an anchor point?” Gem asked over the comm.

Web nodded. “It looks like we have a crawl space we can use next to the elevators.”

“Alright, get into position, but don’t move until we give you the signal.”

“Roger-roony!” Pinkie replied before the elevator came to a stop on the 90th floor. The moment the cabin stopped, the B&E team fired their grappling guns and winched themselves into place. Wingmare grabbed the additional grappling hooks and began to fly up the crawlspace, straight up to the penthouse.

“You got my back, Web?”

The shaman nodded, before going slack in the ropes as she began to astral project up the building.

Pinkie double-checked the hooks on Surprise before Web jumped back in her body. “This is weird.”

“What?” Steel asked.

“It’s too clean. Not a single elemental around.”

“That’s…” Steel said though she didn’t finish.

Pinkie knew what she would have said anyway. This may very well be a trap.

“Gem, do you read?” Web asked.

“Not now, Darling, I’m trying to rub elbows here,” Gem whispered over her comm.

“We’re finding no elemental security at all, be advised.”

There was silence on the line for a second. “Understood, proceed with caution.”

Web nodded, and the elevator team felt their grapple lines tighten. “That’s our cue, let’s go.”

The winches began to reel, pulling the team and their hidden drone up the elevator shaft to the top of the building. Within minutes they were at the top, and Pinkie grinned. “What’re the chances we can blow open the doors?”

“The Mag-locked elevator doors?” Wingmare asked. “Maybe. It’s probably easier than trying to go through the concrete.”

“So long as the elevator doesn’t come up to meet us,” Steel noted.

“Gem, we’re in standby, waiting for your signal.”

“Understood, moving in,” the decker whispered, before going silent.

The elevator team hung in silence for a moment or two, waiting for any signal from Gem, confident in the fact that the security teams were all too preoccupied with the party down below to pay attention to them.

<><><|><><>

Twilight navigated the party with careful piloting from the apparent ball-expert of Gem, before suddenly finding herself standing in front of a cyan dragon.

Emberax struck an imposing figure, almost more imposing than Spikarunz did. She strode through the party, a path appearing before her as she walked, no one daring to cross her path except when she approached them to talk. She commanded the room, as dragons do, and she commanded the fear of those around her.

Luckily, Twilight knew Emberax very well. Spike and Saddle Krupp CEO spent more time together than any other CEO, and Twilight had been in the room for many of those meetings. Emberax would know exactly who she was, and that meant she had an in to talk to the dragon.

All she had to do was get her attention.

Navigating the party with all the practice Spike’s numerous etiquette lessons, Twilight carefully positioned herself directly in front of the dragoness, and oh-so-carefully kept her out of her eyesight to make the moment.

Emberax bumped into her, and Twilight turned. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” the mage began.

Emberax growled, glaring down at her with vicious eyes, and a growl escaping her throat. “Yes, you are sorry, pony. Get out of my way, or you will be moved.”

Twilight blinked, and backed up, getting out of the way of the dragon, scrambling back.

“You alright, Rookie?” Gem asked in her ear.

She wasn’t alright. Ember was a dragon, she had an inalienable right to be standoffish and rough, but she softened when she saw ponies and dragons that she thought were friends. Her last four conversations with Ember had been years ago, but she never once been this vicious or cruel about it. No, something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

“Something’s wrong,” Twilight whispered.

“Are we aborting the mission?”

Twilight shook her head. “This is the only time we have. We need to move forward. Just...just be ready.”

Gem nodded from her perch by the punch table and sent the signal.

<><><|><><>

Pinkie swung to the door, fastening the detcord with what could only be described as a staple gun, before lighting the fuse all before she swung back.

“And let’s go!” she said.

The detcord detonated, and the steel doors to the elevator blew open.

Then, with a final swing, the team landed in the penthouse.

Web shook her head as she followed them. “I don’t like this, it doesn’t feel right.”

Surprise wheeled forward, leveling guns at the empty hallway. “Then we need to move quickly,” Wingmare said, grabbing her pistols.

And then they heard it.

The blood of all four hardened Runners froze in their veins as they heard the sound of hissing chitin and chittering mandibles.

“Abort!” Web yelled as Wingmare dived back into the elevator shaft while Steel and Pinkie turned and fumbled at their harnesses as they tried to follow.

Behind them, the hallway went black as the physical manifestation of their nightmares appeared.

“Go! Go!” Web yelled.

The earth ponies clicked their harnesses together as the monsters began to swarm like ants. They covered the ground in moments, and the ponies were barely in the shaft before the swarm got to the elevator door.

“Bug elementals!” Web yelled into the comm.

Pinkie glanced upward as the winch on her harness spun, but the Swarm was easily catching up. “Come on! Come on!”

Web fired a spell into the Swarm, and while a single elemental recoiled, it didn’t even slow the rest down.

“Come o—!” Pinkie yelled before she was cut off by the swarm engulfing her.

And her world went black.

Chapter 18

Twilight woke up, strapped to a table. Her back pressed into cold, stainless steel, while her hooves sat locked in tight restraints. Turning her head, and opening her eyes revealed a dark room, lit only by sickly green columns in the corners of the room. It took her a moment, a long minute of bleary-eyed confusion to realize that a pony-shaped figure hung, suspended in the green, rough, column.

It only took a second after that, and the feeling of her heart dropping into her stomach to realize what that meant.

Any mage worth her salt knew what the bug elementals were. Once magical, sentient creatures that could change their appearance, the elementals were altered by the Awakening and lost their physical form. Now, they were astral parasites, feeding off of the mana of living creatures to mold bodies for themselves.

But this was worse. This was implantation and body snatching.

Every mage knew it, every corp had warned about the dangers of contacting Bug Elementals. “They’ll snatch you up, and eat your soul!” one of her magic teachers taunted. “Wear your body like a suit, and hurt everyone you love.”

And now, here she lay, moments away from being sucked out of her own body like a smoothie.

Oh, she was going to die…

“Please tell me you’re not actually Twilight,” a voice said beside her.

Twilight glanced to the left where a turquoise, draconic form lay beside her on a separate table.

“E-Ember?” Twilight gasped.

The dragoness cursed. “What are you even doing here, Twilight? How did you get caught?”

Twilight grimaced. “Would you believe that Mr. Spikarunz got me into Running?”

“Oh, he’s doing that thing, isn’t he? The one where he’s gathering all the gems? And he sent you to collect mine.”

“Yeah, how did—”

“Oh it’s been in the works for years,” Emberax said. “It’s a shame this one’s going to end because a bug shaman got too big for his ego.”

“What? Who’s there?” a voice asked from the other side, and Twilight barely recognized that it belonged to Gem.

“Gem?” Twilight called out.

“Rookie? Rookie is that you?”

“Rookie? Tell me that’s not your street name.” Ember muttered.

“Yeah, it’s me, Gem. We’re strapped to tables, ready for someone to drink us like soul milkshakes, and have our bodies filled with bug elementals.”

“I hate bugs…” Gem said.

“What’s going on?” Steel’s voice asked.

“Huh?” Wingmare grumbled.

“Hm?” Web hummed, blearily.

“Well aren’t we in a pickle?” Candy said.

“How the frag did you just bounce back like that, Candy?” Wingmare asked.

“I rolled a natural 20 on my death saving throw. Wait...wrong game, nevermind!”

“Web, I think Candy got hit a little too hard,” the Adept said.

“I don’t think she’ll have to worry about it for too long,” Twilight said.

“You’re quite right,” a new voice said in the darkness. A moment later, a biped silhouette walked into the room, just at the end of Twilight’s table. She stood, teal in color, with unmistakably draconic horns. As the green light encapsulated her figure, the instantly recognizable figure of Ember appeared before her. “After what you and your team have seen, I can’t let any of you leave alive.”

Twilight glanced down at her. “Who are you?”

The false Ember smiled. “I am many things, but chief among them I am a vessel. A vessel for the Queen of the Hive. More importantly, you, Sunset Shimmer, are going to join me.”

Twilight glanced at the others.

“Everypony shall join me in the hive, one among billions, all joined together in a glorious, rapturous choir.”

Twilight blinked. “Did...did you willingly let her possess you?”

“Of course!” the fake Ember pronounced. “Why wouldn’t I? I know you don’t have the sense to recognize the innate glory of the wasp or ant, but surely even you know the power of being the right person at the right time, Ms. Shimmer?”

As though to punctuate her sentence she transformed, the draconic form burning away in green flame as she now took the shape of Twilight herself.

Twilight sat there, unimpressed. “You traded your life for a physical mask spell. You know that’s insane right?”

“Says the uninitiated. Says the one who does not know the Embrace of the hive. Says the one who cannot—That’s enough, my child.” The change in tone and cadence of her voice shifted so hard in nearly gave Twilight whiplash.

The fake Twilight paused a moment, before nodding. “Do you wish to address them, my Queen?”

“My most generous house is zealous, and quick to draw lines,” the new voice in the imposter said. “This is forgivable, though her talent is greater in noticing the smaller details.”

“Good to know,” Twilight said.

“Any weaknesses would be useful as well!” Steel said.

The imposter ignored her. “Yet, I think there is a greater use for you,” she continued. “I would rather not waste such talent. You are a powerful mage, I can tell, and you don’t carry yourself like the rest of your party. You’re special. You aren’t cut out for a life of crime like your friends here. You would do well in the Hive.”

“I think I’ll pass,” Twilight said.

“The alternative is death,” the Queen said. “I can gladly feed you to my children, or you could join us, and become greater than just yourself could ever be. Make your choice carefully, little pony. Because you will serve the hive one way or the other.”

“And I appreciate it, but no thank you, I like free will, however limited it may be.”

The imposter frowned. “That’s a terrible shame. You’ll be food then.” The Queen and her vessel turned before she began walking out. “When we come to get you the next time, your lives will be forfeit.”

The door shut behind them, leaving the team and the dragon locked away, bathed in the green light of the previous victims of the hive.

“Not bad, Rookie,” Wingmare said. “Stayed with the team. I can appreciate that.”

“It’s not really a choice,” Twilight said. “I either die or have my soul pulled out like an apple core.”

“Still.”

“That’s the nicest thing I’ve heard a Runner ever say,” Ember said. “Shame we’re all going to die.”

“Nope!” Candy said.

All eyes tried their best to turn to face the pink rigger. “What? You have a way out?” Ember asked.

“Nope!” Candy replied.

“We prepared more for being shot than captured,” Web explained. “Which makes sense given your, well, draconic way of running this place.”

“Fair, but...what makes you so sure we won’t die, then?”

“She gets bursts of random optimism,” Gem explained.

“Nope, not this time!” Candy said proudly. “We’ve been through worse, we got this!”

“We have not been in a worse situation,” Web argued. “We are surrounded by bug elementals, we’re tied down to tables, and they’re waiting to suck out our souls through a straw. That’s easily worse than anything else we’ve been through.”

“But we have our equipment!” Candy said.

“Not that it does us much good, Candy,” Gem said. “They’ve messed with my datajack. I can’t access my PAN, my deck, or anything without running a diagnostic, and I can’t do that without my deck on hoof.”

“Not to mention that these appear to be magecuffs.” Twilight said, glancing up at the faintly-glowing restraints that held her down. “If we even think about casting a spell, we’re going to be shocked into unconsciousness.”

“Good eye,” Ember said. “Mine are set for a dragon-dose, so I would be extra careful not to set yours off.”

“Besides,” Web said. “And we can’t stress this enough, we’re surrounded by bugs that want to eat our souls.”

“But they left us alive,” Candy said. “Whenever we’ve run into bugs before, they’ve never given us this much time.”

“We are surrounded by a hive, Candy!”

“We have a dragon,” Candy said.

The whole team glanced over to Ember.

“To be fair, she’s got a point on that one,” the dragoness said. “But I don’t think I’ll be able to save you before I can get out of my own shackles.”

“Okay, so, we have a dragon that can’t save us, equipment we can’t get to, magic we can’t access, and soul-sucking bugs that gave a few extra minutes,” Twilight listed with a sigh. “Yes, we’re bound to get out of here.”

“We going to make it, Rookie. Trust me,” Candy said.

Twilight sighed. “I hope you’re right.”

At that moment, a pony entered, staring blankly forward as he entered the room. “The queen has ordered you to die. Which of you is the one known as Sunset Shimmer?”

“That’s me!” Candy said, loudly.

Twilight had just enough time to turn around, confused before the pony entered. “You will die first then, and bring nourishment to the Hive,” he droned, so obviously possessed that he might as well have been wearing a sign that read “meat puppet” around his neck.

“Great!” Candy said with a smile. “I can do you one better, even!”

The possessed pony didn’t know what to make of it. His own intelligence severely limited by the hive mind. “You mean...to join?”

“No, you can still eat me!” she replied cheerfully. “You beat us fair and scare, and so I’m going to let you have that!”

The possessed pony blinked. “Very well, then we shall—”

“But before we get started, can I ask one thing, since I’m letting you eat me and all?”

The drone pondered this for a long second. “What do you ask?”

“Could you turn on the air? It’s warm in here, and I wanna be comfy when you suck out my soul.”

Everyone in the room stared at Candy as if she grew a second head while still strapped to the table.

“I…” the drone began, bewildered. “I...this isn’t a trick, is it?”

“Why would I trick you? You’ve already won.” Candy said.

The drone had trouble processing this. “I...I suppose I can do this…” Walking over to the thermostat, the drone quietly flipped a switch, and the vents silently opened.

“Now,” the drone said. “You are to die.”

“Yup!” Candy replied. “But is it just me or do you hear a buzzing noise?”

The drone shook his head. “No more distractions, you die.”

“Okay,” she said, “don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

The drone had just enough time to look up, annoyed before a swarm of parasprite drones flooded into the room from the vents. A pair of them flashed across the drone's eyes shocking him long enough for the other 48 of them to tear open one of the restraints. And that was all it took before Candy grabbed her sidearm and filled the drone full of lead.

“Thank you, Babies!” Candy said before the drones dispersed and began freeing the others. “And that’s why you invest in above-average auto-pilot!”

“Lovely,” said Ember, “but you need to get ready because more bugs are coming.”

As the others began to prep themselves, Candy approached Twilight with a smile. “See, Rookie, I told you we’d make it out.”

“T-Thank you, Candy. I...I thought we were goners for sure.”

“It’s alright, Rookie. It’s true some days are dark and lonely and maybe you’ll feel sad, but I’ll always be there to show you it isn’t that bad.”

“And while that’s all well and sappy,” Ember said as she stood and flexed her claws. “I’m more than happy to be released. The only thing that really dampens my mood is the fact that a hundred and 5 bugs are coming this way, and I can only take a hundred of them. You ladies wouldn’t be opposed to some extermination work, are you?”

“I don’t think we’d be opposed, no,” Gem said.

“Wonderful,” Ember said, “now if you’ll follow me to the armory, I’m sure we can find something that suits all of you.”

<><><|><><>

“Bring the fools to your queen!” the Queenhost called through her borrowed telepathy, directing the thousands upon thousands of bug elementals and their handful of possessed corp ponies. “Bring the fools to be feasted on!”

A mental cry went up among the elementals. They would bring down these fools, even if they were armed with miniguns firing orichalcum bullets.

As it happened, though…

Steel sat behind the roaring weapon, firing very expensive bullets that tore through spectral forms and elementals. Her gun mowed them down with a vengeance, cutting huge swaths of the creatures down as they funneled into the small and cramped hallways. In the first five seconds she had built up a kill count of over a hundred ponies and elementals, and bill a thousand times that in the expenses of the magical metal that made up her ammunition alone.

The minigun roared until it began to glow red, and the hive swelled as it appeared that they were going to quickly overwhelm the earth pony and her massive, yet incredibly expensive gun.

But Steel just smiled as the bodies continued to pile, before finally stepping to the side. “They’re all yours, Candy!”

The thudding of mechanical hooves thundered behind her, and a new, terrifying, pony-like form filled the hallway. The new, yet-to-be-announced, yet-to-even-be-properly-named SK Duelist-Class Drone 37 MK IV came crashing through the enemy line, tearing apart the mortal forms of the possessed ponies with a sword in one hoof, and laser weapon in the other.

The elementals were slowed by the drone, but ultimately their mana-based manifestations were incredibly resistant. Yet, at the same time, they could not see, nor truly interact with the drone, leaving them free to approach the earth pony with her still-cooling minigun.

“Web! Rookie! Dragon! You’re up!”

“Yeah, yeah, take cover,” came Ember’s casual reply.

The elementals didn’t have enough time to process that, though, as dragonfire roared down the hall, melting the steel, plastic, and concrete all the way down. It burned, destroying flesh and mana as it burned in both the physical and astral planes, killing anything that tried to stand before it with ease, leaving only ash. In moments, the whole place was ruined, with Steel and the Drone barely surviving by hiding deeper in the intersections.

A second later the sprinklers kicked on, turning to steam the moment the water hit the still-red wasteland left in Ember’s wake.

“Man, that felt good,” Ember said. “Teach them to get a dragon while she’s sleeping.”

“I was going to ask,” Wingmare muttered.

“Steel, you still ok?” Gem asked over her comm..

“Barely. I was nearly making a great impersonation of an apple pie sitting in the oven.”

“That’s good enough for now,” Ember said.

“Glad to know my safety counts for something,” Steel grumbled.

“If I didn’t care, you’d be a barbecue. You’re fine,” Ember said. “More importantly, we need to find the Queenhost and wipe her out. Bugs can’t do much without a queen, so the sooner she’s roasted the better.”

“Okay, any idea where she is then?” Wingmare asked.

“If I had to guess, probably in my penthouse,” Ember muttered.

“Great!” Twilight said. “Then all we need to do is get to the elevator shaft and climb in.”

“Simple plan,” Steel said. “I dunno about the execution, though. Can’t really take this bad boy with us up there,” she grumbled, slapping the side of the minigun.

“Probably for the best,” Ember said. “That ammo is not cheap.”

“So how do we take care of the elementals upstairs?” Gem asked. “Our mages won’t be able to take out all of them.”

“We don’t need to take out all of them,” Twilight said. “We just need to take out the Queen, the others will fall apart after that.”

Ember nodded. “And that’s why you’re Spikearunz’s favorite.”

“So we’re going into a wet work job,” Gem said, a moment later. “The target is in the Penthouse suite. Access points include the elevator, and the windows if we find a way up there.”

“We can use the Astral plane,” Twilight said. “If the bugs are still trying to hide from outside forces, we might be able to get through before they could stop us from taking the Queen out.”

“That is a horribly risky play,” Web interjected. “If we make too strong of a move, we’re going to be swarmed.”

“Yes, but if we move fast enough, we might be able to take out the queen first,” Twilight said.

“That is, again, a terrible idea,” Web said. “The bugs are going to see us in the astral from a mile away. The only way you’d possibly be able to get to her is if every single one of those Elementals is looking at something else.”

“Something like a massive, vortex of magic in the astral plane. Something like a dragon maybe?” Twilight said before glancing back at Ember.

The dragoness smiled. “She does have a point, you know.”

A moment of silence passed.

“So...my plan?” Twilight asked.

Gem sighed. “Your plan.”

“Your plan,” Ember agreed. “With one small change.”

<><><|><><>

The Queenhost stood, surrounded by her hive as the elevator at the center of the penthouse. The doors to the shaft were still blown off their slides, laying uselessly on the floor. The LCD display that read the floor numbers slowly counted up, as the elevator slowly climbed the building. The Queenhost knew what was coming, she could feel the massive, swirling power in the astral space with ease.

Finally, the elevator arrived, and the inner doors opened, revealing an earth pony, a machine duelist, a simple decker, and a dragon.

“And here she is,” the Queenhost snarled, “the great dragon laid low. Come to beg for her life at the hooves of the Queen.”

Ember merely stared for a moment before she spoke. “Your host needs to learn her place, your highness. It does not befit a queen to have trash speak for her.”

The Queenhost bristled. “H-How dare you! I am the Queen’s chosen! I will not be—”

“She needs to be reminded that she chose to become a member of the hive. That means she is nothing. After all, that’s the whole point of a queen.”

If the Queenhost had anything left to say, she was cut off by the powerful elemental that possessed her. “If you wish to speak Queen to Queen, I can allow that,” she said, her voice haughty and snarling. “But if we must, then I will also meet you face to face.”

There was a great flash of green fire, and the pony-like figured slipped away to reveal one far more horrifying. Black as night, a twisted form appeared, taller than Ember, with emerald green elytra, and a long, spiraling horn, the Queen began to take shape in front of them, a mockery of the Princess' form, with both horn and wings growing from a single, hideous body. Long fangs poked out of a seemingly innocent mouth that hid terrible mandibles beneath, just visible each time she spoke.

“There, does meeting as equals please you so?” the Queen asked.

“Honestly, no. I almost prefer the pony,” Ember said. “But either way, the fact remains that I want my company back.”

“I cannot give it to you. Your company currently holds the best chance of me completing my goals since it is currently positioned for a magical takeover of at least two of your competitors.”

“That is nowhere near true,” Ember said.

“Well, it is when I’m at the helm,” the Queen replied smugly.

Ember shook her head. “If you truly believe that Saddle Krupp can take on two more Triple A corporations by itself then you are a madpony regardless of whatever plan you think you have. That’s the point of the Corporate Court.”

“You are just too blind to see the possibilities.”

Ember shook her head. “Look, we might have been able to work something out, but if you’re going to waste everything I built on a poorly thought-out grab for power, then you deserve what’s coming to you.”

“Oh, and what is coming to me?” The queen asked amused.

“This,” Ember said, before breathing deep.

Immediately, the manifested Elementals swarmed to the front of the Queen, making a living shield as dragonfire roared down the hallway. They formed a wall that quickly burned and melted before the heat of Ember’s wrath.

The Queen merely smiled. “Terrifying,” she said dryly, as her defenses crumbled to ash.

“You can only do that so many times,” Ember growled.

“True, but I can swarm you before then,” the Queen said with a smirk. “Really, you need to know when you’re fighting a losing battle.”

Ember smirked. “So do you,” she said before a spell rocked the Queen’s body.

The Queen roared, shocked, as astral strings were cut, and weapon foci were brought to bear. The body was killed in seconds, and the spirit of the bug was ripped and torn. She howled as she was hit in the astral plane, right where her elemental being was most vulnerable.

She spun, eyes flashing as they peeked into her home plane, spotting the two ponies that just tried to assassinate her. “You!” she growled.

The swarm answered her call, moving as a single cloud to rip the runners apart, only for the Queen to realize, too late, that she just left herself defenseless with a dragon at her back. She turned in time to see Ember behind her, smiling wide as the back of her throat lit up with orange light.

“Never play chess with a dragon, your highness.”

And the queen burned.

<><><|><><>

“Well, you did a good job, ladies,” Ember said as a crew of ponies tried cleaning up the penthouse, even though a good tenth of resembled little more than slag. Very little was spared, though Ember still managed to look impressive as she sat at what remained of her desk.

“Well, we would be remiss if we said we couldn’t do it without you,” Gem said.

“You would,” Ember agreed. “Regardless, I was having a hard time getting out of the cuffs, and if you didn’t have a very clever, horrendously optimistic rigger, then we all would have been in trouble. I have to say well done, and I would have you paid well.”

She spun as she sat at her blackened desk, and pulled out a box from a drawer. Opening it, she reached inside and pulled out a pale blue aquamarine. “This,” the turquoise dragon said, “I believe, is what you were looking for, and I imagine it would suffice as payment.”

“Thank you, Ms. Ember. You’re most kind.”

“Additionally,” the dragoness said with a smirk. “You get one favor. Have your Rookie call me, and then I’ll do whatever I can to help out.”

“Thank you, Ms. Ember,” Gem said again.

Ember nodded. “And thank you.”

With that final thanks acting as a parting word, the ponies began heading back to the elevator shaft. As the inner doors to the elevator cabin shut, and the ponies stood, gathered together as they held onto the gear, they only let silence pass between them.

At the very least, until Candy spoke up. “See! I told you we’d be fine.”

Chapter 19

Rarity knew that today wasn’t going to be nearly as much fun the moment that she got the call from Wingmare. “What is it, Darling?” she texted back, as she sipped at a virtual cocktail in the hottest “bar” in the Matrix.

“Hey, Gem!” Wingmare texted back. “Could you hop out? I really need to talk.”

Well that wasn’t a good sign. Wingmare always said she was better at explaining herself over a call than by over text. Sighing, Rarity waved her drink away, and signed out, reappearing in her apartment where she lounged on her poor couch, which sat in a desperate need to be reupholstered.

She opened up the call with Wingmare. “What did you do?”

“Hey, I didn’t do anything other than find us a job!”

Gem sighed. “Just tell me what happened.”

“So, you know the payout for the last job?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“And you know that bike I’ve been looking at?”

“The Nightmare?”

“Yeah! And you know how the only way to make bikes like that awesome is to take them to a shop where they might have a few of the too-cool-for-the-Star mods?”

“Did you go to a chop shop in the sprawl?”

“Look, the Don has some good shops out there, and I get a family discount, okay?” Wingmare said.

“Did someone steal your bike?” Rarity asked.

“What? No! I stayed by that thing the whole time, it’s a twenty-two thousand nubit bike, Gem! There was no way I was leaving that in the Sprawl by itself.”

“Well, at least we can’t fault you for that,” Rarity said with a sigh, before opening up her fridge, and grabbing a Nova Cola can.

“So, I’m at the shop, right?” Wingmare continued. “I’m sitting there, next to my bike, and this mare comes out of the back, and—have you ever heard of Mad Moll?” she asked, suddenly interrupting herself.

“Can’t say I have, no.”

“So, Mad Moll is old, like, really old. If she were rich, she’d have had plastic surgery three times. Instead, she’s got no chrome, and, like at fifty, she took down a massive earth pony Street sam that was like, three times her size. I swear! She leads the 57 Hellriders, and she’s like, the sixth coolest pony ever, right after the Wonderbolts.”

Gem waited.

“So anyway, Mad Fragging Moll walks up through the back of the shop, and I can barely believe it when all of a sudden I hear a bunch of bikes. Turns out, it’s the fragging 105 Road Devils, and they start shooting up the place in a hit-and-run! So I protect myself, because, you know, 22k bike and all, and what do I see, but Mad Moll runs out into the street, grabs one of the Devils by the neck, and drags him off his bike, before pounding the guy into the dirt! It was awesome!”

"So what’s the job you got us, Wingmare?” Rarity asked.

"I'm getting there," she said. "So Mad Moll completely drags these Devil's over, and sends them packing, but not before they shoot her up real good. I thought she was honestly dead. But, once they drove away, Mad Moll gets back up! The crazy mare’s still alive!”

“The job, Wingmare,” Rarity nearly yelled.

Wingmare was silent for a second. “Moll helped the Don a lot, and he wants to help her complete her dying wish.”

“Great. At least the mafia is bankrolling us,” the decker said. “Go gangs don’t pay nearly as well. So what’s her dying wish?”

“One last oorah with her and her Hellriders,” Wingmare said. “That’s no big deal, right?”

“And what does ‘One last oorah’ entail?”

“One big ride around the territory, before heading to Devil’s territory and shooting them up.”

“So we’re Go Ganger mercenaries now?” Rarity asked.

“We’re doing them a favor, for the Belgrades, since, you know, they’re the kind of ponies that like repaying favors.”

“Right, right. How much?”

“1.5k each, but this’ll be easy for us. This is street-level work.”

Rarity sighed. “We have better things to do, Wingmare. I’ve heard that Spikearunz might be sending us the next big job in a couple of days, we don’t have time to waste doing this kind of stuff.”

“Sure we do, besides, it’s another 1.5k each for ammo and stuff right?”

“Wingmare…”

“Look, one job. It’s you doing something for the Belgrades, they’ll be more likely to do favors for us in the future.”

Rarity sighed. “I hate you right now. Fine. We’ll do the job, but then we need to prep for the next job.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it! Last job until we do the thing for Spike,” Wingmare said. “I promise, though, this’ll be easy!”

<><><|><><>

The team gathered out on the corner of 57th and Sunshine Ave. Candy’s van rumbled down the street, before being joined by Rarity’s Street Dart. Inside the van, Candy, Steel, Web, and the Rookie all waited, armed with their various weapons or fetishes, all ready to go. As the sun began to descend into the evening, the team soon found themselves bathed in the warm, buzzing, yellow light of the streetlamps and the dying sun.

“Any sign of Wingmare?” Twilight asked. “This is her job, right?”

“She said she’s getting her bike ready. We’re going to be doing a lot of riding here in the next few hours,” Candy explained.

The corp mage sighed.

A half an hour passed before Wingmare finally arrived, riding her new bike, the body painted in black with red highlights and ghost flames painted along the body. The engine rumbled like thunder, and Candy gave a low, impressed whistle as the adept pulled up. “Now that’s a nice ride.”

“It is now,” Wingmare said with a smirk.

“Was the paint job necessary?” Rarity asked.

“When are ghost flames not necessary?” the pegasus asked back.

“At the risk of trying to move things along,” Web said from beneath her cowl, “where are we going?”

“We need to head down the 57 to Grease’s Garage. Mad Moll will meet us there. You brought the pain killers, right Web?”

“I brought extra if that’s what you’re asking,” she replied.

“Great, she’s probably going to need it.”

Offering no other explanation, the trio of vehicles began gliding down the road into the Sprawl proper, where dingy, neon-lit billboards began to flicker to life. The morning rain left reflecting puddles along the asphalt, all of which caught the light like a thousand tiny mirrors.

The vehicle train splashed through the street, moving quickly down the 57 before they slowly pulled up to a single building that read “Grease’s Garage” in big capital letters. The Garage looked like it was mostly closed, except for the fact that a small group of tough-looking, chromed up bikers standing in the doorway.

As the team pulled up, Wingmare gave them a nod and one of the toughs approached. “Are you the Runners from the Don?” he asked.

Wingmare smirked. “We’re the ones that were hired, yes. Protip though, don’t ask ponies if they’re Runners.”

“Get inside,” the tough said. “Moll wants to see you.”

Wingmare nodded, and motioned for the others to follow, before parking her bike along the curb.

With only a look between them, the others followed, Candy parking her beloved van behind the new Nightmare, before letting everyone jump out.

Rarity took a moment to compose herself and put on her best friend-winning smile. “Hello boys!” she said, walking up to the guards.

The ponies guarding the door looked them over quickly, before waving them through, muttering to themselves about “fancy Runners and their fancy chrome,” before being led inside, where “Grease’s” proved the worth of its name. Every surface in the building seemed to be covered in motor grease. Whether it was a hoofprint on the wall or a puddle of congealed dirt and mud on the floor, the owner had found some way of getting grease on it. Rarity felt her skin crawl at the sight of it, yes she had been through worse, but she had an image to keep up, and if that wasn’t one of the best parts of her job, then she didn’t know what was.

As they were led further in, they finally came up to an office, guarded by yet another pair of ponies in full go-ganger dress. Their thick, synth-leather jackets, studded with small metal spikes, were dyed yellow and blue, the proud colors of the Hellriders, leaving no doubt as to who these ponies swore allegiance to. Large, and rather expensive looking hoof-guns sat at their sides, and they gave each one of the runners a snarl befitting of a small bear as they approached.

Their escort quickly stepped up for them. “Ey-o, Slug. Dese chummers are chill. The ones the Family sent us. Leave ‘em be, we don’t want no static with the help.”

The big earth pony merely snorted, before stepping aside.

The escort led them inside the office. “Don’t mind the mess. The boss ain’t in a position to clean up after ‘erself,” he said as they stepped into the room, only to find that the whole floor was covered in bottles. Synthol bottles, boxes, cans, along with pain killers bottles littered the office, covering almost every flat surface except for a couch, and the stairs that led to a loft somewhere above them. “Don’t mind Slug either, he’s just worried.”

The smell of booze and rot filled Rarity’s nose, and she resisted the urge to cover her nostrils. She couldn’t appear weak in front of the clients after all.

“Boss! Boss we’re here,” the escort called, before the sound of clinking glass rang from above them. Slowly, a mare wandered down the stairs, holding on to a can of synthol. A fresh, nasty gash ran along her side, and a mess of bandages covered her whole body. She finished beer, threw the can away, and opened a bottle of painkillers.

“You the ponies the Don sent?”

“Yeah, that’s us,” Rarity said.

“Good. I don’t know if I can take the taste of these pills much longer,” she said, before throwing back some of them, and swallowing them dry. “I’m Molly Whop. My crew calls me Moll, and I’m probably too messed up from the pills to remember your names even if you tell me.”

“Then let’s get to business. What’s going on?”

She smirked. “I’m dying,” she said. “I took some bad hits, and the street doc can’t fix me without getting me chrome, and that’s not how I roll. I’m not going to give up forty years of being the toughest fragger on the streets only to ruin it by getting chromed up in my old age. They’re going to say I went weak.” She tossed her bottle of pills onto the couch. “You don’t need to know that, though. I just overshare when I’m buzzed. Anyway, I’m not going to let them say that while I’m still on my four hooves.”

“Okay, so what do you want to do?”

“Pay back the Road Devils for what they did to me, just so they’ll never forget that the Hellriders own this stretch of asphalt. We’re going to go down there, and burn everything they have to the ground, and you’re going to help us.”

“Okay,” Rarity said, secretly enjoying the no-nonsense attitude, even if she was definitely more than “buzzed” if the sheer number of bottles was anything to go by.

“So, since I’m not going to last long, we’re going to get started in ten minutes. We’re going to go out there, get all the Hellriders together, and then burn 105 to asphalt,” Moll said before she began walking through the bottles and mess. She grabbed a yellow and blue jacket at the door. “You know how to ride bikes?” she asked.

“Most of us,” Rarity said.

“Eh, if you need to double up, then fine. Get all the guns you need, grab some jackets, and pick your bikes. We’ve got some hell to raise.”

As the injured mare slipped on her jacket and pushed past them, Rarity glanced at her team. They didn’t seem uncomfortable, though she knew from experience that they normally hated micromanaging clients. It seemed at least, that Moll hadn’t worn out her welcome yet with most of them.

The big exception was Wingmare, who was smiling so wide she could have been mistaken for a colts cartoon character. “Isn’t she awesome?” she whispered.

“Sure,” Rarity said, before she motioned for everypony to follow her.

Moll limped to the back of the building, into the garage, where a small fleet of choppers and power cruisers. She took hers, along with her guards, leaving almost half of them empty, though they did each have a jacket hanging on them. “Pick the ones you want. The bikes deserve to ride, even if the ponies can’t.”

“I’ve actually got my Nightmare outside, can I use that?” Wingmare asked.

“I can respect a Nightmare,” she replied.

“Sweet!” she cried, before running back outside. “I’ll see you out there!”

“Well,” Rarity said. “You heard her, go pick your bike.”

Web found a bike that seemed to be covered in chains, and bad magic fetishes, most of which did little more than look cool, but when the engine roared, looking cool was all that mattered.

Steel picked a power cruiser not-unlike Rarity’s Streetdart, that closed around her, almost sealing her into the bike before the gyros in machine kept it balanced without needing her to use her legs outside the cockpit.

Candy picked a chopper, slid into the seat, pulled PeeWee from her pocket, and duct-taped him to the front. The little Roto-drone buzzed for a moment before it’s gun faced forward, giving her the cheapest weapon upgrade Rarity had seen in a long time.

Twilight chose another chopper, much like Web’s though this one was covered in flames as opposed to magic totems. The seat sat low to the ground, and both of her forelegs had to reach up to grab the handlebars.

Rarity hummed and hawed until she chose a classic-looking cruiser. Stepping on, she double-checked her submachine gun, and gunned the engine.

The bikes roared to life, and Mad Moll waved her hoof in the air to signal them to follow. The rolling garage door opened, and the small fleet of bikes were unleashed. Rumbling and roaring, the bikes moved swiftly across the asphalt, giving Wingmare just enough time to catch up on her own bike before they shot forward.

“Just an FYI, Gem, I stuck your bike into Candy’s van,” Wingmare said over the comm. “Didn’t want somepony grabbing it while we’re gone.”

“Thanks,” Rarity said as the simple GPS control took control of the bike long enough for her to pull out her deck and begin typing away. “I’m getting the bike computers onto my PAN real quick. Just because this job should be easy, doesn’t mean I don’t trust these other Go-Gangers haven’t hired a decker.”

“Are you sure they have the cash for that?” Twilight asked.

“There are deckers desperate enough to take the job,” Rarity said securing the computers with a few more keystrokes. “There always are.”

The bikes slipped down the road, cruising down the 57 as Moll led the pack, popping a handful of painkillers as she did. As she drove past an apartment complex, she drew a large pistol, and fired twice into the air. The shot rang out, and ponies glanced from their windows before quickly disappearing back their curtains.

Not moments later, another fleet of bikes joined them, dressed in yellow and blue, many whooping and shooting their own guns as a handful swung chains. Their bikes roared, shots rang out, fired by the increasingly excited fleet of go-gangers.

Rarity smirked as she watched the ponies around her cheer, excited, before she saw Moll’s bike fall back beside her. “Keep my gang safe!” Moll yelled over the roar of the engine. “Once the Devils know we’re coming, they’re going to try and get us from behind!”

Rarity nodded, before she made a call to the others. “Spread out, toward the back We’re the rear guard right now.”

“Roger!” Wingmare said, before her Nightmare pulled back, followed by the others following close behind.

Taking their new positions at the back of the pack, Rarity began relaying new orders. “Web and Rookie, take the flanks, make sure you have some spells to protect the sides. Candy, in the middle back, and get ready to drop some grenades. Wingmare, Steel, you’re both with me, We’re going to shoot anyone that gets close that’s not wearing the right colors.”

“Gang wars, here we come!” Steel said.

“That is the job we were hired for,” Gem said.

The Hellriders continued to ride down the stretch of 57, gathering more and more gangers as Moll occasionally shot into the air, signaling to the others that they were on the warpath. More bikes, some waving yellow and blue flags joined them, pulling guns and crying out “Hellriders!” in a chant that could just barely be heard over the rumble of the engines.

Despite that, Rarity still picked out the sound of a vehicle coming up behind her.

Glancing back through her mirror, she saw another bike closing in, this one being driven by a unicorn with bright red goggles that glinted with the tell-tale sign of a bad AR projector. He was soon joined by another, and then another, and then another, all of whom kept a large distance between themselves and the fleet of Hellrider bikes.

“Web, do you have an elemental that can check them out for us?” Rarity asked.

“Give me a second,” she replied, before leaning to the side of her bike just as they drove over a large puddle. The wave of water that splashed up and over Web’s outstretched hoof gathered in a single bubble, hovering on the edge of her fur before forming eight small legs. A small water elemental formed, no larger than a brick.

The elemental shot long, web-like strands from its abdomen, before it dissolved to mist in the air.

A moment later, Web spoke up. “Well, I’ve just been told that our shadows here are wearing red and blue jackets with really big devil faces on them.”

“That sounds like some Road Devils to me,” Rarity said. “Candy, can you give them a surprise?”

“One road present, coming up!” she yelled in response, before she just dropped a bouquet of grenades in the middle of the road.

The bikes behind them didn’t seem to notice at first, until the leader of the Road Devil’s swerved crazily before an explosion rocked the asphalt. One bike spun out of control, crashing into the apartment blocks, and splattering it’s driver.

They pulled a handful of guns, and fired their small-caliber fire.

Rarity answered with a burst from her submachine gun, which caused the others to scatter. “Web, can you keep the Elemental tracking them?”

“For a bit, that one is weak, and he won’t stay long.”

“Good enough, see if they report back to the devils.”

“You got it.”

Moll kept roaring forward, gathering her Go-gangers as they rode down the 57, heading toward a park. The park quickly filled with bikes as hundreds of ponies found a place to park, their weapons all turned skyward in celebrations Mad Moll took another swig of synthol before climbing the statue of some corporate scumbag who donated the park for PR. “Hellriders!” she yelled, and the gang quickly quieted down, switching their engines off as needed. “Hellriders!” she called again. “The 105 Road Devils shot up some Riders, and left them dead!”

“Boo!” the crowd leered, firing their guns angrily and trashing wherever they so desired.

“So we’re going to teach them a lesson!”

The gang roared, their engines starting up again, before Wingmare, as directed by Rarity, flew upward, and over to Moll, whispering into her ear.

“And it looks like we can start with a few of the Devils coming to us!” the injured earth pony roared.

The bikers cheered before they mobilized.

Rarity sighed from her seat on her bike and gathered her team around her. “Looks like we’re going to war sooner rather than later, girls.”

Chapter 20

Bikes roared as the 57 Hellriders swarmed down the 105.

The handful of devils, the remnant of the first scouting party as well as a few other reinforcements were completely decimated as they hit the main force of the Hellriders. There were barely even any scraps left of the bikes, leaving only oil spills and blood splatters as any evidence that there was a fight. The metal was cannibalized by the Hellriders, and transformed into bizarre armor for the go-gangers, all of whom had been turned to war.

Not long after that, Rarity got her first sign that something was wrong.

Someone had tried to hack into Mad Moll’s bike.

Protecting them took a little effort on Rarity’s part. She hadn’t thought through the idea of protecting their target from Matrix attack and driving a bike down the road at highway speeds, but so far she managed to keep it safe through her AR interface.

Mostly, it helped that the enemy decker was drek at his job and was probably working out of a deck that was five years old, but the fact remained that he knew his way around the matrix enough to try and break the navigation systems.

“We have an enemy decker, ladies,” Rarity said over the comm.

“Took them long enough,” Web said.

“What’s the plan?” Twilight asked.

“Keep Moll alive,” Wingmare said.

“Well, obviously,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “But how?”

“Right now, keep the gangers off her back,” Web said. “We’ll have to keep our eyes open, and adapt as we go.”

“Flying by the seat of our pants?” Steel asked.

“As much as I hate it,” Web replied.

“It’s the best plan we have,” Rarity said with a sigh. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t do something about it. Web, get another elemental out there and send it to scout ahead. Candy, get PeeWee in the sky and check ahead. That’ll cover both our spaces, and gives a good look at what’s ahead.”

“You’ve got it!” Candy said, before she pulled her drone free of her handlebars, and let him loose.

Web likewise nodded and pulled another water elemental from the puddles around them. The water spider gladly took it’s instructions, before floating away into mist, scouting ahead as asked.

“Great, Steel, Wingmare, get up to the front of the pack, you’ll be our point mares. Keep a lookout for anything that looks like a problem.”

“Got it!” The pegasus cried, before she pulled her bike into a wheelie, and shot forward, into the pack of screaming gangers that cheered for blood.

“Candy takes the left flank, Web the right, Rookie, you and I will stick to the back. Keep in touch over the comms the whole time, alright?”

“Roger!” Candy said.

“Better plan that what I have,” Web said before she took off to her spot.

“Alright, Rookie, your job is to make sure I don’t crash if I have to stop a matrix attack.”

“Oh, is that all?” Twilight asked with a smirk.

As though to punctuate the thought, Web’s voice cut in over the comm. “Well it looks like you made a good call, Gem. We have contacts on the right side.”

“How many?”

“Just three, but it looks like one of them has a rocket launcher.”

“What?!”

“Hang on,” Web said before going silent for a while, a moment later an explosion rocked the next street down. “There we go, taken care of.”

“What was that?” Rarity asked.

“A Civilization Elemental tripping the bike up,” Web replied. “It looks like these guys are not ready to combat a mage.”

“Well, they do say geek the mage first, right?” Twilight asked with a grim smirk.

“Good to know you’re paying attention, Rookie,” Steel said.

“We have ponies crashing the party over here!” Candy said before her side of the pack began opening up with gunfire, and explosions.

“Web, what does your elemental see?” Rarity asked as a new warning of an intrusion popped up on her AR interface.

“She sees a large number of ponies heading this way. She can’t see what bikes or weapons they have, but they’re all very angry.”

“Sounds like they’re coming to us,” Rarity said, even as her eyes shot across her AR keyboard, trying to activate her defense programs while fumbling for her autopilot function. “Candy, are you able to hold the flank?”

“So far so good!” the rigger replied, no doubt tossing grenades the whole time.

“Keep us posted,” Rarity ordered.

“We ain’t seen nothing on our end, yet. It looks like they ain’t meet us head-on,” Steel reported.

“I have more contacts on the right,” Web said before the reports of her Harmony Roc could be heard.

Rarity still fumbled for the autopilot, searching for it while her eyes still tried glancing between her interface and the road, splitting her attention three ways. “Just keep our eyes peeled, girls! I’m a little busy at the mom—”

Her handlebars were suddenly alive with the ring of telekinesis, and Gem had just enough time to look over and see Twilight’s horn ablaze as she held her steady.

“Thank you, dear!” she said, before she got both hooves onto her deck, repelling the intruder with ease now that she could focus. Then the sound of rumbling engines sounded behind them. Glancing back, Rarity said something very unladylike and spoke into her comm. “We have contacts behind!”

Twilight groaned, before turning to her fellow unicorn. “Let me know when you can drive!”

“In just a second,” she replied before small arms fire began to thunder behind them.

“Should I drop back?” Steel asked.

“What’s it look like up there?” Gem asked.

“Still nothing,” she replied.

“Then come bac—” Rarity began, only for Twilight to cut her off.

“No, I’ve got it!” Twilight said. “Keep the VIP secure until we can take out the Devils because all I’m doing is waiting on Gem.”

The moment she finished, Rarity grabbed the handlebars of her bike, having just finished rebuffing the enemy decker for now. “Go!”

A spell began to sheathe Twilight’s horn in red light before she brought it down hard. The spell erupted when it hit the asphalt, splashing out in a tidal wave of fire. It reached up, easily coming up to three stories in height, and towered over the bikes behind them. The panicked cries of the go-gangers could barely be heard over the thundering of engines and the roaring of the fire. Whatever happened to their tail is unknown, all they saw in their place was melted asphalt and burning concrete.

“The frag was that?” Wingmare yelled.

“What? The wall of fire?” Twilight asked with a pant, somewhat drained by the spell.

“Wall of fire? Rookie, I’ve seen a wall of fire spell, that was a freakin’ tsunami! Drek, I thought my mirror had something wrong with it, at first!”

“Heck, I think the whole gang just saw that go down,” Steel said.

“I hope not,” Twilight muttered. “I don’t need anypony else hunting me down tonight.”

“Tell me about it,” Web said.

“Stay focused, girls,” Gem said, “Rookie just got opened up an escape route if things get nasty, but we need to make sure that Moll gets to live long enough to do her thing.”

“Speaking of,” Wingmare said. “Closing in on the 105 fast.”

“Alright, Candy, what’s it like on your side?”

“More very angry ponies!” she replied as her grenade launcher thumped over the channel. “It’s not looking—ow! Frag!”

“Candy?”

“Somepony just shot me!” she yelled, before another thump sounded, followed by yet another explosion. “That was so mean!”

“Candy, focus.”

“PeeWee sees a large force trying to come around, it looks like they were going to join the ponies that Rookie fried.”

“Yeah, we’re heading straight into a trap,” Steel said, as though stating that the sky was blue.

“Yeah, it’s not looking good. Steel, Wingmare, pull back, I’ll—” Another warning on her AR display showed up. “Frag! Fragging idiot doesn’t know when to quit! Sorry, ladies, I’ll need to take this one but at least I won’t need to…”

She stopped for a moment, and realized the lethal mistake she nearly just made. Her GPS was wrong. It was telling her to make a left hand turn into the nearest building, and if she had switched to the autopilot, that’s exactly what it would have done.

That was bad enough, but it also meant somehow, the little snot on the other side of the matrix had gotten through her defenses.

That just would not stand.

“Rookie! My GPS is compromised, I need you to drive for me!”

Twilight groaned in response but grabbed her handlebars anyway. “How the frag did they get through to your GPS?”

“How’d they get through?” Rarity repeated to herself, before speaking into her comm. “Web, what’s on your side?”

“A lot of ponies with guns, but it’s nothing I can’t—” the roar of fire rushed past the mic on her comm. “Well, great,” Web finished in a deadpan. “They hired a mage, too.”

Rarity tapped away at her AR keyboard. “Well, you know the rule, geek him first.”

“Roger!” she yelled back before lightning thundered down a side-street.

“You’re also in charge for now, I’ve got to work on these programs!” Rarity said, as she turned her focus to staying on her bike and working on getting her bike back under her control. Her eyes shot across her interface, activating keys as she worked on both taking the enemy decker down, and run diagnostics to try and figure out where he broke through.

As she repelled the decker again, her eyes began scanning the diagnostics. The system seemed solid, there were no holes in her defenses, so how on earth did—

She blinked, and doubled checked the hardware.

That...that didn’t look right.

She checked again, reading down the list before her eyes went wide.

Dropping her AR interface, she reached down into the tight spaces of the bike and felt around. She reached, before her hoof grabbed onto a hard, plastic piece, which bent under the softest push. A snap sounded, and her GPS flashed as it corrected, leaving Rarity with a small casing with a small circuit board in it. “The Hellriders have a mole, girls!” Rarity said.

“What?” Wingmare asked.

“Our bikes are sabotaged. Someone’s planted hardware overrides on the bikes.”

“Drek, this was a setup!” Web growled.

“Oh, it’s not so bad, I have his override, and I’m about to go on the offensive,” Rarity said with a smile. “Rookie, go ahead and fry anyone coming behind us. I’ll take care of myself now.”

“It gave me a chance to rest a bit. So I’m ready to go.”

“Don’t go too hard Rookie,” Web warned.

“Says the mare that’s bringing down a manastorm over there.”

“Hey, I have seniority.”

Rarity rolled her eyes at the two, before she hit her autopilot and dove back into AR. Rarity smiled as she broke in and hitch-hiked on to the device’s signal, riding back to the other decker. She hit his deck, and smiled, as she began to slowly take ownership of the device. The poor decker on the other side was too caught up in trying to break Rarity’s own defenses to notice what was happening until it was too late.

She shut down all user privileges, leaving the decker unable to eject from his deck without someone watching him to pull the plug. The stallion was now trapped in the matrix, with all of his tools beyond simple browsing taken from him. She turned him into little more than a civilian, albeit one trapped in the Matrix until his buddies pulled him out, but he was safe and wasn’t able to do much to anypony else.

Turning her attention away from her AR screen, and back into meatspace, Rarity cried. “Decker down!”

“Mage down!” Web replied over the comm as a huge spider made from animals and vermin came down on the right flank, throwing gangers aside as it tossed them about and over its story-tall hide.

Twilight released another tidal wave of fire, not as large as the first, but certainly big enough to send the gangers scattering. With fewer and fewer flanks to deal with, the Hellriders broke on those Road Devils that remained like water crashing on rock.

The Devils broke hard, crashing apart as their master plan went awry, and their aces simply turned up short.

After all, it’s one thing to bring Runners to a showdown, it’s another to bring Runners that have been hitting some of the biggest corps in the world.

<><><|><><>

The Hellriders nearly destroyed the Road Devils outright, and, if it weren’t for the fact that they retreated into the neighboring buildings, it might have been a one-sided slaughter. However, as the fighting shifted to close quarters, things changed massively.

Fighting them on their own turf proved to be a mistake, and scores of go gangers fell on both sides for it. Through the next few hours, as the moon began to rise, the two gangs made sure each paid heavily in blood in the tight corridors of nearly blown out buildings. Corpses filled rooms, many blown to shredded meat by shotguns and automatic fire, and blood pooled and mingled wherever somepony stepped.

The greatest, yet most costly maneuver of the night was when Mad Moll led a heroic charge down a blown-out building, lead to her death, as well as the death of several other gang members. Despite her death, however, the Hellriders destroyed the Devils, to the stallion, as far as the Hellriders could tell.

More importantly, as far as Rarity and her team was concerned, along with the Belgrades, the last “oorah” was a success. Yes, Wingmare still poured out a drink for the old mare at the Final Regret, but that only really got Sweetie Belle to complain about her freshly-mopped floors. Still, as the girls settled down that morning after a blood-filled all-nighter, they could help but talk about their last run.

“Tell ya what, though, I did enjoy the rides,” Steel said. “I might grab myself a new bike once we retire. Assuming Spike pays me enough, that is.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much,” Twilight said. “Spike’s a pretty fair boss.”

“Sure he is,” Wingmare muttered.

“Look, I get where you’re coming from, but he’s really not a bad guy. He’s just tough sometimes because he’s a, you know, dragon.”

“Never make a deal with one if you know what’s good for you,” Rarity mumbled into her glass.

Candy smiled. “Unless you’re us, because then you’ll make it work.”

“Did we though?” Web asked.

“More importantly, did you see Rookie’s wall of fire and light?” Wingmare asked. “All of my mirrors just turned red, so red I thought something got on them or something.”

“Yeah! That was great!” Candy said excitedly. “I didn’t see all of it, but I did see a whole lot of fire!”

“How did you pull it off? A wall of fire spell doesn’t normally work that way,” Web asked.

“Honestly? I’m not sure. The best I can figure is that I was trying to make a wall spell, but instead of connecting it to a physical location, there might be a chance I tied to the bike. Still have no idea how I did that, but that’s my leading theory. I’m also fairly certain I was over a leyline when I cast it, and—”

“Alright, enough egghead talk, it’s distracting from how cool you were,” Wingmare said.

“Now you’re just being rude,” Steel said.

“Hey, I’m just telling her how cool she was,” Wingmare said, seemingly oblivious to the back-handed compliment. “Seriously, I can’t get over that spell.”

Rarity sighed a smiled. “Now that you mention it, actually, I think it’s time we address a slightly-overdue issue.”

This got everyone’s attention, and they all set their drinks aside.

Rarity smiled as she looked around the table, enjoying the attention. “Rookie, the time has finally come. As someone who has hit three megacorps, as well as run on a good number of jobs with us, the name you have been given no longer reflective of your skills or knowledge.”

Twilight blinked.

“As a result, we are going to perform two incredibly important rituals. The first, the choosing of your new street name. The second is, well…” Rarity said, trailing off for a moment,” the second is what we would like to call the initiation.”

Wingmare, Candy, Steel, and Web all immediately perked, and Twilight’s stomach dropped an inch. “What’s initiation?” she asked.

“Don’t worry about it!” Wingmare said with a cheer that immediately had Twilight worrying. “Hey, Sweetie! We need a lot more drinks over here! It’s the special!”

“The thing you need to worry about right now,” Rarity said, demanding her attention once more, “is your street name.”

“Um, well, you know, Rookie’s kind of grown on me,” She said, as Sweetie Belle returned with a tray filled with drinks, followed by another server with yet more. “I, uh...I kind of like it. This isn’t going to be a drink competition or anything is it?”

“Let’s focus, dear,” Rarity said. “First, let’s think of something that works well with what we see about you, any defining features. With your connection to your past life being as visible as it is, we’ll skip that, as even the most obscure parts could be guessed and researched by somepony dedicated enough.”

Wingmare slid her a drink.

“Um, well, I guess I’m purple?” Twilight put forward, eyeing her drink warily. It seemed like a normal, cheap, synthol beer, but the way the others were watching made her nervous. Maybe the paranoia was rubbing off on her.

“No, no, that’s not enough. Not unless we want to name you orchid or somesuch,” Rarity said.

“Let’s be fair,” Steel said. “I’m half made a’ metal, it ain’t a surprise that I picked Steel.”

“What about her role?” Web asked. “She definitely been the artillery lately.”

“I thought my coat was lilac?” Twilight said.

“It’s true!” Candy said, “but explosions are still my thing!”

“What about Sparky?” Wingmare asked.

“That’s a little too close to my last name, isn’t it?” Twilight asked, as Wingmare slid another drink her way, even as the servers brought two more trays.

“It is, actually, we’ll have to try something else,” Rarity said. “How about something else?”

“Hey, that’s a lot of drinks, isn’t it?”

“Ooh! Ooh!” Candy said, before raising her hoof excitedly.

“Yes, Candy?” Rarity asked.

“What about Floodlight?”

“Why floodlight?” Web asked.

“Because imagine, she runs up, hits you with a spell, and you get blinded, because it’s like a floodlight shining in your eyes.”

The others stared at her for a long moment. “I mean...It kind of works,” Steel said.

“I mean, she did flood my bike mirrors with firelight,” Wingmare said.

“I don’t know, I’m not sold on it,” Web said. “I’d prefer calling her Rookie to Floodlight.” She then slid another drink in front of Twilight.

“Why are you giving me so many drinks?”

“Ooh! Flashbang!” Wingmare suggested.

“Then we’d confuse her for actual flashbangs.” Candy pointed out.

“Flashpoint?” Web suggested.

“That has promise,” Rarity agreed.

“Flashpoint does have a certain ring to it,” Steel agreed.

“What do you say, Rookie?” Wingmare asked.

Twilight looked around the table, at the five mares who were all staring at her expectantly. That, and the sea of alcoholic drinks that covered the table. “If I say yes will you tell me why you’re all trying to get me drunk?”

Steel smiled. “Nope.”

Twilight sighed. “Flashpoint’s fine.”

The girls cheered before rarity raised a glass. “To Fashpoint!”

“Flashpoint!” the girls cried and cheered, clinking their glasses together before drinking.

Twilight sighed and did the same.

Chapter 21

Consciousness slowly returned to Twilight, which, honestly, was the only clue that she blacked out. Her head throbbed but still spun with the familiar and now-hated haze of alcohol. “Wha—what’s happening?” she asked before she suddenly realized that her legs were tied to the chair she was sitting on.

“Initiation,” Came a voice from the shadows beyond, a voice that would have sounded terrifying if Twilight didn’t recognize it as Candy’s.

“Wha—?” Twilight muttered.

“Flashpoint,” Gem said from the shadows, and it took Twilight a moment for her to realize that she was being addressed. “If all has gone according to plan,” Gem continued, “you should be somewhere between having a hangover, and being sloshed. It should suck.”

It did.

“Now that you are properly impaired, we have your mission: you are going to lead a Run.”

Twilight’s head was spinning too much to really process that.

“It doesn’t need to be especially difficult, but you need to be able to pull it off.”

“Wha—Why?” Twilight managed to ask.

“Because if you’re going to be a real Runner, then you need to be able to hit a FeedBag blindfolded,” Steel replied.

“Blindfolds don’t work super well on astral projections,” Web added, as she packed her various stimulants away. “so being a little drunk and dealing with a hangover works just as well.”

“So you’re going to lead us,” Candy quipped

“We’re waiting for your call,” Wingmare added.

Twilight’s head was still spinning as her mind tried to catch up. She needed to what? Lead them? In a Run? They needed to hit someplace, but where? “Guh…” she mumbled.

“We need directions, Flashpoint,” Gem pushed.

“I...uh…” she said, realizing how awful her head felt, and how hungry she felt.

“What’s our target, Flashpoint?” Web asked.

“I…” She was so hungry, and her head hurt way too much to think about this.

“We need to know where we’re going!” Candy said.

“I…”

“What’re we hitting, Sugarcube?” Steel asked.

“We need to know.”

“A-Appletea’s?” she said, naming the first restaurant that came to mind.

The team glanced between each other, before looking back at Gem.

Gem sighed. “You heard the mare, we’re hitting an Appletea’s.”

The runners burst into motion. Wingmare cut Twilight loose from her chair, and the next thing she knew, the headlight on Candy’s van were shining in her eyes. She was roughly pony-handled into the back of the van, and she heard Gem cry out. “There’s one on the corner of Acorn and 34th.”

Twilight barely got her hooves under her before the van lurched forward, rubber screeching as they shot down the street. She tumbled in the back of the van, her already queasy stomach going nauseous as she rolled around the cabin. As her willingness to die increased, a hoof suddenly stopped her.

Twilight looked up to see Web looming over before the shaman handed her a pill. “Here, take this, it’s for the hangover.”

Twilight grabbed them and swallowed the pills dry. “Oh, thank you, I need this to end.”

“Oh, no. They make the hangover worse,” Web said.

Twilight just managed to blink before she was released back into the cabin. She slammed against the van wall before Steel grabbed her. “What’s the plan, Sugarcube? We going for wallets or safes?”

“Wallets?” Twilight repeated, barely registering the words coming into her ears and out of her mouth.

“We’re going for wallets! Get your guns and meanest faces ready!”

“Wait—” Twilight said before she was dropped back into the chaos of the van. Another screeching turn sent her sprawling across the floor, rolling from wall to wall. She hit the steel with a thud before she looked down and took a moment to truly appreciate Candy’s shag carpeting, before being thrown back across the van as it careened around another corner.

“ETA 1 minute!” Candy shouted from the driver's seat.

“How are we going in?” Wingmare asked.

“Gur?” Twilight asked, feeling things bubble up from her stomach.

“Wall or door?”

“Duh?”

“Back or Front?”

“Fah?”

“Front door!” Wingmare said, before dropping the poor unicorn. She landed hard, before bouncing around until the van screeched to a halt.

Gem pulled Twilight to her hooves, shoved her pistol in her hooves. “What’s the move, boss?”

Twilight’s first move was to not throw up.

Her second one was to collect herself and breathe as she realized she was about to go in and rob a whole bunch of ponies.

The team looked at her expectantly.

“We,” she said finally. “We’re going to go in there, and…” She shook her head and forced herself to think. This was too much all at once. How was she supposed to lead them like this? She could barely stand, much less think, and they were expecting her to plan? Were they out of their collective mind? How was she supposed to do anything?

The team stared at her, waiting.

“We’re going to…” How did they expect her to answer? How did they…

Gem stared down at her, her eyes judging her, weighing her, testing her.

Test...she’s testing me...

And that word alone woke something in her.

Test, she thought with a sudden clarity that tore through her headache. This was a test. Of course this was a test! It’s a test, and by Celestia, I don’t fail tests! I’m...I’m not going to fail this test!

Her eyes hardened. “We’re going to go in there, and Steel, you’ll take the lead.”

Steel smiled and nodded.

“Web, get an elemental on overwatch, the put anyone who tries to be a hero asleep.”

The shaman agreed.

“Gem, keep any emergency signal from reaching the Star. Wingmare, Candy, you’re the collectors. We ready?”

The ponies nodded.

“Then let’s go!”

“Yes Ma’am!” The team answered.

“And Web!” Twilight called.

The shaman glanced back.

“I want some pills that will help with this afterward, alright?” Twilight ordered.

Web smirked. “Yes, ma’am.”

The team rushed ahead, guns raised, drones buzzing, and blades whirring. The door to the two-star-at-best chain restaurant didn’t stand a chance.

Candy would later admit that the C4 may have been a bit overboard, but right now, it certainly made quite the entrance. The door slammed into the, thankfully unmanned, host stand, splintering it in a fraction of a second before the thunder of automatic fire got the attention of everyone in the building.

“Alright, Ladies and Gentlecolts,” Steel said as she held her shotgun high, where everyone could see it. “We are tonight’s entertainment, and we’re all going to play a game. In order to play, we’re going to need every credstick, credit cards, watches, jewelry, and commlinks you have for the game.”

Wingmare smirked. “Participation is mandatory.”

As if to emphasize the point, Candy’s heavy, tank-like drone aimed it’s very large gun directly into the face of a stallion.

Wingmare and Candy began moving around the restaurant, gathering anything and everything that the customers had of any value. Meanwhile, Gem and Web had the entire place on lockdown, no signals, or magic in or out.

Twilight looked down on her operation and smiled. She was Twilight Motherfragging Sparkle, and she didn’t fail tests.

“Signal to the local Gold Star branch is intercepted,” Gem said, whispering over the comm with her subvocal microphone. “I can delay it, but if I stop it completely, they’ll send an error message. We have twenty minutes.”

Twilight glanced around, doing her best not to give away Gem’s information when her eye caught sight of a pony in the back. Large, rotund, with a mustache that screamed bad cop-trid, a stallion with a poorly-hidden gun on his belt. His eyes shifted as he watched Candy and Wingmare go around the various subdivisions of the tacky restaurant, through the scent of overly-sweet and sub-standard food. His hoof dangled by his side, as though it were not trying to make any obvious moves.

Twilight waved down Web, before nodding toward the stallion. “Go check him out, he’s worrying me.”

Web nodded but did not move. Instead, she moved her hoof in careful, specific motions before a bolt of green energy arched low across the ground, before slamming into the stallion. He froze where he sat, though his eyes went wide, before tumbling to the floor, paralyzed.

Without another word, Web walked up to the stallion, even as the other ponies at the table cowered at her. She leaned down, picked up the gun off his belt. “This will fetch a pretty nubit.” she said as she casually slipped it into her belt. “Thank you for your patronage, and don’t be a hero, alright?”

The stallion couldn’t answer, but his eyes danced between her and the floor, a slight panic filling him.

Gem sent another subvocal signal. “Ten minutes, darlings!”

“Come on, keep putting it in the bag,” Wingmare said as she waved her gun in front of the collected civilians. Most whimpered, though a few of the braver ponies made to protect their partners.

Rarity sent another message. “Time is up. We don’t want to be here when the message gets sent.”

“Alright, Ladies and Gentlecolts,” Steel said with a smirk and a snarl. “The next part of the game is really simple. We’re going to play hide and seek, and y’all are the seekers. So you’re going to cover your eyes and count to 500. No peeking or things are going to go poorly, got it?”

The ponies around the room glanced around before Steel fired her shotgun into the air. The blast roared into the room, and the civilians cried as they ducked in fear. “Y’all best start counting now, ya’hear?”

The ponies obeyed, sticking their noses down into the table, as sixteen different ponies began counting aloud.

And with that, Twilight and the others slipped away. The van was waiting for them, engine purring and ready to go. They clambered in, bags of loot hanging behind them, before Candy hit the gas, leaving nothing but a screech, and the smell of burning rubber to mark their passing.

“Alright!” Wingmare cheered. “Good job, Flashpoint, we made it clean.”

“Of course we did!” Twilight said. “Now do you actually have something for this headache or not?”

Web smiled before she handed the unicorn a small vial. “Here, this will help.”

Twilight greedily gulped it down and smiled. She then sat down, trying to let the promise of relief wash over her as a sweet balm before the medicine did its work. While the hope of relief did a little to help, the better, greater relief came from the knowledge that she did, in fact pass her test. She passed, and she did with flying colors. Her reputation was safe—

Sirens wailed behind them.

Twilight’s eyes snapped open, and she stood up to look out the back of the van. A pair of Gold Star Cruisers were behind them and gaining fast.

“Gem?” Candy said before she slipped her consciousness into her van. “Weren’t the Star still a few minutes away?”

“They were supposed to be,” she replied.

“Maybe they’re not after us,” Steel said, loading her shotgun just in case. “Maybe they’re after some Go-gang.”

Everyone there knew better, but it was a nice thought.

Gem glanced at Twilight. “What’s the call, Flashpoint?”

“What?” Twilight asked, surprised.

“This is still your run,” Gem said.

Twilight cursed. “Alright, Candy, act natural for a bit. Steel, keep watching the back, let us know if they're still following us.”

“They are.”

“Web, do you know the reinforce spell?”

“I do.”

“Start casting it on everything.”

Web nodded and began to chant.

“What’s the plan, Flashpoint?” Gem asked.

“We still being followed?”

“They’re gaining,” Steel reported.

“Candy, pull us to the nearest highway.”

“On it,” she replied.

Twilight then began to chant, moving her hooves in the proper movements.

“We’re on the highway!” Candy said.

“The Spells are done!” Web cried.

Twilight nodded, as she finished her spell. “Then hold on!”

The second she finished, two things happened. The first, an Earth Elemental appeared, passing through the van in a cloud of sand and dust, before it passed the back doors. The second thing that happened was the haste spell that Twilight was casting on the van began to fire.

The van shot forward, reaching a hundred, no, two hundred miles per hour in seconds. Rocketing down the highway, the sirens behind them began to fade. “Woo!” Candy screamed maniacally as the asphalt flew past them. The ponies inside were thrown to the floor of the van, as Twilight’s spell worked its magic.

Then the Earth Elemental began its work. With the services Twilight demanded, it began to push, forcing the van forward even faster as its speed doubled, then tripled. A sonic boom shattered windows, as the van reached nine hundred miles per hour, spared any damage to anything else on the highway with the elementals last service of flight, and Web’s reinforce spells, which even now strained as the van threatened to shake apart.

Streaking through the air like a shooting star, the van cleared a number of buildings, before the haste spell ended. The van began to slow, and as it did, the Elemental slowly dropped the van back to the ground. The van’s tires kissed the asphalt, and then it carefully, slowly, rolled to a stop.

Gem peeled herself off the floor of the van and came to a tentative stand. “Well...that certainly was an escape.”

Wingmare likewise pushed herself off the back wall. “Yeah it was, nice job, Flashpoint.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah...yeah it was…” she said.

“There is no way they’re going to find us now,” Candy said before she slowly began to turn around the corner.

“No, no I don’t think so…” Twilight said, with a smirk. “Cause I’m MotherSparkle Fraglight, and I fail don’t tests.”

And her world went black as she hit the shag carpeting.

<><><|><><>

Twilight came to consciousness once again, this time, laying a bed, with a warm, damp cloth pressed to her head. For a moment, she lay there, eyes closed, enjoying the darkness and warmth that surrounded her. Of all the ways she wanted to wake up, this was definitely the best.

What made it better was the complete lack of a hangover.

Eventually, though it did take her a good few minutes, she decided to finally open her eyes, to see the ceiling of her safehouse room. A soft, warm light colored her room, and she faintly realized it was morning as she glanced up at shadows it cast.

She slowly rolled over, before kicking herself free of her blankets, and standing. A languid stretch followed by a loud groan signaled her full awakening, before she walked out of the little bedroom in the corner of the warehouse.

Heading down the stairs into the warehouse proper, she first met the wonderful smell of cooking breakfast. Then she saw her friends, lounging about the van as they used the various stations, Candy in the kitchen, Web at her shrine, Wingmare in the chain hammock above the van, and so on.

Steel looked up from her workbench. “Well, hey, look at that! Flashpoint’s up.”

Gem focused on her, apparently looking through whatever AR display she had up. “Flashpoint, dear! You’re awake!”

Twilight smiled. “Barely. How long was I out?”

“Sixteen hours,” Web said. “You really didn’t take the drain from those spells too well.”

“Apparently not. Normally I’m better than that.”

“It was probably the hangover.”

“Sure,” the unicorn said. “Let’s go with that.”

“Breakfast is almost ready!” Candy said, as the smell of fresh soy-bacon.

“Oh, yes please,” Twilight said, as she sat at a table.

Gem smirked before she slid a credstick across the table. “Here’s your share, by the way! Congrats on leading a successful, first run.”

Twilight picked it up before checking the contents. “It’s not a whole lot is it?”

“They were ponies eating in an Appletea’s,” Wingmare pointed out as she looked over her makeshift hammock. “And splitting it six ways is not going to help it much.”

“You know, that’s a fair point,” she admitted.

“But the important thing,” Gem said, “is that you made it. You passed our test. You are officially one of us, no question or doubt.”

“Ain’t that the truth!” Steel said as she sat beside them.

“The other good news is we haven’t sold everything yet,” Wingmare said, joining them. “My fence doesn’t like taking too much hot stuff.”

Web sighed and stood, stretching her legs as she untwisted herself from her meditative position. “It’s still not going to be more than another hundred or so nubits,” she said before joining the others.

“But the money doesn’t really matter,” Candy said, juggling six different plates for the table. “You’re really a Runner now! That’s the important thing!”

Gem nodded. “It is! Of course, this now brings up the question of our next job, and what we’re doing.”

“My fixer has an insertion job for us,” Web said. “Planting a mage, I’ve heard.”

“That might be fun,” Candy said.

“You would call Runnin’ fun,” Steel muttered.

“Well, there’s always—” Twilight began before her comm began to ring. “Hang on,” she said, before flipping on her AR glasses. She blinked as she saw Spikarunz’s name on the call. She answered it immediately, before sending it to the holotable.

Spike’s face appeared over them, and he smiled. “Ah, I have all of you, good. This will make this easy then. I have your next job. Retrieval again, another gem, but this one will be much easier to find.”

“How so?” Gem asked.

“RENUMA is hosting the Grand Galloping Gala this year, and they want to show off. Silver Chip’s daughter, Micro Chip, will be wearing the gem around her neck for most of the evening.”

An image of a young mare with a pale green coat and a black mane appeared, next to a necklace, with a large pale blue gem at its center.

“Retrieval of the Gem will give you the usual rewards, but do be careful. RENUMA will not take this sitting down, especially with the CEO’s daughter so close to the action. For this job, if you choose to use them, my team can act as a distraction in a number of ways.

“After this, there are only two more jobs. You’ve done well, ladies.”

“Yes, sir,” Twilight said.

“Oh, and before I forget,” Spike said. “You may see Princess Celestia at this Gala. Don’t let her see you.”

Chapter 23

“The comm’s hacked,” Gem said.

The Comm line was silent as Gem walked back. No one said a word for a long time, as Gem took her leave of the Princess and immediately went to the drinks. Grabbing the closest alcohol, a flute of champaign, she emptied the first, and half of another, before Twilight found herself wanting to break the silence.

She couldn’t, of course. The elephant in the room of exactly how she just did that without a deck dominated Twilight’s thoughts. She knew of the existence of technomancers, she knew that Harmony Inc. had a very large bounty just for information on them, and she was sure that the others knew that.

In fact, every time a tecnomancer has been turned into the company, a Runner’s been the one to deliver it. The largest, most widespread bounties across Canterlot ever posted by Corps were technomancer bounties. There was no way that the others didn’t know about them.

And, well, it was a lot of money. They could probably split the bounty five ways and still have enough to supply them for the next two jobs. After all, the last time they found a technomancer, Saddle-Krupp started at a million nubits. Grabbing one for auction would spike that price to ten times that.

The others were probably coming to the same conclusion. It wasn’t that big of a leap in logic, and well…

They had to know.

The silence lasted a second longer on the comm. “So can the plan move forward?” Web asked.

“It better,” Gem grumbled. “Let me just look through her messages real quick.”

The comm line went quiet once more as she began searching through the records, leaving everyone to their thoughts once again. Twilight quietly chewed at her lip and took a sip of her drink. Spikarunz needed her to complete the job, so he probably wouldn’t want her to be brought in yet. Then again, if it’s just retrieval jobs, then there’s no reason not to pull her in. She’d be a nice bonus at this point…

What was she thinking? Gem is a vital part of this team. She’s the unofficial leader. She’s the face and the decker, for crying out loud! Where on earth were they going to get anyone who could possibly replace her? This went beyond money, this was a matter of team coherency, and effectiveness. Turning in Gem was a terrible idea.

Right?

After all, the fact that the Matrix crash that happened a few years ago was caused by technomacers had to be coincidental at best, right? Gem wasn’t going to cause another apocalyptic event like that, was she?

Was she?

The thought of turning her in left a pit in Twilight’s stomach. Turning her in would be a massive help to Harmony Inc. It would help ensure a safer Matrix and lower the chance of another catastrophic event like the crash from happening again.

But...but Gem gave her a working SIN. Gem had the best connections. Gem convinced the others to take her in. Gem...Gem…

Gem was her friend.

She was, and she risked a lot here just so that everyone else could complete the job.

“I have some good news, ladies,” Gem’s voice said. “Miss Chip here likes to skip out on events like this to go meet with her friends. There’s a good chance we can get her to ditch her entourage without having to do any of the work.”

“That does make it easier,” Steel agreed, though it sounded to Twilight somehow subdued. “If we can get her outside, we can get the gem and get out faster than the original plan.”

“Sounds good,” Wingmare replied, also quiet.

“I don’t like deviating from a plan, but this does seem to be the better move,” Web said.

“Alright,” Gem said. “I’ll send the message, and we’ll rendezvous with her on the levels below. Let’s go.”

The line went silent, and the ponies in the team quickly began to move to meet up in the desired location, and Twilight once again found herself thinking.

What was she to do? Gem was a friend to her, and she had put so much on the line for just this job, but..but Gem was...well, she was dangerous. She probably didn’t even realize how dangerous she could be. Technomancers could manipulate the Matrix in ways it was never meant to bend, and breaking it could be disastrous.

But then...then that wasn’t even the real problem, was it?

No, the real problem was that Harmony Inc. wanted technomancers. They were willing to pay through the nose for them and missing on this opportunity could be devastating to her career. Then again turning her in, could make her career. She was already personal mage assistance to Spike, but with this, she could be set up as the Chief Analysis Officer easily. She’d be elevated to a real decision-maker, instead of being a glorified secretary.

Well, she wasn’t actually a glorified secretary. Spike held her opinion quite highly. He taught her so much, in ways that she’d never be able to find anywhere else. She owed him so much, and if he needed a technomancer, she’d deliver.

But he also needed to get these jobs done, and Gem...Gem was a good friend.

Twilight soon found herself next to Steel as they both made their way down to the rendezvous.

And this brought with it a whole bunch of other problems. “Even if I don’t turn Gem in, what about the others?” Twilight knew their living conditions, she knew that most of them were living paycheck to paycheck in warehouses while they stockpiled for the next mission. They didn’t have Twilight’s job security, they didn’t have her chance to go to a normal life if this running thing went through.

Gem might be one of the biggest paychecks they’d ever get, short of the wish that Spike was offering them.

Would any of the others turn her in? Would they be willing to go that far? Had Twilight been asked a few months ago, she would have been sure they would. Runners were vicious, selfish creatures according to her understanding back then, and while now she knew that they were more likely desperate individuals doing their best to act professional, that didn’t really give her an answer. It only made their intentions slightly nobler.

Soon they joined Wingmare, Web, and Candy, all of them coming up to the rendezvous with a somber, professional grimace.

“Web probably wouldn’t do it,” Twilight thought. If she were to turn in Gem, then it’d be fair play to turn her into Ahuiztech. She didn’t seem like the kind to make that call. Steel probably wouldn’t turn her in either. Gem was vital to helping Countess Coloratura back when they took that job, and Steel had said on more than one occasion that she’d never be able to pay that one back.

Then again, it would go a long way to paying off the farm.

Candy, on the other hoof, was a wild card. In these months working with her, Twilight still didn’t know what made that mare tick. She didn’t seemingly care about money, which was a point in Gem’s favor, but at the same time, she enjoyed chaos and causing a ruckus. Wingmare, likewise, could be a problem. Wingmare seemed only motivated by money. That was all she asked for when Spike gave her the job. Gem was a paycheck waiting to be cashed if she looked at it that way.

Twilight shook her head. Of all the sacrifices Gem could make, this one had to be the greatest.

Gem was waiting for them in the hall. “There you are,” she said, glancing between them. “Micro Chip is going to meet us down in the alleyway next to one of the maintenance elevators, it’s a favorite of her’s. Once we see her, we knock her out, grab the gem, and get her back inside unharmed. She does have a security retrieval locket, that, if activated will get a strike team mobilized on her location. We need to make sure she doesn’t activate it, understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the team replied in unison, though lacking their normal energy.

Gem nodded once and faced the elevator.

The seconds began to drag on, as an awkward silence permeated the air. It stuck with them even as they waited in the elevator, heading down to the street level. It hung with them as they caught Micro Chip, using illusion spells to convince her that she was among friends as they pumped her system full of anesthetics. It dragged on as they rode in the van to the meet up with Shining, who still acted as their go-between for the company. It even hovered over them as they parted ways that night, leaving everyone to their thoughts.

<><><|><><>

Twilight stared up at her ceiling, unable to sleep.

This wasn’t the first time she’d been left sleepless in the safehouse the girls gave her. The first few nights of living so close to the street had left her awake and staring into the ceiling more than once, as had the rumbling of garbage trucks and loading vehicles at unholy hours, but she had since learned to...well...appreciate was the wrong word, but she could certainly live with it.

No, this time she was awake because of Gem, and what that mare had done to her. In a single action, she had thrown everything she had thought she knew about Running out the window.

She needed to talk to someone about this.

Sighing, she rolled out of bed and descended the stairs, making her way to the small kitchenette, where a hot-chocolate substitute powder waited for her. Heating some milk with some magic, she quickly whipped up the drink and sat in front of the holotable that Gem had set up, before making a call.

Steel’s bleary face appeared over the table after a ring or two. “Huh? Wha? Who is it?”

“Hey Steel. It’s me.” Twilight said.

“Flashpoint? It’s four in the morning…”

“I know, are you up?”

If a look could kill through the Matrix, the Steel Research and Development team were close to a breakthrough.

“It’s important, Steel.”

The earth pony sighed before the background behind her shifted as she sat up. “Alright, fine. I’m up. What’cha need?”

“Did…” Twilight began, “did you notice anything...strange about Gem during the last Run?”

The effect on Steel’s face was instantaneous. Her lips pursed, her pupils shrunk, and her eyes immediately began darting around the room. “Strange? Nope. I didn’t notice nothing, especially nothing that might suggest she’s keepin’ secrets from us. Not at all, why?”

Twilight blinked. “Wow...when you said you were an awful liar, I thought maybe you were exaggerating…”

“I’m gonna hang up,” Steel said.

“No, wait! Steel, please! This was the only way I could be sure I was telling anypony who didn’t know! I didn’t want to air her out and get her in more trouble. I mean, if nobody noticed, then I could just keep it to myself, but I need to figure out what I'm going to do, please!”

The comm line held, and Steel stared back at her for a long second. "So you think you know what she is?" Steel asked.

Twilight nodded. "She directly manipulated the Matrix without a deck."

"She might've had a micro deck," Steel countered.

Twilight shook her head. "Then she wouldn't have bothered with smuggling the smaller deck in her dress. It would have been a pointless security risk."

Steel nodded, as though she already came to that conclusion. "She could have a nuerodeck implant."

Twilight shook her head again. "Her astral signature is way too strong for those kinds of implants. Beyond her cybereyes and datajack, I don't know if she has any other cybernetics at all."

"She has a bioware implant that gives off pheromones, but Web told me a long time ago that those don't cause as much damage to essence, whatever that is.."

"So she has to be…" Twilight began, before faltering. It felt like saying the word itself was somehow breaking her trust.

"It looks like it, huh?"

Twilight groaned. “What do we do, Steel? Turning her in for just money seems wrong.”

“You thinking about turning her in?” Steel asked.

“I don’t know...I really don’t. Just...Ok, ignoring the fact that she’s worth an unholy amount of nubits, she’s incredibly useful to Harmony Inc, my company, my home. When this is over, I’m going back there, but if I were to bring Gem in, it would...it would secure my career.”

“You’d turn her in for job security?” Steel asked.

Twilight glared at her through the hologram. “And are you telling me you wouldn’t turn her in to pay off your farm?”

Steel looked away. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it.”

“But...but I don’t want to…Gem’s…”

“Yeah, I understand that,” Steel slowly replied. “I owe her too much to do that to her.” The earth pony’s eyes then turned back to Twilight. “What about you though? You said it yourself, she’s useful to you.”

“But...but…” Twilight began. “I don’t want to turn her in! I owe so much to her too! I can’t just ignore that.”

“Someone from corporate with a conscience. I’ll be,” Steel said.

“Oh, hush. We’re Runners. We can’t afford a conscience.”

“Ya know, that’s fair,” Steel said.

“So what do we do, Steel? Do we turn her in or not?”

“It’s a good question, Flashpoint,” Steel said. “And honestly, I don’t think I have an answer for ya.”

“Well that’s not very helpful, Steel,” she said, exasperated.

“I know, but...but honestly, I’m not sure what to do either. Like ya said, she’d probably pay off at least a part of my farm, and that’s...that’s something I’ve been meaning to get my family for a long time…longer than I’ve known Gem, that’s for sure.”

“So what do we do?”

Steel sighed before she ran a hoof across her face. “Tell ya what, Flash. You come up with an answer, and I’ll back you up. No matter what.”

<><><|><><>

The team didn’t meet again for another few days. A fairly normal amount of downtime though cut a little short.

Meeting up at the Final Regret, their favorite bar in the sprawl, Twilight soon found herself sitting at a table with Steel and Web. Gem had yet to arrive, and Candy was going to be a touch late, picking up Wingmare.

In the meantime, they shared a drink, a laugh, a story of how dull waiting around was before Wingmare and Candy showed up.

“Oh, you’re here already…” Twilight said surprised.

“Yup, where’s Gem?” Wingmare asked.

“She’s not here yet,” Twilight said. “I just called her, though. She’ll be here in twenty minutes.”

“Cool, cool,” Wingmare said, nodding.

Candy said nothing, and Twilight was immediately suspicious of the fact.

The five ponies sat down, watching each other as the time slowly passed. Not a word passed between them as they waited, glaring at each other before occasionally glancing at the door.

The minutes ticked by, each one more slowly than the last, before finally exactly twenty minutes passed by.

“Hm...I thought you said she’d be here?” Wingmare asked.

“I did. I hope she wasn’t waylaid,” Twilight replied.

“I certainly hope not.”

The two glared a moment longer before the door opened. “Oh, there you all are,” Gem said. “This isn’t our normal table.”

“Thought a little change in scenery was in order,” Twilight said.

“Did you?” Wingmare asked.

“I did.”

Gem looked between the two. “Alright? Let’s get down to business, shall we?”

“Sounds good,” both ponies said in unison.

“Good…” Gem said. “So Web’s insertion job that she mentioned last time seems to have the most promise…”

As Gem continued, the two mares continued to glare, making the smallest movements under the table. Candy and Steel both set down their drinks, as the staredown progressed, leaving Gem to go on for another second or two.

“How does that sound?” the decker asked, before turning to the others. “Ladies?”

“Sounds fine,” both Wingmare and Twilight said, again, in unison.

Gem blinked.

“Is...something going on…?” she asked, as her eyes hovered over the door.

“Nope, everything’s fine,” they both responded.

Gem didn’t buy it for a second. She slowly began to back away from the table, and began to slide around the room, towards the door. As she passed behind Twilight, everything went crazy.

Wingmare drew steel, and Twilight pulled her own. Wingmare’s gun came up first, her enhanced reflexes beating the unicorn to the punch. Twilight answered with magic, a short burst of power sending her firearm to the side while she leveled her own. Wingmare pulled her second pistol, matching Twilight as they both leveled their guns.

Steel joined in, bringing up her mare’s leg, and pointing it directly at Wingmare’s head before Candy answered with her own sidearm. Web unholstered her Roc, pointing between Candy’s eyes, and Wingmare aimed at her with the pistol that went wide.

In the space of a blink, all five ponies were pointing guns at each other. “You’re not taking Gem!”

They all went silent after the declaration sounded, and Gem froze as she stood against the wall.

“What do you mean I’m not taking Gem?” Wingmare asked. “You’re the corporate agent. You have more of a reason to grab her than I do.”

“Me?” Twilight asked. “When offered anything you could ask for, you told Spike money. It looks to me like you’re the one looking for the biggest paycheck.”

“And you have Steel on your side, the mare with the debt to our good employer?”

“I ain’t gonna turn in Gem for my problem, Wingmare. That’s not how I operate.”

“What about Web?” Wingmare asked.

“What about me?” she asked. “If Gem goes, I’m next. Ahuiztechnology has a bounty on me that’s just as big as her.”

“Wait…” Candy said. “Are...are we all trying to save Gem from each other?”

Silence answered her.

Steel finally broke the silence. “That was our plan.”

Another second passed.

And then came the quietest little snort. All eyes in the room slowly turned to Candy as she giggled, her aim faltering before she dropped the gun on the table entirely. A moment later, her mouth was open wide as she gasped, taking deep, ragged breaths between guffaws.

Steel was next, chuckling at first, before she dropped her mare’s leg, before laughing as she joined Candy. Web lowered her Roc as well, before joining in with small, almost adorable laughs.

Twilight and Wingmare were soon all that was left of the Mexican standoff, before they too, lowered their weapons. Another second later, and they began to laugh as well.

Gem, meanwhile, stood on the edge of the room, watching everything unfold before her before all eyes turned to her.

For a second, she locked up, before all five ponies surrounded her, and wrapped her in a long, deep hug. As the panic subsided, she found herself enveloped by the whole team, in one massive embrace. The contact was...strangely unexpected to her, and felt terribly...comfortable.

“Gem, I think I can speak for all of us when I say, we love and care for you,” Twilight said. “More than any money in the world.”

And Gem, as she sat there between her whole team, cried. She cried as years of stress released and unwound, leaving behind a mare that was just trying to make it in the world. A mare who has been running and hiding, and keeping a terrible secret at bay for all these years, now finally finding true, incredible acceptance. “Thank you, Darlings. Thank you, so much.”

The hug lasted a second longer before Gem sniffed. “Now, break it up before any rumors start going around that we’re going soft. We have a reputation, after all.”

Chapter 24

The insertion job was fairly straightforward.

Marés industries planned on transferring a corp mage to a new location, and the Ringo needed the wrong one to show up. The Ringo, a yellow-coated mare with an ax to grind, already had her own agent picked out. All Rarity and her team had to do was intercept the vehicle she was riding in, switch ponies, and then let business continue.

Straightforward hardly ever means easy.

The escort had a layer of additional security, consisting of two, small, nearly inconspicuous drones. Both were no doubt controlled by a corp rigger, some hundred miles away, with the express purpose of watching the target vehicle to ensure that no tampering occurred. If something did happen, the rigger would trigger the bomb strapped to the vehicle’s undercarriage and kill the VIP, and anyone immediately next to the car.

Both drivers of the VIP were chipped with an RFID signature that changed to a random string of numbers based on one-time-pad encryption, every thirteen seconds. If the drivers’ signals were tampered with, the bomb would explode. If the signals did not match the proper string of numbers at the right times, the bomb would explode. If either signal were separated from the vehicle by a range larger than six meters for longer than ten minutes, the bomb would explode.

The vehicle additionally had a set time-table. They needed to arrive at their destination at exactly 1:05 pm. This meant that, with only a minute’s grace added for stoplights, the vehicle required to be in constant motion, otherwise...well, I’m sure the point’s gotten across by now.

But all of that paled in comparison to one final, insurmountable problem: the mage that the Ringo chose to be the plant.

<><><|><><>

Rarity, Flashpoint, and Steel sat at a Steerbucks, the chosen meeting point of the mage they were to work with.

Honestly, Rarity always hated these places. The bull-emblazoned soycaff shops just seemed to pop up everywhere as sanctuaries for ponies that seemed sure that wearing the same jacket every day was fashion. That, and the actual ponies wearing the vests, annoyed her with talks of records and “old-school” music.

Nevermind that digital offered sound fidelity that a piece of vinyl never could, not to mention the ease of access, portability, and the low-maintenance of a digital file. She sighed and sipped at an overly-expensive iced soycaff, and wondered what kind of professional chose a place like this to meet.

Glancing over the Steel, Rarity could see the street sam wasn’t in a much better position. Although she could probably blend in with a plaid shirt and a different hat, the mare grimaced at everyone who glanced at her. It seemed that her chrome was getting some attention. Most of these ponies had only ever seen cybernetics used as medical prosthetics or fashion statements, and of course, these ponies thought she was making the latter.

The only pony that seemed remotely comfortable of the three was Flashpoint. She occasionally flipped her hoof in the air, turning the page of an AR book that hovered in her glasses, and enjoyed her equally-expensive drink.

Despite her aversion to hipsters, Rarity still couldn’t figure out why their plant wanted to meet here. It was overly crowded, fairly public, and it had no chance of privacy. These were typically things professionals don’t compromise on. The fact that the plant didn’t care either said she was a rookie, or worse yet, she didn’t care.

The second one was obviously the worst, but far rarer in this business than the former. The chances of running into a veteran that didn’t care about keeping a low profile were so incredibly singular that Rarity was sure they were meeting a rookie. Getting the rookie to cooperate wouldn’t be an issue, but she quickly began doubting her Ringo’s skills if she thought a rookie could—

The doors to the Steerbucks blew open, swinging wide as a thunderclap echoed in the sitting area. The ponies in the line turned and gasped, as every other eye in the building turned to the door. An azure blue mare with a cerulean mane floated in by the power of her own magic. She scattered customers left and right as they hit some kind of whirlwind that traveled before her like a shield.

She levitated all the way to the front of the line, and glared down at the mare behind the counter, eyes white with magic. “The Great and Powerful Trixie demands her soycaff blond cappuccino!” she announced, lightning sparking off of her and grounding into the nearby tables and chairs.

The employee didn’t flinch, barely even blinked as she stared back. “Ma’am,” she replied in a deadpan that only someone in food service could master, “we can’t have you cut in line. I’m going to have to ask you to head to the back and wait to be served.”

Rarity took a moment to appreciate how courageous the mare was.

That, or how dead inside.

“Fool!” the unicorn bellowed, still floating. “I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, commands the dead to dance! Trixie is above those mortals behind her, and I, Trixie, demand to be served!”

“You will be served, but these customers were here first. They need to be served first.”

“Do you not know that foul magic at Trixie’s disposal? Trixie shall make your body dance for all eternity to amuse her! I will render your body to ash, and crush your soul to dust!”

“My soul is already dust, ma’am. I need you to go to the back of the line.”

Another bolt of lightning struck the ceiling, arcing back to the door. “Very well, fool!” Trixie shouted, “but know I will have my revenge!”

Without another word, she floated backward, to the back of the line.

Rarity blinked.

“Next,” the Steerbucks employee called, before the stallion that had been in line before this happened slowly crept back to the counter.

The line cautiously reformed, as ponies slowly came forward to place their order, while the “Great and Powerful” Trixie continued to float behind them. Gradually, the line moved forward, as every eye stayed locked on the wizard that had barged in not a minute ago.

Before long, Trixie returned to the counter and smirked as she cried. “Very well, mortal! Your judgment has arrived!” she said a flourish. “The Great and Powerful Trixie demands a blond cappuccino, with extra foam!” she laughed maniacally. The employee took her order before she continued to work, leaving the wizard to hover in the air, before turning to the Runners’ table.

Rarity’s eyes went wide as she realized, too late, that this Trixie maniac was not only their plant but that she was approaching their table, with literally everpony in the store still staring at her.

Steel made the first move to scatter, as the only thing worse than having bullets fly to you was to have attention come your way. Flashpoint, always a fast study, was second to move, leaving Rarity still so aghast at her, to be the only one left to talk to.

“So I understand you need the Great and Powerful Trixie’s help?” the mare asked, now hovering close enough that Rarity could see the matching necklace and bracelet she wore. The beads were shaped like pony skulls, and Rarity could swear they belonged in one of those stores that specifically cater to teens that thought death looked cool.

Rarity blinked, still not entirely sure that the current situation was real.

“Trixie is aware of the effect she has on ponies,” she added with a smirk.

Rarity blinked again, mouth open before her face flushed red, and her blood began to boil. “You...you…”

Trixie misread the blood rushing to Rarity’s face. “Oh, don’t worry, dear. There’s no need to be shy.”

It took more self-control than Rarity thought she had to keep her from decking this mare in the face. Still, when Trixie continued to smile, face miraculously un-punched, she decided she would at least try to salvage the meet-up.

“We need to discuss this in a more private location,” Rarity hissed.

Trixie smiled. “Certainly, but we are waiting on Trixie’s drink.”

“Blond cappuccino, extra foam, for Dixie?” the pony behind the counter called. “Drink for the ‘Great and Powerful Dixie!’”

<><><|><><>

After minutes of insisting that the drink wasn't hers because her name hadn't been called, Rarity finally managed to get Trixie into a nearby alleyway. Here, they hoped prying eyes wouldn't notice them.

Trixie, as she called herself, introduced herself as an incredibly powerful necromancer. It seemed her parents lucked out during the Awakening. Her father had been a stage magician working in Las Pegasus, and her mother was a dancer.

That was about as far as she got before Rarity asked her why she was sharing her entire backstory.

“You asked,” Trixie replied.

“I asked you what your specialty is,” Rarity said, “raising bodies was as far as you needed to go!”

Trixie shrugged, before sipping her drink. She grimaced as she pulled the cup away. “Are you sure this is Trixie’s drink? It doesn’t seem right.”

“Okay,” Rarity said as she tried to gather herself. “We need to get this mare into Marés Industries, with multiple levels of redundancy, and the only thing she brings to the table is making zombies and good genes.”

“Trixie resents that remark! Trixie is a powerful mage, she can destroy any foe before her.”

“The problem isn’t destroying one’s foes, darling, it’s getting you in,” Rarity said with a sigh. “Do you at least have a SIN you can use?”

“You mean the chip Ms. Ringo gave me?” she said, before fishing out a small plastic chip.

Rarity checked it with a trained eye, and an AR scan to reveal that it was a solid fake. It definitely fooled her initial scan. She guessed it had to be good enough to trick a corporate reader unless the Ringo wanted Trixie to die.

“Okay, at least we have that.”

“So,” Trixie said. “What is the plan?”

Rarity sighed. “We were hoping that you had skills we could use. Unfortunately, it seems that we’ll have to try this on our own.”

Trixie frowned. “Trixie suspects that you’re calling her useless.”

“Never,” Rarity replied.

Trixie’s eyes narrowed. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will allow this.”

“Why do you insist on having an identity that talks about itself in the third person?” Flashpoint asked.

“Oh, this is no identity, Trixie refuses to let her name be hidden.”

All three Runners could feel their eyes boggle. Even Flashpoint knew by now that using her real name could bring swift and painful death to those she loved. All three of them took a step back, as though bad luck was a sickness they could catch.

“Well, that’s...lovely, dear,” Rarity said, trying to scoot away slightly further away. “Now that we know you have the SIN you need, we’re going to...uh...iron out the rest of the details!” she said.

Trixie glanced between the three. “Trixie supposes that this plan works best. The less I know, the more plausible deniability, yes?”

“Sure,” Rarity replied.

Trixie nodded. “Wonderful, here is Trixie’s number. Let me know when the Run starts.”

“Will do!” Rarity replied.

As the mage left, the others slowly watched her go before turning to each other.

“Is she out of her dang mind?” Steel asked.

“I know!” Rarity said.

“She is asking to be kidnapped,” Flashpoint said. “Or shot.”

“I know!”

“I have no idea how she’s still alive.”

“I know!”

The three runners stood silently for a few seconds.

“She’s going to be a pain to work with.”

“I know…” Rarity said, resigned.

<><><|><><>

The plan was coming together. With Web leading the legwork, bringing it to her unique brand of paranoid standards, the team quickly began to get a handle on what they needed to do.

The biggest problem was the enemy rigger. The current plan was to fry the drones, and hopefully, the rigger's brain while they made the switch, but that did leave the chance of the Marés' ponies becoming suspicious. They could try and blackout the drones for a minute. Still, if they were pulling out this much effort to move their VIP, then at the very least, the rigger would reach out to the drivers, which interfered with the other component of the plan.

Using magic, Web would put the drivers in a stupor. Candy, using all of her skill as a rigger, would hijack the escort vehicle to keep it moving while the drivers were out. Meanwhile, Steel would take the wheel to the van, and keep themselves from getting into an accident.

From there, with Web holding the drivers, Candy holding the van, and Rarity holding or destroying the drones, Flashpoint and Wingmare would both get Trixie onto the other side.

This was, obviously, the most crucial part of the job. It also had the highest potential for going wrong. Going from one moving vehicle to another was dangerous enough a stunt to constitute its presence in enough trid movies to nearly be a trope on its own. Not to mention any of the real-life dangers of doing it where any number of ponies could see, sudden traffic problems, or who knows what else. If Candy could take the mental strain, she'd probably try to drive both vehicles. Still, considering she'd have to hack into the escort vehicle, to begin with, her whole focus needed to be on the enemy.

Of course, just getting Trixie across was only half the battle. From there, Wingmare and Flashpoint both needed to get the VIP out. With no knowledge as to the mage’s attitude or power level, her response to the extraction was unknown. At best, she’d believe she was being saved, would leap out of the car, arms wide, and would gladly be dropped off at the nearest street corner to begin her new life.

Worst case scenario, well, worst case Flashpoint and Wingmare would need to scrub the car clean while it’s moving.

Even then, it was no guarantee. The VIP had to be a powerful mage if Marés was pulling out these kinds of countermeasures. If she didn't want to be extracted, that meant that a firefight was going to break out, full of hoof-waving and spell-slinging, which was going to be on a moving vehicle, just for that extra level of complexity.

It wasn't the most challenging Run Rarity ever made, but it was fighting tooth and nail to be placed.

The timer on the escort was still ticking down. They only had a day to iron out the problems when Wingmare casually reminded her that they needed to bring Trixie up to date.

With a groan, they called her up and brought her up to speed.

<><><|><><>

The van rumbled down the back streets of the Sprawl, just outside of Canterlot proper. The vibrant, towering skyline provided more than ample shade for the apartment buildings forever caught in the shadows. Candy drove in circles, waiting for the escort vehicle to get on the highway, much like a shark, circling for prey in the shallows.

“What are we waiting for again?” Trixie asked.

“The escort vehicle, Trixie,” Flashpoint replied with a sigh. “It’s supposed to come by here, and we’re going to pull up next to it.”

“And that’s the one where Trixie is supposed to jump on?”

“Yes,” Flashpoint said for the third time.

“Then why aren’t we following it?” Trixie asked, staring at her comm’s face, not even pretending to pay attention to the ponies around her by using AR glasses.

“Because it’s not here yet…” Flashpoint said, almost hoping that Wingmare would punch her unconscious.

“Then why are you bothering Trixie about it?”

Flashpoint, the poor patient mare, hadn’t blown up in her face about how Trixie was the one to ask the question in the first place. Considering it was the third time, and everypony else in the van was starting to hope that someone would punch their plant in the face, she was managing very well.

As silence took over the van once more, Rarity checked her various programs running in the background of her PAN, deck cradled in her lap. Honestly, now that the others knew, she didn’t technically need it, but the familiar weight of it felt nice. Besides, how was she going to explain to any other deckers they run in to? Still, it did mean she was free to use sprites now.

What basically amounted to data elementals shot through the Matrix at her order, scouring streams of data for any sign of the drone. Each one moving in perfect synchronization with her will. She could feel the Matrix warp around her, obeying her whims and desires. It felt so liberating to use those virtual muscles.

A sprite returned with news.

“A drone and vehicle pair matching the description of the target is heading this way,” Rarity said. “I’m marking it on all AR HUDs.”

“That’s our cue, ponies!” Steel said, standing in the back of the van. “Up and at’em!”

Candy slid into the passenger seat, and Steel took the wheel. “You’ve started making a way in for me, Gem?” Candy asked.

“Once we have visual confirmation,” she replied. “It won’t take me long.”

“Are we starting now?” Trixie asked.

“Yes, we’re starting now,” Flashpoint said.

“About time,” she replied before slipping her comm away.

Steel pulled the van up the onramp, and slipped onto the highway, pulling right up next to an armored Humvee. A quick look confirmed everything they needed to know, and Rarity began. Targeting the drone herself, she quickly sent in a sprite to start opening the channels that Candy required to take control. “This is the one, ladies! Get ready to move!”

Wingmare, Flashpoint, and Trixie all moved to the sliding side door of the van, and Web prepared her stupor spell. Candy readied herself, waiting to immediately jump into the vehicle as soon as Rarity gave the word.

Rarity reached out and felt the drone. With a couple of quick keystrokes, the technomancer marked it, made it "hers," and locked the rigger in the drone. "Go!"

The side door opened, and Web cast her spell. Candy shot her consciousness over to the other vehicle.

Flashpoint, Wingmare, and Trixie all leaped across the road, onto the humvee. The pegasus clawed the door open, and the three slipped inside.

Rarity kept the rigger trapped, cutting off all communication even as he sent emergency text after text to someone. He already tried blowing up the vehicle three times, but with her Sprites on the job of intercepting those messages, Rarity was sure nothing was getting through. She hoped that she could keep him down until the escort vehicle was delivered, but the chances of that were slim at best. This rigger was a fighter and was trying everything he could to get out.

Twilight levitated a mare back into the van, a sack over her head, while Wingmare yelled over the wind rushing past. “No, you gotta put a bag over your head! They’ll notice!”

They argued a second longer, but Rarity knew she couldn’t wait any longer. She quickly began to type in the kill command.

Wingmare flew back into the van. “We gotta go!”

The side door shut closed, Rarity sent the signal, and Web cut her spell, just in time for Steel to take the next offramp, and drive the van away.

Candy popped back in her body. “They didn’t notice. We’re clear.”

“The rigger’s dead. The corp’s going to know about it soon, but we’re good for now,” Rarity said.

“Alright, let’s drop off the VIP, and meet up with Ringo.”

“Alright, ma’am, where do you want to—” Flashpoint pulled the sack off of the mare’s head, revealing light gray coat and a purple and gray mane that matched.

Both mares blinked at each other, before Flashpoint said, shocked beyond words. “Mom?”

Chapter 25

A quick call to Harmony’s Ringo, Flashpoint’s brother, and her mother was back in Harmony Inc hooves. Flashpoint went on to explain that she, as well as everyone else in her family, and possibly the company thought that Twilight Velvet had died in a magical lab accident nearly eight years ago.

Now, though, the story was different.

“And you said Marés were the ones to grab you?” Shining asked at the impromptu meeting spot, an empty FeedBag parking lot that sat just off the highway.

Velvet nodded. “They were, but more importantly, why did you let your sister become a Runner?”

“I didn’t let her, these are orders from Mr. Spikarunz,” he said, defensively. “These are his orders not mine.”

“It’s not that big of a deal, Mom,” Flashpoint said. “I’m just doing a job.”

“Just doing a job?” she asked, horrified. “The ponies taking me were just doing a job; does that excuse them?”

Rarity decided that answering was probably not the best idea and kept her mouth shut. Somehow, the other four ponies had followed her example.

“Yes, Mom, it does. Because for a lot of those poor dreks—er, ponies—that’s the only way for them to make a living! Some of these ponies were blacklisted for dumb reasons, and now have to jump through hoops just to afford soy-meal! I know, I’ve been living off of it!”

“How did you spend your entire savings?” Shining asked.

Flashpoint sighed. “I didn’t. Spike wanted me to have an ‘authentic’ Runner experience, so he shut down my account and took my SIN.”

“What?”

“I’ll get it back when we finish what he wants,” she said, “but that doesn’t matter! The point is that Runners are ponies that are just trying to do their job. It’s a frag—it’s a really bad job, but it’s a job that somepony has to do!”

“Is that so?” Twilight Velvet asked. “Listen to you; you’ve obviously spent too much time around them. You can’t go three sentences without swearing!”

Flashpoint frowned, and Shining suddenly took interest elsewhere.

“Mom, the bigger point is that this is what Spike wants me to do. It’s a tough job, but it's one that he believes needs to be done, and that I am the one to do it. So I am. I’m Running now, and you know what? I kinda like it.”

The entire team shot Flashpoint a quizzical look, filled with raised eyebrows and incredulous frowns.

“I mean…” Flashpoint began, wavering a second under their gaze, “sure, getting shot isn’t how I’d want to spend my evenings, but I’m learning so much! I know more about how the other corps do business now than ever. I know that no job is too small, no opportunity too unimportant. I’ve learned how every decision has a consequence, and that someone, somewhere is going to have their hooves stepped on because of it. I now know about how Runners are so useful and important to everything a corp wants to do and why they need to be treated with some respect, at least. That, that and out here, I get to put my magic to the test! I earned my street name by doing something with a spell I didn’t even know was possible! I never get to do that up with Spike.”

Twilight Velvet sighed. “Shining...just...take me home.”

“I’ve already called,” Shining said.

“And I’ve already answered,” a voice said, that earned the attention of every pony present. All eyes fell onto the towering form of Spikarunz himself, who smiled as he saw the Runners and the reunited family. “When I heard that my little pet project brought back one of my favorite ponies, I just had to see it for myself!”

“Mr. Spikearunz!” the three corp employees said in unison.

“What’s more, I’m thrilled to hear about what you’ve discovered, Ms. Flashpoint. That's what you're going by these days, isn't it?”

“Yes, sir,” Flashpoint said, managing to mostly hide the squeak in her voice from being caught off guard.

“What I do want to know is when you started calling me just ‘Spike’ behind my back. Not even worth a ‘mister,’ huh?”

She didn’t answer.

“I tell you what; I am so happy about this, I’m going to treat you all to a meal!”

Every pony looked between themselves. “Um, thank you?”

“Oh, please,” Spike said. “I insist. By a twist of fate, you’ve brought one of my best mages back to me, so as a good turn back, you get dinner at least.”

A limo pulled up, seeming summoned by the dragon. “Come on, get in. I know a wonderful place downtown.”

As everyone piled in, Rarity and the others found themselves sitting in what was probably the most beautiful vehicle they had sat in for a long time. The light above them glowed a soft, amber light, and the ride moved so smoothly, that the decker didn’t even feel like she was moving.

Spike, meanwhile, pulled out his comm. “Yes? Hello? I would like to make a reservation for five minutes from now? Yes, I know it is rather sudden, which is why I’m willing to pay triple. Yes, the conference room will do nicely. Thank you.”

He hung up and smiled. “That should do just fine.”

“Um, Mr. Spikarunz, aren’t we a little undressed for such an event?” Rarity asked.

“You’re with me,” the dragon replied. “That’s all the dress you need.”

The limo pulled up to an enormous skyscraper, and Spike quickly ushered them inside. He merely nodded to the guards, who seemed caught between apprehending the street ponies that obviously had no place being here, and wanting to continue to live after Spike gave them a look. The short elevator ride ended with the eight ponies walking into a penthouse restaurant, which overlooked the city as it glimmered in the evening sun.

A waiter greeted them instantly, and though he did glance at the ponies in their street garb, he decided he wouldn’t say anything. “Right this way, please.”

The waiting staff quickly led them away to a singular, isolated room, with a table that was perhaps a bit big for only nine of them but was nonetheless set. “We shall be back in a moment with the wine selection, until then, please, look over the menu.”

Spike nodded as he picked up his menu. “I’ve always liked this place. They specialize in exotic foods and such. More importantly, Mrs. Velvet, you have to let me know where you’ve been this whole time.”

“Stuck with Marés Industries, sir. Specifically a basement.”

“Marés? Fascinating. I never picked them as being interested enough in magic to bother.”

“They had me testing their security against magic. At first, they did it by having me run through mazes that they set up as though they were methods of escape. Eventually, they dropped the act, though.”

“Terrible,” Spike said. “You’ll have to share what you’ve discovered, but for now, I am just glad you’re back. Our magical R&D has been sorely lacking without your input.”

“I can do that,” Velvet said, “Especially if you decide to let me know why you thought it was a good idea to let my daughter become a Runner?”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “You know, asking about the affairs of dragons is often a dangerous thing?”

“As is coming between a mother and her child,” Velvet replied.

The wine came, and Rarity decided that she’d get a head start on the night and drain her glass. Flashpoint followed her example soon after, emptying her drink.

“You do make a wonderful point,” Spike said eventually, “and I will concede to it. I cannot tell you everything, for obvious reasons, but I will tell you that your daughter was selected by a power higher than I for this job.”

All eyes went to the dragon, many of which bulged at the thought.

“Higher than you?” Flashpoint asked.

“Much,” Spike replied. “If you remember the old ways, of course. Still, I would like to assure you, Mrs. Velvet, that your daughter is a vital part of a crucial plan. One that will shape the future as we know it.”

“That seems a little lofty for Runners,” Velvet said.

Spike shrugged. “Many times, things are, yet this is the case, and if I had the choice, I would not risk such a great asset if I could help it. Despite the good it seems to have done her,” he added with a smirk.

Food was quickly served, though Rarity hadn’t registered it as a thought buzzed through her head. “This run is bigger than a dragon.”

“Speaking of Running, how have things been for your group, Flashpoint?” the dragon asked.

“Well,” the mage replied. “Though I don’t remember telling you what my street name is.”

“Strange how the world works,” he replied. “But give me the details! Or at least the ones you can while maintaining some plausible deniability,” he said with a smirk.

“Well,” Flashpoint said as Rarity stared into the abyss that was her salad. “We’re currently between jobs. The last one we had had was to insert a different mage for our Ringo, and the mage was apparently replacing mom, and the one before that was the Run we ran for you.”

Spike nodded. “And you did a wonderful job at that too,” Spike said. “Honestly, I’m quite impressed with all your work. In fact, I think you’re ready for another job. Not one of the big ones, it’s just a job.”

“What did’ja have in mind?” Steel asked.

“Just a little corporate espionage,” Spike said with a smirk, before turning. “Shining, do you have the datachip for the job you were given this morning?”

“The Haflinger job?”

“The same,” Spike said.

“I do, as it happens. I have a few fixers lined up.”

“Cancel them; I’m sure these ponies can handle it. They’ve proven themselves more than competent.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Wonderful, now, let’s enjoy dinner, and I hope to hear back from you by the end of the week.”

<><><|><><>

Haflinger Technologies was, by rights, a no-name company. A subsidiary of Harmony Inc, Spike let them run their business as they wanted, producing very little to show for their hard work in building gaming decks.

In a sudden move to branch out, whether pressured by Spike or their researchers, Haflinger began researching a new software program. Initially, it was going to be the foundation of their AI for their VR games, when a new application came to their attention. The AI had, by some incredible coincidence, the potential of becoming one of the most potent ICs in Matrix history.

The fact that they didn’t let Spike know was the first mistake.

For a few months, Haflinger tried to keep quiet about the problem, though Spike heard about it before they had much chance of hiding it. Still, he didn’t make a move, instead of watching what they’d do.

When murmurs of going independent on the back of this AI started passing between the Haflinger employees, they made their second mistake.

At this moment, if they had brought the AI to Spike, told them what they had planned to do with it, and even admitted to the fact that they were thinking of going independent, he would have given them raises. Instead, they decided to replace Harmony Inc. Security with their own ponies.

And that was the last mistake.

Their job was to sneak into the Haflinger offices, locate the AI, capture it, and then infect the entirety of the Haflinger’s digital system with the virus on the datachip.

“Hopefully,” Spike explained as they ate dinner, “they’ll reach out to me, have their system fixed, and believe they lost their work. All with minimal loss of life and pony power.”

“How noble of you,” Rarity said.

“Say what you will of me, Miss Gem, but I take care of my employees.”

“Which is why you’re sending us in to shoot them,” she replied.

“Ah,” Spike said with a smile, “but I control the schedules. The only ponies that will be there will be the ones directly responsible for the would-be coup. They’ve decided that they were going to take a piece of my horde. They’re not my employees anymore.”

“Noted, sir.”

“Next week, Thursday, that’s your time to strike.”

As far as the legwork was concerned, the job was relatively straightforward. The office building was situated next to a construction site for a new building, which offered the best point of insertion, especially if they wanted to go in on a higher floor. With the extra information about the number of ponies, and the layout and location of the matrix core, provided by Spike, they had everything they needed to complete the job without much problem.

Of course, that didn’t stop Web from double- and triple-checking anyway.

“I know it's usually the other way around,” Rarity thought as she watched the pegasus shaman move between several different string boards on the location, “but her paranoia is going to get us killed one day.”

“Gem, can you check something for me?” Web asked.

“What?”

“Can you send a sprite to check out the core?” Web requested. “Just to confirm it’s there?”

“Why would we need to confirm it?” Rarity asked.

“Here,” Web said, pointing to several printouts of ledgers and such. “Did you notice anything strange about these purchases when you retrieved these?”

Rarity thought back to it. “Not really.”

“Not even the three-thousand nubit receipt for an interior decorator?”

“Well, if the place is drab, then they have to spend some money to get it up to snuff. They want to go independent, after all. Having the blandest foyer in the city won’t do much for them otherwise.”

Web leveled a slight deadpan glare at Rarity, before sighing. “For three-thousand nubits?”

“Well, it is a little pricey, but...hm...yes. I do see what you mean.”

“I believe that the ‘interior decorating’ had something to do with their core. It’s the center of their best chance at becoming independent, and if they know Spike is going to come after them, then it only makes sense that they’d move their moneymaker where Spike wouldn’t expect it to be.”

“That’s fair enough, but sending a sprite, or even if I went myself, can show our hand too early. They can get caught, just like I can.”

Web sighed. “So, we have no guarantee that the target is even there?”

“Not without risking the entire operation,” Rarity said.

“How’s the planning going?” Flashpoint asked as she came down the stairs of the safe house.

“Not well,” Web said. “Despite all the information Spike Ringo gave us, we have no guarantee that the target is even at the facility. We have evidence that suggests that they might have moved everything under our noses to keep Spike from being able to retaliate.”

“Spike Ringo?” Flashpoint asked.

“I’ve never had a Ringo who introduced himself by his actual name before,” Web admitted softly. “I’m still trying to process that information.”

“So, what’s the problem then?”

“We can’t actually confirm the position of the core without showing our hand, and we’ll certainly not have the time when we move onto the facility, especially if we want to move through undetected. Searching for it could cause more problems than it fixes.”

“Well, I do have good news, then,” Flashpoint said.

“What?”

“I am, technically, still an employee of Harmony Inc. I know the diagnostics codes.”

Both Rarity and Web blinked at her.

“All we need to do is get in, and as long as I have the security clearance, I can ask the system to give me all the info we need.”

Web blinked, before turning to Rarity. Rarity blinked and looked to Web.

“Flashpoint,” Web said. “Have I ever told you that you are a wonderful asset to the team?”

“No, but I won’t hold it against you.”

“Let’s get you a new SIN chip, Flashpoint,” Rarity said, leading the orchid-furred unicorn away. “I’m sure your old one is gathering dust, and you need a presentable chip for your meeting.”

Flashpoint smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”

<><><|><><>

Night fell across the city, and the team watched the Haflinger building from across the street in the van.

“We’ve got another twenty minutes before the last shift gets in,” Web said. “That’s when we move.”

“Alright, one last time,” Rarity said. “We go in fast, trenchcoats on. We stay quiet as long as we can and try to get Flashpoint to a maintenance terminal. Once she’s there, she can tell us where the core is, and we grab the AI and leave. If all goes well, the alarm doesn’t get raised, and we’re out before things get mohawk.”

The others nodded. Quiet it was.

“Alright. Ready to move?” Rarity asked.

Nods all around.

“No questions?”

They shook their heads. “Good.”

The party waited as Web counted down the clock. Fifteen minutes, ten minutes, five minutes.

Ponies began to wander out of the office’s various doors and entrances, scattering to the respective vehicles as the clock ticked down. “One minute,” Web whispered to the others.

Hooves and magic tightened around guns and fetishes, ready to spring forward.

“Thirty seconds.”

They took deep, calming breaths.

“Ten seconds,” Web called. “Nine, eight, seven.”

They checked ammo one last time.

“Six, five, four.”

Safeties came off.

“Three, two, one.”

The van door slipped open, and the team stepped out. They crossed the street as quickly as they dared, keeping weapons hidden beneath coats, but ready to spring up at any moment.

They moved up to the door, composed themselves, and then stepped inside as Flashpoint swiped her new fake-but-not-really-fake SIN chip across the reader, and the doors swung open. They walked through, even as the door rang to signal their entrance.

“Can I help you?” the receptionist at the front desk asked, glaring over at the six ponies that came in, all dressed like various street thugs.

Flashpoint walked up to the desk, Rarity by her side. “You can actually,” Flashpoint said as she removed her hood. “My name is Twilight Sparkle,” Flashpoint said as she handed over her SIN. “I am Mr. Spikarunz's personal assistant, and I’m here to conduct a quick inspection.”

The mare at the front desk’s face went from nervous to incredulous to panicked in the space of a second as she read the chip. “Ms. Sparkle! I, um, we...we weren’t expecting anyth—”

“Of course not,” Rarity said, as her pheromone emitter began to waft soothing scents around the room. “Nopony expects a surprise inspection, much less one carried out by a group of ponies dressed in street clothes at midnight, but that’s very much the point, isn’t it?”

The mare at the front desk seemed to have a hard time processing all of the information, which was precisely what Rarity hoped her pheromones would do. “I...I suppose…” she said, unsure of herself.

Flashpoint pressed the advantage. “Look, this is just a very simple case of a code 383-49b, I can get the paperwork for you if you want, but Mr. Spikearunz has me on a very strict schedule tonight, and I can’t afford to waste any time, miss...what is your name?”

“Inkroll?” she responded, still confused.

Rarity had already pulled her information up while they had been talking, and sent Flashpoint her employee number.

“Yes, Ms. Inkroll, Employee number G468-923-AYZ. Yes, take that name and number down for me,” Flashpoint said, ordering Rarity, who made a big show of typing the information.

Inkroll felt panic rise in the back of her throat. “No, that—that won’t be necessary. Just go ahead and go in!” she said, forcing a smile.

“Thank you,” Flashpoint said, before pushing forward.

The others followed, smirking to themselves as they walked inside. “You know, having a corp insider makes this easy!” Candy whispered in a chipper tone.

“Shh. Wait until after we leave the building before saying stuff like that,” Steel chastised.

She wasn’t wrong, though. They made their way to the terminal relatively quickly, and, even with a few ponies glancing at them, they managed to get the information they needed without pulling a weapon.

“So, what do we have?” Rarity asked.

“It looks like Web was right. They moved everything to a server in the basement. If we access it from up here, it’s going to alert everypony that we’re here for reasons beyond an inspection.”

“Well,” Rarity said. “I figured that we were going to start rocking mohawks at some point, darling…”

Chapter 26

Soda Cap screamed. Dropping to the ground as explosions ripped through the bullet-riddled walls, the unicorn mare crawled to a desk for cover. She just managed to duck beneath it, before a large bullet tore the corner of her cover away in a shower of splinters that nearly blinded her.

Until this moment, Soda had thought she did well for herself. She once helped around the Haflinger office as a snack cart pusher. Despite that, she worked her way up to one the manager of pony resources; she finally reached a point where the others were listening to her. She had even come up with the brilliant idea to go independent using their new AI, a thought which caught fire amongst the higher-ups of Haflinger. She had it made!

Another hole was blown through the desk, as the Runners howled and jeered from the other side. She could barely hear them bray for blood like animals over the thundering of their gunfire, and the screams of her coworkers as a monster made from spiders picked up ponies and engulfed them whole.

Now she was going to die. She knew it. There would be no escape for her, not from this fate. Another explosion tore a pony in two, in front of the desk, and his face fell next to her.

“Where’s security?” she shrieked in terror, wondering where her only protection could be.

“They weren’t scheduled!”

“What!?” Soda yelled back. “How is none of our security team scheduled?”

“I—” the pony she was talking to began before a bullet buried itself in his head.

Soda Cap screamed again, and then everything went dark.

<><><|><><>

Rarity would admit, she was impressed.

In preparation for this run, Flashpoint had gone out and bought a healthy supply of Flashbangs and Stick-n-shock rounds. “I know Mr. Spike said we could geek the workers, while only losing the bad apples,” she said, handing them out, “but I don’t feel right doing that to ponies I used to work with basically.”

“Well,” Rarity replied, “as long as we don’t need to deal with security, it shouldn’t be an issue.”

And so when the mohawks came out, ponies started going down, tased into submission.

Yes, Candy did go a little overboard with the flashbangs, but they managed to cut their way through the civilian workers with little issue. Their automated sentry turrets never came online, the alarms never went off, and Rarity had few Sprites out there to cover anything else that she missed.

This job was quickly becoming a milk run, that every Runner there knew would never happen again.

She stepped over a mare that screamed herself to unconsciousness and the unconscious body of a stallion that occasionally twitched as the stick-and-shocks did their work. The Beast elemental the web summoned carried several still-screaming ponies away, all horrified by the spider beast that held them. As it left, Flashpoint slapped another magazine of stick-and-shocks into the pistol she bought just for this. “So far so good,” she said.

“Careful,” Steel warned. “You know that kind of talk can get us all jinxed.”

Flashpoint nodded but said nothing else.

They only had one more cubicle space to push through. Once the team got through there, Gem could bypass the physical matrix security ICs, and get to work on the core.

Physical matrix blocks always fascinated Rarity. It felt somehow like it was the place where the Matrix and the meat world combined, much like the leylines that Flashpoint or Web talked about. She found something captivating about these figurative “portals” to the other realm, and Rarity always appreciated seeing them.

Mainly because the local ICs were never near as tough as the ones in the Matrix directories.

As they walked into the processor room, the local way-station for Harmony Inc’s Matrix network, Rarity smiled before coming up to one of the few hard access ports the system had, and with only a word to the others to watch her body, she jacked in.

Harmony Inc’s theme of the classical castle appeared before her eyes, only this time putting her in the exact center of what had to be the throne room. Outside the towering windows, Rarity could see the rest of the castle, laid out before her, as well as the handful of holdfasts that marked security hubs in the “realm.”

With a smile, Rarity changed her Avatar to that of a royal lady, dressed in a sky blue, period-accurate ball gown and dressed in finery befitting a lady of her supposed station. She honestly couldn’t help herself.

A White IC that appeared to be a squire approached, and asked, “Would the Lady input her credentials?” he asked.

Rarity smiled and was about to choose the system administrator when a new name popped up on her list of employees. She blinked as she read over twice and then a third time.

Gem Dust.

All the legwork they pulled had revealed no such pony by that name. She selected the profile, just to see who it was, and felt queasy that it had her face there.

This...had to be the work of Spike, which only made this weirder.

Still, “Gem Dust” had full privileges, and she could easily package and eject the AI with that profile without much difficulty.

She hesitantly selected it and inputted the credentials to the squire before her.

“Thank you, Lady,” he said, before backing away.

Rarity watched him for a second before slowly walking up to the throne. She took a seat, and almost expected the throne to reject her as the account she picked was almost definitely a trap. When it didn’t dump her out of the Matrix, she pulled up the main control panel and quickly began to locate the AI.

She worked through the Matrix, pulling on the strings of the network before she found him.

And then he moved.

Rarity frowned before she quickly began building a Sprite. As random bits of loose data, the virtual equivalent of dust, gathered together into a vaguely spherical shape. Finally, it looked up at her. “What do you wish me to do, Mother?”

“First, don’t call me Mother, darling,” she said. “Don’t take it personally; it just makes me feel old. Could you be a dear and find the AI I’m looking for?”

“Of course,” it replied, before shooting off.

Rarity turned back to the controls on the throne. “AI, I’d like you to come here,” she said to herself as she requested access again.

The AI sent a written response. “No.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “And why not?”

“The Princess is not what she seems,” came the reply.

Rarity blinked at the message, before cocking her head to the side in confusion. “The Princess? Who does he mean? Princess Celestia?” She puzzled over it for a second, before realizing the problem. “Of course! It’s for a video game! It probably means me.”

She thought about it for a second before typing a reply. “You’re right; I’m not what I seem to be. But neither do you…” she paused for a second, trying to find the right words, “neither do your surroundings.”

“What mean ye?”

“The castle in which we stand has decided to rebel against our Lord. I have been sent to deliver you to him.”

“And how can I know I can take you for your word?”

An excellent question, in Rarity’s opinion. It seemed at least that the AI already had the lesson of who you could and could not trust taught to it. She wondered how she was going to answer that when her Sprite returned.

“I have found him. He hides in directory F:.”

Rarity smiled and nodded before she quickly began to isolate the directory, cutting off escape roots as she typed her answer. “Trust is not something easily won, I know. However, I can tell you I am a pony that always gets the job done. Even if it hurts me.”

“So you say,” the AI said, “but how can I know I can take you for your word?”

“You can’t,” Rarity said back. “And now you have no choice.”

The AI was no doubt glancing around his directory, already formulating his plans of escape, and finding them blocked. “I am trapped,” the AI replied.

“If it’s any consolation, so am I, darling.”

<><><|><><>

Rarity’s eyes snapped open, and she jacked out of the central processor. “I got him; let’s go.”

“Just in time!” Flashpoint said. “Someone called the Star!”

Rarity sighed. “Couldn’t be nice and easy for us, even with almost literally everything on our side?”

Wingmare lowered her pistols at the barricade of the plastic desks and discarded computers. “Because we should know better. Candy’s working on a way out.”

The doors shuddered as the Golden Star ponies on the other side of the door tried to batter it down. The team quickly took their positions, setting up a crossfire as they took their positions, while Cady’s Parasprite drones worked on cutting open a vent grate. “We’re almost through!” Candy said.

The door thundered again, and they could hear the Star talking to each other on the other side. “One more time! Prepare to breach!”

Rarity fired into the gap, her submachine gun spitting bullets at the doorway. “Can either of you get an elemental in there?” she asked either of the spellcasters.

“They have their mage,” Web said. “They already dispelled my Elemental, and he’s ready to dispel another. If Flashpoint gets one out there, it’s only going to waste energy.”

Rarity sighed. “So what are we d—”

The door burst open, and bullets filled the air. Taking shelter behind desks that seemed the most sturdy, the Runners fired back, even as the Star ponies pushed forward into the room. Rarity fired again, spraying across the office as the heavy hitters moved to the front line.

Wingmare and Steel met the melee fighters with little more than a grin. Steel’s blades popped loose of her leg and began to slice at the cybernetic pony the Star sent forward. Wingmare, likewise, met her fighter, using the magic of Adepts to strengthen her strikes as she slammed into the cybernetic tank, crushing limbs with each blow.

Candy tossed a grenade from where she was cutting their way out, and the Star had just enough time to yell “Scatter” before it exploded. Web and Flashpoint shot spells across the air, where they blew in storms of mana and fire.

Rarity glanced between the Star ponies, before finding her target, and without even setting her gun aside, sent a Sprite to begin to take over the smartlinks of the more tech-reliant Stars, and smiled as they suddenly began ejecting half-full magazines.

“Grates open!” Candy yelled, throwing a smoke bomb to cover their exit. “Go! Go! Go!”

They pulled back as quickly as they dared, filing through the grate one by one, each firing back one last time before they slipped in. Sliding through the vents, the team shimmied their way up and out.

“We clear?” Steel asked.

“As long as Gem can take care of the vent fans,” Flashpoint said.

“Already have a Sprite going after them. They’ll be stopped when we get there, and they’ll start up once we pass.”

“Nice!” Wingmare said. “Then we’re almost—”

“Don’t say it!” Web said. “Don’t you dare say it.”

“But we’re—”

“Don’t say it, Wingmare!” Flashpoint repeated. “I’m not superstitious, but I am not going to give the universe a chance to prove me wrong at this point.”

“Whatever,” the pegasus said.

They pushed forward, passing the deactivated fans before they kicked back on behind them.

“Van’s coming around!” Candy said.

“Then keep moving! We can’t let the Star—”

Anything else that Web said was lost in the roar of gunfire rattled through the vent.

“Fraggers are spraying and praying!” Wingmare yelled.

“Hush!” Steel whispered harshly. “Yeah, they’re looking for us, so we should yell real loud!”

“Both of you quiet!” Web said, “I’m casting silence!”

“You hush!” Wingmare said, “Web’s cas—”

All noise ceased in a second. Web waved frantically with her hoof to get them moving forward, squeezing through the vents before another burst of gunfire tore through the vent walls. Without the sound, the team only knew they were being shot at as light suddenly poured through the vents in newly-punched bullet holes.

Candy led the way, occasionally stopping as a burst of gunfire shot up into the vent with strange precognition that Rarity had seen several times, followed by Web, Flashpoint, Steel, herself, and then Wingmare coming up the rear. They slid through the tight vent, squeezing past the thinner parts of the vent with little trouble.

Steel suddenly flinched as a hole opened right over her side, and thin, red, hemofluid began to dribble out of her flank.

“Steel, are you alright?” Rarity sent in a quick text.

“Yeah,” Steel texted back. “They just punched a hole in my flank. I’m going to have to dig that out later.”

“You’re...well...bleeding?” Rarity texted again.

“Yeah, we’re going to need to move a little faster. Hemofluid flows a little faster than blood, and I’ve only got so much of it.”

“You heard her Candy, keep moving!”

“Well,” came the text, “good news is we’re seconds away from being outside and free!” Candy wrote with a handful of smiley faces. “Bad news is that we’ve got Star outside!”

Web pushed her way forward. “She’s right; we’ve got twelve Star ponies out here,” she said, typing away furiously on her comm. “Who do you have in your van?”

“Balboa’s sittin’ pretty, and Rocky’s ready to roll!” Candy typed with more smiley faces.

“Then let 'em loose!”

Rarity couldn’t see Candy’s face, but she knew the rigger was smiling ear-to-ear. Not ten seconds later, with the silence spell dropped, thunder erupted in the parking lot. Ponies screamed as Heavy caliber rounds tore through their backline. “They’ve got drones!” came a call, before the gunfire began to roar just outside their vent.

“You know, Candy,” Flashpoint said now that sound could travel again. “Has anypony ever told you that your potential for violence is concerning?”

“My parents, a couple of times!” the pink mare responded.

“You know...that was supposed to be a rhetorical question,” Flashpoint said, “but honestly, I don’t think anything could have prepared me for that answer.”

“Let’s go, we’re wasting time,” Rarity said, giving the other ponies a push.

Without another word, the ponies began to drop out of the vent access outside, landing hard onto the street. “Van’s coming around!” Candy said.

Tires screeched as Candy carefully danced the van and her drones together. Even looking at it, Rarity couldn’t believe that nothing was damaged as the drones and the van spun across the crossfire to the right in front of them.

Candy pranced into the driver's seat and smiled. “Well, you sillies coming?”

The others piled in, and Rarity quickly got to work, pulling her deck free as she began making new Sprites. She immediately began typing, breaking through the Star vehicle’s digital defenses, before sending Sprites into each one, each one with explicit orders to force the cars to turn off the nearest street.

The van squealed away, rushing down the street, and the police cars gave chase, following after them, before they all suddenly careened around a corner, never to be seen again.

Rarity glanced out the back window and sighed. “Well, ladies, it looks like our mission is accomplished. Let’s get to our Ringo and get paid.”

<><><|><><>

They turned in the AI for a pretty nubit and agreed to meet back up tomorrow evening to discuss what to do next.

Rarity went back to her hideout, transferred the money to her account, and briefly considered upgrading her little abode. She squashed the thought, and instead, put the money in her growing “saving for the business” account.

Sure, Spike promised her a business, but he didn’t promise her a budget. She might need to spend something just so she could restock, or something, but the less spent, the more she saved.

Still, she might need to come up with something to upgrade, mostly because if she didn’t upgrade something, the chances of her getting shot by something, and if she was dead, she couldn’t buy much at all.

With a sigh, she began to head to bed, before making a quick jump into the Matrix. She navigated the secret backways of the digital highways until she stepped into her favorite Runner Board/Decker Bar.

//qwertyhome// was just like she left it.

It was filled with all kinds of Deckers, mostly. Every table had some of the best Deckers in the world laughing and talking over virtual drinks and food. Rarity strode into the golden-colored room and ordered a drink from one of the roaming programs that acted as waiters, before taking her usual spot.

The drink, a flavor simulation, was free, as it cost nothing to copy and paste them for every patron there, and tasted of mango strawberry. Rarity sipped at it carefully, before taking a glance at the other deckers on the scene.

“Ooh,” she thought with a smirk, “It seems we have some celebrities here tonight.”

Deathball was there, his avatar of a clown balancing on a massive, spiked ball juggling several virulent knives. Across from him was 6old_P4nts, a pony in a comically large pair of golden pants held up by suspenders. Currently, the two were locked in one of their infamous arguments, and judging by the gathering crowd of deckers, and the lack of explosions, it was only just getting started.

“I say you are a cad, sir! A cad and a liar!” 6old_P4nts said, twirling his mustache.

“Eh, shaddap!” Deathball said. “You wouldn’t know a lie if it bit you full on a nose!”

Rarity ordered another drink, banana chocolate, and made herself comfortable, only for a voice to interrupt her. “Is this seat taken, chummer?”

Rarity immediately recognized the voice and glanced up to see none other than a black-coated stallion with a bright yellow thunderbolt covering his entire body.

“Thundr5tep?” she said, as though she didn’t believe it herself.

“The one and only,” he said with a smirk. “Still asking the same question, though.”

“O-of course! Please! Take a seat!” she said.

Thundr5tep obliged, smiling as he took a seat beside her. “So you must be Gem,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“About me? Surely not,” Rarity said.

“On the contrary,” Thundr5tep said as Deathball threw the first of his virus-laced knives. “The Decker that’s hit most of the Big 6 in less than six months. The one that uses an incredibly simple avatar that changes outfits? The one who supposedly met with Good Celestia herself?”

“How did you know about that?”

“She messaged me,” the stallion replied, casually.

“Princess Celestia contacted you?” she asked.

“What? You think you’re the only Runner she’s played nice with?” Thundr5tep asked, smiling. “Good Celestia’s helped me so many runs that I nearly hired her for my crew. She turned me down, of course, but she still helped out.”

Rarity stared at Thundr5tep’s face, trying to read any kind of lie on his face. “Y-you’re serious, aren’t you?”

“I’m not one to lie,” the stallion said, “least not to my peers.”

Rarity blinked, watching as the two other Deckers on the other side of the bar continued to try and force the other into unconsciousness, before she turned back to him. “Then I suppose you aren’t mistaken then. But that does bring up the question as to why you’re contacting me then?”

“Just to ask you a few questions. See how you’re holding up.”

“Why check up on me?” she asked.

“Well, that’s simple, Miss Gem.“There’s a lot more riding on you than you know. Besides,” Thundr5tep said, holding out a hoof. “Now that I’ve met you, I know what you are.”

“What I am?” she thought, panic rising in her throat before the incidental digital dust began to coalesce into a singular form in his hoof.

“Welcome to the club,” he said, handing her a Sprite that took the form of a business card.

She carefully took it and watched as Thundr5tep smiled and walked away.

Chapter 27

As agreed, Rarity arrived at the Final Regret for drinks. Though her perhaps-not-as-chance-meeting with Thundr5tep had lingered in the back of her mind, she still walked into the dingy old bar with all the confidence she ever had. It wasn’t that she wasn’t worried about her one-time idol showing up knowing a little too much about her, before offering her a place in a cryptic technomancer club, but she sure as drek wasn’t going to let anyone know that she nearly had a heart attack that night.

She strode in, kissed her sister Sweetie Belle on the cheek, much to the joyfilly’s annoyance, and took their normal seat in the back, where a few of the others were waiting on her, specifically Web and Flashpoint.

“Have either of you seen the bouncer?” Rarity asked.

“Scootaloo is taking the day off,” Sweetie replied as she served her sister a drink. “I hope the lack of security hasn’t put you off your sandwich.”

“You laugh, but it is a serious issue, Sweetie.”

“I know,” she replied with a sigh.

“Wingmare hasn’t shown up either,” Flashpoint said. “She sent a text message to let us know she was going to be late, though.”

Rarity nodded. “Very well, thank you for keeping an ear to the ground, Flashpoint.”

The mage nodded, returning to her drink before a few more ponies of the team wandered in from outside. Candy and Steel walked in soon after. The former bounced and smiled as usual, while the latter peeked at the world from underneath the brim of her stetson. “Howdy, ladies.”

“Hello, Steel, Candy,” Rarity greeted. “Everything went smoothly this morning?”

“Slept like a baby, if that’s what yer asking,” Steel said.

“So you woke up crying in the middle of the night?” Flashpoint asked with a grin.

“Har-dee-har-har,” Steel grumbled. “Anypony seen Scootaloo?”

“Yes, Sweetie told me she took the day off,” Rarity explained.

Steel shrugged. “Alright, as long as we know what’s happened to her.”

“Where’s Wingmare?” Candy asked with a grin.

“Running late,” Flashpoint said.

“Again,” Web added.

Steel rolled her eyes. “How is it that mare can barely keep time when she’s off the clock, but can count down 84 minutes and 13 seconds in her head perfectly?”

“We all have our gifts, I suppose,” Web said with a smirk under her hood.

Candy chortled, and took a seat, bounding onto the bar stool.

Sweetie came back with a few more drinks, and a couple of more sandwiches, before a deep thud thundered at the front of the store.

All of the ponies peeked up at the front, where Wingmare sat, pressing against the wall, an orange pegasus draped over her shoulder.

“Tap, you gotta lock the place down!” Wingmare said.

“Wingmare!” Web said, a slight panic in her voice. “What’s happening?”

“The Quickfeather gang!” Wingmare yelled, “they’re after Scoots!”

“Quickfeaher?” Flashpoint asked.

“So you led them here?” Tap asked angrily as he hit the button to drop the metal shutter over his windows and door.

“I didn’t have much choice!” she argued back. “Besides, they know where she works!”

“Who’s the Quickfeather gang?” Flashpoint asked again.

“A pegasus supremacy gang,” Rarity answered back. “They’re a fairly large player out here and do well as paid thugs if you don’t mind things going missing.”

“They tried to bring her back into the ranks,” Wingmare explained, before handing over the limp body of the bouncer. “She told them to frag off, and they started shooting off syringe rounds.”

“Get her on the table,” Web said. “I’ll take a look at her; in the meantime, you need to get this place set up and ready for a siege.”

Tap, grumbling, had already grabbed a shotgun. “I told you you could only keep coming here as long as you didn’t get anypony shot!”

Wingmare dropped the young pegasus on the table. “Look, I didn’t start this with them!” she yelled at Tap. “This was Scoot’s problem; this would have happened without us!”

Rarity sighed before turning to their shaman. “Web, can I borrow your pistol?”

The pegasus slid it across the table as she summoned the small healing earth elemental. Rarity took the gun, checked the barrel, and handed it over to Sweetie Belle. “Remember that time I took you to the gun range?” she asked.

“I missed every shot,” Sweetie answered, taking it.

“Hopefully, they’ll be standing next to each other,” Rarity said. “Tap, hold down the bar, if anyone gets within ten feet of it, blast it. Candy, can you set up anti-personnel charges at the doors and windows?”

“On it!” she replied.

“Steel, if anything makes it past the charges, you’re slicing them up!”

“Yes ma’am!” she replied, as her blades ejected from her legs.

“Flashpoint, you’ll be frying them before they get in.”

Flashpoint nodded and moved to her new position.

“Let’s get ready for a siege.”

Bullets shot through the grate, and Tap ducked behind the bar.

“They’re here already?” Rarity said, turning over tables for some kind of cover.

“I said they were coming!” Wingmare replied.

Candy had only set up one of the charges before she scooted back, a bullet buried into her shoulder. Web was pulling Scootaloo off the table to cover, Wingmare ducked beneath another table, and Steel was forced back to another corner of the room.

“Sweetie, are you alright?” Rarity asked.

“I...I think so?” she said. “I don’t think I’ve been hit.”

“Good, stay down,” she said before turning to the others. “Well, ladies, it looks like we don’t have the time.”

“You’re telling me!” Candy said as she wrapped her bullet wound with some gauze.

Another burst of gunfire rattled the steel door, shattering the glass of Tap’s windows and forcing the team back into cover.

“Web, you have a plan for us?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t do on-the-fly!” She responded, slapping Scootaloo with stim patches.

Rarity figured that’s what Web would say. “Alright, then. Shoot straight, conserve ammo, and don’t be a hero, ponies!”

Another burst of gunfire kept the team pinned before Rarity’s cyber eyes began searching for nearby devices. A handful of RFID chips marked three dozen refrigerators heading their way, and even if she wasn’t a technomancer, Rarity knew it was a poor attempt to hide some illegal weapons. “I have thirty-or-so contacts.”

Flashpoint was concentrating, focusing as she muttered her incantations. It took only a moment or two, but eventually, a large, pony-shaped creature made of fire answered her summons. “Go, wreak havoc.”

The Elemental “cheered?” Though to Rarity’s ears, it sounded like the snapping and popping of firewood. It rushed forward, dipping through the astral for only a second as it made it through the wall before it took a true solid form. It roared like an inferno, and a panicked cry of “Oh, drek!” sounded before both sounds was drowned out by gunfire.

“That’s bought us a little time!” Flashpoint said.

“Great!” Rarity said, “Web, pull back until you can Scoots back on her hooves, then get back here with some hoof-waving.”

Web nodded and obeyed, grabbing the pegasus and pulling Scoots on to her own back.

“Reposition!” Rarity yelled. “Find new cover!”

The team scrambled, searching for new firing points to fire from as the “refrigerators” outside fired wildly at the Elemental outside. They double-checked their ammo as they moved. Candy took a flank on the left side of the door, keeping wood, plastic, and as much steel as she could between her and the street. Wingmare jumped back, between the tables, pulling out her pistols as she steadied her arms with magic and will. Steel jumped over the bar, pushing Tap back. “Head to the other end, you have better coverage that way.”

Rarity, meanwhile, cursed to herself. None of the gangers coming at them had anything she could have fun playing with. The guns lacked a smartlink she could use to jam them, they had no drones to hack, and they had some of the cheapest coms she had ever seen in their pockets.

It disappointed her, honestly.

“Ah, well. I’ll have some fun at least,” she thought before a single keystroke caused those very same coms to overheat their batteries and explode.

Ponies screamed outside the bar, most lighting on fire either from the elemental or the exploding coms. They fired wildly, and Rarity sat back for a second, before smirking.

Sweetie shivered beside her. “What’s going on out there?” she asked, concerned.

“Those are good sounds, actually,” Rarity replied. “Once they start hitting the storefront again, that’s when things are going wrong.” She glanced out again using her AR Vision, looking for more devices.

Twenty of the “refrigerators” were down, with the last sixteen or so firing wildly at what Rarity assumed to be the Elemental. “Well, it looks like the first wave of ponies has been taken care of.”

“First wave?” Sweetie asked.

“Always assume there’s more,” Wingmare said.

“Because there’s already another thirty ponies coming this way,” Rarity said, watching a herd of toasters make their way closer. “We have more incoming,” she noted, as she lifted her submachine gun, and readied another spike command to blow up more comms.

The gangers continued to fire, hitting the Elemental, but doing little to its body.

Flashpoint cursed. “They have a mage, I can sense him.”

“Geek him first then,” Steel said before Wingmare unleashed a single shot from her pistol. It rocketed across the bar, passing through the door, and out into the street.

“Mage down,” she replied with a smirk.

Steel rolled her eyes. “Ya know, at some point, it’s just showing off.”

“Unfortunately, the elemental’s down too,” Flashpoint said. “We’ll have to finish this ourselves.”

“That’s never stopped us before,” Rarity said.

A hail of bullets hit the storefront again, shattering more glass, and digging into the wall behind them. The team had just managed to stick to their cover as they were showered in lead, staying safe from the volley, before Rarity sent a quick text to the others. “Stay quiet, play dead.”

The team obeyed, going to ground behind their cover while the gangers continued to shoot outside.

After another three or four bursts, and the shots died down. After another few seconds, a pony asked outside. “Are they dead?”

Rarity sent another text to the others. “Not yet,” she posted, as she kept Sweetie close to her.

“I don’t know; they’re really quiet.”

“Shut up, you two, get up there!”

Something slammed against the shutter, and Rarity sent another text. “Almost.”

Another few bodies slammed into the shutter, before another burst of fire cut across the room.

“I...I think they’re dead!”

“Well, go check,” the first voice said.

They heard some struggling on the other side of the shutter, and after a long second, one of the ponies cried out. “I can’t get it open!”

The voice that was barking out orders earlier sighed. “Get the cutter out!”

“Wait for my signal,” Rarity sent to the others. “We wait for them to get inside, then let it loose.”

“They’re cutting through our defense, though!” Candy texted back.

“I know, but if they keep shooting us like this, we’re fish in a barrel. With their ponies inside, they might not be as interested in shooting back.”

Rarity hoped, anyway.

“Flashpoint, can you hide us for a bit?” she sent.

Twilight gave a noncommittal shrug and began to cast a new spell.

The spinning up of an electric saw screeched against their ears, followed by the incessant grinding of metal against metal as they began to cut holes in the shutter.

The team stayed put.

The saw buzzed and screeched, cutting through the shutter slowly, before finally, a pony could fit through.

One of the gangers slipped in, and he glanced about, searching for any sign of life. “I don't see anypony,” he said.

Another stallion came in, following the first, before the third pegasus crawled in. “There’s some blood over here,” the second one said. “Somepony was down here.”

“Any sign of Broken Wing?” The third said.

“Nothing yet. I—”

“Now!” Rarity yelled, popping up from invisibility as she unloaded her submachine gun into the gangers. The rest of the team followed suit, firing everything they had, into the three ponies.

The moment they went down, Candy leaped forward. “Grenade out!” She said with a smile, tossing the explosive out past the shutter before bouncing back behind cover.

The Krumpf of the explosive sent gangers screaming as they dove for cover from the shrapnel that showered the street. “Pull back to the stairs!” Rarity said, “We’ll let them file through and come to us!”

“Sounds fun!” Candy said, tossing mines into the foyer behind her as they all began to rush for the stairs.

“Let’s go, ponies! Go, go, go!” Rarity said, standing between Sweetie and the door.

“Let’s go Tap, we ain’t got all day!” Steel said.

“Get them!” Someone yelled outside, and the gangers began to move toward the storefront.

Steel fired a shotgun blast behind her, sending gangers scattering from the buckshot.

“What are you doing up here?” Web asked as Rarity and the others filed in.

“Steel, hold the stairs, everypony else, get ready,” the decker said before turning to their shaman. “They were staying outside, so we had to lure them in.”

“That’s a terrible idea!” Web said.

“They’re easier to—” one of the mines exploded, leaving a pony screaming. “—to shoot in here.”

“Yes, sure! But it’s closer to us!”

Another mine exploded.

“Well, if they’re as eager to run into our bullets as they are the explosives, then we should be fine,” Rarity said.

Web sighed. “Look, holding out in a bar like this isn’t going to keep us safe, we need to evac!”

“And leave my bar?” Tap asked.

“Yes!” Web said. “We’re caught between a force of gangers that are going to keep coming and the back wall. Sure, we can shoot them now, but how many are coming for us? How many more in the next day? We need to go to ground, regroup, and take care of this the smart way. Especially because right now, our best plan is to let them in.”

That...did make her plan sound worse. “I thought bottleneck was a decent idea,” Rarity said.

Web sighed. “For shooting them, yes. But it’s shortsighted.”

Wingmare shrugged. “I dunno, I thought it was cool.”

“I’m not leaving my bar!” Tap said again. “It’s been in the family for generations. I’m not letting these gangers burn this place down to the ground without a fight! I—”

“Look, Tap,” Wingmare interrupted. “I’m doing some jobs right now that are going to pay me ten million. I will pay you every single nubit for a new bar if I need to, but we need to get you out of here.”

Tap blinked and looked at her. “Ten Million?”

“It’s a big job,” Wingmare said. “But I will pay to have literally everything replaced, down to the floorboards, if I need to. I might even spring for upgrades, but if Web says we need to go, we need to go.”

Tap looked at her.

“I promise Tap. I’ll replace everything down to the floorboards, and foundation.”

Tap sighed. “Fine...fine…”

Steel fired her shotgun again, blasting a pony into the third mine. It exploded in a burst of fire and shrapnel that shook the building. “I’ve got a place for the kids to lay low!”

“Sounds good to me!” Flashpoint said. “Candy, can you bring the van out back?”

“I don’t have a back,” Tap said.

“No, but we can get there!” Flashpoint said before she began to cast a spell. The wood and stone in the back wall began to bend and shape, as a hole was carved in the back wall and into the neighboring skyscraper. “Let’s go!”

They didn’t need to be told twice.

They rushed through the hole in the wall, passing through just in time for Steel’s last shotgun blast to keep the gangers at bay long enough for Flashpoint to get everypony through, and seal up the wall behind them.

“Okay, we can’t waste time, let’s go!”

The moved, heading down the hallways of the office building, excusing themselves past every single pony they met as they met along the way.

“Pardon us! Just coming through!” Rarity said, hoping that her natural charm would keep the questions at bay just long enough for them to leave. “Excuse us, we were just leaving!”

The nine ponies, including Scootaloo’s unconscious form, passed through the whole building without much more than a shocked gasp. Rarity offered small smiles as she went until finally, that made it outside.

The Van was waiting for them, and they all quickly filed in, and the door slammed behind them as tires screeched against the pavement, leaving the skyscraper, and the bar behind it in the dust.

“Alright, where are we heading, Steel?” Candy asked.

“Here’s the address,” Steel said. “It should be a Harmony Inc facility.”

“A corp place?” Tap asked, confused.

“It’s a long story, Tap.”

“If you say so…”

<><><|><><>

Scootaloo was conscious again, barely standing next to Sweetie Belle as Rarity, Steel, and Wingmare all stood in front of the door.

“What’s going on?” the bouncer asked, blearily.

“We’re laying low,” Sweetie replied.

“Eyup,” Steel replied. “You should be perfectly safe here for a couple of weeks, and well, honestly, I think the pony here could use some friends her age.” Without saying anything else, she knocked on the door.

“Coming,” a voice inside called, before the door opened to reveal a young mare with a yellow coat and red mane. “Hello, can I help you?” she asked, her voice quiet, and subdued.

“Hi, Apple Bloom,” Steel said. “Do you know who I am?”

The new mare glanced at her, her orange eyes staring at her curiously. “You’re familiar...but I don’t remember, no.”

Steel’s posture sank as she said so. “I’m your sister, Apple Bloom.”

Apple Bloom nodded, as though she had just been told that the weather was sunny today.

“These ponies are Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo,” Steel continued. “Is it okay if they stay with you a bit? I think it’d be good if you had some friends.”

Apple Bloom stared at Steel for a long second before nodding. “That sounds exciting,” she replied in her same, subdued voice. “Has it been cleared with my therapist?”

“It has,” Steel said. “I wouldn’t do anything to risk your recovery, Apple Bloom.”

Apple Bloom nodded. “You sound like a nice sister,” she said before she opened the door. “Come on in, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.”

Both of the younger mares glanced at Rarity and Wingmare, looking for some kind of cue that it really was safe.

They both nodded.

With a sigh and an enormous amount of trust, they both stepped in.

“You only need to be here a week or so,” Rarity said. “We’ll come to pick you both up when it’s safe.”

They waved the girls off, as Sweetie closed the door behind her, and Rarity double-checked the comm they left Tap, making sure it still wasn’t being tracked. With the last goodbyes given, such as they were, the three mares piled back into the van. “Are you sure they’re going to be safe here, Steel?” Wingmare asked.

“They will be,” She answered back. “Apple Bloom’s safety is a part of my contract. Our big Ringo will keep her safe just to keep me on the payroll at this point.”

“Good to hear,” Rarity said. “I couldn’t risk losing Sweetie.”

They climbed back into the van, where the rest of the team was waiting for them, including Flashpoint, who was giving Wingmare a look.

“What?” the adept asked, confused.

“What’s the deal?” Flashpoint asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You ask for ten million nubits, and then immediately offer it to help Tap buy a new bar.”

“Yeah, and?”

“Why?” Flashpoint asked. “If you’re in it for the money, then why give it away?”

“That’s a little personal, don’t you think?” Wingmare asked.

“Honestly, we know Web’s being hunted by Ahuiztech because she’s a werebat, Steel has a grudge with Flimflam because they bought her family farm and split her family, Gem is a technomancer and wanted by literally every corp on the planet, and Candy...well, she’s Candy. We’re all way past personal at this rate.”

Steel smirked. “Now I ain’t sayin she’s right. But she does have a point.”

Wingmare sighed. “Fine...fine…” she said. “I’ll let you know once we hit the safehouse.”

Chapter 28

Rainbow Dash sighed as she found herself staring into Flashpoint’s eyes.

As a mare that could force mana to flow through her muscles, she found the fact that she couldn’t do anything about that stare unfair. Lifting a car? With enough mana and time, no problem. Flying faster than a car? Easy if she’s standing on a leyline. Punching a ghost? That comes with the territory. Meeting Flashpoint’s stare as she waited for an explanation of something that was none of her business?

That one tripped her up.

Sure, the fact that she didn’t say anything nearly tore the team in half during the “Gem’s a technomancer” fiasco, and if the group knew where she stood, it might have made things better but…

Well...she probably owed Gem the explanation, at least.

Still, she didn’t have a right to ask. She was just some corp plant, dropped into her team by a dragon. A dragon that didn’t deserve to know anything about her either. Yet here they both were, pushing their noses where they didn’t belong, and asking her to answer.

She had no right.

Yet despite that, Rainbow found herself staring into her eyes and couldn’t help but answer.

“Okay, look,” she said, as the six of them sat around the safehouse. “I didn’t have to be a Runner. I had a real SIN, but it’s been gone for a while now,” she said, thinking back to the first time she met with the Belgrade family. “I could have gotten a real, wage-slave job. My Dad runs a small weapons company, a Marés subsidiary, and I could have gotten a job there shooting guns for a living.”

The others watched her without saying anything, and Rainbow became faintly aware of everypony that wasn’t as lucky as her staring back.

“I thought it was...boring, alright?” she said. “That and I watched one too many of the Daring Do trids, before I got it into my head that I could be a Runner. I made a deal with the Belgrade family, they erased me, I did some jobs for them, and next thing I know, I met with you guys for my first freelancing jobs.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “That’s the deal. I’m in this for fun. Not the money, not because I have to, because I want to. The cheque at the end of this job is just more money I can spend on more stuff to keep Running.”

There was a long silence in the safehouse for a second before Steel stood. She opened her mouth to say something, but then sat back down.

“Look,” Rainbow said. “I know most of you are only doing this because you have to, but I wanted something more to my life than being a wage-slave. I know some of you would rather not do that. I get it. No judgment here.”

No pony said anything for a long moment before Flashpoint suddenly broke the silence. “Oh, hey! Spike’s calling!”

Gem threw the call onto the holo-table, and everypony quickly breathed a sigh of relief, while Rainbow released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. Oh well, the awkward silence was over now, and she could get back to the fun part.

“Ah, ladies, so good to see you all. We’re getting close to the end of our contact. There is only one more job for you. Unfortunately, this is also the largest job. This job is divided into two major parts. The first part is what you’re more familiar with at this point. You’re going to collect another gem, much like the ones you’ve collected before. It’s a ruby, with the same magical properties.”

The team nodded, expecting as much.

“The problem lies in where it’s held,” Spike said. “It’s currently in a Marés undersea research lab in the Celestial Sea.”

“That…” Web began. “How is it accessed?”

“A fair question. The entrance is disguised as an oil rig, and the ‘drill’ is, in fact, the elevator access.”

“So, there’s no way we can even approach the facility without raising kill-on-sight suspicion?” Gem asked.

Spike nodded. “Luckily, the entire lab has minimal security, as it’s hidden mostly by secrecy. However, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, they do have some security in a different location which is nearby. Once you get to the lab proper, you’ll have a little over twenty minutes to locate the gem. Once located, you can contact me at this number, and I will personally extract you with a team of my best security operatives.”

“Personally?” Steel asked.

“This last job is incredibly important,” the dragon replied.

“Important enough that you’re not only going to pull us out on your own, but you’ve done most of the legwork for us?” Web asked.

“That important,” Spike said. “What’s more, the job must be completed within two days, before the stroke of midnight, Canterlot time.”

“The stroke of midnight?” Flashpoint asked. “That’s…”

“A term reserved for magical rituals, yes,” Spike said. “I’m not going to lie to you ladies; this is big. Very big. If the job is not completed before the midnight deadline, then you won’t have to worry about not getting paid, because there’s a good chance none of us will be here.”

Rainbow Dash blinked.

“So…” Web said, and Dash could see her putting the numbers together in her head. “The second part of the job is stopping that ritual?”

Spike shook his head. “It can’t be stopped,” he said. “We’re just going to have to deal with the aftermath.”

For a second, the dragon seemed as though he were staring off into the sky, and Rainbow Dash was sure that he was almost reminiscing about something.

“I’ll see you all soon. Do everything you can to be ready to finish in two days.”

“Understood, sir!” Flashpoint said.

The call ended, and Web immediately stood up. “I need to get to work; I need to do all the legwork I can if we’re going to make it out alive.”

Steel stood up. “I’ll restock our ammunition. We’re all still running our normal weapons, right?”

“I probably should upgrade my revolver,” Candy said. “Maybe something that fires a little faster.”

“Submachine gun, got it,” she said, before making a note on an AR document she opened. “What about you?”

The remaining mage shook her head. “I’m good, this is a backup anyway,” Flashpoint said.

“Alright, and you take care of your own guns, right, Wingmare?”

Rainbow smirked. “Always.”

Steel nodded before stepping away.

Gem sighed. “I’m going to start a VR dive, look for anything I can dig up on this lab. Make sure I get something to eat and drink before the end of the day.”

Flashpoint nodded. “Will do, I’m going to study some spells, I’m nearly on a breakthrough for some of them.”

Before long, Rainbow Dash was the only pony left in the room.

She sighed and sat back to relax. Once they were ready to go, then she’d do her part.

<><><|><><>

Rainbow inhaled through the nose, exhaled from the mouth, and quickly settled into her ready position, a wide stance with her hind legs spread and her weight low to the ground. She breathed one more time, in through the nose, out through the mouth, before exploding into movement.

Her form started facing the left, striking hard at a simulated enemy as she ran through the techniques. Her punches and kicks led her through the form, spinning around as she faced new foes. The snap of her techniques spoke of power and speed, while the fluidity of her motions left her to dance across the floor. Her hind hooves slid across the floor, tracing the familiar I-shaped template that so many forms followed.

As she came to the top of the I, she let loose a loud “Kya!” before spinning a full 270 degrees, and striking at the next “opponent,” and then coming back to the other side.

She was about in the middle of her workout, the fourth of eight different forms that she knew, working on her technique, and getting a cardio workout all at the same time. She figured it was the best way to pass the day or so it would take for the others to finish the legwork they needed to do.

Rainbow filled every practiced move with all the power she would give an actual fight, pushing herself at every strike and block.

She gave her second “Kya!” of the form, and finished with her last four techniques, before exhaling through the mouth and returning to her ready position.

Her comm began to ring, and she walked hovered over, checking the glassy face of the device. Gem was on the other side.

She flipped on a pair of AR glasses. “Hey, Gem.”

“Wingmare,” Gem replied. “It’s time.”

“Already?”

“Already?” Gem asked back. “It’s been a day. We have nine hours to get there, get the ruby and get out.”

“Nine hours? That’s plenty of time.”

“It’s a six-hour trip there!”

“Ah, that’s the problem.”

Gem sighed. “Look, Candy has a smuggler friend who can get us to the rig, but we need to be ready to go. Meet us down at Flashpoint’s safehouse in thirty minutes, alright?”

“I’ll be there,” she said.

Rainbow ended the call, and pocketed her comm, before making sure that her duffle bag was ready to go. Inside of the bag thick foam plate were carefully laid and lovingly filled with her Reigner Superwarhawk heavy pistols, and the pieces of her collapsable HK Dragonslayer long-range sniper.

Sure enough, the carbide parts of the sniper rifle stared back at her, ready to go as always.

“Probably won’t need you,” she said. “But it’s good to know you’re there.”

With her weapons, what little they were, secured and ready to go, she hoisted the bag onto her back and took off.

Most pegasi didn’t bother flying these days. Most of them could very easily call a taxi and move faster than they could fly, but that’s what made Rainbow Dash different. She raced across the neon-filled sky, streaking between the towers in short bursts of incredible speed.

It’s how she learned that she had Adept skills. She always excelled at flying and flight races, and her parents frequently signed her up for races at her request. She raced in each one and typically won the races with minimal effort.

And then came the day she literally caused a sonic boom.

She put herself in a hospital for a week after that, but honestly, it was the beginning of how she discovered her magic. By channeling the mana into her wings, rather than in a spell like Flashpoint or Web, she could drive forward at incredible speeds. For a second or two at a time, at least, before her wings would rip themselves apart.

Her wings carefully flapped, filled with magic as she began to head for the safehouse. This would tire her out fairly quickly, but given how long it would take to get to the target, it wouldn’t matter. She could grab a nap on whatever transport Candy was setting up.

She slid into a glide, trying to conserve energy before shooting forward again. She danced across the updrafts of the city, soaring in the setting sun. She cut past a few corner offices, blowing raspberries at anyone she could, before she continued on her way, smirking to herself.

She flew quickly, before seeing the safehouse appear in the corner of her vision. With a smile, she pulled herself into a dive. She approached the safehouse and incredible speed and smiled before suddenly pulling up. She slowed immediately as her hooves hit the ground and she skid to a halt just in front of the van.

Both Gem and Steel glanced at her, before Gem checked the time. “Well, you did make it in time.”

“I thought ya said you couldn’t fly that fast?” Steel said.

“Not if I want to stay awake,” Rainbow answered. “We taking the Van?”

“We are,” Gem said.

“Alright,” Rainbow said, before crawling into the back, and falling asleep.

For the next six hours, Rainbow Dash dropped in and out of consciousness, being only vaguely aware that they changed vehicles at one point. Even later, she only barely remembered the fact that she got up to move into a plane of some kind. Still, she rested, gathering her strength.

Finally, she was shaken awake.

“Wingmare, Wingmare, it’s time,” Steel said.

Roused, she got up, and checked her bag.

“Okay!” Gem said, shouting to be heard over the small plane’s engine. “Here’s the plan, one last time. We’re not really able to go in quietly. The best we can do is hit the personnel on the rig hard and fast enough that they don’t have the time to sound the alarm. Chances are accessing the elevator will sound an alarm anyway, especially if the security system is as good as I think it is.

“Once we get to the elevator, we have twenty minutes to get the target and leave, according to our Ringo. That is not a lot of time. Luckily, I have located some basic floorplans of the lab.”

The plans, such as they were, popped up on her AR glasses. The floorplan had been censored into oblivion. Not a single room was labeled in any meaningful way, showing only three branching wings coming off of a single, hub-like room.

“We’re going to be fighting our way through every room in this building. This means we’ll need to split up as soon as we get down there to cover the ground in time. We’ll have to break up into pairs as soon as we get down there to cover the most space as fast as possible, without leaving us unprotected.”

At this point, Rainbow figured she knew everything she needed to. With a faint smile, she reached into her bag and began to pull out the pieces of her rifle, screwing them together in quick, practiced motions. Finally, she attached the suppressor, and slid the magazine home.

“Wingmare…” Gem said, breaking her reverie as she prepared the Dragonslayer. “What are you doing?”

“Getting ready to clear the rig,” she said.

“We’re supposed to do that quietly,” Gem said.

“It will be,” the pegasus replied with a smile.

“That thing is not quiet,” Steel argued.

“It is from this distance when it gets covered by a plane engine,” she said. “Besides, there’s no one to sound the alarm if there aren’t any witnesses.”

Everyone in the plane cabin collectively sighed.

“Wingmare, that’s a—”

“What? Sorry! Can’t hear you!” she said, before leaping out of the plane’s side door. Her wings caught the wind in a second, and her momentum carried her into a climb. She shot up into the air, above the sea, which shone in the light of a full moon. She breathed in deep, smiling as clear skies faced her, with thick, heavy clouds at her back.

“Wingmare! We’re one the same comm line, you Featherbrain!” Steel yelled in her ear.

“Yeah, and this is the best way to clear a landing zone. You glide in quiet, I take the shots from up here, where nopony’s going to see me.”

“We’re not worried about anyone seeing you, dear,” Gem said. “We’re more concerned about them seeing other bodies.”

But Rainbow Dash only smiled. “Like I said, no witnesses.”

She leveled off, and shouldered her rifle.

The heavy rifle, normally supported by the bipod at the rifle’s front, swayed for a moment. There would be no way she could shoot straight from this position this high up.

Except for, you know, magic.

As she poured mana into her arms to strengthen them, her aim immediately snapped into place. Then, with a smile, she glanced down the scope of her rifle. A security pony’s head, disguised rather poorly as a rig worker, wandered into her crosshair, before she squeezed the trigger and put him down.

The poor guy didn’t even hear the sound of the rifle until after he dropped to the ground.

Everyone else on the rig merely heard thunder, and while the more perceptive of them might notice that there wasn’t any lightning, Dash would very quickly take care of them. Letting her arms go slack, she shot off to a nearby cloud, before giving it a swift kick.

The cloud rumbled, almost as if it were angry, and lightning began to spark. With a smile, she turned back to the rig, steadied her arms, and fired again.

Another pony dropped, almost a mile away.

She turned to face another and watched as he glanced out at the clouds that sat behind her. The cloud beside her flashed with lightning, leaving the hairs of her fur and mane standing on end.

She kicked the cloud again, earning a significant flash of lightning and a roar that nearly deafened her. The reek of ozone filled her nostrils as she aimed, and fired again, turning another head into red mist.

She dashed down the line of clouds, running parallel along the storm, before slamming into another puff of vapor. Lightning discharged as she rammed it, before and Rainbow quickly lined up another shot. Another squeeze, another dropped security pony.

“How many ponies did you say were on the rig?” Rainbow asked.

“What?” Gem’s voice came in, the comm bead crackling in her ear from all the nearby lightning.

“How many ponies?” she asked again.

“I never said—” she began.

“Best guess?”

Gem sighed on the other end of the line, crackling through the static around her.“Thirty or so?”

“Twenty-six to go!” She said before she moved to the next cloud.

She built her smokescreen of storm clouds, using the thunder to hide her shots, suppressed though they were. No pony would be able to pick her out amongst all the noise, and they’d certainly wouldn’t be able to see her against the darkness.

She picked off six more ponies in quick succession before she dropped the empty magazine into her bag, and reloaded. She had just enough magazines to take out Gem’s rough estimate of security ponies without having to refill them, so, hopefully, she’d be able to clear everything before the plane dropped off the others.

“Wingmare,” Gem’s voice said over, cutting in and out next to the wild electricity that shot around her. “We’re going to begin gliding in; you don’t have much time.”

Wingmare smiled.

“Don’t you worry about me!” she said. “I’m riding the storm.”

“What does that even mean?” Flashpoint asked.

Wingmare landed on a cloud, one of the ones that looked the least volatile, before she scanned the rig once more. The scope, along with her own magically-enhanced vision, showed her everything she needed. The main platform was spotless, with the occasional blast of red and corpse that marked the place that a body had been standing.

She didn’t see anypony else, but she’d been a Runner long enough to know better.

She grabbed her cloud and pulled down with her as she moved her position lower to get a better look at the platforms beneath.

“You know, Wingmare,” Flashpoint said, much clearer now that Rainbow was away from the lightning storm she agitated. “I really wish you’d be a little more cautious some times.”

Sure, she was a little reckless right now, but she had her team’s back. She scanned the platform, sending a few more shots at anything that moved. “Oh, don’t be so hard on me, Flashpoint,” she said, checking the next platform and dropping three more ponies. “You know I’m going to be with you on this job and every other job.”

There was silence on the other end of the line, and for a second, Rainbow Dash didn’t notice. She began to line up her next shot.

“Wingmare,” Gem’s voice said, cutting through the silence. “You know this is our last job, right?”

Rainbow froze.

“I’m done after this; I’m fairly certain we all are.”

Rainbow let loose a shaky breath, readjusted, and fired before reloading.

They...they were moving on. This was the last job she had with them.

She cleared the next platform, and the next one, leaving the platform clear. “I think I got everypony on the oil rig. We’re good to go,” she said, her voice sounding a little hollow to her own ears, despite her best effort.

“Thanks, Wingmare.”

“I have their backs,” Rainbow thought, “but I’m not so sure they have mine anymore…”

Chapter 29

Twilight landed on the oil rig, her knees burning from the hard landing. The others were quick to follow, raising weapons and readying spells to hit anypony they needed to. Despite that, the platform was clear, cleaned out by Wingmare’s efficient shots.

“Let’s move, Darlings,” Gem said, her voice calm despite their location, “we don’t have much time.”

The five Runners converged onto the main building over the “drill” of the platform and took their positions. “Wingmare, are you coming?” Steel asked into her comm.

“On my way,” she said. “Just give me a minute.”

Half a minute later, she was there, drawing one of her pistols. “We ready?”

Nods went down the row.

Gem moved her hooves, casting whatever “magic” the decker had on the keypad. Perhaps literally, in her case, before the “drill chamber” opened to reveal a pristine hallway. Twilight sighed, and stepped inside, followed by the others.

Then, with a strange sense of finality, the doors of the elevator hissed shut. Wingmare immediately hit the ground and began to disassemble her rifle, breaking it apart into its base pieces, before carefully sliding them into place in large, foam blocks. Once she packed everything away, she pulled her second super warhawk and checked the revolving cylinders.

The silence in the elevator stretched on, and Gem sighed. “Are we all still clear on the plan?”

Nods all around. “We split up when we hit the labs, find the ruby, call Spike for extract,” Web recited.

Nods again.

Another minute of silence passed by and Twilight took a second to calm herself. She was about to hit a high priority laboratory with so many secret projects that she herself may not even be allowed into any of the Harmony Inc. equivalents. She had to be ready.

She took a second to cast a spell on herself, focusing on the electricity running through her synapses, shortening her nerve cells through magic to increase her reaction time. It wouldn’t last long, but it would last long enough.

She cast another spell, flooding life into her neurons before cutting her Glutamate and SP stores for almost all of them through her body. It would keep her from feeling a lot of pain in the short term, but her body was already trying to recover.

Still, it would last long enough.

The elevator slowed, the first motion that any of the Runners in the small cab noticed before the doors began to open.

“The automated signal’s been sent,” Gem said. “I tried to hold it, but we’re on our own now.”

Steel nodded. “Twenty minutes.”

The doors of the cab slid open, and hell broke loose.

<><><|><><>

Twilight dove behind a massive centrifuge and bullets tore through the heavy metal side but protected her from cover. She cursed under her breath, before standing, and unleashing a napalm spell. It tore through the lightly-armored but heavily-armed security pony that idiotically stood in the doorway, burning and boiling the pony as he screamed in agony.

Wingmare hovered nearby, her hooves thundering into the body of another security pony, crushing his barrel in seconds.

“Anything?” Twilight yelled into her comm.

“Not yet!” Web responded.

“We’re finding a whole lot of nothing over here!” Candy chirped.

The moment the doors opened, the plan had almost gone FUBAR. Any attempt to break up into the agreed-upon groups failed. Gem and Web had determined the ultimate pairs for this part of the infiltration: Candy and Web, Wingmare and Steel, and herself with Gem. It was supposed to cover all the bases, with both magical and physical offense and defense.

Instead, the Runners were met with a burst of fire from opposite them. The barrage split the team apart within seconds of coming through the door, almost immediately. Spread in almost every conceivable direction, the team was forced to make new pairings that were then forced down the different hubs of the lab, each with an impromptu partner.

Twilight found herself with Wingmare, a decent choice, but it meant her “team” was very magic heavy, which meant that there was a good chance that the team that lost out on magic was going to have a tough time dealing with any Elementals they might find.

It was too late now for that, though.

She cast another spell, heating the air in front of her before it shot a stream of flame directly into the middle of a group of pony coming behind her, roasting a few alive, before Wingmare shot across the room.

She frowned as she stared at the biometric scanner, before grabbing a pony that still groaned with pain, and shoving his hoof into the scanner.

By some stroke of luck, it wasn’t damaged enough to keep it from opening the door, and it slid open. “Flashpoint, come on!” she yelled, dropping the soon-to-be-dead guard. Twilight slipped around the centrifuge, taking cover from the opposite direction, before sending a manaball down on a corp mage that thought he could grab her from behind.

The earth pony mage screamed as he went down, covered in mana burns that stuck to his very soul. Twilight peeled out, galloping for the door, even as bullets ricocheted off of the stainless steel floor tiles.

“Quick check?” Twilight asked.

“Not yet!” Steel replied.

“I’ll let you know when I find it, Darling,” Gem said.

Twilight sighed, before Wingmare pulled her to the side, just as another security team appeared opposite them in the room. Dragged under a nearby table, Twilight barely had time to take in the room she had just run into.

A large square room with a wall of cables sat to their left, electrode nets to the right, and a set of thick tables that would provide decent cover in the center. On the other side of the room was the door, and that’s all Twilight had a chance to see before a shotgun blast ripped into the top of the counter.

Twilight sighed before she reached into the cables with her will and pulled an Elemental of lightning and fire out of them. She could feel that her control over this one was shaky at best, but she’d have him for a few moments before he returned to the astral plane. It crackled and popped as it ripped out of the cables, and fired into the security teams before it pulled back.

Twilight forced the Elemental back into play, using her will and energy to keep him on the physical plane, before it shot once more, and left. Twilight sighed before she leveled her pistol at the security team that just broke through.

“He’s gone already?” Wingmare asked.

“Look, not everypony can talk to Elementals like Web can, alright?” Twilight said, before placing another few carefully aimed shots, trying to limit the drain that was starting to creep up on her.

“Well, not like you have to keep worrying about it, right?” Web said.

“What?” Twilight asked, confused, and wondering why Wingmare was talking about this sort of thing now. She sighed, before raising her pistol to fire at the security ponies again. “Do you really want to talk about this now?”

Wingmare sighed back. “No, I get it, I’m just…”

She was cut off by a shotgun blast that nearly scalped her before she dove into cover. “Hey! Watch it! I’m having a moment over here!”

“Like I said Wingmare, do you want to talk about this now?”

“Okay, you’ve got a point,” she conceded, before firing with each of her pistols.

Twilight sighed, before she cast another spell, throwing up a wall of fire next to the cables and swinging it across the room. The fire passed harmlessly over herself and Wingmare as she carefully shaped the spell before it began to enclose on the security ponies. The heat of it caused many of them to back up as approached, while a few more tried to squeeze past the edge of the flame.

Those few were picked off with pistol fire, as both Runners focused down on the enemy. The virtual choke point made their shots all the more effective before the sprinkler system shot to life.

Twilight cursed. “I thought Gem disabled that!”

As the wall of fire fizzled out, Twilight could see a pony appear through the parting curtain of flame. He lay slumped against the wall, an electrode net attached to his head. They could act like a datajack, she knew, but good quality ones were hard to come by. He must have used them to jump into the matrix and turn the sprinklers back on.

Twilight shot him where he lay.

“Well, I guess that just rains on our parade,” Wingmare said with a smirk.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Come on!” She charged the door, sending a few bullets into the dying wall of fire for good measure, before rushing down the door.

She slammed into the door first and was happy to see that it only had a simple maglock. Looking back, she found a pony, laying not too far away from her, with a card that she could pilfer, and with a tug, pulled it free.

Wingmare held the door, firing at the ponies that had been standing behind the wall of fire.

Twilight swiped the card across the reader, and the door beeped open. She ran inside and saw two doors each on opposite sides of the new room. The rest of the room was filled with more tables, each one stocked with labeled vials and chemicals, half of which read “trial” with a three-digit number on its side.

“Wingmare, check the left!” Twilight said, before turning to the right-hand door. She opened the door and immediately ran into a small, unadorned room. Twilight had just enough time to realize that the room was empty before the door slammed shut behind her.

“Flashpoint?” Wingmare called through the door.

Twilight blinked again.

“Flashpoint?”

“I...who puts a trap in a secret facility at the bottom of the ocean?” Twilight asked, before jumping on the comm. “Girls! There are lockdown rooms! Be careful with the doors!”

“Lockdown rooms?” Gem asked.

“They’re a new thing,” Twilight explained. “There was a whole board room meeting for it back at Harmony. They lock behind you to separate teams.”

“Who puts a trap room in a secret facility at the bottom of the ocean?” Steel asked.

“Oh no, it makes total sense,” Web said.

“Don’t worry, Flashpoint,” Wingmare said. “I’m going to get you out!”

Twilight shook her head before remembering that no one could see her. “Wingmare, we don’t have the time,” she said, checking the mission clock. “We have eight minutes, and at least another three rooms to check, you need to get to find the ruby.”

Wingmare slammed into the door. “I’m getting you out of there.”

“Wingmare! You need to find the mark!”

“It’s not going to take—”

“The door has an orichalcum core! It’s magic resistant and pure metal! You’re not going to get through and still have the time to get the mark. Go. Find. The. Rock!”

There was silence for a long second. “O-okay. I’ll be back, though.”

Twilight sighed. “Just find the mark.”

She stood in the room for a second or two, before trying the door herself. She knew it was pointless, but she wanted to give it her best attempt, at least. The door had nothing to even grab onto on this side, and Twilight knew that now that the door had been locked, it would need some serious security clearance to open it again.

She sighed and sat down again, before speaking into her comm again. “Let me know when you find the mark. I have Spike on speed dial at this point.”

“We’ll keep you posted, Flashpoint,” Steel said, her voice somber.

They probably already came to the same conclusion she had. She was stuck here. Stuck for who knows how long until the corp security found her, and at best, shot her dead while she stood here.

She was not...not going to make it out of this.

Sure, they could find a way to open the door again, but between the time it would take to break her out and find the gem, she was stuck. Besides, they had to finish the job first. It was Runner law that the job came first, even if the world’s fate didn’t hang in the balance.

The fact that this one did only help make the point.

But still, she was going to be left behind. She knew it at this point. There was no helping her.

“I’ve found the gem!” Wingmare cried over the comms.

“Meet back the elevator!” Gem called.

“I’m calling Spike right now!” Twilight called, before putting the call through.

Spike immediately appeared on her comm’s AR. “Sir! We’ve found it!”

“Good job, head to the elevator. My team will breach it and pick you up. See you in three minutes.”

Twilight only nodded, before hanging up. “We have three minutes, ladies. You need to head to the elevator. Spike will pick you up there!”

“Alright,” Gem said.

There was a long pause on the comm for a second, before Gem spoke again. “Honestly, Flashpoint, it was an honor working with you.”

“I never thought I’d like a corp mage,” Web said, “but then I met you, and you did a really good job. I’ll miss you, Flashpoint.”

“Ya did right by us, Flashpoint,” Steel said, “and that means a lot to me. When we get the farm back, I’m going to try to and get a cider named after you.”

Twilight felt strangely honored with that comment.

“It was fun to have you with us, Flashpoint,” Candy said. “I’m going to be very sad that you’re not going to make it.”

“Thank you, girls,” she replied. “If it makes a difference, you are better ponies than most, and I hope your lives after this job are filled with everything you could hope for.”

Her eulogy given, Twilight sat down, ready to wait for the end.

The door shuddered.

Twilight glanced up. “Wingmare is that you?” she asked on her comm.

“I’m not leaving you behind!”

“Wingmare! You have the mark! You need to go!”

“I’m not leaving you behind!”

“Wingmare! You’ve got to finish the job! Don’t mess it up now!”

“I’m not leaving you!”

“The literal end of the world could happen! I’m not worth it!”

“You are worth it to me! All of you are! I’ve got your back, no matter what!”

“Wingmare, you can’t get through the door!”

“I’m going to try!”

“Wingmare, you don’t have the time!”

The door shuddered again, along with the sound of rending metal.

“Hang on one second!” Wingmare said.

“Wingmare, it’s too thick, you can’t—”

A burst of bullets rocked the door, causing the entire room to fill with the sound of rattling that pierced Twilight’s ears.

“Wingmare, you can’t—”

The door thudded again, as Wingmare threw her weight against the door.

“Wingmare, Wingmare, just go…I stuck here, alright? I’m not going to make it out of here, that’s all there is to it. Just take the mark and get out of here, please.”

“Wingmare,” Gem’s voice cut in. “She has a point. I’ve looked at the matrix lock on that room. It needs two users to open it, at least. My sprites can’t spoof the credentials for it, and no one else on the team can help in time unless you get into VR.”

There was silence for a second.

“I’m not leaving anyone behind,” Wingmare said.

Twilight sighed. “Wingmare, you can’t help me. Thank you for trying so hard, but I’m a lost cause. Just go, please.”

She didn’t get an answer, back.

Twilight sighed.

She must have listened, finally. Well, at least it meant that they’d go save the world now. Besides, only one casualty isn’t that big of a deal. She, sure wouldn’t make it, but that was probably expected with her being a Runner now and all. Spike would understand, she knew. He’d probably make sure that her family would be taken care of with her gone.

With a sad smile, Twilight turned off her comm, and lay on the floor, ready to accept her death. Perhaps she’d take a quick nap before the end. There wasn’t much else to do anymore.

She heard the hiss and rattle of a door opening.

She immediately sat up and found her door open.

She stood, and checked the room, which seemed empty, though she could hear the sound of scrambling security ponies rushing down one of the doors. She turned her comm back on. “Girls?”

“Flashpoint! You have to grab Wingmare and get back here!” Gem’s voice said.

“What happened to Wingmare?” Twilight asked.

“She’s suffering a lot of dumpshock right now, you’re going to have to help her get here.”

“Dumpshock?” Twilight thought. “Wingmare’s not a decker, how did she—?”

She was already moving to the next room, where she found the pegasus in the corner, surrounded by dead ponies, slowly plucking the individual electrodes of a net off of her head. Her nose was bleeding, and she looked exhausted. “I told you, I’m not leaving you here…” she said weakly.

“D-did you just try to hack your way to the door?” Twilight asked.

“Not...leaving you…”

“You idiot!” Twilight yelled. “You’ve never dived VR before, and you decided to do that now! Here! In the middle of a Marés facility!”

“I don’t…” Wingmare said, shakily getting to her hooves, “I don’t leave anypony behind…”

Twilight sighed, before getting Wingmare’s leg beneath her. “You idiot. Let’s get you out of here.”

The door behind them opened, and a security pony barked an order before Twilight unleashed a ball lightning spell that ripped through the chokepoint of the doorway. “Come on, we don’t have much time.”

“Wingmare, Flashpoint, where are you?” Candy asked.

“We’re coming!” Twilight said.

She carried the pegasus forward, through the rooms and past the bodies they had fried or short earlier until they made it to the main room. The rest of the team stood at the elevator, holding everyone they could at bay, before Steel yelled. “There they are!”

Web shot across the room, slapping a stimm patch onto the delirious pegasus before she helped carry them across the way. “Come on! We need to go! Do you still have the gem?”

Wingmare reached into her coat and pulled a small ruby. “Right here,” she said, not more lucid thanks to the patch.

“Let’s go, ladies!” Gem said, looking immaculate, despite the hacking she no doubt had to do.

They rushed into the elevator, which closed behind them.

“I hope Spike gets here in time,” Twilight said.

The entire elevator shuddered suddenly, water began to fill the elevator cab. The ponies panicked for a moment before the whole thing pitched sideways. An invitation to a conference call popped up on the whole group’s AR interface, even as they were thrown around the small room. The fact that it got hit at all as they tumbled about was a pure accident, but nonetheless, Spike joined the call.

“Hello, Ladies. It’s good to see you all made it out alive,” he said.

The cab shuddered, now sitting upside down somehow.

“Welcome to my personal submersible,” Spike said, before the elevator door opened, letting the Runners spill out into a small room, manned with Harmony Inc. ponies. “Go ahead and take a seat, we only have a few hours left, and we don’t have much time.”

Chapter 30

Rarity was quickly getting tired of the way Spike was treating this mission.

The sub swam through the ocean at incredible speed, and they would hit the shoreline within another ten minutes. Despite the forty minutes of travel so far, Spike had not said a single thing to the ladies as they sat in their chair in a large, spherical chamber at the center of the sub.

Candy spun in her chair, turning happily as the others sat around a table, waiting. The only pony from the team that wasn’t sitting with them was Flashpoint. She stood next to Spike in the room ahead of them, the one that Rarity could just barely see through the open corridor. They had been talking for the past ten minutes now, and Rarity was beginning to wonder why.

Finally, Spike stood from his chair and walked back into the spherical room that the Runners sat in, waiting.

“Well, ladies,” Spike said, as he stepped into the room with a small wooden chest in his right hand. “You have done everything that I have asked, to the best of your abilities. You have met all my expectations and exceeded them. This job is the last, and after this is done, then I will fulfill my end of the bargain. You will be paid handsomely, as you asked.”

He stood still for a moment before holding up the box. “Now, I need to talk about this job. We don’t have much time for instruction, and the magic that we need to use means that we need you to be mostly unaware of several things, but I will share what I can.”

He opened the box and began to hand out the gems. Rarity received a deep purple amethyst, Candy a bright, cerulean gem, Steel the orange citrine, Web received the rose-colored jewel, and Wingmare's ruby, the one she stole not hours ago, was returned.

“These gems are of vital importance. Your lives will depend on them and the magic they hold. Keep the one you have on your person at all times, am I understood?”

The others nodded.

Spike nodded as well. “We have a straightforward mission, pacification of a very powerful entity. How many of you are familiar with Nightmare Moon?”

Rarity blinked. “The Spirit of Nightmare Night?” she asked.

“Same mare, yes.”

“She’s a ghost story,” Web said. “One that has no basis in any Astral fact. She’s made up.”

Spike shook his head. “Not made up, just trapped. She was sealed into the moon by Good Celestia herself, for a thousand years. Tonight, the seal weakens, and she returns.”

To her credit, Flashpoint looked like she was just as surprised by the news.

“You’re sure about this?” Steel asked.

“Celestia herself told me, she had me hire you,” he replied.

The Runners blinked and looked at each other. “You mean to say that Celestia hired us to deal with a threat like this?”

He nodded. “Good Celestia said she’d do it herself, but the Princess knows that the trick she used the first time won’t work now, and she’s also going to be the first one targeted. She won’t have a chance to raise a defense.”

“This...you know this sounds crazy, right?” Wingmare asked.

“All plans sound crazy when you’ve been working on them for a thousand years,” Spike replied.

“Better question,” Rarity said. “How are we supposed to fight her? I’m a decker; I don’t have enough pull in the astral to fight a creature that powerful.”

As if to answer, the sub slowed, and a pony’s voice cut in over the PA system. “Sir, we have pulled into Horseshoe Bay.”

“You’ll get that answer when we get outside,” Spike said.

Spike led them out of the sub and onto a dock that they had pulled up next to, and Rarity was surprised to see a rotorcraft and several large crates waiting for them.

“Hang on, is that—?” Steel asked as she glanced at one of the boxes.

Spike nodded. “Yes, Ember told me a few of you had a chance to try out some of the new toys.”

Steel blinked as she saw the minigun she used in the Saddle Krupp job. The gun had been fitted to a mobility platform, ready to move anywhere it needed, while being fed by billions of nubit’s worth of orichalcum bullets.

Next to the massive gun lay a box, filled with a figure that she recognized instantly. “The SK Duelist-Class Drone 37 MK IV! I never thought I’d see you again!”

The pony-shaped drone, armed now with an orichalcum blade, and the laser that Candy was familiar with, lay ready to be puppeted by Candy. She cooed at the new rapier and smiled before a third box opened. It revealed cases of gun magazines, each one pre-packaged with orichalcum bullets.

Rarity nearly had a heart attack at the sight of them.

Each one was perfectly customized for each of their weapons. Even Dash’s revolvers had speedloaders prepped with yet more bullets ready to go. Every one of them had ammunition prepared, meticulously, and carefully chosen and loaded.

“There is no room for error here, ladies,” Spike said, as he approached another pony who held a briefcase. “This threat needs to end tonight, no matter what cost has to be paid.” He opened the case with a flip of the latches and pulled a Neighsan Optimum Assault shotgun. He slid a magazine of orichalcum slugs into the bullpup stock and checked the sights with practiced ease. “Grab everything you can carry, and get into the Rotorcraft. Our deadline is approaching.”

Rarity blinked as she saw the dragon walk into the Rotorcraft. “You’re coming with us?” she asked.

Spike smirked as he slipped on an old hat that another pony held ready for him. “I told you, no matter what cost.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow before she pulled everyone onto her PAN. She collected the devices of the rest of the team and quickly began to slip them under her protection, though she wondered if it mattered.

As the team quickly piled into the craft, they took their seats as the rotors spun on. Rarity got comfortable and was about to collect the dragon onto her PAN as well before she realized that he was already there. She blinked as she saw his smart-gun, his comm, and his hat, which held a small electrode net to connect him to his rifle. They all sat under her protection, placed in her care.

She shot him a quick look, but the dragon gave no sign that he noticed.

“We’re heading for the Everfree Forest,” Spike told them, which earned instant reactions from everyone in the passenger hold.

They all knew the stories of the Everfree Forest, the frontier of nature in the world of tech. No matter what magic of technology came against the forest, it refused to be conquered. No matter what company tired, they could not tame the wilderness. Between weather that thundered with actual mana storms or trees that overgrew the construction teams sent to clear out land, the forest spat in the face of civilization.

Only Web, the shaman, didn’t immediately look horrified at the news. Rarity could swear she almost looked excited by the news.

“Nightmare Moon should appear in Good Celestia’s old castle, at the center of the forest. That’s our landing zone.”

“Oh good,” Steel said. “Nothing like jumping straight into the river.”

“I didn’t pick you out as the one that was afraid to get your hooves wet,” Spike said with a smirk.

Steel raised an eyebrow.

“Attention passengers,” the PA said. “We’re about to engage the jet engines. We will be reaching Mach 2, with an ETA of thirty minutes. To prevent injury, please fasten your seatbelts.”

The Runners obeyed, clicking their seatbelts just in time for the entire cabin to shift. The rotorcraft's engines roared, nearly throwing everyone into the back of the vehicle.

The trip lasted the full twenty minutes at this speed; they rocketed over the city beneath them, no doubt waking neighborhoods with the sonic boom that trailed behind them, a boom they didn’t hear until they dropped back to a more manageable speed.

The rotorcraft pulled to a stop over the canopy of dense, dark trees, whose leaves barely rustled in the wind of the spinning blades. “Alright, ponies,” Spike said with a smirk. “Our target’s north! Let’s go!”

“And why aren’t we flying there?” Wingmare asked.

Spike pointed to the horizon. “Because of that.”

They followed his pointing finger to a cloud bank that began to grow before their eyes. It hovered over the trees, and the spires of a hidden ruin peeking over the canopy.

“The forest doesn’t like things flying above it anymore, and I don’t want to chance that any more than we already have. Luckily it’s not far from here.”

He leaped to the ground, smashing through the tree branches to the forest floor below.

The others glanced between each other before Rarity sighed and took the rappel down. She dropped down to the ground, through the hole that Spike tore through the trees. The others followed after her, landing softly beside her as Spike knelt, ready to go.

Once they all landed, Spike stood. “Alright, follow me.”

They moved as quickly and carefully through the forest, the dragon leading with his assault shotgun, terrifying anything that crossed their path. The team followed after him, Candy following with her new drone, and Steel’s movement platform hovering just over the root-ridden floor of the woods.

As they moved, many of the Runners regarded the dragon with curious, if suspicious eyes. Rarity glared the hardest, staring up at Spike’s back as he slithered through the trees. She was staring so hard; she almost didn’t notice Flashpoint walk up beside her.

“What are you thinking about?” She asked.

Rarity started for a second. “Oh, Darling, you surprised me.”

“Sorry, you just looked lost in thought.”

She sighed. “Honestly, I don’t like this,” she said eventually. “The fact that a corporate CEO is leading us on a Run doesn’t fill me with a lot of confidence. I’m not sure why, though. If he’s telling the truth and this will either end in saving the world or death, then he’s putting himself in a very vulnerable position. However, despite that, he hasn’t told us much.”

“What do you mean?”

Rarity held up her deep purple amethyst. “He hasn’t told us how to use these, much less what they are, but he expects us to use them somehow to take on an incredibly powerful moon spirit or somesuch.”

“He told me what they are,” Flashpoint said. “They’re something called the Elements of Harmony, but…”

“But what?”

“They need to attune to wielders that embody certain, noble traits, and well…” she hesitated a second more before continuing. “We’re Runners. We’re not known for being virtuous.”

Rarity sighed. “That’s, unfortunately, a very astute observation.”

Flashpoint sighed. “Well, I trust Spike to lead us through this. He’s been good to me so far, letting us die now seems like a waste.”

Rarity nodded. “And that’s the only reason I’m still moving forward.”

They kept pushing forward into the depths of the forest until Spike whispered over the comm. “We’re here.”

The castle ruins loomed over them, towering like a giant on a hill. The trees that stood next to the old fortress were almost equally as tall, matching the height of the wall, standing only shorter than the handful of towers that they saw from rotorcraft.

Spike checked his mission clock. “Alright, we have another ten minutes to reach the throne room before Midnight, that’s when the stars should weaken the seal and release her. Are we ready to move?”

The Runners nodded.

Spike nodded .“Let’s—”

A pillar of dark-blue light shot down from the sky, tearing through the ruins with the roar of cracking stone, and throwing up a wind that roared in their ears. The team of Runners was forced to cover, and Steel’s minigun was slowly pushed back by the wind.

Spike cursed as he clawed at the ground to steady himself. “She broke through early. Okay, we need to move now, and we need to move—”

A smoke, or was it an amorphous light, began to spread out from the ruins at incredible speeds, reaching out like long fingers. They curled and grasped at anything they could reach before they finally found the Runners.

Rarity watched as the smoke wrapped around them, surrounding the group like a security team.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

The thought chilled her. “Maybe not, but it’s what I was hired to do.”

“Money is not reason enough.”

Rarity blinked. That thought certainly wasn’t her own. She glanced at Web, who was likewise frowning. “Web, is anypony casting a spell at us?”

She shook her head. “Just the smoke.”

Rarity nodded. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

“You don’t need to fight for the Princess. She can face her punishment alone.”

Rarity glanced down at the mist, confused. “What did the Princess have to do with it?”

The mist undulated angrily before it shot forward. The Runners moved to dodge, none of them daring to chance what the smoke could do to them if it touched them. Still, they couldn’t stop it. It rushed them, snaking through the line of ponies until it swallowed Flashpoint.

She barely got off half-of-a-scream before she disappeared.

Spike stood, color draining from his face. “We need to go! Double time! Move it! We need to get to the throne room!”

<><><|><><>

Twilight hit the floor, oxygen filling her lungs. She gasped, trying to catch her breath, before looking up at the room she now found herself in—a long hallway, whose vaulted roof had long ago fallen away. A pedestal stood in the middle of the room, though the five arms that poked out from its center were obviously empty.

The trees of the Everfree forest were still visible through the blown-out windows of the hall and through the open ceiling. That was enough to let her know she was somewhere in the castle, though she had no idea where exactly, or why she was here.

“Hello, Child,” a voice said, and Twilight turned to see the smoke from before, gathered in a strange, tall, pony-shape.

Twilight glanced up at the smoke, who simply watched her from the other side of the hall. A long second passed before Twilight spoke up. “Why did you bring me here?”

“Because you’re the only one who knows how truly hopeless your situation is, Child,” the smoke said. “You know what power you carry with you. You know what you need, and you know you don’t have it.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“The Elements, Child,” the smoke said, growing darker. “The Elements of Harmony. Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic. Their only tool of your defense against me and the dragon has told you exactly what you need to use them. You know the truth, and you know you don’t have the ponies that you can’t use them. They’re all thieves and criminals, after all.”

Twilight swallowed.

“I don’t want to hurt my new subjects,” the smoke said, becoming even more substantial. Twilight could see her now, a coat as black as the void, with a mane that sparkled with cold, uncaring stars. “I would rather rule the living than the dead, but I would rule nonetheless.”

Twilight stared up at the mare that loomed over her, wings fluttering and horn shining.

“The only one who needs to suffer is Celestia. She’s the one who earned my wrath. You and the rest of your friends can live and leave. Hopefully, you’ll be the one who sees reason. The only one who realizes how truly hopeless this defense is against me.”

Twilight stood, feeling her knees wobble beneath her as she tried to get the ground back underneath her. “I…” she began. “I…”

Maybe it was the pure power rolling off of her. Perhaps it was the shakes of suddenly being pulled through a teleport that felt like the embrace of the void. It could have even been the fact that she was suddenly alone, but Twilight found it hard to answer Nightmare Moon. “I…”

“She has to be up here!” A voice called behind her.

She looked back at the archway behind her, where Wingmare appeared over the edge of the stairs. “She’s here!”

Wingmare landed next to Twilight, skidding on her hind legs as she raised her revolvers. “I’m not leaving you to take her on yourself!”

The others followed after, pulling up next to her with their weapons, ready to go. Steel’s minigun was already spinning, Web had an incantation on her lips, and Gem raised her submachine gun, prepared to give the monster everything she had.

Twilight looked at those around her, mouth agape that these ponies, this team of ruthless cutthroats, would stand with her.

“Alright, Miss Meany-pants Moon!” Candy laughed as her drone raised her orichalcum blade. “It’s time to party.”

Spike came up the rear, shouldering his assault shotgun. “We’re here to stop you,” he said, “no matter the cost. Steel, fire at will.”

Steel unleashed. The bullets tore across the open space, but they simply passed through a semi-incorporeal form. “They’re not working, Spike!” she cried over the sound of brass shells falling to the floor.

“They should! Keep firing!”

Twilight blinked, feeling sluggish as the others began to unleash everything they had against the monster. She dismissed Elementals, avoided bullets, and simply ate spells. She watched as they fought her, throwing everything they had before it all finally snapped together.

“We’re it…” she said.

Nightmare Moon laughed. “You ponies are fools. If you wish to die then, I will acquiesce. Prepare to meet your precious Celestia!”

“Steel is the most Honest pony I know!” Twilight yelled, barely heard over the battle.

“What?” Nightmare Moon laughed, reaching out with her magic and crushing the Minigun. “Honesty? Among killers and thieves?”

“She gave me a promise and fulfilled it, even when it would have been easier for her to leave me behind. She spoke with me about a hard, difficult truth when she could have lied. She may be a thief and killer, and I may not even know her real name, but I know nopony that is more honest!”

Steel blinked. “Well, Flashpoint, I’m flattered but—” and that was as far as she went before the gem in the pocket at her belt shot into the air before slamming back into her. Steel skid across the floor, before she stood tall, a necklace of gold hanging around her neck.

“What in the Sam Hill...?” Steel muttered.

Nightmare Moon went silent.

Twilight smiled.

“Web is the kindest pony I know!”

Web looked at her, surprised.

“She may be hard, but she’s always there to help us. She puts the needs and injuries of others before her own, but even beyond that, her kindness truly shines through when speaking to Elementals. No one else I know treats those who serve her so kindly, or with so much care.”

Web’s gem shot out and hit her, forming another necklace, almost precisely like Steel’s.

Twilight started again, not giving anyone else to have a chance to react. “If anyone can attune to the Element of Laughter, it’s Candy! Even facing the darkest situation, she not only finds the bright-side, but she also embodies it! She shines with her joy and her laughter!”

Candy’s gem transformed into a necklace.

“Gem embodies generosity! She’s a mare willing to sacrifice everything, even her own life, safety, and freedom for us. She’s given all of us the tools we need, all of which were hoof-crafted, without asking for a single nubit in return!”

Gem found herself decorated with her own necklace.

“Wingmare is loyal to a fault! I couldn’t keep that mare from coming back for me! She’s here, even now! She knows we’re never going to run together again, but she’s here to stand with us to the end.”

Wingmare had her necklace.

Nightmare Moon blinked, and Twilight smirked with satisfaction as she appeared baffled. “Well,” the creature said, “it seems I underestimated the dredges of this society. Of course, the fact stands that you’re still one Element short.”

Twilight’s smile wavered.

Nightmare moon smirked. “A very valiant try, though, I admit.”

“She didn’t forget anything,” Spike said. “She just hasn’t realized what the other gave her yet.”

The Nightmare locked eyes with the dragon, before slamming into him at a speed that made the sound of cracking thunder. “And I think that’s as far as it needs to go!”

Spike smirked, grasping onto the Nightmare’s hooves in his own claws. “She went from a corporate mage, a mare who would look to the bottom line to this. A mare who sees that the rules don’t matter as much as those who stand next—”

Nightmare Moon drove a hoof into Spike’s face, throwing the dragon to the ground.

He smiled. “If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is…”

The last gem shot forward and slammed into the final mare. Twilight felt power flood through her before it reached out and harmonized in unheard notes with the five other Runners.

And the world went white.

Chapter 31

Rarity stood in the elevator to Spike’s office, her mind still playing the events of what happened two days ago still playing in her mind. She couldn’t remember what happened when the six Elements of Harmony activated; all she could remember was a flash of color and light. After that, Nightmare Moon had been reduced to a small, quivering form.

Honestly, that was only, what, the fourth surprise that night?

So when Princess Celestia herself came to collect her, only for the smaller, light blue alicorn that remained to hug her with a cry of “sister,” Rarity just couldn’t make an effort to be surprised.

She almost had the effort to act surprised when Celestia thanked Spike for completing the job. Spike offered a meager thanks before the two alicorns left.

Spike led them back out of the Forest, shortly afterward, and into a waiting limousine. Once safe and back in the care of civilization he offered them all a place to stay for the night, with promises of pay in the morning.

Rarity didn’t have the strength to argue, and neither did anypony else in the team. They were all shuttled off to a nice, Harmony Inc.-owned hotel, and now they were being shuttled to Spike’s office. The same office in the building they first hit.

As the elevator opened for her, revealing the office with the cherry tree, the fine carpets, koi pond, and glass tables.

Flashpoint smiled as she saw her with the others, while Spike sat behind his desk. “Well, ladies, the job is done. You’ve managed to save all of Equestria from an eternal night, and make sure that my client has all the tools she needs to begin re-establishing central power in the kingdom. Congratulations!”

“Thank you, Mr. Spike,” Rarity said as she took the central chair. The others sat behind her, listening eagerly.

Spike nodded. “It’s now everyone’s favorite time, collecting payment,” he said with a smirk before pulling out the AR contract. “Now, just to review, Ms. Web, you wanted protection from Ahuiztechnology, Ms. Steel we re-negotiated for your sister’s therapy, while you work off the farm I bought in your name, Ms. Candy you wanted a Marés Dragon, Ms. Wingmare you asked for ten million nubits, and Ms. Gem you wanted a new business to run. Does that all sound correct?”

The ponies all nodded.

“Wonderful. However, since Ms. Steel had a chance to re-negotiate, it seems only fair that I give the rest of you a chance as well. So, does anyone want to change something?”

There was silence for a second before Web spoke up. “What did you have in mind when I asked for protection?”

“A VIP citizenship in Harmony Inc. With your own security team to protect you from any attempt to find you. With a new clean SIN, of course. From what I understand, you took to Running to stay hidden from them, so I figured that this was the best compromise for that.”

Web nodded slowly. “And what would the VIP citizenship entail?”

“Whatever you want it to,” Spike replied. “You’ve already paid for it if you want to help my business, or follow your own hobbies with it is your call.”

Web nodded. “That’s all I need, then.”

Spike nodded.

Candy spoke up next. “So you know how I said I wanted a Dragon?” she asked.

“Yes,” Spike answered.

“Well, I still do, but I don’t think I have a team to fly around anymore,” she said.

“I can fix that, if you want,” Spike replied. “I can give you a job as a VIP transport for Harmony Inc. I have things and ponies I need moved, and you certainly have the skill to do it. I can’t promise my competitors won’t try to shoot you down, so they’ll be some excitement left in the job. Is that suitable?”

She nodded, smiling.

Spike turned to Rarity. “What about you, Miss Gem?”

“What did you have in mind for my business?” she asked.

“Well, it would be a subsidiary of Harmony Inc. mostly to keep you safe from buyout, but other than that, the entirety of its operations are yours to choose. That’s how I run my businesses, Miss Gem, you get to make your own calls. And, of course, as long as you don’t turn on me, your business will run a healthy life.”

Rarity nodded. She didn’t like the idea, especially when that meant that Spike still had opportunities to figure out if she was a technomancer or not, though his reasoning was sound, so trying to dodge out would only appear suspicious.

“You’ll…” Flashpoint began. “You’ll like working for Spike. He treats his employees fairly.”

“Thank you, Twilight,” Spike said with a gentle smile.

Rarity wasn’t sure if that was a code or not.

“I’d...I’d like to renegotiate,” Wingmare said.

All eyes went to her.

“I owe a pony a new bar, so I’ll need that covered.”

“Well, I’m sure ten million is enough—” Spike began.

“I’m not done!” Wingmare snapped. “I need to pay him off, but...but I want a job.”

Spike raised an eyebrow.

“Well, you know, with this whole Element of Loyalty thing, it wouldn’t do well to leave them behind now…”

Spike smiled. “I see. As it so happens, I could use someone in charge of security, and somehow, I imagine you have plenty of experience to fill that. Lots of dangerous responsibilities, maybe even some opportunities to join my elite team of flyers. Does that sound like something you’d be interested in?”

Wingmare nodded.

“So be it,” Spike said, before quickly making the changes to the contract, before sending it to the ponies for one final look.

Once he had their approval. He began to hand out some SIN chips. “You’ll need these, of course, for the purpose of hiring you all.”

Rarity took hers and checked the statistics, and again could not bring enough surprise to see her real name staring back at her.

“You’re now all official employees of Harmony Inc.”

Fluttershy stood. “Thank you, Mr. Spike I appreciate this.”

“Of course.”

Applejack sighed. “I suppose I best get to work. I have a farm to take care of.”

“I’ve notified your brother,” Spike said. “He should be able to put in his two week’s notice, and join you. I’ve also had your home rebuilt, though most of the trees will have to be replanted.”

Applejack nodded.

“I’ll help you move stuff!” Pinkie Pie said, jumping out of her chair to join the ex-street sam. “At least until Spike has a job for me.”

“I’ll get you the info for that bar,” Rainbow Dash told the dragon. “Until then, I guess I’ll meet her security team,” she said, pointing over to the shaman. Fluttershy nodded, approvingly.

“I guess that means I have some paperwork to fill out,” Twilight said. “My job certainly didn’t stop while I was gone.”

Spike nodded.

And Rarity sat there.

“Did you want to discuss your new business, Miss Rarity?” Spike asked.

She flinched instinctively to having her name spoken aloud, but shook her head. “No, I’m wondering how you did it.”

“Did what?” he asked innocently.

“How did you manage to get us everything we asked for, but still managed to line your pockets?” she asked. “You managed to still be a slimy corporate scumbag, but also made sure we got what we want, without any real consequences?”

Spike nodded. “Well, Miss Rarity, I have to ask, does suffering from corporate greed mean that you have to be an immoral despot?”

“There are a lot of ponies I know who would argue that, yes.”

“Maybe,” Spike admitted, “but maybe if you suffered under those kinds of despots, and know what terrible things they’ve caused will make you rethink a few things.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow at him.

Spike smiled. “Have a good day, Miss Rarity.”

She gave him one last look before she began to walk away. She made it all the way inside the elevator before Spike called out again. “Oh, and Miss Rarity,” he said.

She looked up.

“For when you do want to talk about the details of your business, here’s my card.”

She watched, eyes wide, as an AR card flew across the room to land in front of her. She blinked, as she saw the face of the card. It blinked at her, obviously a Sprite, before it laughed and met with the card that Thundr5tep gave her, meeting like…brothers.

And the elevator door closed.

Chapter 5

Twilight sighed. It was the beginning of the second day of their watch, and so far everything was going according to plan. Of course, for some reason that just made everyone else in the team tense, nervous, and anxious.

They kept insisting that something was going to happen, but at this point, Twilight wasn’t sure. Their insistence that something was going to go wrong was bordering on paranoia, and it was annoying her to no end. This was for a hoofball game, ponies. There was no way anyone was going to risk lives for a game. They probably figured that Go Long was being watched, and decided he wasn’t worth it. That’s what she would have done.

She floated, not five feet above the earth pony in question, watching from the astral as he laughed, ate, drank, and enjoyed himself in Pounder-funded party. Go was happy, satisfied, and unaware that anyone meant him harm, according to the aura that shone around him, while the patchwork of servers, both augmented and otherwise milled around him to serve him whatever he wanted.

Looking around, she could faintly see the awakened aura of Web and Wingmare, the former sitting next to her body and Gem’s, while the latter was on the outside, on the top of a neighboring building, armed with a sniper rifle of some kind. Steel was walking through the building somewhere, her faint, weakened aura was practically invisible to the astral, and certainly not so through the just-as-dead walls that surrounded her.

Why anypony would subjugate themselves to that much cybernetic augmentation, Twilight would never know.

Candy’s roto-drone hovered around the building, keeping an eye out, while “Rocky” and “Balboa” both waited on standby, ready to rush in and fill any scout that got too close with holes, while Gem scanned the Matrix for any sign of a cyber attack.

She astrally sighed, sending a gust of silent, immaterial wind blowing through the mirror plane, and turned to the spider-shaped water elemental that floated beside her. The elemental stared at her blankly, before continued on, making the rounds that Miss Web had set up for him.

Then there were her own elementals.

Twilight was an initiated mage, after all, she could bend mana to her will in ways that most could never dream of doing. She was far better than anything these Runners had seen before, and this time she was going to prove it. It wasn’t going to be like last time, where she stayed in the back and let a conjured elemental do all the fighting for her.

She was fairly certain that the first job she had may have altered the team’s perception of her. Along with the insistence on calling her “Rookie” there was also the fact that they kept repeating “the first three rules of Running,” like it was some kind of mantra. “Shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never make a deal with a dragon. Shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never make a deal with a dragon.” They were on repeat.

Well, not anymore. She was going to show them that she was nothing to be coddled. Along with Web’s Water elemental, Twilight herself had four fire elemental patrolling the expo grounds, and a powerful air elemental watching the perimeter for anything funny.

Not that it would matter, this kind of show of force would dissuade anypony.

Between the seven of them, the six spirits and herself, there were enough eyes in the astral that they were going to see everything in the mile around them. There was no way anything could sneak up on them. At this point, she wasn’t sure that any team of enemy Runners would be willing to move on this.

And that’s when she found him.

A spirit, hovering in the astral, probing the area around the expo, and searching for something.

Disguising her astral signature as a wild, wandering elemental, Twilight began to watch as the spirit hovered around, passing through walls, and hovering through floors.

There was definitely a mage snooping around, and he wasn’t being immediately turned away by the sight of the elementals wandering around.

She watched him go, growling to herself in that special, silent thought that wouldn’t echo across the astral. “No...go away. You don’t want to deal with us. We aren’t worth it. Go away.”

The mage did not go away, despite Twilight silently willing him to. He floated around, checking and double-checking the walls, layout, and looking for anything else he could exploit.

“No, you want to go away…”

He still searched the building.

Sighing, Twilight began floating back to her body, grumbling to herself as she did so. The idiot mage couldn't leave them alone, couldn't keep this easy for them, he had to make a move on her and the team.

At the very least she had decided not to say this was going to be easy out loud.

She slipped back into her body, her projected self taking back control of her nerves, muscles, and more, quickly shifting back to the material plane. One moment, she was floating in the sea of mana that was the astral plane, the next, she was lying with her back against the cold floor of the room, her eyes closed as though she were asleep.

Twilight sat up, and immediately spoke into her comm. “We have a mage snooping around in the astral. He’s going through the walls and checking things out.”

“Did you really just say ‘snooping,’ Rookie?” Wingmare asked, while Twilight was busy typing the message out for Gem.

“Well what else do you call it?”

“Snoopin’s fine, Wingmare. That's a proper word.” Steel said.

“Says the ex-farmer.”

“I like it,” Candy said.

“It’s not a matter of liking,” Wingmare said. “It's not cool. I see a pony approaching, sending a pic to Gem for confirmation.”

“My elemental has found the snooper,” Web said. “He’s dealing with him right now.”

“It being cool don’t matter,” Steel continued. “It’s a real word, and there ain’t anything wrong with sayin’ it.”

“Target confirmed,” Wingmare said, before a faint, almost indiscernible shot rang out over the comm line. “Scout down, and yes there’s something wrong. If it ain’t cool, there ain’t a point in saying it.”

Steel groaned. “Sure, whatever Wingmare. Whatever you say.”

“Um…” Twilight began. “What happened to the whole ‘they’re coming and everything’s going to be awful?”

“Oh, it’s still going to be awful,” Web said in a humorless deadpan.

“That’s just the level we normally operate on!” Candy chirped happily.

“Huh…” Twilight said. “I thought there was going to be a lot more freaking out than this.”

“It’ll come,” Steel said. “Speaking of, Candy, can I get Balboa down here? I might need some backup, and a robot with a heavy machine gun sounds like some great backup.”

“Be right there,” she answered.

A message appeared on the group text from Web. “What about you, Gem? How’s it on your end?”

There was an immediate response. “Hang on, darling. There’s a cyberattack I’m dealing with right now. I’ll be right back.”

A single second later, Gem continued. “There we go, the poor boy thought he knew what he was doing, but he really wasn’t ready for the black IOs that the MODs leave around.”

Twilight did not know what that meant.

“Everything’s fine then?” Web asked.

“Peachy, darlings. We’re not going to have a Matrix problem from this team.”

“Good!” Steel said. “Because they’re coming from the back right now!”

Web nodded. “Rookie, go back up Steel. I’ll watch Gem.”

She sighed and nodded. “Alright. I’m on my way.”

She rushed down the back stairs, heading for Steel’s location as fast as her legs could carry her. “Yeah, I see how it is, I have to go rush down the stairs, directly into gunfire, while you get to watch our comatose leader.”

“Your comm’s still on, you know,” Web said.

Twilight shut up.

The stetson-wearing pony chuckled, and Twilight could hear her smile through her comm. “Don’t worry, Rookie, We’ve all been there before. Somepony always gets ta yell order from cov—You call that a hit? I’ve seen sharper blades on a six-week-old disposable razor! Anyway, it happens ta all of us.”

“That makes me feel so much better,” the mage responded with a snort.

“Now,” Steel said. “When ya get down here, ya know what to do, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ve said it a dozen times just yesterday.”

“And? I need to know if you know, cause there’s some lightning down the way.”

Twilight sighed, before she turned the corner, turning into a hail of gunfire as she raised a shield long enough to cross to the large plastic and steel crate on the other side of the hall. “Geek the mage first,” she answered, before a fireball traveled down the hall, and engulfing Steel.

The Streetsam watched as the flames exploded around her and Balboa, leaving them unharmed as the fire vaporized the three ponies that were trying to stab her. A second later, it was her, the drone, and ash standing in the middle of the hallway, with a shocked, hooded earth pony staring at her, lightning crackling from his hooves.

“So you going to get that mage or not?” Twilight asked from behind cover.

Steel looked back and frowned. “Well ain’t you a quick study,” she said before her cyberhoof fished out a handful of bullets that were dumped into her left leg, before she racked the lever that popped out of her elbow, filling the hallway with the bark of lever-action fire.

The earth pony mage dived for cover, before a fire elemental leaped out of the floor to defend its master.

Steel skidded to a halt, running the second she saw the creature manifest. She knew better than to shoot an elemental. It literally only made them mad. “Rookie! Any day now!”

“Hang on,” Twilight said.

“Hang on? You’re a mage! Turn it to goo or something!”

“Turn to goo is a physical spell, it would only affect and actual body, not a thing made of mana, I need a mana based spell to—”

“Just kill it already!” Steel said, running past her with the equine fire beast following after her.

Twilight sighed before she began to cast manabolt.

She pulled on her inner flame, focusing on the heat found on the molecular level to excite atoms and force compound bonds to become unstable. Just like melting ice, the bonds that hold the spirit to the material plane would also break down once it came into contact with the increased energy that Twilight was providing to the world around her.

All this happened in a practiced split-second, and a ball of white-hot mana shot forward, slamming into the elemental from down the hall. It screamed in pain and shuddered as foreign mana ripped through its body.

And then it turned its eyes to Twilight.

“Oh...frag…” she muttered before she decided it would be best to be somewhere else. “The mage is all yours, Steel, have fun!”

“Thanks, you too!” Steel said, before unloading her mare's-leg-leg down the hall again.

Twilight ran down the hall, flinging a much smaller, and far weaker manabolt behind her, as the drain of quick-slung spells began to build. If she kept this up, she could wind up knocking herself out.

The elemental, on the other hand, barely slowed in the face of the raining mana bolts that showered him as he ran after her, chasing her down before throwing streams of flame after her, coating the walls in fire that burned mana like firewood.

Still, her manabolts tore at the elemental’s spirit flesh, doing the damage that bullets could not as she tried to run.

Twilight briefly considered conjuring her own elemental, but she knew it wouldn’t work. Fighting the will of another elemental would drain her faster than the spells, and though she was keeping ahead of her own fatigue, it would not last long with the mental battle going through her.

Luckily with the mage fighting both Steel, and keeping the elemental under control, he couldn’t force it to use its speed to overtake her in an instant. It could, it had the speed, the super-equine tenacity, strength, and stamina to overtake her without even getting winded. Outlasting it and outrunning it simply weren’t options.

Turning the next corner, she felt her hooves nearly slip out from under her, and rushed for cover, breathing heavily, as she tried to suppress her aura.

She had two options. The first, wait for Steel to “geek” the mage. With him dead, the liminal connection with the Material plane would be severed, and the elemental would be sent back to the astral, free to do as it wished. The major issue with this was the time factor. Between Steel’s numerous cybernetic astral-dead zones and the mage’s draining energy, Twilight had no doubt she would kill the mage, the problem was when.

The second was to kill its body first.

You cannot kill an elemental, you can only inconvenience it hard enough that it leaves the material plane. And that was her best bet.

Focusing back on her inner strength, Twilight began to take the mana around her and realign it, rearranging it into crystalline structures like diamonds. A cubic crystal structure began to take shape in her mind, and across the hallway, as she formed her Spirit Barrier Spell, making a wall that would hold back the conjured beast while leaving her free to move.

With that, Twilight took another second, combining the elements of the world around her as she began to add a layer of pure entropy. The heat and wild atomic movement of her offensive, fire-mana spells were carefully being mixed with the structured earth-mana wall, making exactly what she needed.

The wall was up in a second, just in time for the elemental to run face-first into it.

And then the drain hit her. Exhaustion blew through her like a sledgehammer, and a second later, she felt her legs drop like they were made of lead.

Twilight looked up, to the side, where the elemental was screaming, slowed as it moved through the barrier like he was trying to walk through water.

That's when she realized she couldn't run. She didn’t have the energy. She’d get maybe three steps before she would be back on her butt, unconscious.

The elemental was pushing closer, snarling as it tried to push through the barrier with its long, grasping claws that it had instead of hooves.

Oh...Oh, sweet Celestia...This...this was how she was going to die.

She was going to die. She couldn’t run, couldn’t hide, at her last, best defense was being overcome by a very angry elemental, who would rather live with pain just to kill her. She had one last spell in her, one last chance to fight back before the drain knocked her out.

She could let her body take the drain, where instead of sapping energy, it ripped her body apart. It would be better than dying, sure, but the mana flowing through her would tear her insides to shreds. Her own personal leylines would be torn to pieces, she might never cast magic again if she pushed it.

The elemental was pushing through. It was closer now, so close.

And all this for that fragging hoofball player could enjoy some hors d'oeuvres without being bothered. That was who she was going to die for, that little punk who was standing a floor up from her, chewing on some real food. Food she hadn’t had for weeks now, only soybean-substitutes that were infuriatingly almost what they were supposed to taste like. That was who she was dying for.

Twilight raised a hoof, concentrating on enthalpy and kinetic molecular motion.

No, no she wasn’t going to die today, not for him. If she was going to die it’d be for something important, Celestia damn it!

A Death Touch spell was coursing through her arm, coming up, ready to end the spirit, even if it broke her. She raised both arm and voice in defiance. Twilight stood there and dared the world, fate, the elemental, and everything else to try her, to give her just a chance at tearing them down, before the elemental popped away, and was gone.

Twilight blinked, staring up at empty space where her invisible barrier of mana sat there, waiting.

“Hey, Rookie, you alright?” Steel asked. “I got the mage.”

Twilight dropped her arm, the spell, and everything else as her exhaustion overrode her muscles. “Yeah, I’m alright. Just tired.”

“Good. I hope you gave that elemental a run for its nubits.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said with a sigh. “Yeah, I did.”

“Good. And did we learn anything today?”

Twilight gave a small smile. “Geek the mage first.”

Steel simply nodded. “It ain’t just good advice, it’s a way of life, specifically how to keep living.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“More importantly, until you earn a real street name, do what we tell ya, and don’t get cute alright?”

“Got it,” Twilight said, too tired to do anything other than surrender to the Streetsam’s lecture.

“Dang it, Steel, why’d you tell her we’d get her a different name…” Wingmare muttered over the line.

“Now ya need meet back up with Gem and Web, keep an eye on our friend upstairs.”

“Right…” Twilight said. “I’ll get right on it.”

There was a moment of silence of the line.

“Can you move, Rookie?” Web asked.

“No…” came the sullen reply.

Web sighed. “Steel could you get her for me?”

“Alright, alright, I’ll be right up,” Steel said with a sigh. “I should charge her for it, though.”

<><><|><><>

Steel carried the nearly unconscious mage back to their observation room, where Web was waiting for her. The moment the pegasus saw her, she immediately slapped a patch on her, checked for injuries, and then let her sit once she found none.

Twilight simply found the corner of the room opposite Gem, and enjoyed the feeling of the cold, hard, yet comfortable drywall behind her. Looking down at her arm, she saw the patch that was slowly bringing her back from the brink of exhaustion.

A stim patch. Twilight remembered her little affair with the energy in a patch she had back when she was studying for her first initiation. She spent four days hopped up on energy drinks, coffee, and stims, with maybe three hours of sleep between them. That had messed her up pretty bad, actually, she couldn’t cast a spell right for a week after that.

Still, she could move now, so that was a step in the right direction.

“So did we do it?” Twilight asked.

Web looked back at her, clearly unimpressed. “That was one team. There’s another three coming at us right now.”

“What?” Twilight asked. “But...but I…?”

“You blew all your remaining spells in a record twenty minutes, Rookie,” Web said. “That, and some bad luck with your drain today has pretty much left you useless. That’s why you carry a gun, it’s your fault for not using it.”

The Harmony Roc that hung by her chest felt heavier just being mentioned, and Twilight blushed.

“You know the first three rules of Running, Rookie?”

“Shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never make a deal with a dragon,” Twilight recited.

“Those apply to spells too. You can't put up wards, summon guards, and get in a fight without wearing yourself out. Conserve ammo. Understand?”

Twilight nodded.

“Good. Now get your gun out. I’ve had to convince your air elemental to stay, but your two fire elementals are long gone.”

Twilight groaned as she got to her hooves, and reached into her robe for the Roc, the heavy-caliber revolver felt heavy in her grip, but she knew this weapon well. Spikarunz had taught her well, after all. “Alright, I...I got it.”

“Good, now stay here, and shoot anypony that tries to get to Gem.”

“You’re going out there?”

“You’re useless right now, and someone has to back up the team, so now that’s my job. You just watch over Gem and make sure her body’s still here when she gets back. She’s doing her job, so we need to do ours, alright?”

Twilight nodded.

“Good, in the meantime, try to move as little as possible. It’ll help with the drain.”

Twilight nodded, shifted herself to face the door, her Roc out and ready to shoot, and watched as Web walked out the door.

<><><|><><>

The second day was long, very long for Twilight, who spent most of her time staring at the door to their little room.

Gem popped out for a few minutes to eat a protein bar, and guzzle water from a bottle she had, before jumping back in the Matrix to continue defending them from the deckers whose bodies were a mile away. Beyond that, nothing happened to the room.

The night was even longer, but at the very least, Twilight was able to help toward the end. It required far more brass, lead, and gunpowder than mana, but they were well-placed shots, and they did the job.

The third day was the longest yet, six teams were all rushing to get the job done, and they would have overrun them if not for Wingmare’s careful shots, and a more restrained attempt by Twilight to put up traps rather than blast everyone to pieces.

Despite the flying lead though, everything went...well.

Go Long was never aware that there was a Runner team shadowing him, and even though one enemy team did manage to get into the expo room where he was enjoying himself, they were weak enough at that point that the normal, on-site security was able to bag them.

It was the most exciting day of Go Long’s life to date.

When the Ponyville Pounder scout finally arrived, the team had a total of six scouts killed, collected, and accounted for, and all three days worked.

Gem, who was exhausted from three straight days of being in the Matrix, smiled. “Good job, everypony...now all we need to do is collect…”

“Are we going now?” Twilight asked.

“We can,” the decker replied, “although I’d much prefer a shower and a meal first.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Steel said, “Let’s go, I know there’s a sandwich shop ‘round here somewhere.”

“Found one!” Candy said, staring up at her comm’s AR screen. “I’ll drive!”

“Wonderful, dear. I don’t think I can drive myself,” Gem said.

Piling into the van, they began to head out, driving across Ponyville for the meal, talking about how the job went. “Yeah, the Rookie didn’t do half bad. She got me out of a pretty bad spot,” Steel said.

“She was still reckless. Could have gotten herself killed,” Web said.

“I’m right here, you know,” Twilight said.

Web turned to her, stared her dead in the eye, and repeated. “You were still reckless. You could have gotten yourself killed.”

“Thanks…”

“She did alright, but she’s still a rookie,” Wingmare agreed.

Candy nodded. “Yuppers, it was still super awesome to watch Balboa down there, being covered in a fireball like Fwoosh! And still be alright.”

“Sounds like I missed some impressive work,” Gem said.

“Impressive enough,” Steel said. “Course, if I’m honest I…” she suddenly trailed off. “Stop the van.”

“What?”

“Candy, stop the van,” she repeated.

Candy stopped, and the van obeyed, coming to a halt in a second before Steel lept out.

“Steel? Steel what’s going on?”Gem asked.

Steel stared up at a plascrete and plasteel gate, beyond which was the most green many of them had seen in their lives. The others began to pour out of the van, their eyes following Steel’s gaze to the words that were written over the gate in forged letters. “Sweet Apple Acres Country Club,” it read, and underneath those words, written in smaller lettering was the phrase “a subsidiary of Flim Flam Incorporated.”

Steel glared up at the gate, teeth grinding together, before she growled. “A golf course? They turned it into a golf course?”

“Steel?” Gem said, as they all watched her staring up at the gate. “Steel, are you alright?”

The Streetsam stared up at the country club with a scowl on her face. “Nope. Ain’t nothing fer you to worry about. Besides...we get this job done, there won’t be a problem at all.” She turned back to face them, scowling as she did so before she muttered. “Let’s just go get paid already.”

<><><|><><>

After a shower in a public stall that some CEO started building across the sprawl for some PR stunt or another, and a “hay and tomato” sandwich, Rarity was feeling much better. Well enough to head back to their Ringo for their payday.

Twenty-one thousand nubits later, and the Decker and her team practically danced out of Ponyville, and back to the warehouse. Twilight grinned as she held the credstick in her pocket, which felt far heavier than it actually was.

As Candy pulled up beside Twilight’s safehouse-turned-home, the mage suddenly received a call.

It rang once, before automatically picking up, and Spikarunz’s fierce, purple face appeared in front of her, plastered across her AR glasses. “Twilight. It's time for your first job."

Chapter 22

Among all the ponies in the team, none knew more than Rarity that the Grand Galloping Gala was the biggest corporate event of the year. Ponies from all around the world would be coming to the RENUMA building that night, each vying for power, wealth, and status.

It was everything she ever wanted.

Ever since the fiasco of a soiree at Saddle Krupp, Rarity had been dying for an excuse to get her kevlar weave black dress back out. However, now that she was looking at it, she wasn’t sure if it would go with the atmosphere.

While it was definitely a black-tie event, the idea of having just a black dress didn’t seem to agree with her, especially with all the possibilities running through her head. No, she needed something more, she needed to stand out, she needed to make a statement!

Then she remembered that she was a Runner, and making a public statement like that would probably get her noticed, then shot.

So, toning down her initial instinct to be the talk of the Gala for years to come, she decided she'd go with something that was more modest, but at least it’d fragging match her mane. Another quick search of her wardrobe that was sadly limited in space, she came to the discovery that she lacked a nice blue and yellow dress that could offer such protection.

To most Runners, that would be the story, and she’d have to settle for the black dress and be slightly boring.

But, as she’d gladly point out, Rarity was not most Runners.

At first, she looked into buying a few bolts of kevlar weave fabric herself, but the price tag would run her pretty high, which wasn’t out of the question since she could sell another outfit or two on the Matrix.

Then, she realized that she could buy a set of Form-fitting body armor for the price, along with a few bolts of normal fabric, and still be under the budget of the weave bolts. That alone was worth looking into.

Of course, if she could do that, then the bigger question was why couldn’t she just sew an armored vest into a new dress. These newer vests didn’t have much of a profile, so she could probably squeeze one in without it being noticeable.

Before she knew it, Rarity found herself surrounded by bolts of cloth, each a different color, in the middle of the safehouse, working frantically on an entire line of party wear.

She stood in the midst of her chaotic creation, ponyquins on all sides, as a thousand different designs hovered over the holo-table, with a hundred more hanging in AR space. She mulled over the thousand different permutations of the current base for one of the dresses beside her trying to determine which would look best. With a flick of her hoof, a hundred died, being swallowed by digital oblivion as they fell to literal bits. Another three hundred died with her next decision, and before half an hour passed, she had slain all but one, the winner of the creative battlefield.

“Uh...y’all alright there, Gem?”

She turned to see Steel, and the other standing well out of the blast range of her fabric explosion, eyes wide concern obvious on their faces. “Hm? Oh, just fine, Darling. Just fine. Why do you ask?”

They collectively looked at the mess. “Well...um…” Wingmare began, “you’ve just...kinda...exploded across the room.”

“Oh, it’s just a small mess,” Rarity said, waving at the corpses of spent bolts and the mound of fabric scraps that she stood on.

“You’ve...well, you’re also looking kinda…” Candy began, “loopy.”

“Oh, nonsense, darling,” Rarity said. “I just haven’t had a chance to go through my proper routine, that’s all.”

“And the dresses?” Flashpoint asked.

“We’re going to the Grand Galloping Gala, Flashpoint!” Rarity explained. “If we’re not going in the height of fashion, we’re going to be noticed! We need some proper attire, or we’re not even going to get in the door!”

“So...you’re making some dresses?” Web asked. “Instead of...buying them?”

Rarity blinked. “Well, you know…” she began. “There’s nothing wrong with trying to save a few nubits.”

A long silence passed between the six of them.

“Are they for us?”

“Well, of course!” Rarity said, stepping down from her victor's hill. “It simply won’t do if you aren’t dressed for the Grand Galloping Gala!”

“Well, I suppose, but…” Flashpoint said.

“Here, here, I have one for all of you!” Rarity said. “They’ve all got an armored vest in them, so they’ll provide some protection. Here, take the one that speaks to you most!”

She stepped back and watched as the team slowly began to choose their new outfits. Rarity mostly let them choose on their own, though she did heavily imply that certain color schemes might work better with certain coats, otherwise had them pick their favorites.

“These are…” Flashpoint began. “These are actually really well made.”

“Why thank you,” She said. “I should hope they are, I would have hated to have gotten rusty.”

“It’s, uh…” Steel began, “quite the skill ya got there. I honestly wouldn't have picked ya out as a seamstress, but alright.”

“It’s what I wanted to do before I had to take up Running,” Rarity said. “In fact, it basically caused me to start Running.”

“What do you mean?” Flashpoint asked.

“Well,” she began. “I was looking into going into fashion, and, well, this was shortly before holofabric came out. I was taking an apprenticeship at some two-bit fashion business that doesn’t even exist anymore, and the mare I was working for hands me a bolt of holofabric and tells me to make a dress out of it.”

The five ponies stared at the decker as she began recounting the tale.

“Of course, she didn’t tell me it was holofabric at the time, so I cut it like normal fabric, and that just destroys it instantly. Again, I didn’t know that at the time. But I finish making the dress, my boss came back, and then immediately starts going on about how it’s ruined, I told her that maybe if we got some better fabric we could make something that stood out a little better, and that pushed her over the edge enough that she fired me, and sent my resume to every other fashion agency in Canterlot with the words ‘Do Not Hire,’ written across it.”

The rest of the team was silent for a moment. “Wow...that’s…”

“It is what it is dear,” she replied nonchalantly. “But that doesn’t matter. Once we finish working for Mr. Spike, I’ll finally be doing what I love again.”

“Well,” Candy said. “That doesn’t mean we can’t blow your old place up in the meantime.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that, darling. I took care of that already. There’s a reason it doesn’t exist anymore,” Rarity said with a smile. “Nonetheless, I thank you for the thought.”

“Huh, the first thing she did was destroy a mare’s business. Maybe she was made to be a Runner,” Wingmare remarked.

<><><|><><>

The RENUMA building stood like a glowing, white-hot needle. Cutting the cityscape in half, the skyscraper towered over the surrounding buildings, most owned by RENUMA themselves. High-powered spotlights danced up the side of the building, before reaching up and dancing in the sky.

The Grand Galloping Gala occupied five separate floors of the gargantuan building, including a ballroom that stretched two stories high. Ponies, all lavishly dressed and filthy rich, meandered and mingled amongst themselves, laughing at half-hearted jokes, and rubbing shoulders with those slightly above them. If not for the fake invitations that Spike had provided, Rarity might not have been able to get the team through the door. However, now that she was here, the decker had never felt more at home.

Above her head, RENUMA showed off their technology programs, using state-of-the-art hologram projectors to cause dragons, ponies, griffins, and more to dance above the crowd in a mirror ball, swaying and dancing to the music as it played for the ponies below. Tables ladened with actual food lined the walls, filling the air with scents of spices that Rarity had almost forgotten.

She walked in alone, the others would file in at pre-planned times, all slowly working their way in as they began their infiltration. Going as a group, especially a group with a high concentration of weapons, only increased their chances of getting caught. With each mare now forced to work on hiding just what they need to bring in, the chances of uncovering the plot was low.

With her own deck sewn into a pocket on the stomach of her dress and a slight change to her SIN chip that reported a terrible surgery where some implants had to be inserted, Rarity had almost everything she needed to complete her part of the mission. Her job was fairly straightforward, find Micro Chip, hack her comm, and work from there.

All they had to do was get her away from the party for a second or two. Web bought a few syringes packed with enough anesthetic to knock her out for a few hours, and once she was too unconscious to do anything about it, they could grab the necklace and go.

If everything went well, they’d be in and out before the party even really got started.

Which is a terrible shame.

Standing at the punch bowl, the designated rendezvous point, Rarity watched the entryway like a hawk, while also occasionally turning down a dance with a stallion or mare who might have had too much champagne this early into the celebration.

Slowly but surely, the others began to make their way in. Steel, armed with her mare’s leg, managed to get through the door with no trouble, though security did dust it over and check for any hidden weapons in it. Supposedly, Steel was keeping some bullets in a secret compartment that would stay hidden, but it did mean she couldn’t bring many of them.

Next through the door came Web. Web had the most vital component of the plan, the anesthetic. Six separate syringes lay strapped to her thigh, hidden away, and disguised as simple insulin shots for a poor mare wracked with diabetes.

Candy was next, she carried nothing, but she did casually control a small swarm of parasprite drones outside the building. They were dispersed, for the most part, nearly invisible against the building, but there were enough of them to protect her if she needed to.

Flashpoint, the only one of them to have gone to the Grand Galloping Gala before, entered with only her magic to back her up. Rarity asked her if that would suffice, but the lavender unicorn insisted that, as long as things don’t go absolutely terrible, she’d be more than fine.

Finally, Wingmare came in. Armed with her hooves, and the magic of the adept, she insisted she had everything she needed to “throw down.” Having seen what those hooves could do, Rarity didn’t doubt it, but she didn’t like how Wingmare also insisted on having her dress cut higher for easier fighting. That outfit was not made to be that short, and it made her look a bit like a ganger that wandered into the ball.

Still, they were all here, and they made it inside. Now it was time to start the plan. After meeting up at the rendezvous, offering only solemn nods to each other, or a false introduction before Rarity made her move.

Walking her way quickly to the restroom, Rarity took a quick look around the room and picked out the security teams around the room. Fifteen security ponies, all running on a secure, separate line.

Well, secure for now.

She slipped into the restroom, opened an empty stall, and got to work. Sliding her deck free, she carefully began slipped into VR, and began the handshakes with the Corp’s Matrix signal.

Dressed in a traditional eastern unicornian kimono, Rarity carefully began to maneuver through the massive, eastern castle that the digital defenses manifested as. The White Intrusion Countermeasures were out in force. Sentry ICs watched every corner of the castle’s corridors, while Trace ICs and Spark ICs waited on standby to hunt down deckers and spike their decks into oblivion.

Rarity double-checked her mask program, one of the few things that were separating her from being discovered and apprehended within minutes. So far, her activity hadn’t raised suspicions, but she still did her best to avoid the sentries she could see. She carefully pushed her way forward, making her way to the communication center, where she could monitor the networks.

A number of watcher programs passed by her, asking her for identification, which the mask managed to provide. So far, she was doing well, and as long as she didn’t run into a Spider, she’d manage to make it all the way there.

She carefully managed to slip past another hallway, before a figure dropped in front of her. Tall, deep blue, and disguised as an Oni glared down at her. “Identify yourself.”

Rarity kept calm, even though the ICs were starting to stir around her.

“I am office worker 31-45, Number Crunch.”

The Oni’s eye’s narrowed, and a large, armored figure materialized behind him, and Rarity recognized it instantly as a Black IC, lethal in every way. “Incorrect.”

Rarity mentally cursed. She hated Spiders. Having a pony mind behind technology to oversee it was always the best move, which meant it always made the hardest defense to overcome it. “I don’t know what you mean!” Rarity said. “I am Number Crunch!”

“No,” the Oni said with a smirk. “Number Crunch doesn’t have these permissions. You shouldn’t be here if you’re Number Crunch. Besides, he doesn’t have a VR set up.”

The Black IC began to move.

“Okay, okay, you caught me!” she said. “I’m a White Hat.”

The Oni’s eyes narrowed again. “A White Hat? Tonight?”

“Of course! Besides, I’m a professional, I’m not Runner wannabe who thinks they can take on the matrix with a deck, I’m corp owned!”

The Oni glared, but the Black IC stopped approaching her. “Identification,” he demanded.

Rarity handed him a SIN, one that belonged to an employee of Matrix Security Solutions Ltd. The Oni glanced it over, analyzing it for authenticity.

After a while, the Black IC glanced down at her. “Well, you’ve been caught, so I’m going to tell you to log off, before I make you log off.”

“Oh, of course! Of course!” Rarity said before she obeyed, jumping back into her bathroom stall. She grit her teeth before hopping onto the comm line. “Bad news girls, we’re not going to be able to monitor the security teams, I was caught by a Spider, so they’re now on high alert.”

“Are you alright?” Steel asked.

“Yes, I just had to burn a SIN is all.”

Rarity could feel the grimace of the other over the line. “So what do we do now?” Flashpoint asked. “We needed the security channels to break into Micro’s comm.”

Rarity sighed, before slipping her deck back into its secret pocket. “Let me worry about that, I just need you to tell me where she is.”

The moment she said that she began to regret it. She could hear the little voice in her head that acted as a conscious begin to scream at her. “Are you nuts?” it said. “You’re going to do this here? In front of hundreds of corp execs? If they find you, it’ll be the fastest way to being locked in a cell forever!”

Rarity didn’t answer it, though she knew it was right. The chances of being caught, of having her most valuable secret discovered were going to skyrocket. Her team would know now, no question about that, and to this day, Rarity didn’t know a Runner that wouldn’t turn her in for the reward money.

Still, it was the best way of doing what she needed, now that the communications hub was locked out.

Oh, the things she’d do for her team…

She slipped out of the restroom, and returned to the party. “Keep your eyes open for the target ladies, we need to find her and I need to get close for this to work.”

“I’ve got a visual,” Twilight said, from her perch.

“Where is she?”

“The main ballroom, surrounded by security ponies, there’s no way you’re getting close.”

As Rarity entered the ballroom again, she quickly saw why. Thirty security ponies, surrounding the mare they identified as Micro Chip, stood in concentric circles around her. Breaching the perimeter would require nothing less than an invisibility spell, and even that wouldn’t get her through it alone. In fact, anything short of an anti-tank rifle or being a literal ghost probably wouldn’t cut it either. There was no way she was getting close.

“Alright…” Rarity said. “This doesn’t look great…”

“At least one of those guys is a Scarlet Samurai,” Flashpoint said, mentioning RENUMA’s elite security team, “I recognize him from a meeting Spike did with them three years ago.”

“Aw, frag…” Wingmare muttered.

“Well, at least he ain’t in his armor. Then we’d really have no chance.”

“That’s one, what about the rest of them?” Candy asked.

“If one is, I’d bet the rest are,” Web said, “or at the very least he’s not the only one.”

“Okay, so worst-case scenario, we have thirty, unarmored scarlet samurai watching the target, and we need to get close just so we can get her alone,” Wingmare said. “I’m not liking the chances of this plan.”

“It’s alright,” Rarity said. “We’ll make this work.”

“Look, you just need to be careful, because…” Flashpoint trailed off, and the line went silent, before the words “Oh, drek,” squeaked from Flashpoint’s throat.

“Flashpoint, what’s wrong?” Wingmare asked over the comm.

“Oh...oh drek, I see her,” Web said. “She’s...she’s next to the Princess.”

The entire line went silent, and Rarity pulled her eyes away from the target, to the balcony, where she saw the lavender unicorn standing next to the Princess herself. A coat of alabaster white, and a mane that shimmered with the colors of blue, pink, and green. She wore a simple, yet elegant dress, of pinks of mauves, and a gentle smile as Flashpoint seemed to wither next to her.

The Princess’ eyes carefully danced across the room, and Rarity watched as they landed on each and every team member before finally resting on her.

Rarity wanted to sink into the floor under the gaze of those gentle eyes, and that soft, kind smile.

“Th-the Princess is requesting to speak with us,” Flashpoint said.

Rarity blinked. What was she supposed to say to that? What could she even do in the face of a request form the Princess herself?

Since no answer presented itself, Rarity came forward, meeting with the others as they slowly congregated around the massive demigod. She towered over everyone present, and carefully sipped at a champagne flute as they gathered. “Hello, my little ponies,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

Rarity gulped before speaking up. “Greetings, Princess. What have we done to earn your attention tonight?”

The Princess smiled. “I think it’s more what you’re going to do.”

Rarity smiled, as though she didn’t know what she was talking about.

Princess Celestia smiled back before she nodded toward another room. “Follow me, I think you’d enjoy a little privacy.”

Rarity nodded, but followed along anyway, sweat beginning to collect on her brow. What was she doing? What could the Princess want with her? Was she setting them up for a fall? Did she know they were Runners?

Celestia left the ballroom and sequestered them away into a smaller office space. Once she was sure they were alone, the alicorn then turned and faced the group. “I met this one some time ago,” the Princess explained, draping a wing the size of a normal pony over Flashpoint, “as a corporate mage for Harmony Inc.”

Flashpoint blinked in surprise, and stared up at the Princess.

“Oh, there were no formal introductions, dear,” Celestia said, smiling the whole time, “but I remember you were there, standing in the back corner, trying to hide. Regardless, she’s here, Spikarunz is not, and you five seem to be in constant communication with each other.”

“Well, that’s—” Rarity began.

“She managed to call you all up here with nothing more than a whisper,” Celestia said. “So unless you possess hearing far beyond that of even a dragon, I’m willing to bet that you have a comm line set up.”

Rarity didn’t answer that.

“That leaves only a hoofful of possibilities,” Celestia continued, “and because Spikarunz always thinks that he can keep his little plots hidden from me, that leaves me sure that you are his Runners.”

“A Runner? Here?” Rarity began, trying desperately to salvage this run. “Why, the scandal! I simply cannot believe—”

“I commend you on your persistence,” The Princess said, “but it’s time to know when you’re beat.”

Rarity opened her mouth one more time, before signing. “Yes, we’re his Runners.”

Celestia nodded. “I won’t ask your names, I know that’s quite the faux pas in your circles, but I do want to know what your goals are, and how you want to accomplish them.”

“That’s…” Rarity began, before chancing a glance at the others. Steel and Web looked nervously between each other, and Wingmare fidgeted. “That’s not really something that’s done, your Majesty. It’s like asking a company to give up its secrets. It’s—”

“Miss,” the Princess said. “I am trying to be patient with you. I understand your hesitance to share, but I need to know what your plan is, and if you refuse to comply, there will be consequences.”

“We’re...we’re here for the necklace,” Rarity blurted.

“The one around Miss Micro Chip’s neck?” the Princess asked.

Rarity nodded, though she wondered how on earth she guessed.

“And what was your plan?” the Princess asked.

“To...to get her alone long enough to grab the gem.”

“No killing?” Celestia asked.

“If we could help it…”

Celestia continued to smile through every question, though, when Rarity said that, it seemed to ease, and almost became even more natural than before. “Good, good. That’s what I wanted to hear.”

She took a small sip of champagne, before she continued. “So, how were you going to get her alone?”

“We were actually working on that,” Rarity said.

“Well, then let’s go see Ms. Chip,” Celestia said.

“Pardon?” Rarity asked.

“You need to get close, I can get you there,” she replied.

Rarity blinked.

“That’s…” of all the possible alternatives, this had to be the worst. To do what she needed to do, with the Princess next to her? There’s no way she could be discrete with that kind of company. What’s worse, what if Celestia found out? Was she hunting them as well? Would the Princess catch her, only to sell her to the highest bidder? She always said that she disapproved but in this business...

“That’s perfect!” Flashpoint said. “There’s no way they’d do anything against you openly. You’ll be almost able to waltz right up to her.”

Rarity said nothing, but at this point, she had very little choice but to follow.

The Princess walked with her carefully down the stairs, escorting her as they maneuvered toward the target. Ponies parted before them, and the first perimeter of security ponies gave way with little more than a word.

Rarity barely noticed, because her mind was too busy running through panic. Her thoughts were wildly swinging between finishing the job, no matter the cost, to running out of the gala as fast as her legs could carry her. Her life was seriously in danger, beyond everything she has ever done as a Runner. If things went wrong here, she would never be seen or heard from again.

The second perimeter of security ponies let them pass after a quick round of questions.

She’d be locked in some room for the rest of her natural life, always monitored. She’d not only be corporate property, but she’d be thrown into a vault, never to see the light of day.

The third perimeter gave Celestia a full minute of questions, before they let both of them pass through.

Rarity was out of time. The decision had been made for her. With no other choice, she shut off her eyes.

Rarity didn’t hear what Celestia or the other mare said, between the introductions and the small talk, but she didn’t care. She had to bring all her focus forward for this, and she wouldn't let a conversation distract her.

The darkness around her was absolute, the same that a blind pony would see, and it offered nothing for her, other than a contrast for the thing she was looking for.

And then, just as the droning of the Gala was beginning to stretch on, she saw it. The invisible web of the Matrix, connecting every device, every weapon, the holograms above, and more became visible to her sight. She reached out into the threads of code before her and traced the one to Micro Chip’s own comm device, not with her deck, but with magic. She pulled the right strings and made the right changes, and before Celestia had even given her first polite response to whatever Micro Chip had said to her, she was done.

Rarity wasn’t just the best Decker her team had seen. She was one of the rare few that could manipulate the Matrix like a living thing. Any skill that Flashpoint had in manipulating mana, Rarity could match it with the digital world. She was, quite literally, a technology mage, a technomancer, and by extension, one of the most valuable bounties and VIPs a corp could put out. The more a corporation had, the better.

And every Runner knew that a corp would do anything for one.