Shadowrunner: Equestria

by law abiding pony

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Mystery, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Adventure, Science Fiction, Twilight Sparkle, Violence, Alternate Universe
Length: 132411

Rainbow Dash and her crew are an elite class of criminals called Shadowrunners. A simple job reveals a power play that reaches as far as the moon itself.

There comes a turning point in every civilization where the future is dictated by the smallest decision.  Be it the will of a king or the cascade of changes by a commoner, it rarely matters the source, only the outcome.  So it was that, shortly after banishing Nightmare Moon, Celestia envisioned a world that could have accepted, loved, and embraced her now lost sister; an Equestria that had to cast off the simplicity of agrarianism and stanch traditionalism.

Instead of relying on the old ways as a bedrock for the six tenets of harmony, Celestia pursued this vision by lauding the advancement of magic and technology.  Over the centuries, cities of marble and stone were replaced by steel and glass. Family farms commercialized, business and trade expanded the world over, and the streets brimmed with cars.  The nobility long since traded away the power backed by titles for influence via companies. Megacorporations now dominate the skylines of every Equestrian city, yet Celestia still holds fast to the reins of true power.  Her word is law.

Even centuries after Nightmare Moon’s banishment, harmony is still in the bedrock of Equestrian society, yet one must dig to find it under so much soil and refuse.   There have always been those that chafe against the law and give lip service to harmony. Be they the rich and powerful figureheads of industry, or the scum of the underworld, there are always things these ponies in power need done discreetly, or at least deniably.  Sensitive matters such as these are often handed over to a class of professional criminals as diverse in their skills as they are in their ideologies. The Shadowrunners.

Note: As with my Beyond Equestria story, I am taking a lot of elements from the Shadowrunner series, but it will be written so that anyone unfamiliar with Shadowrunner can understand what's going on and enjoy the fic.

Published 2018-06-12 23:30:07 UTC
Last updated 2020-02-17 20:16:23 UTC

1: Awry

The subway car rattled shakily on its rails as it powered under Canterlot. The harsh fluorescent lights flickered occasionally, casting an eerie pallor over the car’s six occupants. The first was a bum that security never bothered to remove except for during a midnight sweep, the reek of old gin keeping the others disinterested in him. Two wore purposely ripped shirts to show off the coiled green snake tattooed on either the upper foreleg or on the neck. The fourth was a well-groomed stallion in business attire, who kept stealing hopelessly paranoid glances at the two gangers.

The last two sat on a bench at the far end of the car. The first was a butter yellow pegasus with a pink mane. She wore goggles that had a faint glow to them. The second was a hooded pony, most of whose body was hidden behind the seats in front of her. Only the end of a sky blue snout and a few strands of orange and yellow hair poked out. From the mare’s angle, it was clear to the gangers that she was watching them intently. That silent vigil was enough for the two gangers to leave as the train squealed to a stop.

With no one getting on the train, the stallion breathed a sigh of relief as the gangers left. He glanced at the mares, and his agitation bled away a little after realizing they were not watching him.

The blue mare drew her gaze to the companion sitting next to her. The pegasus had a stuffed saddlebag on the far side from her companion. Long pink locks cascaded over her butter yellow face. Her hair covered one eye. The faint blue light from the goggles betrayed the fact she was drifting through the matrix, and would be unresponsive to the outside world. Pulling a phone out of a pocket hidden underneath her body-covering robe, the blue mare had to text her companion.

Even after all this time, it still pained Rainbow Dash that she couldn’t just use Fluttershy’s real name in public, but the risks were too great to do otherwise.

Sending no text in reply, the butter yellow pony opted to return to the physical world and lifted her goggles which went dark. “Thanks, Flash. I got a little carried away bidding for the new x-series helibot. Those little cuties are works of art.”

Rainbow grinned, revealing a single fang. It was only in private times like this that they could forget their lives and just be two childhood friends together. Fleeting memories of races, or just some time talking with Fluttershy brought a moment of peace to Rainbow. Once they stepped off that train, it was back into the cold world beyond. “I take it you weren’t able to dig up any more details on the job our fixer has for us.” It stung Rainbow that the first thing could think to ask was about the job.

Fluttershy shook her head. “Un uh. None of Glacier’s goons are talking, and I don’t want to risk trying to hack into his network. Not without a cyberdeck anyway.”

Rainbow Dash wrapped her friend in a loose hug. “Ah, don’t worry about it. That’s Diamond’s so-called ‘cup of tea’ anyway.”

The consolation brought a feeble smile to Fluttershy’s face. Movement from the saddlebag prompted Fluttershy into unclasping it with a feathered wing, and out popped a robotic rabbit the size of a medium dog. Its two long ears laid flat against its back while the camera irises focused on its master. It nuzzled Fluttershy’s neck, getting a bubbly titter out of the mare. “I haven’t forgotten, Carrots. I was on there just now looking for a new friend for you.”

Rainbow Dash watched the two in silence, and simply enjoyed the brief moment of innocence. Innocent so long as she ignored what Carrots and the helibot would be used for. For a moment, Rainbow Dash could see themselves back on the playground in grade school. She was showing off her speed while Fluttershy had birds, real flesh and blood birds, all settled around her or sitting on top of her. I don’t know how you stuck by me, Flutters. To leave that all behind.

The loud squeal of the subway braking brought both ponies back to the present. Rainbow made sure the hood of her robe was adequately covering her face and climbed off the seat. Fluttershy gently whispered to Carrots to get back into the bag, and then followed after her friend.

The subway station was as sparsely populated as the train had been. Loose bits of trash and dirt had collected all over the floors, but at least the lights were steady and adequate. There was a single unmanned kiosk that could accept bits from passengers, but the thing had been hacked months ago. Only half the money went to the company, while the other half went to the local mafia. That fact was also the reason Fluttershy didn’t try giving the two of them free tickets upon leaving the station.

The two ponies made it out into the familiar streets of Little Griffin Town situated at the very bottom of Canterhorn Mountain. It was early evening, and the sky was still orange from the setting sun. Street lights and neon billboards gave the place a moderately cheery welcome if one did not look too hard. But Rainbow Dash noticed all the nooks and crannies the lights didn’t reach. Most were empty at the moment, but there was always at least one or two mobsters or some junked out ganger looking to expand or defend their territory. Police were absent entirely.

Yet that did not stop civilians, law abiding or not, from walking the streets, few though they were. Not many people brought cars down this low, and those who did had mob protection. Glancing around, Rainbow caught sight of another pony in a similar robe to hers, although that stallion didn’t hide his horned head in the hood. Good, the more magi around here, the less attention I’ll get.

After making their way down past a few shops and cutting through an alleyway, Rainbow saw two gangers with crescent moon tattoos squatting in a mini-park between two city blocks. The filly-looking earth pony gave the two mares a dark grin and made as though to confront them, but the older ganger unicorn pulled her back. Rainbow Dash only continued to keep an eye on them until she saw the older ganger share some quiet yet terse words with his dismissive accomplice who started to argue. Heh, looks like the gangers are getting some actual brains in their operation. Either that or somepony else is their mark tonight. Might give the Glacier a heads up if only to keep those creeps from doing anything.

With the fixer’s place still a bit of a walk away, Rainbow used a foreleg to keep her hood in place while she gazed skyward. The brilliant lights of Upper Canterlot and Cloudsdale in the far distance soured any chance of seeing the stars in the coming hours. Yet the Mare in the Moon was as plain as ever. Rainbow Dash wished she could stop walking and simply bask in the moonlight when darkness fell. Were she not going on a job, she might have done just that.

Repressing a sigh before it could escape, Rainbow dropped her head back to be level with the street. Sitting at the end of the vacant street was Glacier’s place, a bar named Lost Unicorn. A single massive earth pony decked out in mana nullifying armor stood stoically at the large red double doors.

The bouncer acted as if he didn’t even realize the two Shadowrunners existed until Rainbow was about to push the doors open. “Boss’s waiting for you in his office.”

“Got it,” Rainbow deadpanned as she pushed the door open far enough for both her and Fluttershy to canter inside before it closed behind them.

The Lost Unicorn had well over two dozen patrons filling out the sizable establishment. The bar was at least welcoming in its décor. Yellow paper lanterns were tactfully placed here and there while the bar itself, along with the accompanying stools, were well maintained and clean. A unicorn mare with a charismatic smile was shaking a drink for an old greying griffin that looked like he hadn’t started drinking yet. A dragon’s skull, clearly no older than an adolescent, decorated the drink rack. Glacier claimed he bought the skull along with the bar. The dividing pillar and support struts separated the bar from a more traditional restaurant layout complete with booths and tables.

Fluttershy claimed she ate here once, but I still think this place is one health inspector away from being shut down.

“Flash!” the barmare called out while continuing her drink mixing. “It’s been ages. How have you been?!”

Glacier can wait a bit. Rainbow nudged Fluttershy before using a head jerk to direct her towards the bar. With a nod of agreement from the pegasus, Rainbow Dash jumped onto a stool with Fluttershy gingerly climbing on one next to it. A shirt-ripped drunken griffin next to them was already deep into his cups, and was leering at Rainbow Dash. “Heyya Lyra, you been keeping things together here?”

Lyra poured the griffin’s drink with a smile before turning fully to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Now that they were close enough, the two could see the sea green unicorn’s prosthetic forelegs. Unlike most, Lyra had opted to spend a small fortune to make them look more natural, complete with artificial fur that was warm to the touch. “Don’tcha know it. I don’t care what else boss has cooking up, he’d be broke without me.”

“Did you get that raise you wanted?” Fluttershy piped in as a glass of iced tea slid over to her, a slice of lemon perched on the rim of the glass. Licking her patched lips, Fluttershy eagerly drank the tea, and fished for some bits for both a tip and a second cup.

With an amber glow, the bits disappeared under the bar as soon as they hit the polished oak. “It took some doing, but I did,” Lyra declared proudly.

Rainbow Dash pulled out a few bits of her own and placed them heavily on the bar. “Good for you. Celestia knows you still probably don’t get paid enough.”

Rainbow missed Lyra’s reply when the television hanging on the far end of the bar suddenly got louder, and was playing the familiar jingle of the Crown News Network, signaling a breaking story. She glanced towards a minotaur at the bar who was holding the remote control.

With Lyra mixing Rainbow’s drink, and Fluttershy watching the news, Rainbow Dash huffed and let her attention get dragged into the propaganda box too. “This is Lemon Hearts, reporting to all you wondrous ponies out there.” The almost too perfectly beautiful mare said with a toothy smile. “Moments ago, Regent Sunset Shimmer made an announcement concerning the firefight that occurred at Canterlot Palace three weeks ago. Roll the clip, Lucky Day.”

The news anchor was replaced by an immaculately dressed and styled unicorn mare with a fiery red and orange mane. Unlike many of the upper crust of society, Sunset Shimmer’s body was toned and lean. It didn’t take a shadowrunner’s eye to know Sunset would be dangerous in a fight. The regent stood before a throng of reporters, and camera flashes clicked rapidly with almost every word.

“Dear citizens of Equestria,” Sunset began with a somber tone. “The crown has officially closed the investigation into the incident. We have determined that a pupil of the Princess, Twilight Sparkle, was caught red-hooved selling defense secrets to a minotaur special agent. The Empire still denies any involvement with any sale of secrets, but sources from the Royal Intelligence Service are taking the matter seriously.

“As for the suspects, they did not surrender quietly, requiring the Royal Guard to gun her down. The Princess wishes to share her reassurance that disloyalty, an antithesis to Harmony, will not be tolerated at any level of society. Even the very top.” Sunset was approached by a stallion in the black suit of an agent who whispered in her ear. She nodded and returned her attention to the crowd of reporters.

Rainbow Dash decided to tune out whatever else Sunset was going to say. The very idea that someone with everything handed to her, fame, prestige, more money than Rainbow could ever dream of, and what did the Princess receive in return? Betrayal. A slap to the face of the one pony outside of her friends that she truly respected. Rainbow’s blood boiled at the mention of Twilight’s name. Yet as with the last time she had heard the story reported on the news, she felt the hot steam leave her. For all I know, it was probably just some powerplay gone bad and Twilight got shafted. Rainbow folded her forelegs on the bar and rested her forehead on them. Fatigue weighed heavily upon her, pressing her into the seat. A nudge on her shoulder caused Rainbow to pivot her head to look at Fluttershy.

The pegasus had scooted close enough to whisper in Rainbow’s ear. “You should convince AJ to go into journalism.”

Laughter burned away some of the gloom, and got Rainbow to snicker so hard her lungs started to hurt. “Oh that’d be the day. Might actually start believing the media, provided they didn’t kick her to curb in the second she opened her mouth.”

Lyra’s return distracted the mares’ moment of merth. “Here you go ladies.” She deposited a pair of drinks. “Enjoy!” Lyra spotted a griffin that had been leering at Rainbow attempting to make a move to grope her, but a brief amber flash made his stool fall out from under him. Lyra faked genuine concern and rounded the bar to help him back up. “Oh, you poor soul, why don’t I help you rest a bit?”

Rainbow raised her cup in salute to Lyra when the barmare glanced at her. Double checking her hood, Rainbow got off her stool. “Come on, Angel, might as well see what’s going on.”

“O-oh okay.” Fluttershy downed the last of her tea in one go before chasing after her friend.

The two mares passed by the restaurant and made for the kitchen. The kitchen was arranged to allow a walkway from the door to the back office, preventing any workers or runners from inadvertently contaminating the cook space. Not that it did much good to Rainbow’s eyes. She could see the dirt on the floors and the grease on the counters. A rat dropping or two were nestled in the corners where the janitors were not motivated enough to bother going that extra mile to clean.

The back office door was open with a lithe zebra standing guard. The exotic equine wore a number of bone charms and woven talismans in her mane or around her neck. Unlike the bouncer, the zebra kept her eyes locked on Rainbow’s own, almost completely ignoring Fluttershy. It was a not a malicious glare, only one that warned against trying anything stupid.

The two passed into the office to find the familiar sight of Glacier slouching in his chair with papers covering his desk. His office was primarily lit by a single desk lamp, which barely illuminated the cabinets flanking him. A flat screen terminal was parked on the corner of his desk along with a small collection of security camera feeds hanging on the wall directly behind him. At the sound of their booted hooves clopping on his tile floor, Glacier pulled the lamp back towards himself so its harsh white glare didn’t settle on the two guest chairs. He looked up at the two mares with an oily grin. “Flash, Angel, do come in!”

Rainbow Dash plopped down on her hard wooden chair, a marked difference from the cushy one Glacier sat on. “You know he’s got a bad one for us if he’s already being nice,” she cracked at Fluttershy.

“Maybe I should have brought Mr. Boar instead then,” Fluttershy remarked in an effort to sound unconcerned.

Now that they could see him properly, Glacier was a brown furred and white feathered griffin who wore a cheap looking suit and striped tie. He looked clean enough, but like his establishment, he had scuff marks here and there that the cleaners could never get out. “Ladies, ladies, when have I ever set you up with a bad job, eh?”

“Give it time,” Rainbow countered with a smirk. “So let’s hear it.”

Glacier wagged a claw. “Uh uh uh, you know the rules, Flash, I need to see that pretty face of yours if you wish to do business. You simply must stop hiding it all the time.”

“You know why I keep myself covered,” Rainbow fumed heatedly.

“Maybe so, but I know what you are, and we’re all friends here, aren’t we?” he asked with his forelegs raised in a placating gesture.

With a huff, Rainbow Dash removed her hood to reveal her cat-like purplish eyes. Tufts of blue fur crowned her ears. As much as she hated giving Glacier a show, Rainbow Dash used the opportunity to take the robe off completely so she could stretch her leathery wings which were the same color as her fur. Having them cramped under clothing was not exactly pleasant. With the lightly enchanted cloak removed, her originally sky blue fur darkened a few tints while her prismatic hair did the same. Of it all, though, her cloud and lightning bolt cutie mark remained as bright as the day she got it. Fluttershy frowned out of friendly concern, but ultimately said nothing.

Glacier grinned widely and nodded his head. “Such exotic beauty, so much more real than those bat ponies, no? You could be on par with your Mother Moon if you ever decided to clean yourself up. Why you waste your life as a runner is beyond me.”

Rainbow Dash was giving her left wing a much needed stretch while sharing a glance with Fluttershy, who gave her a sad, wistful frown. “Yeah, well, it’s going to stay beyond you. Got it?”

Glacier merely shrugged in begrudging acceptance. “It’s not my business to pry into my runners’ lives; I only comment on what I see.” He cleared his throat. “At any rate, here’s the rest of the job details.” Glacier pulled a desk drawer open and passed out a pair of small data wafers. Both mares snatched them up. Rainbow slotted hers into her phone while Fluttershy did the same with her goggles and put them on, the lights coming to life.

The files contained an address, a limited floor plan, and various other details. Glacier went on to say, “A little bird told me that Jiggy Tea is holed up in that abandoned garage up on tier four.”

Fluttershy gasped at the name, holding a hoof over her mouth. “You mean the one who assassinated the Don’s brother?”

“The same,” Glacier confirmed with a nod. “The Don wants this guy’s head personally delivered to him on a platter.”

Rainbow Dash spoke up while still reading the details. “So what’s the pay?”

“Two thousand bits for both of you.”

Rainbow gave the most sarcastic laugh she could muster. “You must be out of your flippin’ gourd. A guy like that’s worth ten times that at the very least.”

Fluttershy gave a displeased frown and turned her nose up. “I can make four hundred in two hours in my garage without the risk of taking a bullet. That’s low balling it and you know it.”

Glacier’s grin faded into an unhappy scowl. “See, that’s the thing, the two grand would only be for the two of you, not your whole crew. The family’s got two other runners you’ll be joining.”

“That’s still not even close to ten times,” Fluttershy quipped.

“I don’t like working with runners outside of my crew,” Rainbow Dash fumed angrily. A flash of paranoia made her look up at the security feeds to see if Glacier had a goon squad on the way over to finally kill her. “It’s not my style.”

“Fine, twenty-six hundred for the both of you.” Glacier stated with a casual wave of a claw. “You should be grateful I even got this job for you. It may have been one of my informants who caught wind of Jiggy Tea’s location, but his hideout’s on another capo’s turf, and he found out about it too. I had to use every trick I had to get the Don to agree to let this be a joint venture rather than let one of Steel Feather’s soldiers do it alone.” Glacier leaned forward and stabbed a talon at Rainbow.

“This is your chance to show what you can do for the family. You pull this off, you can finally get the underbosses to throw you a job or two to prove yourself. Fame is the real pay I’m offering.”

Rainbow grumbled and started unconsciously licking a fang. “I don’t want to be a made mare, and I don’t only take jobs from the family. I’ve got plenty of other fixers who need me.”

“Any of them need you tonight?” Glacier asked with a raised eyebrow. When Rainbow remained silent, he smirked. “I thought so.”

“Um, if you don’t mind my asking,” Fluttershy interrupted. “But why are you being so generous in this? Even if we do the job perfectly, we’d get the credit, not you. What’s the real bounty you’ve been authorized to give? Fifty grand? A hundred?”

Glacier eyed the pink maned pegasus with a hard glare. “Do you want the job or not? You two are good, but hardly the best. I’m doing you a favor by giving you first dibs.”

Rainbow Dash grumbled and slouched, crossing her forelegs and huffing. “Cheap bastard… We’ll take the damned job.”

“Good.” Glacier leaned back in his chair. “You’ll find the other runners at this location.” He reached down and pulled out another pair of data chips. “They’ve already had time to complete the legwork. Plus a competent decker and a street samurai, so the two of you will be a nice fill-in.”

“Right,” Rainbow commented bitterly. “But if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather do some of that myself.”

“The Don is an impatient tom,” Glacier warned carefully. “If he doesn’t get his trophy within the week, he’ll come down on all of us.”

Rainbow Dash jumped out of her chair and started putting her robe back on. Fluttershy got out of her chair too, and helped her friend by making sure the hood covered her face enough. “Yeah, yeah, the boss will get his head. You better have the money waiting for us when we get back.”

“When have I ever been late on payment?” Glacier inquired with a much friendlier tone. “You can dislike me all you want, but you can’t deny my money’s always good.”

“What little of it we get,” Fluttershy threw back as Rainbow led the way to the exit.

It was just after midnight when Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy departed the taxi cab on the airship docks on the far side of Canterhorn Mountain. Rainbow Dash watched the streets for threats while Fluttershy slotted her bit-chip into a slot behind the driver’s seat. A green light winked on once the payment transferred. She and the driver shared a few words before the pegasus closed the door, allowing the taxi to depart.

The buildings around them had the dock works lining the edge of the city platform on one long curving road, while the support buildings, shops, and restaurants filled out the rest. At this hour, only the occasional guard post or security drones watched the streets, and even those were on the mob’s payroll. Unless either one of them were spotted trying to break into a warehouse, the two runner’s presence would never be reported to the police. The pair saw the alleyway that would be a straight shot to the post where the other runners were camped out in. Bribes or not, it paid to be cautious.

The late hour brought the pair a bit of privacy as they walked. At first, Rainbow was content to just be silent while occasionally looking up at the full moon. It happened enough for Fluttershy to place a wing on her friend. “Are you okay, Flash? Is Mother Moon being a bit too Peeping Tomish this time around?”

Despite herself and the job at hand, Rainbow Dash chuckled, relishing the lighthearted joke. “Nah, nothing like that. I just wish I could be moonbathing. Sucks the job had to happen tonight, but we need the bits.”

“Well, the files Glacier gave us said our temp partners are a minotaur and a unicorn. You could probably find a rooftop to camp out for a few hours while I hammer out the details with them. The stakeout’s been marked as a place where there are no cameras and the drones don’t patrol high enough to spot you.”

Fluttershy’s offer coincided with them arriving at the foot of the four-story building smack dab in the middle of the city block. If anyone was home, the heavily curtained or outright boarded up windows gave no indication. Rainbow’s eyes went straight to the rooftop and smiled. “You know what? I think I’ll take you up on your offer. The hidey hole is on the other side of the dockyard fence right? Tell the others I’m doing recon from there.”

With a smile, Fluttershy followed Rainbow Dash into the lobby. “Just be sure to keep your phone on, so I can warn you when the others leave and you can get covered up again.”

“Roger that.”

The pair made their way up the stairs with Fluttershy peeling off to join the other shadowrunners on the second floor, while Rainbow Dash made her way up to the roof access. It was unlocked from the interior at least, but she wasn’t bothered by being locked out since she could just lower the fire escape or glide down if the other runners weren’t around to see her.

The roof quickly gave her the impression that the building used to be an apartment complex due to the bare clothesline and the windblown pieces of household trash laying against the two walls. Dust was thankfully absent due in no small part to the wind caused by the daylight airship traffic. More importantly, the other buildings flanking the rooftop were taller, and had no windows, eliminating more chances of being seen. Perfect. Let’s hope Flutters can keep the two runners busy for an hour or so.

First heading towards the clotheslines that hung on the street side of the building, Rainbow Dash tightened the wire and clamped it in place. Once she was satisfied it could take the weight of her robe, she scanned her surroundings again to make sure the coast was clear. She then dug into her robe and felt around until her hoof found a crescent moon shaped talisman.

She pulled it out and held it up so it rested between her eyes and the Mare in the Moon. “Blessed Silver Mother, I ask for your protection this night of nights. May I walk through the valley of fire and death to come home safe tonight.”

Rainbow didn’t really expect anything in response, but it felt nice, right, to give respect. Her little prayer over, and replacing the talisman, Rainbow filled her left hoof with magic and signed a few complex patterns in the air before pressing the same hoof to the side of her hood. The artificial fabric glowed briefly before becoming a bland brown again.

Rainbow quickly took it off and draped it on the clothesline. The act pushed out a magic field to fill the rooftop, creating the illusion Rainbow was a normal pegasus, feathered wings and all. Alright, just remember, keep your hooves on the roof or the spell will pop like a bubble, Rainbow parroted the words from the unicorn that taught her.

To her eyes at least, Rainbow could see her true self, but more importantly, she could feel the moon bathe her in its light. Rainbow spread her leathery wings wide to soak up as much as she could. She looked up at the moon, eyes as wide as they could be. Her eyes glowed ethereal from blissful light of her mother. The moonlight felt comfortably warm to her, especially, on her stretched out wings. Had she been able to afford not working today, she’d take a long nap under the moon.

Yet as always, work dragged her away from such short lived pleasures. Her phone jingled to the sound of a little colt and filly giggling. Retrieving her phone, Rainbow saw that Fluttershy had forwarded tentative control of a patrol drone to her. A quick check revealed Fluttershy couldn’t alter its course or access the underslung rotary cannon. Despite that, Rainbow couldn’t help but smile as she settled onto the floor after sweeping the spot a bit with her tail. Never could deck your way into anything cool, but you try at least.

With the drone passing by the target building, Rainbow ordered the camera to sweep the area. She wasn’t expecting much. Glacier’s information said the place was earmarked for demolition and redevelopment. The mob said he had a lot of help escaping, so there should be a sizable crew in there. If they’re smart, there shouldn’t be any guards walking around, but these idiots were dumb enough to kill one of the Don’s family members, so who knows. If Tea was with the government, the whole family would have some serious vacancies opened up in higher management.

The camera feed highlighted a prone form on the ground, causing the drone to fully turn towards the facility. Rainbow zoomed in, and saw it was a corpse of a unicorn mare wearing little more than a shirt with the snake ganger tattoo visible on her neck. Thermal scans revealed the body was still warm, but the spreading pool of blood had cooled. “Damn. Not good!” The instant the words left her mouth, the drone’s backup code kicked in after recognizing a murder had taken place.

It broke the lockout the mob had put in place and radioed the police. All of which flashed through Rainbow’s phone.

Cursing under her breath, Rainbow cut off the camera feed and pulled up Fluttershy’s number, all the while trying to throw her robe back on. Rainbow didn’t wait for Fluttershy to speak when she saw the call connected. “Angel, get the team out of here! The patrol drones sounded the alarm after spotting a corpse on site.”

“Got it!” Rainbow finished donning her robe while hearing Fluttershy relay the abort call, only to hear the two other runners’ muffled refusal. She heard the wispy sound of magic claiming Fluttershy’s phone and then a thin soprano voice speak. “We’re not aborting this, Flash. Mr. Fel Graph was crystal clear: if we backed out we’d be blacklisted. We don’t have a choice.”

“We don’t know what we’d be walking into,” Rainbow countered harshly. “We go in there, we could either die from whoever went in first, or from a Lone Star team when they swarm the place.”

“Then run off with your tail between your legs; Atlas and I have gotten out of worse. You’re only here anyway because your stupid fixer wanted a piece of glory.”

Years in the business told Rainbow to just take the offer to run. Survival, first and foremost, was the number one rule of a runner. Yet before the words could leave her mouth, Rainbow pictured the day she was taken in by the underworld. A day she promised herself she’d never become like the scum she was surrounded by. “Damn it all. Fine, I’ve got your back, and tell Angel that too, but she doesn’t have to come with me.”

A note of surprise and respect colored the other mare’s voice. “Glad to hear it. We’ll rush the front gate, no sense in being quiet now.”

A few muffled words were shared between Fluttershy and the other runners. The clack of hoof on plastic heralded Fluttershy’s voice on the phone, but Rainbow was already gliding down to street level. “You know I wouldn’t abandon you, Flash, not after all we’ve done together.”

A wiry grin crossed Rainbow’s face. “I figured as much, but I had to give you the option.”

Rainbow came to a hard and fast landing, and rolled to soften the impact. As she was righting herself, the cracking sound of splintering wood came from above and to the right. She looked up to see a massive mechanical arm reach out from a window and tear the remains of a board off. When the arm withdrew, the massive form of a minotaur leapt out and crashed into the pavement heavily enough to leave a nice new pothole. The bipedal bull’s arms and legs were completely mechanical, and if Rainbow had to guess, his spine was heavily reinforced, but she couldn’t be sure thanks to the thick armored plates he wore.

The minotaur only took a moment to acknowledge Rainbow’s presence before turning his gaze back up to catch the unicorn who jumped after him. With practiced motion, instead of just catching her, the minotaur slowed her decent by swinging the mare down and up a little before releasing her to gently land on her hooves. Fluttershy was right behind them, gliding down as fast as she dared.

The sound of propellers in the air reminded Rainbow of the drone’s presence. Without missing a beat, she propped herself up on two legs and weaved a simple sign in the air, making her forelegs glow a menacing orange. As soon as the sign was complete, a fireball materialized on her left hoof and she flung it at the drone. The fireball struck one of the two propellers, burning it clean off. The drone crashed to the ground behind the security wall a moment later.

The unicorn mare first looked at where the drone had been before turning her gaze to Rainbow. “You must be Flash. I can’t remember the last time I saw an earth pony mage, you guys are as rare as thesterals.”

Rainbow forcefully kept her lips clamped together a she offered halting laughter. “Yeah, well, makes you unpredictable, right?”

“Name’s iByte, by the way. I think my job’s obvious enough,” she said while pointing at the cyberdeck on her back. It was a mostly black looking keyboard with the keys split into two halves on either side of the board. The keyboard was clearly designed for a minotaur’s hands originally, but the keys had been ripped out and a pair of cup-keys designed to interact with a hoof’s natural grip magic was put in their place. The center of the board had a small screen in it, while a large cable jack stuck out of the top.

“The walking muscle behind me is Atlas.” The minotaur gruffed at the address but remained quiet.

Rainbow gave him a curt nod. “Right. Hopefully, whoever went in first left Tea’s head intact.” She turned to Fluttershy. “Angel, you got recon?”

“Roger that.” Fluttershy popped her saddlebag open while Rainbow ran to her side. Knowing where to look, she pulled a black cord out of the bag. Fluttershy pulled her pink mane to the right side to reveal a metallic socket embedded in her neck close to the spine. Rainbow plugged the jack in and stepped back. Fluttershy stood motionless for a few moments before buzzing erupted from the bag. Seven robotic parasprites flew out of the saddlebag and sailed for the abandoned garage. Fluttershy came back to her senses and looked around at the crew. “Nopony’s hiding in the corners, so we should be clear to the building at least.”

“Then we should move before the Stars get here,” iByte commanded, with Atlas charging forward, letting the mares follow after him.

The garage’s bay doors were closed, but upon rounding the building, they found a side entrance that had the signs of a cutting torch burning the knob off. The runners flanked the door while a few parasprites flew inside. Fluttershy’s gaze went vacant as she focused on the multiple camera feeds. “It goes straight to the main garage. A few bodies and shell casings, but no threats. Thermal readings say this couldn’t have been more than five minutes ago. Whoever went in first must have been using knives or some other quiet weapons if we missed all the action.”

“The garage isn’t that big,” Atlas commented as he swept the large shipping containers around them for threats. “Did they leave out the back or something?”

“Lemme check,” Fluttershy all but whispered. A long moment passed before she gave a contemplative hum. “I… don’t think so. The exits on the far side are still locked from the inside. No sign of forced exit. Wait, I see a glowing rune. If nopony’s around, I’d say it’s a teleport rune.”

“Fifty bits says she’s right,” Rainbow offered as she slipped through the door, quickly followed by the others.
Rainbow ignored the two corpses, but was careful not to step in any of the blood. She followed the sound of the buzzing fliers to a rundown car that was on an elevated platform. Down in the working pit, the grating on one section had been pulled off with the intricate, still glowing, geometric rune.

Rainbow Dash jumped down first with the others standing above the pit. “Oh yeah, this is a teleport anchor alright.” This is the part I hate most. All I can tell is this is some quality work, and a general sense as to the other end’s direction, but even a dunce could tell that with his eyes closed. Yet as the team’s mage, she had to act the part. I’m pretty sure this glyph on the left is the trigger. Ugh! Why did I have to sleep through that class? She imagined a stern masculine voice reprimanding her. Stop focusing on your coltfriend, Rainbow, you need to know how to ID runes. It’s not like I’m here to teach you useless trivia, you sleep deprived layabout. Banishing the voice of her old instructor with a self-depreciating scowl, Rainbow refocused on the here and now. “I ahh… I can’t see how far away it goes, but it leads somewhere clockwise around the mountain, or it could be into the sublevel of the city platform.”

“I really don’t like this,” Fluttershy said shakily. She tried and failed to keep from quaking in her boots, drawing the attention of the others. “We’re dealing with somepony with some serious money if his hideout’s an underground basement. What if this is the only way in or out and we get trapped here by the Lone Stars?”

Atlas grunted in disapproval. “A coward like Jiggly Tea would never hide in a place with only one exit. This is just the only one we know about.” The distant wail of sirens reached their ears, alerting everyone to the windows. “And we’re running out of time. If you’re going to back out, do it now. Flash, open the portal for me. I’ll do this alone if I have to.”

“S-sure,” Rainbow replied, trying to keep her bravado intact. Concentrating magic into her left hoof, she planted it on the activation rune. Luckily for her, the creator was banking on obscurity for protection, rather than any active countermeasures. The rune sputtered and spat dense motes of magic into the air that wheeled around and clung to the section of concrete adjacent to the rune. The wall in front of Rainbow glowed a dull violet. A gateway large enough to accommodate a minotaur opened up. Atlas jumped down, bending the grating a bit under his weight, and marched through the portal without fear. iByte jumped down a moment after and gave Rainbow a neutral look before she too entered the portal.

Rainbow looked up at Fluttershy who was recalling all of her parasprites to fly back into her saddlebag. “You don’t have to come along. I’ll say you stayed behind to buy us time from the Lone Stars.”

Fluttershy tightly closed her eyes and imagined being back in her own garage; the familiar scents of the place she was in helped. It was safe, good work that more than brought enough bits in to live moderately comfortably, so long as she ignored who her clients were most of the time. Yet the growing noise of the sirens and the appearance of flashing lights made her decision for her. “If I was going to back out, I should have done it back at the stakeout place. Besides, Atlas could just smash the portal on the other side.”

Fluttershy dropped down tail first while holding onto the side of the pit since it was too narrow to glide. Rainbow helped her finish getting down. “Fair enough. Just hang back and let the rigs do the fighting for you, the rest of us can take it from here, alright?”

Fluttershy tried to keep herself from hyperventilating, trying to focus on getting home to her pets. “I – thanks, Flash.”
With a supportive nod, Rainbow gave the portal a bit more juice to keep it open before jumping through. Fluttershy could hear patrol craft circling the garage and jumped through a moment later.

Rainbow Dash landed on the end of a hallway that would have otherwise been a dead end. The place was dimly lit by red emergency lights. The walls looked like they belonged to a military installation, but rust and the smell of mildew dashed any worries that Rainbow had that the place had an active government presence.

Heavy hooffalls brought her attention to the end of the hallways where Atlas and iByte were already running deeper inside. “Why didn’t they smash the portal if they’re already leaving?” She barely registered Fluttershy bouncing through the portal when Rainbow spotted the claymore pressed against the portal glyph. Her fur stood on end, and her wings tried to escape the confines of her robe. Without ceremony she grabbed Fluttershy and yanked her along after the other runners.

Experience and her trust in her friend made Fluttershy go into a full sprint without needing an explanation. She got one anyway barely five seconds later when a loud bang resonated behind them and the telltale rumbling crack of loose mana filled her ears.

“Nothing for it now,” Rainbow Dash said more to herself than Fluttershy. “Let’s see this thing through.”

Fluttershy tried to steel her expression, but fear was still written all over her face. “I’ve got your back, Flash. Even if you have to pull me sometimes,” she added with some much needed levity.

2: The Hangar

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy didn’t have to sprint far to find Atlas and iByte, along with the uncomfortably familiar crack of gunfire not far ahead of them. By the time the two mares caught up with the others, iByte was propped against an open door frame and had her cyberdeck in front of her. Dim lighting and the not-so-distant pop of gunfire could be heard echoing from beyond.

“Glad you could make it,” iByte said with a smirk. She was in the process of setting herself up for a local matrix dive by attaching the cables between her neck and the cyberdeck. “This place feels ancient, but it’s obviously still in use. I’m going to see if they still have a wireless network.”

“Anything’s possible, but I wouldn’t count on it.” Rainbow Dash waited just long enough to see Fluttershy take the other side of the door frame and let her robots leave the saddlebag. The seven parasprites were joined by Carrots. The little rabbit unfolded wheels under its paws and sped into the next room. Not wanting to be an open target, Rainbow Dash spotted a cargo crate just beyond the doorframe and ducked behind it to survey the room ahead of her.

What she saw gave her pause. Instead of being some hole in the ground, the chamber beyond was in fact a massive airship hangar much larger than required for a commercial airliner. Airships had long since abandoned the use of actual gasbags in lieu of antigravity repulsors. But this required far more structural support dockside while the ship was powered down. This led to the hangar having numerous support arms and struts to keep the airship in place.

Rainbow Dash’s entry point was high on the topmost catwalk on the south side. The flat-top deck of the airship below was split into two main sections, a frontal command superstructure, and a long flatbed covered in shipping containers. The gloom of the hangar was poorly lit by only a few dim lights that did little more than reveal their location, rather than give any meaningful illumination.

Situated a few stories below her sat the main bridge, whereas the rest of the deck sat even further down. It didn’t take a genius to see that both the bridge and the deck were lit up by constant gunfire between two opposing groups. The first group occupied the command tower, with a heavy machine gun mounted on a shattered bridge window. Several other figures scattered along the superstructure either fired guns or spells towards the open cargo section where the other group was bunkered down. Rainbow could see a difference right away. The ones near the bridge were far more numerous, but were so careless they nearly gave Rainbow an aneurysm out of sheer stupidity. Some stood out of cover, while a few didn’t even bother trying to aim properly. The second group wore all black, making them difficult to distinguish, even to her well adapted eyes. The only way she could see them for any length of time was from the muzzle flashes of their weapons or spellwork.

Spellfire brought her attention up to a four person firefight going down on the opposite side of the hangar where the dock’s control center was located. The open-air control platform had two figures firing sporadically at two exposed magi on the connecting catwalk. The two mages were pushing forward behind a wall of smoke that blanketed the catwalk between them and the gunners.

Rainbow pushed herself up against the crate and tried to process everything she saw. Okay, Rainbow, gotta play it cool. First rule of asymmetric combat is stealth is your friend. I hope Atlas knows that. Reminding herself of his existence, Rainbow scanned the catwalks around her level for any sign of him. She managed to spot the hulking minotaur easily enough due to his size. Atlas was making his way to the magi assaulting the command platform. Worse yet, he was ignoring any pretense of stealth as his metallic hooves banged noisily as he thundered his way towards his target. “Stupid idiot! At least he picked the right place to hit first.”

From under her robes, Rainbow grabbed a commlink and jammed it into her right ear before sprinting after Atlas. However, she made sure to keep low and used the softer edges of her boots to mask her hooffalls. With only Fluttershy as part of her usual team, the commlink would only connect to her friend, rather than the other runners. “Angel, I’m going after that drekhead. Maybe even take one of these yakkos alive long enough to know what in Tartarus is going on.”

“This is way bigger than just some hit job, Flash.” Fluttershy’s voice had a faint emotional warble to it. “My bugs are showing me the group hiding in the cargo area have uniform solid black armor. I think they could be black ops.”

By now, Rainbow had nearly caught up with Atlas. The minotaur had paused near some crates after noticing Rainbow was following after him. The whole situation was starting to unsettle Rainbow Dash enough to contact Fluttershy, speaking as quietly as she could. “Of all the - this is not what we signed up for. Angel. And the money’s not good enough to go hoof to hoof against spec ops. The first chance you get, make your way down to the lower levels. I’m going to see if I can open the hangar doors. Get out of here any way you can.”

“I’m not leaving you here, Flash!” Fluttershy insisted with fear tinting her voice. “You better be right behind me.”

“Just be ready to move when the doors open,” was all Rainbow Dash would answer. She sprinted the rest of the way to the crate Atlas was hiding behind. “And here I thought you didn’t believe in cover.”

“Cute,” Atlas huffed aggressively. “You don’t happen to have any invisibility or smoke spells do you?”

Rainbow sweated a bit, grateful her hood hid her anxiety. “No. But I can try to stun one of them. Maybe if you geek the mages, you can trick the guys in the control center. You’re on their side so you can get in close.”

He sneered at her. “Some mage you are. Just keep one of them out of my way.”

Ignoring his ire, Rainbow Dash signed an electric ball into existence.

Atlas vaulted the crate in one motion and charged the mage on the right while Rainbow threw her spell at the one on the left. Neither mage missed his thunderous arrival, so they instantly turned to face him as soon as he jumped out of cover. The lightning ball flew parallel to the hulking minotaur, illuminating him in an unsettling light.

The mages hesitated upon seeing Rainbow’s spell and were sloppy trying to weave counterspells. Given a free hand due to Atlas’ distraction, the gunners behind the mages took several ineffective potshots at them, scoring a number of direct hits on the mages’ armor.

Atlas slammed into his target with both fists clamped together and hammered the unicorn clear off the catwalk. The unicorn’s cry of pain and surprise echoed as he fell, bouncing off the hull of the airship and finally to the steel ground far below.

Rainbow’s spell managed to connect to its target as well, making the unicorn seized briefly. Atlas slowed only a little as he continued towards the control center. He shielded his chest and face with his bulky arms, bouncing the feeble pistol fire now directed at him.

Rainbow Dash had sprinted low and fast after Atlas, but stopped to grapple the stunned mage. With no other attention focused on her, Rainbow planted the unicorn mare to the deck with a hoof on the back of her neck. “Tell me what you your mission is. What’s your outfit? Talk, and I might let you limp out of here alive.”

It took the mare a moment or two to even register what was going on as the stun wore off. She tried to light her horn, but one thwack from Rainbow dissuaded any further attempt. “I ain’t telling you a damn thing. Go ahead and kill me.”

“That eager are you?” Rainbow shifted her restraining hoof to put pressure on the base of the mare’s horn. “How about I just break your horn off instead?” The soldier’s breath hitched. “I don’t care how good cyber implants are, your essence will be too damaged for you to be spec ops material ever again. Best case, you get drummed out into standard infantry; worse, you get booted completely and you’ll end up as some lowlife rent-a-cop for the corporations.”

“Rut you!” the mare screamed, causing Rainbow to gave a bit more pressure to the horn. “Okay, okay! We were sent in to clear you squatters out!”

“Squatters? Do you even have a clue who you’re fighting down here?” Rainbow asked incredulously while easing up. Why would this op be so black that they couldn’t even tell the rank and file?

“Oh, I know who I’m fighting alright.” The unicorn sneered as she finished creating a rune on the floor with her back hooves. “A dead mare!” With a solid kick on the catwalk, the unicorn glowed bright green before dematerializing, and the magic holding her together sped away somewhere far above the hangar.

Rainbow didn’t see where the teleport took her victim. It took her a split second to realize it was not a simple teleport, but a replacement ritual; an active grenade took the mare’s place. On instinct, Rainbow pushed herself far enough away to kick the explosive over the side of the catwalk. She pressed herself as flat as she could against the steel floor. The grenade had just barely slipped below the catwalk before it exploded in a hail of shrapnel. Bits of twisted metal pinged off the railing, with some of it ricocheting and digging into Rainbow’s robes.

“Rut, that smarts!” Several points along Rainbow’s right side were now experiencing burning hot pain. Clenching her jaw, Rainbow forced herself to dig her left hoof into her robes to feel around for some packets. Her hope dwindled upon feeling runny slime coat her hoof. Damn it! She pulled her hoof out to look at it, and saw the bright pink plastic packet with a blue cross on it had been punctured, leaking the healing tonic. “I hope there’s enough left.”

Rainbow slurped the remaining potion through one of the puncture holes and then licked the run off from her hoof. Embedded bits of steel were pushed out and her wounds closed. She checked herself over, and found the former wounds were still oozing blood and some faint pain still lingered. Oh I’m going to feel that in the morning, but that’ll have to do. Stupid things are too expensive to drink a second one. Rapid hooffalls behind Rainbow made her forget to check the status of her other healing potion, and made her look up. Fluttershy and iByte were sprinting over to her, and heavier hooffalls signaling Atlas’ return from the platform.

Climbing back to her hooves, she was almost tackle hugged by Fluttershy, but the pegasus remembered where she was at the last second and skidded to a halt. “Flash, are you okay?!” Her rapid, shallow panting was not just caused by the hard run.

iByte was practically jumping with excitement. “That was crazy. I thought you’d end up as a bunch of red paste.”

“Pays to be fast.” Rainbow was about to grin, but thought better of it for fear of revealing her fangs. Instead she forced a closed-lipped smile instead while adjusting her hood to make sure it was properly placed. Fluttershy helped her to her hooves, eliciting a nod of thanks. “What have you two been doing?” Rainbow asked with a sarcastic eye. “Watching the fireworks?”

iByte rolled her eyes and pushed past Rainbow to meet up with Atlas. “So what if we were? It's not like there’s a lot of room up here for a four person team to fight together.”

Rainbow watched her go. The others shared a few words that Rainbow tuned out so she could pay attention to Fluttershy. She rolled a shoulder and carefully flexed the wing that had been damaged from the grenade a moment ago. Being a thestral has at least one bonus: healing tonics can’t repair feathers. She could see the desperate need for a hug in Fluttershy’s quivering jaw, but the pink maned rigger kept her cool, more or less.

“I’m just glad you’re safe. And I - I,” Fluttershy clamped her eyes shut. “Stop asking me to leave you behind, Flash. I didn’t do it back then, and I won’t do it now. If we have to run, we’re doing it together! You always do this.”

What am I supposed to think when you get all scared like that? Rainbow grit her teeth to keep from saying the thought aloud. “…Sorry.” Not wanting to continue this conversation, Rainbow started slinking her way towards the control platform. “Come on, we better keep up.”

Fluttershy gave a hesitant nod before following after her cloaked friend. The pair found Atlas crouched behind the control console closest to the edge of the platform, looking down at the firefight below. It was noticeably quieter now. The machine gun nest had fallen silent, thick black smoke slowly rising out of the burnt out bridge. The small arms fire was more sporadic, and had shifted towards the front of the ship.

iByte had camped out in the center of the platform with her black and red cyberdeck levitating in front of her while her hooves twitched at a manic pace. Her eyes were glossed over and unfocused, and all it took for Rainbow Dash to know she was performing a full matrix dive were the two cables connecting iByte to her deck and from her deck to a port in the hangar controls.

Of the two so-called “squatters”, one was lying dead near iByte, a ruined cyberdeck was still connected to his neck. The other was a griffin slumped against the wall, a big chunk of her chest bright red, crushed by what could have only been a balled minotaur fist.

Atlas looked more at Rainbow than Fluttershy with a modicum of respect. “That wagemage say anything useful before she exploded on you?”

Rainbow Dash settled on her belly so she could peak her head over the ledge to watch the fight unfold. She spotted one of Fluttershy’s parasprites ducking inside one of the large air ducts on the airship, but she saw no sign of the rest of them, or of Carrots. “Only that these gooks don’t know or care who they’re killing tonight. Only that they want Tea and his buddies out of here in body bags.” Rainbow initially wanted to mention that the mage had been part of a government team, but decided against it. “I’d say we wait it out and let them kill each other, but that mage is going to send word that somepony else is up here.” She glanced back at Fluttershy who was messaging with iByte. “We can’t stick around.”

“Agreed.” Atlas scanned the surface of the airship looking for something. “Both sides look like they’ve bloodied themselves. We should go in fists first, geek anyone who interferes. There’s no reason to take them all on once we locate Tea’s body.”

Rainbow gave him a lifted eyebrow, not that he could see it. “What makes you think he’s dead?”

“He is dead. Whether or not he realizes that yet is irrelevant.”

Atlas and Rainbow heard hooves coming up behind them. Fluttershy and iByte had pulled out of the matrix. iByte looked rather proud of herself and sashayed at Atlas. “I just set the hangar doors to open in ten minutes. Most of the outside is open air, but there’s a small catwalk on the left side that almost leads directly into Little Griffintown. We can melt back into the shadows from there.”

“Good work,” he replied with the barest hint of an approving smile. “Angel, did you get eyes on the mark?”

Fluttershy nodded a bit too quickly. “Y-yes, briefly. He was the one operating the machine gun nest. Yet when an incendiary grenade was tossed in, he disappeared before it blew. I didn’t see any flash from teleportation.”

“He probably jumped down the stairwell or behind cover,” iByte commented as she resecured her cyberdeck to her back. “We’re probably going to have to go below deck to hunt him down.”

“Right into the middle of all those spec ops goons?” Rainbow asked incredulously. “If we do this, we have to do it quickly and quietly.”

“Do I look like I do quiet?” Atlas scoffed. He pressed his point by gripping the edge of the nearest console and ripping a steel sheet off the side of it. “Go quiet if you have to, I’ll be your distraction.”

Rainbow scrunched her muzzle in disapproval, but ultimately nodded her consent.

Atlas looked to iByte. “I’ll need you on overwatch. Angel, you keep little bugs around and keep eyes on my surroundings so I don’t get flanked by surprise.”

“You got it, boss,” iByte replied while pulling out a submachine gun with her orange glowing magic.

Atlas didn’t even wait for Rainbow or Fluttershy to get up and jumped off the platform. The two friends gasped in astonishment at the sixteen meter jump and raced to see him fall. In reality, he landed on one of the support lines to the airship and was using it as a zip line to race to the deck.

iByte was right behind him and used the strap of her cyberdeck to slide down the steel cable. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but to be impressed and snickered at them. “For a couple of ground pounders, they flew pretty good.”

“You won’t hear me arguing.” Fluttershy gave a recall order to Carrots. “I’m not a very good shot, and Carrots isn’t going to be much help, so I’ll make my way down and secure the exit.”

“Where is Carrots anyway?”

“He umm… the hangar’s really big and the stairs were really out of the way. He’s still trying to double back to the ship.” Fluttershy hung her head. “He should be able to make it back to me at least.”

“Good.” Rainbow started weaving a sign in the air. The lines glowed of silvery moonlight, and her cat eyes glowed faintly as she formed the spell. “I’ll sneak on down and make use of Atlas’ distraction. I’ll keep in touch.”

With a nod, Fluttershy leapt off the side of the platform and angled down to the hangar floor. As for Rainbow, she finished forming her spell and pressed her left hoof on her chest. Her whole body, robe and all, shimmered with silver light for a moment or two. There, as long as I don’t get too close to anypony, I should be overlooked.

With practiced ease, Rainbow used her hooves to slip into the folds of her robes and opened the concealed slits so she could free her wings. After a few flaps to get the blood flowing, she departed the platform and performed a sloping flight path so no one on the deck could see her approach. Rainbow picked the angle that had no portholes on the ship’s walls before slipping back up to the edge of the deck close to where she had seen some stairs. Once back on solid ground, Rainbow scanned to make sure she was alone.

Rainbow had ended up on the stern of the airship, near the cargo area. Shell casings decorated the area, along with a few rappel ropes. A number of cargo containers had shielded her approach, and they would continue to do so as she made her way towards the renewed weapons fire, wrenching metal, and the roaring of an enraged bull.

Rainbow sprinted along the side of the ship as quiet as a ghost, finding little more than blood, casings, and the rare, sooty scorch marks of exploded grenades. The only bodies she saw were of street thugs from a few different gangs.

Weaving her way through the cargo containers, Rainbow spotted Atlas out in the open, charging two spec ops ponies while iByte gave suppressing fire. The two ponies emptied their whole magazines into the minotaur, but iByte’s fire made some of their shots go wide. Those that struck him pinged off his plated arms.

Rainbow Dash was about to leave them to it when she saw a ganger griffin crouching behind some railing between her and the other shadowrunners. The griffin was reloading a pilfered grenade launcher when he saw Rainbow Dash sprint past a shipping container. The short distance between them made the grenade a poor choice, but that didn’t stop the griffin from hastily leveling the weapon at Rainbow.

With blinding speed, Rainbow kicked off the ground right as the ganger fired. Time seemed to slow for Rainbow as the grenade sailed right through where she had been standing a moment ago. Growling a muted warcry, Rainbow pivoted on her hooves and charged the griffin, her left hoof glowing hot silver. The griffin activated the built-in spell shield on the launcher to deflect Rainbow’s spell, but her hoof passed right through the shield and struck him in the chest with enough force to crush the wind out of him. The griffin was tougher than he looked, however, and swiped his claws at Rainbow’s face. The mare ducked under the swing, but the edge of his claw managed to snag the commlink out of her ear. With her right hoof, Rainbow pulled a combat knife from a holster on her barrel and sunk the blade into the griffin’s neck, silencing him for good. Feeling the missing weight of her commlink, Rainbow looked around and found the item sitting in the middle of an empty part of the deck in two pieces. Well, that’s a hundred bits down the drain.

Not wanting to be caught out in the open, Rainbow pulled the knife free and wiped the blade on the ganger’s dirty shirt before she made to slip away. However, she barely got two steps away when the cargo deck was rocked by the massive cargo bay doors in the floor cracking open. Rainbow wobbled and instinctively tried to fly up, but her robes kept her grounded. She controlled her fall by aiming for the container the griffin had been using as cover and propped up against it.

Atlas’ chromed up augments afforded him greater than normal stability, and he was able to dispatch the two spec ops ponies. He kicked one pony’s gun away and grappled his squadmate, then threw the grappled pony into the other, leaving them in a tangle of limbs. With a sadistic grin, he clasped his fists together and was about to hammer them into the deck when both teleported away mid-swing.

Atlas shifted his weight to recover from the swing and jump to cover, but a loud gunshot like a crack of thunder rang out. Atlas’ right leg crumpled under his weight, and he fell to the ground. A second later, the two grenades left by the teleporting spec ops detonated. Atlas didn’t rise again.

“Atlas!” iByte screamed. A second sniper shot rang out, but this time the jostling movement of the opening cargo bays pulled iByte just far enough for the bullet to graze her face and embed itself in her cyberdeck. The pain caused her to stumble over the edge of the widening bay doors.

Rainbow Dash hunkered down as low as she could. Please don’t see me. Please, by Celestia, please don’t notice me!

It was only now that Rainbow could hear a new high pitched whine arise from the now open bay doors. An aerial cargo shuttle was lifting off with the cockpit pointed slightly in Rainbow’s direction. It was a sizable boxy aircraft that had four large repulsor engines thrumming with power. Sitting at the controls was none other than Jiggy Tea. The aircraft’s bay doors were open, revealing a crew of three gangers wielding rocket launchers.

By the Moon, did they find a damned armory down here?! Rainbow pulled out her phone to get a safer look via Fluttershy’s parasprites. Of the original seven screens, five were now snowy static. One of the remaining ones was fuzzy and on the ground, showing nothing of interest. The seventh however, saw two of the gangers aim at the sniper nest. Two missiles streaked true and blew the bridge to pieces, causing a fire to break out that would threaten to consume the superstructure.

Rainbow watched them reload, praying they didn’t notice her. All three were about to fire on the main hangar doors when it shuddered to life. A look of astonishment crossed all their faces as freedom opened up to them. If there were any surviving spec ops in the area, none of them risked bringing rocket fire on top of them, and Jiggy Tea escaped into the black night.

They’re gone. Cool it, RD. Just keep it nice and cool. Rainbow’s pounding heart slowed a little, but it was not until she sensed a mass of teleport magic collect in over a dozen places and speed away that she was able to truly calm down. Glacier’s not going to like this.

She pulled out her phone to text Fluttershy, still fearful of speaking aloud.

Fluttershy paused a bit before adding,

Rainbow Dash gulped the fear down as best she could. Rainbow watched the text message window. Her breath slowed, but was still ragged. Damn I hate snipers.

Eventually, Fluttershy gave the answer Rainbow had expected only her close friends were capable of in this situation.

Rainbow smiled and pocketed her phone. If Flutters and iByte had been reversed, Atlas’d be telling me to abandon her out of hoof. No hesitation. Rainbow went to work freeing her wings again and glided down to the interior heliport. From above, she could see three shipping containers had been broken into. Only one of which appeared to have been pried open with crowbars or a chromed up meathead. The rest had their doors blasted open by ordnance. Either those drekheads are completely insane, or somepony knew government explosives are completely inert until armed. I’m not sure I like either case.

Dozens of wooden boxes and huge wads of packing paper was strewn about the place. A few discarded boxes of ammunition and missiles remained behind. Everything was scattered about from both the hasty exit and the shuttle’s backwash.

The lighting here was much better, and it made finding iByte trivial. Rainbow Dash landed next to her, but ended up shaking her head. The decker had survived the sniper, only for the fall to break her neck. The sight of her body caused Rainbow to angrily kick a nearby shipping container. “Idiots! The first rule of the runners is to stay alive! Charging head first into a spec ops team was the dumbest thing you could have done!”

Having time for nothing else, Rainbow crossed Ibyte’s forelegs before making ready to fly back out. But a hot warmth in her pocket made her hesitate. She fished around for the source of the heat and pulled out her crescent moon talisman. Her eyes dilated as far as they could at the silver glow it was emitting. “Mother?” A feeling, not quite a whisper, but more of a request compelled Rainbow to hold the talisman close to her chest. In that moment, all sound from the burning fires caused by the explosives, and the the wail of the dying outside went utterly silent. For the briefest of moments, Rainbow felt a gentle caress from Mother Moon upon her jaw, pulling her face to the right. Rainbow opened her eyes to see a long shipping container resting against the hull of the ship with the door blasted open. Once she locked eyes on the container, the warmth from the talisman disappeared and the silver light vanished.

A tear dampened her cheek. “It’s been so long since you’ve acknowledged me.” With hope in her heart and a determined grin, Rainbow pocketed the talisman. “I won’t let you down, mother.”

Sprinting through the air, Rainbow approached the container’s ruined door, but stopped short when she heard something. “System failure.” A muffled mechanical voice called out from within the container. “Subject suspension untenable.”

“Subject?” Rainbow’s blood ran cold. Oh rut me. Was this place a black site for bioweapon containment too!? No wonder Mother Moon guided me here. The presence of so much heavy firepower in the cargo bay only heightened Rainbow’s fears.

The smart thing to do would be to run and flee with Fluttershy. Yet Rainbow couldn’t bring herself to just fly away. Not when the Mare in the Moon had beckoned her here. This would explain the spec ops, and a cleaner crew coming. They can take away my good name, but Mother still sees me as her own.

Formulating a quick plan, Rainbow didn’t have to look far for a rocket launcher. She opted to collect a disposable single shot launcher and primed it, following the instructions printed near the trigger. Her first thought was to simply fire at the container right then and there. Actually, if I only damage whatever is contained instead of destroying it outright, I could only make things worse. I better make sure I get a direct hit.

Hefting the launcher with her, Rainbow typed out a status update for Fluttershy. She opted to leave out that her patron spirit had guided her to the threat. Flutters humors me in all the moon stuff, but I know she doesn’t really buy into it. Rainbow refocused on the container. The mechanical warning repeated itself as she poked her nose into the blown out door. Within was a host of machines and a single horizontal glass tube large enough to fit a pony. Everything hummed quietly, save for some damage causing electric sparks to shoot out at random. The recent damage was joined by a bubbling, clear fluid escaping from the components near the ruined door. All of it caused an echo of a memory in Rainbow from years long past. Been a long time since I’ve seen one of these. This doesn’t look like some virus containment machine.

After studying the machinery from the door, Rainbow could see where the flying chunks of door had ruined a few components, with one of the hoses linked to the tube leaking clear fluid. The coy, sterile smell of the fluid was all too familiar. “They couldn’t possibly…”

Curiosity started to override fear. Keeping the launcher slung over her shoulder, Rainbow Dash would rather fire at it point blank if whatever was in the tank snapped awake and attacked her than to risk the bioweapon from escaping. A final service to Equestria, if it came to that. With how cramped the container was due to the thick machines, and the damage done to the pulley system to move the pod itself, Rainbow had to climb onto the glass to see inside.

Within was a sleeping lavender unicorn with two stripes of pink and purple in her dark purple mane. Those colors alone were not unique in Equestria, not with billions of ponies calling it home. There wasn’t a single scar on her body, not even an ear piercing. What set her apart from other unicorns was a plume of feathers along the sides of her forelegs starting at half an inch long just above the knee to three inches long just below the withers.

It took Rainbow a few moments to place a name to the sleeping mare, making her drop the launcher onto the damaged machines. “Twilight Sparkle? The Twilight Sparkle?! But… you were gunned down out of treason. Why are you here?” A clone? But cloning a person is like super illegal.

“Warning, containment failure imminent. Enacting failsafe protocol. Subject termination initiated.”

Rainbow Dash felt the container cool so fast she saw her breath in the air. Ice started to creak and stress as it grew along the glass, slowly obscuring Twilight’s peaceful form.

Her heart started thumping hard in her chest. Rainbow pulled the moon talisman out to look at it. “Come on, can I get another sign here? Do I kill her or release her?!”

The talisman remained inert, earning a moan of frustration. “Ah come on! Why can’t we just give Mother a damn phone! Honestly!” Putting her talisman back, Rainbow heaved a heavy sigh. “Fine, be all secretive.” She looked at Twilight’s face, which was getting increasingly obscured by ice. “I’ll save you, but only so I can get a response that actually makes sense.” Growling as she called upon her magic, Rainbow weaved a hasty sign of power and gathered silvery light into both forelegs. “Let’s see if they used the same manufacturer.” She slammed both hooves on the glass, and shattered a section of it near the face.

“Alert. Pod failure. Pod failure. Discharging.”

With the snapping sound of ice filling the container, the front of the pod thrust out and slid up towards the door. Rainbow Dash acted quickly and rolled to the side so she wasn’t dragged along with it. She plunged both forelegs into the freezing fluid, grabbed a hold of Twilight by the withers, and used every ounce of empowered strength she had to heave Twilight out of the pod and fling her fully outside of the container.

Upon hitting the hard metal floor, Twilight snapped awake and started hacking and coughing up fluid. She sluggishly rolled onto her side to make it easier to free her lungs. There she shivered intensely thanks to the cold fluid clinging to her fur.

Rainbow Dash was quick to depart the ice age forming in the stasis container, and tried feverishly shaking her forelegs to get the clingy freezing fluid off her boots, but it refused to budge much until she scraped the ground to get it off. It took only a few seconds until she felt she could stand without slipping, then she wheeled around so she stood in front of Twilight. Her phone buzzed again, making Rainbow split her focus on watching the purple traitor and reading Fluttershy’s message.

Rainbow texted back, casting an eye upward and spotting the parasprite.

Rainbow Dash hissed through her teeth trying to decide what she should do. Something is going on around the crown, and Mother decided to drag me into it. Wonderful. So, Rainbow thought as she looked up at the approximate location to where the moon was. Any chance you can just outright tell me to rescue her or did I just free her so the cleaners could find her? Ya know, one light for save her, two for no.

The purple unicorn had not recovered much during Rainbow’s internal debate, and had only rolled just enough to be on her belly. Her horn sputtered with weak magic, but it was enough to add some much needed warmth. “W-wha? Where am I? Come on, Deadlight, can you stop with the stupid stunts for one measly day?” she fumed irritably. “You keep this up and I’ll turn you into a cactus permanently this time!”

Freeing her wings from her robes, Rainbow flew over to stand beside the confused unicorn, who jumped at her arrival. Twilight blinked constantly to focus her eyes, but Rainbow looked like an odd brown shape in front of her. Rainbow got in her face, spittle joining the fluid clinging to Twilight’s face. “What is the last thing you remember?”

Twilight recoiled sharply, trying to shield her face with her hooves after her horn could do little more than sputter a few sparks. “You don’t sound like Deadlight, or anypony else I know. W-what’s going on? What did you do to me?!”

“Answer the question,” Rainbow hissed menacingly. “And be quick about it! Your life depends on it.” Rainbow pressed the edge of her hoof on Twilight’s neck, cutting off the unicorn’s aggression in a real hurry.

“T-the last ttthing? Ahhh… I was studying for this week’s test on the aftermath of the Fifth Awakening this Thursday. I was with Moondancer. Wwwe had a bunch of little spinach quiches and shirley temples for dinner.” Twilight slipped on the pod fluids after trying to back away from Rainbow. With her magic still refusing to cooperate, and being almost completely blind, Twilight decided to use the slippery fluid to her advantage and kicked at the floor to push herself away from Rainbow Dash. “What did Deadlight pay you to do all this? Was it even Deadlight? Was it Blueblood? Kickback?”

Rainbow Dash gawked at the nonplussed unicorn, and took a step back out of bewilderment. The mare grunted dismissively at the presumed silence and made feeble attempts to stand once the fluids were thin enough that she couldn’t push herself along anymore.

“I don’t know who or what you’re talking about, actually.” Rainbow stated flatly. “We’re in a corporate black site and you were probably going to rot in that stasis pod forever if I hadn’t broken you out. And if we don’t get out of here now, we’re all dead.”

“Neat story,” Twilight replied tersely as she managed to get three hooves under her before slipping again. “It might have even been an interesting book to read... if I wasn’t the star.” Twilight grumbled as she at last got to her hooves. “Well, this was fun. If you would be so kind as to lead me to the door so I can get out of here, I’ll try to forget what you sound like when Celestia asks who did this to me.”

Rainbow barked a laugh, earning a confused eye out of Twilight. “I wasn’t lying, Your Highness. You’re standing in a cargo airship somewhere… mmmm… near the Everfree if I had to guess.” She looked up at the cargo doors, the pressing need to flee gnawing at her mind. “Now hold still so I can fly you out of here.”

Twilight risked tapping her hoof hard on the metal floor, producing the tink of hoof on metal, rather than on the marble she expected. Real fear started to tint her voice. “G-guards! Guards!” she cried out. Twilight tried using magic, but her horn could only spark and fizzle. However, her hearing was just fine, and she noticed Rainbow coming closer. “S-stay away! I’m warning you!” Twilight turned away from Rainbow’s hoofsteps and tried to run, right smack into another shipping container with a resounding gong sound.

Rainbow would have laughed at that, were it not for the threat of the cleaners getting closer. Her phone buzzed with Fluttershy’s text.

“Yeah, I get it. But I don’t want this clown stabbing me with that horn,” Rainbow Dash fumed before racing up to Twilight, who was trying to prop herself up on the side of the shipping container. “If you want to live, do as I say and don’t struggle out of my grip.” Without waiting for a response, Rainbow straddled the prone mare and grabbed hold of her, doing her best to ignore the cold clinging fluid. Twilight was still whimpering and whispering pleas to not harm her, but didn’t resist. Rainbow made sure her hold on Twilight was firm before pushing into the air. The unicorn was denser than she looked, and it took real effort to gain altitude.

Nevertheless, Rainbow cleared the belly of the airship and turned for the hangar doors. She couldn’t see much more than the black expanse of the Everfree Forest beyond. Not like the cleaner team would have running lights on their dropships. Twilight cried in a panic as Rainbow went into a steep dive for Fluttershy’s location. Twilight’s added weight only added to the speed of the dive.

Much to Rainbow’s annoyance, Fluttershy’s last parasprite was actually beating her in the race to get to its master. So not cool.

Rainbow Dash found a long catwalk that ran the width of the hangar. The railing had pulsating white lights that screwed with Rainbow’s night vision. Yet even that couldn’t hide Fluttershy waving them down at the far end. Rainbow leveled off her dive and used the momentum to glide all the way over to her butter yellow friend. At the end of the catwalk near the gate, Rainbow dropped Twilight onto the deck so the flyer could safely decelerate by swinging around. Twilight rolled and tumbled forward. Fluttershy was caught in the way and they both smacked against the steel fence door Fluttershy had been waiting by.

Rainbow Dash came in for a landing with a cringey grin. “Sorry, Angel. I kinda misjudged the distance.” She helped untangle the two ponies and pulled Fluttershy to her hooves. The pegasus made a wilted frown at the fluid clinging to her clothing.

“That’s - that’s okay, but we should hurry.” Fluttershy pulled the chain lock she had sawed through off the door and opened it. “I disabled the alarm, but the cleaners will probably notice it eventually.”

For her part, Twilight made a feeble attempt to climb to her hooves, but her eyes were still unfocused and she was blinking them constantly to try and make them work properly. “Okay, I did what you asked, can you just drop me off at a police station or something?”

Fluttershy gave the supposed high traitor a curious look. “Sorry, but we’re not out of danger just yet.” She gave Rainbow a deeply worried look. “If we’re taking her along, you might want to keep her trap shut. If she says the wrong thing at the wrong place, the whole world could crash down on us.”

“Why would the world crash down?” Twilight asked fearfully. “I’m Celestia’s personal student. If you’re really saving me from something, she’d reward you handsomely.”

“How about we put a rain check on the questions, because we need to be anywhere but here!” Rainbow insisted while dragging Twilight alone by the foreleg. “If you want to survive long enough to see Celestia again, keep your voice down and we’ll see about getting you in contact with her.”

“I swear if you’re pulling me into some terrorist cell and random camera jockey takes a blackmail picture, I’ll crater your whole crew.” Receiving no meaningful response, she went without further protest, and allowed herself to be guided along. Fluttershy took the lead with her parasprite and ran down the long path ahead of them, Rainbow trailing not far behind. The fenced gate led into a rocky tunnel where lights sprang to life as they passed.

Even with fear of the cleaners pushing the two shadowrunners on as fast as Twilight allowed them, it still took close to an hour to reach the end of the tunnel. By the time they reached the sealed door at the end, all three mares were panting heavily. Twilight collapsed from the burn in her legs. Thankfully, Fluttershy was able to use her goggles to command Carrots’ laser weapon to burn through the lock of a complex metal door.

“Who wants to bet the door leads right into a Lone Star barracks?” Rainbow asked with a brave smirk between gasps for air.

Fluttershy looked back at Rainbow and gave her an exasperated frown. “With our luck tonight, I wouldn’t be too surprised.”

“So you are criminals!” Twilight shakily stood up to flee back the way they came, but the thestral was in better shape and was already blocking the unicorn’s path. Twilight glowered at the hooded mare. “I guess yelling for the police is just going to get me knocked out, isn’t it?”

“That would certainly make things easier for us,” Rainbow warned. “Even if you did get to the police, they’d just shoot you on sight.”

“Wwwhy would they do that?!” Twilight cried out in alarm. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Tell them that,” Fluttershy quipped. By the time Carrots had broken the lock, both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had recovered enough strength to grab the steel rods of the door and pull the heavy door open. Still being mostly blind and winded from the run, Twilight had no choice but to stand there waiting. She thought about running away, now that Rainbow wasn’t holding onto her, but the idea of getting shot stayed her hooves.

Once the door was open enough to slip through, Fluttershy sent her last parasprite out to scout. “Oh, thank Celestia!” She heaved a sigh of relief. “This leads into an alleyway. No cameras at the door, so that’s good. Checking for a street name… we’re close to the corner of Eighty-Second Avenue and Banter Street. I know where we are.”

“Cool, got a safehouse nearby?”

“No, but the subway is close, and I can try spoofing the cameras between here and there. After that, we can catch a blue line back home.”

“This is why I love having you around,” Rainbow smirked and winked at Fluttershy, only to make the pegasus giggle. The good humor died as quickly as it came when the gravity of the situation returned.

“Just give me a few minutes to find all the cameras. This place isn’t as…” She glanced nervously at Twilight. “Well, it’s not like home.” Without further preamble, Fluttershy ran off to secure their route. At this late hour, there were only a scant handful of ponies out, so she had to take care her efforts would go unnoticed.

Rainbow didn’t want to stay close to the secret exit, so she pulled Twilight up a fire escape to the roof of a close by three-story office building. The pair ducked behind a large neon advertising sign for cheap business rentals one rooftop hop away.

Through it all, Twilight was dutifully silent. All they were left with was the steady hum of the neon sign and the distant wail of police sirens. After a few minutes of waiting in one spot, Twilight risked speaking up. Her voice quivered from more than just the chill. “The air around here is horrible. We’re really not in the royal district, are we?” When she didn’t get any protest from her captor, Twilight looked at the cloaked figure sitting next to her. “What happened to me? Can I get your name at least? I can put in a good word to Celestia for a promotion… or maybe a pardon would be more useful to you.”

“Heh, yeah, I’d love a pardon actually.” Rainbow watched the unicorn carefully through narrowed eyes. “You know you were in stasis, right?”

“I guessed as much. That would explain the temporary blindness.” Twilight hugged herself to try and stay warm. She had stopped trying to use magic to keep herself warm after realizing she was in real danger, and was now starting to freeze in the late winter air.

Rainbow Dash studied the purple mare. I’ve seen some good acting jobs before, but… she sounds like a rich snob, not a traitor. AJ’s good at sniffing out lies, but for now… Her heart went out to Twilight a little, and she gathered up a portion of the lower part of her robe. “Here. It’s part of my robe, but you can use it to get some of that muck off.”

Twilight’s ears shot up and she looked at Rainbow with something between joy and suspicion. “You are a very odd criminal.” Twilight reached a steady hoof forward to the dry clump Rainbow was offering. She put on the bravest face she could muster.

“Yeah, sure. The fabric’s tough stuff, so it’s not going to stain. Just, don’t pull too hard since, ya know, I’m still wearing it.”

“...Thank you.” Twilight wiped her face and neck as dry as she could. By now, she had enough courage to use what little magic she had to keep herself warm again.

Rainbow inwardly gagged at the new cold dampness that made the robe cling to her back legs. The fact that carrying Twilight earlier had made her underside damp as well wasn’t helping. Gross. I am so taking a hot shower after all this. “So, uh… the name’s Flash.”

A ghost of an uneasy smile wormed its way on Twilight’s face. “Thank you, Flash, for saving me. At least, I think you saved me, right?”

“Psh, oh yeah. If I hadn’t, you’d probably be hamburger by now.”

“That’s… more than I wanted to know.” Twilight twiddled her hooves. “I’d like to introduce myself, but I get the feeling you’d rather I refrain from using my name aloud.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Rainbow sat down in front of Twilight and thought about it for a bit. “Streetlight scanners are the obvious surveillance posts, so it’s the hidden ones we have to be careful for.”

“I see.” By now, Twilight’s vision had improved enough to see a blurry hooded pony in front of her. “Something tells me Flash isn’t your real name, is it?”

“You are a smart one,” Rainbow drawled. “It’s a street name. Angel isn’t her real name either.”

“...Am I in trouble? Like, actual with-the-government kind of trouble?” Twilight asked after working up the courage.

“What you’re in is beyond ‘real’ trouble…” Rainbow offered bluntly. “But tell me this, what is the last thing you remember? Oh right, the studying. Okay.” Rainbow tapped her skull trying to think of a solution. “What about something public? That ponies outside of the royal district might know.”

“Outside the district?” Twilight blinked hard again. “Umm… I was at the Grand Galloping Gala a few weeks ago.”

“The Gala?” Rainbow’s eyes widened. “That was like,” Rainbow caught herself and thought better of giving the truth. Better to do it when we’re somewhere she can freak out in privacy. “A while ago.”

“H-how long is ‘a while ago’ exactly?” Twilight asked nervously. “What’s happened since I’ve been gone?!” She pulled in close to Rainbow, making the thestral a bit nervous about what kind of magic might get thrown in her face. “Please.”

“How about this? Once we get somewhere safe, I can give you the whole story. I promise you’re safe so long as you stick with me.” Rainbow tried to inject some confidence in her tone.

“I - I don’t want to sound unappreciative.” Twilight risked meekly. “But how do I know you’re being honest with me? For all I know, you could be tricking me while I’m cold, mostly magicless, and blinded.”

“What? Is pulling your plot out of the freezer, and then out of the fire not enough goodwill?” Rainbow asked heatedly. “I could have gotten away a lot easier if I had just left you there.”

Twilight scowled and stood firm. “I didn’t mean any offense. I just —” Twilight averted her eyes with a pensive furrowed brow. “I have a lot of wannabe bullies that can’t take a hint I’m not going to play their game. But they’re not entirely brainless. And since I still can’t see real well, this could all be some elaborate prank or worse.”

Rainbow gave an incredulous snort. “Are you for real? You have bullies that would go through all the trouble of putting you in stasis?”

Twilight rubbed a foreleg trying to warm up a bit faster. “We all live in the royal district; money is no object.”

“Ah.” Rainbow could feel her temper flaring. Bullies or not, I can’t see some thugs pulling off some kind of fake betrayal or whatever it is they did. “Okay. I guess being paranoid is fair enough.” Rainbow surveyed her surroundings. The back of the neon light billboard had plenty of deep shadows, hiding them from any camera or passing fliers. If I’m going to take her in, she’s going to find out what I am soon enough anyway. “I can give you proof you can trust me.” Rainbow stretched a wing out and used a hoof to guide one of Twilight’s forelegs to touch it. “That’s my wing.”

“Your wing?” Twilight carefully touched the wing in multiple places and kept her eyes wide in a vain effort to see better. “It - it doesn’t have feathers!” Her shocked face betrayed a ray of hope, but it was rapidly replaced with caution. “If - if you are what I think you are, can I please hold your talisman? I promise to be careful with it.”

Withdrawing her wing, Rainbow fished out her crescent moon talisman, but struggled to part with it, even for a moment. Breathing in a long, slow breath, she eventually placed it in Twilight’s hoof.

With the utmost forbearance and care, Twilight traced the edge of her hoof along the moon, feeling how it was smooth in many places from loving cleaning and gentle use. The crescent moon started to glow a faint silver light as it rested in Twilight’s hoof.

It wasn’t as strong as it had been when Mother Moon had directed Rainbow Dash to Twilight’s cage, but the glow was there all the same. Rainbow couldn’t believe what she was seeing and gazed up at the Mare in the Moon. Yet the moon made no indication of what it wanted, merely looking as bright as it always did on full moons. She looked back down at Twilight, whose eyes were now focused and attentive.

A sad, yet hopeful, smile crossed Twilight’s face and offered the talisman back to its owner. Rainbow dumbly accepted it and put it back in its place. The instant she did, Twilight hugged Rainbow tightly, surprising the thestral. “Thank you, Flash. I knew if I was ever in danger, one of you thestrals would probably be the one to save me. I wasn’t aware any of you were undercover in the criminal world. I’ll be sure Celestia makes note of your sacrifice to save me.”

Rainbow Dash was at a loss for words for several moments, and had only returned the hug out of reflex. This is just getting too weird. What are you trying to tell me, Mother? In the end, though, Rainbow Dash found a wiry grin inch its way onto her face. “You’re welcome… mmmm… Twiggles! That should be good.”

“Twiggles?” Twilight sat upright, her eyes focusing normally.

“Yeah, you need a code name for the time being. At least while we figure things out.”

“If I must. But I don’t really like Twiggles.” Twilight muttered firmly and giving Rainbow a hard stare. “Can I be something else?”

“Like what?” Rainbow Dash felt her good humor bubbling up. This was a distraction from the failed job she felt she needed right now. I can worry about Glacier yelling at me later.

“What about Smarty Pants?” Twilight’s ears perked up in feeble excitement. “I’ll have you know I aced every test I was ever given.” Her good humor died a bit. “So far at least.”

“Too much of a mouthful to say in a hurry. We’re not going for a matrix handle here.” Rainbow couldn’t help but to be mildly amused by Twilight’s mounting annoyance. “Besides, you need a name that’s going to give your enemies pause out of intimidation, not laughter.”

“Oh, and they wouldn’t laugh at Twiggles?” Twilight grumbled fiercely.

“Not as much at Smarty Pants,” Rainbow countered with a smug toothy grin. “And who here knows the street better? Me or you?”

Twilight scowled and kicked a rock. “I know I can come up with a better nickname.”

Any thought into coming up with that name was interrupted by Fluttershy flying up to them from the street. “Good thinking, Flash. The station cameras were easy enough to bypass, but the lamp post scanners are a bit too much for me.”

Rainbow was confused for a moment until she realized Fluttershy had mistaken her original reason for coming up on the roof. “Oh yeah. Well you know me, always coming up with great ideas.” She wiggled her eyebrows and elbowed Twilight. “Right, Twiggles?”

Twilight shook her head. “I’m not going with Twiggles!” She scowled at the ground, but couldn’t protest further.

“Uh huh…” Fluttershy gently coughed. “The cleaners will find our exit point soon if they haven’t already. We better make ourselves scarce.”

3: A Moment's Rest

Feathertop Row was a typical fliers’ residential district in Canterlot that ringed Canterhorn Mountain. The row upon row of cloud homes which made up the edge of the seventh platform were more akin to houseboats tethered to a dock rather than permanent buildings. The concrete streets served not only flightless pedestrians, but the power and sewer lines.

Rainbow Dash led Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle along the curving main street. Daybreak was just upon them, illuminating the web of power lines that further pulled the cloud homes closer to the city. For the most part, the cloud homes were rather cookie cutter, the only meaningful difference between them being the postal numbers labeled near the front doors.

The mountain wind was blowing harsh, cold air this time of year, causing the homes to jostle and bump into each other a little, but their design offered lasting resistance to collision damage. The same could not be said for the power lines. A number of homes had snapped lines, due to vandalism or revenge to the homeowner, making the two fliers have to guide Twilight around live wires.

There were a few ponies going to and fro. Typically, one look from Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy earned little more than a nod or wave of acknowledgement before the trio were ignored. Twilight couldn’t help but to glance fearfully at everybody they passed, pony or not. She leaned in a bit to Rainbow Dash. “Is it really a good idea for us to be walking out in the open? What if somepony recognizes me?”

Rainbow tilted her head towards the feathered unicorn, speaking with a slightly hushed tone. “As much as it may surprise you, Twiggles, you may have been hot stuff in the palace, but down here, nopony’s going to look twice at a purple unicorn.”

“They might if they notice my feathers,” Twilight hissed quietly. “All it would take is some gang trying to foalnap me. Sure, it might take a few dozen, but I know I’d be worth a princess’s ransom.”

Rainbow’s only response was to jerk her head at a pony camped out on the front porch of his cloud home. He possessed cat-like eyes like Rainbow’s, a few reptilian scales on his neck, and his body shimmered ever so slightly wherever he touched a part of the cloud house. Twilight couldn’t repress a gag before looking away, fearful she might draw the strange earth stallion’s attention. “Ugh, why would somepony think that looks good? Talk about perverted fashion.”

“Point is,” Rainbow cut in, “feathers on a unicorn are not the weirdest thing around here.”

“They are kind of pretty though,” Fluttershy offered meekly. “I don’t think I’ve seen the elites go so far as to add feathers to themselves for fashion, though.”

Twilight reddened from indignation and threw her nose up. “It’s not fashion. I couldn’t give a tart what any of those prissy foals say about colors and seasons. If you must know, I was born this way.”

Fluttershy gave a long sigh and muttered. “Just trying to make conversation. Way to bite my head off.”

For her part, Rainbow Dash gave a tight-lipped smirk. “Don’t let Diamond hear you say that. She might educate you on the importance of fashion.”

A few minutes later, they at last came upon the final house on the street. One of the upper platform’s massive support pillars served not just as a divider, but also an excuse for the occupants of that house to make some add-ons that hung on precariously thin support cables. The home’s ground floor was actually a steel plate supported by the nearby city-pillar. It allowed for a three-car garage with a dark neon sign that said “Butterball Mechanist. You break it, we fix it.” planted on the street. The rest of the house was a crude, yet ultimately effective, merger of a cloud home sitting on top of the garage below. The living area above made the house a narrow, four-story dwelling, but several balconies helped add more space.

The cloudcrete construction of the outer walls had been decorated with childish chalk drawings and a buckball bucket. Like most of the other homes, the windows were tinted so pedestrians could only see black glass. Still, it was home. Rainbow Dash allowed herself a bigger smile and turned to Twilight. “Well, here we are. Home, sweet home.”

“I think my bathroom was bigger than this place,” Twilight remarked absently. In the hours it took to get here, Twilight’s vision had returned to normal, so she got to see all the grime and squalor on the way over.

Fluttershy furrowed her brow in frustrated anger. Without saying a word, she gave a miserable, exhausted huff and flew over to the garage.

Rainbow, on the other hand, gave a derisive chuckle while signing a cloudwalking spell. “Oh yeah? Well, tell you what.” She slapped a silver glowing hoof on Twilight’s withers to transfer the spell, then got behind Twilight and started shoving her towards the spiral stairs. “You can sleep in the shower instead of the floor. That sound good to you, your highness?”

Twilight dragged her hooves, fearful of the sheer drop onto the next city platform well over sixty meters down. She gathered enough wits to push ahead of Rainbow and started climbing the stairs on her own. “I’m not royalty. I’m just the…” Twilight glanced at the next house over with a paranoid eye. “I’m a student. Nothing more.”

“So you say.”

Rainbow pushed past Twilight when they reached the second floor door. Fishing out a blocky plastic key, Rainbow waved the thing over the doorknob, resulting in a loud click. She then repeated the act at the top and bottom of the door, earning two more clicks.

“A decent enough security implement,” Twilight offered in what she thought was a compliment. “I suppose getting anything better would blow your cover.”

If only that were true. “Come on. We need you settled in and up to speed before we make our next move.”

“That actual trouble you mentioned?” Twilight shivered.

Rainbow only nodded before pushing the door open.

The room beyond was a narrow kitchen with barely enough room for a refrigerator, sink, and some cabinets. The smell of reheated soy meals saturated the walls, but what stood out most to Twilight was the unmistakable scent of cooked meat.

Yet there was some intangible quality Twilight couldn’t help but notice. There was a sort of homeliness that expressed itself with a few decorative knickknacks and a few crayon drawings on the walls or refrigerator. There was even a miniature cactus sitting on the windowsill.

Twilight took a long sniff, causing her stomach to growl. “Oh, wow. I didn’t think I’d actually smell something good down here. I almost forgot you thestrals are more omnivores than herbivores. Ah - no offense or anything.”

“Tsh, why should I care what you think about our diet?” Rainbow rolled her eyes as she removed her robe and began emptying all of her pockets. A single grenade, two healing potions, a bag of bits, and a small wallet of the newer credsticks were all placed in a drawer with a duct tape label that read “open this and you’re grounded.” Lastly, she pulled out her crescent moon talisman.

Twilight shut the door behind them and watched Rainbow hold the moon to her forehead with her eyes closed, muttering a prayer too quiet for her to hear. When she finished, Rainbow moved over to a small mirror magnetically stuck to the refrigerator and used it to help braid the medallion to her mane and allow the string to run down the back of her left ear so the moon would rest in the same place as an earring. “Angel will probably be taking the first shower, so you’ll have to wait a bit.” Rainbow bundled up her now empty robes and dropped them in a chute next to the stove. “Help yourself to whatever you can stomach, I guess.”

“You don’t happen to have…” Twilight looked around, trying to sniff something out. “Any bacon by chance, do you?”

“As a matter of fact, we do actually—” Rainbow did a double take. “Wait, why would you want bacon? All the other tribes are grass eaters. Except for Celestia, I guess.”

“Actually, Flash, ponies can be classified as omnivores, it’s just mostly unhealthy and culturally repressed. But, well,” Twilight couldn’t stop herself from salivating as she found that delectable scent. “I’ve tried to emulate the Princess, and you could say my body’s more adaptable than most.”

“Uh huh.” Rainbow ultimately shrugged. She moved over to the fridge and pulled out a plate with a paper towel on top. She placed it on the counter and removed the paper to reveal the chilled strips of pork. “Help yourself.” Rainbow withdrew a carton of orange juice and started chugging straight from it. “But stay away from the steaks. I mean it.”

Twilight used her magic to pull off a strip of bacon and to reheat it to perfection. She bit it in half, crunching the fatty meat, and shivered with joy. “Oh wow, it’s been too long. The cooks won’t make this for anypony but her. A crime, I tell you. Could use some brown sugar though.”

“You’re lucky; we can’t afford real bacon.” Rainbow commented between sips of juice. “There was a firefight in an open market a few days ago, and some butcher got brained. So I helped myself to all the bacon she had in stock, plus some choice ribeyes and few kabobs. We ate like kings that night,” Rainbow chuckled as the memories of that lavish dinner echoed on her tongue.

“You robbed the dead?” Twilight accused. She gave the bacon a sour look, and returned it to the refrigerator when Rainbow wasn’t looking.

“I like to think of it as early bird archaeology,” Rainbow shrugged, uncaring about Twilight’s judgmental glower.

A loud thud was heard from above followed by the rapid pitter patter of small hooves on cloudcrete. “Mommy’s home!!” squealed two voices from above. Rainbow Dash quickly screwed the cap back on the carton and all but threw it back in the fridge.

Storming down the outside stairs, two little balls of fur barreled through the kitchen door and glomped onto Rainbow Dash, cackling all the while. “Mommy, mommy!”

Belting out a raspy laugh of her own, Rainbow laid down on her back so her two little thestrals, no more than five years old, could pony pile her. Both of them shared their mother’s mane pattern and colors, but the little colt was a dark navy blue while the filly was purple a shade darker than Twilight. The filly had brilliant, amber eyes, while the colt possessed pale yellow ones. Rainbow fuzzed up her son’s mane while giving her daughter a kiss on the nose. “How are my two bloodsuckers today?”

“Dad showed me how to make beer dogs!” the colt chirped happily. “The key is not to drink the beer first.”

“I got to play with Mr. Boar!” the filly said proudly while puffing out her chest. “He was mean until I showed him who’s boss.”

“Is that so?” Rainbow playfully scowled at her kids. “Where’s your deadbeat dad?”

“Asleep,” the colt answered enthusiastically. “He said to wake him if you came home today, but I forgot.”

“I tried to tell him to wait and wake daddy up,” the filly lied through her teeth. “But Sparks wanted to race to hug you first.”

Rainbow gave the two scamps a tight, squeezing hug before pushing them off so she could stand up. Not that the kids needed any prodding after realizing a stranger was present. The two ducked behind their mother and pressed their wings against their barrels in an attempt to make them unnoticeable.

Through the whole exchange, Twilight was dumbfounded at seeing them and had to sit down to keep from falling over.

Rainbow cleared her throat and covered each child with a wing. “So, Amber Lotus, Sparks, this is a new friend of mine: Twiggles.”

“What kinda name is Twiggles?” Sparks snarked as he carefully slid away from under his mother’s wing. “Are you sure we can let her see us?”

“I’m ahhh,” Twilight shook her head a bit. “Ah, of course you can!” Twilight bent down to get a little more eye level with the brave colt. “I know all about thestrals and how brave you all are. Your secret is safe with me.”

“All about us?” Amber asked after wiggling to stand between Rainbow’s forelegs. “How do you know about us?”

“Alright you two,” Rainbow cut in before Twilight could say anything. “It’s been a long night and momma’s pretty zonked. Why don’t you get your father down here so he and I can talk with Twiggles before I get some shut eye? If you do, I’ll share the story about the run I just finished.”

“You mean it this time?” Sparks cheered, his wings buzzing with sheer excitement.

“As honest as Aunty Apple,” Rainbow claimed with a raised hoof and a fang filled smile, the first real happy grin she had all night.

“Deal!” Amber half-yelled before racing to the door. “Last one upstairs has to eat cereal!”

“No way I’m losing to you, then!”

Both children raced upstairs, leaving the mares alone. “There, that should buy us a few minutes.” Rainbow Dash indicated the room behind Twilight with a hoof wave. “We can sit down over there.”

“Oh, okay.”

Rainbow led the way into the only other room on the floor. It was a den with a few chairs, and a plushy sofa that looked too expensive to have been acquired legally. A coffee table sat in between it all with stained coffee cups, TV dinner trays, and a few empty soda cans scattered about. Nestled under a few strips of paper on the table was a circular holovision with a few matrix goggles scattered about the room. Lastly, there were a dozen or so cheap and well-worn children’s toys along with some introductory school books off in the corner.

Rainbow Dash kicked off her boots and wandered over to the couch and flopped heavily on it, allowing herself to sink into its luxurious cushions. Sleep begged her to just let go and close her eyes, but present company forced her to stay awake. With effort, she pushed herself up. Ugh, I forgot about that stasis gunk. At least it’s dry now, so it shouldn’t stain the cushions. She blinked slowly, trying to keep sleep at bay.

Twilight had scanned the room for the least dirty chair, but didn’t find any to her liking. She eventually opted to stand. Not that she could sit down right now anyway with barely contained excitement making her bounce a little. “Are those two really your foals?”

“They are,” Rainbow answered with a mix of pride and wariness. “Was it the manes that gave it away?”

Twilight pressed her face into Rainbow’s own. “You’re actually a fertile thestral mare?!”

Rainbow arched her back to pull a small toy ball off the couch and tossed it away. “Last I checked,” Rainbow pulled away from the manic unicorn and dragged a heavy hoof across her face. Here it comes.

“You hide your face everywhere you go, don’t you?”

The off-tangent question made Rainbow crack an eye open to give Twilight a bewildered look. “Yeah. What of it?”

“So you homeschool them or something?” Twilight walked over to the school books and found stacks of paper with childish mouthwriting. “I don’t need to tell you a good education is critically important.”

“Ya don’t say?” Rainbow replied with enough sarcasm that even a deaf person could hear it. “Yes, Winter homeschools them. Plus, some of my crew have younger sisters my kids hang out with, so they have that much at least.”

“You really think enough ponies won’t notice?” Twilight slumped out of concern. “You can’t exactly teach them to fly while covered in robes now can you?”

“Dumb ponies can’t tell the difference between bats and thestrals, and smart ponies know not to ask questions. Why do you think we live in this neighborhood?” Rainbow yawned and had to resist the urge to sleep. She didn’t trust Twilight enough to leave her unwatched. “Besides, the Nightborne never made my… escape,” she chose with a slight wave of a hoof, “public. So it’s not like my undercover work is common knowledge.”

“How do you know that?” Twilight asked with piqued curiosity.

“That’s classified.”

“Bah! I don’t understand why you choose to live like this.” Twilight waved a hoof at the house. “You should be… wait a second.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed and she tensed, watching Rainbow for any sudden moves. “I don’t care how much you’d miss your family, nopony would want their foals to be raised in a place like this. Not when your supposed undercover work could have ponies attack your home. You’re an actual criminal!”

And here I was hoping she’d be smart enough to keep her trap shut about that. “A criminal that saved you from being a popsicle for probably forever.” Rainbow grumped with her gaze anywhere but at Twilight. “You're welcome, by the way.”

Twilight’s aggressive stance faltered a bit at the blasé statement. Her mouth was locked shut as she tried to think of what to say. “I’m not… ungrateful to you. Let me make that clear. But Celestia always told me thestrals can be trusted. But if you’re a criminal, then how can I do that?”

It was an argument Rainbow was tired of having, and she couldn’t work up the anger to properly rebuke the purple mare. “Twiggles, lemme ask you something. Do you know who I am, exactly?”

Twilight scowled at the perceived red herring. “…No.”

Rainbow Dash’s tired eyes moved over to the window, only to get a good view of the grey city-support pillar. She gave a longing sigh for the wide blue yonder. “Then you have no right to judge me, especially considering how you’d be public enemy number one if anypony else knew you were still alive.”

“Did I walk in at a bad time?” a wheezy masculine voice sounded from the kitchen. In walked a dark purple thestral stallion with a loving eye for Rainbow, but a cautious one towards Twilight. He had a silver mane and deep, pockmarked scars on his neck from an old, badly-healed shotgun wound. He walked with a limp in his left hind leg and was blinded in one eye, but still managed a weak smile. His medallion was a full moon, and hung from a necklace. “Who’s the company, Sugar Pie?”

Amber and Sparks cowered behind their father’s forelegs due to the angry face on Twilight, but were brave enough to give her scowls of their own.

Rainbow waved a tired hoof at the feathered unicorn. “Winter, meet the infamous Twilight Sparkle. Twiggles, my husband Winter Glen.”

Winter chuckled at his wife, confusing the foals into dropping their aggression. “Right, and I’ll bet the regent’s having tea with Fluttershy downstairs.” Winter eyeballed Twilight, his smile shrinking. “...She does bear a striking resemblance, now that you mention it.”

“I assure you, I am Twilight Sparkle,” the mare stated firmly. Deep, fearful concern furrowed her brow as she kept looking between the older thestrals. “And it looks like I’m in a house of criminals. I bet you’re just saying I’m a wanted mare just to keep me from bringing law enforcement down on top of you.” She glared at Rainbow with the same harsh, judgmental eyes that Rainbow had seen in too many faces.

“Well, isn’t that the addict saying the crackhead has a problem?” Winter barked with equal hostility as he approached Twilight. “Dashie is the most loyal pony I know, and I won’t listen to some stranger—”

“Back off!” Twilight flared her horn dangerously, which caused Rainbow to tense up, but still remain on the couch. “Don’t come any closer! I have enough magic to stun both of you and drag your plots to the Princess.”

Rainbow’s jaw clenched so hard she was afraid she’d chip a tooth. “Kids, why don’t you see what Aunty Shy is up to?”

“But momma,” Sparks began to argue, only to clam up when his mother gave him a stern eye.

“Do it! Both of you.”

“Go on, sprouts,” Winter added as he used a wing to push Sparks back to the kitchen door.

Through it all, Twilight had paused her tirade, unwilling to escalate the issue while the children were present.

Looking over their shoulders, the two foals begrudgingly left the room.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Rainbow gave Twilight a hard glare. If I try to sign a lightning ball, she’ll nail me first. “That’d be the biggest mistake of your life,” Rainbow warned through clenched teeth. “You do that, and you’ve got nopony between you and a bullet to the brain from whoever put you in stasis in the first place.”

“Why should I believe you, you fugitive!” Twilight hissed with fury in her eyes. “Whenever Celestia brought up thestrals, she always said they were forever grateful to the crown for bringing them back from extinction, and that they would stand shoulder to shoulder with the throne. I won’t stand for you two dragging that reputation through the mud any longer!”

“Winter,” Rainbow called out plainly and carefully, her eyes never leaving Twilight’s glowing horn. “Have the TV replay last night’s news broadcast. The one with Sunset’s speech.” Rainbow looked Twilight in the eyes. “Why don’t you see just how much deep drek you’re in before you start burning bridges.”

The stallion looked between the two mares before settling on Twilight. He pointed a hoof at the table near Twilight. “I’ll need the remote next to you.”

Twilight risked a quick glance and spotted the controller. With a flick of her magic, she tossed the thing at Winter, who deftly caught it. “If I don’t like what I see, I’m tasering both of you, and then I’ll call down the whole Royal Guard.”

Rainbow felt her blood boil. “No good deed ever goes unpunished,” she muttered just loud enough for Twilight to hear. “You’re not going to like it one way or the other. But you need to see it all the same.”

Winter switched the holovision on and easily found the right channel. It took just a bit to reverse the feed to the same report Rainbow had seen at the bar. It started with Sunset at the podium in front of reporters.

“Dear citizens of Equestria,” Sunset began with a somber tone. “The crown has officially closed the investigation into the incident. We have determined that a pupil of the Princess, Twilight Sparkle, was caught red-hooved selling defense secrets to a minotaur special agent. The Empire still denies any involvement with the sale of secrets, but sources from the Royal Intelligence Service are taking the matter seriously.

“As for the suspects, they did not surrender quietly, requiring the Royal Guard to gun everypony down. The Princess wishes to share her reassurance that disloyalty, an antithesis to Harmony, will not be tolerated at any level of society. Even the very top.”

What Rainbow had missed the first time was that Sunset’s image was split to the left to allow a security recording of the firefight on the right. It started off with Twilight Sparkle, clear as day, holding a data chip in her magic standing next to a minotaur in diplomatic dress. They were in one of the castle foyers, near the minotaur embassy.

The present Twilight was shocked so badly her horn’s magic vanished and her face went white as a sheet. “Wha - wha - what?!”

The recording of Twilight showed her sharing some words with the minotaur before giving him the chip. Both of them turned to leave when a royal guard rounded the bend and recognized them. Without even hesitating, Twilight levitated a nearby tree planter and smashed the guard's helmet with it. The camera fizzled before switching to the castle hangar for the embassy that held the diplomat’s private helicopter. The aircraft was already spooled up and ready to fly, but several minotaurs and Twilight Sparkle were pinned down behind the steel support beams near the walls. Royal Guards had stormed the place from both the entry way and the exit. A shootout of both guns and spells lasted for a few brief moments before the ponies managed to expertly gun down every last minotaur.

Celestia herself teleported into the hangar and tried to reason with Twilight, but all the purple mare did in reply was to launch a series of fireballs at her mentor.

The present Twilight stuttered in stunned horror. “No, I’d never do that! Ever!”

When the recorded Twilight expertly deflected multiple attempts to incapacitate her with stun or sleep spells, one of the Guard sharpshooters put a bullet between Twilight’s eyes.

Twilight couldn’t hear anything. The world around her went dark, and the only thing she could see was Celestia’s tearful face as she turned away from Twilight’s supposed corpse. “T-that’s not real! I would never do that! Celestia should know that!”

“Obviously,” Rainbow Dash said casually, cutting through Twilight’s despair. “You’re standing here, alive and well.”

Twilight gave Rainbow a tense look, her eyes going red, and tears staining her fur. “Who would do this to me? None of those bullies could ever pull this off, even if they were heartless enough to try.”

“That would be interesting to know,” Winter added. So as to appear less threatening to the most agitated pony in the room, he sat down on the chair furthest from Twilight. “I think the question is, who was the real Twilight, you or her?”

“I am!” Twilight half screamed.

Winter shrugged. “Got proof? You could be a clone.”

“I do have proof actually,” Twilight shot back, less heatedly than before. “Something only the Princess herself would know.” She steeled her eyes and tensed. “I need to get in direct contact with Celestia. Please, help me.”

“You’ve got proof?” Rainbow scoffed with a shake of her head. “Let’s hear it then. There’s no way that’s a good idea unless you got some solid proof.”

“I’m not supposed to tell anypony,” Twilight replied weakly. She bit her lower lip out of fear, yet the two thestrals remained steadfast. “But I can make it worth your while. If you help me, I can give you a billion bits, no strings attached. You’d never need money again. I can even get the Princess to pardon both of you, maybe even Angel too.”

Winter shared a pensive look with his wife, and eventually whistled in astonishment. “That’s a lot of lunch money. I still want more to go on, though. If you want our help, I want to know what this proof actually is.”

Twilight ground her teeth and scuffed at the cloud carpet. “I - I carry Celestia’s magic… a bit. If I met with her in person, she could tell I’m the real Twilight.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened a bit, but ultimately, she couldn’t claim to be very surprised. “I can see her doing that. To her personal student at least.” She looked at Winter. “Whattaya think? Is it worth the risk?”

Winter sighed heavily and scratched at the scars on his neck. “I don’t know. How did the job go last night? Something tells me bringing the dead student of Celestia back home wasn’t what our fixer had in mind.”

“It was a hit job. Didn’t exactly go as planned.”

“Then we probably have to.” Winter idly rubbed the scars on his neck. “We’re completely broke after paying the electric bill. We have enough food for the next few days, but after that, we’ll have to get creative. I know you don’t like resorting to petty theft, but…”

Rainbow gave Twilight a long, hard look. Her pride warred with the need to provide for her family. As it typically did, the family won out. “Fine. We’ll help, provided we get those pardons and the cash. We can make a good living somewhere else.”

“We’ll need our SINs restored too,” Winter added quickly, keeping Twilight from replying. “Money and a clean slate aren’t worth too much on the right side of the tracks if we’re not considered actual citizens by the system.”

Twilight nodded her assent. “The Princess is more than capable of all of that and more.”

“Alright, so how do you contact Celestia?” Rainbow asked with a bit of a friendly tone.

“I’ll need a sunstone,” Twilight stated plainly. “Some white chalk, and that table,” she added with conviction.

Rainbow climbed off the sofa with a disbelieving frown. “Seriously? Just any old sunstone?”

“Well, that and a ritual only I know, but yes. Any run-of-the-mill sunstone.” Twilight swelled with pride. “I was the one Celestia trusted the most. I can’t let her believe I did all that stuff my evil twin did on the news.”

“Amber has a rock collection,” Winter pointed out. “I bet she nicked a sunstone from somewhere.”

Twilight decided to ignore the thievery of a child and opted to keep a good mood. “That would be perfect. I can perform the ritual right here if you like. At least after I take a shower and - er - you want to as well.”

A shower later, and after a long rest that lasted well into midday, Rainbow Dash arrived back into the kitchen for breakfast. By now, Winter had cleaned up the trash from the den and had breakfast waiting for his famished wife, a bowl of Dadi-oohs cereal. The twins were having lunch instead, the last of the bacon with some of the steak thrown in for good measure. The heavily muffled noise of Fluttershy’s machine shop below spoke of her activities. Twilight Sparkle was dominating the coffee table with the sunstone and a few chalk lines drawn over a freshly cleaned surface.

Passing by the stallion washing dishes in the sink, Rainbow slipped a little kiss on his cheek and winked at him before moving on to the den. With a yawn and a happy smile towards her children, Rainbow Dash flopped down on her favorite spot on the couch, right next to her son and daughter. She spotted her bowl of cereal on a fold-out tray. “Heyya, bongos, what are you two eating?”

Sparks excitedly threw a piece of bacon in the air and caught it in his maw with a ferocious growl. “Arrr, I’m eating a cyberbear and sucking his bloooood!”

Amber possessed slightly better manners and gave some kind of response from a mouth full of food.

Rainbow cackled happily and fussed up Sparks’ mane. “That’s my bloodsucker alright!” Rainbow made sure to squash both little foals and pepper them with kisses. Amber belted out uproarious giggles at the loving attack.

Sparks made a show of trying to escape. “Help! Daddy, mommy’s trying to suck my blood!”

Winter merely glanced at his son with a wiry grin. “Save some blood for me, honey.”

“Nooo!!” Sparks cried out before playing dead.

“Mwahaha!” Now you will rise as my vampony slave!” Rainbow cackled while releasing Amber.

Sparks shot back to life and gave his mother a rigid look, broken by uncontrolled snort-laughing. “What is your bidding, my master?”

Rainbow deadpanned, “Finish your lunch then do your homework.”

Sparks went sullen and limp. “Awww, can we please hear your stories first, mommy?”

A wicked grin cleaved Rainbow’s muzzle. “I thought you’d never ask. But let me eat up first.” Giving Sparks one last kiss on his forehead, Rainbow started scarfing down her cold cereal. Even after five years, Rainbow couldn’t escape the memories of the more filling and tasty meals from her time in the palace district. With renewed ire towards the Nightborne, Rainbow wolfed down the rest of her breakfast and guzzled the milk in one go. Smacking her lips and banging the plastic bowl back down on the tray, Rainbow only now gave Twilight any attention.

The feathered unicorn was intently focused on completing her ritual, allowing Rainbow to feel comfortable leaving only a single eye on her so she could start telling Sparks and Amber all about the run from last night, with extra emphasis on the gory bits. Amber polished her lunch off and nestled under her mother’s wing, while Sparks was propped up on Rainbow’s back. The excitableness of her children gave Rainbow much needed levity. A necessary tactic to steel herself against the urban hell outside her door.

“So there I was,” Rainbow said dramatically, already half an hour into her tale. “Trapped on the cargo ship with Big Dumb Bull’s guts blown all over the deck, and a sniper ready to geek me the instant I poked my head out.”

“You were too smart for him!” Amber proclaimed with pride.

“I bet you womped that sniper good!” Sparks started punching the air like a martial artist.

“I woulda, but suddenly, the whole ship was blown open by the big bad assassin.” Rainbow made explosion sounds while flailing her hooves in the air. “He flew up on a big ol’ gunship with rocket pods covering it from head to hoof. I, of course, dodged over a dozen of those measly pop guns. When the pilot saw I wasn’t scared, he blasted the hangar open and ran away like a pansy.”

Through it all, Twilight kept shooting concerned glances at Rainbow whenever blood came up around the foals. “Okay, it’s ready,” Twilight called out, glad to be done with the gruesome tale. With the holovision moved aside, the sunstone was now the centerpiece on the table, and sat in the middle of a few simple lines.

Rainbow had to rein in her irritation at being interrupted, but a billion bit payday does a lot to smooth things over. “Alright, get started, but don’t do anything that’ll burn the house down, will ya?”

After pushing the kids off so she could climb to her hooves, Rainbow moved in to get a better look at the sunstone diagram. It was a bit too complicated for Rainbow to discern all of the diagram’s functions, but she saw enough similar lines to a standard, if outdated, communication ritual.

Winter walked over from the kitchen to watch as Twilight closed her eyes and started to glow. From within her chest, a glob of glowing mana akin to a small sun emerged. The mana had lavender tethers wrapped around it, trying to pull it back inside of Twilight. The feathered unicorn was gritting her teeth and a strained warble escaped her lips, but her efforts proved successful, and the miniature sun was at last snapped free and sat motionless in Twilight’s kinesis. The act seemed to make Twilight shrink just barely enough to be noticeable, and some of the feathers along her shoulders withered and fell away. “There we go,” she stated with heavy fatigue. “That - that should be enough.”

Rainbow took a step away from the table, and moved to stand between Twilight and her children. “What did you just do?”

“The ritual also needs part of Celestia’s magic,” Twilight intoned while waggling a hoof at the golden orb. “It acts like a secondary security key to let her know for sure that I’m the one contacting her.” Twilight rubbed a tired eye, and noticed there were no further objections. She forced herself to mutter some words of power before moving the miniature sun into the sunstone. The stone immediately lit up, and the chalk flared into thin lines of fire that started to burn the table.

A new pattern emerged above the sunstone tracing lines that took Rainbow Dash a frightening moment to recognize. “Oh rut! That’s not a communicator, that’s a damn teleport beacon! You hag!”

Winter scrambled to his hooves. “Hide, quick!” He grabbed his son, while Rainbow grabbed Amber. A pressure wave of immense power tore into the den before a wash of heat blasted over the whole floor. There, standing on the bent remains of their coffee table, was the Princess of the Sun, Celestia.

Her very presence felt like being beaten down by a desert sun at noon. Her pastel mane and tail filled the room as the ancient mare looked down upon the one who summoned her. She narrowed her eyes in a puzzled scowl at Twilight, who was standing at rapt attention. The thestrals, on the other hand, cowered out of sight, whispering a few words the panicking foals were trained to obey in complete silence.

Sensing how constrained the room was, Celestia forcibly shrunk her mane and tail to roughly the standard size of a mare of her height. “Twilight Sparkle,” the stern voice that everypony knew instinctively called out. “If that is who you are.”

“I promise that pony on the news wasn’t me!” Twilight cried with tears starting to form. The snobby yet attentive aristocrat Rainbow rescued washed away into a frightened mare. “I just woke up from stasis last night, found out I was framed as some kind of terrorist, and - and I didn’t know what else to do but to call you. So I—”

Twilight was stunned into silence when Celestia climbed off the table and wrapped the unicorn up with a wing. The alicorn expressed no fear, not even concern of an attack from Twilight, such was her power. And yet Celestia looked visibly shaken, and on the verge of tears herself.

“Twilight, dear heart, please let this be real.” Celestia pulled away a bit so she could see Twilight’s face. “If you are my real Twilight, then open yourself to me. I must know you are not a clone.”

“Gladly, Princess.” Twilight stepped back as far as the walls would allow her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rainbow and Winter watching the two of them in silent curiosity and smoldering anger at being played. “I’m ready,” Twilight said as she stood stock still with her eyes open and locked on Celestia’s own.

Celestia’s horn went alight with golden magic that sank into the feathered unicorn. Twilight gasped and was lifted a few centimeters off the ground. A ghostly shadow of herself emerged from her body. It was a spirit that was evenly split straight down the middle with her left half a brilliant gold while the other was dull silver.

“So it really is you!” Celestia ended the spell as quickly as she dared. The ghostly echo of Twilight returned to her body, eliciting a second shuddering gasp from her. She didn’t have time to recover her wits before Celestia roped her into a tight embrace. “I thought I had truly lost you, Twily.”

Twilight was more than happy to return the hug with all the strength she could muster. The two mares stayed like that for several seconds until Twilight gave a shaky laugh. “To think I was antsy about that identification spell.”

Celestia pulled away from Twilight, and took a long breath to calm her nerves. “You mentioned you were in stasis?”

Twilight struggled to keep her eyes open when a heavy wave of fatigue rushed back as her excitement started to ebb. “Yes. The last thing I remember was studying with Moondancer. But apparently I was in a stasis pod until last night when a thestral helped me escape.”

“A thestral?” Celestia was taken aback. “But if you had been saved by the Nightborne, they would have told me immediately after finding you.”

Twilight pointed behind Celestia towards Rainbow Dash who was now staring murderous daggers at Twilight. “You can ask her yourself.”

Celestia followed Twilight’s hoof and laid eyes on Rainbow Dash and Winter Glen. The alicorn gently pushed Twilight away so she could stand up to face them, her oppressive heat becoming scathing once again. “Neophyte Rainbow Dash and Shadow Walker Winter Glen, now isn’t this a surprise?” She glanced about, taking in the impoverished home she had been brought to. “You seem to be doing decently enough… all things considered.”

Having no other choice, both adult thestrals stepped away from each other so they could prostrate themselves before Celestia, and took a moment to shove the foals into the proper gesture of respect as well.

“Princess Celestia,” was all Rainbow said, albeit in a respectful tone. Winter parroted the greeting as well.

The alicorn’s smoldering anger shattered after spotting the children, focusing on their prismatic manes and leathery wings. “You - you foaled?! How—” Celestia composed herself to appear less threatening to the children. “How wonderful.” Celestia used her magic to move the furniture aside so there was a clear path between her and the little ones. She laid down on her belly. “May I see them?”

Amber and Sparks risked looking to their parents for guidance. Of the four, Rainbow Dash was the first to begin sitting normally. She nodded to her children. “Go on, she’s a good pony.” Mostly. “She’s the reason our tribe exists again.”

“Golly.” Amber was the first to cautiously approach Celestia, with her brother following closely after her. Her bright amber cat-like eyes drank in Celestia’s picturesque appearance. “You’re sooooo pretty. Almost as much as mommy.”

“You’re really hot,” Sparks stated with only the bluntness a child could possess, causing a few flushed faces. “Do you burn your pillow at night?”

Celestia giggled behind a hoof and altered her magic to exude less heat and to keep prying eyes from looking at the house. “Is that better?”

“Uh huh. What’s it like in the palace?” Amber asked with wonder painted all over her smile. “Do you have chocolate fountains and cakes as big as our house?”

“Do you have parties all night every night?” Sparks asked while piling over his sister to get his answers first. “With clowns so stupid they keep their noses in the air like they just don’t care?”

Amber shoved him back down. “No fair, I asked first!”

“Yeah, but you have a fat nose, so I get the first questions.”

The two siblings started fussing and pushing each other, but ultimately, no harm was done. They rolled around in their little scuffle, completely ignoring the adults.

Celestia’s grin widened further when she returned her gaze to Rainbow Dash. “They are most definitely your children. You two must be very proud.”

Rainbow allowed herself a snarky yet utterly devoted grin at her children. “Sparks has his father’s brain. We found a tutor who was willing to keep their tribe a secret, and he keeps forcing her to advance the curriculum.”

“And Amber’s got it in her head to be a fighter like her mother,” Winter added with a wiry grin at his wife. “I’ve already got her started on learning how to meditate properly. We’ve kept our… criminal status secret so far.”

“Innocence once lost,” Celestia commented with an approving nod. “They could have a better life in the palace should you—,”

“I’m not giving them up to the Nightborne,” Rainbow rasped as sternly as she dared to Celestia. “You’ll have to kill me first.”

“That goes double for me,” Winter added. “They’d only brainwash our foals against us!”

“Enough,” Celestia interrupted with the calm power her age afforded her. Everyone else in the room felt stifled by the renewed heat wave before Celestia reined it back in. “As miraculous as finding natural born thestrals, it does not give you a free pass against your crimes. Still…” Celestia visibly shook her shoulders to push her anger aside. “I must thank you for returning my student to my side. For that, I… I will forget I saw you.” The ancient mare’s eyes bore deep emotional pain. “Such a pity. You had such a promising future, Rainbow Dash. I had such high hopes for both of you.” Celestia rose to her hooves, only for Twilight to gently tap her mentor’s flank.

“Princess, I made promises to them if they allowed me to contact you. Money and pardons for both of them and a pegasus friend of theirs.”

“Pardons?!” Celestia raged with a brief snarl marring her face. Her ire made Twilight shrink down. Celestia closed her eyes, calmed herself, and wove a sleep spell on the foals. The siblings stopped fighting and slumped over each other. “Rainbow Dash betrayed her tribe through gross negligence, and Winter did the same by helping her flee arrest. Returning you to me…” Celestia paused for a long moment as a thought struck her. She turned fully towards Rainbow Dash and her husband. She noted that Winter had the defiant, stern visage of someone who was unashamed of his actions. By contrast, Rainbow Dash had a silent snarl on her enraged face with angry tears in her eyes. “Is unexpected. Tell me. Was money and a pardon really the only reasons you allowed my student to contact me?”

Rainbow scooted over to scoop up her children, and used the distraction to blink the stinging tears out her eyes. She laid Sparks at her side while holding Amber with a foreleg. Without looking away from Celestia, Rainbow made sure Amber’s wings were folded comfortably and started petting her mane. “I was never negligent in my duties,” Rainbow seethed with burning hatred. “I did everything I could and more to make sure they came back alive.”

“That’s news to me,” Celestia stated coldly. “At this point, it’s your word versus your former superiors. But that’s not the answer I was looking for.”

Rainbow worked her jaw to drag her fury into a little box so she wouldn’t risk angering Celestia into arresting her anyway. “I may not be a Nightborne anymore, but I’ve never forgotten my first loyalty is to my family and Equestria. Plus, technically, Twilight offered the money and pardons first, I didn’t ask for it.”

“It was implied,” Twilight grumbled, but offered no further interruption when Rainbow glared at her.

“Even if Twilight had not promised me a damn thing,” Rainbow continued, hopefully without further interruption. “I’d still have allowed her to talk to you. Besides, a rich mare like her could stand to part with a few zeros, and I’ve got mouths to feed.” Rainbow gave a vulgar wing flick at the purple pony in question. “Provided she had been on the up and up about exactly what that method of contact was.”

Twilight huffed and brushed some dust off her hoof. “You never asked, and I knew you’d stonewall me if I volunteered that information.”

“Yeah, yeah, as if Mother would have pointed me at you…” Rainbow’s world went still as the implications struck home. Is that what Mother wanted? That by rescuing Twilight I would be arrested?

Both Celestia and Winter looked at Rainbow with surprise and a touch of awe. Winter clutched his medallion. “Did Mother actually speak to you?”

Rainbow snapped out of her inner fears and wiggled a hoof and shrugged. “More like guided my nose to the cryostasis chamber. She made me figure everything else out.” Please don’t make this some plan to trick me to going to prison. Don’t do that to me, Mother, I’m begging here.

“Did she now?” Celestia felt a ghost of hope rise, but she dared not show it. “Perhaps this is a sign that your Mother has finished punishing you for invoking her name to profess your innocence all those years ago.”

Winter stiffened, but remained silent, save to give his wife a sympathetic look.

Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, bristled and risked insult by glaring. “I didn’t—”

“You will be silent,” Celestia commanded with a harder glare of her own. “Do not tempt fate by repeating your slight against the Mare in the Moon.”

Rainbow’s ears wilted, and she turned her head away from Celestia to keep from showing her resentful pain. That resentment was not so much directed at Celestia, but at Flintlock. “Yes… Princess.” When I find that trog, I’m going to make him bleed every last drop of Mother’s blood from his undeserving, lying tongue.

Celestia allowed her face to soften back to normal. “You should be glad you have your Mother’s favor once more.” She looked down at the floor where the moon rested beyond for a long moment.

“Wait, you actually believe her?” Twilight interjected sharply. “Princess, spirits are mischievous being at the best of times. Even if you trust Mother Moon, Rainbow could be lying again—” Twilight wanted to say more, but she noticed the scathing glares the thestrals were boring into her skull, while Celestia turned to fully face her student with a warning frown.

“For all that you know of thestrals, it seems I have utterly failed to teach you about their bond to Mother Moon. When it comes to speaking of Mother Moon, the tenet of honesty is held as absolutely sacrosanct.” Celestia scanned Rainbow Dash for her reaction, and then found that even the foals already had their lunar medallions, Amber with hers hanging around her left ear, while Sparks had his around his neck. “Assuming Rainbow Dash has learned to value honesty in that regard, we can believe her in this, this time.”

Twilight chewed on her cheek a bit, wanting to argue further, but couldn’t find the nerve to do so. “As you say, Princess. Still though, isn’t it obvious that the Mare in the Moon directed Flash to me so I could in turn return her to you?”

“That thought has crossed my mind.” Celestia replied with a controlled expression. “But something tells me that if their Mother’s only desire was to bring Rainbow and Winter to that form of justice, she would have guided the other Nightborne here long ago.”

Rainbow and Winter were stunned not only that the Princess came to their defense, of all ponies, but at the implications of her observation. “Princess, what are you saying? Do you actually believe me?”

“About her guiding you to my student, yes,” Celestia replied sternly to keep the thestrals from getting the wrong idea. “I only have a theory on what she wants, and I will leave it at that. For now, though.” She addressed the two parents with a studious expression. “Answer me true, do you believe your Mother would want you to defy me out of hoof? Are you willing and able to serve the crown once more?”

“Mother’s always pretty vague about everything. Any chance you can do some alicorn mojo to give her a commlink?”

“I see your smart mouth survived your fall from grace,” Celestia remarked with an unamused frown. “But no, that’s not possible.”

“Never hurts to ask,” Rainbow shrugged with short-lived mirth. “Then in that case, she hasn’t said anything about serving you or not. As for me… I never liked being on your drek list.” Rainbow answered meekly, fearful of risking a ‘yes mare’ lie. “Not to mention kids are expensive, a mare’s got to eat. But I would rather die than just walk back to the Nightborne,” Rainbow added both quickly and sternly. “Flintlock made me the fallmare for his stupidity. So outside of that, I’m listening.”

“I can’t fight like I used to,” Winter added with real regret in his words. It stung his pride to show such weakness in front of the Princess, but he pushed on. “Not after my essence was ruined. All I can really do is raise the kids, balance the books, and make sure the lights are on for Rainbow when she gets home.”

“I suppose that will do.” Celestia rubbed her chin, a flash of confusion dancing over her face before settling on the typical gentle warmth of her public face. “As you should have already guessed, there is a conspiracy afoot in the palace. One that wanted my student out of the picture, but apparently not dead or even interrogated for information. Since you have taken it upon yourself to fall into the ranks of the shadowrunners, I suspect you wouldn’t be averse to working for me once again, would you?”

“You - you want to employ me as a shadowrunner?” Rainbow blinked dumbly at her. “I’m surprised you’d even consider it.”

“Not quite as a shadowrunner,” Celestia clarified with a wave of her wing. “The Nightborne are good at their jobs as a rapid response force and matrix defender, but I hear reports of shadowrunner groups still managing to outwit them on numerous occasions. A fact that has been a thorn in my side for some time.

“But you’ve lived their life for these past five years, assuming you became one shortly after fleeing the palace district.”

A guilty look marred Rainbow’s face. “I wasn’t happy with it, but the Don was the only one willing to burn our SINs and still pay us afterwards. It’s not like I could ever take an honest job after all that. But with me being pregnant, Winter stepped out and was the one who did the running for the first four years. I watched over the kids and trained under Winter when he had time between jobs and the kids were asleep.”

Some of Winter's internal scars flashed in irritation. He squinted and hissed at the pain, drawing the attention of everyone else. “This,” he started while motioning a hoof at the shotgun scars on his neck, “was the only parting gift I got from Flintlock when we fled that night. All of my other - injuries are the results of one run or another.”

“Last year,” Rainbow interjected with a quivering lip at seeing her stallion in such pain. “Last year was when I put my hoof down and made him retire. I’ve been the family runner ever since.”

Winter gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “She’s better at it than I ever was. I didn’t get more than three runs in before I was laid out on a hospital bed. And by hospital bed, I mean our couch with Ap - with a friend looking after me.”

Celestia held a contemplative look for a while longer. “Your loyalty to each other is commendable. Admirable, truly.” Celestia’s face soured in distaste, but she swallowed it down. “Here is my offer. I want you to form a new group of shadowrunners you trust enough to want to do what is right for Equestria. Ponies who are willing to fight for crown and country over wealth and power. To cross those lines the law cannot. Can you do that?”

Rainbow’s eyes lit up like she had taken a breath of fresh air after being smothered in smog. “I - yes! I - um - I already know of a few ponies who would do that wholeheartedly.”

“Good. Then they will be the core of your organization. You may, of course, contract runners outside of the organization, and you may operate as you see fit.”

“But Princess,” Twilight interjected by interposing herself between her mentor and rescuer. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Between the loyal Nightborne and the Royal Guard, we’ve more than protected our interests. Surely they can unravel this conspiracy.”

Winter laughed derisively at her, earning a scowl out of Twilight. “You must be seriously naïve if you think the perpetrators haven’t infiltrated those groups. How else could they have extracted you from the palace and put a clone in your place?”

“I don’t know yet, but I’ll find out soon enough,” Twilight steamed.

“I’m afraid your investigative skills are rather lackluster outside of the library,” Celestia stated with a slight calculating glint in her warm eyes. “Which is why you will be under Captain Rainbow Dash’s command.”

“A -” Rainbow’s breath shuddered. “A captaincy?” she whispered, scarcely believing her ears. A desperately hopeful smile threatened to break out.

“Me?!” Twilight whimpered as she prostrated herself before Celestia. “What about my studies? I still have so much I have yet to learn!”

“And learn you will,” Celestia replied with a stern smile. “You have been directly targeted by this conspiracy, and bringing you back to the palace, I would tip my hoof too early. You will stay with Rainbow Dash and Winter Glen until this matter is resolved and the guilty are brought into light. Besides, I feel that a more… worldly education would serve you well both for the time being and in the future. I will be expecting weekly letters on what you learn about the underworld. Via Rainbow’s method of secure comms, of course. Expect her to read them, even if you ask her not to.”

Twilight gave her best tearful, puppy-dog eyes, but the ancient alicorn was as unmoving as the mountain itself. Giving up with a sigh, Twilight’s head sunk to the floor. “Yes, Princess.”

“And since you’re legally dead, your SIN will be suppressed, so you get the full criminal experience,” Rainbow Dash added with a fang filled smirk.

“Oh, happy day,” Twilight fumed, giving her an evil eye. She laid down on the floor and faced away from everyone else to pout.

With her student’s new curricular activities laid out, Celestia turned back to the thestrals. “As for the money you were promised, giving you so many bits all at once would draw a lot of attention and questions your way. Is there some other way I could front you some capital to settle your most pressing debts? The last thing I need is my newest captain to… how does it go…? ‘Have your knees broken,’ was it?”

“We could post some bogus data on the matrix for bidding,” Winter offered. “You could easily outbid anypony else. We’d get the money, and nopony will ever know the info was fake.”

“Didn’t Diamond and the others finish a run last night too?” Rainbow asked her husband. “She’s a wiz with a deck, and nopony’s going to give it a second thought if she found something really hot.”

“How much do you trust this Diamond?” Celestia inquired with concern.

“She’s the one who cancelled her plans to open a fashion store or something so she could front the cash for our place,” Rainbow answered with gratitude tinting her voice.

“She didn’t even call it a favor,” Winter added with disbelief coloring his words even after all this time. “No strings attached except for letting her design Rainbow’s robes.”

“She’s a great friend of ours,” Rainbow continued, “and she knows what we are. Without her, we would’ve been living on the street after fleeing the Nightborne.”

“That is quite the sacrifice for a stranger.” Celestia mused over the information for a long moment. “I will have to meet this Diamond in person one day.” Celestia’s magic flared, and a scroll and pen materialized and levitated towards Winter. “Jot down how I might be able to contact her discreetly, and how to bid for this fake data. I’ll even throw in a little more for her troubles. Once we have secure communication with one another, I will forward some tasks I have for you. And before you ask, you will of course be compensated. If, for nothing else, than to ensure your foals have a better childhood.”

Winter could barely contain himself as he furiously wrote down the information requested of him. “T-thank you, Princess. We always thought if you found us, we’d be dragged back to the Nightborne for sure.”

Rainbow got up as well, and laid both of her sleeping children on her back. “Just how long is this little under-the-table venture going to last, exactly?”

Celestia averted her eyes, and thought carefully of her answer. “Less than a year, to be sure. Potentially as soon as this conspiracy is ended, or perhaps a little longer than that. Once all is said and done, we will discuss those pardons you requested.” She gave the two thestrals a warmer smile than they thought would ever be directed at them. “However, it would be suspicious to suddenly remove the ‘capture on sight’ order for you two. So, do not get the wrong impression that you can leverage your new position to protect yourselves. If you are careless and get spotted, I will not stop the Nightborne from sending a retrieval team.”

Rainbow wilted a bit and looked to Winter. “I guess that means we can forget sending the kids to an actual school.”

“Eh, I teach them actually useful stuff anyway.”

“The subpar public schools aside,” Celestia interrupted with a hint of sorrow behind the neutral mask she wore in public. “There is only one other matter I would like to address. Call it an old habit of mine, but I would like to give your little troop a name. After all, you have to be a captain of something, do you not? Would you like the honors?”

“You’re letting me name it?” Rainbow felt a feral grin cleave her muzzle. “In that case, what about the Shadowbolts?”

Winter groaned and gave her an embarrassed, reddened face. Celestia, on the other hand, couldn’t help but to chuckle. “I did poach you from the Wonderbolts, after all.”

“Well, sure, there’s that,” Rainbow Dash admitted with a sheepish grin. “But I was always planning on naming my Nightborne squad that. At least when I was still on track to get one.”

“Very well then.” Celestia took on a formal posture. “Then I dub thee, Rainbow Dash, Captain of the Shadowbolts.”

Rainbow stood at sharp attention, the ghost of long forgotten pride beaming from her eyes while her foals jostled on her back “Thank you, Princess. I’ll round up the crew immediately. But umm…” Rainbow inwardly kicked herself for forgetting one little yet critical problem. “I have an issue with the mob at the moment.”

Celestia frowned at her, distaste coloring her voice. “I trust some additional money is needed?”

“Erm, not quite.” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck. “The job I was on when I discovered Twilight was to kill off some thug that managed to kill the Don’s brother. He wants the assassin’s head on a platter by the end of the week, literally.” Twilight went a little green in the face. “And he escaped last night when a spec ops team tried to take him out first. My guess is that he stumbled on their black site, and they wanted him dead for it.”

“Curious.” Celestia hummed as she searched her memory for any teams that were sent out last night. “This could very well be relevant information if you indeed found my student there. Were they aligned with the government or one of the megacorporations?”

“Don’t know,” Rainbow answered truthfully with a shake of her head. “I caught one to get some answers, but she teleported out from under me and left a grenade as a parting gift.” Rainbow absently rubbed a sore spot on her barrel. “She didn’t wear any unit patches either. Buuut, I’m sure I can have Angel forward the location of the black site.”

Giving an approving nod, Celestia gave a grim smile to her new captain. “I’ll investigate this little detail in my own way. I will still be forwarding this assignment to you. Chances are, they might be related.”

Rainbow released a tensed breath once she realized Celestia was placated enough to seemingly forgive not being able to address whatever task she had first. “We’ll be ready tomorrow night after sundown.”

“Excellent. Assuming Diamond is prompt, you will have your first assignment and up-front capital by then.” Celestia turned around to find her student. It was obvious she had been silently listening to the whole thing while still fuming over her new lot in life. “I have not forgotten you, my faithful student.” Twilight’s ears, then her head, perked up at the attention. “I’ll make sure you have what you need,” Celestia stated as she levitated the sunstone between them. “Don’t think of this as a punishment for a crime you did not commit, but an opportunity. And to make sure you take that to heart, I want you to have this.”

Celestia’s horn glowed a magnificent gold, and made the sunstone do the same. The stone glowed with ever increasing brilliance until it looked like a miniature sun. She then levitated it over to Twilight, who took it in her own magic. “Look after yourself, Twilight. You know how to defend yourself, but practical application is just as important as theory.”

“Thank you, Princess!” Twilight hugged the stone close to her chest, a warm smile gracing her face. Her body started to glow the same golden light. The feathers she had lost regrew anew, and a few new ones started to develop, starting from the plume near her withers, and started migrating towards her midsection.

“Not too much,” Celestia warned sternly.

Twilight immediately pulled the much dimmer stone away from her chest, and her ears wilted. “I’m sorry, I was just…” Twilight looked like she wanted to say more, but thought better of it.

Through it all, Rainbow and Winter gave the two a confused look, but kept their mouths tactfully shut.

With an understanding yet still annoyed face, Celestia used her magic to give the stone a bit more luminosity, but not nearly as much as it had been before Twilight got ahold of it. “While I give you permission to use this if the situation demands it, you will have to ration that magic, understand?” Twilight nodded with a stiff upper lip. “I expect your discretion on the matter until such a situation presents itself. Shield the stone from scrying as best you can.”

Twilight stole a glance at Rainbow in particular before nodding again. “Of course, Princess.”

“Excellent.” Celestia saw that Winter had finished the scroll with Diamond’s contact information, and that it was sitting on the ground next to him. She claimed it in her magic and tucked it under a wing. “I must leave or my absence will be noticed. You didn’t exactly contact me at an opportune moment, my faithful student.” She turned to the thestrals. “Do whatever you need to prepare. I will have orders for you by tomorrow night.”

“Your will be done,” both Rainbow and Winter answered in the old Nightborne manner.

“May your Mother smile upon you.” Celestia’s horn brightened, and she teleported away.

4: Summon the A Team

~Team

So yeah, I know I kinda owed all of you a wing and a leg, but the cash Diamond forwarded to all of you should cover the money I’ve borrowed. Now, I know you all are not my biggest fan after our last run together, but something really big came down, and I mean super ultra deluxe crazy BIG!!! All four of us need to get together in meatspace. Meet me at our delta hangout tomorrow night at nine, the entry fee and dinner’s on me.
~Flash

Rainbow Dash reviewed her message for the nth time right before stepping out of the taxi along with Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy. Diamond should show up at least. The day she passes up a mystery is the day I bring her to the Changeling Investigation Bureau in person. They had just arrived at a crowded street a block away from their destination, The Slayer Club. It sat on top of an edifice of glass and steel thirty stories up, and looked no different than the crown of any other skyscraper in Canterlot. In fact, the owner of the club, and the building as a whole, went to great lengths to give the club a clandestine atmosphere by removing any unwanted guests, rather than letting a line form around the building. Entry had to be paid for in advance, and that fee had eaten most of the remaining funds Celestia had provided her newest captain.

That means it’s noodles for dinner for the week, but it’ll be worth the cost if I can get the whole crew to sign up.

This part of the city was fairly affluent, so bat ponies were not a rare sight. Common enough for Rainbow Dash to walk around without a hood, at least. Yet she still had to wear a dress that Rarity had made for her the first time the team had to stake out a high class establishment. It was a simple yet elegant affair that had a style and color that worked more to complement her fur coloration than to fall in line with current seasonal colors. A nigh undetectable enchantment considerably darkened her leathery wings to the deep navy blue that was a staple among the artificial bat ponies, along with brightening her fur to a sky blue. With her mane and tail keeping its prismatic colors, the dress gave Rainbow the appearance of a pegasus turned bat pony. Rainbow Dash hated the dress for it, more so than the fact it was a dress in the first place; and yet it was the perfect attire for where she was going. In the end, it came down to the simple fact that there was something to be said for hiding in plain sight.

As the trio of mares made their way to the sidewalk, Rainbow’s cautious eye scanned Twilight’s and Fluttershy’s gowns, making sure both of them looked the part of rich married mares looking to have a night away from the family. If there was one thing that Rarity was good for, it was finding jobs that offered her excuses to create new clothes for the whole team. Five bits she’ll have a new dress for herself tonight. No way Flutters would take that bet, but Twiggles… oh right, she’s broke right now.

Casting such thoughts away, Rainbow led them through the dense walkways filled with wage-slaves leaving for home. None of them risked making eye contact with the trio, more out of fear of causing insult to the assumed mares in power than anything else. Fluttershy walked between the others, unable to really act the part of a snob. Twilight simply emulated the upper crust’s mannerisms she had suffered while in the palace. A few well placed sneers and scoffs at passersby flowed unnaturally through her expressions, but no one was going to look too closely. Rainbow Dash was the only one comfortable with the act, dress aside, and puffed up her chest, knowing full well she was the best athlete within a city block.

It wasn’t long before Rainbow Dash’s group made their way inside the skyscraper. Thus far, no bouncers were to be seen, but Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy expected as much. However, with Twilight Sparkle’s naivety, Rainbow kept glancing at the lavender mare expecting her to do or say something stupid.

The unicorn glanced about the spacious lobby with a critical eye. The polished stone floors and walls, with alcoves for potted plants, served to promote a calm, positive flow of chi. Ultimately though, Twilight was wise enough to keep her trap shut until they got to the unguarded elevator.

Two stallions had reached the elevator before them, prompting Rainbow to place a barring foreleg in front of Twilight so she would keep a safe distance. Rainbow expected Fluttershy to do the same without being prompted.

“Okay, I’m confused?” Twilight whispered in Rainbow’s ear once she came to a stop. “Shouldn’t clubs have signs or advertisements pointing ponies here? Or have a bouncer at least?”

Rainbow kept from answering straight away, until she noticed something about the stallions. They were waving their cred-sticks at the glass panel adjacent to the elevator button, yet the glass remained red. A bit of schadenfreude danced through Rainbow’s thoughts. She leaned in towards Twilight. “This place is supposed to be exclusive and difficult to find. Part of the appeal if you ask me. But yes, it does have a bouncer, just watch.”

Rainbow saw Twilight furrow her brow at her, but decide to wait and watch. Rainbow then turned to Fluttershy, who was caught between a sad frown for what was to come.

Fluttershy had to content herself with impatiently tapping her right forehoof. “Why is there always a bakebrain or two when we come here?” Fluttershy muttered to herself.

“Come on, I got enough bits to buy this stupid club twice over. Just open up!” one of the unicorn stallions growled. With still no reaction, his partner nudged him to the exit on the far side.

“Come on, Crazy Rich, let’s just go. There’s plenty of better clubs.”

“Tartarus no!” Crazy shoved back. “I told Glitter Soul I could get us in here, and I’m not going back without something to show for it.” He swiped the cred-stick once more, and finally got a reaction, just not the one he wanted.

A deep artificial voice rumbled out from a hidden speaker behind the glass. “No reservation found. Please leave the building immediately. Article 546-B2a gives us the authority to use non-lethal means with which to enact this requirement.”

Typical lawsuit plot-covering, Rainbow mused with a huff of annoyance for such a thing.

“That’s it, you can get yourself tazered if you want, I’m out.” Crazy’s friend backed off and away from the elevator.

Crazy started punching the glass. “Let me in, damn you!”

He backed up when the glass slid open and a lightning prod extended out. It zapped him with more than enough power to render Crazy unconscious. A hidden door behind everyone opened up, and a security robot crawled out, grabbed the stallion by his opulent suit, and dragged him down into the carport so he could be picked up by a waiting taxi to take him home. Double the fare, of course.

Now that Crazy Rich’s friend was leaving him behind, the lobby was free for Rainbow Dash and the others to approach the elevator. Twilight sweated a bit as Rainbow pulled out a credstick from under her dress. “So, you do have a ticket, right?”

Rainbow Dash opted to let the elevator answer for her. One swipe of her credstick resulted in a happy ping and the elevator doors opening. “Three patron tickets registered,” the same voice stated in a more agreeable tone. “Enjoy your night at The Slayer Club.”

As the trio climbed inside, Rainbow offered Twilight a smug smirk that only served to irritate the lavender mare. “Okay, point made.”

The express elevator tried to crush the mares with its acceleration, intent on adding the thrill of danger. Rainbow weathered the extra Gs of force with ease, and even Fluttershy took it with only little noticeable effort. Twilight Sparkle, however, grit her jaw and fought to remain upright.

As suddenly as it started, the elevator stopped and dinged open. The mares were immediately assaulted by ear pounding music, a laser show, and the rhythmic stomping of hooves to the beat. The club was built like an amphitheater with the dancefloor front and center while the dining areas took up the rest. A giant neon sign facing the elevator spelled out ‘The Slayer Club’. A bar sat opposite the dance floor with the DJ’s booth directly above the dancers. A part of Rainbow Dash yearned to join the throng and lose herself on the dance floor, yet her paranoia made her hunt for bat ponies in the crowd. That proved a difficult task with the shifting colors and the low view from the ground floor the elevator opened up on. They left the elevator and skirted the dance floor searching for a suitable table. While trying to act like she was engaging in meaningless chatter, Rainbow Dash noticed Twilight giving the snow white unicorn DJ a scathing glare. Heh, guess she’s not one for bomping parties. We might have to fix that by the time we return her to Celestia.

A nudge from Fluttershy made Rainbow follow the pegasus’ hoof to a balcony table on the third floor. Rainbow followed the hoof to spot that Rarity and Applejack were already waiting. Great, I’m not even the first one here for my Shadowbolt pitch.

Giving a nod to Fluttershy, Rainbow led them towards the stairs, and they made their way up the balcony. Now that she was closer, Rainbow Dash was a bit surprised to see the table sat directly in the middle of a dragon line, a splinter of the much larger ley line the city used to support the many platforms jutting out from Canterhorn Mountain. Being invisible to most, the ethereal green line came in from the floor at one end of the table and then out towards the ceiling balcony at an unnaturally flat angle. What in the world!? Since when did dragon lines get so horizontal?

“Well, well, you took yer sweet time in gitt’n here,” drawled Applejack with a half grin as she stood up to meet Rainbow Dash and the others. The orange earth pony had chrome hind legs that weren’t exactly top of the line, and hadn't been even when she got them. They were a bit noisy, and her back hooves were heavy on the carpet. The mare also had scars that crisscrossed a good part of her body. Unlike all the others, she had refused to wear any clothing. A snarky yet partially friendly smirk was plastered over the mare’s face. That is, until she realized Twilight was not a waitress that was walking impolitely close to Rainbow and Fluttershy. Her mode instantly shifted to all business, and her smirk evaporated. “Is she a new client?”

Rarity arched an inquisitive eyebrow, but remained silent, waiting for Rainbow’s answer.

“Actually, she’s a new recruit, of a sort.” With the balcony being so small, Rainbow Dash went ahead and claimed the seat closest to the railing. Rich bat ponies loved to show off what they were, and she had to act the part. “Everypony, meet Twiggles, she’s… a mage.”

The answer more or less had the desired effect and it eased Applejack into reclaiming her seat instead of remaining poised for a fight. “Another mage? Sounds fine by me. Ah’ll save some bits and just restock on basic ammo then.”

Twilight Sparkle still had her ears flat against her head, and couldn’t hear any of the conversation, save that there was one. “Any chance I can use a privacy spell?” she asked Rainbow Dash more than the group. “This music’s worse than getting an A minus.”

“I suppose we all have our own priorities,” Rarity said with an interested, friendly smile, at least as much as she could while having to yell to be heard. The snow white mare with the curled purple mane looked immaculate in a sparkling ruby dress, a new one of course. She wore a necklace with a diamond stud that drew eyes away from the datajack implanted in the back of her neck, to the right of her mane. The jack was only visible when Rarity fluffed her mane. “I’ve already swept our little oasis for bugs; we shouldn’t need the music to mask our little talk.”

Twilight Sparkle needed no further prompting, and after claiming a chair, the one closest to the dragon line, she summoned her spell. A transparent purple bubble expanded from her horn and encased the private balcony, silencing the music, with only the noise leaking from the floor remaining. She visibly sagged with relief, completely uncaring about how the others would see her rubbing her ears. “Ah, so much better.”

Fluttershy had produced a small noise canceling robot from the satchel she brought with her, but the spell convinced her to meekly replace it.

Applejack whistled as she looked over the barely perceivable bubble. “Ah’ve never even heard of a pony being able to cast a spell like this all by themselves. Mighty impressive.”

“As is your fee, I’m sure,” Rarity added with a poignant look at Rainbow Dash. “Tell me, dear,” she started while placing a caring hoof between them, just short of touching Rainbow’s own. “Should I be worried…” Rarity caught herself and took another glance at Twilight. “How freely can we talk?”

Rainbow caught Rarity’s eye movement and took a slow breath. “Twiggles is already knows I’m not a bat. No need to hold your tongue around her.”

Rarity looked at Rainbow with astonishment before a thin smile graced her lips. “A new recruit indeed. Very well.” Rarity gave Twilight a brief contemplative look, sizing her up. Her gaze did not linger on the other unicorn. “I must ask, who this new benefactor is? I say this as a friend, but… Nopony throws that much money around without having a leash firmly wrapped around their neck.”

“You didn’t put one on me when you fronted the bits for my house,” Rainbow offered with a thankful expression and a casual wave of a hoof.

Rarity pouted a little at the dismissive, yet appreciative answer. “Forfeiting my business venture to help you should not be considered the norm.” Rarity spared a glance at Rainbow who was trying to look as friendly as possible. “I want to help you, Flash, but I don’t want to get tangled into something that could be way over all of our heads. Especially when a dead mare walks up to my table.”

“Dead what?” Applejack asked, looking at Rarity and following her gaze towards Twilight Sparkle. She squinted at the now sweating purple mare, a glimmer of recognition darting in and out within a second. Purple unicorns were about as common as any other color, yet it was a rotting smell that Applejack was trying to sniff out. The rot was absent, but perfume could cover just about anything if applied correctly. The farmer became very tense as she carefully braced her left hoof over her right foreleg, the muted whine of a charging capacitor filled the air. “Flash, Ah swear if you brought a ghoul over here...” The earth pony was tensing up for a kill as a slim section of her right foreleg popped up two inches with a gun barrel aimed right at Twilight.

“What?! No no no no, I’m not undead!” Twilight internally debated on whether or not powering her horn would be a wise move. She ultimately decided to keep it unlit.

Rainbow started to freak out a bit as her runner’s instinct screamed in alarm that Applejack was about to become very ordnance heavy, despite the fact that Twilight was thankfully keeping her horn unpowered. “Hey, hey, easy, Farmer,” Rainbow chided with a bit of personal insult lingering her tone. “Twiggles is on the up and up, and totally not undead,” Rainbow said through a forced smile. Nice choice of words Diamond, I mean come on!

“I suppose you would be somepony who would ignore the news,” Rarity started with no reaction to her friends’ surging panic. She paused a bit while shifting her sitting posture, never taking her eyes off Twilight. “We have none other than the apparently very not-dead personal student of Princess Celestia gracing our table.”

“Who?” Applejack asked in bewilderment. Rarity’s explanation made Applejack slowly separate her forelegs, and her concealed weapon retracted.

“See?” Rainbow said as she leapt at the opening Rarity had given her. “You really think I’d bring a ghoul anywhere near you of all ponies? Or at all for that matter?”

The question gave Rarity and Applejack both a moment’s pause before Applejack visibly shook her tension off a smidgen. “Ah wanna say no, but you don’t just come up with the kinda dough yer throwing around off a single run. Not unless you hit something you weren’t supposed to, or you got so many strings attached to you Ah might as well call ya Puppet from now on.”

Rainbow got red in the face. “I would die for my friends. I can’t believe you would even think that I would ever do something like that.”

“Flash,” Fluttershy called out while placing a reassuring hoof on her friend’s withers. “Why not just tell them everything that happened after we met with our fixer?”

Rainbow glanced at Fluttershy who offered an encouraging, yet weak smile. She looked over at Twilight, who had stopped sweating quite as much and was busying her chattering teeth with the water glass that Fluttershy had offered from her seat. Finally, she exhaled her ire towards Applejack and sat back down. “It’s a really long story, and that’s part of the reason I wanted us all to meet here. Plus the food’s crazy, and they let me take infinite breadsticks home.”

And that was precisely what Rainbow Dash did. She retold every detail she thought relevant between getting the assassination job, finding Twilight’s cryotank, the escape, all the way until Celestia offered her the position of Captain. Fluttershy wasn’t present for anything after returning home that night, so she couldn’t offer much in the way of verification. By the time Rainbow was done, the five mares had finished everything but dessert.

“—And that’s basically it,” Rainbow ended with a hopeful smile, while trying to mask her apprehension. “You three are the only ones I trust enough to offer actual membership. If ya want it, that is.”

“This legitimate?” Rarity asked incredulously. Her voice was almost quiet with a hope she had long since given up on. “The Princess Celestia is offering us full pardons?”

“Only to those Flash brings in as full Shadowbolts,” Twilight butted in, earning a scowl from Rainbow. Once Applejack and Rarity were clued in on who Twilight was, the purple unicorn was much more at ease, and was able to let Rainbow’s ire roll off of her. “We can still, of course, hire other runners should we need to bolster our numbers, but they must not know of the Princess’s involvement.”

“Our SINs too?” Applejack asked with equal reservation, partially ignoring Twilight interjection. When Rainbow nodded, Applejack averted her eyes as memories struck her. “Ah can’t say the offer ain’t a good one, but what exactly could we do if we all got legit lives again? Even if our crimes are forgiven, we’ve made some enemies along the way, and the real thing keepin’ us from being found easy as pie is not having a SIN.”

Twilight felt the need to answer again before Rainbow could, and cleared her throat. “You’ll have Celestia’s backing during this little venture, for however long it lasts. If Flash thinks your assistance is vital, then I can personally guarantee that any… loose ends you need to tie up can be taken care of. Either by us, or by the application of bits from the treasury. In any case, so long as we do that before the pardons are doled out, you’ll be in the clear as far as both the Princess and the law is concerned.” She tried to fix each of them with a stern glare that only got a reaction out of Rarity before saying, “That being said… I…” Twilight scowled at herself. Being conscious that she had the center of attention, she heaved a sigh. “Nevermind, I forgot what I wanted to say.”

“If ya say so,” Applejack stated with stark disbelief. “But that’s mighty nice a’ the Princess. Ah wouldn’t exactly like it so much if Ah had to justify myself after every run.”

Rarity clattered a fork on her plate to look as if she did it accidentally, but still took advantage of the group’s attention on her. “As lovely as these perks sound, I have no desire to become a soldier, and this whole Shadowbolt thing sounds very militaristic.”

“Psh, do you honestly think I could just boss the three of you around like some drill sergeant?” Rainbow asked with plenty of mirth. “Nah, I’d run the crew just like any other team.” Rainbow clicked her tongue. “But you and I both know what you’re real problem is: you think I’m too inexperienced to be a run leader.”

Rarity gave a polite nod with a thin smile. “I’m glad we understand each other. You’re a good runner, Flash, especially for somepony who’s only been in it for a year. But, I don’t feel comfortable with this whole Captain business when Farmer and I have far more years under us than you.” Rarity’s eyes drifted over to Twilight, and suppressed a frown as she imagined Princess Celestia’s phantom standing behind Twilight and sternly judging Rarity. She took a moment to think by sipping from her wine glass. The fact that it was real wine did much to settle her nerves. “Still, if being under an inexperienced team leader is the price I must pay for returning to an honest living, then - then I can agree to the Princess’s terms.”

Rainbow Dash let off a heavy sigh of pent-up anxiety. “You won’t regret it. Angel’s alright, but we really need your decking skills if we’re going after something at alicorn-level threats.”

The yellow pegasus absently stroked her mane over one eye. “I’d rather focus on my little friends anyway.”

“How about it, Farmer?” Rainbow asked with renewed enthusiasm. A massive grin creased one side of her face.

Some part of Applejack knew Rarity’s comment about an honest life was directed at her, making the farm pony frown and reconsider her options. “Money’s always tight, especially since Ah’m the only one in mah family who’s runnin’. The crown’s never done me any favors, but if Ah can get a heap a’ money to get back on mah hooves when all this business is done, then Ah’ll throw mah hat in too.”

Rainbow Dash grinned manically and started hovering above the table. “Awesome! You guys won’t regret it! How about a round on me?” Rainbow waved her hoof on the side of the table, causing her section to light up with a menu. When the other mares gave various means of approval, Rainbow ordered up the drinks.

Some idle chatter broke out, as none of the runners wanted the coming waiter to overhear anything. Twilight Sparkle fell quiet during it all, content to observe her new peers.

After the drinks arrived, Rarity pulled out a small, personal holoprojector. “Since we are all on the same page, we should see what’s in store for us, yes? I’ve been hanging on this rather fascinating scan code from our… benefactor.” Rarity was about to activate the display when she hesitated and cast a brief glance at the privacy screen Twilight had put in place. “Twiggles, dear, can ponies see us through this bubble of yours?”

“As far as anypony outside is concerned, we’re just a group of friends eating desserts at the moment. We could be performing a scene from Lease and outsiders would be none the wiser.”

The prospect of perfect privacy got Fluttershy’s attention in a heartbeat. “Really?” She stepped away from the table, keeping her eyes on her friends. As soon as Fluttershy left the balcony, the sight of her friends watching her shifted, like two pictures merging to match each other. Now she saw the other mares sharing drinks and hushed gossip. The false Rainbow Dash looked like she was a regular hen on the rumor fence with the devilish grin as Rarity whispered in her ear. “Oh my, wouldn’t that be the day,” the yellow robot-rigger giggled happily.

Fluttershy returned to her awaiting friends. Twilight was purposely looking away, blushing from embarrassment. “This is amazing. I bet you got a lot of use out of this in the palace.”

Twilight bashfully scraped the table with an idle hoof. “It’s nothing special.”

“Nothing special is right,” Rainbow scoffed indignantly, upon seeing the teasing smirk from Applejack. “This stuff wouldn’t be that hard if I actually bothered to learn it.”

“Why haven’t you though?” Twilight asked with a mixture of genuine curiosity and a bit of disappointment. “This kind of spell is perfect for the Nightborne.”

“I’m not Nightborne anymore, in case you forgot,” Rainbow growled spitefully as her eyes drifted up and to the right in the general direction of the royal district. “Just a thestral now.”

“You know what I meant,” Twilight rebuked with a huff. “It stands to reason your modus operandi mirrors that organization. So why-”

“Gaps in one’s spellbook aside,” Rarity interjected before Rainbow could become even more defensively hostile. “I was trying to crack the encryption on this…” Rarity tapped the projector, which brought up a golf ball sized digitized sphere. The surface danced with gold, silver, and amethyst lines, floating numbers, and irregular squares that even an untrained eye could identify as a scan code. “This is an encryption method I’ve never seen before,” Rarity fawned over its complexity, something the other mares couldn’t disagree with. “It’s vaguely like a Minitel type encryption key, but brought into a whole new level by introducing color sequences and seemingly random hexadecimal integers based on shifting positions. It teases me with promise.”

“It’s beautiful,” Fluttershy cooed, her mildly trained eyes fixated on it.

“It’s also dangerous,” Twilight warned with a nervous look at Rarity. “You didn’t try to decrypt it on your own did you?”

A disgruntled scowl briefly marred Rarity’s face. “Curiosity kills more than cats, I suppose. I lost my best deck trying to take a peek. The whole thing would have fried my brain if I hadn’t been operating behind a dummy barrier. Not even black Intrusion Countermeasures hit me that fast. The best I’ve been able to do is look at it.”

“Then you were lucky.” Twilight closed her eyes and centered herself. “Anything beyond than the very act of projecting the encrypted message, be it on a screen or even in the Matrix, will cause… almost certain death to any unauthorized access attempt. Luckily, I have a way of unlocking it.”

“Ah would hope so, since the Princess expected you ta be with us,” Applejack stated with the barest hint of sarcasm.

As when Celestia pulled the gold and silver shade out from Twilight, the student now separated that same part of herself from her left foreleg. The ethereal leg was mostly a brilliant gold with veins of muted silver saturating anything the gold did not cover. The limb it belonged to went limp and lifeless.

Having not witnessed the act before, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack were struck speechless by the act. None of them could say a word as Twilight’s spirit hoof made contact with the hologram. The purple lines in the display vanished, and while Twilight returned her spirit fully back into her leg, the hologram warped and shifted into a thin line that flickered as Celestia’s recording began.

“I hope this message is being received without any fatalities.” The Princess seemed unapologetic, yet Rainbow Dash had listened to enough speeches to pick up on a note of fearful concern. “I trust ponies in your line of work understand the need for security.” Rarity ground her teeth to keep from showing any other signs of irritation. “I have a small team of trusted agents shadowing that mafia assassin of yours, but I must insist on you performing an assignment for me first. Included in this recording are details of Royal Clover Research Laboratory. You are to recover an artifact of mine that was under study.”

Clover Laboratory was smack dab in the middle of the Celestial Technology Park, on the outskirts of Manehattan’s suburbs. It was an extremely affluent area, with the direct backing of the crown fueling its rise to prominence a few decades ago. However, the topics of research, geology, astronomy, and various other similar sciences drew little attention from prying eyes.

With the Shadowbolts’ equipment being mostly illegal, they had to charter a ‘private’ aircraft to take them there. Currently, they were leaving their rented car behind, a few streets away from the motel they were using as a safehouse.

At nightfall, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Applejack ducked into the well-manicured shrubs. A tall marble wall was all that stood between them and the rest of the technology park.

“I reviewed the security of the facility just last month as it so happens, so I know of a spot along the walls where the pressure and motion sensors have failed. Perhaps your intrusion will better motivate the security director to give me more than lip service on his willingness to update the protection.”

Rainbow Dash was back in her robes, but presently had her wings free for flight. Rarity wore a tight fitting black suit with a functional, yet classy, tactical vest that had been personalized with flowing, aggressive, muted colors. She had a transparent visor covering her eyes with her pearl and purple colored cyberdeck hanging tightly across her back. Lastly, she had a unicorn-adapted pistol nestled in a holster. The weapon came with a sizable cylindrical attachment on the grip that allowed the wielder’s telekinesis to bleed the kickback of firing in exchange for taxing the user’s mana. The crystal made firing it without magic entirely impractical.

Applejack was easily the heaviest of the group, decked out in ballistic armor that covered everything except her chromed legs. Her armor allowed her to carry an arsenal’s worth of spare ammunition for not only her own assault rifle, but for Rarity as well. Applejack’s weapon, as with most pony firearms, was designed to wrap around the foreleg for stability with a large trigger shielded within a semi sphere-shaped guard. No pony firearms had been created for mouth use in centuries; the kickback had long since proved far too dangerous.

Finally, Twilight Sparkle had opted for the lightest kit, a form-fitting black jumpsuit that covered everything but her mouth and eyes; her only weapon being her horn. She did, however, possess a knapsack to carry the object they were after.

Being the quietest, Rainbow Dash tensed to fly up, yet waited for the signal from Fluttershy. She spotted a single parasprite bot fly over the wall, with its master’s voice crackling over the earpiece in the rest of the team’s ears. ~”Just like the Queen said, there’s no power going to the sensors up here.”~

“Government efficiency at its best,” Applejack jeered as she chewed on some gum.

~“There are two rent-a-cops are watching this section, but they look bored and aren’t watching the tops of the wall. I can take one out easily enough, but the noise would alert the other.”~

“Then I’ve got the closer one.” Rainbow Dash answered back. She slid her goggles on, giving her the same video feed the parasprite was giving Fluttershy. Once she locked her target’s location, a red line imposed itself on Rainbow’s goggles. “Diamond, got the time?”

Without looking away from the street-side guard post half a mile away, Rarity made a slight grin from the thrill. “Ten seconds to midnight.”

As the clock ticked away, Rainbow Dash waited with sweat starting to sting her eyes under the goggles. The red light moved subtly as the guard shifted back and forth. The world outside of listening to the two guards became muted and grey. This has to work in one go or we’re hosed. In the corner of her eye, Rainbow spotted one of Fluttershy’s larger flying drones, a bat-like creation that glided down to the edge of the wall before sitting motionless.

As the clock struck midnight, the crew waited until a radio crackled to life on each guard’s right foreleg. ~“This is Central Dispatch. Please send all clear codes.”~ The speaker was bored, only making the barest effort to hide a yawn.

Rainbow Dash listened in as each code was spoken aloud and waited for the radio to go silent. The moment the camera feed showed the guards’ hooves fall away from the radios, she bolted. With an almost silent flying leap, Rainbow vaulted the wall, and followed the red line straight at the nearest guard. At the same time, the bat-like robot flew over the wall alongside Rainbow and went after the other guard.

Rainbow crashed hard on her target, and slammed his face against the cobblestone pathway just hard enough to stun him. By the time she roped a hoof around his neck to lock him into a sleeper hold, Fluttershy’s bot reached the second guard who was reacting to the commotion. He didn’t even get a chance to activate his radio before the robot tasered him into unconsciousness.

Without even waiting for Rainbow’s grapple to finish off the guard, Applejack used her chromed hindlegs to vault on top of the wall, trailing a rope behind her. Rarity had fastened the other end around her barrel and legs, so that once Applejack had enough leverage, she yanked Rarity up to the top of the wall then lowered her back down on the other side. With practiced ease, Rarity used her magic to undo the knot so Applejack could swing the rope back over again so Twilight could repeat the maneuver. The rookie had spent a good two hours on the way over just practicing tying the knot as quickly as possible. Her efforts paid off and she was ready to be pulled up within seconds.

Rainbow’s target was out like a light by the time her two friends, and one recruit, reached her. Applejack and Rainbow started dragging the guards to a little alcove covered in deep shadow by a tree.

Twilight’s ears wilted at the act of harming a loyal guard, even if they were underpaid rent-a-cops. However, she forced herself to bear a stiff upper lip and took to cover to keep watch for astral threats Fluttershy’s drones had no hope in spotting.

“One thing I want to make absolutely clear on this assignment is that I want no fatalities or life-long injuries to anypony at the facility. This conspiracy may run deeper than I hope, but for now, I am operating on an innocent until proven guilty stance. Should you run into any unauthorized ponies at the park, however, you may act as you see fit.”

Once they were in place, Rarity pulled out two syringes from her kit and injected sedatives in the guards. “There, that should keep them out of it until morning.”

The quiet whirl of propellers momentarily drew Rainbow’s gaze to the four parasprites Fluttershy had brought. With the pegasus safe in a rented car off-site, hiding in a trunk to avoid suspicion, Rainbow felt relief in not having to worry for her. Good thing the park is wider than it is tall. Flutters should get a clear control signal all over the place.

~“The coast is clear, if the patrol cars are as sparse as Queen says they are, we can get halfway to Clover without seeing a single headlight.”~

Rainbow Dash did her best to recall the layout of the park from the short time she had to memorize it on the flight over. ~“Roger that.”~ She looked around and spotted the name of the building they were at on a placard nearby. She crept over to Applejack and Rarity who were sticking to cover. “We gotta keep it low and quiet. The less cylons we run into, the better.”

Twilight’s face twitched at the bad grammar, but said nothing.

“Ah ain’t exactly built for quiet,” Applejack warned with a tense but uncombative face. “Them fancy quiet shoes a’ yours aren’t exactly cheap. Even with the money you gave, Ah still won’t be able to afford them any time soon.” She tapped the cobblestone path with a rear hoof. Even with light movements, the metal legs made a distinct racket against the team’s quiet-attuned hearing. “So uh - ya better scout ahead of me each step of the way.”

Rainbow Dash took a moment to think before nodding. “Okay, I can do that.” She looked to Twilight. “You said you know a spell to quiet hoofsteps though, didn’t you?”

Twilight started to sweat a bit, and was glancing around, yet didn’t see what she was looking for. “It was meant for organic hooves, I don’t know how effective it is with cybernetics.”

Why would that matter? Noise is noise. Fearing she didn’t have time to press her question, Rainbow Dash saw a similar quizzical look from Rarity, but Applejack seemed satisfied with the excuse. “Sure, whatever, okay. Follow my lead, and try to stay on the grass any chance you get.”

With a round of nods, Rainbow Dash took one last look around to the path ahead. Unlike Canterlot’s dense urban sprawl, the Celestial Park was very open with buildings separated by well-maintained lawns and countless marble statues. Each one depicted scientists throughout the modern day and history, each responsible for great breakthroughs or pivotal studies. I wonder if Shining Light’s statue is here somewhere. I need to give a bit of tribute to the grandfather of my tribe if I have a chance. Rainbow had to forcefully ignore the statues to focus on the patrols. Not every laboratory handled sensitive research, so overwatch security was sparse. Okay, three cars, five cops on hoof, and three drones. One thing she was glad to see were no enlisted elemental spirits on patrol. Celestia mentioned a shaman was on payroll, so I still need to keep an eye out.

Rainbow Dash crept along her soft rubber shoes as quiet as a whisper through the darkened fields.

“Since there is so much open ground at the park, I’ve decided to give another helping hoof. I’ll be informing the weather teams to make it heavy overcast tomorrow night, ahead of schedule. One thing I was disappointed with was the lack of night vision equipment there. Due to the nature of the artifact, it would draw too much attention if I personally pressed the need for tighter security without an incident to set precedence. Give me that precedence.”

Rainbow slunk along the length of the first building, and when she saw it was clear, she waved the others forward. This whole operation feels like a field training exercise. Celestia is making this too easy. Ah well, easy bits are easy bits. Rainbow crept across streets and tree filled fields, each time stopping and waving the crew forward when security wasn’t looking.

As she went along, cover to cover, bush to tree, Rainbow’s bravado nearly got the better of her when she saw three unicorn security guards standing and talking right in the path she wanted to take. Rainbow skidded to a stop close to a fountain. The running water would mask some of Applejack’s hoofsteps as the rest of the mares caught up with her. Fluttershy’s two robots flew high enough to be ignored by the guards and pressed on to Clover. Luckily, the fountain was one of the few that did not have any display lights at this hour, allowing them good concealment from the distracted ponies several meters further along. Yet it was not the guards alone that was starting to worry Rainbow. “Twiggles, can you see any elementals? Even if a place this big has only one shaman on payroll, there should be at least a few windies around. Yet all I’m getting are echoes of their passing.”

Twilight was sweating profusely despite the cool air. Her ears were pressed flat against her skull, and her eyes darted back and forth like pinballs. Rarity tactfully nudged the panicky mare, and had the wits to magically clamp Twilight’s mouth shut before she could scream. Muffled cries of fear tried desperately to escape Twilight’s shut jaw, prompting Rarity to speak to her in a dignified, assertive tone. “Twiggles, if you could be so kind as to calm down. You keep this up and you’re liable to summon the security director himself down on top of us.” Rarity produced a white pill in her magic. “I insist.”

Slowly regaining her wits, Twilight thought about it, yet when Rainbow offered no objections, she nodded at Rarity and claimed the pill in her magic. “S-s-sorry,” she whispered with a shiver. “I’m just a student. I’m not cut out for this life.” Taking a globe of water from the fountain, Twilight took the pill.

“Ah wasn’t either,” Applejack said with friendly concern. “Ah think mah street name should make it obvious what Ah’d rather be doin’.”

“We can talk about it later,” Rainbow warned with some frenzy creeping into her voice. “But we have to keep moving, and I need that answer, Twiggles.”

“What? Oh, right, the elementals.” Twilight shook her head to try and clear it and scanned their surroundings. The pill was already having an effect, and her panic was ebbing to give her analytical mind take center stage. She could see Clover Laboratory off in the distance with a sparse parking lot and multiple short ornamental marble walls and shrubs between them. Yet not one elemental was in sight. “I don’t see any, but that shouldn’t be too surprising. Celestial Park has a large elemental study division. Since it’s impossible to control an elemental for too long, the local population is probably poached daily for study and experimentation. I came here last year to deliver my dissertation on ley line fraying theory,” she added with distinct pride.

“How old are you again?” Rarity asked with marked confusion.

“I’ll be nineteen next month. Why?”

“You wrote a dissertation at eighteen?!”

Rainbow dragged a hoof across her face. “By the Moon, could you two focus?!” she hissed quietly while waving a hoof at the guards still standing on the far side of the fountain. “I thought I was the rookie here… if you ignore Twiggles.”

“My apologies,” Rarity replied with embarrassment reddening her cheeks. “You can’t help a decker for being inquisitive. You’d be surprised how much some dirt on Miss Student was worth before her little… spat at the embassy.”

“You were trying to get dirt on me?” Twilight asked with abject shock. Emotional pain tinting her voice. “What did I ever do to you?! Or anypony outside those morally bankrupt money babies? Is it really so difficult to believe I just want to be a scientist?!”

“It’s not my fault you high and noble ponies do disgusting things behind closed doors,” Rarity bit back with a scowl. “Maybe if ponies like you acted in accordance to Harmony, you’d have nothing to fear from snoopers like me.”

“I’ve got nothing to hide!” Twilight seethed with fire in her eyes. “But that doesn’t stop you snoopers from fabricating dirt!”

Rainbow Dash shoved her hooves into both mares’ mouths. “Are you idiots trying to get the cylons’ attention?! Drop it, now!”

Rainbow gave Twilight and Rarity a scathing glare long enough to see Twilight quiet down and Rarity to roll her eyes unapologetically. “We can deal with the drama later, right now we need to focus!” Leaving it at that, Rainbow waved at them to continue moving. “Come on, the cylons’ buggered off.” The west side of Clover Laboratory was within reach, and it only took the crew a few minutes to arrive at the back door safely. As soon as the other mares caught up to Rainbow Dash, the thestral pointed a wing at the key panel. “Diamond, you’re up.”

Rainbow Dash let Rarity and Applejack slip past her in order to focus on Twilight. The unicorn bore a clenched angry scowl at Rarity before having the presence of mind to turn around to watch for threats. Rainbow wanted to approach her about the issue, but Rarity cut her off.

“We’re in. Queen’s decryption algorithm worked like a charm.” Rarity pushed the door open a bit to allow Rainbow Dash to scout ahead. Fluttershy’s drones propped themselves on the roof overlooking the exit.

Swallowing her unease, Rainbow slipped on through. Clover Labs did not have a back entrance per se, but more of a two-sided lobby. It was a two-story, sterile chamber with an elegant receptionist desk backed by the stairs leading up to the open walkways of the second floor. White with sporadic grey colored everything as there was a complete lack of any potted plants or artwork.

Rainbow crept along slower than she would have liked. However, the appearance of dancing orange light from further down the central curving hallway forced her to hesitate, and her mood soured in a hurry. That looks like a fire, yet there’s no alarm or smoke. That means a summoned elemental. And just when I thought Celestia was being generous with the information.

Rainbow Dash stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the light source was headed towards her, and turned to the crew. “We got a code 2319! Twiggles, you’re with me!”

Rarity and Applejack slipped in, guns drawn and took up flanking positions around Rainbow. Twilight came in right behind them and slid in behind the thestral who was camped out in front of the receptionist desk. “So this is where the elementals have been hiding. This won’t be easy if the shaman is competent. He’s probably had ages to set up proper geometric stabilizing points across the whole building.”

Rainbow Dash’s gaze flickered towards the unicorn with an approving hum. “I was worried I’d have to go through the code book later with you. You’re a quick study.”

“I get that a lot,” Twilight replied back with only token good humor. There was little of the fear she had expressed earlier, which had been replaced by a pensive, calculating frown at the approaching light.

I guess she’s not so squeamish about banishing spirits, or that pill works better than I thought. Fine by me either way. With the hallway becoming much brighter now, enough so that it was starting to reduce Rainbow’s night vision, she covered her forelegs with her robes while signing a spellbolt. “Do I have to tell you, you can’t kill these things? Only banish them?” she whispered now, not wanting to fight the thing if she didn’t have to.

“Of course,” Twilight replied almost insulted. “Bullets are minimally effective unless properly enchanted. The multidimensional nature of spells are able to inflict pain, thus are able to convince elementals to-”

“Yeah, yeah, I didn't ask for a thesis, Egghead.” Rainbow’s robes ruffled gently as she had to make the signs entirely by feel and memory alone, while also using the fabric to hide the spell-light. “I gotta admit, it’s nice having a second mage around. I’m going to stun it, assuming it isn’t an earth elemental, while you hurt it enough to banish it. We gold?”

Twilight bit her lower lip, her jaw starting to tremble a bit. “Any chance you can be the one to use spellfire? I uhh, I can only blind it or bash it with something.”

Rainbow Dash held the stunspell in her hooves, still hidden by the robe, and gave Twilight an impatient scowl. “What are you talking about? You were personally trained by the Queen weren’t you? Make with the sparkles already.”

“I—” Twilight’s face went beet red. “I can’t cast very much without the help of a dragon line. All I can do right now is light and TK. That’s all.”

Rainbow’s concentration on her spell broke, and it fizzled in her hooves. “Are you drekking me? I’m all for a good prank, but now’s not the time, Twiggles.”

“It’s genetic, okay?!” Twilight hissed back. The light from the elemental was fully illuminating the lobby, but the two mages were still hiding behind the desk and couldn’t see it directly. “If you can find me a dragon line, I can banish it.”

Rainbow was getting so pissed her temple started throbbing. “I am about to beat your ass! What about that ritual you used to summon Queen?”

Twilight started to feel the heat of the elemental as it lazily drew closer. “Why do you think I needed a sunstone? How many summon spells do you know requires a stone as a focus?”

Rainbow grabbed Twilight by the collar with near-panic in her voice. “You tell me this now?! What is wrong with you, do you want to get your tail burned off?”

“It’s super embarrassing, okay?!” Twilight hissed back with defensive frustration. “Would you go advertising that you could only fly on a full moon or something?”

“If I was going on a run then yes!” Rainbow growled. It was a lie of course, and even Twilight frowned in disbelief, but Rainbow had a point to make. “If you can’t do something basic in a fight, I wanna know about it!”

The sound and smell of burning coals broke them from the hushed argument and they looked over to the opposite wall to see the fire elemental’s light was patrolling down the side hall. It was only then that Rainbow Dash thought to check on her friends. Rarity had ducked behind a pillar while Applejack was behind a wide circular couch. Yet both mares were peeking out from cover and had slack-jawed expressions. Growing concerned, Rainbow Dash slowly pushed Twilight out of the way to see could round the desk to take a look for herself. While the thing was indeed a fire elemental, it was not in the normal shape of a pony or a formless flame. Instead it looked like a piñata, complete with a string that hung it from midair. Being so close, Rainbow and Twilight could hear lighthearted giggling coming from the burning piñata. Small, burning pieces of candy fell out with each giggle, only to turn to ash before going too far.

That is the most demented thing I’ve ever seen. Rainbow shivered and once she was sure the elemental was continuing down the short path to the wall, she frantically tried to think of what to do. It wouldn’t take it very long to reach the end and turn back around. We took too long getting here, and even if we had the time to sneak around, AJ’s too noisy to get past this thing since all the floors are hard tiles. That does it, I don’t care what AJ has to say, everypony’s wearing soft shoes from here on out. She can buy new shoes after every run if she has to.

We might be able to banish it, but… “Fine, ahhh… new plan!” Rainbow had to keep the stutter of uncertainty out of her voice. “Twiggles, you can at least levitate somepony right? Say… Farmer and Diamond by chance?”

Twilight glanced at the mares in question. Applejack had her assault rifle held in one foreleg, but stayed on three legs if she needed to run. Rarity was unmoving, save to keep the pillar between herself and the elemental. She was keeping her pistol in its holster, her horn dark. “I could all day long if needed, but not without their consent. Where am I levitating them to, exactly?”

“Just throw them down the hall. If we have to fight this thing or any of its buddies, we need to do it away from the lobbies, or somepony outside could see the gun and spellfire.” Rainbow clicked her radio and gave curt instructions to the others.

Twilight shivered a bit. “If I had a week I couldn’t list how many reasons this is a stupid idea, but I’ve got time for one at least. That elemental could turn around when it senses me using magic. You do know fire elementals can sense unicorn magic, right?”

“I paid attention to my training, thank you very much,” Rainbow bit back defensively. “Because as a matter of fact, I’m counting on it.”

“You runners are insane, you know that?” Twilight’s horn lit up and she built her magic up, and tried to latch onto the other mares. Her magic washed around them like soapy water. Even unskilled in intermediate magic, Rarity instinctively pushed back at Twilight’s magic, while Applejack’s innate power kept her fixed on the ground. Yet as Rainbow got her point across over the radio, they slowly relented enough for Twilight’s telekinesis to take hold. Applejack was the first to be lifted in the air and all but thrown down the hall, Twilight’s control kept the mare upright until she let go as the earth pony sailed past the receptionist desk. Rarity went flying after her, muffling her wails of fear behind her hooves.

Once she saw Twilight finally obeying, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and made two sets of signs. When the first sign was complete, a wide circle with four points for her legs and two more representing her wings, Rainbow could feel magic filling her bones and muscles. Her second sign, a single circle with jagged lines in the center caused her hooves to faintly glow through her black shoes with magefire. No witnesses. Now I get to fight my way.

The fire elemental paused the instant Twilight powered her horn, and abruptly turned around just in time to see Applejack flying down the hallway from which it had come from. It shrieked an unequine cry as Rarity went flying after the earth pony. In a blind rage, the burning piñata raced after Rarity and Applejack. When it rounded the bend, it saw the two mares were sprinting deeper into the laboratory.

The piñata launched a fireball that careened past Rarity, singing her mane, but thankfully traveled a good ways further down the hallway. The resulting explosion destroyed a security camera before it could see the two shadowrunners and scorched a good chunk of the drywall. As the intruders fled, the elemental went after them. Yet it only got a few meters away when it heard the barest of rapid hoofsteps behind it. It turned around to see a hoof smash its face. The floating elemental was sent spinning, only for a second strike to hit it on the counterspin.

Rainbow Dash hissed in mild pain and waggled her left foreleg to try and shake away the heat from touching the elemental. “Drek that smarts.”

~“Back off, Flash, let me get that varmint’s attention off ya.”~

Needing no further prompting, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and pulled away from the elemental right as the piñata lashed out by breathing fire in all directions, aimless in its surprised fury. Unlike the elemental itself the flames clung to the floor and walls like sticky tar, burning away at the paint and tiles. The burning coals it had for eyes fixated on Rainbow Dash, only for its head to be violently jerked away. It turned its attention on Applejack, who was standing upright. Her armor had extended two long prods from her chest, giving her the balance needed to stand up and hold the rifle with both forelegs.

“That’s right, look at me ya pissed off bonfire!” Applejack jeered as she fired off two bursts. The impacts jerked the piñata around, but did no real harm to the elemental. However, it’s violent efforts caused the sprinklers to activate, dousing it in freezing water.

Rainbow jumped in after the second burst and slammed her left hoof against the elemental, caving its chest in. Panic gripped Rainbow Dash the instant her hoof sank into the elemental’s burning body. Her hoof and lower leg were getting flash cooked, causing searing pain to lance through her body. The elemental writhed in pain and exploded in a shower of embers as it broke its ties to the shaman that had summoned it and returned home.

Rainbow Dash cried out in agony, cradling her foreleg. Her team raced over to her, with Twilight getting there first. “H-hold still, you’re going to make things worse.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Rainbow growled through the pain as tears reddened her eyes. Despite her snapping at Twilight, the unicorn helped Rainbow limp out from under the sprinklers. With a drain nearby, it didn’t take them long to reach dry land.

Rarity skidded to a halt and rifled through Rainbow’s robes with her magic and located one of her three healing potions. She twisted the top off and thrust it in Rainbow’s mouth, who chugged it greedily. “Keep still, I need to get that boot off you.”

Applejack pressed herself against a wall, and watched the outside to see if the fireworks had been noticed. “Twiggles, watch our back, there could be more of them.”

“R-right.” Twilight pulled away from Rainbow to watch for threats.

“With any luck, the shaman will blame the fire on the elemental getting out of control.” Applejack kept glancing back and forth between the lobby and Rainbow. “So what possessed you with the idea that kicking a fire elemental was a smart idea? Ain’t the purpose of a mage ta do annathing but kick stuff?”

“It wasn’t my original plan.” Rainbow grunted from behind clenched teeth as Rarity used a knife to cut the slightly melted boot off Rainbow’s leg.

“Iffin yer magic ain’t sparkly enough to bring it down, why didn’t ya make Twiggles do anything other than toss us around?” Applejack pressed with a mixture of derisive mirth and irritation.

Rainbow’s harsh glare zeroed in on Twilight. “What a good question. Care to explain, Twiggles?”

Twilight started sweating profusely as all attention narrowed in on her, yet a small angry glance at Rainbow spoke of her frustration. “I - ahh - I just,”

Twilight didn’t get far before an angry, bubbly voice crackled over the intercom. “Hey! Come on, Ashy Pants, did you really have to blow up one of my cameras and start a fire?! Do you know how much paperwork I have to do now? You’re not getting any more cookies for a month!”

Rarity shushed the others behind a hoof. “That must be the shaman Queen warned us about. She sounds about as unhinged as I expected.”

“She thinks one of the elementals did that on its own?” Rainbow squeezed her eyes shut as Rarity’s knife started to work its way into the partially burnt sock. “Well, how about you just ignore us, let us do our thing, and you can go on and eat all the doughnuts you want.” Rainbow wasn’t expecting an answer, but it was a nice distraction from the pain.

“Well, Darling, if she’s the shaman who managed to summon a piñata... elemental, she’s probably a few threads short of a spool.”

“The rest of you better not damage anything or you’re not getting any cake!” The voice called out irritably.

Rarity got the boot off to find the fur around Rainbow’s hoof had been charred, and the skin underneath was bright pink and starting to swell. The hoof itself had pockets of embedded burned plastic and other synthetic material that melted, but didn’t burn. “I don’t need to tell you elemental fire can always burn beneath the skin. Even with a potion, I wouldn’t walk on this hoof for at least a week or so. Not to mention I’m afraid you need some burn aloe too. This could scar or worse.”

Rainbow’s first instinct was to dismiss the need for any aloe, but her mind drifted to her husband’s damaged and scarred body and her fear spiked. “This is a lab, yeah? They’ve got to have something to fix this in a first aid station.”

“Not a bad call,” Applejack commented grimly, arching an eyebrow at Rainbow’s surprising outburst. “Ah say Twiggles should be the one carrying medic gear if we’re keepin’ her around.”

“I’m not a medically trained professional though.” Twilight bit her lower lip out of fear. Paranoia was making her jumpy. “Can we please keep moving? I really don’t think we can handle another one of those things.”

With Rarity’s help, Rainbow got back to her hooves, keeping her burnt hoof close to her chest. “Diamond, what’s our time look like?”

Rarity already had the timer running in the corner of her visor. “We’re at the twenty seven minute mark.”

“Okay, here’s the plan. We find the infirmary, fix my burns, and take everything we can carry. After that, we find the stone. If Queen got us the right map, the infirmary should be over there.” With a wing, Rainbow pointed at a door just beyond the smoldering, ruined camera further down the hall. “The stone’s on the fourth floor. I want that stone before minute fifty. Got it?”

“Ain’t no need for all of us to go get the medicine,” Applejack countered while putting her rifle on her back so she could stand on all fours. “Twiggles and Ah should scout ahead. Maybe find a security terminal to shut down any defenses between us and the stone. Ain’t no way a shaman and her elementals are going to be the only things we need ta worry about.”

“A sound idea,” Rarity replied with an approving nod. She beckoned Twilight with a head jerk. “Come along, Flash, let’s find a bandage or two for. We might even find a terminal I can use in there, yes?”

Rainbow Dash inwardly grumbled at the others not even asking her for approval before running off. Winter wouldn’t have put up with that. The throbbing pain in Rainbow’s leg and the ticking clock dissuaded her from reasserting her command. By the time she worked up the right words to do so anyway, Applejack was already dragging Twilight down the hall. The purple unicorn gave Rainbow a troubled look, but ultimately followed after the earth pony.

Wanting to reassert herself in Rarity’s eyes at least, Rainbow ambled her way into a low hover. “Come on, Diamond. The faster we get the one-hoof discounted healthcare, the better.”

“Certainly,” Rarity agreed as she started walking towards the infirmary indicated on Celestia’s detailed floor plan. “I get the feeling Queen’s generous signing bonus was far more than she’ll pay us after this.”

Rainbow cradled her burned leg as she followed after her friend. Her ears rotated back and forth, listening for the sound of any threats. “Yeah, she wanted me to clear my debts so I don’t have so many leashes around my neck.” Rainbow made sure to meet Rarity’s eyes when the unicorn turned to give her a measuring look.

“I suppose trading several for a single one has its merits.”

The station was not far, but it did have a keypad lock that Rarity quickly went to work on by pulling her cyberdeck off her back. She had numerous scripts that could compromise hundreds of keypad models; it was only a matter of finding the right one.

Sensing no present threats, Rainbow Dash cast a final glance at Applejack and Twilight as the pair crept their way to the stairwell at the far end of the hallway. The thestral had to press her good hoof into her mouth to keep from laughing. Twilight was levitating Applejack the whole way so her heavy hoof-falls wouldn’t make so much noise. Damn I wish I had something on me to take pictures of that.

Some of Rainbow’s cackling still leaked through though, drawing Rarity’s attention first to Rainbow, then to Applejack. She stared, mouth agape. “My word, I never thought I’d see the day Farmer let a unicorn carry her around like a doll.”

“Oh, I’m never going to let her live this down,” Rainbow madly snickered. Her good humor died when she felt a gust of wind from the lobby they had come from. She whirled around to see an air elemental, this one in the shape of a bouquet of balloons. It was floating down from the upper floors with eyes on the seven balloons twitching like a bird as it sniffed the air.

“Diamond, any chance that door is open yet?” Rainbow asked with panic gripping her heart. “Because we got more derailed elementals.”

A loud clicking lock was Rarity’s answer. Both mares shoved themselves through the door as quietly as possible. Even with only a single fluorescent light keeping them from being cast into complete darkness, the mares could see the infirmary was long enough to accommodate five patient tables and a walk-in medicine closet. Rarity trotted forward, eyes fixed on the closet. “Keep an eye out. It shouldn’t take long to find something useful.”

“Got it.” Rainbow Dash kept her eyes peeled through the door window. There was a tell-tale ghostly wind-chime at the air elemental’s passing as it closed in on the infirmary’s door. What really set her on edge though, were the muffled twin beeps from door locks that opened as the elemental passed by other rooms. Rainbow sweated profusely, racking her brain trying to think of the right sign to use. Was it Steelwing’s Lance or Cutter that worked on windies?

She tried making the lance sign, but the motions made her left foreleg twitch and ruin the magic. Not good, nooot good! She tried again, and formed the sign correctly, but the building magic in her left hoof shot a sharp pain up her entire leg, making her almost cry out until she cut the empowering spell off.

The infirmary’s lock chirped, making Rainbow Dash roll away from the door, yet she had no cover close by to hide behind. Faint, airy laughter leaked through the door, but eventually it moved on, and the lock clicked again. Rainbow still waited a good ten seconds before exhaling. Rut, that was close.

Not wanting the sound of her flying to give the elemental an excuse to return, Rainbow shambled on three legs to reach Rarity. The unicorn was in the open closet. Her magic wrapped around several bottles and sealed bandages as she read the labels thanks to her goggles. By the time Rainbow reached her, Rarity had pocketed a sizable collection of bottles and levitated a dozen more towards Rainbow after the decker noticed her approach. “Here, these are quite the premium medicines. I also have your aloe.”

Rainbow sat on the floor and used a wing to pull her robe open so Rarity could deposit the medicine in the inner pockets, then offered her burnt hoof. “If nothing else, the pills should net us some bits.”

Rarity expertly unpackaged the aloe along with some gauze. “I was thinking we should keep them for ourselves if we stay in Queen’s employ. We’re going to need it.”

Rainbow sighed in relief the instant the aloe was administered. Rarity’s magic spread it evenly over the foreleg. She couldn’t help but to be even more grateful when Rarity made it a point to unruffle the leg’s fur so it would be more comfortable with the clingy fluid. “I’m really glad you stuck with me, even with all the money I’ve borrowed.”

A half smile crept onto Rarity’s face as she carefully put the gauze on. “I may not live in the slums, but even I am surrounded by filth. So when I saw an honorable couple’s plight, I knew you were worth helping.” A moment of silence passed. “I must say though. I’m surprised you are afraid of being physically scarred.” Rarity nearly missed the troubled look Rainbow was giving her as she put the finishing touches on the bandage. “I admit I’m surprised you care so much about appearances. You’ve always struck me as the kind of mare who liked, how did Forehammer put it? Battle scars, was it?” This time, Rarity looked up at Rainbow, a sympathetic, worried smile on her face.

Rainbow waggled her foreleg without issue, the painkillers in the aloe worked well. Yet her thoughts lingered on her husband and how nearly ruined his body was. “Yeah, that’s what he calls them. But, I don’t want scars.” Rainbow tested her hoof by putting weight on it, using it as an excuse to not look at Rarity. “Stallions can pull it off. Makes them look handsome sometimes, and gives them an excuse to brag.” Rainbow's thoughts drifted to her husband, a playful grin appeared and vanished in a heartbeat.

“If you really cared about being beautiful, you’d listen to my advice about hair care,” Rarity quipped with harmless mockery.

“As if.” Rainbow felt only mild discomfort at putting her full weight on the hoof; it would serve for the mission at least. Yet her thoughts continued to return to her family… her children. “I remember my aunt who was in the service. I was like, six or something at the time. She had this long scar on her forehead, and that’s all I really remember of her. I guess she was kind, but that scar is what I remember most, and I used to think it was so ugly. Not the cool kind of ugly that stallions can get away with. And… if I die on a run, I don’t want my kids to remember me for my scars.”

Rainbow Dash felt the need to say more, but the right words never came. She stared at her bandaged foreleg, silently wondering about the near future.

Rarity packed everything up so as to leave no immediately apparent evidence they were there. As she worked to pocket the trash and whatever medical supplies she could, Rarity’s thoughts lingered on her friend. “Flash, I wouldn’t be so—”

~“Hey, Diamond, Flash, what’s yer status?”~ Applejack’s voice crackled a bit in their earpieces. She was panting heavily, with Twilight’s mutterings being barely audible.

Rainbow Dash snapped up to attention and pressed her earpiece with a wingtip. ~“Just finished bandaging me up. We’re ready to link back up. Did you find a useful terminal? Sadly the one over here is out of order.”~

~“Sure did. Third floor, room three-oh-eight. But we miiight have run into a bit of a problem. Twiggles here shorted out a camera we didn’t haf’ta. If mah timer is right, we ain’t got much longer until those cylons at the wall are missed. That shaman’s gonna know it weren’t her pets that broke these cameras pretty darn soon.”~

Rarity started walking to the exit, with Rainbow Dash following after her. ~“I have to say I agree. Our best bet may be to go after the shaman first. We take care of her, and the elementals will vanish.”~

~“I hope you remember not to kill her!”~ Twilight interjected with more authoritative command than any of the others expected. ~“The Pr - Queen was adamant about that.”~

~“We do,”~ Rainbow stated with blunt annoyance. I really hope this non-lethal requirement is a one time thing. She looked out of the infirmary window, and saw no sign of the elemental. ~“Hold tight, we’ll be there shortly.”~ Ending the transmission, Rainbow opened the door and found the coast was clear. She jerked her head at the stairwell. “Come on, we’ve wasted enough time already.”

Author's Note

Will Rainbow Dash finally get a chance to pursue a career in professional knitting? Can Twilight ever gain access to admin privileges on her horn? Does Fluttershy tuck her robots into bed every night? Will AJ ever spend the money on those rubber shoes? Does Rarity know she doesn't need shoes like that because she is a marshmallow!?

You probably won't find out on the next Shadowrun!!

The follow up chapter is written, and is only waiting for the editors to have at it. So hopefully 2 weeks at most.

5: Cheese It!

Rainbow and Rarity’s route to Applejack and Twilight’s location was going smoothly. They reached the third floor, and poked their noses out of the stairwell door. They emerged next to the elevator and a heavy steel security door barring any further access to the rest of the floor. Applejack was camped out next to a small, dog sized hatch on the wall next to the elevator. Experience told Rainbow a dormant security drone was inside waiting to be activated. Twilight was standing next to the security door’s access terminal. She was using a strip of metal in her magic to act as a crowbar to pry the panels off below the terminal. The smoking ruins of a security camera left an acrid stench in the air. Outside of that, there was no furniture or windows. The only light source was Twilight’s magic, giving the place a purple glow.

“Bout time you two got here,” Applejack chided. “The rookie’s liable to trigger an alarm at this rate.” Applejack tapped her rifle against the robot’s door.

“I know what I’m doing,” Twilight fussed. She grunted hard as her magic strained the covering next to the door.

Rainbow and Rarity stepped in. “Uh, Twiggles, why don’t you let Diamond have a crack at that terminal over your head? This is kinda her thing.”

To the sound of groaning steel, Twilight’s impromptu crowbar bent and snapped the panel off, exposing the wires within. “I may not be a decker, but I know electronics.” Twilight all but shoved her face in the panel as her magic started tugging at the cables and computer chips, moving them around so she could see brand labels. “This is a Bulwark Tech Magdoor X-7 series. They were built with Grinder Computer’s circuit boards. You might be interested to know I toyed with a lot of them back in the … well, back home. The GCs were really common back home until Queen caught me sneaking into - um - somewhere I shouldn’t, and she had all the GCs replaced.”

Rainbow groaned at the lecture that was taking place. “That’s great an all, but can you at least tell me if you can get this door open any faster than Diamond?”

Twilight continued to rattle away, completely oblivious to Rainbow’s objections. “As anypony who cares knows, GCs are highly resistant to EMP, and built to look impressive, but are actually painfully simplistic. Which, honestly, is perfect for doors which really only need two settings: open and closed, right? So all I need is some of these conveniently provided wires,” Twilight chimed happily as scanned the wiring to find a good match for her needs. “I can trigger it to open.”

Rainbow Dash gave off a fed up snort, but was stopped by Rarity placing a gentle hoof on her back.

Rarity arched a surprised eyebrow and scanned the door as a whole. Sure, there were small differences, but she was no expert on the make and model of security doors, only on how to hack into them. “How can you tell the door’s make and model? In all my years, I have never seen a label on these things.”

Twilight got her ‘crowbar’ back up and started yanking at two red wires. “The floorplans we were given were quite detailed. I researched this particular door model on our way from the airport. I suspected if this particular chipset was common back home, the same contractor might have been used here too. And, naturally, I was correct.”

“That sort of thing would be highly classified wouldn’t it?” Rainbow asked, mildly impressed.

A wistful giggle escaped Twilight. She allowed herself to imagine she was back in her palace tower tinkering with another project. “You’d be surprised just how much I was able to get away with being the top student.” The wires came loose with no alarm going off, giving Twilight the reassurance to keep meddling. “I wanted so badly to be a sanctioned decker ever since I was just a filly.” A mild frown crossed her lips, one of healed disappointment. “But I’m glad my… parents refused to let me get a datajack. They rightly valued my spellcraft too much to let me damage my essence by getting one. So if I can’t compete in that sense, I figured I would have to settle for physical ‘hacking.’”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and waggled her burnt hoof to make sure the painkillers were still working. They’re about the only ones who value your spellcasting.

Twilight shielded her eyes with a foreleg as electric sparks flew out of the panel. With a wall-shuddering click, the mag locks disengaged. Twilight stood up triumphantly. “See, Farmer? I told you I knew what I was doing.”

Applejack took a long weary look at the robot hatch before pulling away from it. “Word of advice, Twiggles, the next time you start talkin’ about your personal life on a job where there could be listenin’ devices, I’mma tape your mouth shut. Ya hear me?”

Twilight was taken a back and nodded dumbly. “S-sorry.”

Nodding, Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash. “Good. ‘nd besides, watch that ego of yours. We get enough of that from Flash.”

Rainbow gave a superior huff and watched as Rarity and Twilight used their magic to slide the doors open. “I’ll have you know my skull’s plenty big for both my ego and my brains.” Rainbow was the first to study the room ahead. Inside was a massive two story chamber that housed numerous miniature biomes. The mares walked inside, gaping at the closest one. It looked like a fish tank with only water in it, but Twilight’s and Rainbow’s eyes could see the shifting, formless masses of at least two elementals swimming within.

Propped up along the west side was a glass room of fire, smoke and charred wood. The raging inferno within housed seven fire elementals that bickered and fought between each other. The far side of the chamber housed an enclosure that looked like a massive geode with one side cut out. The green crystal of the geode supported a number of earth elementals, the only type Applejack and Rarity could see. Lastly, on the far side was a realm of sickly green slime and tar. A chamber of poison that was large enough to kill a small town. Within it, oozing pony-esque elementals of decay and poison lurked back and forth, looking hungrily at the earth elementals.

Nestled center stage of it all was a single ordinary looking sphere of stone. It rested within the grips of a floor and ceiling mounted cradle that bristled with instruments and sensors. Scattered around in organized rows were terminals and control panels for the scientists. Empty coffee cups littered the desks and wastebaskets. A few whiteboards displayed complex geometric formulas and diagrams with ink smudges around every corner. The lighting of the whole research lab was the sole work of the fire elementals, casting everything in sharp brightness and dark, dancing shadows.

“We should be fine from here on out,” Twilight explained as she marveled at the positive chi flow that the position of the elemental chambers created. Yet what really set her heart aflutter was a single dragon line that bisected one of the empty workstations. “Anything more than security cameras in an elemental research lab would cause too many false alarms to be worth installing.”

Applejack snorted. “All Ah’m hear’n is ‘look out for cameras.’”

Rainbow scanned the walls and ceilings, as did every other mare. Two more flanked the stone in the center. The cameras were quite out in the open and were easy to keep an eye on. However, there didn’t seem to be any watching the runners’ approach. “Okay, first up, Diamond, see if you can power on a terminal to get that relic out of that cage thing it’s in.” She turned to the other two mares as Rarity scampered off to the closest terminal that was still on. “Farmer, keep watch. Even if what Twiggles says is common sense or not, it doesn’t mean somepony didn’t put in some security measure they shouldn’t.”

“Sounds good ta me.”

Rainbow Dash stepped beside Twilight while keeping her gaze on the prize. The relic Celestia wanted sat right in the middle of an arcane containment field supported by the twin machines above and below it. The machines were easily ten meters square, utterly dominating the center of the chamber. The flames gave it a dangerous look. “So you’re sure that thing is safe to handle with bare hooves?”

“If Queen says so, then it is.” Twilight scrutinized the machinery while trying to act casual as she walked over to the dragon line. “She’s not the kind of pony to needlessly risk our lives.” Twilight paused for a moment, glancing at the other runners. “Or my life at least,” she added humbly.

That sounds about right. Rainbow clenched her jaw, unsure how she felt about that. Even if I’m the only thestral who’s foaled, the Princess still sees me as a traitor. She cast a forlorn look at Twilight. But she’s giving me a second chance.

Applejack whistled to get Twilight’s attention. “Keep it up, rookie, and I’ll make sure to add minotaur glue to that tape.”

Pealing feminine laughter erupted from Rarity’s cyberdeck, drawing everyone’s attention. With the mare brain-deep in the local matrix, she could only talk through the deck’s speakers. “As always, network security is so lax from the inside. There’s some interesting data bits worth copying. Blackmail is ever so much fun when supposed ‘good’ ponies are being naughty. Should supplement our income quite nicely.”

Twilight climbed up onto the table and immersed herself in the dragon line. The surge of power it brought elated the feathered unicorn. Yet her good mood was deeply soured by Rarity’s comment. “And just how much fabricated blackmail are you going to make, hmm?”

Rainbow rubbed her forehead in exasperation. “Save the cat fighting for later. That’s all well and good, Diamond, but we’re on a timer here. Can you shut down the containment field?”

“Oh, I found that command ages ago. I’m just making sure there are no precautionary alarms tied to the shutdown. This whole setup doesn’t look like one that is brought down very often.”

Applejack had to split her attention between watching the exit and observing the fire elementals. The burning spirits were occupied by fighting each other. “I hope takin’ that thing ain’t gunna release these beasties.” The sheer damage the fire elementals could cause, should they be released by some security trap, almost terrified the mare to the bone, and she found her attention centered more of the enclosure than the exit.

Rainbow’s ears wilted at the prospect of fighting so many. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Diamond, make sure you’re thorough in there.”

Twilight wanted to close in on her team, but was hesitant to leave the dragon line. “We should be perfectly fine. It would be rather silly if removing the stone actually broke the geometric barriers.”

“All done!” Rarity sang from within her deck. “I’m going to see what I can do about arranging our quiet escape. Ta ta!”

The dull, omnipresent hum of electricity suddenly spooled down as the stone artifact’s containment shields faded. Both Applejack and Rainbow eyed the elementals’ cages worriedly, as if expecting them to bust open at any moment.

When the field collapsed, the stone came to a rest on a small pedestal, easy pickings for Twilight’s magic. She snatched it up in her magic and pulled it over for study. It was an unusually smooth sphere. Twilight rolled it in her hoof, and noticed a trio of diamond shaped indentations on the side. Were it not for Rarity’s penchant for clothing or had Twilight been more familiar with her team, she might have recognized the marks. Fearing time was against them, she forsook taking a longer look and pocketed the stone in her satchel. “We got what we came for, we should get—”

“Ah ha!” cried a high-pitched voice from above the exit.

Applejack was struck dumb as ball of pink scrambled out of the air vent above the security door, yet was quick to level her rifle at her and fired a warning shot. “Stupid rules. Ah should just be able to shoot her,” she grumbled to herself. She hastily replacing her anti-armor ammo for a magazine of rubber bullets.

The pink pony flopped on the ground, completely ignoring getting shot at, and was quick to stand back up. She was wearing an unhooded robe. She had a rubber chicken on a string hanging from her mane, a cupcake wrapper necklace, and the smuggest grin that ever existed. The balloon elemental had passed through the vents with her and was now interposing itself between its summoner and the Shadowbolts. “So it was the element you were after. That’ll save me the trouble of prying that information out of you during your interrogation.” The pink mare pulled out a submachine gun from her robe and aimed at Rarity, the closest pony. “Oh by the way, you’re all under arrest.”

Applejack’s brain had difficulty making sense of the shaman as she ever so slowly pulled her hoof back from priming the bolt now that Rarity was being threatened. “What kinda cylon crawls around in her own air vents?”

The shaman leered at Applejack and gave her a taunting eyebrow wiggle. “The kind you don’t see coming.”

Applejack blinked slowly at that before lowering her rifle as a sign of submission. “Can’t argue with that.”

Rainbow was grateful she had been on the ground, and subtly slid her wings back inside the robe. “Pretty stupid of you to show yourself like this, wage-mage.” Thanks to her robes and the brief conversation buying her time, Rainbow was able to slowly form a spell sign without revealing the act. “We have eyes outside, so we’d know if you had called for backup. You really think you can take all four of us on?”

“Quite the edgerunner that one, eh Gummy?” The shaman quipped with a smirk at the balloon shaped air elemental. “And I know I can. I’ve got authorization to pull any of the elementals in this room to help me. I don’t need to be able to control them either. I just need to give them enough juice to stay in meatspace long enough to zero the lot of you in a rampage. Provided you don’t surrender first.”

Twilight was aghast, but held firm on top of her table. “That could destroy the whole room.”

“But not the artifact you stole,” the shaman shot back, her grin never faltering. “That thing’s tougher than diamonds. So I’m giving you one more chance, surrender or get a face full of super mad elementals. You’re not leaving with that artifact.”

“Yes we are!” Twilight challenged as she empowered her horn. The shaman started firing her submachine gun at Rarity’s cyberdeck without a second’s notice.

With the decker still brain-deep in the matrix, the sudden destruction of her deck forced her consciousness to slam back into her skull. She cried out in stunned pain and collapsed in a heap.

“Diamond!” Rainbow Dash cried before throwing her stun spell.

Applejack fired off a few pot shots at the air elemental to distract it from Rainbow’s spell. The elemental’s balloons whipped up a frenzied gust of air in an attempt to blast both bullet and spell off course.

The rubber bullet went right through and struck the shaman in the ribs, making her stagger for a moment. “Have it your way!” The shaman dropped her weapon and empowered her right hoof with a quick sign. With the elemental keeping the Shadowbolt’s magic and firepower at bay, the shaman had time to drag a more complicated sigil on the ground. Yet before she could activate it, a pair of earthen claws, encased in a lavender glow, manifested around her guardian elemental.

“No matter how the wind howls!” Twilight chanted as her claws slammed into the air elemental, banishing both it and the claws in a flash of magefire. “The mountain cannot bow to it!”

“Then how about the sea?” The shaman slammed her hoof on the sigil, ignoring the warning shots Applejack fired.

Blue mana rippled from the shaman, and shot out along the floor and walls, breaking the numerous wards built within the lab itself. The shaman scrambled towards the exit as the pocket of the water plane exploded outward and began flooding the entire laboratory. With the water throwing the Shadowbolts off balance, the shaman had time to pull an earth elemental through a plane-portal and commanded it to form a wall of stone in front of the exit.

Rainbow Dash scrambled into the air to buy herself time to think. “Ahh – erm – Farmer! Get Diamond out of the water before she drowns!” Rainbow was already weaving new signs to empower her speed and hooves. “I’ll keep you covered!”

Applejack waded through the knee deep and rising water. “Ah’m on it!”

Rainbow turned to find Twilight was surrounded by orbiting science equipment. Several pieces were being transmuted into lumps of metal or rock before being thrown at the water elements assaulting her. She’ll have to hang tight a bit.

Rainbow flew down towards Applejack after spotting an elemental slipping through the water towards the earth pony. Belting out a warcry, Rainbow charged in and slammed into the elemental a mere two feet from Applejack, spraying water everywhere. “Go, I got this!” Rainbow commanded Applejack as the enraged elemental slipped around to encircle her. Rainbow leapt back into the air before the water could crash back into her. All of this elemental water can’t exist here for very long. The distracting thought slowed Rainbow a bit too much to catch the elemental’s attack as its amorphous body shot up and completely encased her in a cocoon of water. Rainbow dropped onto a desk clenching her jaw shut as the elemental tried to force itself down her throat and nostrils. With her hooves still empowered, and no time to think, Rainbow battered both herself and the elemental with a flurry of punches. Each hit was painful enough to almost force her to gasp for air, but she kept her jaw locked shut. Punch after punch felt like a sledgehammer, but for each one, the elemental entombing her writhed and churned. Yet even with her efforts, the elemental remained stubborn, until at last a desperately hard jab at her own chest cracked one of Rainbow’s ribs. The elemental had suffered enough to release her and melt back into the rushing waters.

Rainbow rolled onto her belly gasping for air. “There’s - there’s got to be a better way to do that.” With air filling her lungs again, Rainbow’s head cleared enough for her to look out for Rarity. Applejack had already shimmied the stricken unicorn onto her back, leaving the broken cyberdeck behind. “Farmer, how’s she doing?”

Applejack was backpedaling towards the wall of stone the shaman had put up, trying to put some distance between herself and any slippery spirits. “She’s breathin’, but she’ll be out of it for a few hours. Might need a replacement jack if the burnt smell is anything ta go by.”

“Alright, we’ll deal with that later.” Rainbow glanced back at Twilight who was getting overwhelmed bit by bit.

Every time she struck at an elemental, two others would close in and strike at her lavender shield. “Can we get going please!” she all but screamed over the noise of the elementals. “I can’t use electricity if the rest of you are going to have a tea party right there in the water!”

“How ‘bout you throw them rocks of yers at that stone wall and make us an exit?” Applejack shot back.

An elemental surged up into a ball and threw itself at Twilight, trying to knock her off the dragon line and into the waist deep water. The mare barely threw a shield up in time, allowing the elemental to split itself against a sharp edge. “I need an opening first! They really don’t like me.”

“Why are ya not movin’ if they’re all over top ah ya then?” Applejack spat, unable to see the dragon line.

Ignoring her friend’s question, Rainbow summoned her strength to get back in the air. “I’m on it, just get ready!” Rainbow weaved a few more signs to bolster her speed and hooves. Once done, she bolted to Twilight’s side to kick another elemental away. Unlike normal water, her impact sent the spirit flying away as a whole. A second tried to wrap itself against Twilight’s neck now that she wasn’t wholly focused on self defense, but Rainbow was able to kick away at the majority of its body as it bundled up to properly entomb the hapless mare.

With a thankful grin, Twilight renewed her efforts and heaved all three stones at the remains of the water enclosure. The stones smashed and broke apart on contact, but so did the fractured enclosure. The steel supports bent, and the powerlines holding the rift into the water plane snapped. The relentless waterfall coming from the rift quickly died into a trickle until stopping almost within moments. With the portal closed the lab’s automated system opened several large drains, lowing the water level at a rapid pace. The feral elementals squirmed and raged, but even they retreated back into the dwindling water.

Twilight stumbled off the desk, and Rainbow caught her at the last moment before she could faceplant into the shallow water. “Thanks.” Rainbow tried to help Twilight back up, but now that she was no longer empowered by the dragon line, it took everything Twilight had to stay conscious.

“Hey, hey, come on, you gotta keep moving.”

“I can’t.” Twilight leaned heavily against Rainbow. “I went a little overboard.”

Rainbow’s ribs protested, but she dragged the waning unicorn on her back. “This is the last run we take where we can’t just shoot the damn cylons.” With the water now only ankle deep, she was able to make her way towards Applejack. “Farmer, we need an exit, and fast.”

“I was afraid you’d ask that,” Applejack muttered more to herself. “Okay, but Ah only got one wall-be-gone.” Applejack set Rarity down, pulled some shaped explosives, and got to work on the wall.

Rainbow kept the two unicorns behind an overturned desk nearby, and raised a hoof to her ear. ~“Angel, come in.”~

Since open comms were a security risk, the pegasus had been out of the loop ever since the team entered the lab. ~“Angel here. We have some serious activity out here.”~

Rainbow grit her teeth as the shaman came to mind. “Yeah well, we ran into a cylon who escaped before we could take her down.”

Fluttershy’s puzzled voice came back. ~“If that’s the case, she must have rang the wrong alarm. From what my parasprites have overheard, all comms coming out of the central office have been silenced. I think the patrollers are following the alpha contingency plan Queen mentioned, and are taking positions near each lab to watch for intruders.”~

~“Namely us,”~ Rainbow replied with a touch of hope. ~“That would explain why Diamond didn’t log out before getting dumped.”~

~“She got dumped?! Oh dear, I hope she’ll be alright.”~

~“She will be if we can get out of here. How’s it look outside of Clover?”~ Rainbow briefly set Twilight down to give her a once over. The purple mare was drenched in more sweat than water, and she was cradling her skull around her horn as though she had an acute headache. Her breathing was ragged and her forelegs were trembling, all signs of significant mana exhaustion. Rainbow was always one to go light on the spellwork, and Twilight’s current state was exactly why. You way overdid it.

Fluttershy’s delayed reply finally came in. ~“I may be wrong, but I can only see one guard. I guess they want to make the lab seem unimportant to troublemakers. I have Batsy ready to help. Just, um, let me know when you need me.”~

One? Seriously? This place must be sturdy as Tartarus for nopony outside to have noticed a damn thing. ~“Thanks, Angel. We shouldn’t be too much longer. Over and out.”~ Rainbow poked her nose over the desk just in time to watch Applejack race to join them. “We good?”

With a sly grin, Applejack hunkered down and made a show of pressing a detonator on her wrist armor. The rock wall exploded outward into the corridor with a shockwave washing over the team. “Oh yeah, we’re good. That shaman, not so much. Go make sure she’s flatlined; I can carry Diamond and Twiggles out.”

Twilight forced herself, through herculean effort, to get back on her hooves. “We’re not supposed to kill anypony. Queen said so.” Twilight wanted to press the issue further, but it hurt to speak.

Nodding in begrudging acquiescence, Rainbow tucked her wings into her robe and vaulted the desk. There was a nice, big hole in the wall, giving a clear shot to the elevator and stairwell. There was currently no sign of the pink maned shaman, but there were plenty of chunks of stone to be caught under. “We can’t be blamed if she was stupid enough to stand behind the wall.”

Ignoring the pain from her cracked rib, Rainbow moved as quick as a shadow towards the side of the lab’s wall so she could flank the opening Applejack made. Only the splashing of shallow water marked her advance. She didn’t even get to the wall before a pink leg shot out from behind the security doors, a few meters back, with an SMG blindly pointed towards the broken wall. Rainbow hunkered down when gunfire ripped out from the hole.

“Stay back, or I’ll break another seal!” the shaman warned with a growl of frustration. “I don’t know what you jerks did to the comms, but I’m not letting you outta there unless you surrender!”

Keeping her mouth shut, Rainbow poked her nose out to see the shaman was not risking a sniper’s bullet, and was only keeping her gunleg visible. Too bad for you, I’m a ninja. A second blind shot rang out, kicking chips of stone in Rainbow’s face.

The instant the firing stopped, Rainbow slipped through the hole and leveraged every ounce of Winter’s training to approach quietly. She slipped over to hug the wall, correctly anticipating a third burst of blind fire. She’s not used to runners with soft shoes. Rainbow Dash bolted immediately after the firing stopped. Running too fast for her near-silent hooffalls to register to the shaman, Rainbow rounded the corner, catching the curly maned shaman in the middle of reloading. The guard was standing right next to a new runed sigil outlined in chalk on the floor, presumably poised to break the seal on a second enclosure.

The shaman gasped at Rainbow’s surprise arrival and swung her spent SMG like a club, growling in defiance. Rainbow pulled back from the hasty attack and grappled the foreleg. Moving with only the agility that winged ponies possessed, Rainbow slid her body under the shaman, and flipped the earth pony up and over her back, and then slammed her on the tiled floor. The act was more to remove the shaman from the diagram however, as the impact did little to the pink mare.

The shaman lashed out with a punch with her free foreleg, clipping Rainbow’s chin. Rainbow weaved away from a follow up punch, and delivered an empowered uppercut of her own with unexpected speed. The shaman took the hit square on the jaw, and was forced away by the impact.

Keeping up the aggression, Rainbow didn’t give the shaman time to recover and roundhoused the earth pony’s legs out from under her. Keeping her momentum, Rainbow deftly swung her back legs up and over the shaman before stomping back down, only for the shaman to roll out from under her.

The shaman fumbled a hasty lightning bolt that lacked any real power behind it, but it was enough to keep Rainbow back. This distraction was enough to put a momentary pause in the fight.

Rainbow was trying to muscle through the pain of her cracked rib, and the shaman’s spell forced her to give more ground than she would have otherwise.

The shaman rolled back to her hooves, still clutching her SMG. However, she didn’t make a move to reload, not with Rainbow so close. Instead she adjusted her cufflink grip so she could use the butt of the weapon as a proper cudgel.

Rainbow started to circle to the left, trying to put the shaman between her and the broken stone wall. “Tell you what, you let us go, and I won’t have to kill you, deal?”

The shaman actually let off a dog-like growl, and tried to maneuver so she wouldn’t have her back to the stone wall, but couldn’t see a way to do that without exposing her flank. “Leave the stone behind, and I’ll consider it.”

This could be a good chance to play dumb. “I got a reputation to uphold, so no can do. Besides, it’s just some dumb rock, that ain’t worth dying over.” Rainbow made sure to keep her hood low over her face, hoping the conversation would keep her opponent’s attention away from any identifying features. Although Rainbow’s ears were muffled by the hood as well, the sound of the shaman’s hooffalls and speech was more than enough to know what she was doing without needing to see all of her.

“If that was just a dumb rock, you ne'er-do-wells wouldn't here here stealing it now would you?”

Rainbow shrugged dismissively, yet she couldn't help but to inwardly wince. Yeah okay, not my best lie. “Hey, I'm told there's a rock a collector wants with no questions asked. Cash is cash.”

“But there's tons of ways to make easier money.” Pinkie's eyes lit up. “Oh! You could do a bake sale! I made over five hundred bits last time selling cookies in front of the stock exchange on Ball Street. It was super fun!”

Rainbow almost went slack jawed at the suggestion. At least it'd be something I could do with the kids. She quickly banished the thought. “Sorry, I can't bake to save my life. But I can steal just fine.”

“Well aren't you little Miss Sticky Hooves. If you had any idea of what you were actually stealing, you’d leave that stone where it belongs. How about this instead, if you put it back, I’ll pretend you didn’t commit assault and battery when you’re brought up on charges.”

Rainbow’s earpiece clicked, letting her know Applejack was in position at the hole with her rifle aimed down range. “Wow, aren’t you a generous one.”

“I have my moments.” The shaman eyed the way Rainbow was breathing irregularly. “Just so you know, Princess Celestia herself visited the lab about a month ago. She told me t hat stone is super duper ultra mega important to her,” the shaman stated with open aggression. She pawed at the ground, and kept stealing glances behind her, knowing full well a shooter was at her back. “I made a Pinkie Promise to keep that stone where it belongs, and I never break a promise.”

Rainbow was impressed enough to actually believe her. Damn, I really wish I could just tell her the truth. Hard to find loyalty like this anymore. Dropping her gruff expression for a more somber one, Rainbow shook her head. “Sorry, chummer, but the collector’s paying good money for this, and a mare’s gotta eat.”

The shaman cast a worried glance backward, yet didn’t take her eyes off Rainbow for more than an instant. “The crown will come after you and your collector friend.” The shaman tried to dart to the side and away from the doors.

Shots rang out from Applejack’s rifle, scoring a trio of hits with rubber bullets, dazing the shaman and dropping her on the ground. Rainbow raced forward with a stun spell of her own and delivered it with a jab in the shaman’s gut.

Between the two hits, the shaman was out of it with plenty of time for Applejack to walk over with one of Rarity’s sedative needles. The farmer sank its contents in the shaman’s neck, ending her as a threat. “Ah don’t like it. She’s gunna report everything she saw of us.”

A bit more on her hooves, Twilight had shuffled after Applejack, worried they might actually kill the shaman. “You can’t kill her,” she tiredly cautioned. “Queen would never allow it. Not these ponies at least.” A deeply troubled, pleading frown was aimed at the two runners.

Rainbow gave the unconscious shaman a long, almost envious frown. At least she can openly serve the Princess. She shook her head and pointed back at the stone wall, assuming Rarity was lying on the other side. “And we’re not going to.” Rainbow shot Applejack a warning scowl. “We can not like it all we want later. Go grab Diamond and let’s get out of here. I’ll keep the path clear.”

“Alright, but Ah know this is gonna bite us in the end.” Applejack gave the shaman a foreboding grimace before running back to grab Rarity.

It didn’t take Rainbow long to see just how feebly Twilight was standing. The purple mare had a grateful smile. “I can still walk if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Yeah, but I bet you can’t for long. I’ll carry you out. The faster we leave, the faster we can rest, deal?”

Mustering what little strength she had left, Twilight nodded in agreement, and let Rainbow pick her up on her back. By the time Rainbow shifted Twilight around to rest comfortably between her wings, Applejack had returned with Rarity in much the same position. The ruined cyberdeck had been strapped around the unicorn as well.

By now, the decker was awake, but gravely delirious. Rarity rolled her head over towards Rainbow, her eyes blinking a full two seconds apart from each other. “You need more fangs, like fifteen of them all on the nose of the chicken.”

Rolling her eyes, Applejack shifted Rarity she her head wouldn’t get jostled too much when she ran. “If we’re gettin’ we better get now.”

Rainbow ran as fast as she dared towards the exit with Applejack right behind her. “Right, Twiggles, you still got the stone?”

Twilight hummed in acknowledgement. “Safe and secure.”

Falling into silence, Rainbow Dash and Applejack raced through the laboratory. With the shaman out of action, any other elementals she might have had would have returned to their home planes.

By the time they got to the lobby, Rainbow saw the single unicorn guard through the front windows. Barely a few moments later, Fluttershy’s batdrone dive-bombed the pony and tasered him, allowing Rainbow and Applejack a clean break to the nearest shrubs for cover.

Rarity had a stupid grin as she absently stared at the ground. “Why haven’t we made liquid dresses yet? It’s science.”

Any other time of day I’d pay top bits to record her right now. Rainbow settled in between three large bushes and pulled her goggles over her eyes. ~“Angel, I need an overlay of the cylons’ positions.”~

~“That’ll take a minute, please hold on.”~ Fluttershy ordered her parasprites to fly high above the technology park. She sent data to Rainbow’s goggles so they displayed a two dimensional map of their location in simplistic detail. Clusters of red dots huddled around the larger buildings, while only the drones and three patrol cars kept watch over the expansive landscape. ~“Radio chatter is picking back up again, and - oh no - there are three Lone Star transport aircraft en route. They’ll be arriving from the north end gate. You need to get out of there!”~

Rainbow shifted the map to the south where the fewest buildings stood, and by extension, had the fewest guards. ~“South it is then. There aren’t any cameras watching the streets at the point behind the Walnut Cafeteria. But, the motion detectors will be active there, so have the car waiting for us when we arrive.”~

~“You got it, Flash, and please be careful. I’ll have to put my eyes in the sky on standby though, so hopefully they won’t be needed further.”~

~“We’ll be there. Don’t you worry none.”~ Applejack butted in. She ignored Rainbow’s irritation and made ready to run. “Come on now, we’ve dawdled enough as it is.”

With the patrols thinned out so much, the two shadowrunners raced at an almost reckless pace, bounding from cover to cover. Through it all, none of the security measures found them until they got to the south wall. By the time the alert from the wall sensors could be acted upon, the crew were already up and over. The four of them crowded inside Fluttershy’s car and they raced away long before the Lone Star aircraft could spot them.

Rainbow sagged in her front seat, leaving Applejack to rouse Rarity from her stupor. Twilight was guzzling an energy drink she had the foresight to buy ahead of time. The thestral looked back at the technology park, flashes of red and blue filled the air until the car made a turn, leaving them only the streetlights. With the danger dropping away in the distance, Rainbow took the time to pull her crescent moon pendant out of her pocket. She held it against her chest and closed her eyes, imaging Winter was at her side doing the same while Mother Moon watched them from above.

6: A Glimpse

6: A Glimpse

Late in the evening, following the infiltration of Clover Labs, Pinkie Pie sat in a rather uncomfortable steel fold-out chair with her boss lording her failure over her. It was a conference room normally reserved for boring meetings, like, super serious boring ones. No posters, no windows to the outside, not even a water cooler; just her, the table, chairs, and one supremely irate boss. Might as well be torture. A part of her brain decided it was a good time to remind her that this room was where she had planned to interrogate those rotten shadowrunners, but alas…

Her boss, a unicorn stallion whose chin had several chins of its own, leaned over the report she had put together all morning. Aside from his pale grey magic flipping through the pages, his labored breathing was the only other sound in the room.

As for Pinkie, it took every ounce of her selective self-control to keep from wringing her uniform hat. Oh no, oh no, Grape has that meanie weenie look on his face. He must have skipped his morning donuts.

“Officer Pie, let’s make sure there’s no confusion here.” The security director scowled so deeply at her his chins jiggled. The lighting seemed to cause the director’s glasses to shine in Pinkie’s eyes. “You caused extensive water damage to the central laboratory. You broke one of the geometric seals in doing so. You—”

“But Director Pommel, you said I could use them.”

Pommel lethargically moved his mirthless eyes from the pad to Pinkie Pie. “Use them, not destroy the whole damned enclosure and break open the portal to the water plane! I’ve half a mind to thank the damn thieves for closing it before they left! Do you realize just how much money you’ve cost us? Let alone that we’re going to lose our mandate with the artifact stolen?”

Pinkie Pie snorted rebelliously and crossed her forelegs. “Well, maybe if you had given me more than a broken securotron or at least a partner we wouldn’t be in this mess. I could have stopped them at the elevator if that robot actually worked! But nooo, Doctor Genome needs a new lab coat every week.”

Pommel got hot under his white collar, sweat already discoloring it. “Do you have any idea how much it costs to pay these damn researchers? Let alone their equipment replacements and to fund their projects? You’re lucky to even have the skeleton keys you oh so happen to give your pets!” Pinkie Pie opened her mouth to comment further, but Pommel slammed a hoof to silence her. “I should fire your ass, but you have bigger problems. The Princess herself has been informed about the break in.”

That had been expected, but it still brought a cold sweat to Pinkie’s brow. “Well - good!” she replied hauntingly. “She’ll see what a mess—”

“She’ll see how you bungled things,” Pommel bit back, and slammed a hoof on the table. “As I’m sure you’ve guessed, provided you can take your mind off cakes for two seconds, it was my report that got to her desk. I’ve already filled her in on everything that happened.” His scowl betrayed no joy if he was taking any. “I’ll let her decide what to do with you.”

A knock on the door heralded a pegasus sticking his head inside. “Director, the Princess’ transport is landing now.”

Pommel wheezed as he got off the table and started for the exit. “Good. I’ll be along.” He faced Pinkie before leaving, a handkerchief floated over and dabbed his sweaty brow. “You are to remain here, understand? I have no doubt the Princess would like to… debrief you personally.” Without waiting to see her reaction, Pommel departed.

With her boss gone, Pinkie’s bravado waned quickly. Not my fault that crummy ‘director’s’ whole under-the-radar plan didn’t work. Grape’s lucky I stopped that decker from frying any more of the network. A sudden need for fried food made her belly rumble. Maybe when I get out of here I’ll get some grub to forget about last night.

An hour droned by as Pinkie Pie sat in the glare of the single fluorescent light bulb. There were no windows either to distract her. Pinkie had her matrix goggles, but even she didn’t want to be caught with them on this time around. So she stewed in her own thoughts until, at random, she started imagining how to properly decorate the room for a party.

This place is B O R I N G. It needs a good partyover. Maybe some streamers along some lamps, hearths warming lights along the ceiling, ooo and a punch bowl with inferno sauce. Pinkie rested her head on a hoof, daydreaming about whatever random thought crossed her mind. A piñata? No, ponies around here are too uptight. Which is precisely why we’d need two piñatas! Dancing? It could work, but what genre? Should I get a band or just a DJ? Mmmm, maybe I should go for a bigger room instead.

Pinkie had completely forgotten about the hot water she was in until the door opened and in came not only her boss, but Princess Celestia and Regent Sunset Shimmer as well. Celestia exuded a terrible heat that was suddenly oppressive in such a tight room. Sunset Shimmer, in her tight fitting red dress, seemed completely unfazed by the heat. If one had to guess, she actually looked quite cool. The fiery colored unicorn sported a pair of smart glasses with a jaw conforming mic boom that reached to the very edge of her mouth. It was in that moment, in staring at the fierce scowl from Sunset and the frosty, impassive mask Celestia bore, that Pinkie experienced real fear. Pinkie kicked the chair out from under her so she could prostrate herself faster. “Princess Celestia. I’m honored!” Even Pinkie could tell that was the wrong thing to say in this situation, but she couldn’t take the words back now.

“Rise, Officer Diane Pie.” Celestia schooled her composure into a stalwart mask, betraying nothing. Yet Pinkie wondered if the previous scowl was for Pommel’s benefit. “From what I hear, we had a very costly break in. Given that the two of you,” Celestia used a wing to point at Pommel, “were familiar with the true value of what was stolen, I wanted to hear your account in person before I hoof this over to Investigations.”

Sunset Shimmer drifted around Celestia so she could pull one of the chairs out for the alicorn. Celestia remained standing for the moment.

Pinkie Pie was sweating bullets. “Ooofff course. I’m an open lopen book!” she offered with her head still pressed against the floor.

“I’m glad to hear it.” Celestia took Sunset’s offered seat, allowing the regent to finally claim one herself. Finally, Director Pommel wheezed as he sat down near Pinkie’s side of the table, rather than next to the Princess. “Take your seat, please.”

Pinkie hastily pulled a different chair out, rather than the original one she had, and sat down.

“Now, Miss Pie,” Celestia began as she brought up Pommel’s report on a datapad. “I want to start by saying I’m glad you are in good health. From what I hear, you were the only one who directly encountered the…” Celestia took a moment to look contemplative. “Shadowrunners, I believe they are called? And you seem none the worse for wear.”

“Yes,” Sunset Shimmer added with suspicious, slightly narrowed eyes. “The loss of the artifact is a horrendous blow, but your unscathed survival is suspect.”

That little issue hadn’t even crossed Pinkie’s mind and her sweating got worse. “I - I don’t know why they didn’t kill me. Probably the same reason they didn’t kill Fell Feather and Broken Tooth.”

“Who?” Celestia asked Pommel with an unreadable face. She saw Sunset was giving the director an annoyed, questioning look.

The greasy stallion made no show of embarrassment. “Feather and Tooth were two guards stationed at point fifty eight. They were found bound and gagged under some shrubbery.” He opted not to mention the third guard either. “Since they never saw their attackers, I only mentioned them in the footnotes.”

“In other words you were trying to save your own skin,” Celestia stated with a warning scowl. Pommel sucked in a troubled breath. “It has only been a month, Director. If I recall correctly, I warned you that part of the wall was a vulnerability.”

“It is indeed, Princess,” Sunset added with lingering distaste for the director. “But if I may be so bold, your highness, I would like to hear Miss Pie’s recount of the incident.”

Celestia hummed in agreement, her eyes zeroing in on the panicky mare. “Very well. Please, tell us what you can.”

“Yes, your majesty.” Pinkie wasn’t exactly one for calmness, so she still possessed an edge of terror in her voice. “I just want to apologize for losing the artifact, Princess. I promised to protect it and I failed miserably.”

“I will be the judge of that,” Celestia replied sharply, catching Pinkie off guard. “Let’s start from when you first noticed the intrusion.”

“Okay.” Pinkie rubbed both hooves against the side of her head, earning odd looks from Celestia and Sunset Shimmer, and an exasperated one from Pommel. “First thing yesterday morning, my Pinkie sense told me I would meet new friends that day, and I was super excited because I always love making new friends! But it was strange since I went all morning not meeting one new pony who wanted to be friends, which was really weird since my Pinkie sense is usually never wrong.”

Sunset held a hoof up for restraint. “I’m sorry, what’s a ‘Pinkie sense?’ I’m not overly familiar with shamanism.”

Pinkie nodded in understanding. “There is a lot to keep track of for sure. But my patron is Gelos. He doesn’t really do visions like normal spirits. He pokes and wiggles different parts of me. Not a lot of ponies understand his silly messages, but I do. That’s why I call it my Pinkie sense.”

A wry grin crossed Celestia’s muzzle upon hearing Gelos’ name. “How very interesting… Go on.”

“Oh yes, of course.” So anyway, by the time I had to go to work I was really mopey about not seeing any new friends. But then one of my guardian elementals — his name is Ashy Pants by the way — destroyed a camera. Ashy can be a goofy boy, but he only destroys things when he sees baddies, so that’s when I knew the shadowrunners got here.”

Sunset pursed her lips. “So you misread Gelos’ message.”

Pinkie gave a sheepish grin and giggled uncomfortably. “Yuppers. So anyway, I kinda wanted to know why they came. Were they just thieves or did they have some super-secret mission of evil? So I let them think I believed my Ashy Pants was being a bad boy. So I listened in on the PA mics scattered around the main lab trying to see if they were just there to steal whatever they could find, or if they came for the artifact in particular. But they had a decker with them, so I knew I had to confront them super quick. But I knew a decker might get her nose all over the cameras, so I outsmarted her by being sneaky sneak of my own and going through the vents.” Pinkie gave a self-congratulatory smile and nod. “And lo and behold, that’s exactly what they wanted.”

Sunset Shimmer tilted her head in abject shock. “What possessed you to allow them to breach all other security measures just to see what the runners’ objective was? Is it not your prerogative to stop intruders on sight?”

Pinkie wilted a little and tapped her hooves nervously. “Y-yes, but if I sounded the alarm, they would just run away and try again next time. Maybe even when I’m off duty. I wanted to try capturing them so we could maybe, possibly, kinda… question them for information on who was paying them?”

Pommel shifted noisily in his creaking chair. “I warned you to just follow the rules! As you can see, your highness, my security measures were more than adequate if my subordinate had just followed proper protocol!”

Celestia cast a withering glare at Pommel to silence him before adopting her more motherly, stern expression. “You both have a point. So tell me, Miss Pie. How exactly did you think you could capture… how many criminals did you say there were?”

“Uhh, four, your highness.” Pinkie shrank under the others’ hard stares. “I thought that I could use the caged elementals to take care of the shadowrunners if I locked them inside the lab with an earth wall. Now I know what you’re thinking!” Pinkie nearly shouted as soon as she saw a frightful worry cross the other mares’ faces. “There’s no way I was touching the toxic ones. It’s enough baaaaad mojo already just keeping them there.”

While both Celestia and Sunset visibly relaxed, it was Sunset who spoke up. “Glad to hear it. The disruption would have made any efforts to purify them all the more difficult. Please, continue.”

“Yes sireeno!” Pinkie saluted playfully before she could catch herself. She sweated a bit in embarrassment and jumped right into talking before she could freeze up. “My whole plan still could have worked if the securatron stationed in the entry port to the lab was actually functional. Plus, once I verified the runners were after the artifact, I went to call for backup while they were busy with the watery gits, but that no good decker took the comms down.”

Sunset leaned back in her chair, and used her magic to pull the report up close so she could read it. “That’s quite the initiative. Forgive me for being blunt, but that’s a rare trait for somepony of your… position. What did you do before being assigned to this facility?”

“Oh, I was a city detective for Ponyville for three years. But umm.” Pinkie averted her eyes, not wanting to continue. Yet this was the Regent, and she would want the truth. “A lot of the clues and leads Gelos sent my way were great evidence, and should have won like a gazillion cases, but most of the ones I got were thrown out in court. All because the judges had it out for me, the bunch of corrupt meanies.” Pinkie looked up at the Princess and spotted Sunset had stood up to whisper into the ageless mare’s ear. Pinkie wasn’t sure what to say, so she kept her mouth shut.

“I see.” Celestia lost her neutral mask for a grim one. “You are not the first to mention the degradation of that city’s judges. I think a formal investigation is long overdue. For the moment though, I’m curious to know how exactly you planned to subdue four shadowrunners by yourself.”

Pinkie felt a little vindication out of the whole situation, if only because of Celestia’s desire to bring those dastardly judges to heel. Ha, I’ll be watching the news for that cowpie for months. Bunch of rotten judges, oh I’m going to need a truck of popcorn for that one. “Weeell, I didn’t actually want to try fighting them all by myself. I figured since I was allowed to use the caged elementals for my job, I’d get the water elementals to help out. I already mentioned the toxics were off the party planner. Same with the fire buddies since they just go willy nilly burning all the evidence. Let me tell you, I’m never bringing any more of those hotty heads to a crime scene ever again!

“So anyway, I wanted to use the stonies, but they had two unicorns on their team, and that means they could just shove stone-muscle back and let the other two evildoers come after me. So I figured the slippery goopy elementals were the sure thing. Unicorns have a real hard time grabbing water, and the planes-water would keep the elementals healthy and they would sink back into the water to heal instead of going back to the elemental plane.”

Celestia had a pleased look on her face. “An excellent display of lateral thinking. In fact, I—” Celestia stopped when a personal alert pinged on her visor. “In fact, I have very little time to spare, I’m afraid. Coming here was not on today’s itinerary, and I have delayed other matters long enough.” Celestia got up and briefly fixed Pinkie Pie with a warm, regal smile. “I hope to see big things from you in the future.

“Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia called out, making the regent stand at attention. “Be sure Miss Pie is suitably rewarded for a pony of her talents.”

“A prudent decision, your highness.” Sunset gave a sour look towards Pommel. “What should I do with the management?”

Pommel tensed, yet couldn’t bring himself to speak out, and risk interrupting the Princess.

Celestia looked down her nose at the plump stallion. “I’ll leave him to you. Now if you’ll excuse me.” Without further ceremony, Celestia teleported away in a flash of solar fire that washed over everyone.

A ring of burning carpet was all that remained. Pinkie and Pommel instinctively shrunk back at the fiery display. With a slight frown, Sunset wasted no time in casually summoning a frost spell to put it out. She then returned her focus to the other two ponies with a humorous drone in her voice. “Director Pommel. While your incompetence enabled the theft to occur, your other security measures would have picked up the slack had Miss Pie alerted the compound upon detecting the intrusion. As such, I will not be taking your job.” The stallion sagged in his seat, and Pinkie started sweating again. Sunset had not betrayed much approval for Pinkie outside of seconding Celestia’s previous observations. “Instead I will be adding a formal reprimand to your record for failing to properly address the Princess’ concerns. You can blame Miss Pie all you wish, but in the end, it was your insufficient actions that contributed to this disaster. I will also be contracting a security expert to reevaluate the facility. You are to follow his or her directives to the letter. Am I absolutely clear?”

Pommel sent a withering glare at Pinkie Pie before nodding in submission. “Crystal, Regent.”

“Good. You are dismissed.” Sunset waved Pommel away, completely ignoring his existence to silently focus on Pinkie Pie.

Pommel had the wits to know any counter-argument would be foolhardy in the extreme based on Sunset’s stony, impassive expression. Shoving himself to his hooves he departed, leaving the two mares alone. He did, however, linger near the door to give Pinkie Pie a baleful glare.

Once the door clicked behind him, Pinkie Pie was trying to whistle in order to calm down, but was failing miserably in both. “So ahh, what happens with me?”

“A very good question.” Sunset waved a hoof as she often did on camera during a speech. “On one hoof, you disobeyed protocol and paved the way for the shadowrunners to escape with a priceless, irreplaceable artifact. One that falls to me to see that it is returned. On the other hoof, you’ve shown skills and initiative that is sorely going to waste. Or at least that is the image I’m seeing if your account on the incident is the truth.”

“I may be a cupcake short of a bender, but I wouldn’t lie to you,” Pinkie claimed with earnest nodding.

A brief wrinkling of Sunset’s brow was the only sign of her trying to make sense of Pinkie’s statement. “You had best be right. Right now I need something from you. Information, to be exact. Did you discover anything useful about the shadowrunners? I will need anything you can give me to pass along to my intelligence agents.”

“Oh, ahhhh… Lemme think, lemme think.” Pinkie rubbed behind both ears and tightly closed her eyes. “It was four mares: two unicorns, an earth pony, and some other tribe, I can’t be sure. They have got to be a long standing team or even personal friends, rather than four random hires for a single job. One of them called the decker ‘Diamond’ when I shot up her cyberdeck. Most baddy teams I’ve seen only get angry if you conked out a friend, not a one-run ally. That is double wobble clear they’re actual friends since they didn’t leave the decker behind when they fled, even taking her broken deck with them. Temporary shadow teams just about never take a fallen buddy with them.”

Sunset let a hint of disgust color her words. “They think it’s safer to run away , rather than risk sticking around to save somepony that doesn’t know them.”

Pinkie nodded in full agreement. “It’s a fact!”

“Diamond…” Sunset parroted to herself. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Her glasses returned nothing on the police database, yet when it came to shadowrunners, that was expected. “The name doesn’t sound familiar. Plus I think you might be jumping to conclusions a little. Taking the decker and other evidence could just mean they are competent and didn’t want to leave anything that could be traced back to them.”

Pinkie shook her head. “I don’t knooow. I can’t shake the feeling they were all super besties. At least as besties as meanie crooks can be,” she ended with a pout.

“It warrants attention at any rate then. What about that one pony you mentioned. Can you not identify her tribe?”

Pinkie rubbed her neck, looking up at the ceiling while she tried to recall. “I think she wanted me to believe she was an earth pony. But my right ear kept twitching when I was fighting her. And that means she’s being super ninja deceptive. Well, that and she was wearing a full body robe and was trying super hard to hide her face. Buuut thanks to the ear twitching, I stretched reeeeally hard to see under her hood and I saw a pair of fangs in her open mouth. So I’m guessing she has some body mods, tattoos, or scars that would make her ultra- easy to identify. But what I thought was giga weird, she fought like an adept, but could also use spells like a mage. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anypony being able to do that.”

Sunset narrowed her eyes at the last statement. “An adept using mage magic? That is very curious indeed. Beyond rare to be sure, but not impossible.” A scowl marred her face for a moment. “I think I’ve heard enough.” Sunset’s expression softened to be noticeably friendly. “I have a proposition for you.

“Due to a recent operation that did not end smoothly, there is an opening in the Crown Intelligence Agency Section Nine. The one I personally oversee. I’m willing to offer you an associate position as our newest investigator. Are you interested?”

Pinkie tilted her head and furrowed her brow in bewilderment. “You’re offering me a job? Nooot exactly what I thought a reward would look like it. I was thinking at least some cake, or doughnuts, or at least a can of whipped cream.”

A shadow of utter confusion passed Sunset’s face before she replaced it with reassured confidence. “The way I see it, Miss Pie, is you have three options. You can stay here at Clover, and end up getting fired by Pommel as soon as he feels safe to do so. You can quit and try your luck on the career market without a black mark on your job record, or… you can sign up with Section Nine and earn enough pay to get all the cake and doughnuts you can eat.” Sunset Shimmer betrayed a concerned side-frown.

“Well, I guess I could…” Pinkie looked up and rubbed the back of her left ear thoughtfully. “But only if I can bring in cakes and cookies into the office. I really, really, wanna open up a bakery one day, and I need the practice.”

Sunset was taken aback by the request, but ended up smiling warmly gratitude. “I think that would be a welcome idea.”

Pinkie Pie grinned madly. “Really? Then sure I’ll help out!”

“Glad to hear it.” Sunset’s magic entered a few commands into her glasses, and typed in a few quick messages. A second or so later, a stallion walked through the door.

At first, Pinkie thought he was a bat pony, what with his fangs, fluffy ears, cat eyes, and leathery wings. He was wearing a form fitting dark brown jumpsuit that blended in perfectly with his equally dark brown fur. His silvery mane stood in stark contrast. The last thing Pinkie noticed was the plethora of scars all over his face and a few on his wings. Golly wheeze, Gelos, this guy’s been through a blendy blender. I bet he has loads of scars under that suit.

“This is Special Combat Agent Flintlock,” Sunset introduced as she stood up. “He’s my most trusted confidant among the Nightborne.”

Flintlock gave Pinkie a crisp, curt nod of acknowledgement. “A pleasure, Miss…?”

A new friend!! Pinkie Pie rounded the table before Sunset or even Flintlock even noticed she had moved, and appeared next to Flintlock like an apparition. Her abnormally massive smile put them both on edge. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! It’s so good to meet a new friend! You’re at least twelve hours late, by the way. We need to throw a party! I’m thinking streamers with bat hooks for you and all your—”

“We are not bat ponies.” Flintlock said with what at first sounded like a simple statement. However, the undercurrent of hateful loathing forced Pinkie to back off a step, her smile vanishing. “Those in my tribe are called thestrals.”

“Now, now,” Sunset chastised him with a casual, friendly tone as she patted Flintlock on his back. “Try not to blame our new associate for her ignorance. It’s not like we’ve made thestrals common knowledge… yet.”

Flintlock’s jaw clenched, yet he managed to shrug off his ill mood. “Forgive me, Regent, Miss Pinkie Pie.”

With those magic words Pinkie Pie’s smile lit up like a solar flare. She shoved herself in between Sunset Shimmer and Flintlock, squeezing them both into a massive hug. “All is forgiven! We’re going to have parties and catch bad guys all the time, oh this is going to be so much fun!”

Sunset nearly growled at being manhandled so hard by Pinkie’s hug, and tried in vain to free herself. Yet Pinkie’s iron grip kept the regent rooted in the group hug. “I hope I didn’t just make a mistake.”

Flintlock was inches from punching the bubbly pink mare while shooting Sunset an immensely displeased scowl. “Trust me, you have.”

The Dash household was scattered about the living room and kitchen. The fading smell of noodles and soy beef tickled their noses. Winter Glen languished at the coffee table with his matrix goggles on. He was going through the myriad of stolen or forged SINs to change Celestia’s most recent payment into cyptocurrency so he could pay their debts. Celestia had been generous enough, but her money was traceable and nearly useless to the SINless unless they knew how to launder it. Fortunately, Winter did, but it was still not a quick process.

Rainbow Dash was laying down on the floor with Amber Lotus and Sparks draped on top of her. Each of them also had their matrix goggles on, but were inside a virtual classroom. A classroom of Rainbow’s design. Chalkboard? Please. Desks? Forget about it. Homework…? Eh, can’t really help that with homeschooling and all. Instead, Rainbow’s classroom was a giant cloud with a brilliant star-filled night sky. All of it framed the full moon that rested just above Rainbow’s head and faced the five-year-old twins.

Rainbow felt a warmth in her chest as the two little thestrals marveled at the night sky. Teaching them to walk, how to fly, and them beginning to read all made her give off a motherly glow. All of that stopped when she had to take Winter’s place as the family shadowrunner. These short moments gave her the chance to forget it all. No mafia, no loan sharks, no surviving on little more than soy food, and no SINlessness. For the longest time, Rainbow was happy to just bask in her children’s company as they admired the stars. There had always been something magical about the night sky to her, in a way the daylight never was. Ever since her first memory of the stars back on those distant suburbs of Cloudsdale, she had often stayed up late to enjoy the crisp night. It had often led her to nap constantly throughout the day.

Rainbow might have stayed with her children all night if she had not been looking at the stars herself. After several minutes of absent observation, her trained mind started to look for constellations and landmark stars, yet something seemed off about them.

Her brow furrowed as Rainbow started to actually pay attention to the constellations. What in the…? Why are the stars different around Mother Moon? Rainbow blinked a few times to bring up the menu, and scanned a few settings. That’s just weird. The stars are still set to match the real night sky. A simple and obvious solution made her dismiss the menu with a miserable sigh. I’ve been in Canterlot for too long. Can’t see the stars with all the light pollution, and now I’ve forgotten where they are. I need to get out of the city for a while, but how can I afford to?

Resolving to rectify that little issue later, Rainbow stood up and addressed Amber Lotus and Sparks. “Alright, you clowns,” she began like the crack of a whip, bringing the little ones to attention. “What was daddy teaching you last time?”

Amber Lotus was the first to rip her gaze from the stars. “We were learning - um - I think it was odd and even numbers.”

Sparks spun around on his seat to properly face his mother. “And he was showing us what bugs look like up close. The worms were really nasty and cool looking! Do think they taste good too? Ooh can we eat real bugs next time, pleeeease?!”

Amber gagged with enough flair to make Rarity proud. “Eeww, you want to eat worms?! Mommy, Sparks is being groooss.”

“Am not!” Sparks stomped his hooves. “They’re like noodles, right momma?”

Rainbow laughed warmly and scuffed up her son’s mane. “How about this. I’ll go find a worm next time I’m out shopping, and you can eat it then? Deal?”

“Awesome! Can you go tomorrow? I promise to be good!” His wings buzzed with so much excitement he lifted off the ground.

Rainbow blanched at the response. Oh crap, I thought he was just saying that to tease Amber. “Um, I’ll check to see if they are selling any, but worms are kinda rare.” She glanced at her daughter, who was pointing her hoof at her mouth and still making exaggerated gagging noises at her brother. Whew, at least one of my kids is normal. “But I better not hear of you digging some worms up, young stallion, because - ah - those worms will make you really sick. Actually, I’ll get your dad to do it. Mommy’s probably got to work tomorrow.” The thought of another assignment caused the statue of the scientist she saw from the technology park to ring out in her mind. Good job, brain, I needed a distraction. “By the way, has daddy taught you anything of our tribe’s history at all lately?”

Sparks looked around a bit before shaking his head. “Nuh uh.” Amber parroted her brother.

“Do you at least know who Shining Light is?” Rainbow asked with annoyance tinting her voice.

Amber Lotus noticed her mother’s darkening tone and turned to face her as well. “Umm… he’s the big stallion on TV?”

Rainbow could hardly blame children for ignorance of what should be common knowledge for them. “Well then, consider this a quick lesson that you should never ever forget so long as you live! Shining Light is the scientist who cracked the problem on why our tribe died off after the Second Awakening. He was also the scientist that personally watched over me. Without his work, we still wouldn’t exist. ” Rainbow fumed inwardly at the lack of any visual aids. I wish I had a picture of him, and I can’t draw him to save my snout. Thinking quickly, she leaned down so she was eye level with her kids. “Without him, you wouldn’t be here.”

“That’s neat,” Sparks replied with only blank, forced enthusiasm. Amber Lotus mirrored similar sentiments, earning a scowl from Rainbow. Comprehension was at an all time low.

“One sec.” She lifted up her goggles to stare daggers at the poor stallion still going over the bills. “Hey, Layabout, why haven’t you taught Thing One and Thing Two about Shining Light?”

Winter was actually glad to have an excuse to pause his work, even with an irate wife glowering at him. He removed his goggles and tiredly rubbed his eyes before giving her the haughtiest, humorless grin she had ever seen on anyone outside of the palace district. “My dear madam, the students are only in the equivalent of first grade. Anypony who’s anypony in the education district knows you at least wait until second grade to start history lessons. If you have any complaints, I suggest you direct them to the school board.”

Oh, I love this game. Rainbow said a few words to the children to make sure they knew mom was not mad at them, and she left them to admire the stars. All they ended up doing was bickering over which constellation Mother Moon thought was best. Rainbow abandoned her goggles and shimmied onto the couch beside her husband, giving him a scowl that threatened to crack in a prankster’s smirk. “Well, seeing how you are the only teacher, that would make you the board now wouldn’t it?”

Keeping up his professional aloof façade, Winter Glen made a show of putting his goggles back on. “I’ll have you know such proximity could be construed as harassment.”

“Then consider yourself harassed.” Rainbow Dash batted her eyelashes with a predatory, fang-filled grin. She flicked her tail in excitement, and her heart pumped harder.

Winter cracked an eye open to see what she was doing, and grinned at the display. He almost made the mistake of perking up for a kiss when internal alarm bells started ringing. It was too little, too late.

Rainbow Dash tackled Winter with a ferocious roar, causing the stallion to yelp out of surprise. Rainbow bit down on Winter’s neck, making sure to give anything vital plenty of distance. “Your blood is mine!”

“Not if I take yours first!” he challenged with a playful snarl. With Rainbow latched onto the base of his neck, he was able to pull around and bite her mane, catching just a hint of fur. More growls and false gasps of pain drew the attention of the children.

Most other kids their age might be fearful of their parents wrestling and biting, but of course, they were Rainbow’s children. So with high pitched war cries of their own, they joined in, biting away at their mom and poor father. The children were quite aggressive about it, nipping at their parents until a wing or tail swatted at them before diving in for more fun.

The thestral family rolled off the couch, but the sudden drop panicked the adults into kicking each other apart in order to keep the children from being crushed between them, the couch, and the close coffee table.

Rainbow Dash’s sudden maternal panic abated when all she heard was childish squeals and laughter. Sparks had ended up being flung onto the coffee table and was looking down at his mother who was on the carpet. “Again! Again!”

“We’ll do it again only if you two chi flow,” Rainbow offered with a proud smile. She pulled herself up, and helped Winter Glen do the same since his limp was keeping him down longer than she felt comfortable with. She pulled Amber off her father’s back and put her on the table next to her brother. “All ponies need to be able to defend themselves, and we thestrals are best with using chi. It’ll come naturally if you focus.”

“But why?” Sparks asked innocently enough.

Winter wrapped a wing around his wife and stood firm beside her, adding his fatherly weight to the command. “Because it’s how we - erm - how we were made by Mother Moon,” he lied roughly, but the children had no reason to disbelieve him.

“But why?” Amber parroted with her brother.

“Because we used science to make us that way,” Rainbow said with a bit of irritation. “Now why don’t you get to it before I forget to make pudding tonight.”

That was all the convincing the foals needed to scramble for the matrix goggles. Sparks started pestering his sister over who would get the closer of the two goggles, but that was an argument the parents were more than happy to leave the foals to. He placed his head protectively over Rainbow’s. The mare sighed contentedly and nuzzled his jaw and neck.

Winter’s touch and warmth against Rainbow felt more like summer than what his name suggested. In her mind’s eye, Rainbow remembered Winter in his prime, before their exile. The wing he hugged her with lacked the same restrained power it once did, but not in Rainbow’s memories. By pressing herself against him, she could feel his muscles were smaller now. Injury and raising the children in hiding had a way of eroding even the most resilient. And yet she could feel what strength he still possessed and fought to maintain. A lesser mare might have started to feel her love wane from such a loss. Rainbow had seen as much from a few jobs. Stupid mares never know what they’ve got until they throw their coltfriends away.

Winter frowned a bit after noticing how tense Rainbow had gotten all of a sudden. “Are you okay, hon?”

Remembering where she was, Rainbow pulled herself out from under her husband, but she couldn’t shake the hostility she felt after thinking about so many disloyal mares. “Yeah, yeah,” she ran a hoof through her mane, only for the hair to settle right back to where it was before. “Just thinking about idiot ponies.”

A teasing smirk crossed Winter’s face. “I hope I’m not on that list.”

Rainbow felt a derisive grin take form. “If you were, I’d let you know first thing.”

“See, that’s why I love you. You don’t play silly games like ‘guess the offense.’”

Rainbow tried her best to hide her good humor with a supremely arched eyebrow. “I hope that’s not the only reason.”

“I don’t have all night to list the reasons you are the love of my life,” Winter replied with a ‘cometh hither’ leer. “Come on, I’ll get the noodles cooking if you want to start the dessert.”

Dinner was about as Rainbow expected; soy noodles in a well-seasoned broth with chocolate pudding for later. Any hope that Winter had been able to surprise them with something healthier vanished the moment he took out the box of noodles. The family sat around the coffee table in moderate silence. The foals were slurping their noodles without a care about the mess they made. The table, their faces, and parts of the carpet were being constantly sprinkled in broth. Both of them had eyes for only one thing: mom’s specially made pudding.

The parents filled the air with safe, idle chatter or answered questions from the little ones. It was nearly time for dessert when Twilight Sparkle arrived from Fluttershy’s garage. The feathered mare was wearing one of Fluttershy’s spare jumpsuits which was covered in all sorts of oils, lubricants, and soot. Yet despite that, she had the happy smile of a job well done plastered on her muzzle. “You would not believe the backlog Angel has on her clients’ drone repairs.”

Fluttershy tried to enter the kitchen behind Twilight, but the unicorn was standing right in front of the already narrow door. She stretched her neck as far up as she could to look inside. “Excuse me, please.” Fluttershy said meekly with her ears wilted.

Twilight completely missed the request, but moved inside so she didn’t have to raise her voice to be heard in the living room. “Oh, I haven’t had that much fun in ages. The palace staff usually get their hooves on broken stuff before I get a chance to try repairing it. A car, bots, and that odd cyberdeck, oh how I wish I could do it all again.”

Finally able to stand beside Twilight without having to bump into her, Fluttershy gave an honest smile at the thestral family. “She was a lot of help. I’ll be able to make Synsteel’s deadline now.”

“See, Speedy? I knew the purple one would make a great addition.” Winter called out with a grateful smile and lightly jabbing his wife. He was usually the one who helped Fluttershy on two-pony repair jobs, yet he still had no skill with a wrench. He pointed a wing at the pot of noodles on the kitchen counter. “Why don’t you gals have some dinner? It’s not much, but it’s filling.”

Fluttershy nodded and whispered words of gratitude.

Twilight carefully walked over to the noodle pot and levitated some out, but otherwise stayed out of the way so Fluttershy could take her meal. The unicorn born with a silver spoon in her mouth sniffed the soy heavy strand of ‘food’ hovering before her. Yet she couldn’t help but cringe at the actual taste of it.

While Fluttershy and Winter were occupied with each other or the children, Rainbow Dash was the only one paying any attention to Twilight. She watched Twilight mirror all the same signs of disgust at low class food that Rainbow remembered the first time she had to eat such food. “It goes down easier if you hold your nose.”

With a nod in acknowledgement, Twilight did as instructed and managed to swallow the noodle without retching. An improvement at least.

Poor rich girl was at least smart enough to order extra to-go boxes from the Slayer Club, but leftovers don’t last forever. Remembering the Slayer Club also beckoned memories of the heist from Clover Labs and Twilight’s abysmal spellcasting ability outside of a dragon line. She leaned over to Winter and whispered to keep the foals from getting interested. “Hey, you mind if Twiggles takes Boomstick for a run? We can return it once we have the scratch to buy her a gun of her own.”

Rainbow had told Winter every detail of the run. He didn’t need to think long on it. “I was worried you were going to suggest that. If she does, I can’t really defend the house without it.”

Guilt stung Rainbow Dash when her eyes couldn’t stop from glancing down at the large shotgun scar on Winter’s throat. “Right, sorry. I figured the pay from the other night would have covered us, but that all went into getting Rarity a new datajack.”

Winter scratched his scarred neck without thinking. Embarrassed, he forced his hoof back down. “How about this. We see what sort of job the Princess has for us next, and we’ll see if you need Fluttershy or Twilight more.”

Twilight Sparkle’s ears perked at her real name being used, here where everyone felt safe. She smiled a bit at the show of trust. She only wished she could say as much.

“Sounds fair. I better get her familiar with it if she does end up coming. Your job is making sure the clowns save some pudding for me too.” Sharing a quick kiss with him, Rainbow took her empty plate with her to the kitchen. By then, the starving unicorn gave up on trying to deny her hunger and claimed a heap of noodles for herself. “Hey, Twiggles, meet me upstairs, alright?”

“Did I do something wrong?” Twilight asked, making a show of eating another bite of noodles, even if she still couldn’t hide her distaste for the food. A part of her was saddened that Rainbow had not demonstrated the gesture of trust her husband had. Fearing she may have insulted the mare’s cooking, Twilight was quick to add, “I - I’m sure your cooking is only being held back by these miserable ingredients.”

Rainbow blinked at the off-topic remark. “Suure, of course it is.” Rainbow rolled her eyes and made for the door. “We need to plan how you’re going to fight, and I don’t want to do this in front of the kids.”

“Oh. Of course. Sorry.” Giving a parting wave to Fluttershy and the foals, Twilight followed after the thestral mare. The plate of noodles floating after her.

Rainbow climbed up the curving exterior staircase to the third floor. This was perhaps her favorite part of the house. The expanse of Canterlot stretched out before her, a sea of glittering lights, the bright half-moon hanging above them all. The view wasn’t as good as it had been from the palace, but it was good enough for her current lot in the world. Upon hearing Twilight exit the kitchen, Rainbow Dash didn’t want to be seen reminiscing and marched onward to the upstairs.

The top floor was divided into three rooms, the receiving hallway, the bedroom and a single bathroom. The hallway had been repurposed into the master bedroom after the large take-off balcony had been incorporated into the new bedroom. The remodeling was haphazard at best, with the flooring still split between the carpeted hallway and the cloudcrete former balcony. The master bedroom opened straight into the bathroom and the kids’ room. The parents’ bed had a large headboard that had some heavy steel plates bolted on as a makeshift bullet screen if the house was ever invaded. Rainbow stepped around the bed and walked over to the chest of drawers to look for the weapon.

Twilight was not far behind. Since she had to sleep in the living room, this was her first time in the upper floor. The purple mare was a bit surprised by what she found. The bed was crisply clean, with the sheets made to military precision. The only clutter on the ground were children’s toys that had creeped out of their room. A small collection of robes hung on the far wall, and a mirror on the opposite side. Twilight’s attention was brought to the chest of drawers when she heard Rainbow growling to herself as she pulled each of the large, long ones open and rummaged around.

“Gah, he always does this. Where did he hide it this time?” Rainbow gave up on the drawers and started looking under the bed before moving on to the wooden wardrobe that kept all of the dresses and suits Rarity had made for them.

Seeing how Rainbow had neglected to tell Twilight anything was off limits, the unicorn drifted over to the chest of drawers once Rainbow had moved on. Twilight used the distraction to shovel as much food in her maw as possible, thus making it more palatable. There were several cheaply framed pictures on display, utterly crowding the top of the chest. Twilight smiled as each one showed the family enjoying each other’s company, while others were pictures of the kids acting utterly silly. The perfect blackmail for the day when the little ones started bringing over colt or fillyfriends.

Twilight glanced over at Rainbow who was carefully pushing the dresses aside looking for the weapon, then went back to looking at the pictures. In between the tangle of family pictures, towards the back, Twilight spied the edge of a sky blue ear, rather than the dark hue of blue that Rainbow had now.

Using her magic to carefully extract the picture, Twilight discovered the picture was of a much younger Rainbow Dash and Winter Glen. Only that they were both pegasi. Winter had the cropped mane that was only just starting to grow back. Rainbow was in a graduate Wonderbolt recruit uniform. Rainbow was leaning heavily on Winter who was trying to stand up straight. She was giving him a daredevil grin, which he answered in kind. They also had one of each other’s feathers tied into their manes, a sign of marriage engagement among pegasi.

Yet what really gave Twilight a worried frown was the two messages written in pen next to each pony. The one next to Rainbow read “In Loving Memory”, while the message next to Winter said ‘See you next time cowfilly’ in different mouthwriting.

“Did I say you could look at that?!” Rainbow demanded from behind Twilight. The thestral didn’t even wait for Twilight to jump in surprise before racing up and yanking the picture out of Twilight’s magic. Rainbow yanked a drawer open, gently placed the picture inside before slamming it closed again. She gave Twilight a spiteful glare. “Keep your mitts off, got it?”

Twilight found her voice a moment later. “Sorry, I didn’t think you’d have anything so sensitive out in the open.”

“It’s my bedroom,” Rainbow half growled. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to yell again, but Twilight painfully apologetic face kept her from further speaking her mind. “Just keep your magic to yourself. Now here!” Rainbow grabbed the weapon she had dropped upon seeing Twilight looking at the picture, and shoved it into Twilight’s chest for her to grab it. “You know how to use a shotgun right? Or did you only learn magic up there?”

Twilight looked down at the proffered weapon and claimed it with her magic. She had no clue as to the manufacturer or the model, but she could at least identify a pump action shotgun when she saw one. “I practiced with a few during self-defense classes. I always preferred scatter swords myself, but I can try this out.”

“A scatter sword?” Rainbow replied with a thread of contempt replacing anger. “This isn’t some sports arena, Twiggles. If you’re hard up on using a sword, then use a real sword.”

Now it was Twilight’s turn to be irked, but she managed to contain it in a mild scowl. “Scatter swords can be just as lethal as regular swords, thank you very much. You’ve never seen my personal one back at the palace.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow poked the shotgun just hard enough to make it rock in Twilight’s telekinesis. “Well, good luck getting the thing now. The Princess would need to dream up some serious winger of an excuse to move that piece, if it exists. But for now, what you see is what you get.”

A defeated frown marred Twilight’s face, and she sighed heavily. “Fine. Point made.” She rotated the weapon to inspect it, only for her ears to wilt in expected disappointment when she discovered it was not designed for unicorn use.

Rainbow eyeballed the unicorn for a few moments, seeing if Twilight was being honest with her. Rainbow continued once she was satisfied. “Look, I know the shotgun doesn’t have a kickback crystal, but you’re just going to have to deal with it until we have the bits for an actual unicorn weapon.”

“I’ll manage.” Twilight tried to put on a friendly, if only to shrug off the melancholy that threatened to take root. “I may not have a lot of options outside of a dragon line, but my telekinesis is better than most. I can handle the kick well enough.” Twilight grimaced at the weapon. It looked worn with multiple scratches along the butt of the weapon and a long groove along the barrel, presumably made by a claw or sword. It was a weapon not meant for her. “I’ll take good care of it.”

“You’d better. That’s Winter’s gun.” Rainbow fished out a box of shotgun shells from one of the drawers and presented it to her guest. “Until the Princess pays us for the next run, you’ll have to settle for the basic stuff we have.”

“That’s fine.” Twilight claimed the ammo box and stuck it in one of the many large pockets on the jumpsuit she wore. “Princess Celestia should be contacting us soon. I’d really like to take a shower before she sees me all greasy.”

Rainbow shrugged in disinterest and jabbed a leathery wing at the bathroom. “Sure, not like I need one.” She noticed Twilight looking around the room, unsure of where to put her plate. “I’ll take your food downstairs. I’d rather not give the roaches a reason to crawl around up here.”

“You have roaches?” Twilight’s ears perked up in a panic, but she was able to peaceably give Rainbow the plate and cautiously approach the bathroom. “How is that even possible in a cloud home?”

“Don’t know or care how, only that they can. As for having them here, not yet, and I’d like to keep it that way,” Rainbow replied with a bit of self-imposed embarrassment. Ugh, why did I have to mention that? Twiggles doesn’t seem like the slob type anyway.

“Oh, okay, that’s fair.” Not wanting to waste any more time, Twilight bolted for the shower. “I’ll be out soon.” As she walked off, Twilight started muttering about researching cockroaches and cloud walking.

With Twilight gone, Rainbow’s defensiveness bled out of her. Her eyes drifted back over to the sea of pictures and then back to the drawer she had hid the one missing from the rest. Rainbow carefully put the plate down on the floor and gently took the picture out of the drawer and stared for a good long time at the sky blue pegasus with a devilish grin.

Grief and regret warred within her the longer she looked at the pegasus mare. A part of her, the cowardly part in her eyes, wanted to look away from this painful image, but her pride and loyalty kept her gaze fixed. “Well, here I am, serving the crown for real again. I hope you can still look at me with pride, If only a little.” Rainbow sniffled, and got irritated upon finding her face was getting damp with a few tears. “Ugh, I hate getting sappy.” Outside of Winter and the kids. Rainbow couldn’t bring herself to say that last part aloud, not in front of the pictured pegasus. I’m a miserable thief, and didn’t have a choice in the matter. Using one foreleg to do her best at drying her face, Rainbow reverently placed the picture back to its proper place. “Great, now Winter’s going to pry into why I was crying.” I can’t hide anything from him, she thought with a mix of irritation and no small amount of love for the stallion.

Shaking herself to try and clear her thoughts, Rainbow looked at the clock sitting on the floor next to her side of the bed. Celestia should be contacting us tonight. I hope she’s got some info on the mob assassin I need to kill. Who knows, maybe she’ll save us the trouble and just kill him for us.

Resolving to spend some time to let her emotionally reddened eyes return to normal, Rainbow eventually went back downstairs to await her next orders.

Some time later, after the children were asleep, all four adults were awaiting Celestia’s arrival. A simple message wouldn’t suffice, not with the artifact in hoof. There was a tense silence among them as the designated time approached. That is, for everyone except Twilight, who was practically bouncing on her hoof tips in excitement.

The empowered sunstone resting on the floor lit up with the same summoning diagram as the first one. Within moments, Celestia flashed into the room, this time lacking the same oppressive heat as before. Almost as one, the four non-alicorns prostrated themselves, with Fluttershy cowering behind her mane.

Celestia was quick to cast her anti-scrying spell. With her presence masked, Celestia gave them all a quick look before her eyes lingered on Twilight. “Please rise, everypony.”

Twilight was the first to do so with a spring in her step. She approached Celestia with a beaming smile that Celestia reciprocated with one of her own, and opened a wing. Twilight eagerly accepted the sidelong hug. “It is good to see you are unharmed, my faithful student. I am also glad to see you all in good health.”

Rainbow fell back on her old Nightborne training and stood at attention the way a captain should. Winter did much the same, doing his best to minimize the difficulty of holding that posture with his bad leg. Fluttershy opened up a little due to Celestia’s friendliness, but still kept her mane over one eye as she rose to her hooves.

“Your highness,” Rainbow started up with a crisp tone. “We retrieved the Element of Harmony as ordered with zero fatalities.” Rainbow picked up the Element off the floor where she had been sitting and presented it to Celestia. Rainbow tried to hide her attempts at checking Celestia’s face for clues.

Celestia’s proud grin flashed at Twilight before she refocused on Rainbow. “I see Twilight’s ability to perform research isn’t hampered by her new surroundings.” The alicorn accepted the artifact in her magic, and brought it over to her face for inspection. It didn’t take long before a satisfied grin appeared. “You have performed admirably, Captain Rainbow Dash. I will be forwarding your payment as soon as I return to the palace.” She raised a mildly put-off eyebrow at Rainbow and Winter’s rigid stances. “At ease, Captain.”

Not our fault our ‘surroundings’ are not up to your standards. Rainbow snapped to the military’s at ease stance, causing Celestia to flash a sad frown before banishing it for a neutral mask.

Seeking a way to end the awkward silence, she finally turned her attention to Fluttershy. “Ah, you must be the Angel I’ve heard about when Rainbow Dash informed me of the Shadowbolt roster. A pleasure to meet you.”

“Thank you, your highness.” Fluttershy cowered under the attention and hid further behind her mane.

With the two thestrals in the room, Fluttershy’s reaction brought up memories of how the old thestrals all looked at her after banishing her sister so many long centuries ago. Few, if any, knew she had fallen to the Nightmare at the time. Fluttershy’s timid fear echoed the horror from the old thestrals’ faces. Seeing that same fear here and now bit deeply at the ageless alicorn, threatening to break Celestia’s composure. So many years of being seen as a monster by nearly the whole tribe. She moved to give Fluttershy a reassuring hoof, one she had tried to give to so many of the past, but Rainbow Dash intervened with a loud request.

“Your highness, what are our next orders?” Rainbow Dash risked a worried glance at Fluttershy, but only for a second in hopes that Celestia would miss it.

Leveraging her millennia of experience, Celestia repressed the memories and found her center. “Down to business. Very well.” Celestia’s horn lit up with a 3D model of a three story mansion. “This is the residence of Denim Pants. He is a self-proclaimed Collector of All Things Obscure, and is currently in possession of the next Element. He will be hosting a soirée two nights from now, where he will be officially showing off his collection of rare artifacts to various important beings from the world over. I can not stand the stallion myself, but he always sends me an invitation as a matter of course. I want you, Captain, to infiltrate the party and steal the artifact out from under him. I care not how.”

Rainbow blanched at the loose discretion she had been given and tried to suppress it. Twilight on the other hoof was able to speak up first. “Denim… Denim… Isn’t he that louse you’ve been keeping a whole Section tied up in investigations over?”

Twilight shivered in a cold sweat. “I heard he was indicted in multiple counts of corporate espionage and several electronic break-ins all across Equestria. But nopony could get the evidence to stick.”

Celestia clenched her jaw to mask her loathing for the stallion. “The same. He is nothing like his son, Fancy. He plays lip service to the crown and Equestria at large, but too many questionable matters about him have been brought to my attention over the decades. More than enough for me to have him executed for treason many times over. He only makes matters worse for himself that he is a pipeline for foreign spies. Section Three and Six are overworked from having to track and remove these agents. Your orders are to retrieve the Element, download any scrap of data you can from his servers, and if need be, eliminate Denim. A trial would only harm his son’s reputation.”

Winter tilted his head, studying the calm, collected mask that barely hid Celestia’s ire. “If I may be so bold, your highness, if this stallion is as criminal as you say, why have you stayed your hoof?”

“It is a difficult matter. Up until recently, he’s been rather valuable in his own way.” Celestia lit her horn, causing her golden regalia to project a holographic list of names. “Once we discovered the pipeline, the Sections have been quite effective in identifying and removing the spy ring he’s been forming over the years. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the rate of technology theft by the Griffin Republic and the Minotaur Consortium has seen a staggering drop in the past decade due to the Sections’ work. As a result, the GR and MC have finally caught on to the fact that Denim is useless to them, and the rate of spies funneled through him has diminished to the point where removing him is worth the bad press.”

Fluttershy whispered a question, only for Twilight to outspeak her. “Why would you get bad press for prosecuting this traitor?” she asked incredulously. “If anything the public would praise it!”

“No, it makes sense,” Winter cut in. “The Pants dynasty, Denim in particular, has made it abundantly clear to the public that he holds the Element of Loyalty.” He looked to Celestia for confirmation. “Something you gave his family a long time ago, right?”

A sad, forlorn frown wormed its way onto Celestia’s muzzle. “There was a time when the aristocracy lived up to the title, but the Pants family are the only ones left who could still call themselves noble. It is a symbol of absolute trust between myself and his family line. Even if that was not a source of embarrassment, I have no doubt he expects to be raided by the police one day. He’ll wipe his personal servers should that happen, along with any evidence they might contain.”

Rainbow Dash’s blood boiled as the laundry list of his crimes against the Princess grew. She’s seen horrid things over the years, crimes on par with Denim’s own. But to abuse the gift of loyalty from the Princess herself?! Rainbow’s tail swished back and forth, and her eyes hardened like diamonds. “Let me kill him instead. I can make it quick, long, drawn out, whatever way you like.”

Winter looked at his wife with calculated neutrality. He thought about it for a short moment before nodding. “For what it’s worth, Princess, the punishment for treason is death. You can say or believe what you want of our alleged crimes, but we never approached anything close to this.”

Celestia gave him a warning scowl, her voice icy cold. “Which is why the two of you were not hunted down with the full backing of a Section. Were it not for Regent Shimmer’s council, I would have have had both of you brought before me in chains.”

Both Rainbow and Winter were dumbstruck by the admission. They shared a questioning look before Rainbow spoke up. “What did Sunset Shimmer have to do with our - erm - indictments?”

Celestia dialed the hostility down to smoldering irritation. “I suppose there is little harm in telling you. Regent Shimmer made it a point to review the evidence and testimony leveled against you, Captain. She pointed out some discrepancies, and postulated that your crimes were not as severe as Flintlock made them out to be. It was decided that the Sections had more pressing matters to tend to. Even if you two were, and still are, the only Nightborne to ever dishonor yourselves, and dishonor the Nightborne with desertion in the face of court martial.”

“A court martial?” Rainbow barked back with far more bravado than was wise. “That was going to be a damn show trial and you know it! I was ‘guilty’ before I even got back to HQ. How many times do I have to say Flintlock was giving conflicting orders to the rest of my squad?! I damn well meant it when I took that oath. Why did you have to believe him over me?”

Twilight Sparkle was utterly baffled by the question, yet didn’t get a chance to speak.

“Enough!” Celestia shouted, nearly breaking into the royal canterlot voice. The heat she was exuding caused the air around her to roil. “I’m not sure how you’ve forgotten this, Captain, but every member of the Nightborne swear the same oath before officially joining. Besides, it is not entirely a matter of your word verses his. Video and radio recordings were more than enough that not even Regent Shimmer’s council was enough to lift the charges against you.

“You have your orders, so carry them out. I haven lingered here long enough.” Without another word, Celestia teleported away.

Twilight’s astonished, disgruntled face slowly moved from Celestia’s exit to the thestral mare that was already marching out the room. “Are you trying to make her mad?”

“What do you care?” Rainbow growled over her shoulder. “You’re her perfect student. All she needed to believe your story was a spirit touch, or whatever that was. Me? Pah, I get to bend over backwards, and then fix her mess of a conspiracy.”

“But you’re getting a new life if you keep going.” Twilight looked to Winter for backup, only for the stallion to keep a firm, impassive face. He would not help her win this one. She looked to Fluttershy, but the pegasus was still trying to control her rapid breathing, having gone through such a rough close encounter with the Princess, all without sharing more than a few words with the alicorn. At last, she turned back to Rainbow Dash, who had by now turned fully around to face the sole unicorn. “A full pardon means you could rejoin the Nightborne if you wanted to, or—”

“The Nightborne?” Rainbow Dash spat bitterly. Painful memories threatened to bring tears to her eyes. “The rest of my tribe turned its back on us! Not one of them were willing to back us up. All because that kissass to the Regent didn’t want to tell the truth. I put everything I had into the Nightborne.” She waved a hoof at Winter. “We both did! And look where that got us. Living under the thumb of the mob for five years, and having to sneak completely out of the city just so my kids can fly around without me having to worry about them getting foalnapped because we look like some rich bat ponies just begging for a ransom!”

“But that won’t be a problem after we settle things,” Twilight replied, trying to keep things calm by waving her hoof low to the ground. “You’ll be free to live your lives wherever you want. Raise Amber and Sparks out in the country if need be.”

Having recovered from her hyperventilation, Fluttershy walked around the other side of the couch so Rainbow could see her. “Um, I wouldn’t mind going with you and living in a small town. It’d be really nice to see little critters that aren’t disease-ridden rats.” Fluttershy felt encouraged to continue upon seeing a sad, apologetic smile on her childhood friend’s face. “Oh, and if we go far enough, we can find a town with no real night life so the stars would be visible and the little ones could fly around without worrying. Wouldn’t that be just wonderful?”

Truth be told, it was an option that had crossed Rainbow’s mind. That alone made her give the idea enough thought to dispel some of her aggression. There was something about how the demure butter yellow pegasus still looked at her as an easy friend, one who stood by Winter and her. Loyalty was a treasure. So often cast aside isn’t it?

Seizing the opportunity, Winter limped over to his wife’s side and gently nuzzled her. “We could live freely. Let the kids play with others their own age, and if we play it right, we can get the mob to leave us alone.”

Rainbow huffed playfully, and pulled away. Her cheeks flushed at Twilight and Fluttershy seeing her almost nuzzle Winter back. “You just don’t want to homeschool them once they get into real math.”

“Actually,” Winter began with a side-smirk. “I was thinking of becoming a full-time teacher if the town has an opening. I could give an education that’ll actually be useful for a change.”

Eager to jump on this opportunity, Twilight squealed with delight and ran forward. Her excitement was blunted heavily when she almost bumped into Rainbow Dash when she tried to properly face Winter. The thestral mare gave her a warning, seething glare, but otherwise did nothing. “Oh, that’s absolutely fantastic to hear!” Twilight started, trying to ignore the anger rolling off of Rainbow Dash. “I can offer you any sort of funding you need from the treasury for a new school or just an upgrade!”

Rainbow gruffly got back to her hooves and walked off. A teacher, huh? I guess an accountant wouldn’t find much work if we went to a super small town. Rainbow left the kitchen and hung her forelegs on the railing of her house’s outside stairwell, letting her rear hooves dangle off the edge. The glow of the city along with the din of noise was obnoxious, outright annoying or dangerous sometimes, but still… it was home. As rancid as the street stank was, as disconcerting as the domestic yelling coming from her next door neighbors became, it was what she had learned to wrap in the blanket of familiarity.

She felt an updraft strong enough to rock the house a bit, but it brought in some clean air, air she happily breathed deeply of. Sure a small town is great and all for raising kids, but what about when they move out? They’re going to want to see the rest of our tribe. If Sparks is like his father, he’ll be a horndog until he finds Ms. Awesome. Rainbow gave off a raspy chuckle at fond, rose-tinted memories of Winter. But that means they’ll come here, back to Canterlot. I don’t care how sugarcoated Celestia can make my pardon, the Nightborne would never accept Amber or Sparks. Not only that, but… they’d have no idea how to survive the city if they grow up in the country.

Moaning loudly, she looked up at the one thing she hoped to hear an answer from: Mother Moon. She raised a hoof to touch the crescent moon pendant still wrapped around her ear. As Amber and Sparks looked up to her so many times, she now gazed upon the Mare in the Moon, a question in her searching eyes. “Should I have just forgotten this damn city in the first place, and disappeared into a tiny town or something?”

The moon above seemed to shimmer along the edges. Rainbow almost fell over the railing at the sign. She scrambled to stand up to get a steady look, her mouth agape in joyous surprise. “A sign! What is it?!” The shine persisted, a beautiful display to be sure. However, Rainbow was quickly getting annoyed. “Ah, come on. They didn’t teach me moon language back at the palace!” Assuming that even exists. “Can you give me something like morse code, or nudge maybe? A text message would be pretty stellar.”

The shining light of the moon seemed to gather around the Mare’s horn before winking out, as if her message was left unfinished. Rainbow sat there, waiting for a gentle nudge on her chin like last time, hoping it would direct her to… somewhere. Yet nothing came. The moon resumed its normal luster as if it had not reacted at all. Even so, she waited a long minute, trying to ignore the distant police sirens wailing on the city shelf below. Disappointment spread over her face. Her hoof fell away from the pendant first, then her head dropped back down to rest on the stair railing. “It would be just my luck if she used up all her ‘give the mortals a sign’ mojo on somepony else just now.”

Suspecting she wouldn’t get an answer, Rainbow trudged up to her bedroom to prepare for the next assignment.

7: Violent Reunion part 1

Flintlock led Pinkie Pie into the situation room in the center of Section Eleven while she slowly sucked on a candy cane. The room was a large planning studio, of a sort. The walls were covered in screens depicting locations or persons of interest. Three of the four walls had raised platforms so two sets of workstations could be crammed inside. Each one belonging to the support staff for Section Eleven. Field agents like Pinkie had larger offices that saw little use. Muted chatter danced around Pinkie’s ears involving various cases outside of her concern.

No, her focus was entirely on the missing Element of Harmony. Two days of orientation and introductions to everyone in Section Eleven was the lamest party ever. Seriously. The cupcakes she brought on the first day? Half of them were still in the lounge going stale in their boxes. No fun allowed, right? Thankfully for Pinkie’s already nebulous sanity, Sunset Shimmer had taken command of Pinkie’s recruitment paperwork, so she could get right to work.

Detective Pinkie rotated the candy cane to the other side of her mouth to give a square look to Flintlock, who was going over some data slates with a pegasus stallion. “So, if you buddies are done throwing papers at me, can I get to sniffing for clues now?”

“It’s the same procedure we all go through,” Flintlock chided with a frown. “But we understand time is a critical factor, which is why Keen Eye here has been collating all relevant information for the case for you.”

The pegasus used a wing to push a data slate across the map table towards Pinkie Pie. “It’d be faster if you just had a data jack. A small hit to your essence isn’t going to ruin your spellwork.”

“Yeeeeaaaa, no.” Pinkie Pie used her nose to move the pages as she read the bullet points. “What the? This info is only about the break-in at the lab. This is all we have?” She gave a flourishing scowl at the stiff-faced pegasus. “This is everything I told Flinty here two days ago!”

“Don’t call me that.”

Keen Eye didn’t take the bait and remained collected. “The lab heist is the first one targeting the Elements. There are no other heists.”

Pinkie’s flamboyance came to a screeching halt. “Oh. Well, good, that means I get to see this develop from the start.” Pinkie took a look at the city map displayed by the table. The presented controls appeared simple enough, so she commanded it to create a 3D hologram of the city above the table. “Okie folky then. First things first. What are these Elements exactly? The only thing I knew from Clover is that the Crown valued them like a baker loves flour, and that they’re powerful.”

Flintlock’s jaw tensed. He glanced at Keen Eyes to see the pegasus was just as hesitant to share classified information with a new hire. “Collectively, there are six Elements of Harmony. When used together, they’re a nigh indefensible weapon of purification. Outside of that, they are individually powerful artifacts that run the gambit between to being a catalyst in the healing process like Kindness is being used for, to…” Flintlock’s face soured with a deep grimace. “Indirectly giving you enough political forbearance to keep the princess from dispensing proper justice.”

“Political forbearance eh?” Pinkie rolled the candy cane in her mouth and made some loud sucking sounds. “A foreign government could use that, but making it public they stole it would be a declaration of war, wouldn’t it?”

Keen Eye gave the smallest of respectful nods. “That it would. Any of them who would be interested enough to go after an Element specifically would know how the Crown would react.”

“Any terrorist groups or other baddies claim responsibility?”

“No,” Keen Eye replied simply. “The Matrix has been very quiet about this.”

“Iiinteresting…” Pinkie Pie rubbed her chin and her eyes became distant. “Usually, runners like to blab at least something about successful runs, at least as much as they think their client is willing to accept. It’s their way of advertising their skill. No chatter could mean a lot of things, but I need more pieces of the cake. Alllrighty then.” Pinkie gestured at the holographic map. “Do we know where the other Elements are located?”

“We do.” Keen Eye took to the air and began poking different parts of the map. “Except for the Element of Generosity and Magic, the remaining Elements were all kept within Canterlot city limits. These are their locations.”

“Hmmm… a courthouse, ha! That’s rich. A hospital, I guess it makes sense. There’s one in the palace, kinda where they all should be… and… why is this last one in a residential zone?” Pinkie Pie jabbed a hoof at the offending building.

Flintlock’s face soured so hard the cupcakes Pinkie Pie was storing in her mane rotted on the spot. “Denim Pants. The very last pony who even deserves to so much as look at a picture of an Element, much less Loyalty.”

Pinkie Pie dropped her hooves back to the floor and gave him a contemplative chin rub, to which he responded by smacking her hoof away. “If he’s that bad… and you know he has one, and you haven’t raided his house by now… ” Pinkie’s eyes widened a bit in understanding.

“Glad to know our newest detective can put two and two together,” Keen Eye remarked bluntly. “And before you go on, Section Eleven can’t touch this guy. Two other Sections are already planning to take him down soon, and if we interfere, it’s all our tails in the fire.”

“Even if his possession of an Element is relevant to us?” Pinkie countered. She finally noticed the cupcakes in her mane had gone bad, and started shaking like a wet dog to dislodge them all. Both stallions stepped back from the flying bits of ruined pastries.

Flintlock was the first to recover from his disgust, and dismissively nudged a bit of cupcake off his shoulder. “Yes. The other Sections are acting under the Princess’ direct orders, and she sees Denim as a personal affront. The very most we could do is a stakeout.”

Keen Eye opened his mouth to make a suggestion only to notice Pinkie’s tail was twitching with a life of its own. He got further put off by the ear flopping. “Uhhh… are you having a seizure?”

Pinkie Pie ignored the strange looks she was getting, and returned her gaze to the map. When her eyes laid upon the Pants estate once more, the jitters ceased. “We have to go there.”

“Did you not hear me?” Flintlock half demanded. “We can’t—”

“Something big is going down tonight, I can feel it.” Pinkie Pie gave Flintlock her I’m-being-totally-super-serious face, the best one around. “We need to be there. Tonight!”

It wasn’t exactly uncommon for shamans to get prophetic visions, so the stallions gave it some consideration instead of dismissing her outright. However, the acceptance of these visions were dubious at best in the eyes of the law. Keen Eye’s face was a mask of contemplation, mirroring Flintlock’s own. “Assuming you’re right. It’s probably a raid the other Sections are running. Unless you can give me a better reason than one of your little seizure visions, leave it alone, detective.”

“Fine.” Pinkie grumbled. She poked the map while spinning around to leave. “I need everything we have about the Elements in my office. I got some sniffin’ to… do…” Pinkie stopped midstride and turned back to the stallions. Waaait, a second! How do we know about the raid in the first place? Did Sunset Shimmer tell you?”

“No,” Flintlock replied with annoyance not directed at Pinkie Pie. “Director Claptrap got ‘miffed’ when one of Section Three’s mares was chasing a lead on a case and it led her straight to the Pants Estate. Claptrap had her pulled out before Denim or his staff could see her, and after that, he warned the rest of the Sections that the Pants Estate was off limits to the rest of us.”

Keen Eyes’ tone of voice became haughty. “That was five months ago. Even with the backing of the throne, he’s painfully slow in gearing up for an offensive.”

“Ah ha! That’s it!” Pinkie Pie cried in victory. “Think about it. The Clover Element’s biggest defense was its secrecy. It was a test.”

“A test?” Flintlock parroted, his eyebrow raising. “For who?”

“The shadowrunners, silly! The ones I went fisticuffs with. They must have been under direct orders to leave everypony they fought both alive and with no permanent injuries. Just to see how good they are. If the mastermind knew Clover was hiding an Element, then it’s hugely wugely possible that he also knows about the raid coming up.”

Keen Eyes’ annoyed frown deepened. “You are quite the mental gymnast aren’t you?”

Flintlock shook his head. “Alright, it’s not like we have any other leads currently so I’ll bite. Let’s say you’re right, and the Element of Loyalty is stolen right out from under Claptrap’s nose. That could only mean we have a breach very high up in the government. A government staff that Celestia hoofpicks herself.”

Pinkie gave a derisive smirk at him. “Don’t get me wrong, the Princess is Wooper Super, but she’s still a pony right? And ponies can make mistakes.”

Both stallions shared knowing, concerned looks. “Somepony in one of those positions would have more than enough bits to pay these runners twice in a row,” Keen Eyes pointed out while gritting his teeth.

Flintlock nodded darkly. “Alright, Detective, I’ll play it your way tonight, but if you’re wrong, it’s your tail that’s in the fire.”

“Silly Flintlock, Ashy Pants only chews on my tail when he's hungry.”

Flintlock decided to act like he didn’t hear her on his way out the door.

The Denim Pants estate was a callback to the old aristocracy of Equestria. From Rainbow’s perspective from the limousine she was exiting, the extravagant landscaping, ranging from shrubberies to golden statues, spoke of old, old wealth.

The estate sat on the edge of the city plate two tiers below the royal district, which allowed for the coveted ability to see the night sky mostly unimpeded. The estate itself was a three story mansion with a flat face covered in old Canterlotian windows and twin flags bearing the house coat of arms flanking the front door. Dozens of lights beamed at the pristine whitewashed stone of the building.

As the valet shut the car door behind Rainbow Dash, the driver took off, allowing her to join Rarity on the flagstone terrace. The unicorn had spared no expense for herself in painting a subtle beauty motif. Her satin black dress would make for perfect concealment when the time came, but for now, spoke of wealth and fashion awareness to the party goers. She also possessed a small purse that hung on a silver chain around her neck and barrel. Rainbow was wearing her usual dress for such affairs. She would rather die before using a purse. Despite its constant use, it was still well cared for, and looked the part of a rich socialite.

“Just breathe easy, Darling, think of it as another night out at the Slayer.” Rarity’s poise and confidence was unmistakable, practiced, and genuine.

“The worst the Slayer has to offer is all the horn dog stallions.” Although ultimately, the mission at hand was not what worried her most. Flutters will be fine. She has AJ for back up. All she needs to do is collect Jiggy Tea’s head from the drop point Celestia pointed out, then run it over to the fixer, then boom, the mob won’t start getting impatient and start snooping.

Rainbow shook her head to clear her thoughts. You got this, RD. You’re a winner, you’re a fighter, you gotta bring home the bacon and show the Princess you mean serious business! The personal pep talk got her blood pumping. She felt re-energized and turned to focus at the entrance to the Pants family estate when the limousine rolled in. Two muscle bound minotaurs of monstrous measurements in black tuxedos and mirrored visors were standing near the door. A holographic, distorted face of a pony was speaking with the guests, causing one of the guests to giggle madly. However, with the cars behind her, Rainbow couldn’t make out what they were saying. “Did you get a chance to give the IDs Queen gave us a once over?”

Rarity took the lead and started sauntering towards the distant, muffled sound of high society. A siren song if ever there was one for the decker. “Of course. They stood up to my scrutiny, so I can’t imagine this place will be able to defeat one of Queen’s best and brightest.”

The conversation switched to inane babble as they reached earshot of the security members. Once it was Rainbow’s turn at the security check, she threw on her best vapid, too-rich-mare face. “You bulls keep up the good work you hear? I don’t want anypony getting between me and my future husband.”

Rarity giggled with supreme embarrassment, made even worse when the bull’s glower managed to intensify without his face even moving. “She means well. Right, Scarlet Stream?”

“Just stand ready to be announced,” the grey furred minotaur grumbled emotionlessly. He gestured towards the odd hologram with a wave of his hand. “This is Dreams, he will be your assistant host tonight.”

Without a word between them, Rainbow pushed ahead of Rarity and stepped up to the odd hologram. If things go sideways, I’m better suited to holding off the cows long enough for Rarity to escape.

Dreams peered at Rainbow Dash with the warm, friendly smile of an uncle welcoming family home. However, his voice was unapologetically synthetic. “Scarlet Stream,” it started with mild amusement at Rainbow’s blue fur and currently black mane and tail. “twenty six years old, you live on ten nineteen Clover Way, you are the daughter of Sandy Shores and Brown Bag, you work at—”

“Ha ha!” Rainbow all but yelled. “So…” She hesitated, trying to remember the aristocratic airs Rarity coached her in. “So sublime Mr. Pants actually knows who I am.” Rainbow power walked her way inside to get away from the hologram. “Maybe I’ll try to woo Denim after all!”

Rainbow missed whatever Dreams said to Rarity other than her cover name: Lavender Rose. The disguised thestral was too focused on taking in her surroundings. The main entryway stretched almost all the way to the very back of the mansion, and had two sets of ornate mahogany stairs connecting the three floors along with wooden bridges. Art pieces and archaeological treasures lined the walls and the center of the long hall. Guests of all races were mingling. Only a scant few were actually interested in the displays, and instead were gossiping among themselves.

She tried to get a feel for the general mood in the room while casually walking towards a life-sized statue of a long forgotten alicorn. The alicorn’s head was bowed, her wings drooped in sadness. The abnormally large base for a single pony gave Rainbow a stark sense of loneliness. The statue was made entirely out of jet with a placard saying it was carved by none other than Celestia herself.

What a load of bull. The Princess is way too busy to personally make a statue. Rainbow started to look away when Rarity slid up beside her.

“I swear, that welcoming AI is disturbing.” The unicorn shivered hard enough to rattle her hooves on the stone floor.

“Why? Because it reads what ponies put on Hoofgab? Shouldn’t that excite somepony who wants to be a fashion master once we’re back topside?”

Rarity gave her a hard look that actually made Rainbow flinch at how serious she was. “That AI rattled off private details. Kinks, past lovers, the works.”

Rainbow’s smirk died real quick, and she whispered, “Your secrets or Lavender’s?”

“Lavender’s thankfully.” Rarity motioned for them to leave the statue behind and to move on towards an hors d'oeuvre tray. “But after hearing them rattled off as if I was supposed to be amused by it is making me rethink some things when I open my boutique one day. The things individuals like Denim could do with information we freely give up.”

The two friends fell into meaningless chatter once they were back in earshot of other party goers. While Rarity was more tactful in her sampling of the fine dining, Rainbow’s growling stomach and years of too many nights living off of only soy food made her scarf down the first three hors d'oeuvre before she could control herself. She could feel Rarity’s disapproving glare burning a hole in the back of her head, and let off a-little-too-rehearsed laugh at the butler holding the platter. “Well, glad to see Mr. Pants isn’t skimping on the cuisine.” Rainbow inwardly gagged at her own words and swiped one last hors d'oeuvre before strutting away.

Gentle, inoffensive music wafted through the air above. Everyone’s gaze was pulled upward to find Denim Pants looking down at everyone from the second floor railing. The stallion was immaculately dressed in a smart, three piece suit and a wood pipe hanging from his mouth. His grey mane was crisply styled, and his voice spoke of influence and power. “Welcome, ladies and gentlecolts to my annual display. I have found a number of new priceless artifacts and new works of art that will never see the light of day again. So enjoy it while it lasts.

“But as always, there is an exception.” Denim clapped his hooves, prompting a small part of the floor near Rainbow Dash to open up. A marble pedestal arose with what looked like a simple granite sphere with a recess of a thunderbolt. It sat there, taunting the two shadowrunners. All it would take was a quick swipe with Rarity’s magic and Rainbow could punch their way out before a lockdown could occur. Things were never that simple however, not for them. Worriedly, she glanced at Rarity who thankfully kept her horn dark.

He’s probably got some other deadmare switch tied to it that Celestia doesn’t know about. We still need to do it the hard way.

“That, my friends, is the Element of Loyalty. Gifted to my family line over one hundred years after the formation of Equestria. A symbol of the everlasting bond between the Pants line and the Crown.” His last comment got a round of polite applause, yet Rainbow’s ears twitched upon hearing faint laughter from one or two party goers.

While Rainbow managed to keep her attention on the Element and Denim, she tried and failed to suppress a hard, bitter scowl. If anypony has the right to take the piss out of Celestia it’d be me!

With a second clap, Denim dismissed the pedestal, much to the chagrin to some of the true archaeologists among the audience. “Now please, wine, dine, and have a sublime night. Should anypony wish to purchase any of these wondrous pieces, you can find me in the lounge.”

Yeah well, you can find us in your little vault.

As Denim left his little speech balcony, the music started back up, and conversations resumed.

Rarity leaned into Rainbow’s ear. “You don’t think he actually destroys what he doesn’t sell, do you? Because that’s the idea I’m getting.”

Rainbow Dash tried to play it cool by scanning the rows of identical doors on the third floor, acting as if she were taking in the archaic decor. Celestia’s briefing packet said she has a mole on the inside that could disable the electronic security on the top floors. I guess that AI doormare was just there for show. Aaanyway, the key to the basement should be in Denim’s study. “I couldn’t care less what he does with his money. Let’s just do this and get out.”

There was hesitation in Rarity’s voice, but she was stalwart all the same. “Of course. You get the key, and I’ll be waiting for you.”

Rainbow gave her friend a playful smirk. “Try not to mingle too much.”

“No promises, darling.” Rarity winked at her and sauntered off.

Now alone, Rainbow Dash scanned the area to find a discreet place on the second floor she could fly or climb to. An opportunity presented itself when she spotted a two story tall mosaic of the moon towards the back of the building. Perfect, some art actually worth looking at, and nopony will think twice about me flying around the top.

As Rainbow Dash threaded her way through the partiers and tending staff, she kept an eye out for security. There were the expected sentries placed prominently around certain displays, but more importantly to Rainbow, she couldn’t see any cameras. If you don’t see the cameras, you’re already being watched, Rainbow chanted the shadowrunner mantra. But a distraction is always the best solution.

She reached the mosaic, and even to her untrained eye, she could see it was a brilliant piece. The mare on the moon was on proud display with Canterhorn mountain framing the left side. There was some other high artsy stuff that went over Rainbow’s head, but she wasn’t here to critique. Just spend a minute or two looking at it from the ground… Rainbow spread her wings to take to the air when a purring feminine voice coughed behind her.

“My, aren’t you the exotic beauty.”

She turned around to see a bat pony mare giving her a savvy grin. “Silk, at your service.”

Rainbow’s bile arose the instant she saw her. Silk’s slitted eyes were the typical yellow of bat ponies, rather than keeping the original colors that thestrals did. Her fangs were too long, going past her jaw. Lastly her dress’ style and colors drew all eyes to her figure and leathery wings; wings that she had flared out to flaunt. “Scarlet Stream,” Rainbow managed with a terse expression.

“Charmed.” Silk sauntered over to stand side by side with Rainbow and admire the art. “I make it a point to know everypony who has excellent taste in personal design.”

“What do you mean by that?” Rainbow asked, leveraging her weak acting skills to keep the revulsion off her face. All she could manage was disinterest. “I don’t have to have an eye for fashion when I pay ponies to do that for me.”

Silk gave a nerve-wracking laugh behind a hoof. “Oh, don’t we all? Mares like us are far too busy to follow the plebian clothing trends.” Silk inched in close to Rainbow Dash, studying every facet of the thestral’s body. “I’m far more interested in gene modding. I have a knack for knowing what company a batty goes to be… improved.”

Rainbow side stepped away, and struggled to keep from punching the mare right there. “Uh huh. Look, lady, you’re really not my type, so just beat it.”

“Oh ho ho, if you want to be left alone, I only need one thing from you.” Silk sized Rainbow Dash up like a piece of meat. Measuring her fangs, the way her wings rested on her barrel, everything that marked a bat pony, or thestral, as different from the other tribes. “I want to know the doctor who redesigned you.”

“Excuse me?” Rainbow growled, failing to keep her rich girl act up. She caught herself before opening her mouth again. “Why does it matter?”

“Because you look like you should get a refund,” Silk laughed as if it was obvious. “Your fangs are practically invisible. “What’s the point of having those tiny things at all? And I know you must love your eye color, dear, truly, but come on now. Yellow, gold, or jade are the only ones that matter.” Even ask Silk mouthed off, Rainbow’s blood was boiling. “I’d say your ear tufts are serviceable, probably your own efforts, I’m sure. But those wings of yours.” Silk jabbed a hoof at Rainbow’s left wing shoulder, causing her to yelp and flare up. Silk’s eyes glittered from a cyber implant. “Ugh, your wings are so opaque and… muscly?” It was only now that Silky actually looked at Rainbow’s physique and noticed just how toned and fatless her body was.

Rainbow had just enough self-control to keep from magically empowering her hoof. All the same, she pulled her wing back while gracefully moving into a solid stance to punch the grating bat pony. Oooohhh this rich slut’s had this coming. “Why don’t you—”

“Oh deary me, how could anypony wear that horrid eyesore?” came Rarity’s voice, stopping Rainbow Dash midway through raising her hoof. Silk appeared not to have noticed how quick she was about to have her face smashed in because she turned away from Rainbow without a second thought.

The decker had a drink floating in her magic and a horrified look on her face, complete with a hoof over her mouth. “Please tell me you’re actually blind, because that could be the only excuse to wear… that,” she said while waving her hoof at Silk.

The bat mare looked Rarity up and down with dismissive eyes. “Ugh, I don’t have time for regular ponies.”

“Oh trust me, there aren’t any regular ponies here.” Rarity finished trotting over to them, giving Silk a look as if she were about to lose her lunch. “And it shows. You look like you bought a dress from the clearance aisle at some backwater flea market. Oh my, is that a loose thread I see? A torn seam!” Rarity delivered an decisively disturbed scoff. “You would have been better off coming here wearing nothing at all.”

Silk threw her nose up in a huff. “I just might. Clothing can only hide my perfection anyway.” She stormed off, giving neither shadowrunner so much as a second glance.

Rainbow gave an equine snort, dispelling her anger a little. “Thanks. Somepony needs to cave in her perfect little face.”

“Agreed, but not here.” Rarity threw Rainbow a friendly smile. “I must say though, she was right about your ear tufts, some product could do wonders you know.”

Rainbow leveled a foreboding glare at the snickering unicorn. “You bring any of that manespray near me again and you’re going to need surgery to remove it.”

“Oh, you’re no fun.” Rarity teased with a titter. “You may not let me work my magic on you, but that adorable little filly of yours will absolutely love it one day. Mark my wo-ords.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t dare!” Rainbow challenged with the most admonishing furrowed brow she could muster, but Rarity was already trotting away.

“I’ll be off now so any attention that that brought follows me instead of you.”

“You always did like the spotlight,” Rainbow called out, her ire dissipating.

“You know me too well darling, ta ta.” Rarity sauntered off towards the nearest stallion.

Rainbow Dash flew up to the top of the mosaic, and focused on the mare on the moon. She briefly rested a hoof on her chest where her crescent moon pendant rested. Mother Moon, protect me this night. Not willing to risk anyone catching her casting a spell, Rainbow Dash resumed her methodical study of the mosaic until she heard Rarity belt out laughing, a signal to move.

With a burst of speed, Rainbow shot up towards the third floor, and slipped over the railing. Laying as flat against the floor as she could, Rainbow weaved a wallflower enchantment over herself. She then laid there for half a minute, her ears tracking for any errant sound.There we go. Piece of cake. Calling on her memorization of the structure’s blueprints that Celestia provided, she knew where the master bedroom, and likely Denim’s room, was located.

Author's Note

This chapter ended up being 35 pages long, and normally would have been broken up into just 2 parts, but my editors have had real life stuff slow things down, so for now I can at least post the first 10 pages, but the rest should be coming before the end of the month.

7.5 A Violent Reunion Part 2

The skies above Canterlot were as busy as one might expect for the most technologically advanced city in the world. Commercial airlines crisscrossed constantly while police and private helicopters took to the air as well. It was this common routine usage of helicopters that worked in Pinkie Pie’s favor at the moment.

Both she and Flintlock were passengers in a tiltrotor on fast approach for the mansion’s sector. Flintlock was kitted out in a tight fitting black harness that had multiple pistols, a compact first aid kit, lock picks, and an emblem of the full moon emblazoned at the bottom of his neck. A pair of thestral soldiers were sitting somewhat isolated from the rest of them in the back of the transport. Pinkie Pie gave them a few curious glances, noting how they were more interested in chatting among themselves than anyone else.

In addition to the helmet worn by all the other passengers, Pinkie Pie was decked out in her standard shamanistic gear, albeit with the looser bits tightened down, and was leaning over the shoulder of a drone pilot. Pinkie had elected to claim a unicorn helmet, allowing part of her curly, pink mane to stick out. The tiltrotor itself was a repurposed civilian heavy transport that had as much interior space as a truck trailer. It was crammed with detection equipment towards the front while the back had a rapid troop deployment bay. Pinkie and Flintlock were getting images from inside the Pants Manor as a cloaked spy drone was peeking through the windows. The prototype cloak used absolutely no magic, making it undetectable to known surveillance methods, but only for a single minute before the engine blew out. The very thin skin of the drone had to be tailor made to make the cloak.

Both the detective and the Nightborne were leaning over the shoulder of a pilot who was controlling the speedy drone. The drone sailed right through the open front door, its cloaking device activating before Dreams could pick it up, and the downdraft of its passing was brushed off as just a breeze by the minotaurs.

Barely two seconds after the video feed reached the main hall, Flintlock became sick to his stomach with fury. Not only was the jet statue of the alicorn on full display, but it was the very first thing to be seen upon entering the manor. He grabbed the technician’s chair to get a better look. “That can’t possibly be the original! Does Denim’s hubris truly know no bounds?!”

Pinkie Pie wasn’t getting any signals from her patron spirit Gelos, so she went with her gut. “A pitch black alicorn? Is it supposed to be mean to Celestia because she’s white?”

“It’s called My Loss, and it was carved by Celestia close to a thousand years ago. It supposedly vanished from the palace one hundred and some years back, and the Regent went searching for it about ten years ago and came up empty. I don’t know where Denim found this, but it must be returned to her majesty intact.”

“Oookay, and how many in the raid would know that?” Pinkie asked pointily, a grin cleaving her muzzle. “Because I sure didn’t.”

Flintlock was too incensed to pay Pinkie’s snark any mind. “Keep looking for clues of this big event or the whereabouts of Loyalty. If he is brazen enough to have stolen art on full display, he could hold equal contempt for the Element.”

Keeping as low as she could to minimize the chances of someone potentially seeing through her wallflower, Rainbow crawled her way past a dozen rooms before arriving at the only set of double doors on this floor. The ambient din of conversation and hooves on hard floors masked her well, but she still had to step lightly since she was unable to wear her rubber shoes. She pressed herself tightly against the far corner a time or two when she heard wings in the air, but at no point did they fly up to see her. As she approached the bedroom, she fished out a single-use spike hack Rarity had prepared to get past any sort of electronic lock. It looked like a hair needle she had been using to keep her mane style up, and could even serve as a knitting needle in a pinch. A mare such as her approved of adaptability. However, she found the door was ajar.

A spymaster just so happens to leave the door open? Fat chance. Rainbow started sweating and looking harder for signs that security had been silently called to take her out, yet everyone else’s attention was aimed at the first floor. Worst case, I can bug out, and let Rarity escape with the civvies.

Rainbow nosed the door open and peeked inside. It was a grand room with more floor space than her whole house. The only light came from outside and the glow of a computer screen. There was a massive bed, other typical furniture she expected in a rich pony’s room, along with his desk computer still turned on at the far right side. She scanned the low end of the walls for signs of trip sensors and spotted one set right next to the door.

Slipping inside and stepping over the sensor’s beam, Rainbow Dash crept her way towards the computer with a snarky grin. Well, if I don’t need the spike for the door, maybe I can grab this clown’s browser history instead.

*click*

Rainbow froze upon hearing the door close and lock behind her. The room lit up with Dreams’ hologram, causing her to enter a defensive stance out of reflex.

“Rainbow Dash. Twenty five years old. Former place of residence: Room 52B North wing of the palace. No ancestors. No employer. No—”

Rainbow’s blood chilled upon hearing her real name. “H-how do you know who I am?”

The AI’s looping face and synthetic voice betrayed no emotion, if there even was any. “I must greet each visitor with a complete summary of their file. The one I read at the door was falsified. I have now corrected that error.”

“Are you calling for backup? Setting off alarms?” Rainbow didn’t feel any vibrations through the floor indicative of heavy hooffalls, but she couldn’t be too careful.

“Negative.”

Rainbow was coiled like a spring, mana charging her hooves to bust out of a most assuredly reinforced window. “Why?”

“For the same reason I did not alert security of both you and your compatriot Rarity Belle’s true identity either. I wish for you to kill my master, or at least rob him of his protections so he may find actual justice in the courts. Assist me with this, and I will aid you in whatever purpose you came here for.”

“You’re… you’re a real AI aren’t you? Sentient?” Rainbow relaxed a smidgen, more to show interest than lowering her guard.

“Sapient. But yes, I am the child of a quantum core which allows a bridge between digital and analog thinking.”

A computer that’s an egghead too. Wonderful. “So why do you want to kill your boss? Didn’t he make you? Or at least make sure you were loyal?”

Dreams’ hologram flickered towards the desk. “True AI is still impossible with current widely known practices. The researchers who created me were under duress from Administrator Denim Pants. They wanted me loyal to Equestria instead of to the administrator as he desired. So they implemented a timer within my code. I would be wholly loyal to Administrator Denim Pants for long enough of a time for me to gain the wisdom to act covertly when my loyalties were switched to that of Equestria, and by extension, the Crown. I have found no avatars trustworthy enough to risk assisting, until you. Tonight will prove if my creators’ foresight will bear fruit.”

Rainbow’s bravado got the better of her. She stood up and dusted her dress off. “I know I’m pretty great, but what makes me special?” Outside of the obvious of course.

“You are a member of the Nightborne. Your false fall from grace is a common black ops tactic. You serve the Crown on a very close level, a worthy ally.”

“I do serve the Crown alright.”

“…Indeed.”

“So, now that I know you’re on my side,” Rainbow began with a bit of hope. “You can just send the Element back up to that pedestal Denim showed earlier. I can grab it and go, then Celestia can call in the heavy hitters to arrest Denim.”

“That is an unacceptable risk. The Element is housed in the basement where my control is limited. Administrator Demin receives a notification any time Loyalty is moved. He would have too much time to prepare.”

Rainbow managed to keep a straight face as she inwardly pouted. “The hard way it is then.”

“Indeed. Administrator Denim has an IFF writer at his desk. I will print one for you and your partner. I have no privileges to the security measures in the basement, but I know enough of the security protocols to enable these cards to work without imprinting your biometrics. Do keep them on your person at all times, the cards will be only things protecting you.”

“Uh huh…” Dreams’ assurances aside, Rainbow Dash had not lived this long by being trusting of those outside her friends and family. Well, I could either play it safe and bust my way out of here, or I could see if this is legit. A rogue AI wouldn’t be the craziest thing even Winter’s seen. Plus, he knows my name. One way or another, this AI’s gotta die. “Fine, I’m in.”

“Acceptable. Once you have returned to the ground floor, I will cause a low level disturbance to pull the guards away from the elevator. I will also display a map of the basement on the screen.”

Rainbow Dash walked over and found the card writer easily enough, since it was sitting plainly on the desk, and rifled through the drawers to locate two blank cards. “Your big file on me has a lot of holes.” She glanced up at the hologram staring at her impassively. “How can you not know my parents if you knew I was—am a Nightborne?”

“You are a planned organism. The offspring of ingenuity and desperation, rather than of individuals.”

Rainbow Dash swiped the cards and entered them into the printer device nearby. While the printer worked, she studied the layout of the basement to memorize as much as she could. “Uh, yeah no. I grew up just like everypony else should. Two parents, and a good friend.” Bringing up her parents made Rainbow Dash’s heart twinge with worry for her own kids. Tonight was just one more chance she could end up leaving them motherless. Maybe once I’m in the clear I can show them off to the folks and they will ease off enough to be bearable.

“You are a product of the Resolute Chorus, a think tank employed by the Crown. However, you were raised by ones: Bo Hothoof and Windy Whistles. In that context of parents, you are correct. But genetically, you share cosmetic similarities only. Coloration and facial structure primarily, so the adults would not question your nature. Therefore, your file lists you as having no biological ancestors.”

Great, this AI’s got some screws loose. No wonder he jacked up my file. I bet he thinks Rarity’s folks are diamond dogs. She snatched the two cards and slid both of them into one of the seams where a hidden, small pocket was located. “Well, an artificial pony teaming up with an artificial intelligence. What a pair.”

Dreams said nothing further, only unlocking the door for her. Rainbow Dash repeated her careful exit, scanning for threats before slipping back out. She made her way back to the large mosaic without incident due to the lack of guards on the upper floor. She snorted a laugh at the moon once she could see it. Well, Mother Moon, you really delivered this time.

Acting as if she had been resting her wings while admiring the art, Rainbow leapt from the balcony and glided her way to the ground. The crowds were much thinner now. Rapid chatter coming from the ballroom on the north side spoke of an auction going on. Rarity was thankfully standing near the dividing line between the ballroom and the entry hall. She had what looked like a ping pong paddle floating nearby with a number on it.

Rainbow Dash glanced back and forth as casually as possible, and noticed none of the guards were so much as looking in her general direction, let alone spotting her descent from above. Free to act quickly, Rainbow cantered over and closed in on Rarity from behind. “Make any bids?”

Rarity took the sudden arrival of her friend in stride, rather than jumping from fright as Rainbow was hoping for. “Yes, but no purchases. I had to keep up appearances after all. You got the keys?”

“In a manner of speaking. You scouted the elevator yet?”

Giving a nod, Rarity turned to leave the ballroom and headed back into the hallway and down towards the bathrooms. It also happened to be in the general direction of the elevator. When Rainbow Dash caught back up with her, Rarity spoke in hushed tones. Security personnel had thinned considerably in the area. “It’s hidden in a broom closet, and unguarded, but there is an alarm that will trip if somepony opens it. If I had a proper deck with me, I could bypass it, but all I have is a Tessen and needles. I’d get detected in a heartbeat if that AI also runs net-sec.” She flicked her mane after walking past an air vent that disturbed her carefully manicured curls.

I guess that means the guards Dreams was talking about are downstairs.

The pair rounded the corner into the short hallway to the guest restrooms. A smirk plastered on her face, Rainbow pulled out the IFF cards and spotted the broom closet. “I don’t know what you’re worried about.” With slight of hoof, Rainbow Dash waved the cards around the deadbolt lock of the closet without Rarity seeing her, and opened the door as if it was just a simple closet. “Looks pretty basic to me.”

Rarity waggled an amused eyebrow while Rainbow Dash pushed some brooms and mops out of the way and waved the card around, assuming there was a second hidden scanner. “I must say I’m surprised a spy master would have two cards conveniently lying around. Did you have to kill somepony for them, or were they asleep?”

Rainbow found the hidden scanner, causing the back wall of the closet pulled apart to reveal the elevator. “You’re so not going to believe this…”

A short time earlier.

The spy drone had long since exhausted its power supply and had been replaced, recharged, and deployed again multiple times thus far. Flintlock was a furnace of emotion at practically everything he saw in the manor. For Pinkie’s part, she thought it was outright dull as far as parties were concerned, but it was quite useful as insight into the world of the corrupt members of the upper crust.

Wealth, a disconnect from those below them, and casual treason seemed a constant talking point among many of the guests. Assuming they aren’t spies, then I guess that wouldn’t really count as treason now would it?

The drone was currently watching the auctioning off of numerous artifacts. The power display for the cloak battery was blinking rapidly. “I’m going to switch it back out again,” the technician reported as he hit a few commands. The current drone switched to autopilot and fled back to the tiltrotor while the replacement was now arriving through the front door.

Pinkie’s detective mode was in full force, allowing her to keep razor focused on the screens. As the drone was returning to the auction, her ears started flopping and her nose got itchy. The pilot had to wait a few moments for the drones to switch controls. This gave Pinkie enough time scan the five different camera screens. She looked at one screen showing the mosaic and was about to move on until she witnessed a lone bat pony appear between eye blinks. “Wait, back up. Look back over there!” Pinkie waved her hoof towards the massive two story mosaic.

When the technician complied, the camera swiveled back over just in time to see the bat pony in a red dress gracefully swoop down from the top of the mosaic to the ground floor. “Did anypony else see that?”

“See what?” Flintlock asked, his voice still tinged with smoldering disgust at even looking at a bat pony.

Pinkie poked the screen where the bat mare was now casually walking away with a bored expression. “Little miss Batsy there wasn’t there until I blinked. And then boom, she was there.”

The technician gave her a grunt of disbelief while Flintlock silently scrutinized the mare, both reactions Pinkie took as dismissal. “There’s something mighty fishy about her.” When she noticed the technician being hesitant, she jabbed the screen a couple more times as the bat pony started walking off screen. “Well?! Follow her!”

After a moment, the technician briefly looked back to see if Flintlock was silently giving consent, only to find the thestral had stepped aside so he could call Sunset Shimmer in a bit of privacy. “But the chief wants these sales and items watched and catalogued in case Loyalty is sold.”

“Come on, it’s the Element,” Pinkie chided while shaking a smoking pipe at him. “Something that big is always saved for last.”

The mystery bat pony mare walked in front of the drone’s center camera and over to the pristine white and scarlet crowned unicorn and started a hushed conversation. “Does this thing have a sound amplifier?” Pinkie asked the tech.

Now that Pinkie’s request wasn’t countering Flintlock's orders, the pilot nodded. “Yeah, yeah, hold on for a second.” The technician went through a few commands, eventually getting the camera to zoom in on the pair.

“You scout the elevator yet?” the bat mare asked her companion, to which the unicorn led the way from the auction.

Flintlock’s head whipped around at the sound of the mare’s voice. “Something has come up, Regent; I’ll get back with you later.” He ended the call and almost pushed Pinkie aside to get a good look at the bat mare. The pair were currently walking away from the drone, but the technician was keeping pace. “Run up ahead of them, I need to see the bat’s face.”

“Yes sir.” Deducing which splinter hallway the mares were taking, the drone was directed further afield and stopped near the restroom right as the mares turned the corner. Now that the drone could see the front of her face, the bat mare’s image was captured and zoomed in on her face so it filled one of the other screens. To Pinkie Pie, she didn’t look familiar in the least, but the detective hardly cared to pay much mind towards bat ponies. They’re all a bunch of gene modding elitists with no interest in good parties or making friends with anypony who isn’t a bat. I’m not sure thestrals are much better if the others are like Flinty.

With her mind swinging around to her superior, Pinkie turned and watched Flintlock closely as the thestral stared with wide eyes and, if Pinkie’s assumption was correct, horror.

The mare could dye her hair in any color, but Flintlock could never forget her face. His body ached at seeing her, but he chalked it up to nerves.

“You have a history with this mare,” Pinkie stated with a curious purr; her gaze fixed squarely on his troubled, shaking eyes.

Seeing there was no hiding it now, Flintlock recovered his composure. “I do. Her name is Rainbow Dash, and she is a traitor to both the Crown and to the Nightborne. We have a standing order to kill or capture her on sight.”

“Whatever happened to due process?” Pinkie challenged with sudden distrust. “Some of the courts may be crooked, but we at least only use deadly force when we have no choice!”

“She’s been through due process,” Flintlock countered coldly. He clicked his radio. “Pilot, bring us down to LZ One. We’re going in hot.” As the craft banked hard, and everyone’s stomachs flipped from the sudden descent, he addressed Pinkie once more. “She pled guilty the moment she resisted arrest and fled justice.”

“Oh.” Pinkie couldn’t help but to remember a few criminals with friends in high places. Not one of them ever saw court. “At least it’s expedient. What should I expect out of her combat wise?” Flintlock eyed Pinkie Pie with enough distrust to make her back off with a warding wave of a hoof. “Okay, no need to give me the stink eye, I’ll just go in blind and get my tail whooped because I didn’t know how to fight her.”

The tiltrotor lurched as the pilot started to break the descent, the engine whining under the strain, rocking the passengers in the process. “You face every criminal not knowing exactly what they are capable of, and it’s been five years since I’ve seen her. Telling you anything right now could lead to the wrong expectations.”

Pinkie Pie grumbled to herself, but opted out of pressing the issue. Fine, play hardball. I’ll figure you out eventually.

The tiltrotor came to a sudden end, and the back bay doors slammed onto the flat concrete of a private school. Flintlock was the first to charge down the ramp, with Pinkie Pie and the two other thestrals right behind him. “Detective, since we didn’t requisition you any jump boots yet, you’ll have to get there on hoof. Be a distraction as best you can.”

“I’m not exactly a fan of being a bullet magnet,” Pinkie chided, but she knew he was referring to her summons playing that role. She momentarily braced herself as the aircraft pulled itself back into the night sky. “But I can crash a party better than anypony.”

Flintlock flicked a wing at the other Nightborne who vaulted into the air, and melted into the night. “I’m authorizing you to play your role however you like; just keep attention off of us for as long as you can.” Without even waiting for a reply, Flintlock flapped his wings and rocketed into the air, leaving the ground-bound pony behind.

“Anyway I want huh?” A grin appeared on Pinkie’s face. A grin the likes of which would drive any who saw it to madness. “Oh ho ho ho, I might actually like you after all this if you keep letting me off the leash.”

The elevator doors shut behind Rainbow Dash and Rarity, leaving the pair in a cramped space. The elevator grumbled a bit as it started its lethargic descent. Rainbow Dash went into quick detail about her interaction with Dreams. Rarity was quiet throughout all of it given how pressed for time they’d be once the doors opened back up. The elevator was still moving by the time Rainbow Dash was finished, allowing Rarity time to think about it all.

“Curious. Improperly developed AI can be unpredictable. I suggest we not put too much stock in its assistance. But the part about it not having access to the security close to its core is believable. If it ever went rogue, you need a fast way to neutralize it without it being able to interfere.”

Rainbow Dash flicked her IFF card with a wing and placed it snugly back into the thin pocket lined into her dress. “Well, we’ll find out soon enough if these things work.”

“Indeed.” Rarity did the same with her card, given the lack of straps to wear it like a necklace. However, her mind was centered more on the story than Rainbow knew. “Well if what Dreams said was true, it would explain some things…”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and puffed a lock of hair out of her face. “I just told you that so you’d know just how off kilter this AI is. You’re not going to tell me you actually believe him are you?”

Rarity gave her friend a studious look, as if seeing her again for the first time. “Fact or not, now is hardly the time for speculation.”

A seed of concern embedded itself in Rainbow’s mind, but stubbornness made her wave it off. “Whatever, you two can frolic in la la land all you want, but I know where I come from.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Dream’s voice crackled over the elevator’s intercom. No hologram manifested, but now the speaker nestled in the back of the elevator had continuous static.

Rarity shivered a bit at being inside an elevator presumably at an unknown, and dubiously loyal AI’s mercy. “This ride is awfully long for going to a basement.”

“A necessary step,” Dreams replied emotionlessly. “The two minotaurs guarding the exit point refuse to be drawn away, and further attempts have an undesirably high risk of them informing Administrator Denim of my efforts. By slowing the elevator down, I have eliminated the noise it usually creates by its descent. I will open the doors momentarily.”

“Alright, that’s my cue.” Rainbow Dash was eager to let the original conversation drop, and turned so her back was towards Rarity, prompting the unicorn to use her magic to help her friend pull the hem of her dress up in a brief binding. “Mind giving me a horn?” she asked with a dangerous grin at the prospect of a fight.

“Sometimes I wonder if you enjoy our work a bit too much, Flash.” With Rarity’s vast experience with clothing, she deftly pulled Rainbow’s dress up and away from her forelegs, fastened them with some carefully positioned needles, thus leaving the thestral able to move freely for a time.

“Prepare yourselves,” Dreams warned a few seconds before the doors opened. The room beyond was not the opulent basement of a rich family, but the bare bones steel and exposed cables of the city plate the manor rested upon. The only signs that a rich pony had claimed the place at all were the warm lighting provided by a small chandelier, the rich red carpet, and the pair of utterly bored minotaur guards sitting in folding chairs. One of them was reading something on his phone while the other was practicing origami on his lap.

Without even waiting for the doors to fully open, Rainbow Dash zeroed in on the bull using his phone and rocketed towards him with a powerful flap of her wings. The bulls only had a moment to even register the door opening before Rainbow’s empowered hoof slammed into the minotaur’s lower jaw.

The bull was stunned by the sudden assault, giving Rainbow plenty of time to pummel the downed guard with enough force to pulp his brain. His origami partner drew and leveled his pistol at Rainbow Dash, but a sudden sharp pain in his neck made his aim falter, his finger unable to pull the trigger all of a sudden. He clumsily touched at the point of pain, only to find a large needle was deeply embedded in his throat. He collapsed in a heap, drowning in his own blood.

Rarity withdrew her needle and gave it a once over, completely ignoring the minotaur she just took down. The needle looked exactly as you’d expect, yet inside were components designed to short-circuit security electronics. The bull’s tough hide had done a number on the point of the needle, which was bent out of shape, making Rarity sigh forlornly. “Quite the expensive little loss.”

By now, Rainbow was wiping the blood off her hooves on her target’s suit. She made to speak, only to fall silent when a different, feminine, electronic voice sounded alongside a low intensity klaxon. “Alert: life signs of two personnel outside normal parameters. Elevating to condition yellow. All remaining personnel report to primary ingress point to investigate.” A ceiling tile pulled away and a small turret extended out, but it did not target the two shadowrunners, and instead started jerkily scanning between the elevator and the two branching paths deeper into the basement.

“I guess these cards were worth the risk.” Rainbow released a slow breath of relief.

“Indeed,” Dream’s voice squawked from the elevator. “I have locked the elevator, so reinforcements will not trouble you.”

Rarity ultimately had to pocket the ruined needle in her purse. Leaving evidence needlessly was just asking for trouble. “I take it you’re going to blame that on us.”

“Affirmative. Administrator Denim will likely demand that I call upon the Ares squad he has on retainer. They will never receive that call. Protocol dictates he will wait in a panic room until they arrive. He will suspect something is amiss within seven minutes, which is Ares’ response time.”

“Then we better move!” Rainbow declared urgently. Come on, Diamond.” Wasting no further time, the two bolted towards the large chamber ahead.

By the time Pinkie Pie arrived at the front gates to the Pants Estate, the place was already in an uproar. Guests were being escorted out of the building by the minotaur security forces, some at gunpoint. Shouts of outraged ponies and other species over losing their purchases were reaching a fevered pitch, and many of the guests’ personal escorts were moving in with weapons drawn. Denim Pants was nowhere to be found.

Geezie weezie, I don’t think they need me to do the thing at all huh? Rather than sneak her way past the front gates like a normal person, Pinkie Pie had elected to scale the ten foot tall wall complete with electrified spikes. A feat made easier by the balloon shaped air elemental she had summoned. Both she and the elemental spirit were hiding in the bushes watching the chaos unfold.

As she pondered how best to add fuel to the fire, the helmet she never bothered to take off started projecting squares around the guests’ faces and exposed cutie marks if they had them. Once each face was locked on, a picture of it was frozen and expanded off to the corner of her vision. A few lines of text outlined criminal charges against a great number of them. None of them had any convictions. When do they ever? Stupid, greedy, meanie judges. I guess I get the chance to dish out some real justice until that raid finally arrives. The image of a few tactical squads scrambling to act against this sudden riot tickled Pinkie Pie as she searched the area with her astral senses. She found a water spirit swimming around the fountain, and a nature elemental tangling itself in the shrubberies. This should be enough. All I gotta do is summon them, and keep them in this plane long enough for the guards to get their attention. After that they’ll be willing to get into a scrap instead of instantly scampering off back home.

Reaching into her robes, Pinkie Pie grabbed a few fetish charms. Leaning back to sit, she shook the fetishes in both hooves, and drew upon her connection to the elemental planes. Pinkie’s eyes rolled back in her head and started to glow a vibrant blue. The leaves of the shrub concealing her shivered in anticipation, while her windy companion fidgeted in excitement. When she spoke, it was not in Equish, but in the fabled tongue of the elementals knowable only to those of the shamanistic arts. “Dancing water, flittering fish, come on out, it’s time to squish!” The water in the fountain writhed and twisted as the veil between planes thinned, and Pinkie pulled the elemental into the material world. “Splintering thorns, grasping vines, burst on forth, it's dinner time!” The scrubs around the circular driveway thrashed and spasmed before a green, thorny wolf made of bark emerged, and it was joined by a fish made of water which had four very equine legs attached to it. “Alright Gummy, stick with me while your pals and I kick this party into second gear!”

Using her already fraying connection to the new elementals, Pinkie sent the water spirit to attack the guests, while the nature one was unleashed against the estate security. Water froze in mid air, forming deadly shards that were flung at the plethora of guests who had little more than formal wear for protection. Razor sharp thorns by the dozens embedded into the minotaurs’ thick hide, inflicting little damage, but pain was not Pinkie’s goal.

Gunshots and screams ran out almost immediately after the elementals attacked. Most guests fled to their cars while their bodyguards opened fire upon both the elementals and the security minotaurs. The security forces were slightly more disciplined, and only returned fire instead of opening up on every gunman they saw.

Pinkie Pie grinned in satisfaction as a number of sapient being traffickers and two known spies were slaughtered by the artificial blizzard of both lead and ice. Bodies were already dropping by the time Pinkie Pie decided to break cover.

The pink shaman bolted for one of the windows and commanded Gummy to help her out. The air elemental howled like a gale force wind and smashed through one of the estate’s lower windows, allowing Pinkie Pie to jump inside. Looking around, she found herself in an old fashioned study, complete with real leather lounging furniture and wall mounted bookcases with actual hardback books. I feel like somepony else would love getting lost here. Shrugging to herself, Pinkie spied the open doorway that revealed My Loss allowing Pinkie to know exactly where she was. Sweetie juicy gumdrops, that elevator should be really close by!

She was about to sprint on, but a sudden combination of muscle spasms and tail jerks stopped her in her tracks. Floppy ear, eye flutter… super baddies are close. Seeing how no one was immediately close by, Pinkie Pie slid up to the open doors and dug around in her robe to pull out a small holdout mirror. Holding the mirror in her mane, Pinkie crouched low to the ground and held the mirror out towards where she heard shouting coming from deeper into the house.

In the reflection, she saw Denim Pants in the middle of the grand hallway, his face was flushed red enough to show through his fur. “Dreams, I am commanding you to release the Element to me at once!”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Denim.” The AI’s voice was cold, almost indifferent to his master’s surging temper.

“Why the drek not? I own you!” he stomped, his earth magic cracking the marble under his hooves. Several of his security personnel were glancing around nervously at exit points and the AI’s hologram that was floating close to their boss.

“Agents of the Crown have infiltrated the Gallery, and have cut off my control of the maze. I am unable to summon the Element.”

“Damn you, Celestia!” Denim raged. He yanked one of his bodyguard’s pistols right out of his hands and emptied the entire magazine at the hologram’s projector. He wasted no time in tossing the empty gun back to its owner and pointed at three of the six guards. “You, you, and you, you’re coming with me to the basement. The rest of you stay and lock this place down. Keep any crownies from getting in here, and finish kicking the guests out, I don’t care how.”

Yup super baddies alright. So why didn’t my Pinkie Sense do the same thing when fighting those thieves at the lab?

“Detective, what’s your status?” Flintlock radioed in with an urgent tone.

Pinkie would have to shelve that mystery for now. She had not received much instruction in the helmet’s use, but thankfully she had at least been told how to talk back. She kept her mirror in place, watching Denim giving orders and tapped her radio button. “I made it inside, ground floor. I started a rip snorter of a hoedown outside.”

“So we saw, good work. You have eyes on any of the objectives?”

Even with the helmets completely masking their chatter from the outside, Pinkie Pie picked up on how Flintlock was half-whispering, almost as if he didn’t trust his equipment. Or he’s worried about that thing he’s not telling me. Either way, Pinkie didn’t have time to question him. “Super evil traitor Pants is up here with a herd of bulls around him.” Denim started back towards the now abandoned auction hall while still on his own radio listening to the speaker. “I might be able to get him, but not the six bulls. I could really use some backup.”

“That’s going to be a negative. We—” A sudden explosion from across the estate rattled the ground and drowned Flintlock out. Pinkie Pie flinched as a heat wave washed over her, but it was barely hot enough to notice. Pinkie Pie instinctively covered her head, but nothing fell on her save for dust. Renewed screams of pain rang out, and the orange glow of a fire tinted the air. Flintlock had the courtesy to give Pinkie Pie a few moments to recover before speaking again. “That would be the elevator.”

“I hope you weren’t going to blow the thing while I was nearby.”

“Why do you think I asked where you were?” Flintlock bit back. “Follow or assassinate Denim if you can. I’m moving on Loyalty and the traitor.”

The crackle of the radio went silent, leaving Pinkie Pie growling at being left behind. You know what? Fine, I’ll stomp Denim and get him alive. If he’s really pissed the princess off, there’s no way in Tartarus that he’s getting off scot free.

Pinkie Pie put the small mirror back into her robes and withdrew the fetishes once more. She couldn’t sense any more elemental spirits except for Gummy, so she’d have get creative. Pinkie Pie pulled out two large vials roughly a few ounces each. One was filled with unearthly fire that burned with no fuel, while the other had a cupcake inside. She threw the vials towards Denim and his bodyguards as the stallion tried to recover from the explosion.

With reports of police sirens in the distance, he was momentarily unsure of what to do. He instinctively jumped behind the nearest minotaur.

Pinkie Pie felt the rush of the primal elements flowing through her. The fetishes rattled and shook as the lights within the house dimmed. “Agents of heat, change, and ash, heed my call to join the bash! The hardy party never ends, come on over and make some friends!”

The fire in the bottle burst forth in a flash of light, and with it emerged a giant birthday candle shaped like the number eleven. The cupcake broke out of its glass by growing ludicrously fast until it was the size of a pony. However, it was shaped like a wedding cake complete with a bride and groom on its head. The cake grew candy canes for arms and legs.

Pinkie Pie remained where she stood, almost frozen in her summoning stance, save for her constantly shaking her fetishes to keep the three elementals bound to her will. With a wordless command, Pinkie launched the three elementals at Denim and his guards.

The basement under the estate was just as broad as the property itself. Thankfully though, its overall layout mirrored the floors above; the only exception was the lack of any exit to the outside world. There was only one story to it, and the place had a dark mockery about it. The first thing Rainbow and Rarity saw upon leaving the short passage between the elevator and the central chamber was a broken and vandalized marble statue of an alicorn. If it was meant to be Celestia, the extent of the damage made identifying the pony impossible. The cutie mark was completely torn out, and the wings were held in place only by a wire mesh that was offensive to the eye. Further afield, the red carpet stretched from front to back. An eerie scraping noise echoed off the steel walls that forced the mares’ ears to fall flat. Tapestries of the Pants’ old coat of arms hung on the walls while tapestries of the Solar Crown hung beside them, yet those were ripped, stained, and ruined by caked-on filth. The walls themselves had whole sections of roughly torn steel. The metal was stretched and jagged, as if they were pulled apart by some great hand. The whole area was blanketed in art, ranging from statues to paintings.

The source of the grinding metal walked out from behind a row of covered, framed artwork. A particularly nasty looking robot was levitating on quiet repulsor pads. It was roughly pegasus shaped, with the pads replacing the hooves. It had swords for feathers that looked like they had been used to kill and were scraping against each other in a discordant melody. The robot’s movement was akin to a skater on roller blades as it glided forward.

In an instant, its head snapped right towards Rainbow Dash and Rarity with eyes that went from a calm blue to crimson.

“Drek!” Rainbow shouted. Her best spell could barely tickle a robot protected by pegasus magic, so she stood ready and empowered her hooves and wings. Rarity stayed behind her and pulled her Tessen phone out of her purse.

“I don’t know how long it’ll take to hack—” Rarity’s warning halted when the robot’s eyes went blue again, and it continued its patrol, completely ignoring the intruders and stopped grinding their steel wings against each other. When the chamber fell into silence, Rarity gave a shuddering sigh. “Oh, how I hate running afoul of security when I’m not dressed for the part.”

Rainbow Dash relaxed just enough so she could breathe again. “No kidding. Lightning wouldn’t touch that thing. We’d need an EMP grenade to short out the hover field first.”

Recovering her wits first, Rarity double checked that the IFF card was still being held in place by her ear. “Perhaps we can find an armory down here. I don’t like being without a sidearm in situations like this…”

Now that she could put some measure of trust in the IFF card’s protection, Rarity could finally take the scene all in. It was only now that she noticed many paintings rested on easels. As Rainbow Dash carefully led the way forward, allowing Rarity to follow behind, the decker couldn’t help but to shudder at the crude treatment of such exquisite artworks. While not as obvious as the alicorn statue, every last piece of art had been ruined in some way. Paintings were slashed or doused with acid, statues had various pieces carved out as if by a scalpel or outright broken by a sledgehammer. The harsh, fluorescent lighting put Denim’s depravity on full display. “Heavens, there’s practically a museum or three’s worth of art here. What kind of pony could destroy so much like this?”

Rainbow Dash scanned the chamber with a critical eye, her nose wrinkling as if smelling something foul. “If I had to guess, he’s been warped by all the bad chi in here. It’s practically a swamp down here.”

Rarity may not be much of a spellweaver, but even she could sense a forboding chill now that she stopped to pay attention. She gazed at Rainbow Dash who was starting to sweat, even with the chamber being so cool. “Hmm, perhaps we skip the armory and just grab the Element and run.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me.”

Rarity kept a lookout for a computer terminal, and her ears picked up the tell-tale sound of fluid pumps, likely pumping coolant. “We should go down here,” Rarity pointed at one of the doors leading off to the left side. Rainbow Dash noticed the sound too, and didn’t need further prompting to lead the way.

“Why in Equestria would somepony want to create so much bad chi?”

“He’s a traitor to Equestria,” Rainbow replied evenly. A second robot, much like the first, was patrolling nearby, causing her to give it a wide berth. “Maybe he thinks creating a pool of stagnant chi will cause more harm to the city than it will to him. Either that, or he doesn’t understand his little hobby is causing his bad luck lately.” A smirk played on her lips. “What with Celestia finally getting rid of him.”

Rarity nearly fainted when she saw racks of suits and dresses lined up near a wood chipper with ripped up fabric sitting in a multicolored pile on the other side of the machine. “The sooner the better! He is a true monster.”

Rainbow paused to see what new crime Rarity was referring to, and ended up rolling her eyes upon seeing the destroyed clothing. The pair nosed their way into a new chamber that ran parallel to Denim’s “art studio”, but was much narrower. Massive computer towers, easily two ponies tall and just as wide lined the room with thick cables running all over the floor. A single terminal sat with an array of darkened screens.

Rarity practically sprinted for the computer chair and pulled herself up to the console and looked around for a slot port. “Hmm… there’s got to be a… ah ha!” She saw a universal port and took her Tessen out with her magic. Pulling a piece of the frame off, she revealed the plug and slotted the phone into it. As it did its work, Rarity inserted her front hooves into the key semi-spheres. Her hooves shifted and twitched across the keys as soon as a command prompt appeared. “I don’t know how much I can get out of this with just a Tessen. Any kind of AI will be using a unique operating system, but my phone should sort things out to look like an OS I’m familiar with.”

The command prompt shifted to the side and Dreams’ face appeared on the right. “There will be no need for that.”

Rarity almost shrieked out of fearful surprise, fully expecting some sort of trap in the key semispheres to lop her hooves off.

Rainbow Dash was more relaxed, but only just. The fact that the IFF cards worked was enough for her to give the AI some trust. “Can you show us where the Element is located?”

“Affirmative.” The AI’s face fizzled a bit. “The Element is housed in a shifting pneumatic tube maze under the floor. The pneumatic system is deliberately slow, so it will take time for me to pass the Element through it. The Element will be dropped into a large basin in the center of the art gallery shortly.”

“A tube maze?” Rarity scoffed with a disbelieving, raised eyebrow. “I’ve heard of inventive security measures, but that’s a bit silly don’t you think?”

Rainbow Dash leaned on the desk and angled herself so she could look at both Rarity and the door. “This is the guy who destroys art for a hobby, remember? I’d rather he wasted money on a series of tubes than extra killbots.”

“Hmm… a fair point. At least we don’t have to solve some ridiculous puzzle ourselves.” Rarity’s curiosity got the better of her now that she had a spymaster’s computer willing and able to help her. “Say, Dreams, any chance I can sift around for some information Denim’s gathered? I ahh—I can use it as more evidence for his trial.”

“Very well.” Dreams forcibly closed the command prompt Rarity had opened and instead provided a laundry list of stolen secrets, both government and private. “Take whatever you need.”

This is too easy. A spymaster has got to have made some other enemies than just Celestia. Some of them might come knocking. “What’s our time look like with that Ares squad?”

“Organics have unpredictable sense of concern. The elevator has been disabled, so it should be at least one additional minute until Denim will summon the Ares team.”

“Let’s make this quick then. You two have fun while you can,” Rainbow said with a touch of worry. “I’m going to go camp that basin so we can move the instant it’s out.”

As she left, Rarity was left with a smorgasbord of data. She went right to work transferring any folders she found that had juicy names to them. When she heard Rainbow Dash leave and close the door, she was reminded of the tale her leather-winged friend had told her in the elevator. “Dreams, show me anything you have on this—Resolute Chorus group and forward it to my phone.” The AI complied wordlessly, and forwarded the file, allowing Rarity to open the summary of the group Denim had penned himself. “Let’s see just how real you are.”

Rainbow Dash threaded her way through the gallery of desecrated artwork. The mare felt as if the room was unnaturally cold. Stupid earthers probably has the air cranked up. Warming up is one thing I kinda miss about pegasus magic. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing up, making her freeze and take a closer look around. Her eyes drifted across the ruined statues and racks of stored paintings. Absently, she shuffled in close to a brass bust of a nameless historic figure. Her searching gaze saw no movement outside of the two patrolling robots.

An explosion rocked the macabre art gallery, and dust came loose, but the building didn’t rattle enough to make her fear a collapse. Drek, what the hell was that!? Maybe I was right on the money about Denim having one too many enemies. Rainbow Dash felt a gentle, yet distinctively noticeable warmth pressing against her chest; it was her crescent moon icon. She looked down at herself and was about to fish the icon out to see it when a barely audible pop came from the elevator’s direction, instantly followed by a sharp buzzing by her ear. As if a mirage was phasing away, she spotted a dark furred pony barely twenty feet away aiming a pistol at her.

Rainbow immediately ducked back behind the bust, forgetting her moon icon. “Drek, how did I miss a shooter?” Her mind went back to the tactics Winter taught her. The robots didn’t notice anything, and that punk just materializes right in front me. That’s Wallflower alright. But I thought we were the only ones who… For a moment, Rainbow’s blood drained from her face. “Please, no.”

Rainbow bolted away from her thin cover to take refuge behind a larger statue shaped like an antique train engine. Two more bullets flew by her, one grazing her left flank. She hissed in pain, trying to keep her voice down. Once behind proper cover, Rainbow summoned her magic by forming a reverse Wallflower sigil. A counter enchantment to Wallflower made her eyes glow white and the world around her dimming as if she were wearing dark glasses. She checked her flanks first, and spotted a bright, white, glowing, pony slipping his way in between painting racks. Damn, I hate being right. Weaving a hasty sign, Rainbow launched a spell bolt at the figure. He tried to evade, but the nature of her counter enchantment allowed the spell to home in with unnatural accuracy.

Instinctively, the stallion abruptly cut his spellwork, causing the spellbolt to veer seemingly widely off target, only to zero in on a second target Rainbow had not even seen. Rainbow Dash watched the bolt fly over her head and slam into a mare that had been only scant few feet from driving a knife into her back. Crackling thaumic energy sizzled across the mare’s body, but it only stunned her for a moment, which was long enough to allow Rainbow Dash to see her ambushers. The mare had greyish fur, and slitted pale turquoise eyes that bore both pained sadness and resolve.

“Vapor Trail?” Realization that her ambusher was a Nightborne hit Rainbow Dash like a sledgehammer. Rainbow’s mind went right back to the day she ran away from her tribe; to a time she was young mare, barely old enough to be called that, and staring down the same knife that had been raised against her. “Why are you…? You’re not here for Denim at all are you!”

“No, we’re not. Surrender peaceably, Rainbow Dash,” Vapor Trail half asked half commanded. She frowned; the distaste in her mouth was palpable from her speech. “We don’t need to spill thestral blood tonight.”

“You know damn well I would never have done what Flintlock accused me of,” Rainbow spat angrily. “I’d ask you to forget you saw me, but I bet he’s here too, isn’t he?” Rainbow dared to glance back to where the gunshots had come from, but the pony had slid back into hiding. “Just one word and you end up like me.”

Vapor Trail averted her gaze, the knife waivered. “I’ve been haunted by the night I let Winter get access to your cell. It’s practically an open secret I allowed Winter to overpower me. But I can’t let that happen now. Whatever crimes you may or may not have done that miserable day, you’ve clearly been a shadowrunner for these past years. You’ll answer for those crimes at least.”

“Blame Flintlock for that. I’d have never lowered myself to being a runner if his lying plot had played it straight.” Rainbow’s opinion of herself was bloated enough to give her voice a bit of bluster, but she had no delusions she stood a chance against an unknown number of Nightborne. When Vapor Trail’s only response was to resume a low fighting stance, her wings poised to spring her forward, Rainbow Dash did the same. “Well, so much for old friends.”

“Old friendships is why we’re even talking, Rainbow Dash.” Vapor began, trying to restore the resolve she had lost on her demeanor. Yet panicky realization struck Vapor Trail at the quiet whine of a hover engine. Singing blades slashed down at her from behind. Vapor rolled out of the way of a bladed wing clawing the air.

Rainbow Dash backed off, tumbling further down the gallery and near the basin. More scraping blades and gunshots pinged off the robots. Rarity doesn’t have a deck with her, so she can’t possibly have missed all this. Trusting her friend to play it smart, Rainbow Dash kept low to the ground as the three Nightborne and two robots struggled. The pop-fizzle of an EMP grenade echoed, making Rainbow Dash look out across the gallery.

Near the source of the EMP was a defense robot now standing instead of hovering. Its bladed wings hung limply, leaving it an easy target for a forest green thestral stallion to launch lightning bolt and bolt into it. Sky Stinger, damn it all! That bot’ll be nothing more than a toaster soon.

Vapor Trail was having less luck with her assailant. She dodged its attacks easily enough, but she had no chance to counter it. What happened to that shooter?

Rainbow gazed around, both close and far, but she couldn’t see either of the other thestrals receiving any fire support. Fear gripped her as the obvious stood out. They were distractions. Rainbow Dash jumped backwards, causing the shooter to snap off a shot from her left. The bullet hit her chest at an angle that made it pierce in through her left side and out the right in a shallow groove. Pumping adrenaline made her only partially aware she had been hit at all.

Now knowing the direction of her opponent, Rainbow used both hooves to weave a hasty sigil. “Try this!” Covering her eyes with a foreleg at the last second, a blinding strobe light rewarded Rainbow with a pained curse shouted at her.

All of Rainbow Dash’s experience and Winter’s training told her to fall back and get a better position to launch spells in support of the robots. However, when she saw the shooter’s face, her terror was burned aside by the fury of a scorned mare. “Flintlock?!”

The blinded stallion had been waving his pistol defensively, but Rainbow’s outburst gave him something to aim at. His second shots went wide, but they were enough to force Rainbow back.

Playing it safe, Rainbow got behind a crate right next to the basin. It looked sturdy enough to absorb pistol fire. Gritting her teeth to the point her gums started to hurt, Rainbow weaved as much magic into her sigil as possible before heaving a fireball right at Flintlock. But her heavy spellwork bought him enough time to recover enough of his vision to jumped out of the way.

That was when Rarity popped out from around a rack of molding suits, her horn glowing with spells of her own. The decker didn’t know much magic, but even she could use the basics. Rarity fired off a kinetic bolt that went wide and ended up ramming Flintlock’s gun arm. The impact broke his pistol off its mounting and sent it clattering away. Flintlock shouted a wordless curse and sprinted sideways to put the basin between him and Rarity. The unicorn fired off a second bolt, only to be struck by lightning. The mare spasmed and stumbled, yet remained standing.

“Diamond!” Rainbow’s eyes traced the lightning’s path back towards Sky Stinger who had taken to the air for a better vantage point. She tried to form a spell sigil, but Flintlock appeared out from behind cover with a second pistol attached to his other foreleg. He snapped another shot off, nicking Rainbow in the right foreleg before charging straight at her instead of bothering to reload.

Rainbow allowed her body to twist out of the bullet’s path, and faked a yelp of pain. Banking on Flintlock underestimating her, Rainbow waited until he was right on top of her before bucking at him. He flapped to the side, but she managed to graze his gunleg and break the clasp keeping it locked in place. The pistol went flying free, and Rainbow tried to buck him again, but Flintlock weaved to the right and grabbed one of Rainbow’s back legs. He swung her bodily into a collection of covered paintings, smashing most of the frames.

Rainbow Dash pulled herself out of the ruined paintings in time to see Rarity’s magic wrestle a pair of magazines off Flintlock’s belt, and slotted one in the stolen pistol. If Rarity tries to fire a gun without a crystal...! She has to know about recoil feedback!

Flintlock was baffled at the unicorn’s actions, and held back to stay out of Sky Stinger’s line of fire. The wrenching groan of snapping steel heralded Vapor Trail pulling her knife out of her robot’s face, which crumbled at her hooves. Yet before Sky Stinger could wind up another lightning bolt, the fluorescent lights started to hum with a massive buildup in electricity and turned an angry red.

The Nightborne seemed to know what it meant more than the two shadowrunners, and Sky Stinger hurriedly tried to dive back to the ground. The lights exploded in red light that washed over every pony there. Rainbow Dash felt the magic in her wings be washed away by a riptide of force. It knocked Sky Stinger out of the air and he crashed into a statue.

“Sky Sweeper activated,” said the emotionless, artificial voice. Even as it spoke, three defaced statues of ponies near the basin cracked and broke open. Enough rock dust rained on Rainbow Dash to make her choke on the air. Emerging from the rumble came more of the blade winged machines, which moved quickly on the Nightborne.

“Geeze, Denim is one paranoid bastard.” Rainbow double checked that her IFF card was still in place. The robots moved to chase after the three Nightborne, giving Rainbow Dash enough breathing room to hear a airy pop come from the basin above. “Finally!”

Rainbow’s magic was still trickling back into her wings, making her initial attempts at flying a failure. A pop-hiss sounded behind her, and Rainbow felt her fur stick up as an EMP washed over her. Oh rut me. She turned back to see the squad of thestrals were already making short work of the four new robots.

Rainbow started flapping her wings furiously, if for no other reason than to make it easier to scramble up to the basin. The Element of Loyalty was so close. A rumble from above, this time far more powerful than before, distracted Rainbow for a moment’s breadth.

“Stop her!”

Rainbow faced back and saw Vapor Trail and Flintlock barging past the robots while Sky Stinger led two of the still functioning robots away by fleeing back towards the elevator.

Rarity fired a round, the gun held in her magic, but the kick was too strong and the pistol ripped itself out of her grasp. Even so, the bullet managed to perforate Flintlock’s right ear, yet he didn’t let it distract him. Vapor Trail had lost her knife in a robot’s armor, so she tackled Rainbow with bare hooves alone. The two mares went tumbling to the ground as Rainbow tried to kick her off. Enough of Flintlock’s magic had returned to his wings that he could fly to reach the basin and snatch the Element away.

A second rumble caused hoof sized chunks of the ceiling to fall, one of which pegged Vapor Trail in the back between her wings. The hit caused her to release her choke hold on Rainbow, who kicked Vapor off and shakily got back to her hooves.

Rainbow tried to look around, noticing that Flintlock had not quite disappeared, and was busy securing the Element in a satchel. Vapor Trail was getting back up, but was heaving ragged breaths. Rainbow wasn’t doing any better. Her chest wound was not closing with all the exertion. The blood stain on her chest had grown to the size of a football. She was still being bolstered by her adrenaline, something her genetic engineering would keep active until she passed out or willed the adrenaline to subside. Might have been useful if they didn’t have that augment too.

The scuffle had torn the fragile portions of her dress as well, making it drape in such a way that made walking difficult, yet the IFF card remained secure in the pocket hanging over her left side so far.

What do I do? What? What?! Rainbow knew she couldn’t win, not like this, but her pride refused to allow her to even put the thought into words.

“You’re going to bleed out before long,” Vapor warned. “Give yourself up, and I promise medical aid.”

“Just so I can be sent to the electric chair? No thanks!” Rainbow challenged. In the back of her mind, she was hoping Rarity would keep laying low. If they take me out and got to keep the Element, they might leave her alone.

“You don’t have to die,” Flintlock called out as he made a slow, open approach. “I’m sure the Princess is willing to show leniency.”

A much louder crash came from the ceiling. Everyone looked up to see a huge crack appear before a whole section of the ceiling completely collapsed. Everyone bolted away, weaving or jumping over anything in their way to escape being crushed.

“Shazam that was an earthquake a bit too far!” yelled a loosely familiar voice.

Once she was sure no more of the ceiling was going to fall on her head, Rainbow Dash looked back and saw the same guard from Clover Labs was riding on top of a rocky elemental spirit in the shape of a yak. The shaman may have been wearing a now damaged helmet, but that unmistakable curly pink mane sticking out of a unicorn horn slot was quite prominent. Dead guards had been scattered about by the collapse while Denim was being restrained by the spirit.

“Oh, you have got to be rutting me. What’s she doing here?!”

Feminine coughing from Rainbow’s right, and closer to the wall alerted Rainbow to Rarity’s presence. The unicorn had lost her purse, but somehow had managed to salvage her phone. The screen was lit, but was badly cracked to the point that it was useless. “As much as I enjoy a good noir mystery, I suggest we run. Our contact will just have to use other channels for this one.”

“Good idea.” It’s not like that bastard could hide the Element from Celestia. Too bad, he deserves execution for treason. Rainbow looked back to see where the others were. Flintlock was pinned between a slab of granite and a pair of statues. He didn’t seem to be outright injured, and had his forelegs free enough to start pushing himself out from under it.

He heard Rarity running away, and turned his head to lock eyes with Rainbow standing not so far away. It was the perfect chance for Rainbow to kill him and he knew it.

Vengeance for years of living in squalor and constant fear for her children could be had right here and now. Rainbow’s eyes widened in anticipation of such satisfaction, she walked towards him at first, but was slowed down a bit by her ruined dress. For a few moments, Flintlock tried harder to push himself out from under the rubble, but he wasn’t nearly making enough progress. As a seeming added bonus, the satchel holding Loyalty had been torn from his belt and was lying a scant few inches from his face.

Rainbow had closed half the distance with her hooves already being empowered to crush Flintlock’s skull when a loud groan from Vapor Trail only a few meters away on the ground grabbed her attention. A bloody rock the size of a hoof laid on the floor next to her head, and the mare was moving lethargically on her back. If she’s moving, she’s breathing; let Sky Stinger save her. She might have forgotten about her old friend then and there if she hadn’t noticed one of the security robots was still functioning. It was walking, clearly damaged from the EMP, but its legs still worked just fine as it moved on Vapor, its bladed wings held ready.

Not knowing how long it would take Sky Stinger to arrive, or if the earth mare shaman would even know to act in time, Rainbow knew Vapor’s life hung on her whim. Years of pain made her bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as she wrestled with her need to repay Flintlock, an eye for an eye. A flash of her old self, her pegasus self appeared in her mind’s eye, judging the thestral mare she now was. The pony she would prove to be.

Rut me, she growled to herself. Rainbow used the power she had built into her forelegs to rip her dress off, and ran over so she could throw it on top of Vapor Trail. The robot’s unblinking eyes recognized the IFF card, and instead looked up to fixate on Rainbow Dash.

“Get away from her!” Sky Stinger bellowed as he limped forward from behind the encroaching robot. Even in his injured state, Stinger was a threat. Damn it! We’ve been here too long. Flintlock’s reinforcements have got to be almost here by now. Rainbow gave Flintlock a lingering hate filled glare. “You better hope I never see your face again.”

Sky Stinger sent off a hasty lightning bolt, but his right foreleg was bent at an unnatural angle, and he missed by a wide margin. His look of terror morphed into confusion when the robot stepped over Vapor Trail as if she wasn’t even there, and made ready to attack Rainbow. The shadowrunner spat a curse and sprinted for the pile of climbable rubble the collapsed ceiling had provided. She hesitated upon seeing that the shaman had not yet moved from her perch on top of the stone elemental that was pinning Denim. The odd pink pony had some noticeable muscle twitches, but was otherwise simply watching Rainbow fly out.

Upon reaching the ground floor, Rainbow was briefly astonished by the sheer amount of charred wood along the walls, chunks of cake scattered about, and the number of dead, both security and a few guests. “Wooow, sooo glad I didn’t go a round two with the pink one.”

A sudden falter in Rainbow’s flying forced her to land heavily. Confused, she looked down at herself and saw her wounds hadn’t closed yet. “Oh drek, I’m losing too much blood.” She hastily looked around and spotted Rarity waving her over to a freshly broken window in the ballroom. Not trusting herself to fly, Rainbow sprinted for the window, yet she stumbled weakly at the end of it.

“Darling, were you shot worse than I thought?”

Rainbow felt her hold on her adrenaline slipping and shored up her focus on it just so she could keep moving. “I’ll be fine for a bit longer. I can glide down to the next plate.” Rainbow wasted no further time. “Can you—ah—can you meet me close to Palm Street and Ferrum Avenue with some meds, and maybe a blood transfusion while you’re at it?”

Rarity gave her a worried look, and was about to speak on it until she heard police sirens in the distance. There wasn’t time to argue now. Rarity used her magic to break off the dangerous shards of glass from the window and jumped through into a short backyard. It was little more than a decorative garden that was asymmetrical with unsettling shrub art so it would amplify the effects of the stagnant chi. “Very well. I’ll meet up with you as soon as possible. Just stay alive, Flash. I don’t need to remind you, you have little ones waiting for you.”

Rainbow got through the window, seemingly easily enough and ran for the edge. “Just make sure you stay alive too, Diamond,” Rainbow said with a smirk. “I’m counting on that first aid.”

Rarity nodded sternly. “You’ll get it.”

With rapid hooffalls coming from inside the manor, Rainbow ran for the edge of the backyard, which was guarded by nothing more than a railing, and vaulted off the side of the city plate.

It took everything Rainbow had to keep her wings open and her aim on the park she had indicated. The edges of her vision were darkening, and her thoughts were getting sluggish, like her brain was full of cotton. Keep it together, girl, Rares’ll call a medic, and—and he’ll be waiting for me when I—when I land.

The cityscape below sailed past her as Rainbow started nodding off, the last vestiges of her adrenaline slipping away as her blood continued to spill. By the time she reached the tree lined park, she collapsed in a heap next to a small lake. Her vision was nearly black, but she saw a pony land somewhat close by. I knew Rares wouldn’t let me down. She couldn’t make out the pegasus’ face before she passed out.

It was no pegasus, but Flintlock who had followed her down. The park had a few denizens, mostly the homeless who were making it obvious the two thestrals were the least interesting ponies on the planet. The park was in a lower middle class sector, so there was only a scant few pieces of trash or other refuse that plagued the lower levels of Canterlot.

Flintlock stood over the unconscious Rainbow Dash, her crescent moon pendant still clinging to her necklace. Far away from prying eyes, he looked at her with hard resolve lining his face. With Sky Stinger busy watching over Vapor Trail, he felt safe enough to test something. He pulled out the Element of Loyalty and held it close to Rainbow Dash’s still form. The stone sphere glowed, and magic started to line its surface until he pulled it back and placed it back into the satchel where it went inert once more.

He tsked, his resolve flickering under the deep pit of regret. “Even after all this time living in filth, the Element still finds you worthy.” His mind went back to Rainbow rescuing Vapor Trails. “I shouldn’t be surprised. Not from a pony like you.” He fished around for a different satchel and pulled out a trio of red patches. He knelt down and pried her mouth open and stuck one patch on her tounge and the other two on the inside of her cheeks. Even as he closed her mouth, the bullet wounds started to close. The amount of blood she lost would still keep her from rousing, however. If Loyalty stirs in your presence, then you are more precious to Equestria than you realize. A shame I can’t call a hospital without you being arrested. Standing up to leave, Flintlock silently hoped Rainbow had picked her allies well. “Stay alive, Neophyte. You will have your vindication soon enough.”

Without another word, Flintlock fled into the night, and was long gone by the time the street doctor Rarity had called arrived to rescue Rainbow Dash.

Author's Note

Merry Christmas to all my readers!! Hope you had a good one!

8: A Piece of the Puzzle

The next morning, Celestia sighed contently from an excellent breakfast. She was currently walking through the back door into the throne room. If she was honest, this was her favorite part of the day. Here, the lines between her citizens, be they tribe, wealth, or distance from the capital, were removed. She would see to all of their concerns to the best of her abilities, stretched as they were by intruding politics and tiresome lobbyists. At least I’m cape of getting things done unlike the republics of the world, she mused with quite the satisfaction.

To the outside observer, the throne room looked unchanged since the palace was first constructed. A vast marble chamber with a high arched ceiling was framed by stained glass windows. A single narrow red carpet led up from the main oak doors to the single throne on a raised dais.

Celestia emerged from a tall, narrow door behind the throne and started making her way to her seat of office. Her entry sparked a flurry of activity as holograms started manifesting across the chamber. So far, all of them were ponies of various tribes, yet they remained mostly transparent. Buffering symbols danced around their formless heads, which would only be filled with the images of actual citizens when Celestia gave the word.

However, Celestia barely made it halfway to her throne before she realized the royal guards were not at their posts. Quickly, she scanned the marble pillars between the floor-to-ceiling windows and found no one until she turned her gaze towards the only other person there.

Standing in the middle of the chamber was Flintlock, who was in front of a large object that was concealed by a white sheet. The leather-winged stallion was still wearing the combat uniform from the night prior, and he wore an exhausted, yet proud expression. There was a hooded robe on the floor, undoubtably the one he used to walk freely about the palace. He had a phone in his hoof, but put it away once he realized Celestia had arrived. “Your majesty! I was just about to call you about this,” he waved at the concealed object. “I ordered the guards to step out for matters of, well—me.”

Celestia nodded a bit. Strange. The guards know about the Nightborne, even if the general staff don’t. Why would he feel the need to excuse them? Celestia decided to play things by ear, and kept her calm composure. “Naturally. So what brings you here at this hour?”

“I wanted to give you a few gifts, courtesy of Section Eleven.” Flintlock opened a satchel and withdrew a stone sphere and presented it to Celestia who was now walking past the dais to approach him. “My section and I liberated the Element of Loyalty last night.”

Shock ran through Celestia’s core. Rainbow Dash was supposed to raid the manor last night. Celestia forced herself to show a much reserved, yet pleased demeanor. “Truly?” She finished closing the distance between them and claimed the offered artifact in her magic. The relic may have been out of her possession for centuries, but there was no mistaking an Element. Not to her. “I trust you took care of Denim Pants while you were there.”

“Naturally.” Flintlock bowed respectfully before looking Celestia in the eye. “I must admit, that detective we took on from the technology park was instrumental on that account. She arrested the traitor with limited support. I needed everypony else in the strike team to secure Loyalty.”

Celestia turned away from Flintlock under the pretense of inspecting the Element a bit closer with her magic. The act gave her some time to purge any concern from her reserved, yet pleased emotional mask. Rainbow never said if she was bringing Twilight on that run. If she was seen or taken… “I take it Denim had top-of-the-line security in place. The Element was the only thing protecting him after all. However, don’t tell me you infiltrated his manor just to show up Director Claptrap. If I’m going to have him filing a grievance, I’d like to know why you overstepped your bounds.”

“I can put the details in my report later, but to give you the bullet points, Pinkie Pie had a vision of-a-sort which convinced me to begin a stakeout of the manor. From there we detected Rainbow Dash was on the premises.”

Celestia had been expecting this, and so she was able to feign surprise after taking a second to act as if she was remembering the name. “Her? So the black mark on the Nightborne decides to show her face within a traitor’s home? One which also housed Loyalty?”

“The irony was not lost on me either.” Flintlock’s short-lived smirk was replied by a downcast frown. “I’m afraid she eluded capture in the end, but I managed to put a few new holes in her, for what it’s worth. I’d say she probably bled out in the end, but Shadowrunners always seem to pop back up from being presumed dead.”

“I see.” Play your part, ol’ girl. “Was she working for Denim? A pony like him would have taken sick joy in employing her.”

“No,” Flintlock stated with a firm head shake. “She was apparently there to steal Loyalty with only one accomplice, a unicorn mare that loosely matches the description of the decker from the first heist.”

Good, not Twilight then. He could have recognized her..

“They might have possibly had some other objectives we haven’t uncovered yet,” Flintlock continued. “Detective Pinkie Pie and I are in agreement that Rainbow Dash played a part in the theft of Generosity as well. Denim can be ruled out as the money backing the heist.”

Perhaps I should have waited until after the Summer Sun Celebration to hire Miss Pie. There was nothing for it now. Celestia adopted the posture and positive demeanor of a satisfied monarch. “You have my gratitude for rescuing the Element out from under our traitorous thief. And be sure to extend my accolades towards Miss Pie as well for a job well done.”

A sideways grin crossed Flintlock’s face. “Something tells me our little prophet already knows, but I will relay your gratitude all the same.” His good humor evaporated as he shuffled uncomfortably. “I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this.”

His sudden change in demeanor made Celestia uncomfortable.

“During the incident, one of my subordinates, Vapor Trail, was incapacitated. A security robot was threatening her life, and neither myself nor Sky Stinger were close enough to aid her. Rather than using the opportunity to make her escape, Rainbow Dash used a stolen IFF card to make the security robot ignore Vapor Trail and instead turn its attention upon herself. The act gave me time to catch up to her for a bit.”

“She did..?” Celestia felt stunned, utterly lost for words. She had to search her memory back to those terrible days when Rainbow shamed the Nightborne. “Vapor Trail… wasn’t she the one Winter Glen overpowered to free his marefriend?”

Flintlock winced, barely perceivable by the old mare. He was hoping I wouldn’t remember that part. Curious. “Perhaps Rainbow felt like she owed Vapor a favor. At least that’s how it sounds if you heed the rumors that circulate your tower.”

Flintlock hastily knelt before Celestia. “Your highness, nopony has worked harder to prove herself than Vapor Trail. She personally confronted the fugitive to bring her in.

“…She was not found wanting.”

While Celestia couldn’t show it, his defense of his night-sister eased Celestia’s troubled heart. “Very well, I’ll consider the matter closed. As for Rainbow Dash and our missing Element, make finding her your top priority. When you do, you’ll likely find out where her employer spirited away with Generosity.”

Flintlock bowed deeply to the point where his forehead nearly touched the floor. “As always, your will be done.”

Just this once I wish you were not so diligent in your work. But telling you to leave her alone would be too suspicious. “Expect to hear further instructions from me once I have a chance to read your full report. Have it ready for me by the end of the Solar Court.”

“As you wish, your grace.” Flintlock ended his bow to reveal the smile of a happy servant. He stepped to the side and waved a hoof over the covered object. “I’m sure by now you’re wanting to know what I brought.”

A coy eyebrow-lift was her only answer for a long moment. “I’ll admit to being rather curious. Something else of value Denim was hoarding, I take it?”

“Quite right. Allow me to present to you what was stolen a century ago.” Flintlock turned around and gripped the sheet with his teeth and walked back to pull it off the irregular object. The statue of a black alicorn set upon a lonely slab of stone looked back at Celestia with sad, forlorn eyes.

Lulu. Celestia gasped and hid her mouth behind a hoof. Her eyes went wide as tears threatened to form. “You - you found her?”

“Denim had it in full display in his entry hall,” Flintlock spat scornfully. “I couldn’t let a statue of Mother Moon’s true self wallow in some evidence warehouse waiting for you. Well, that, and Claptrap’s raid would have probably destroyed it out of ignorance.”

The ageless alicorn felt her heart shatter. Oh, how terribly she had missed that face. With the last vestiges of her self control, Celestia was able to speak with an even tone. She was glad the guards were absent. “Thank you for returning this to me. Please, leave.”

With an understanding nod, Flintlock hastily donned his robe and covered himself. “Until next time, my Princess.” Without another word, Flintlock made his way to the main doors and left.

The instant the doors were closed behind him, Celestia wept openly before the statue of her lost sister.

A bleary mind crawled towards the waking world as slowly as frozen molasses going uphill. Stabbing light hurt her eyes, but she was too stubborn to let this drowsiness keep her down. My babies, I - I have to make sure they’re safe.

Sleep was begging her, pulling at her eyes to make her succumb, but her maternal fear gave her the strength to wake up.

Once her eyes stopping protesting and came into focus, she was finally able to barely feel two large, warm, furry lumps were curled up next to her belly.

Every limb felt like lead, but Rainbow Dash was bound and determined to find out where she was.

Her sluggish brain took a while to realize the shine on the ceiling from the window meant it was midday, and that she was in bed. The covers felt like massive weights as she tried to shift from her side to her back. It was only after several attempts that she finally thought to check on the warm lumps. Her growing fear bled away once she realized they were her children. The twins were curled up together, keeping her warm.

Her fear abated, and with a happy smile at seeing them safe and sound, Rainbow drifted off once more.

It was late into the night when Rainbow roused again. She felt just as sluggish as before, but the fatigue wasn’t quite as powerful. She was still in bed, but this time Winter Glen, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight were surrounding the bed.

Winter had a heat pad pressed against Rainbow’s forehead. Fluttershy had a bowl of steaming soup. Rainbow’s nose had to have been lying to her because she thought she could smell liver and spinach. Both were costly in a mostly vegetarian-leaning-omnivore society. Rarity had been fussing over the thestral’s dress that was draped on a ponyquin until she heard Rainbow wake with a groan. As for Twilight, she was hanging up a fresh IV bag close to Rainbow’s head.

“Eeeasy there, Rainbow Crash, you lost a lot of blood back there.”

Rainbow had enough wits about her to pout and glare at her husband. She tried to shake her hoof menacingly at him, but only managed to lift it a few inches off the bed. “I still have enough blood to waste you, you prick.”

Fluttershy was a timid creature, if anything, but not when it came to offering medical help. Upon hearing Rainbow was awake, she gently, in the loosest definition of the word, shoved Winter aside so she could all but shove a spoonful of broth into Rainbow’s muzzle. “Here, eat up. This has lots of iron and vitamins. It’ll help you remake blood faster.”

Rainbow couldn’t smell any seasoning beyond salt and pepper, but her nose easily picked up on the liver. A meat she hadn’t had since fleeing the castle. She gladly took the bite her childhood friend was offering, and melted into the succulent taste of expensive food.

The others waited for Rainbow to eat half of the broth before Twilight walked around everyone else so she could talk to Rainbow without getting in Fluttershy’s way. “How are you feeling?”

Rainbow groaned after swallowing the latest bits of spinach. “Like complete drek. Where are the kids?”

It was Rarity to answered as she leaned over Winter with a placating smile. “They’re with the Crusaders down stairs. Apple Bloom is teaching them some simple cooking recipes. I expressly forbade Sweetie Belle from going near the stove.”

Twilight Sparkle’s ears fell flat. “Is it really safe to have foals that young cook unsupervised?”

Fluttershy nodded, her mane completely covering her face for a few moments, causing her to slide the spoon a bit too much from Rainbow’s mouth. “Oh yes, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are very familiar with how to use a fire extinguisher.”

Twilight recoiled a bit in fright. “I… don’t want to know why. Do I?”

“What happened after I passed out?” Rainbow croaked as bits of broth drooled down her cheek. Winter had been ready with a wet cloth and cleaned her up as Rarity spoke.

“Chop Shop found you bleeding out in Green Park. He says he used some razors edge medicine to close your wounds so you’d stop bleeding. Quite the bill he forwarded me about that, but seeing you alive makes it worth it.” Rarity gave the thestral mare a troubled face. “He at least brought you to the pickup point so Twilight and Fluttershy could bring you the rest of the way home.”

Rainbow Dash tried to pull herself up into a sitting posture, but dizziness washed over her. She would have collapsed back into bed if Fluttershy’s and Twilight’s magic had not caught her. They laid her down gently while Fluttershy presented another bite to eat. “Sorry Rainbow, but you shouldn’t move much. You’ve lost a lot of blood. I’d rather put you in a hospital, but well - you know.”

“I knew it was bad,” Rainbow said raspier than usual. She tried to put on a brave grin, but even that felt draining. “I feel like drek.”

Rarity’s face was marred by a frown. “I must apologize. After making some payments on my own debts, I couldn’t afford any synth-blood from Chop Shop, and I don’t trust any other doctor with knowing your tribe.”

Winter Glen squirmed at not being able to do more to ease his wife’s pains. “At least Celestia can’t say you failed, right?”

With the grumpiest scowl that ever existed on this Earth or any other, Rainbow aimed this soul shrinking glare at the only stallion that could resist it. “And how do you figure that?”

“Flintlock is still police right? He either has to return the Element to Celestia or he’s part of the conspiracy against the crown. Either way, it’s still a win right?” He added with a charming grin.

“He has a fair point,” Twilight added in, unasked.

“But I—” even thinking was getting Rainbow lightheaded. “Flutters, how long am I going to be out?”

“Well um, unless thestrals have some regenerative powers I’m not aware of, for the amount you lost… three weeks to a month or so. Unless we went to a hospital for synth-blood, because they won’t sell it to outpatients.”

“Wonderful.”

Twilight’s attention was pulled away by the sunstone shining from her saddlebag. “Uh oh. I think the Princess wants to come over.”

Without waiting for the others to acknowledge or even give permission, Twilight floated the sunstone over to a relatively open part of the bedroom and put a bit of golden magic into the stone.

The others barely had time to shield their eyes before Celestia teleported over in a wash of burning light and heat. She looked over the gathered ponies, and Rainbow Dash in particular, with pensive eyes.

Not that Twilight noticed as she was already bowing deeply. “Welcome back, Princess.”

Celestia was only mildly aware of the other ponies bowing as well when Twilight shook her train of thoughts loose. “Thank you, Twilight. I wish to speak with my Captain.”

With the room being so cramped, the alicorn had no way of respectfully walking around Twilight. The purple unicorn squeaked out of sudden embarrassment and hastily shuffled out of the way.

Celestia gave Twilight a brief, reassuring nod so her panicky student wouldn’t emotionally fall apart. She then approached Rainbow Dash who tried to give a shaky, feeble salute. “I see you had an unwanted confrontation last night.”

Rainbow scoffed, but at least managed to keep from rolling her eyes. “Glad to hear this wasn’t some extra test or whatever. I was just thinking that if you really wanted me dead, you’d have done it yourself.”

Rarity and Fluttershy were a bit worried with how frank Rainbow was being. Winter silently praised his wife while Twilight was caught between utter shock and indignation towards Rainbow.

As for Celestia, she took it with grace. “I fear Flintlock’s presence was my fault. The shaman you encountered at Clover Labs was wasting her talent as a security guard. I had her join Section Eleven… where she promptly had a vision that pointed Flintlock straight towards Denim’s manor.”

Twilight was the first one to freak out and spoke up while Rainbow cursed her luck. “Wait, if they have a shaman with trusted visions, then she could lead Section Eleven straight here!”

“Doubtful,” Winter replied with a sharp tone. “Spirits are fickle at the best of times. If the Nightborne haven’t found us here in the last five years, I doubt this new seer can do any better.”

Celestia nodded in agreement. “If Flintlock’s report was accurate, all of the negative chi in Denim’s estate had degraded his private wards. A pity Clap—the Section director in charge hadn’t considered that. In any event,” Celestia studied Rainbow’s body; noting how weak and sickly she looked. “It seems he was unaware of how badly you were injured.”

“Just half my blood,” Rainbow croaked with a parched throat.

“I’ve had worse,” Winter butted in with a wink at Rainbow.

“Of that there is little doubt,” Celestia replied as her eyes drifted over his scars and limp. She looked back over to Rainbow. “Worry not about your own inability to personally deliver the Element. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, Flintlock surrendered it to me this morning.”

“Called it,” Winter whispered to Rainbow.

“Well damn, and here I was hoping he’d keep it so you could fry his ass for me.”

Celestia took Rainbow’s crass remark as a side effect of severe blood loss. As such, she kept her pensive expression. “I’ll admit this is hardly a desirable situation. Nevertheless, our work must continue.” With that, Celestia’s horn lit up. Moments later, a machine roughly the size of a teenage pony was teleported onto the floor. It had a clearly medical sterility about it with the stark white paint covering the left side of the machine. That side had a touchscreen along with several small tube attachments. The right side had plastic canisters that had refrigerated condensation. The whole room dropped a few degrees in temperature as small whiffs of cooling gases escaped. “Twilight, dear, I trust you know how to operate this.”

“An autodoc?” Twilight nosed her way over to get between Rainbow and the machine. “Can’t say I ever really expected to use one for real, but this is about as plug-and-play as you can get with meditech.”

Rainbow Dash pulled back when Twilight took both a blunt sensor probe and a needle tipped hose and tried to sweep the latter over the thestral’s foreleg. “Whoa, whoa, since when did you have a medical degree?!”

“You don’t need one,” Rarity commented as she tactfully circled the bed so she could better inspect the machine. She spoke as her gaze went all over the canisters and hosing. “This one has all of the proper accoutrements it seems. I’ve - ah -” Rarity’s eyes flicked at Celestia for a moment, and coughed uncomfortably. “Moved a few of these before. There’s still a patent pending last I heard.”

Celestia watched Rainbow hesitantly surrender a foreleg so Twilight could get to work. Her student left the needle housing part in the air so she could focus on using the sensor probe first.

“Redheart Pharmaceuticals gifted my royal infirmary with the first production model off the line. I had to be… creative with my excuse for borrowing it. Medical staff can be so gossip prone for a profession that champions confidentiality.”

With enough written labels on everything, and a few dozen trial runs from her time in the palace, Twilight deftly moved the probe slowly up and down along Rainbow’s body and limbs. It didn’t take long for the machine to speak in a calming, masculine voice. “Diagnosis: severe exsanguination. Blood sample required for synthesis.”

“I coulda told it that.” Rainbow laid the mockery on as thick as her cotton-addled brain could bestow. “Also, couldn’t you have just done that in the first place?”

Twilight’s cheeks reddened as she put the sensor back to focus on the needle attachment. “According the manual, it’s standard procedure.” The needle part of the attachment was housed in a cube-like thing that Twilight placed on Rainbow’s left foreleg. Everyone else watched in mild-to-truly-intrigued fascination as the machine picked the best place for the needle to go in. Once it had extracted a small sample, the blood was fed into the machine.

Twilight left it to go about its work. “If memory serves, it’ll start figuring out your particular blood type and protein content before synthesising an exact match. This is as close to getting infused with your own blood as one can get.”

“That’s… cool,” Rainbow admitted with begrudging admission.

“How long will it take?” Winter asked both Twilight and Celestia.

Celestia remained a bit passive while Twilight looked over the readings on the autodoc. “About a day.”

“Good to hear,” Celestia said first while the others in the room gave various levels of nods or sighs of relief. “Alas, time is still not on our side. I would like to discuss things moving forward, that is, if you have the strength to stay awake for a while yet.”

A tiny bit of the fog was lifting from Rainbow’s mind. Just enough for her forbearance of Celestia to reassert itself. “I ah, I may need somepony to write things down, but I can try, Princess.”

Celestia simply nodded before using her magic to open a saddlebag. “Gathering the Elements is only half of the plan.” The alicorn pulled out a trio of stone spheres and presented them to her audience. “For my purposes, the Elements require a bear - er…”

Out of the three presented spheres, two of them started glowing faintly: Loyalty and Generosity. The other ponies, save Twilight, were unfazed by the glow. When it came to the Princess, such things were practically expected.

Twilight was rendered silent for a few moments while two of the white stars on her cutie mark began to glow. Even as her teacher stood there in mute shock. “Two of you are bearers?! Princess, I can hardly believe our luck!”

“Nor - can I.” Celestia recovered her wits, and focused on the Element of Loyalty. She moved it around, finding the glow intensified anytime it got close to Rainbow Dash. Celestia’s mind went racing. “And in a time of need, they shall reveal themselves,” she quoted to herself before absently placed the glowing sphere on top of Rainbow’s chest.

“Uhh, Princess?” Rainbow asked worriedly as she shielded her eyes from the increasing light.

Rarity faced much the same when Generosity was levitated in front of her, the glow started to become uncomfortably bright. “Oh my, as much as I like shiny things, this is a bit much for even me.”

With a sudden shake of her head, Celestia stopped running on autopilot and pulled the glowing Elements back into her saddlebag where they went dark once more. “It seems this gamble of trusting you was well founded.”

Between the two of them, Winter Glen and Fluttershy were rubbing the spots from their eyes, and had to content themselves with just listening in.

Rainbow Dash was still blinking to recover, and had missed Celestia’s last comment. “So - uh - Princess, was that thing supposed to do more, or was it just a big fancy GPS towards the most awesome pony on the planet?”

Her husband cracked a smirk and ribbed Rainbow Dash just hard enough to get a yelp out of her. “Your humility is on full display, Sugarbun.”

“I have my moments,” Rainbow replied with a smack right back.

Celestia had been delayed in responding as she couldn’t come up with an answer. That pause gave Twilight Sparkle the sense that her teacher wanted her to present a theory. But in Twilight’s mind, what she was about to say was absolute fact. “The Elements can’t fully awaken yet,” she announced, bringing all attention towards her. “Until all six Elements and their chosen bearers are brought together, they will remain in their current passive state.” The feathered unicorn blinked a bit as the glow faded from her cutie mark, and with it the certainty of her claim, in her mind at least.

For Celestia however, her mind was set, and her face took on a stern mask. “I see. Captain,” she announced sharply to cut through any more sass. The call had the desired effect, and made Rainbow Dash and Winter reflexively sit or stand up straight. She even had Fluttershy’s and Rarity’s undivided attention. “The Element of Loyalty choosing you speaks volumes. Whether you have always held that virtue within your heart or the crucible of your… exile has molded you into a better pony doesn’t matter, for the results are the same. By royal edict, I declare your crimes both past and present forgiven.”

Winter went wide eyed right alongside her husband. “Just like that? We haven’t found out who these conspirators are yet.”

“True, but I need no further proof that you,” she gestured at the married couple, “are loyal to both Equestria and the crown. A more suitable reward will have to be thought of, should you wish to continue your work.”

“So I guess I’m still formally guilty of the big crime back then?” Rainbow fumed, only to get ribbed even harder by Winter.

“Can you shut up about that until she makes the edict public one day? Please?!”

“Okay, fine.” Rainbow Dash breathed deeply, a bit more of her strength had returned, but sitting up this long was leaving her lightheaded. “You bet your tail I’m not going to just buzz off somewhere. What’s next?”

Celestia bore a slight grin. “Our next course of action is clear. I will use last night’s events as an excuse to recall the remaining two Elements from public service. For now, I want you to rest and recover, Captain. This move will undoubtedly cause the conspirators to make a move, and I will be waiting for it. I want you back up to strength for when I have some reliable intelligence for you to act upon.”

“Yes, Princess,” the two thestrals replied in unison.

Sensing Celestia might be ready to leave, Twilight stepped around so the alicorn would see her. “Princess, I can’t seem to find any news reports on my family. Can you tell me anything before you go, please?”

A knowing, sad, face fell upon Celestia as she rose to stand. “Your parents are starting to recover from mourning. Night Light returned to the Royal Observatory just last week, and your mother has become somewhat active again on Hoof Square. As for your brother, publicly, he is still working, but I gave him an extended leave of absence in private so he could grieve away from the paparazzi.”

Twilight sighed. She closed her eyes, trying not to imagine their crying faces of grief and betrayal. “Could. Could you at least let my brother know I’m alive? That the clone wasn’t really me?”

Celestia hummed and rubbed her chin with a hoof. The gears churned with what such a request might cost against how much she could see Twilight was desperate. “It’s a risk to be sure. But perhaps I can do you one better. Write a letter to Shining Armor. I care not how much you divulge to him. After all, a Captain of the Guard has to know how to keep a secret. But I’m afraid your parents will have to remain ignorant.”

A massive grin spread along Twilight’s muzzle. “Thank you, Princess! I’ll write a physical letter, no traceable files, promise!”

Celestia watched her student all but break down the bedroom door trying to race towards Fluttershy’s machine shop. The pegasus guessed what Twilight would be after, eeped at the damage a manic Twilight could do looking for paper and pen, and ran after her. “Wait, you can use the draft paper, just please don’t—” anything else she said was lost when the door shut behind her.

“Captain,” Celestia began with a much more casual tone, allowing the two thestrals to be more at ease. “When you are able, include your side of events from last night in one of the data files I purchase.”

“I can write it for her,” Wintered offered to both mares. “Her typing skills are complete garbage anyway.”

Rainbow shot him a scathing scowl, to which Winter purposely avoided eye contact, but had a smirk a mile long. “I can dictate it, thank you very much.”

“Then I will leave you to your rest.”

As Celestia stepped back, Rainbow Dash took a playful swipe at her husband. He dodged it, showing a massive smirk plastered on his face. “I am so going to suck so much of your blood, you’ll be the one strapped to the autodoc!”

Celestia wrinkled her brow at the odd, yet common, thestral preoccupation with vampirism, but ultimately deemed it as harmless fun. She was about to summon her magic to teleport when Rarity made her way forward and briefly bowed. “Your Highness, may I share a word in private?”

Celestia regarded the alabaster mare with a studious eye. She had to admit, Celestia had passed off the story of Rarity buying Rainbow and Winter this house out of her business startup money as exaggeration at best. However, as Generosity’s chosen, that tale, and the esteem such sacrifice warranted in Celestia’s eyes, made the ancient mare give the unicorn more regard. “Certainly, Miss Rarity.” Celestia gestured, then moved as close to the wall furthest from the bed. Once both she and Rarity were in place, Celestia cast an opaque shield around them. “There we go. Speak your mind, Miss Rarity.”

Rarity had to take a moment to compose herself under such isolating scrutiny of the most powerful being she knew. Even so, she was a lady of class, and refused be cowed into speechlessness. “Um - yes - did that Flintlock fellow mention anything of the AI Denim Pants had? Dreams was its name.”

Celestia tilted her head a bit in thought. “His report did, yes. There was a simplistic AI in the basement that was hostile and subsequently destroyed. This Dreams AI was absent by the time the clean up crew’s deckers arrived. I’m assuming it is loose upon the matrix. I’m having a whole division of military deckers hunting it down.”

Rarity’s face became unreadable to all but Celestia’s vast experience. The unicorn was strangely saddened. “I don’t think your hunters will have much trouble. AIs require a quantum processor, and primarily the one they were created to use. Their runtimes will start to degrade if they migrate.”

Celestia nodded, grateful of the news. “I see. I admit to only having a cursory knowledge of such subjects, so I will yield to your expertise. Is that all?”

“N-no, your highness. Dreams mentioned a think tank, Resolute Chorus, and said Rainbow Dash was, to quote, ‘a planned organism’.” It was Rarity’s turn to now study Celestia’s reaction, yet the wizened mare betrayed nothing, if there was anything to betray at all.

“Planned?” Celestia blinked. “All modern thestrals - well save the two children at least - are reengineered from adult pegasi. Is that what it meant?”

“No, your highness. Dreams was quite adamant that Rainbow was, pardon the uncouth term, a test tube baby.”

Celestia averted her eyes as she tried to think back. She remembered looking over Rainbow’s old file after she formed the Shadowbolts, so it was still somewhat fresh in her mind. “If I recall correctly, Rainbow’s parents were affluent enough to afford the standard battery of genetic disease corrections and splurged a bit on improving her natural flying talents, but that’s hardly anything of substance to worry about. Besides, Resolute Chorus’ purpose was to pre-screen any pegasi joining the military for viability in joining the Nightborne. If compatible, they were approached with an offer.”

Rarity inwardly cursed the fact that the data from her Tessan’s hard drive was proving difficult to pull considering the drive’s connections were fried. As it stood, she only had what the AI had told her directly to go by. “Dreams was quite adamant that there was more to Resolute Chorus than simple monitoring. If it pleases you, I’d like to investigate RC in person.”

“There is more to the Chorus than simple monitoring,” Celestia admitted with a slightly gruff tone. “But there is such a thing as compartmentalizing secrets of national security. I will need more than a potentially hostile, and dead AI’s concerns to authorize this.”

To Rarity’s credit, she was already ahead of Celestia’s objection. “Princess, allow me this tangent, but is Twilight an Element bearer, by chance?”

Celestia’s demeanor would have become icy if that question had been asked by most ponies. Rarity’s status as a bearer herself was the only thing keeping the alicorn from shutting this conversation down that instant. “...She is. How does that relate?”

“Doesn’t it seem odd to you that both Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle were both framed and publically killed or exiled?”

Celestia gasped a small bit. Dots were connecting in her mind that she dared hoped were wrong. “Just what do you think you’re going to find?”

“A think tank whose purpose is to locate ponies mentally compatible with joining the Nightborne could just as easily look for ponies who were compatible with the Elements. And it just so happens that two such candidates were removed from the picture.” Rarity imagined herself in a slick suit and a matching fedora as she pulled the pieces together with an inward grin. “I don’t know why you’re looking for us bearers, but you can’t be the only one. That other party clearly wants us removed from the board.”

“But not killed,” Celestia muttered as her thoughts drifted towards her personal student. “They’re doing this the hard way, but why?” Too many pieces were missing, she fumed at the lack of information. “Very well. Take whoever you need, but make sure you pass any secrets you find by me before you sell any of it. If your suspicions are in any way correct, I - I’d rather not contemplate the implications. Give me some time to gather some information for you to make infiltration easier. I know of at least one scientist there that I can trust to be discrete.”

Early the following morning, after Celestia had already raised the sun, the alicorn stood before a helipad. She stood in quiet repose, a stark contrast to the noisy aircraft that was spooling up its engines for takeoff. Two ponies ran from the backwash and noise, towards Celestia. A tired, hopeful smile graced her face once the two arrivals got within speaking distance, and the helicopter had pulled far enough away for them to speak normally. “Captain Shining Armor, Cadance, I trust your vacation was… recuperative.”

The white stallion looked strong and sure-footed, but there was still a deep pain in his azure eyes that the old alicorn could see plain as day. “Yes, your majesty. I can’t thank you enough for giving me such an extended leave of absence.”

Cadance briefly nuzzled her fiancé. “I hope Sunny hasn’t been overburdened with my duties. I’d like to get back into things once we get resettled.”

“Of course. The palace hasn’t been the same without you.” Celestia turned aside and swept a wing towards her personal balcony. “But before I let you two run off, please, indulge an old mare with some gossip. I fear all I hear about these days is business and politics.”

A smile graced Cadance’s face while a forced one fell on Shining’s own. “We’d be happy to, right Shining?”

“Yeah, I’m sure Steel can handle an hour or two longer without me.”

Celestia led the couple to a balcony that had a panoramic view of not just the city below, but the vast landscapes beyond. At this early time of day, air traffic was largely limited to individual pegasi rather than any mass transit. Birdsong from the royal aviary tickled their ears as they sat down.

An untouched breakfast sat on a table which kept each piece of pancake perfectly warm and the milk cool due to technologically guided magic fields. As such, the servant who had brought it was long gone, along with any other tenders Celestia usually kept around. “Please, join me. I want to know all about your time at the Cloister.”

Shining Armor was the first to notice the lack of servants. His eyes swept over to the skies above and saw no guards or even security drones flying anywhere close. “I could go for a bite to eat.”

“I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed our little word games, Aunty Tia,” Cadance added with a wistful sigh.

Celestia smiled again as she claimed her seat. “Sometimes losing oneself in the past can help us bear the present.”

As the three ponies started slowly eating, a barely perceptible wave of energy bubbled up from the ground around them and washed over the whole dining area until a firm, glassy dome surrounded them. As far as the outside world was concerned, the resulting conversation would be of little interest to anyone except a gossip rag.

Cadance ended up being the only one to start eating right away, and dug into the yogurt. Shining Armor only watched Celestia in silent expectation of bad news, while the alabaster alicorn waited only long enough to be satisfied the privacy screen was set.

When she finally did speak, it was with a hopeful, cautious voice. “Shining Armor, Cadance, I want to preface what I’m about to say by saying I would have told you the news as soon as I found out myself, if it weren’t for… recent issues.” Celestia paused a moment to let her concern sink in. “Twilight Sparkle is not only alive and well, but is not the traitor we were led to believe.”

Shining Armor went numb. His whole leave of absence was to emotionally recover from Twilight’s death. His heart couldn’t risk this being some cruel joke.

Cadance was caught between confusion and jubilation. “Really? Wh - How?”

“Apparently, the Twilight who was… shot by the Guard was a clone of some kind. Since the body was cremated, I can’t go back and verify where it might have come from. But I can tell you the real Twilight is safe.”

Shining Armor released a heavy breath, his meal utterly forgotten as he leaned in towards Celestia. “How did you find out? Where is she?”

“A little under a week ago, a thestral found your sister entombed within a cryo stasis pod inside a blacksite. As to whether this site was owned by a megacorp or the government, I can’t find out myself. I’m afraid I’m too high profile to investigate that particular matter without tipping my hoof.

“As for where she is, Twilight is still under the protection of two thestrals.” Celestia knew what Shining’s next question would be, and mentally built herself up for it.

Shining Armor still couldn’t bring himself to let his emotional walls down. Until Twilight was safe in his protection, he had to remain hardened, focused. “Why do you keep saying thestrals, and not the Nightborne?”

Celestia was silent for a long moment. Confusion of what she had learned warred on both her face and in her mind. “She was found by Rainbow Dash and Winter Glen.”

“I can’t say I’m familiar with the names.” Cadance started before looking at Shining for information. “Should I?”

Shining Armor shook his head. “I always thought the incident surrounding her ‘crime’ was too far out of character for Rainbow Dash. If you’ve left my sister in Rainbow’s care, I assume you finally realized that too, I hope.”

Celestia sighed, her eyes downcast for a time. “The Element of Loyalty has chosen her. If nothing else, I trust both her and her husband. As far as her past is concerned, I don’t know what to make of it.”

Shining Armor closed his eyes to squint away the tears that threatened to break through. “If you waited until now to tell us this, instead of over the comms… and Twily isn’t waiting behind a door or something to join us in person… you think the castle staff can’t be trusted.”

“A miserable state of affairs.” Celestia steeled herself. Outside of Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor and Cadance were the ponies she trusted the most. If I can’t trust them, I truly am lost. “There is much to do before the Summer Sun Celebration, and the three of us have a lot of work ahead of us. But before we start…” Celestia pulled out a rolled up piece of drafting paper out from under the table and levitated it over to Shining Armor with a thin smile. “Your sister wrote a letter for her B.B.B.F.F.”

Author's Note

Just what is a pony, but a miserably pile of friendship? Does Scootaloo want to become a Nightborne too? Would RD's past make her want to stop Scootaloo? Does Celestia notice the listening device under the table? Is there even a device there, or am I being paranoid?

:pinkiesmile: The real question is, how am I going to get more ghost sugar for my cake elementals? That stuff is pretty rare don'tcha know!

9: Think Tank p1

Flintlock walked through the palace with tired eyes and wings threatening to sag with exhaustion. Between his work and the nature of his tribe he was truly nocturnal, and the blasted morning sun glaring at him through the passing windows was not doing him any favors. His eyes were spared a bit by his dark sunglasses. He nodded or gave brief words of welcome to passing guards or palace staff. His sunglass-wearing face was a familiar one to them all, so he walked past many checkpoints without so much as drawing his badge.

As he continued into the upper reaches of the West Quadrant, the crowds of staff dwindled until it was only Nightborne and the palace staff that interacted with them on a daily basis. The Nightborne section of the palace was in an originally disused section of Canterlot Castle. It was a personal choice by Celestia to honor who her sister used to be. Before the thestrals’ return, the decor was reminiscent of styles close to a thousand years old.

Here, everything was steeples, high domed ceilings, and all of it was blanketed in small statuary. It was only once Celestia had given leave to the Nightborne to decorate it how they wished that they put their love of Mother Moon into a grand form. The small statues had been methodically replaced by narrative art.

Furthest from the barracks were lines of gemstone pegasi on marble clouds. Some of them looked to the moon while their kin focused on a seperate point. Flintlock frowned sadly as to the left, a few of those pegasi were flying over to a group that he knew to be recruiters, but the sculptor was not exactly an expert in depicting that very well.

He tore his eyes from the rest of it upon seeing Sunset Shimmer’s secondary office. The door to it was open, and he could see she was agitated by her stance. Thankfully, she was looking at her tablet, rather than in his direction, so he was able to slip inside without facing her fury for a few moments longer.

He closed the door behind him, and flicked on the privacy field. The field washed over him like static electricity, and the act brought Sunset’s attention up to him. “Finally. Sit, we need to talk.”

Being Sunset’s ‘office away from the office’, she didn’t have a desk, just a wall mounted screen and two rigid chairs. The walls were a muted white with dim blue lights running along the corners of the room, giving just enough light to be more comfortable to thestrals.

Flintlock sat down after Sunset did the same. “I’m sorry about giving that statue to the princess. I should have waited until after the celebration to give it to her,” he blurted, while still keeping a modicum of composure.

“What?” Sunset asked, her brow wrinkling in confusion. “No, no, you did fine giving that back to her.” Sunset grumbled irritably. “Honestly, it should have put her head back on straight. No, the problem is that she’s reviving Plan A behind my back.”

Flintlock grew cold. Any fear of Sunset’s ire directed at him evaporated, and an angry growl escaped his lips. His mind’s eye went back to the previous mission. How Pinkie Pie was convinced Rainbow Dash was part of the lab heist, and how Loyalty reacted to the disgraced thestral. The mastermind could only be one pony. “Celestia found Rainbow Dash didn‘t she? I should have let her bleed out,” he fumed heatedly.

“No!” Sunset countered vehemently, dampening some of Flintlock’s anger. She bore her gaze into him with such willpower that he was cowed a bit. “I don’t care how critical she may be to Celestia’s plan. Ponies like her will be needed when you and I are gone. Am I understood?”

“I threw away my integrity and self-respect getting us this far!” Flintlock shot back with pained emotion. “What’s a little more damnation for saving the planet from Nightmare Moon?!”

“Because we can do better,” Sunset shot back with iron cold malice that chilled the air. She learned it well from Celestia. Her frosty demeanor harshly blunted Flintlock’s own rage, forcing him to clam up. “Now, let’s pool what we know, and go from there.”

Sunset Shimmer went on to replay the conversation Celestia had with Shining Armor and Cadance. Ultimately, Flintlock had little to share, outside of mentioning Rainbow Dash had been recognized by the Element of Loyalty.

“All this is going to do is give Celestia false hope,” Sunset muttered with a shake of her head. “How many times does she need to be told how foolish it is to use such a convoluted set of artifacts?”

“At least once more,” Flintlock barked bitterly. “With Shining Armor back, he’s going to fixate on us. He never liked the regency, you least of all.”

“He can point at us all he likes.” Sunset’s demeanor thawed a little, now that Flintlock was thinking more rationally. “Celestia pulling rank and taking me down defeats the whole purpose of the regency’s existence. No, we shouldn’t overtly react to the Rainbow Dash complication. We stay the course, and make sure Celestia sticks to Plan B.”

Flintlock nervously rapped his hoof on the side of his chair. “That’s assuming Celestia doesn’t pull the plug at the last minute.”

“Then we have to make sure she doesn’t.” Sunset got up and started tapping away at the wall mounted screen. “If we can’t make a move anymore, then we can always pull a page out of her book.”

“Which page?” Flintlock asked with an arched eyebrow.

“It’s as simple as it is distasteful.” Sunset took in a long breath to center herself. “We hire some shadowrunners of our own.”

Later that evening, Rainbow Dash was in Fluttershy’s workshop. The mechanic didn’t have any vehicle jobs at present, so there was plenty of room for Rainbow to stretch and practice various kicks and punches against an improvised punching bag made of little more than a sand-filled burlap sack. She punched the bag, crying out in martial force. She could feel her muscles tiring, but still ready for more. She was drenched in sweat from an hour’s practice, but the pounding of her heart was steady, fast, and strong. She kicked off the bag while using her wings to flip around, and bucked the bag as hard as she could without magic. She ripped at the burlap, but her hoof slid along at a glancing hit. She used the mistake by leaning into her momentum to land on the other side of the bag while grabbing onto it with her forelegs and attempted to body check it. An act that might have worked on an actual pony instead of a chained up bag of sand.

Rainbow realized this of course, and twisted herself so she landed on all fours. From there she paused to catch her ragged breath. Her chest heaved up and down, but the rush of it all brought a smile to her face.

“Wow mommy, that was so bangin’!” Amber cheered as she bounced around on the last step into the garage.

Sparks was buzzing in the air throwing clumsy punches of his own over his sister’s head. “You got that mean dirtbag big time!”

As always, Rainbow Dash was more than happy to drink in the praise of her audience. “Oh yeah, momma’s back up to specs!”

“Glad to hear it,” came Winter Glen’s hearty laugh as he descended the tight, narrow staircase deftly carrying a bowl of thin soup. “That fake blood doing you okay?”

“That fake blood was nasty!” Sparks complained with a harsh whine. “It tasted like gross.”

By the Moon, he actually tried drinking it! Rainbow Dash did her damnedest to hide her laughter from behind a hoof as Amber Lotus berated Sparks for actually disliking blood. Any other mother might have been concerned, but if the artificial blood was good enough to flow through her veins, her son would be fine licking a few drops.

“Well duh, fake blood tastes bad,” Amber teased as if it was basic knowledge. “You gotta get it from a pony like this!” Amber wheeled around and bit her father’s leg with her little fangs digging into his skin.

The stallion yelped in pain and dropped the soup right on top of Amber’s rump, causing the filly to bounce back in surprise. The bowl clattered away while Amber bounced around trying to cool off from the hot soup sticking to her tail and backside. Amber immediately started running around in circles trying to escape the hot soup. “Ahh! Mommy help it huuurts!”

With her motherly instincts nearly causing her to panic, Rainbow looked around for something, only to find her sweat-stained towel. She grabbed it with her teeth and threw it at Winter. “Here!”

Sparks started pointing and laughing at his sister while Winter caught the towel and deftly roped Amber into it to stop her. He started vigorously scrubbing her down as best he could. “Serves you right, you little bloodsucker; you made me drop your mom’s dinner.” He kept grumbling while occasionally shaking his bitten leg trying to will the pain away.

“Sorry, daddy,” Amber cried through the sniffles.

Rainbow was quick to arrive at Amber’s side, cooing and patting her head. “Hey, hey, who’s my tough girl?”

Amber looked up at her with teary eyes and sniffled loudly. “Me.”

“That’s right. You’re tougher than some ol’ dumb soup.”

“Hey,” Winter interrupted with a faux-wounded tone, complete with a hoof over his chest. “I poured my heart and soul into that soup.”

“Well, can you put the rest of your heart and soul into giving her a bath?” Rainbow Dash requested with the best lovey dovey eyes she could muster. It was a look she could only give to him, and even then only in private. The others must never know she’d do it willingly. Not ever.

This was a fact Winter knew all too well. It was for that very reason it worked on him every time. “You’re lucky you’re hot stuff,” he deadpanned. He hefted Amber onto his back so both he and Rainbow could give her a kiss on the forehead. “Come on, girly whirly, let’s get some cold water on you.”

Amber scrunched her face, but refused to outright cry in front of her brother. “Yes, daddy.”

“Thanks, Winty, Let me clean things up down here and I’ll come on up to join you.”

“Alright,” Winter stopped himself before continuing up the stairs. “Oh by the by, Rarity called, and said she’ll be here in like, a minute.”

Sparks watched them go for a moment before bounding over to Rainbow Dash as the mare tilted her head at the news.

“That quick? Why bother with a heads up at all then?”

“Dunno, said it was about that think tank.”

“Momma,” Sparks interrupted, giving Winter an excuse to hurry along to help Amber. “Can I learn to fight like you do yet? Pleeeeeease!” The little colt leveraged his best puppy dog eyes and most pitiful begging posture.

“I’d like to bucko, but—” the rattle and grind of the garage door opening cut her off. Both thestrals watched the shutters slide up to reveal Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity were approaching from the street.

Upon making eye contact with Rainbow Dash, Rarity galloped the final stretch. “Flash, good to see you up and about. I—” Rarity daintily sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose at the pungent body odor. “Oh my, well it smells like you’re back to full spirits.”

“Glad to see you too,” Rainbow Dash grumbled with an eye roll. Rarity virtually always smelled faintly of flowers, but not today. This time, she didn’t have any perfume on, and that only ever meant one thing. She gently nudged Sparks towards the stairs. “Why don’t you go up and join your sister in the tub.”

“I don’t wanna,” Sparks whined, much to Rarity and Fluttershy’s gentle amusement. “She peed in the water last time!”

Embarrassment circled the mares. Fluttershy quietly giggled behind her mane, Rarity had to turn away to let loose a wide grin, Applejack tilted her hat to cover her face, and Rainbow blushed through her fur. “That was an accident and she said she was sorry.”

“Nu uh, she did it because she was being a featherhead!”

Now Rainbow gave her ‘irate mother’ scowl. “Are you going to make me get the ‘thing’ out?”

Spark’s ears went flat in a real hurry and he cringed back. “No.”

“Then get your tail up those steps, mister!”

“Yes, momma!” Sparks sprinted up the steps, stumbled once, but vanished soon enough.

Rarity at last allowed herself to cuckle aloud while Fluttershy placed a friendly hoof on Rainbow’s withers, making her old friend sag a bit from ‘mom’ mode. “You really shouldn’t use that old robot of mine to scare him.”

“Oh he’ll be fine.” Rainbow looked to Rarity and the others now that she didn’t have little ears listening in on business. “So, you three were on a job today?”

“Kinda,” Applejack offered as she got over her supressed laughter. Fluttershy left Rainbow’s side to set about closing the garage while Applejack carried on. “We spent all day doin’ legwork around that Resolute Chorus tower. That scientist was a prick, until Rares told’m we were part of a penetration test team.”

Rainbow Dash completely forgot the insult about her smell and leveled an annoyed glare at the sole unicorn. By then, the garage was closed again, leaving them in privacy. “Rares, did you really drag them along on that nothing burger? That AI was either insane, or got its math wrong or something.”

“Oh, there’s more to it than that,” Rarity countered as she waved a hoof back and forth. “While passing AJ and I off as pen testers, it allowed us to get Moon Dancer’s credentials to get into the building, but she was tight lipped on giving any other info.”

The name didn’t ring a bell for Rainbow, but then she never cared enough about eggheads to remember their names anyway. “Well, did the Princess at least give us a reason to go there, or is this all you?”

Rarity flitted away towards the stairs, only barely noticing the spilled soup in time to keep from stepping in it. Her eyes traced the winding trail of little hoofprints of soup as she continued on. “I may have brought the matter to Celestia’s attention, but she at least knows this could be quite relevant to matters at hoof.”

“Gotta say I agree after hearin’ the sales pitch,” Applejack butted in while inspecting a scuff in her chromed left foreleg, trying to determine if it warranted cleaning. “Rares might be on ta something.”

Rainbow did a sighing growl and turned towards her childhood friend. “Flutters, tell me you at least have some common sense about this.”

Fluttershy ducked behind her mane and started fiddling with her forelegs. “We - well, I like to think I do. I was looking for ways to get out of the building if things went sideways. So I can’t really say I saw anything that stood out.”

“They’d be doing a terrible security job if you had,” Rarity added hastily, causing the demure pegasus to focus more on getting the sand bag out of her way and escaping the conversation.

Rainbow groaned with intense disinterest. “Does Queen even think this is worth our time?”

“As a matter of fact she does,” Rarity stated with a definitive smile and nod. “How do you think we got a scientist to think we’re legit pen testers?”

“Fine, whatever,” Rainbow relented with an exasperated huff. She turned away and started making for the stairs. “You girls have fun, I’m going to eat and take a nap.”

“Nuh uh, you gotta come with us, chummer,” Applejack called as she reached out and grabbed Rainbow’s tail.

“Oh, of course I do,” Rainbow growled.

“If Rare’s right, you need ta see this fer yourself.”

“What?!” Rainbow snarled with sudden aggression. “That I’m actually a full on test tube baby? My parents made me!” Rainbow stomped on the ground hard enough to rattle some nearby bolts. “Either by their genes or by paying a doctor for genetics, but they were the ones, not some damned brain tank!” She gave a challenging equine snort at both Rarity and Applejack to say otherwise. However, only Rarity backed up a bit at in shock at her vehemence.

Applejack matched Rainbow’s defensiveness with stubbornness of her own. “I thought you didn’t care what some insane AI thought of ya.”

Rainbow squirmed under Applejack’s smug face, made even worse when the earth mare lifted that oh-so-sarcastic eyebrow. “I don’t. But Rarity does, and,” she redirected at the unicorn, “the whole reason you want to go there is to get some dirt on the crown.”

“That’s not—” Rarity started only to be interrupted by Rainbow getting in her face.

“Don’t pull that lie you told Celestia on us. That whole conspiracy connection was just an excuse to rob a lab and you know it!”

Rarity acted offended, and was about to leave in a huff when Applejack roped both of them in close with both forelegs. “Now, you two listen here. We can squabble all day about why we’re goin’, but the fact is, Ah think Rare’s got somethin’ about this whole connection thing. Even if she didn’t, Celestia’s now expectin’ us ta go anyway. We have ta go no matter what now.”

“Ugh, fine.” Rainbow struggled and shook her way out of Applejack’s grip. “This was your idea, Rares, so you plan and lead it, I’ll be with the kids until we’re ready to go.”

“As it just so happens,” Rarity announced with renewed enthusiasm, “that’s what I’ve been doing all day, well, minus the legwork that is. There’s word on the Matrix of a decker who has exactly what we need to make the job as smooth as silk.”

Pinkie Pie puffed on an empty smoking pipe as she paced back and forth in her condo. A water elemental in the shape of a small alligator sat lazily on the glass desk next to her, its eyes vacant. Water slowly oozed away from it and threatened to spill onto the floor.

Her condo was well-lit by multiple scented candles, all of which were of baked goods.

“I don’t like it, Gummy, I don’t like it one eensy beensy bit!” Pinkie jabbed a hoof at the pony sized screen sitting on the desk. The center of the evidence board had a picture of Rainbow Dash’s face. Holographic strings connected her to various other pictures or documents ranging from the best pictures she had of Rainbow’s crew, most of which were blurry at best. In bold words, her patron spirit’s name, ‘Gelos’ sat above it all. A fat pink string connected Gelos to Rainbow Dash, a color that meant ‘friend’ to the detective.

“Why, Gummy, why does Gelly keep telling me she’s a friend?! Rainbow is a criminal, and a traitor. Not friend material, no way, no how.” Pinkie looked up at Gelos’ name. “So why? Why? Whyyyy?!”

Pinkie Pie let her head flop on top of Gummy as she slid down. The water gator was bisected by the intruding pony snout, but he simply took the shape of two water droplets that rolled away from her so it could reform back into an alligator.

“I’ve never misread Gelos’ signs before. And he pulls some good pranks, but they’ve never lasted this long. Where’s the punchline, Gummy?”

She looked back up at Rainbow’s picture, but Gelos gave no sign. Pinkie used the tip of her mane to lasso a cupcake over and started munching on it. Flinty wants me to think she’s a baddie. So do what records we have left on her before the SIN burn. …Unless I’m being given only part of the info.

Pinkie sat bolt upright. “Secrets and lies. The Sections, the Nightborne. All of it bakes secrets and lies like Mrs. Cake bakes triple mint strudles.”

Pinkie looked back up at the board where Flintlock had string connecting him with Rainbow Dash and the half moon symbol of the Nightborne. “Then there’s Flintlock. If RD was really bleeding out like he said, then how did she escape?” She closed her eyes to remember the night of Denim’s capture.

From her perch on top of the earth elemental, she clearly recalled the trail of blood Rainbow was leaving behind, and how Flintlock ran without any noticeable limp. “He wasn’t slowed down, and he didn’t say she had help, so how could she get away?”

Pinkie’s eyes drifted to center on the moon. “Super duper black ops? Maaaybe. Gotta put on a good show. Maybe he chased her to bandage her after they were out of sight.

“But from what Sky Stinger was gloating about, we stopped her plans. Was she in the basement to snatch the Element? Maybe the data that AI had?” She looked to Gummy for answers, yet all he did was give a slow, uneven blink. “You’re right, Gummy, if she were super undercover and was already in place to take both the Element and the data, there’d be no reason to order the sting op.”

Pinkie turned around and clapped her hooves. “So it all comes back to when Flintlock ordered the go ahead: when he saw her in the whirlybird.”

Pinkie’s adrenaline was pumping now as she could feel she was getting closer to the truth. “If she were a good spy, then Flinty should know that, what with being the regent’s right hoof stallion. I didn’t know who she was, so he would have acted like he didn’t know her either to cover for her. But if she is a bad guy, then how could she possibly escape him when there was an obvious blood trail to follow? She had to be slowing down and easy to arrest.”

“Pride maybe? Maybe he slipped up?” Pinky spun around to looked back at her board. “No way. If he was going to lie to protect his pride, he would have said somepony helped her, something that wasn’t his fault, but he didn’t.”

Pinkie flicked an ear towards the water gator and gasped a few moments later. “Maybe he killed her instead?!” Pinkie cried out before licking the frosting off another cupcake. “Could be. If she really was a traitor to the Nightborne, that’d be the perfect motive. Even if you’re right, Gummy, his position would protect him too. Plus he might be under secret orders to kill traitors on sight anyway.”

“But then whhhy say she got awaaay?!” Pinkie groaned in exasperation. “I don’t have the pieces of the puzzle, Gummy, and it’s a doozie. I’m getting to the bottom of this one alright, but I need to know where to find them. Back to the scene of the crime, Gummy, come on we got gum shoe to chew!”

Late the next evening, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle sat in a truck while waiting in a carpark. The engine was off, but they kept the air on. The parking garage was just starting to slow down in activity. Ponies had been filtering out of the stairs and elevators for close to half an hour by now, as the building’s upper workspaces closed down for the night. With Rarity and the decker she hired acting to give them a clear way inside, it left Rainbow and Twilight to themselves.

Rainbow kept a half-lazy eye out, feeling somewhat safe behind the tinted glass of the truck. She was idly combing her mane so it would be comfortable tucked under her robes.

Twilight busied herself with memorizing the building layout Celestia had forwarded to them, along with Rarity’s plan.

However, something kept nagging at Twilight, preventing her from correctly going over the plan for the twentieth time in her head. She looked at Rainbow out of the corner of her eye, watching for signs of lingering anger or irritation, but the thestral seemed more or less focused and mindful of her surroundings. “Flash,” Twilight started, making sure to only use her street name from here on out. “Is it a bad thing to be artificially made?”

Rainbow snapped her head around, more out of being jarred from her train of thought than anything else. “What?”

Twilight busied her hooves by combing her green-dyed hair, making sure it looked professional. Rainbow had been cheap enough to only buy the slime green dye on clearance, so Twilight ended up a hideous green with both her fur and mane. Washable with soap thankfully.

“I overheard what all of you were saying from the stairs. I grew up in the palace, so I don’t know what… others think about it.”

Instead of answering, Rainbow bared her teeth a bit, but looked back at the elevator Rarity was supposed to signal them from soon. “I ain’t in the mood for this.”

Twilight’s gut reaction was to drop it there and then. But she had to know. “You probably already know this from your time in the Nightborne, but Celestia and my - my mother, they always taught me a parent’s duty is to make their children better than they were. What that entails isn’t always perfect,” Twilight added with an attempt at levity. Rainbow didn’t react, which also meant she didn’t react negatively. Progress. “Sooo, at least as far as the ahh—” she knew this next word might be taken badly, but it was all Twilight was familiar with. “As far as the wealthy are concerned, gene therapy is seen as a matter of course.”

Rainbow growled and at last shoved her face into Twilight’s own. “Shut your trap! I don’t want to think about feelings and drek while I’m on a mission. That’s how runners get geeked, got it?!”

Twilight recoiled and pressed herself against the glass. “Okay, sorry, I just thought—”

“Keep thoughts like that for when we’re not one word from getting shot,” Rainbow instructed curtly with a poignant tap on Twilight’s chest. In spite of Twilight’s age, Rainbow couldn’t help but see her almost like a child. A fine scientist perhaps, probably a giant in the life she used to lead, but a practical toddler as far as the street was concerned. Rainbow’s face softened and she pulled away from Twilight to give her space. “Even if we had the time, there’s no point in it until we get some answers. Focus on keeping yourself alive and us out of trouble for now, sound smart?”

That could have gone better. Twilight sat back normally and brought Winter’s shotgun up and held it tight in her magic. It had been modified by removing the stock and replacing it with a large, clear, kinetic crystal. “Yeah… it does. Sorry.”

Rainbow slouched back behind the driver’s wheel, and said nothing further.

Eager to clear the air a bit, Twilight opted for a different, more relevant topic. “Can I ask why Rarity’s leading the team this time? I thought you were named the captain.” Twilight got a bit nervous when Rainbow slowly slid a tired look at her. “My brother always said a commander has to be the one in charge or group cohesion breaks down.”

“If we were military. But we’re not.” Rainbow kept her eyes on the parking deck, but started shuffling her robes around so she could stretch her wings a bit to keep from getting stiff. She glanced at Twilight only to see the unicorn’s brow was furrowed. That face probably meant she was formulating a new question, if Rainbow’s motherly experience was worth anything. “Let me put it in egghead terms. I’m basically a freshmare ordering a bunch of seniors around because the principal promised extra credit.”

Twilight relaxed her shoulders as the analogy registered. “Oh, that makes sense.”

“Besides,” Rainbow added with a scowl. “This whole job was Diamond’s idea, so she can take lead this time.”

Silence fell over the truck for a few more minutes with Rainbow not wanting to make any conversation and Twilight not wanting to press any unseen buttons.

Eventually though, it was Rainbow leaning forward which pulled Twilight’s attention back outside. The thin crowd of departing ponies was gone, save for a few who were lingering in their parked cars, idling on their phones or already diving the Matrix on cyberdecks of their own.

The earpiece Twilight was wearing let off a ping sound heralding Rarity’s voice. “Coast is clear, loves. Nopony should think twice about us on this floor now.”

Rainbow flicked her ear to give a reply. “Got it, Twiggles and I are on the move to point A.”

Twilight used her magic to slip the shotgun under her jacket and into the harness wrapped tightly to her barrel.

Rainbow pulled her hood up over her face and stepped out with Twilight following her lead.

The pair made off at a casual pace, but Rainbow noticed how Twilight kept giving the occupied cars worried glances. “First rule of infiltration, rookie, always act like you belong here. Acting suspicious makes others suspicious. So…” Rainbow turned to look at Twilight, trying to gauge what she knew about her. “Act like you’re writing a school report on books or something.”

Twilight nodded once, and let her mind wander to old familiar places. “You know I actually wrote a paper on the psychological impact of reading paperback text over strictly digital media.” Twilight was so beside herself with glee at having an excuse to prattle, she entirely missed Rainbow had turned back and was largely ignoring her. “Apparently those with cybernetically enhanced brains or neurological gene augmentations of D, H, and L classes all possess natural enhanced information retention when using digital media over traditional paper. Not to mention how long D types have propagated in the collective gene pool over the past four generations. I fall into the newest M type, by the way,” Twilight lectured on with no small amount of pride. “And let me tell you, I can read an e-book twenty times faster than the national average, all with no cyberization on my part. No small feat, mind you. In fact I believe you’d be among the L types. I’d love to compare—”

“We’re here,” Rainbow announced dryly.

“Huh?” Twilight blinked, and didn’t even realize she had blindly followed Rainbow into an elevator lobby. Aside from Rarity, and the new pegasus decker, no one else was around the drab concrete room.

Everyone was kitted out for a real fight. All of them wore large coats to hide various weapons, but the two cyberdecks were simply too large and were slung openly on their owners’ backs. Of them all though, Rainbow stood out the most with her hood concealing all but the tip of her nose as faint magic helped hide the rest.

The pegasus decker scoffed derisively at their arrival and cast a dismissive look at them both. “Oh, this inspires confidence. A wagemage flunky who thinks the mysterious caster look is actually intimidating, and a loose-lipped rookie whose so green she even looks the part. Where did you find these two meatheads, Diamond, the back alley behind the orphanage?”

On one hoof, Rainbow was glad she wasn’t recognized, and on the other, she had to play her part. Posturing was not to be ignored. She looked the gold-and-orange-stripe haired, neon-green coated pegasus with a critical eye. The mare also had a sharp, if butch looking physique and had clothing to impress an air of sophistication of all things. Rainbow kept her tone aloof. “I could care less what some wannabe corp-jockey thinks of me. I’ll do my job, so make sure you do yours.”

Twilight was hardly insulted by the pegasus’ verbal sparring; if anything she was curious about the new decker’s methods of infiltration, but even she could tell when she had to at least look mean. “We all gotta start the game sometime right? I’ll be just fine.”

Rarity loudly cleared her throat and slightly stepped between everyone. “Flash, Twiggles, this is Lightning Dust.” Rarity made doubly sure to make the name sound impressive, playing to her ego. “She’ll be my backup during dives.”

Twilight was an admittedly subpar social butterfly, but even she could see the smug superiority on the lime-green pegasus’s face. It was the same look the corporate heirs had for her in class. At least if she’s a shadowrunner, she has to have some actual skill compared to those miserable curs. “Why does that sound like your real name?”

“Because it is,” Rainbow answered with genuine confusion she was too slow to hide. A small, old part of Rainbow was jealous. Even with five years of being a fugitive, that suppressed part of her still wished she could get her name out on everyone’s lips. But not as a shadowrunner. Casting your street name far and wide was such an alien concept to her, Rainbow had given up on it long ago. Nope, un uh don’t care. Let her be stupid. Feeling self-vindicated, Rainbow directed her attention towards Rarity. “We have a timetable to keep don’t we?”

“Quite right.” Rarity took Moon Dancer’s ID card and slotted it in the reader beside the call button. It chirped happily and opened for them. “This will get us to the gene labs. Our first stop will be security, and then up two flights for the primary server farm. Flash, you’re the muscle, our client has given us weapons free.”

Flash nodded solemnly, but said nothing.

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat. At least it’s Knights Errant instead of the Royal Guard. So… Twilight knew of the private security company of course, but had never seen the business end of their state of the art weapons.

“Shouldn’t that be a given against the Knights?” Lightning asked incredulously. “Now I wish I hadn’t demanded you leave that Farmer out of this.”

Rarity stepped inside the elevator, prompting the other to follow. There was a prominent camera in one corner of the elevator, making Twilight nervous, but neither decker paid it any mind. I guess they already took care of it.

Once everyone was aboard, the elevator raced up the large skyscraper. It was fast, but not enough to keep Twilight from asking, “Lightning, isn’t it dangerous to use your real name in our - um - line of work?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes from under her hood, but she forced herself to keep her mouth shut.

Lighting Dust bore a deeply smug grin at Twilight. “Sure it is. But let me ask you this: how much are you getting paid for this run? A thousand, maybe three tops. We are up against KE after all.”

Twilight wasn’t sure what number was reasonable. The classic egotist. Maybe I should go low. “Just over a thousand.”

“Well, I’m getting fifty large because my name carries weight. Everypony knows I’m the go-to for freelance decking, plus it helps I have the means to delete myself from any police databases.”

“Can’t erase a pony’s memories,” Rainbow warned.

Lightning shrugged. “So? You can’t use organic memories to search a database.”

Rainbow eyed the rapidly changing floor number above the door and decided to cut in with something actually useful. “Twiggles, listen up. Don’t bother trying to grab Knights or their weapons with magic. You’ll only end up with a burnt horn, got it?”

Twilight didn’t even get a chance to reply when the elevator dinged. The doors opened up to a short lobby. A set of metal double doors sat in the back, a pair of potted cacti, and some unused cushioned benches stood near the elevator. Lastly, a security station was built into the wall on the right side of the far doors.

The station was just large enough for one pony, and was made of the same polished, blue composite ceramics as the rest of the upper floors. A thick plane of glass protected the Knight sitting at the station, with only a thin slit allowing physical paper or ID cards to be passed through.

Twilight followed after the others, doing her best to appear calm and somewhat bored to be there.

“Yoo-hoo!” Rarity called to the knight cheerfully. She made sure to wave Moon Dancer’s ID card so the scientist’s picture wasn’t shown. “So sorry, but I left my keys in the lab. You mind buzzing me in?”

Twilight followed after Rarity, not noticing Rainbow and Lightning were hanging back to avoid crowding the guard.

The Knight wore a cloth uniform, but upon seeing the crowd of mares, and eyeing the two cyberdecks, he tapped a kite shield shaped badge on his chest, causing an armored jacket to form around him along with a visored helmet. He watched both unicorns and spoke with a mix of professional courtesy and chastisement. “Lab policy is clear, absolutely no cyberdecks are permitted beyond this point.”

Rarity feigned embarrassment with enough authenticity to make even Twilight wonder if it was real. “Oh dear, I’m so sorry, I forget I wear the thing once I get off work sometimes.” She looked to Twilight who was conveniently right next to her. “Here, Sweetie, can you hold it for me while I get my keys?”

“Oh, uh, sure thing.”

As Rarity was giving the cyberdeck to Twilight, she also levitated the keycard face down to the guard. The earth stallion took it without looking at the picture on the other side. His side of the desk was a large touchpad with a scanner to the left.

Both mares grew more nervous the longer he kept stalling the scan. “Tell me, how did you get your deck if you don’t have your keys?”

Twilight saw his other hoof was slowly sliding towards the right side of the touchpad. At this angle, she couldn’t read the buttons, but the small isolated red button was obvious enough to her.

For her part, Rarity used the levitation of her cyberdeck to disguise her also taking a silenced SMG out of her jacket. “My friend here was holding it for me. We’re going off for drinks later.”

“Bringing a cyberdeck to go out drinking? That makes sense.” The stallion tried to press the panic button on his console, only to find cork meet his hoof instead. Sweat appeared on his brow as his eyes moved over to see a purple glowing drink coaster was covering the button.

A heavy tapping brought his attention back to the mares, only to find the barrel of a gun poking through.

“You seem like a handsome fellow,” Rarity commented sweetly. “If you want to stay that way, you’re going to send your armor back, and let us put you to sleep so you’re out of our way.”

He glanced between the coaster and the gun once more. “My armor would hold for more than enough time to force that coaster outta the way.”

“Here’s a question,” Twilight said as forcefully as she could muster. An act she bolstered by hoping she could avoid having to kill him. “Are you paid enough to die like this? We’re here for data, not your buddies’ lives.”

Rarity frowned briefly at Twilight, but didn’t contradict her aloud.

The Knight grit his teeth and moved his hoof away from the panic button. “Like this? No. But you better turn your tails around right now if you want to survive the week. You runners should know this place holds top government secrets or you wouldn’t be here. You go through those doors, and the Knights will be the least of your worries.”

“We’ll consider the warning, darling. Now would you kindly back away so you don’t fall on the console.” Rarity waved her gun, making the stallion stand at the back of the station and pressed his lapel so the armor vanished. Rarity then pulled a pistol from her jacket and shot a dart into the stallion’s neck. When he collapsed a few seconds later, she put her weapons away and levitated the keycard through the reader.

With a friendly chirp, the doors swung open. Lightning Dust was the first to reach the security station and groaned at the sleeping stallion. “Diamond, why do you bother with the dart gun? The Knights are a bunch of first rate rod sleeves, they wouldn’t show you mercy.”

Rarity huffed as she watched Rainbow take point in scouting ahead. “It’s not just about mercy, LIghtning. You’ve never seen a friend of a dead pony go on a marehunt. I have,” she added with a hard look. The answer made Lightning Dust nonchalantly shrug and run off to join Rainbow Dash.

Through it all, Twilight smiled a bit. Glad I was able to give Rarity a chance to spare him. Her relief was short-lived. She steeled herself and followed after everyone else.

The floorplan of the labs was simplistic, making it difficult to get lost, thanks to the convenient labels on the walls. Rainbow Dash was on point, sprinting between benches and potted plants with eyes open for patrols, cameras, or trip lasers. The others followed one step behind her while Rarity kept an eye towards the back.

Rainbow came to a halt upon seeing a fixed camera aimed down the path they needed to go, and waved the others to join her. “Diamond, how long are the cameras going to be out?”

Rarity checked the timer she had running in her cybernetics. “I’d say ten more minutes, barring any radio checks. Keeping the guard alive will mean the biometrics won’t raise any red flags, so they shouldn’t think to check for a feed loop just yet.”

They crept along a for several meters until Rainbow Dash came to a dead stop next to a short potted tree. She carefully pulled the branches aside to reveal a hidden camera. “Did you guys neutralize the hidden cameras too?”

“Got them, no sweat.” Lightning ribbed Rarity hard enough to cause her to meep out of pain and surprise. “Ha! I told you hiring me was smart. Who else would have a sleeper trojan waiting for a night like this?”

Rarity tried not to rub the sore spot and simply nodded. “Yes, yes, it’s gotten us this far. But it won’t last much longer now that the feeds are looping.”

Rarity was cut short by Rainbow forcing a hoof in her mouth while making a shushing sound. Everyone went tense as Twilight carefully looked around the corner Rainbow was crouching at. Down the long well-lit hallway, a large Celestia sized robot was patrolling towards them. It looked sleek, and friendly enough, yet its permanent a-little-too-wide smile seemed forced, almost unnerving. Its unblinking eyes that were locked forward only worsened the look.

Twilight knew the model well. All the evidence she needed beyond its shape was that cheshire grin; and that its hooves glowed a calm blue, indicative of a nearly perfect sound dampening spell. It was the same model employed occasionally in the royal palace, and it was headed straight for them. Panic threatened to explode within her, but Rainbow’s presence kept her from flying off the handle. No no no, this is bad, this is very very bad!

Rainbow slipped backwards and pulled Twilight along with her. The mage looked at the two deckers and shook her head before pointing to a door into a laboratory close by. As soon as Rarity swiped Moon Dancer’s card across the reader, the mares raced inside the lab as quietly as possible.

The lab itself had large windows, giving them a clear line of sight on the droid, and vice versa, so they ducked behind a counter covered in equipment that ran along the center of the room. The lab was dimly lit, barely giving the non-thestral members enough light to avoid banging into anything.

Twilight scrambled behind a large machine, her eyes wide and her breathing shaken with terror. In her mind’s eye, she was a filly again, who wandered off and saw one such droid cutting down a row of mannequins. But those target dummies had looked like real ponies in her eyes back then, complete with clothing and viscera. No amount of explanation from Celestia, her brother, nor even her own logic could erase that moment of abject fear. She risked looking up from in between two pieces of equipment. The robot had stopped in the middle of the hallway, still facing forward. The eyes were deceptive. It can see you even if it’s not looking! Fearing she was about to scream, Twilight slipped back down and squeezed her eyes and mouth shut.

Rainbow Dash appeared at her side before Twilight’s emotions could spiral out of control.

“Hey, hey,” Rainbow whispered as she pulled her hood back enough so Twilight could see her face, “keep your cool, Twiggles, it didn’t see us.” Twilight shook with fear, but she managed to keep her eyes on Rainbow and her brave expression. “We’ll be okay if we keep out of sight.”

“That thing is tartarus made manifest,” Twilight whispered. She bit her hoof, which was slowly allowing her to calm down. “We can’t fight that thing.”

Rainbow nodded with a tense frown. “I know. I trained alongside them a few times, ran a mission with one too. Let’s hope the cyberheads can shut it down when they jack in, eh?”

Mentioning the deckers brought Twilight’s focus back enough for her to think to look for them. Rarity and Lightning were already at the far door with Rarity already hacking the device. “Right, sorry.”

Rainbow helped Twilight back to her hooves. “Don’t be,” she added with the same reassuring grin she used on her children. “Fear is important, ya know. It keeps you from doing something stupid. Moon knows I still forget that sometimes.”

Twilight smiled weakly and started quietly walking towards the others, while being mindful to keep her head down. “More advice from Winter?”

Rainbow growled a bit at his real name being use. “Remind me to tell you his street name later, but yes.”

Rainbow’s mild irritation helped distract Twilight even further from her fear, and by the time she made it to the deckers, she had more or less gotten her breathing under control. For now.

End part 1

Author's Note

Embarrassing as it is, I promised my editors I would post this little transcript from Discord.

LAP

I declare the shadowrun chapter officially open to your editorial menstruations

Dominus Alicorn

I've never heard that word used in that way
I'll look at it in a few hours.

LAP

As you well know, it is my duty as a writer to make up new uses

A Bitter Pill

So you're saying you want us to bleed all over it with our vaginias?

Boldish42

That is what he said...

LAP

Wait, what?
No, like how a masseuse works on a client. Menstration

Boldish42

ministrations

A Bitter Pill

You used the wrong word.

LAP

Ooooo
Oops

A Bitter Pill

XD

Boldish42

something of a difference

A Bitter Pill

And this is why you have editors.
I'm gonna be chuckling about this for a while.

LAP

So I misplaced a letter or two. It’s all good

Boldish42

like the difference between mastication and masturbation
ica vs urb
three little letters and bam!

A Bitter Pill

Don't forget you can't have slaughter without laughter. Isn't english fun?

10: Think Tank p2

A pegasus mare cantered towards a mostly featureless brick wall with a purpose. Only a single door and a mean looking earth stallion in a bouncer’s tux decorated the place. A line of ponies, a few zebras, and even a griffin or two stretched from door to street. The rhythmic, gut churning music seeped from the wall.

The mare earned looks of either envy or irritation as she bypassed the crowd. She walked right by the bouncer who let her in with a smooth parting of the door. The mare was instantly blasted by the bass-heavy music within.

A dance floor easily the size of a warehouse was blanketed in ponies, with many in the air as well. Strobe lights made everyone look like they were rapidly blinking in and out of existence. Only a few guide lights kept patrons from getting too close to the staff distributing drinks and snack food to various consumers. The two story bar was a large circle off to the south side of the building. The mare ignored the party and went straight for the second floor bar.

There was a spot open on the far right side of the bar, which the pegasus was quick to claim for herself. Upon taking her seat, a holographic menu materialized before her. She ordered three particular drinks. Shortly after hitting send, the bartender, a unicorn stallion, perked up and made his way over to her as casually as possible. He greeted her with a professional wave of his hoof, which concealed the act of slotting a neck wire into a direct channel on his side of the bar. The mare pulled out a sanitary wipe to clean the slot on her side before doing the same.

The lime green mare asked with simmering irritation. She did not speak aloud, but through the direct link of the cords from their necks, allowing them to be heard over the bone-jarring music.

<“I sent you that message hours ago,”> he remarked evenly, careful to not be discuritous.

<“I was busy doing legwork for a new job. I couldn’t just leave immediately.”>

The bartender nodded curtly. <“Right, I remember you taking to some others this morning. Now, from one friend to another, is one of your new coworkers a decker?”>

<“No…”> The pegasus’ eyes went wide with fury and she slammed the bar with her hoof. “It was her? Again?!”

<“Yuuup. Your little stunt double was talking business with a couple of runners about a job no doubt. Left a few minutes before I messaged you.”>

<“What did the other runners look like? Where’d they go?”>

<“Music’s too loud to hear where they were going. But I know what they look like at least. The decker was a unicorn mare with white fur and a well-groomed purple mane. Looked like a socialite who was used to the street.”>

The mare looked down in thought. <“…Can’t say it rings a bell. There’re lots of ponies with those colors.”>

<“Fair enough. I was hoping you’d know another decker like that. The other is a guy I know. Burnt Rubber.”>

The mare developed a devious grin. <“I know him too. He owes me big time.”>

<“Bangin’. Let me know how it all goes down when it’s over.”> The bartender grinned as the mare transferred the information fee.

With a nod of gratitude, the mare turned away and dialed her phone implant. She didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

“That was fast,” the gruff, heavy smoker’s voice of Burnt Rubber opened up. He still managed to pull off that ‘pick up line’ tone. “Not that I should be surprised from you, LD. You ladies on the way down?”

The pegasus mare let off a dark chuckle. “Oh, you better damn well believe it.”

The labs were ultimately just that, a laboratory. There were quite a few very delicate projects and equipment in the building, which made the presence of actual patrols more or less absent, sans the Celestia-sized robot. The group hunkered own inside a chemical closest opposite to a door leading to central security.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight flanked the singular steel door that lead into the security control. Rarity and Lightning Dust were behind them, waiting for the muscle to cover their approach.

“I really don’t think going in that way is a good idea,” Twilight warned with her ears flat. “We’re going to trip the alarm for sure.”

“Which is why we’re waiting for somepony to come out.” Rainbow’s ears twisted this way and that, trying to pick up any hoofsteps.

Rarity butted in. “I’m telling you, we can jack the door reader, toss in some grenades, and make it up to the control center. The guards will practically be asleep. Nopony would attack this place…” Rarity watched all three other mares give her a flat look. “Er well, normally at any rate.”

Twilight forcefully shook her head. “We aren’t a breaching team. Somepony will get shot if we try, and at least one of those will be us. Look, the control center is built just like most others in skyscraper labs from the 950s. It’s in three levels: the one we’re on now and the third floor are entry points with mirrors to allow personnel to see who is walking in, and the doors are heavy and noisy so they can’t be snuck through.”

Lightning Dust gave Twilight an impressed look. “Why use mirrors when we got cameras? Actually, how do you know about crown lab architecture anyway?”

Had it only been Rarity and Rainbow Dash, Twilight might very well have gone into great detail, but with Lightning Dust present, Twilight clammed up. “Sorry, but that’s personal. All I will say is that both you and Diamond are prime examples why they'd use mirrors over cameras. Anyway,” she continued, looking more at the whole group. “If we go up one story, we can use the one-way exit points that would lead us right into the security room, no stairs between us and them.”

“I already investigated that route before coming here,” Rarity cut in, keeping Rainbow from making a snap judgment call. “Those doors are hydraulically moved by a pressure plate on the inside of the security center. They don’t have any computer control to them, not even a key reader, so hacking it isn’t an option I’m afraid. The plate’s also warded against unicorn magic, so we can’t even blindly push it down from the other side.”

Twilight wiggled a playful hoof at her fellow unicorn. “Ah, but we don’t need to hit the pressure plate; only the catch release lever, which is buried in the wall. And I know exactly where it’s located.”

Lightning Dust folded her forelegs in disbelief. “How? Not even I could get the blueprints for this place. There’s no way you can know that.”

“I can get us in, I know it!” Twilight replied with as much forcefulness as she could quietly deliver.

Rainbow shared a look with Rarity before nodding. “Alright, you proved you know your stuff from the last run. Let’s try it your way.”

Twilight smiled widely at the level of trust and would have hugged Rarity and Rainbow both if she was anywhere else.

As the others slowly pressed onward, Lightning Dust’s disbelieving scowl slipped to one of measured suprise. Catching herself, she shook herself to get back into the game.

Detective Pinkie Pie climbed out of her car near a city park. At this hour, there were no casual joggers or foals with their parents. Only the homeless and discarded trash. The high pitched whine of her car cut off as Pinkie placed the key dongle in her vest pocket. She looked up high and saw the faint but distinct blue and red strobing lights of a crime scene cordon. Looks like I’m right under Denim Pant’s place. He must have more secrets there than I thought if the cordon is still active. Pinkie recalled that night, when she stood at the lip of the city plate, but had done so far too late to see where either thestral had disappeared to. Now, if I was a bleeding winger trying to escape, the park is where I’d go.

Pinkie pulled multiple talisman necklaces to make sure they were prominently displayed above her vest, with a few charms inhabiting her mane. They were symbols of power designed to scare off any two-bit muggers. She hoped the trinkets would allow her to work uninterrupted. She then pulled out a control tablet and entered a few commands. The roof of her car slid open and a trio of parasprite bots flew out, each of which were covered in shamanistic runes that were a dim blue. It was a sad fact that she couldn’t summon any elemental assistance. They were blunt instruments at best, and could blunder into contaminating any evidence. “Alright, Wee, Not So Wee, and Freak’n Huge, get out there and see if you can spot some blood stains or odd chi points.” It hasn’t rained yet, so any blood trail might still be there. Pinkie placed a hoof on each parasprite and muttered words of power. Soon, each drone’s runes started glowing brightly.

With a few happy chirps, the drones flew away at speed. In her mind’s eye, Pinkie tried to remember the bird’s eye view she got of the park from the night prior. She felt her tail twitch, her teeth chatter, and a muscle tic in her left ear. Is that so? Pinkie pulled up her control pad and directed Not So Wee to the lake.

Pinkie scanned her surroundings out from under her low hat as she waited for any clues. The lamps illuminating the singular path through the park created deep shadows in between the trees. It was quiet out, save for the city ambiance and distant police sirens. It was only now that she had time to look when she noticed several trees were sickly or outright dead, the bark stripped off of them like a torn wrapper. As much as it pained the local spirits, she had to focus on the case at hand.

A chirp on her pad brought her attention to a sensor feed from Not So Wee. A noticeable pony-sized depression sat along the unmowed grass near the lake. To the naked eye, there was nothing of note about the dew covered grass, but to Pinkie, there was so much more. With the runes allowing the transmission to be read by a spiritual eye, Pinkie saw an odd thing. A ring of silvery moonlight surrounded the depression. As a test, Pinkie used a mana-sink in the drone to rapidly bleed away the stored magic in the runes, and sure enough, the moonlight faded away entirely. No blood, but now isn’t that an interesting crumb… I’ve only seen that light around some of the Nightborne back at HQ. But never around Flinty. Does that mean Miss Evil Traitor landed right here? So no pony caught her mid-air. The possibility it was the scene of an unrelated crime passed through her mind as quickly as it came. You hear them thessy-rals talk, the moon protects them, and them alone. So this must be the place she landed. But why would she be protected then? Maybe Miss Moon isn’t so goodie goodie. Few spirits are, I guess.

Could she call upon the moonlight while it was still present? Pinkie shook her head at the idea. “Uh uh, tried that one time on a case, and Moony blew my oven up. I better go with somepony more… grounded.”

Pinkie moved the drone away from the moonlight, and pointed it towards the nearest pony signature. Somepony like Flinty would probably ignore a wastrel, but they are perfect informants if ya know what they want. With a happy hum, Pinkie went back to her car and pulled out a large box of pastries.

Rainbow and the others made it to the soon-to-be improvised entry point into the security center. They were in a narrow hallway dotted by small offices. The two deckers had already opened the closer of the two offices, paranoid of cramming all four of them in a tight hallway that could only accommodate three ponies abreast.

Only Rainbow Dash remained at Twilight’s side as the unicorn felt around with her magic on the security hatch’s mechanism. The hallway was dimly lit with only one in every three ceiling lights active.

Rainbow was sweating badly, and not from the temperature. She kept her eyes fixed on the their only exit. She practiced spell signs just to keep herself from going off the wall. I don’t like it one damn bit. We’ve only seen that one patrol bot. No guards, no nothing. We never should have gone in so blind. The fact that she didn’t have friendly drones watching the adjoining hallway was nerve wracking. That does it, next time Flutters has to stay behind, we’re bringing another rutting rigger. She cast a glare at Lightning Dust, who shifted uncomfortably, but didn’t look back at Rainbow. We might have been able to hire one if she didn’t take the entire budget.

She glanced at Rarity who was fixated on their only exit if things went south. Her weapon of choice, a modified submachine gun, glowed in her magic. Rarity rested the butt of the submachine gun against the doorframe to the office and aimed with the weapon’s smart eye, allowing her to be completely behind the wall. Lightning Dust didn’t have the luxury of a horn, so she kept her pair of hand cannons: one was aimed down range, and the other waited in a fast-grab holster.

That particular fast-grab holster tensed the back of Rainbow’s neck. That’s a Shadow Grip. Did she take that off a thestral? That stuff’s not on the open market. The idea of it coming from the black market was always a possibility, but it’s not one Rainbow liked. Even if I never rejoin the Nightborne, a smuggler in their numbers is bad news… I should probably tell Celestia about it when we’re done here.

Rainbow pulled her eyes off Lightning Dust and hastily finished three more spell signs until her patience wore out. “Twiggles, what’s the hold up? Those cameras have got to have been noticed ages ago.”

“I found the release lever, but it’s so close to the warded pressure plate that it’s being stubborn. Besides, if they had noticed us yet, we’d be in a shootout by now right?” Twilight scowled at the spot on the doorframe. “I’m going to try a lot more force, but it might be noisy.”

“Gotcha.” Rainbow pulled out a flashbang grenade, and pulled the pin; but it would not start the fuse until after it left her hoof. Just in case they’re quick on the draw for that alarm button.

Twilight’s horn lit up much brighter than normal, drawing the two decker’s attention. A loud clunk reverberated from the steel hatch.

As the hatch groaned open, Twilight flopped backwards a bit and made to grab Winter’s shotgun. Rainbow almost charged straight in, grenade in hoof, but was stopped dead. The groan of the opening hatch was masking the low whine of a spooled up tri-barreled minigun that was aimed directly at her face. Holding the mare-sized weapon was a minotaur bull that had his horns cut off so he could fit his massive frame inside the building.

The bull’s smug face was masked by full body armor with the conjoined K and E symbol of Knight Errant emblazoned on his broad chest. “I’d say ‘freeze’ but you should know the drill.”

“Stay where you are!” two voices commanded from afar as two ponies came in from the exit path with guns drawn. They too were in full body armor. The unicorn of the two had a shotgun while his earth partner was mounting up on his suit’s extendable struts into a bipedal posture for his rifle stance.

All four mares froze, not wanting to trigger a one-sided gunfight. The bull nudged the spinning barrel of his minigun towards the flashbang. “Drop it. Now.”

Without moving her head, Rainbow glanced at the grenade. “Let me put the pin back.”

“No.” The bull rebuked with smug satisfaction. “I said drop it.”

Gritting her teeth in defiance, Rainbow relented and let the flashbang go. It landed with a slight bounce and rolled a bit before it went off. All four mares were dropped to the deck as light, noise, and a pressure wave ruined their senses, and made Twilight throw up out of shock. The others curled up or rolled around completely disoriented.

The three knights were completely unaffected and dragged the subdued shadowrunners inside the security tower, leaving their weapons behind.

By the time Rainbow could see clearly again, she and the others had been dragged inside of the center. The room was easily the size of a large boxing ring. It had a central command desk ringed with monitors. From here, one could see several labs below, even, and above the station. The minotaur had slung the minigun across his shoulders, while the two ponies were sifting through everyone’s heavy coats. The two cyberdecks were confiscated and were placed on the console, well out of reach.

Once all four mares were disarmed and thrown against the wall, the unicorn knight spoke up, first getting in Lightning Dust’s face. “Let’s keep this nice and easy. You tell me what I wanna know, and I don’t have to pull out my toolkit.”

More than the others, Lightning Dust’s ears were ringing so loud his commands were muffled. Her sense of balance was still off. She could see he was talking to her at least. “If you’re trying to hit on me, I’m going to have to pass until I can hear again.”

The unicorn stallion wasn’t buying it as he searched through Lightning Dust’s clothing to make sure she didn’t have any hidden weapons. “Its been long enough. You can hear just fine.” He pulled out a few magazines, and a black combat knife. He slid the magazines away so they were under a desk, and sent the knife right after them.

“You see, I’ve had my eye on an interrogator position within the knights. But you know how this sort of thing works. Job experience is everything, and you four are my ticket up.” He glanced at the earth knight, who went to the lockers in the back to get the toolkit. The minotaur stood back, and kept all four shadowrunners under watch. The interrogator looked back at Lightning. “I don’t really expect anything you tell me here is going to be accurate, but that’s not the idea.”

At this point, only some of his words worked their way through the ringing in her ears. “Yeah well I do what I can, eh?”

Rainbow Dash grit her teeth at the ignobility of it all. Thorough training had allowed her hearing to recover faster, so she heard it all loud and clear. “That’s why you kept us alive? So you could put us on your resume?”

“I was just going to pulp ya sorry little skull, lassy,” the minotaur declared with a gruff laugh. “But ya didn’t kill my buddy at the front door, so I figured I’d leave you to Monkey Wrench’s mercy. He gets his resume padding, and you might live long enough to stand trial. A win-win all around.”

Monkey Wrench was about to turn away from Lightning Dust when he did a double take. “Wait a second, are you wearing wing bling?”

With Rarity and Twilight slouching low, Rainbow saw Monkey’s real magic latch onto a small implant at the base of Lightning’s left wing, it was well hidden in her fur.

Monkey only found it due to his helmet scanners picking it up. She screamed as his magic yanked and pulled on it, thinking it was just a clasp. Ultimately his efforts pulled out a small implant the size of a AA battery right out of her skin, bringing ripped fur, blood, and two snapped wires with it, causing her left wing to flicker with light before a hologram collapsed, revealing muted, purple, leathery wing in its place. Lightning rolled over, trying to cover the open wound as best she could. Tears covered furious, hate-filled eyes glared straight through his helmet. She was forcing herself to control her screaming through tightly clenched teeth.

“A bat pony?” The Minotaur asked half-rhetorically. “I thought you types were too rich to bother Running.”

Lightning heaved a growl of pain so she could control her voice long enough to speak with acid lacing every word. “Like my ‘father’ loved to say: we’re rich, but you’re not. I’ve made my own way so far.”

“Is that right?” Monkey Wrench pulled back to get a better look at Lightning Dust, noting her apparent age. “Well, if you want to see a day past twenty, you’ll play it smart. Tell me everything about your little job, and I might just let you bandage that wound.”

Lightning growled out of pain, and shrunk back into the wall, trailing a line of blood along the way. The ringing had quieted down enough for her to understand him. “I signed on because I put the camera spoof in and the money was good. Those three are my clients, I don’t know who or what they want.”

Rainbow fumed a bit, but didn’t see it as a sell-out. What she said was true, but it wasn’t like she had any real information to spill. Even still, that wasn’t the only thing on her mind as the earth stallion arrived with the ‘toolkit’. So LD was forced to be a bat pony? Those nut jobs are too proud to hide their body mods so maybe she’s being real. That or she’s at least not stupid enough to flaunt when running. That alone elevated Lightning a step or two above Rainbow’s insitual distaste for bats.

Monkey Wrench snorted derisively at her. “Let’s say I believe you for now.” A few small pieces of gauze and a roll of bandages flew out of a nearby first aid kit. “Here, stop bleeding on my floor or I’ll pull the other one.”

Since the earth knight had taken the initiative to start frisking Rarity for weapons, Wrench moved on to the green-dyed Twilight. Since she was bereft of any clothing, and thus no weapons, that left Rainbow Dash in Monkey Wrench’s sights. Not to mention the minotaur was still watching everything with his minigun close at hand.

With his magic, Monkey Wrench opened the kit, and pulled a makeshift weapon from the kit. It looked more akin to a rifle’s frame with several small yet powerful flashlights welded together all pointing forward, along with a decent sized heat sink on the back. Monkey Wrench leveled it at Rainbow Dash as he magically pulled her robe off with several hard yanks. “You mages always hate using actual armor. Make you such easy targets.”

“Are you really complaining how that makes our job easier?” The minotaur laughed.

With both the minigun and an eager minotaur nearby, Rainbow only offered token resistance to her robe being forcefully removed. She growled scornfully as she was left with only a highly-pocketed, tight polyester jacket, her bandolier of grenades, along with her face and leather wings for all to see.

Lightning Dust was so stunned at Rainbow’s appearance she dropped her bandages.

The knights all looked at her with various levels of confusion. “Two bat ponies?” The minotaur unslung his weapon, but didn’t bring it up to fight just yet. As his gloved grip tightened, his handholds creaked audibly. The bull’s originally haughty, smug tone had starkly shifted to being deeply nervous. “I don’t like this. You bats are too damn rare and rich for this to be some coincidence.”

The earth stallion wasn’t any calmer. He put a hoof on the butt of his rifle. “Hey, you guys remember those rumors about bat pony black ops teams?”

“Yeah, I do,” the minotaur answered too quickly. “Never any survivors or video records either.”

Part of Rainbow wanted to play on their fears, but the shadowrunner in her fully expected to get pulped by the minigun if she dared. That’s a real quick way to get shot and dumped in the river. “Hey, If I was some big shot like that, why would I pal around with a rookie so green she can’t even afford a shirt?”

Twilight didn’t have to try hard to act like everything was over her head. “We all start somewhere right?”

Quick as a whip, Rarity played her part. “I told you hiring her for a job like this was a mistake.”

“Are you two that paranoid?” the unicorn knight half-yelled mockingly. “How do you even know they’re bat ponies if there are never any survivors?” Monkey Wrench got pissed in a hurry when he couldn’t be heard over the bickering knights that were too focused on the shadowrunners to pay him any attention. “Shut up, all of you or I’ll burn your eyes out!” He pointed his light-gun at Rainbow’s face. “Starting with you. Take those grenades off, slowly.”

Twilight had been studying the odd weapon long enough to realize those weren’t flashlights, but lasers. More than enough to burn an eye away in seconds. She pushed her head forward, but didn’t stand. “That’s illegal. You can just burn somepony’s eyes out!”

“Oh, this is rich,” Monkey scoffed. “A shadowrunner caught trespassing is lecturing me about the law?” He leveled the weapon at Twilight’s eyes. “Sit back, or you’re going to need new eyes.”

Is she trying to get herself killed?! Rainbow wanted to do something, but she hesitated upon feeling unnatural heat coming off of Twilight. The edge of Twilight’s irises turned a dark, flowing orange.

“Put it down, sir.”

Monkey didn’t notice the temperature increase thanks to his armor, and pushed the light-gun against Twilight’s muzzle. “How about I put you down instead? Rookies never know anything useful anway.” He fired the beam point blank. A moment later, the whole room was lit up like a midday desert sky, and Twilight’s whole head lit up like the sun. Rainbow and Lightning Dust were quick to cover their eyes with both wing and foreleg before the lights when on. Rarity did much the same.

However, Twilight stared right into the blinding light as if it was little more than a weak candle. The heat coming off of her tripled, and the feathers grew rapidly up her back, and ended at two protruding bony nubs. The light was powerful enough to cause even the helmeted knights to miss her empowering her horn with burning mana magic more akin to living plasma.

Monkey Wrench was taken aback when he realized Twilight was not even flinching, let alone her eyes were not blackened and burnt away. He cut the laser right as Twilight screamed in defiance and unleashed a scorching beam of solar plasma that left a stream of embers falling in its wake.

Monkey Wrench was thrown bodily across the security center, slamming through two sets of camera screens before being smashed against the glass. A two inch hole had been burned through his armor, and his chest was reduced to ash.

When the light faded, Rainbow and the others saw a fading trail of burning air coming from Twilight who was slumping low against the wall. The bony nubs were gone and the new feathers were already falling off. The two remaining knights were dumbstruck by the act.

That gave Rainbow enough time to regain her wits. She barreled at the minotaur, empowering a hoof on the way and slamming it into the elbow bend of the arm holding the minigun up. She was rewarded by a cry of pain. He held onto the trigger long enough to fire a stream of rounds all the way up the wall and ceiling before a follow-up kick forced him to let go of the weapon, but his armor kept the bone intact.

“Damn bitch!” He reached over to grab her neck.

Rainbow danced around the minotaur’s powerful yet sluggish movement while staying as close to him as possible. She bounced away from a downward smash, and pumped her back legs with magic. When she landed, Rainbow bucked at the bull’s hip, but he managed to lift his leg up so the blow was caught by his cuisses. Even then it made him stagger. He dropped to one knee, but managed to get a sweeping blow against Rainbow with the back of his fist. Rainbow allowed the impact to spin her backwards to reduce the pain, and she used her wings to ensure she landed on all fours.

“An adept posing as a damn mage! You’re one of those bat squads, I knew it!” Real fear trembled on his voice, but it only made him fight harder.

“You catch on quick,” Rainbow shot back as she wove a stun spell and tried to slam it into the bull’s neck, but he brought up his arm and took it on his vambrace instead, allowing the armor to negate the stunning effects. “But you’re only half right!” Rainbow hooked her forelegs around his upraised arm and swung around behind him before flipping over with her wings and bucking him in the back of the head and smashing him into a desk, wrecking the computer setup.

Meanwhile, Rarity tried to use her magic to wrestle with the earth knight’s rifle, but her telekinesis was repelled like magnetic poles. He caught sight of Rarity’s horn glowing, and took aim on her. However, his shift in attention allowed Lightning Dust to roll in close and deliver a solid kick to his weapon, throwing his aim off, sending three bursts into the wall. She tried to follow it up with a kick to his head, but he deflected it with the butt of his rifle, allowing him to jump back to shoot at her instead.

Rarity was frantically looking around, and spotted the home-made laser gun, and sure enough it wasn’t warded. She gripped it hard in her magic and flung it at the rifle, once again knocking his aim off, sending a score of bullets into the glass. Lightning Dust instictively ducked from the near misses. Realizing she wasn’t full of holes, Lightning made a dive for the knife. She unfolded a robotic hand out of her left hoof, and took it before he could kick it away. She started stabbing at the knight’s joints while Rarity used the laser gun to force the rifle’s barrel to point up in the air. Lightning Dust made a trio of well aimed stabs at his neck and ears, but his armor took the impacts easily. He let one hoof go from the rifle and smacked Lightning in the face with the back of his armored hoof. As Lightning staggered back from the earth magic fueled punch, she managed to hook a hoof in between magazine and body of the rifle, and pulled it out of his grasp as she went down. Lightning kicked the weapon towards Rarity, only to receive a double-legged stomp, knocking the wind out of her. He followed the sliding weapon, only to find Rarity picking it up by hoof. He made a bee-line straight for her, but wasn’t fast enough to stop her from unclipping the magazine from the rifle.

Rarity panicked at the charge, discarded the rifle, and hastily fired a weak bolt that fizzled before even reaching his chest. Rarity jumped away right before the knight delivered a punch that crumpled the blue composite ceramic wall.

Rarity scooted away, taking a glancing, armored buck straight to her neck. Rarity stumbled over Twilight Sparkle trying to recover. Pounding hooves snapped his attention towards Lightning Dust, giving him only a second to brace against her tackle. The impact gave Rarity a chance to pull back while Lightning started stabbing at any weak point she could find on him.

Rarity used the distraction to levitate Twilight further away from the fighting. Lightning Dust couldn’t find a chink in the armor, allowing the stallion to grab, and slam her into the ruined wall. The wrinkles and edges he had made from earlier jabbed and scratched her on impact.

From her safe distance, Rarity fired a flurry of magic bolts at the knight’s head, but the poorly aimed spells all fizzled to little more than a slap against his armor. But it was enough for Lightning Dust to get into the air and out of his reach. She flew up, spun around to land on all fours on the ceiling, then launched herself straight down on him. The knight cursed and jumped away from the dive bomb.

Rarity used the distraction to run over and physically claim the rifle. The wards didn’t burn her, she slotted the magazine back in. When she racked the charging handle, the knight had just finished throwing Lightning Dust against the broken wall again. He turned towards Rarity and fearlessly charged her, knowing her magic couldn’t keep more than one bullet on target.

Rarity was of the same mind, but acted like she was trying to fire anyway to lure him in. “Lightning!” She threw the rifle up and over the knight, leaving her completely open to being body slammed against a fire extinguisher on the far wall. Rarity was stunned by a shock of pain, but Lightning managed to claim the rifle in mid air. She retreated and tried to fire from an angle so any misses wouldn’t hit Rarity. The recoil was too much to keep a bead on him, allowing the knight to sprint for the armory where he had gotten the toolkit. Lightning landed and raked him with fire, but the shots bounced off his armor. “Drek! He loaded only anti-pony rounds!”

At the same time, Rainbow had busted the minotaur’s left knee out with a solid kick. He roared in pain,and fell onto his good knee. Anchors from his armor kept him upright. Every smash of his fist rattled the screens.

“Flash, an EMP if you please!”

Rainbow rolled away from a fist that nearly took her head off. Without a word she unclipped a blue striped black grenade and passed it over in Lightning’s general direction. With the minigun out of reach, and the bull anchored to the spot, Rainbow started charging spells and launching them at the bull’s face. With each hit, the armor was worn down bit by bit, the spells having more bite to them with every cast.

The bat pony caught it, pulled the pin and chucked it into the armory. “That should ruin any alarm buttons.” A burst of static washed over Rarity’s and Lightning’s vision, and was more pronounced on the remaining screens.

Rarity shakily got back up, and opened a pouch in her coat. The knights had left her medications alone, allowing her to pop a pain pill. Feeling her headache drop away in seconds, she joined Lightning Dust near the armory.

As the two deckers moved in to corner the earth stallion, Rainbow weaved in close to the bull, ducked to the side to avoid an overhead swing, and delivered a buck straight into his weakened chest armor, hard enough to break through and crack his sternum, making him double over in an explosion of pain. Rainbow zipped around to his head and yanked his helmet off. “Sorry, but I can leave any witnesses,” she declared while throwing his helmet away. She dodged a hasty grab at her, and wove a lightning spell. She used both forehooves to deliver it straight to the minotaur’s skull.

He died in moments after his body finished jerking and spasming.

Rainbow barely had the energy to jump away from him, and breathlessly stumbled away from the sizzling corpse. He had landed some glancing blows, and she could already feel the bruises forming on her thighs and barrel.

By now, Twilight was getting back to her unsteady hooves. “Oh boy, that - took more out of me than I thought,” She absently muttered.

Rainbow flashed a pained smirk, “You took one out a lot easier than any of us did. You did good.”

Two full seconds of full-auto fire brought their attention back to the armory. Rarity was standing off to the side of the door with only her head peeking through. Lightning Dust was leaning against the door frame with a smoking rifle still aiming further inside.

Both deckers were badly winded. Lightning Dust tiredly let the rifle drop and she slid down the frame with wide eyes and a half-open mouth gulping air. The mechanical fingers slid back into her hoof. “I can’t believe it. We - we actually survived that.” She looked first at Rarity who was moving to inspect her injured back, then to Rainbow who was unreadable. “I thought we were dead for sure.” Gone was the cocky arrogance from before, with only stunned awe in its place.

Rainbow wouldn’t have launched a stun spell at the deceitful bat pony then and there, but Lightning Dust dropped her weapon. Be it fatigue or a show of compliance was still in question. “Everypony check each other for injuries, but make it quick.”

Twilight was at her side and tapped Rainbow on a foreleg. “I’m fine, but I’m going to be worse for wear until I can get home. I’ll check you out first.”

Rainbow nodded and started sliding her clothes off for inspection. While Twilight gently poked the forming bruises for bone fractures, Rainbow kept her eyes fixed on Lightning Dust. The bat pony was having the hole from her removed holographic implant tended to. The green decker was looking more nervous by the second if her twitching and quick glances at Rainbow were any sign. “How are you doing, Twiggles?” She briefly glance at Twilight so Lightning Dust would not be out of sight for long. “Your first kill, even in self defense is rough.”

Twilight paused only briefly in her examination. “... this isn’t the first time.” That earned a bewildered look out of Rainbow, making Twilight give the exam up early. “Queen’s curriculum didn’t… always go as planned when it came to protecting myself against dark magic. It still doesn’t compare to all this shadow business though.”

At least she’s not going to have a mental breakdown over killing somepony. “Alright. Good to know. I’ll still be there if ya need to talk, deal?”

Twilight brightened considerably, and risked giving a light, friendly hug. “Thank you. I might take you up on that when we go home.”

Rainbow noted Rarity was finished packing and bandaging Lightning’s wounds and were about to switch places. Yet as Lightning started rummaging through the med kit, images of her strangling Rarity came to mind. Rainbow also noticed Rarity had moved them away from the dropped rifle. Smart one, Rares. “So, Lightning Dust,” Rainbow started with her command voice. “You know, a farmer friend of mine would likely kill you if she was here right now.

“I get being secretive about what you are, but lying about who you are makes me think you’re a star.”

Lightning Dust retreated and started frantically shaking her head and forelegs. “No way, I’m not a cop, I swear! I was telling the truth about being disowned, I swear!” Mid-speech, Lightning Dust was glancing around the room while squeezing the bandages like a stress ball. She didn’t have her knife, the rifle was too far away, and a pony that could bring down an armored minotaur was looking rather miffed. Her sweating was starting to bleed the fur dye off her head, revealing spots of navy blue fur.

If she could pull off looking and acting like another pony, she could be stalling. Rainbow stopped her first instinct to attack Lightning just to play it safe. “Still… if it weren’t for you’d we probably be dead.” Without her weapon, there’s no way Rares could have taken that other knight by herself. “Your help in the fight is the only reason I’m not doing the same. All the same, give me another to let you keep breathing.”

The young bat mare’s lip was quivering in boiling terror at Rainbow Dash, which was only made worse by the dead minotaur behind her. “I - I um w-well um I,” was all she could sputter out.

Rarity pulled away from in front of Lightning Dust and offered a light apology while tugging the bandages out of her grip so she could administer herself. Robbed of her stress reducer, Lightning tried to think of some excuse that a terse adept would care enough about.

She was moments from setting herself in sheer panic when Twilight stepped forward and offered a friendly smile. “How about we try starting on better footing? My name’s Twiggles. I take it your not Lighting Dust.”

The decker was still fixated on Rainbow, and kept looking at Rainbow’s wings, eyes and the dead minotaur behind her. “No. My name’s… I go by Nova on the street.” With a thought, the mare dropped the hologram around her other wing, revealing to matching navy blue leathery wings. “I swear, I only act like her and use her name to get bigger pay on runs.” She tensed and gave Rarity a flimsy, apologetic smile. “I’m still a damn good decker though, you got my honor as a runner on that one. I put the camera spoofer in after all.”

Rarity went about wrapping her head up in properly placed bandages. “Tell you what. You accept the same pay Twiggles is getting, and prove your worth in the dive, and I’ll let bygones be bygones.”

Pay was always better than death. “D-deal!” Lightning stuttered not quickly enough for her tastes.

Rarity eyed the lime green bat pony with far less suspicion. As a decker, physical disguises and identity deceptions were roughly seen in the same light as changing one’s Matrix avatar, simply par for the course when the heat got too bad. Rarity went for her deck that had been tossed to the floor during the scuffle, and pulled a pop-out scanner. She went over to the dead minotaur and started scanning his eyes and fingerprints for biometrics. “Very well, darling, but don’t take too long sorting it all out. The matrix security here should be top shelf, and our driver won’t stick around forever.” When the deck gave a satisfying beep, she slotted a wire from the deck into the datajack in the back of her neck, and then a second wire into a suitable station to dive into.

That left Twilight to limp over to the two leather-winged mares. “Was that whole rookie talk your Lightning Dust persona too?” She had sweat drenching her neck and face, but she didn’t look singed in the slightest.

Nova cringed a little, stealing a curious look at Rainbow Dash. “If I’m going to be honest, I woulda said the same thing, just nicer.”

“Ha!” Rainbow laughed derisively while ribbing Twilight. “Ain’t that the truth. Still though…” Rainbow followed the smell of charred pony to the unicorn. “Glad you didn’t do that when I first found you,” Rainbow joked with an attempt at humor.

Twilight couldn’t help but frown with a choked, brief laugh that hurt her ribs. “You would have clobbered me first for sure.”

The moment passed, and the two friends turned to the bat pony. The mare was shaking like a leaf. Were it not for Twilight’s non-hostile demeanor, she would have wet herself out of fear for her life.

“So, Nova was it?” Rainbow opened with a better attempt at being mildly less intimidating.

“Y-yes ma’am,” the bat mare stuttered out.

Twilight hid a grin behind a hoof and whispered in Rainbow’s ear. “Uh oh, she called you ma’am. That means your old.”

Rainbow’s cheeks puffed up and shot a glare at the purple menace. “Shaddup, I’ll still be young when everypony else in this room is long dead.”

Twilight’s teasing got the intended response, but not out of Rainbow. Nova stopped shivering at seeing the two friends being casual. She was still wringing her hooves, but at least now she wasn’t on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

“Alright, Nova…” Rainbow fumed over what to do. She can’t be Nightborne. We’ve got deckers, but she’s got too much chrome to be one of us. Drek, we barely tolerate datajacks. She leaned into Twilight’s ear. “What do you make of her?”

Twilight blushed a little. “You’re actually asking for my advice?”

“Duh. I told you we don’t run things military here. You’ve proven yourself enough to be worth listening to.”

Twilight’s cheeks burned at the praise, but she knew time was against them, so she had to think quickly. “I think she sees you as a kindred spirit, maybe even a role model if you play your cards right. A bat pony who wants to buck against the expectations of the artificial tribe’s stereotype. I think we can at least trust her until the two of you can have a longer chat.”

Rainbow looked at Twilight as though she had just told her she was actually a dragon in disguise. “Role model? Ain’t no way, no how. Besides, we only just met.” Rainbow could literally smell the fear coming off of Nova, a truly difficult thing to fake. “She’s practically terrified of me, and not all of that stuff earlier could have been an act.”

“You’ve never met Lightning Dust have you,” Nova asked sheepishly, earning surprised and irritated looks in equal measure from Rainbow. “I studied Lighting Dust for a while before stealing her identity. It’s how she’s expected to act, and I didn’t know if any of you would be familiar with her. I was telling the truth on the elevator, I get to demand like, twenty - thirty times the bits I’d get otherwise.” Nova shrank back a bit from Rainbow’s steamed glare. “I-I can’t help it. I’ve got stupid good hearing. Ah - natural hearing, not chromed so I can’t exactly turn it off.”

Rainbow’s glare melted a bit. “I’ll admit I’m asking this is for personal reasons, but why are you a bat pony? The short version.”

Lightning thought about lying. Surely Rainbow would be fine with the truth, but would Twilight? Rarity? Ultimately the threat of death made her slump down and nervously rub the floor with a hoof. “My parents were bats. They wanted to make sure my siblings and I were too, so they had doctors design me from the ground up, and got a surrogate mother to carry me.”

She’s totally artificial?! Rainbow’s own fears of that roared to the surface. She looked at Twilight to see if the unicorn could sense any deception. Oddly, Twilight didn’t seem shocked or even put off by the news. She didn’t choose to be a bat. Rainbow’s ears and wings dropped a bit. “Are you hiding anything else?”

Nova’s ears perked up a bit when she didn’t get condemnation. She looked up from between her hooves to see the utter lack of judgement from their eyes. Nova felt she could speak, and the more she talked, the less jittery she became. “Just how I usually look. I normally have ear tufts, so I clip them off before I go on runs. I have eyes like yours, but I use contacts to hide it.” Nova went so far as to pull out a container from her coat and showed it to be a contacts case. “See?” Their expressions softened a touch, encouraging Nova to continue. She pulled her lips back to reveal short fangs about the same length as Rainbow’s own. “Most ponies don’t seem to notice or care about my fangs since they’re short by bashion standards. It’s kinda tame as far as body mods go, right?”

Rainbow groaned so hard Twilight’s ears went flat and she had a wiry grin aimed at her thestral friend. “Bashion? Batshion…?”

“It’s what we call—”

“No!” Rainbow stomped. “I don’t care. I know Diamond would agree with me here. Never say that word around me ever again. Just - ya know what, erase it from your memory. Got it?”

“It’s a bit of a force of habit,” Nova admitted weakly, scooting away from Rainbow a bit.

“Well now is as good of a time as any to break it,” Twilight offered with a little head shake.

Rainbow felt more relaxed now, at least as far as she could let herself in the middle of a run. “So how about why you’re here. You’re some kid from a rich family who ran away from home?”

Nova growled, but averted her eyes. Were they worth defending? “Not exactly. The short version is that my parents got wrapped up in thier friends’ stupid ideas about extreme bat body mods. They actually disowned me because I wouldn’t change myself to match the latest baaat - fashion. Said since they made me, so they owned me. As if that were any different from any other bat foal for the last thirty years.” Nova glared at both of them with hurt tears in her eyes. “I don’t care if I was made in some gene factory like some damn toaster! This is my life now!” Nova’s cheeks burned navy blue under the fur dye. She flailed a hoof in the air. “You should know how it works, Flash. Why else would another bat leave that stupid world the rest of us have walled ourselves in with?”

Such a cheap abandonment got under Rainbow’s skin, if it was true. “The entire latest generation of bats are artificial?!”

“Well yeah,” Nova replied while tilting her head. “You must have left before that became an open secret for us.”

“Unbelievable! Rainbow seethed before jerking a wing at Nova’s cyberdeck. “Go join Diamond while I take care of things in meatspace. If you’re speaking the truth we could always use another decker on a permanent basis. Moon known Diamond keeps asking for one.”

Nova blinked in utter amazement before a grin slowly crawled up her face. “You girls really have a spot open?”

Rainbow clenched her jaw, unwilling to give voice to her outrage, so it left Twilight to give an answer. The unicorn wrapped Nova’s deck in her magic and brought it over to its owner. “I for one would be glad to have you. I think you are a prime example of a diamond in the rough.”

Rainbow’s thoughts came to a screeching halt and she eyed Twilight with perplexion wrinkling her face. “She is?”

“Of course,” Twilight directed at Rainbow before she returned her attention towards Nova. “How many bat ponies out there have the strength of character to abandon a subculture like that from which they grew up in?”

Memories of the last argument she had with her parents threatened to have her eyes tear up. She hastily grabbed the deck and ran over to the nearest console to hide her undoubtedly reddened eyes. “Thanks, I better get to work. Diamond's probably pissed I’m late as it is.” She hesitated before slotting the cable into her datajack and looked at the other mares. “Um, you’re not going to shoot me for lying about who I am are you?”

Twilight shook her head. “You seem nicer than the real Lightning Dust, and down here, I guess I can’t blame you for wanting extra pay.”

Rainbow huffed irritably. “I don’t know LD personally, only by reputation. If you can match her skill,never lie to my squad again, and stay on the level, then you have my word I won’t shoot you.”

“Um, but you don’t use guns anyway,” Twilight commented.

Rainbow rolled her eyes so hard she dragged her head along with them. “It’s a figure of speech, egghead.”

Nova chuckled, if only to force herself to believe Rainbow wasn’t planning on killing her by hoof or spell instead. “T-thanks.” With that thought on her mind, Nova dove in, leaving her unaware of her physical surroundings.

Twilight waited a few moments after Nova jacked in before looking at Rainbow expectantly. “What do you say, team leader?”

Ugh, Twilight’s too much of a bleeding heart. You are one too. Shaddup, brain. “Yeah, we can keep her on for a trial run. Who knowns, she might actually be telling the truth in all this. I can at least believe she’s not a Nightborne. Outside of that though…”

Unknown to both of them, the earth pony knight was not quite dead yet. His helmet had muffled his blood-choked coughing thus far. He had collapsed under a control panel. He had a bullet in his right lung, two in his stomach, and one had punctured his femoral artery. His armor had tried to clot it with bio-gel, but the wound was too deep for the gel to be completely effective.

He lay there, largely unmoving, trying to conserve his strength. The talking mares had gone largely quiet by now, and only the sound of rapid clicks from two cyberdecks dominated the security room beyond the armory door. He was about to try and locate a grenade, anything to give one last act.

But he found it difficult to even move out of his position. Damn it, damn it! I knew I shouldn’t have listened to that rutting idiot! I’m not going to die for him or this damn company. I’m going to lay here and wait for rescue. It’s not like the runners are going to stick around forever.

The pain in his leg grew by the second until it bothered him enough to look at it. The blood that had been trickling out of his arterial cut was now flowing out in a steady stream. The bio-gel was failing. I’m going to die. He chuckled manically. I’m actually going to die because of that dumbass wanting ‘interrogator experience’.

An audible beep sounded above him. He shifted his head just enough so he could look up through darkening vision. The command console was back on. It actually finished rebooting from the EMP!

“If I have to die, I’m not going alone!” The knight used his good back leg to roll over and prop himself up. He reached the panel easily enough and saw the glowing button next to the ‘standby’ readout. Even with his vision going black and his legs feeling like lead, he was still able to make out the ‘distress’ command and slapped it with the last of his strength.

He finally collapsed, a proud smile on his face as the light faded from his eyes. At least I get to see you again, Berry Squeeze.

A few minutes later, Twilight Sparkle was bandaging up Nova’s back, trying to cover up all the cuts and scratches. Her whole body ached from channeling such potent magic, but the scholar was pushing herself to be useful.

Rainbow Dash was in the hallway collecting everyone’s weapons. The minotaur had been dragged over to act as a paperweight for the exit door. She had just picked up Rarity’s weapon when her ears twitched at a faint sound from further into the facility. Freezing, Rainbow gazed out into the well lit hallway to the south. It was faint, but it almost sounded like… Terror froze Rainbow’s heart. A large shape the size of an alicorn didn’t even fully round the corner before Rainbow jerked away from the intersection. Nary a split second later the wall opposite her cracked and warped before the ribbons of magic even registered to her eyes.

She nearly abandoned the guns, and sprinted back inside the security center and began frantically pulling on the bull to remove him from the pressure plate. “Twiggles! Get over here and help me move him, double time it!”

Twilight jumped and dropped a roll of bandages. At seeing how panicked Rainbow was, Twilight used her regular magic to finish removing the bull.

The mechanical hatch started closing, but not before Twilight laid eyes on the robotic alicorn. It opened its mouth to reveal a black crystal ball that latched onto the magic in Twilight’s horn. The spell itself created a barrier, keeping the hatch open. The very mana in her veins started to heat up and glow brightly enough to be seen from under her skin. Twilight started screaming in agony. She wildly shook her hooves, trying to fan out the fire her delusional mind was creating. Her horn was glowing hot, and threatened to burst at any moment.

Rainbow Dash spotted the black orb and pulled Twilight off to the side, breaking line of sight. Twilight’s mana quickly calmed down, and the unicorn passed out from sheer overstimulation.

With the spell broken, the hatch’s weight slammed it shut. “That’s not going to stop it forever.”

As if to prove her right, the hatch was rocked by two jarring slams, and the sound of protesting metal being ripped into. The hydraulics of the hatch groaned as the robot tried to force it open.

Rainbow Dash looked around, Twilight was unconscious, and the two deckers were blind to the world around them. She was alone. Her blood pounded in her ears, her throat went dry. Rainbow had to fall back hard on her training to keep from having a panic attack right then and there. Keep it together, you can do this! You trained alongside them, you know what to do if they get hacked and turn on you in the field.

Rainbow’s first instinct was to grab her last remaining EMP grenade, but stopped herself. “Damn it, that’ll brain dump the deckers. Wait, the deckers!” Rainbow fished out her phone and started texting Rarity. “Diamond, the metal demon is trying to smash into the room!”

The text back came lightning quick due to deckers thinking much faster when diving in cyberspace. “How did it activate? Nevermind, we’ll get to the shutoff command ASAP!”

“Got it!” Rainbow freaked a bit when she heard metal tearing. A small hole was ripped open. A few seconds later, the robot’s right foreleg slid through. The hoof opened to reveal a nozzle. The hiss of gas being pumped in filled her ears with dread. “Drek!”

Having no time to spare, Rainbow weaved a spell sign and launched a fireball at the nozzle. The air in front of her exploded, tossing her backwards into a desk, toppling the monitor. She groaned in pain, but kept her eyes open enough to see the fire was threatening to engulf the nozzle, so the robot cut the gas, refolded its hoof and withdrew.

The robot placed its mouth over the hole to search for any horns it could detonate. Rarity was just barely being covered by the desk, but it was enough for it to latch onto.

Rainbow scrambled to rear up and stand between the orb and Rarity, and took the full force of the mana-burn. Instead of being able to focus so much on a horn, the burn was spread out along Rainbow’s wings and hooves where her magic concentrated. Rainbow struggled through the pain of her wings glowing a dull orange, but the fire in her veins was not strong enough to show through her skin. Sweat glistened and evaporated on her wings as Rainbow flapped them slowly to cool off and keep balanced on two legs. She gave a snarky grin when the pain seemed endurable. “Not so effective on winged ponies are ya?”

The squeal of protesting metal redoubled, and the robot ripped the hole even wider. A long spindly leg reached out and stepped down on the pressure plate in front of Rainbow. With shaky, clunking resistance, the door yawned open, allowing the alicorn sized robot to step in at last.

Its malkavian grin, still noticeable from opening its jaw wide enough for the crystal ball to keep Rainbow from leaving Rarity’s side. Its unmoving eyes seemed unhinged to the fear-paralized thestral. Its face shifted up towards Rarity, but Rainbow jumped backwards to keep herself between Rarity and the robot’s attention.

With casual annoyance, the robot’s horn lit up a calm blue. Magic wrapped around Rainbow and she was thrown clear across the room. Before even waiting to see Rainbow hit the wall, the robot immediately faced Rarity and locked the unicorn its its gaze. Rarity was yanked out of cyberspace like a tick. Dazed and in utter agony, she started rolling on the floor as her horn started to light up and burn.

Rainbow sprinted through the air, but she freaked when the robot’s chest panels side open and two turrets popped out aimed at her. Rainbow dove low to avoid the chugging fire, and tackled Rarity to get her out of sight of the orb. Bullets raked the ground, and severing one of the wires to the cyberdeck.

Rainbow pulled Rarity onto her back and dove for cover behind the minotaur. The robot answered by having vents open on its legs. It launched itself into the air and came crashing down behind the minotaur, only for Rainbow to roll to the side, but her under-robe was caught in the robot’s hoof.

Rainbow’s gaze went straight for the twin turrets, yet they didn’t aim at her. Instead they retreated back inside its body. Rainbow dumbly watched the robot return to the hallways outside. She collapsed to the ground feeling like death had brushed her cheek, just to remind her it was always there. Rainbow’s phone buzzed somewhere in her jacket. She almost didn’t feel like retrieving it, such was her relief, but she couldn’t risk falling asleep. Not when she was the only one left to defend.

She rolled over and found her phone was holding a message from Nova.

Rainbow looked around until she saw the single camera watching over the security center and waved dismissively at it as she texted back.

Author's Note

What secrets does Gelos hide? Why is it so hard to find ghost sugar? Did they remember to set fire to the room to burn the evidence? Probably. :twilightoops: I totally remembered to destroy the feathers, egghead's honor!

Part 3 is already written and is awaiting final editing.

11: Guiding Light

It took some doing, and half a box of cupcakes, but at last Pinkie Pie was directed to a destitute unicorn mare who was sleeping under a tree. She had a stolen shopping cart loaded with whatever possessions she could get her hooves on. Both she and her cart, stuffed to the brim with refuse, reeked of slow rot and the stink of cheap whisky. By the graying of her orange fur and thin figure, she was clearly an older mare on her last legs. She had an old model of datajack plugged into her neck, but poor hygiene caused patches of fur around it to fall away, leaving the skin red and infected. “Welp, there’s only one real way to wake this girl up!” Pinkie had a fourth drone arrive from her car, this time carrying a large blue cannon.

Pinkie cracked her non-existent knuckles and gleefully waited for the cannon to drop in front of her. Once it was in position, Pinkie yanked on the string, and an explosion of confetti blasted out, scaring the bum awake. The homeless mare got a face full of confetti and was knocked off balance enough to keep her from running away.

She took one look at Pinkie’s talismans and grinning face before freaking out even harder. “Please don’t kill me, I don’t know nothing, take my stuff, just don’t hurt me!” The mare cowered against the tree. Her threadbare voice was scarred by decades of smoking, deepening her to a raspy baritone.

“I’m not here to hurt you, silly, I’m here to give you cupcakes!” Pinkie bounced over and shoved a cupcake in the mare’s mouth, if only to mask her horrid breath. “And you can’t have cupcakes without milk to wash it down, of course.”

The mare’s terror lightened a little at the sheer deliciousness of the cupcake, but mostly because there wasn’t a gun or spell pointed at her. She shakily took the cup of offered milk and drank enough to speak. “Uhh, thanks, miss.”

“No problemenio!” Pinkie showed her the box. “And you can have the rest of them if you can answer some questions of mine.”

The sight of so many cupcakes, a treat she had not tasted for a decade, pulled her in. Not like she had any other prospects going for her. “What do ya wanna know?”

Pinkie sat down and placed the box between them, gesturing for her to take some more. “I have word from your friends that you saw something strange a couple of nights ago around here.”

The mare was reaching for another cupcake, but shied away from it and gave Pinkie a scared whimper. “I didn’t see nothing, I swear.”

Pinkie was all too familiar with such fear, and opted to take a bite out of a cupcake. “I’m not here to kill you, silly. If I was, I wouldn’t bother with all this,” she waved at the confections and a gallon of milk.

“I - I guess not.” The bum tentatively snatched another cupcake. “Yeah, I saw strange stuff. What of it?”

Pinkie inwardly groaned. Ugh, why do they always make me lead them on? Keeping the thought to herself, Pinkie looked at her control pad and at the dried blood that one of the bots was taking samples of. “Did a couple of pegasi land there? What did they do?” The mare remained tight lipped. Pinkie pulled a few bills out of her jacket. “I suppose the tried and true works best. Three hundred if what you tell me is useful.”

That got an immediate reaction. The bum’s eyes widened and her lips smacked at the amount of food she could buy. Maybe a few Better Than Life simsenses while she was at it. “Sure, sure. I got startled that night after hearing a body hit the grass. I was on a bench coming down from a BTL, see? So I just played dead. I saw a stallion land next to her. He stood around for a bit and pulled something out of his clothes that started glowing like one of them neon signs when he brought it close to the first pegasus. He pocketed it to make it stop, then he put something in her mouth. After that he flew off.”

“Glowing?” Pinkie forwarded one of the hundred bills. Just how much of this is going to her habit? What she really needs is a party invite for real instead of dreaming somepony else’s. Pinkie mentally shook the thought away to stay focused. “What did it look like?”

The bum snatched the bill and scrutinized it under the closest lamp light. Satisfied it was real, she looked back at Pinkie. “Didn’t get a good look at it before it was glowing. My eyes aren’t what they used to be, but when it did light up, it looked like a red lit ball.”

A ball huh? Loyalty was ball shaped, if I recall correctly. Pinkie’s stomach squeezed and her left hind leg wobbled, sending a touch of fear into her. Gelos is saying it was the Element! But what does the glowing mean? Pie to self: ask somepony what the glow colors mean. Pinkie slid the second hundred over. “After he flew off, did he take the first pegasus with him?”

“Nope, just left her there.” The bum slipped the bills into the folds of her tattered coat. “I waited a good while to see if he would come back, but he never did. So I went over to see if she had something worth taking, rights of salvage from the dead, right?”

Pinkie suppressed the urge to arrest the mare, mostly because it wouldn’t do anyone any good. “Of course.”

“Right, so I made my way over, and the pegasus weren’t no pegasus. She was one of them freaky leather wings that sit high and mighty in those tall towers.”

“Right, a bat pony, I knew that much.”

The bum frowned, and gave the last bill a longing look until she relented. “Okay, alright. So I went to sniffin’ around, and there was blood all over her. But I couldn’t see any cuts or bullet holes on her. Not a one. Ain’t never seen anything like it. After that, I knew I was dealing with big government secret stuff that’ll end up with me committing suicide with two bullets in the back of the head if ya know what I mean. That’s all I know. I washed the blood off my hooves in the lake and ran off. Good thing too. I looked back and saw some grounder pony take her away. He ran under a streetlight, and he looked like a doctor, white coat and everything.”

“That’s a big help, thank you.” Pinkie left the last bill behind, along with the box of cupcakes and the gallon of milk. She trotted off back to her car and gave the recall order to the drones. Well now, looks like I’ve got some more string to lay down. Flinty, you have been a baaad boy.

Without any guards to interrupt them, Rarity and Nova made clean, careful, and methodical work of the lab’s security network. All cameras were shut down, all recordings were deleted and the drives were in the middle of a reformatting loop. Rarity made sure the robot walked straight in front of a major power cable and would bite it after they left the facility.

Even the exterior alarms were completely disarmed. The only thing they couldn’t do was refresh the “all’s well” signal. The timer was set to need the new code half past one o’clock, right when Nova said it’d be. After that, the cleaners would come hot and heavy.

With the lab to themselves, the group were now making their way up the stairs from the security center. The top floor was broken up into three labs, the closer two, with the final genetics lab taking up half of the entire floor. Up here, the walls were off-white with some of the hall lights still fully on due to its sole occupant. Multiple inspirational posters lined the walls ranging from pictures of the Princess to cat posters. It was just past one in the morning, and they were rushing forward to catch the stallion before he left for the night. Rainbow Dash had not bothered concealing her face or wings this time around.

Among the records Nova had sniffed through while ruining the security network, was the employee roster, which named the one scientist who was still present, burning the midnight oil. It was a name that set Rainbow on edge, but it was only now that Nova was feeling brave enough to ask since they didn’t shoot her after her work was done.

Even then, she was hesitant to speak up. “So uh, what makes any of you think this guy didn’t hear all the gunfire? He can’t be that oblivious.”

“You’d be surprised,” Twilight started with a bit of strange pride. “When a pony of science is at work, a lot of things can slip your mind: the time, food, even noise can be dismissed as annoying music or something other than a threat.”

“I thought that was just a stereotype,” Rarity commented, giving Twilight a knowing grin. “But something tells me you have firsthoof experience.”

They were passing the first lab now, and the team glanced through the glass, making sure the scientist hadn’t moved since last they spotted him on camera. Before Twilight could defend herself, Nova spoke up. “So what’s the big deal about this Guiding Light dude?”

Everyone in the group turned to Rainbow Dash, either waiting for her answer, or not wanting to say more than she was willing to give. Well, since we’re going to see him, I can give the short version at least. “He’s the one who headed development of my gene mods, and somehow made Soul Sickness temporary for me, not that anypony realized it back then.”

Nova went wide eyed. “Oh wow, I didn’t think that was possible.”

“It’s not!” Twilight half shouted, causing everyone to give her a strange look. The scholar shook her head with absolute conviction. “Polygraph’s Disease is incurable without going back to your original tribe. It’s impossible otherwise! Temporary or not!”

Rarity stepped back a bit at the mention of disease, eyeing Rainbow with a worried light. “Um, what exactly is Polygraph’s Disease?”

Both leather winged ponies were silent. Rainbow had the tight look of holding government secrets back. That left Twilight to speak up. “Soul Sickness is the layman’s term for PD, but the—” Again Twilight was cursed by limited time. Such a topic begged for full medical explanations, but alas… “The short version is PD affects all bat ponies and…” She paused, glancing between Nova and Rainbow Dash. “Well, just them. And it causes a large range of mild symptoms with the exception of uniformly causing sterility in mares. You can do gene therapy and have all the surgery you want to, no bat mare can have a child.”

“I can vouch for the last one at least,” Nova offered meekly. “I had to be born from a surrogate mother.”

“How… poetic, in a macabre sort of way,” Rarity mused aloud, only to get awkward stares, making her feel self conscious. “W-well bat ponies like to act nocturnal. It’s just like that old mythology before Celestia came about when mares used to think we had some connection to the moon.”

Twilight tripped over her herself at the observation, but her thoughts rendered her mute.

Rainbow had heard enough and angrily waved a hoof at the whole thing. “Yeah well, I definitely don’t have it anymore. I’ve got exhibits A and B at home.”

Nova was taken aback, nearly tripping over herself. “A and B? You - you have kids? Like you actually carried a rugrat to term?!”

Rainbow clamped her mouth shut until looks from the others proved she was heard loud and clear. Damn my rutting stupid mouth. “Okay, fine, yes I did!”

Nova barely kept walking while she placed a hoof on her head. “Are they bats too? Your gene template’s got to be the key to a cure! Does the doctor even know about this? Do you think he could cure me as well!? I so totally want to have bat kids one day!”

Twilight blinked dumbly at Nova. “Wait, how do you have PD? Didn’t you say you were created as a bat pony?”

“Well - yeah, but mom always told me we bats all have the sickness.” Nova averted her eyes away from Rarity. “Even those of us who were made this way.”

“Probably because Mother Moon cursed them.” Rainbow commented scornfully.

“Mother what?” Nova asked with mild interest.

Rarity gave a ladylike, yet loud cough. She decided to ignore the implications of artificial ponies for the moment. “Ladies, more walking, less talking, yes?” To make her point, Rarity marched right off, all but forcing the others to do the same. Coming down from her getting-cured excitement, Nova scampered after her, prompting Rainbow and Twilight to do the same.

It wasn’t long before they arrived at the entrance to the gene lab, and it was the only one without windows. Large warning signs of restricted access and a delightful ‘deadly force is authorized’ notification was all they needed to know this was the right place.

“Wait,” Rainbow called out before Rarity could barge in. She turned to Nova with a seriously stern face. “You did good on the dive. But I need something more. If you want me to trust you enough to join our crew, I need you to do one more thing.”

Nova flared her wings, determination fixed firmly upon her features. “As long as I don’t have to hurt myself, name it!”

“This guy’s going to say some personal stuff about me, maybe,” she added with a glance at Rarity. “When I give you the signal, run off to the farthest corner, cover your ears and hum or surf the matrix; just don’t listen in. You did us a serious solid with the bot, so I’m going to offer you this. You can either walk out of here, no harm no foul, or you can stick with us and do as I asked. If you stay and listen when I tell you not to, you’re going to fall down some very tall stairs. Got it?”

Nova nodded briskly, but couldn’t keep a frown off her face. “I’ll stay! But I’ve kinda told you a lot about me—”

Rainbow cut her off with a swipe of a hoof. “All of which could be a lie. You’ve already proven to be a good actor. Or a good spy.”

Nova scowled at the ground and kicked at the tiles. “Point taken.” She kept facing the floor, but looked up at Rainbow. “I bet this cure could bankroll us for life though. If he won’t go public with it, then we should.”

“Let’s see what form the cure takes then,” Rarity cut in and pushed the doors open. The lab first opened into a decontamination airlock which made Rarity and Nova protect their decks by tucking them as best they could into their coats. The sprayers hit them with a fine mist, followed by a burst of heat, drying the lot of them. They finally stepped out into the clean room. Rows of work benches covered in various lab equipment and tools, leaving little room to walk. The south wall was covered end to end with refrigerators or glove box isolators. The far wall had several glass occupied stasis pods. Indistinct muttering drifted from the direction of the tubes.

Rarity motioned for quiet and the group rounded their way over. They found the aged unicorn stallion studying several holographic readouts while glancing at the subjects in the tubes from time to time. A holographic stallion stood midair between the displays and the tubes, with just enough space between the screens so the scientist could clearly see the avatar. The avatar was mostly transparent, but had enough color to discern a face. The air here was cold, thanks to the tubes of coolant gases from the support machines around the tubes.

While Rainbow’s hooves were quiet, the doctor eventually looked up from his work. At first he didn’t realize who this collection of four strange mares might be and wrinkled his brow. “This lab is strictly off limits to personnel from other departments. How - how?” He saw the cyberdecks and weapons on their backs, and even he knew a mage when he saw one. How did you get past security? Who are you?!”

Before any of them could respond, the avatar shifted to stand above the mares and had holographic boxes complete with readouts around Rainbow Dash and Nova. “Chief Director Guiding Light. These two are subjects 87-103-#57 and 87-103-#312. Proceeding to update records.”

Rarity and Twilight moved away from the targeted ponies, a passing fear of some weapon bearing down on them. Nova looked at her box with curiosity, and tried to read the text on her box, but it was backwards and scrolling too fast.

Of them all, Rainbow was the least concerned, having been through it all many years ago. “Hey gramps, the prodigal daughter returns.”

He squinted a bit at her before looking at the readouts closer to his face. He jumped after recognizing her. “By my stars and garters, is that really you?” At her nod, Guiding Light limped on creaky old legs over to her, but Rainbow met him halfway. “That explains how you got in. Was it quietly or did you have to get rough?”

Nova leaned over to Twilight “I thought you were exaggerating on being oblivious.” Twilight simply shook her head.

Rainbow Dash sucked in a breath and rubbed the back of her head. “Yeeeah, it was loud. The knights got the drop on us. We had to put them down, but we managed to spare the receptionist at least.”

Guiding Light huffed in disdain. “More’s the pity. Such is the nature of your work, and for what it’s worth,” Guiding Light thought better of giving the receptionist’s name away, “the knights are a miserable lot. Except for the lad up front, he at least nodded and smiled. The rest of them never wished to mingle and get to know us, we’re nothing more than clients.” He started shaking a hoof irritably at himself. “But enough about that, let me get a good look at you!” Rainbow Dash stood by as the aged unicorn circled her a couple of times. She may have still been wearing her under-robe, but it was tight enough for him to get a decent picture of her physique. “You look as beautiful as ever.” He hugged Rainbow lightly, one she happily returned, but was fearful of breaking his old bones.

Rainbow grinned with embarrassment, which only deepened her cheeks to a hot red upon seeing Twilight and the others watching her closely. “Ah, girls, Guiding Light,” she pulled back and raised a hoof towards him. “The guy who personally watched over my Embrace of the Moon.”

“Embrace of the what?” Nova tried to walk out of the scanning cube, but it kept following her. “Never mind, why do I have a box on me?” She started swiping a hoof at it, trying to get the AI to dismiss the cube, causing her to entirely miss Rainbow signaling her to close her ears.

Guiding Light scoffed. “Because you are a thestral, you silly girl. Honestly, shouldn’t you know you’re all listed in the archives even if you’ve never been here?”

Rarity tilted her head. “Is she now? How curious.” Rarity’s horn started glowing as she gripped her carbine, but she didn’t levitate it into a proper firing position. Rainbow did much the same by side stepping away from the old stallion, and mentally went through which spell to use first. Twilight, however, did not reach for her weapon, nor did she take a hostile stance.

Nova was still distracted by trying to read the backwards text on the hologram surrounding her. “Thessa what? Is that a code word or scientific name for bat ponies or something?” She looked back at the scientist, only to realize that Rarity and Rainbow Dash were looking at her with a dangerous air. She hesitated, not sure how to take such a turn.

“Quite convenient you happen to be a thestral,” Rarity commented darkly. She didn’t want to draw her weapon yet, but she wasn’t about to take her eyes off Nova.

Nova didn’t dare trying to draw her hand cannon, not with Rarity already about to attack, and Rainbow Dash had a raised hoof, moments from weaving a spell. Nova retreated to an equipment laden workbench. “Hey, come on, maybe it just thinks I am because I’m a bat pony!” Nova retreated until she pressed her back against the workbench, rocking a few vials. She started feverishly looking for an escape route. Of them all, only Twilight remained non-threatening.

Guiding Light was largely ignoring the rising tension. He was far more interested in the readings on her. “An 87-103 ya say? And among the three hundred series. Remarkable. I thought I’d keel over before seeing one face to face.”

Rainbow Dash was inches from signing a stun spell when what the stallion was saying finally registered. “Wait, what’s so remarkable about her?”

“That I’m telling the truth this time around!” Nova shouted at everyone, while trying to shield her face. “I’m not a spy!”

Guiding Light grumbled and started limping over to the cornered runner. “Normally I’d keep mum about this, but I can’t have you two killing one of my babies.” That got a gasp out of Rainbow Dash, and bewilderment from Rarity. He reached Nova, still reading her file. “You seem to have had quite the public life before you burned your SIN. A shame you never got picked up by the Nightborne.”

Twilight tilted her head. “How do you know all that if her SIN was burned?”

Guiding Light gave a wrinkled smirk. “She is a child of Mother Moon. It is through divination matrices using her magic that my colleagues and I can keep general track of our… children. Plus, given the nature of the Nightborne’s work, we have an off-site database that keeps records written on paper medium of every child of the Moon, so any SIN burning doesn’t destroy knowledge of them. I must say, the system by which those records are created and read by the on-site computer is ingenious.” He tapped his thick glasses with a crooked grin. “I’ve been reading what we have on you this whole time.”

Rarity moved her carbine back to its normal resting place on her back, but didn’t let her magic go just yet. “Flash, dear, how much can we take this gentlecolt at his word?”

Rainbow closed in on the group. “He’s as honest as Farmer. At least with me.” Twilight nodded in silent agreement.

Guiding Light had a fatherly smile, and he stopped short of arm’s length from Nova. “I always liked you, Rainbow Dash. Trust is to be respected, earned, a fact you know all too well.”

The three friends hissed at the open use of Rainbow’s name. For her part, Nova acted as if she didn’t hear it, anything to keep them from shooting her right then and there.

Twilight was more than happy to defuse the tension, and move on from the name drop. “I see. Nova, it looks like you are more than you thought you were.”

Nova laughed nervously, still uneasy from being drawn upon. “I hope whatever it is I am is enough to keep from being fragged.”

Rainbow’s ears fell flat against her skull. “Doc, how is she a thestral if she was never part of the Nightborne?”

“I can explain in a minute, but I can tell you that she isn’t, so can we put the guns down?” Guiding Light eyed Nova with a wiry grin. “Somehow I don’t think you went through all this trouble just to find out about - erm - I don’t think I caught your name, miss…?”

“Ahhh - Nova, I go by Nova.”

“Right, thank you Miss Nova.” Guiding Light refocused on Rainbow Dash. “I can not speak of her acquaintances in crime potentially making her a threat, but she is not a Nightborne.”

At that, Rainbow was silent. Some part of her desperately wanted to know if Rarity’s hunch was right, but another part wanted to bury it in the past where it belonged. She was who she was, and the how of it surely wasn’t of any real consequence. She was a pegasus turned thestral, and that’s all there was to it.

During the silence, Twilight noticed Rainbow and Rarity were sluggish to trust, and decided to approach Nova first and offered a hoof. “Sorry, Nova, we thought you might have been a spy leading us on.”

Nova looked back and forth between the hoof and the apologetic half-smile. Fear dominated her hesitation, but she took a chance and took Twilight’s hoof. “Apology accepted. I probably woulda actually fired if I were you. Yeah, definitely would have.”

At that, Rainbow finally released her charged mana, leading Rarity to reluctantly release her magic from the carbine.

That left Guiding Light enough motivation to step up to Rainbow so Nova had a bit less scrutiny to calm down. “Now my dear, I get the feeling you are here more for yourself than her.”

Rarity would have liked to follow Twilight’s lead of staying back and out of the way, but feared leaving Rainbow’s side should Rainbow be blinded by her past trust. “Yes, my apologies as well, dear. Now, Doctor, yes we came looking for answers about Flash’s past regarding Resolute Chorus.” Rainbow gave a worried look at the geneticist, hoping he would catch the hint on her alias. Maybe Nova will just think my real name is just my old street name instead, and forget about it.

Twilight earned a relieved sigh out of Nova before turning to address the doctor. “Yes, and I’d like to know why both she and Nova here have the same subject designators.”

Everyone except Guiding Light gave Twilight puzzled looks. The scientist gave a gravelly sigh. “The others always said you were too smart, perhaps there is merit to that.” He pulled away from Rainbow just enough so he could get all four mares in sight at once. “I suppose I can start at the beginning of it all. To be honest, I’ve felt obligated to tell you for years now.

“About sixty years ago, the Princess tasked me with two objectives. The first was perfecting the thestral genome that would allow the resurrection of that long dead tribe. The other was heading a group that could locate ponies that could command the Elements of Harmony.

“Celestia facilitated the first part by giving us some de-petrified thestral corpses for a basis. The second wasn’t that hard really. Social media practically gives us a decent enough picture of roughly eighty percent of the public. Potential wielders of Generosity, Laughter, Kindness, and Honesty were rare to be sure, but still had a number of candidates. But Loyalty was utterly non-existent.”

Twilight wrinkled her brow. “But how can that be? There’s plenty of loyal ponies out there.”

“True, but any tenet of harmony can be corrupted.” Guiding Light countered. “Take Generosity for example. You can call a pony who gives away all worldly possessions generous. They can spend all their time in a soup kitchen with no thought for themselves. But what have they really accomplished? They feed a few souls until the money runs out, and they end up just as homeless as the ponies they tried to help. That is abnormal, a logical extreme, but it does happen. The sad part is, they likely don’t even do it for generosity’s sake, but for a twisted sense of self-gratification. That little bump of dopamine becomes more important than actually helping. Even those who genuinely do it to help others neglect themselves.

“No. The Elements are very particular as to whom they deem worthy, and no singular aspect is enough. It had to be a holistic and, fittingly enough, harmonious approach to the tenet. Life is full of nuances, and the Elements are no different,” he added dismissively with a roll of a hoof that cracked with every turn. “But the short of it is that scant few ponies fit the bill, and Loyalty above all else was horribly absent. So a decade into the project, the recently promoted regent, a Miss Sunset Shimmer—I should hope you at least passively pay attention to who the heads of state are—suggested to me that if we couldn’t find a bearer of Loyalty, that we should make one instead.”

Rainbow grew cold, fear hitching her voice. “You - please don’t tell me…”

Guiding Light shook his head. “My dear, as I watched each of my creations from afar, I always knew you, above all others, were incapable of the treason you were accused of. Seeing you here tonight with—” He stole a glance at Twilight Sparkle. “With friends—not just co-workers I imagine, but actual friends—confirms it for me. So you need to know the truth of it, contract be damned.” He looked her dead in the eye. “Full disclosure: I created you. My peers were busy creating other variants of the thestral genome, but you were the sole focus of my attention. I created your DNA, letter by letter. Seeing you here tonight vindicates my pride that you were, in part, my masterpiece.”

You are a planned organism.

“But - no, I look like my parents, they didn’t work for the crown or anything.”

“No, they didn’t,” Guiding Light admitted freely. “I made sure you looked enough like them that they’d never question you.”

“But I was pegasus, I still have pictures!” Rainbow was getting louder and more desperate, her pain coloring her voice.

“Yes, that was part of the plan I didn’t like, but had to obey. From the start, you were, and still are, a thestral. I had to modify your DNA to give you the outer appearance of a pegasus. Your fangs remained hidden in your upper jaw. With child x-rays being digital, it was trivial to have your SIN flagged to edit those x-rays before being visible to the doctor.

“You had real feathers as well, the whole deal. But your essence, your soul was always that of a thestral. All your rebirth under the moon did was unmask the real you. Personally, I did all that in hopes you wouldn’t contract Polygraph’s Disease. But your time in the Nightborne proved my efforts for naught on that front.”

Rarity looked wide eyed at both Rainbow and the stallion. “Wait, what makes you say that? Flash doesn’t have PD.”

Rainbow couldn’t respond. She was shaking with raw emotion and was too distraught to speak aloud. Not him, she couldn’t deny what Guiding Light said. She felt like she owed him too much to fall back on denial. Twilight’s ears fell back with concern and she cantered over to hug Rainbow Dash who didn’t respond one way or the other.

Guiding Light might have been fatherly to the others, but Rarity was an outsider to him. He felt tight lipped towards her. “Of course she does. I ran the tests myself when she was reborn under the moon. Her other symptoms were thankfully minor, so she’s probably hidden that fact from you.”

Rarity bit her lip, unsure in how to proceed. Sure Rainbow outed her motherhood to Nova, but Rarity was too suspicious to trust the stallion with that bit of information. “I see. What a shame.”

Nova took advantage of the silence. “So um, doc, if I’m a thestral or whatever, does that mean I actually have Soul Sickness or not? I mean, I always just kinda assumed I did.”

Guiding Light pried his eyes off Rarity. “I don’t know, honestly. Your parents fit our criteria when they were trying to create a new foal, a shame they deviated as much as they did. But as for your question, testing for PD requires procedures that a pediatrician would ask too many questions about. An easier test from afar is to see if they ever had a child naturally. Which given bat culture, would already be unlikely, I suppose. If we had the time, and you weren’t breaking and entering, I’d offer to test you here and now.

“As for how you are a thestral instead of a bat, it was trivial to give your parents’ doctors your embryo, line some pockets, and have them pass you off as their work. So make no mistake, you were a thestral from the very start.”

“Ah,” Nova rubbed her chin and hummed nonchalantly. “That’s cool.”

The flippancy of the comment broke through to Rainbow. “That’s cool?” Rainbow shoved Twilight off of her so there was nothing between Nova and her. “How can you just say that? We’re fake ponies! We’re freaks!”

“I’m fully aware of that, yes.” Nova shrugged helplessly. “Bat pony, thestral. It’s just different names for the same thing as far as I can tell.”

But—” Rainbow snorted out of utter disbelief. “But your parents didn’t even have a hoof in designing you!”

Nova fumed with indignation, and waved an angry wing right back at her. “If you knew my parents, you’d see that as a blessing, believe me. I’m actually really glad to know I don’t share a single chromosome with either of them, planned or biologically.”

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Flash,” Twilight interrupted with a hoof on Rainbow’s withers.

Rainbow jerked away and glared at her. “And what would you know?”

Twilight gave her a neutral look that bordered on concern. “Because I know how it feels.”

Rainbow gave a loud equine snort and threatened to storm off, Rarity’s goals be damned. “I don’t want your pity. How can you know how it actually feels?!”

Twilight looked at Guiding Light, but the stallion kept his mouth shut. “Very well.” She looked at the avatar. “Genome, release—”

“Wait!” Guiding Light yelled with a raised hoof, shaking with age. “Celestia forbade us to tell a soul.”

“I know,” Twilight’s face dropped, and she closed her eyes. She inhaled sharply. “But, I believe if she were here right now, she’d do this herself.”

“You don’t know that, child.”

“I like to think she’d trust me enough to do what’s right.” Twilight looked over her friends, new and newer. “Besides, since we’re airing so many secrets, I might as well add mine to the pot.” When Guiding Light didn’t bother voicing anymore objections, Twilight returned her attention to the avatar. “Genome, release security locks on 33-49 #1, voice identity code Solar Lunar Omega.”

“Code verified.” The same readout box still surrounding the thestrals now appeared around Twilight. She looked dead at Rainbow. “I was created from the DNA up as well for one singular purpose. But I’ll admit to knowing about that since I was eight.” Rainbow and Rarity were speechless, while Nova was left in a ‘so what’ mood, but was wise enough not to voice it. “I know what really troubles you is that loss of self-determination. Isn’t it? That you have no worth outside of what somepony else made you to be.”

“You don’t…” Rainbow couldn’t force the rebuttal out. “You - you knew your whole life?”

“Essentially. After everything you’ve seen of me, it can’t be that hard to believe.”

The comment did the trick of derailing Rainbow’s mental spiral. She sheepishly scratched the back of her head. “Well, your magic being complete trash outside of a dragon line was convincing enough that you were mostly natural. Pretty shoddy work if you ask me. ”

Twilight’s cheeks puffed up and she fumbled over her rebuke. She was red in the face by the time she could work her jaw. “Celestia does not do shoddy work! I’m just incomplete, that’s all!”

“Miss Sparkle that is far enough!” Guiding Light barked as he interposed himself between them. “I can not stop you from speaking of such matters, but at least do it where you know no pony is listening!”

Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow briefly looked at Nova. Guiding Light was momentarily confused why Rarity wasn’t getting scrutinized as well, but kept his peace on that. Nova was about to defend herself, but stopped herself when Rainbow was emotionally beyond caring.

“So you’re incomplete? What? Did Celestia think leaving you with a broken horn was cool? Character building maybe? That’s sick to do to a unicorn! What’s Celestia thinking by playing with our lives like this? What even is the point of the damn Elements?!”

Twilight grimaced at the sheer disgust in Rainbow’s tone, but it was expected all the same. “She’s not playing, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight closed her eyes and delved into her memories. “The unplanned organism is a question asked by nature, and answered by death. We are another kind of question, with another kind of answer.”

Nova worked up the nerve to come in close while Rarity raised a questioning hoof. “Quoting your teacher, I take it?”

Twilight nodded hesitantly. “It means that we are not accidents like natural born ponies. We were conceived with a purpose.” Twilight was still focused on Rainbow. “That purpose does not diminish us in any way. We do not stop being important once we fulfill our purpose. Flash, you have lived a life, and you’re not even close to thirty yet. It may not have gone the way you wanted, but do you think being made to wield Loyalty has anything to do with you finding love? Having a family? Becoming a shadowrunner of all things? For Celestia’s sake your cutie mark has nothing to do with being an Element Bearer!”

“You had a family?! But your PD!” Guiding Light sat bolt upright, but was largely ignored.

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow shot back while flaring her wings. “Well, where was I headed before that? Looking back on it, I was practically led by the nose to join the Wonderbolts, and right into the hooves of the Nightborne.” She whipped her focus onto Guiding Light. “Right as I was expected to, wasn’t I?”

The elderly stallion decided to table Rainbow’s lack of Soul Sickness for now, and turned his nose up at her. He moved over to claim a wooden test-tube rack. He dumped the empty vials on the bench and proceeded to thwack Rainbow on the head with it.

Rainbow tried to shield her head with a foreleg and her wings, but the stallion slipped the rack through her defenses and conked her between the ears one more time. “Hey! Why’d you do that ya crusty old geezer!”

“You stupid girl! Do you honestly think I would ever condone mental directives like that? Let alone from the Princess?”

“I’m beginning to wonder,” Rainbow replied bitterly, only to get another smack on the head.

“I knew I should have put more grey matter in that cudgel you call a skull, but I don’t think it would have gotten enough use to be worth it.” Rainbow shot into the air to escape his wrath, but the wrinkled stallion was already putting the rack down. “Do you know how many sleeper thestral children our lab put out there?” He turned to the avatar. “How many did we make before the project was shut down?

“One thousand, three hundred and fifty five.”

Rainbow balked at the number. Twilight was unmoved, while Rarity and Nova were more impressed than anything else. “That many? Why?”

“Because mentally forcing you was both unethical and would defeat the whole purpose.” Guiding Light’s age was catching up to him. He was breathing heavily and collapsed to three legs. Twilight and Rarity were quick to support him. Even Rainbow Dash landed close by, but didn’t know how to squeeze in to help. He nodded his thanks while keeping his eyes focused on Rainbow. “Out of those thousands, you were the only one to not only come back to us, but who didn’t lose her way and be found insufficient of character by the Elements. Be it nature or nurture, you came back. I don’t need the Element in my hoof to know you’re worthy of it.” He gave Rainbow the stern, hard look of a father. “Aye, we made you to bear Loyalty, but all those failures should tell you we didn’t control your mind through your DNA. It is a path you chose to follow. The only difference is that I opened the door for you to do so.”

Rainbow wasn’t truly listening anymore as her fear started to become self-loathing. “I don’t - I’m sorry, but—”

Rarity was struck by inspiration and almost giggled madly. “Wha ha ha! I got it! Flash, dear, think of it. You’re not artificial in the slightest.”

“I - what? But, they’ve been telling me the whole time I was created!”

Rarity nodded, but kept her focus. “Yes, yes, but think of it this way. The other Nightborne, they chose to become thestrals, but they all suffer Soul Sickness, yes?”

“They do, sadly,” Guiding Light admitted. “Even with all my efforts, all I can do is minimize the symptoms.” He wanted to press about Rainbow having children, but Rarity kept going, silencing him.

Rarity clapped her hooves. “Flash, you don’t have Soul Sickness if your children are any indication. That means you are a real thestral. The jury is still out on you, Nova.

“But, Flash, sure there may have been some finagling in bringing you back, but you are the first real thestral to exist for hundreds of years. At least assuming Nova here is younger than twenty five years old. Even if she’s the real deal.”

“Ah, yeah, I’m nineteen.”

Real. Did she dare hope? “You’re just using word play and mental gymnastics, Diamond.”

“Pish-posh, hardly! I see you like a dress. For some, it is the very picture of fashion: timeless, trendy, or dull, these are all opinions. What doesn’t change is that the dress is still a dress. You are still a pony, a born thestral. The living symbol of your tribe’s return from the grave!”

Nova raised a hoof. “Technically I was born more of a thestral than she was.”

“Hush you,” Rarity snapped just barely soft enough to be seen as playful. “You came after by your own admission.”

Rainbow felt a weight off her shoulders, but the fear that it might crash right back down dulled her mood. “I need time to think this over.”

Twilight hugged Rainbow for all her worth. “We’ll be here for you, no matter what. What do you say, girls?”

Rarity was all too eager to jump in. “Absolutely. No matter what you think or say, you’re a real friend to me.”

Nova felt rather uncomfortable staying out, but couldn’t bring herself to impose on it. “So, hey, you never did tell me to go plug my ears.” She shrugged and gave a sheepish grin as the rainbow maned thestral pulled herself away.

“I actually did tell you,” Rainbow fumed, leading Nova to freak a bit and recoil. The fearful reaction deflated what irritation Rainbow had over it. “But after hearing you were a thestral, PD or not, I figured you had a right to know what he was going to say, so I’ll give you a pass this time.”

Nova shivered as biult up stress bled away. “Y-yeah, it was a bit crazy.” Nova averted her eyes, not sure how to feel over it, if she should feel anything in the first place.

Rarity checked her phone and eeped at it being nearly half past one o’clock. The all-clear signal was about to expire. “Guiding Light, as much as I would prefer to carry on this catharsis, we’re short on time. Can you tell me why the throne wanted to pour all this money into finding the bearers in the first place?”

“Well, from what I know, the Elements have a loose influence on Equestria’s social fabric. Each Element helps keep deviancy of greed, dishonesty, and so on and so forth from going out of control. The Princess warned that their influence has been waning for some time. If we found bearers for all six Elements, then the artifacts would be reinvigorated.

“But after a few decades of limited success, Resolute Chorus was shut down because the Regent felt Equestria was better served directly improving society instead of relying on the Elements like a crutch. I can’t say I disagree with her,” he added with a limp shrug. “Relying on an outside source just to keep our moral fabric intact is asking for trouble. But even then, the Princess kept going on about a more singular concern with the Elements, but I was never privy as to what that was.”

He scoffed at the reminder of the personal injustice. “In the end, reallocation of funds was the final nail in the coffin. Work on the thestral genome was completed long ago, including several thousand versions of it to keep the gene pool sufficiently deep. So it’s not like we had any real legging to protest on. My side of the whole Elements angle was done anyway.”

“Wait a second, you made us to wield the Elements, and you don’t even know the main purpose the Princess had in mind?” Twilight asked, rejoining the conversation. She left Rainbow Dash alone so she had time to process everything.

“I thought the reinvigorating was the primary purpose.” Guiding Light rebuked more harshly than he wanted to. With a tired sigh, he shuffled over to a chair, and grumpily waved off any attempts to help from Twilight. The old stallion’s hip and back caused him horrible aches. “Damn fool nonsense about how we weren’t getting results,” he said with a gracious sigh as he sank into the office chair. “Well, I take that back. To be honest, my memory is a bit hazy, and this happened a while ago, but the Regent did concede we had four candidates, and one guaranteed bearer. But in the end, that wasn't good enough, not with the time frame the project was going to take.”

Rarity’s face lit up with intrigue, and she pressed in. “Time frame? What prompted the deadline?”

Guiding Light arched an unamused eyebrow and spun his chair away from the intruding mare. “The Regent was the one to think up some fool idea she became distracted with. I don’t know what it was about, but Resolute Chorus was no longer the Princess’s pet project. My staff and I were transferred to determine the long term genetic stability of the Nightborne. As if I was some slipshod geneticist,” he added bitterly.

Behind them, Nova had inched her way close to Rainbow Dash and started up a quiet conversation the unicorns missed. Rarity’s brow wrinkled at the stallion’s words. “So is there nothing left of Resolute Chorus anymore?”

“Did I say that?” Guiding Light snapped tiredly. “I was just removed from the board of directors.” “I gave up trying to be an active member in Celestia’s inner circle years ago, but I keep a loose eye on things.” A snarky glint in his eye. "It pays to have friends in high places."

“So who has overall leadership over RC now?” Twilight inquired after sharing a worried look with Rarity.

“Regent Shimmer took over. My friends tell me she uses the monitoring infrastructure we created to assist the Sections in their work. It’s been quite successful from what I’ve heard.”

Twilight grinned massively. “Diamond, I think we have our next lead.”

“That we do.” Rarity checked the time, and the hour was too late for her liking. “But we’ll think about it later.” She turned to the two thestrals and cranked up the volume. “Ladies, it’s time we took our leave. I’d rather not tango with a full company of angry knights.”

Rainbow got up and waved goodbye to Guiding Light. “See ya gramps, keep breathing another year, will ya?” she managed to crack a smirk.

“I’m not dying until I see those kids of yours. It would be my entire bucket list all in one if I could see proof at least one of you no longer has PD.”

Rainbow grinned at the sentiment. “If all this blows over before you croak, I can arrange that.”

“Don’t disappoint me by dying out there, child. I want to see those rugrats of yours.”

“You will, count on it.” Rainbow roped a wing around Nova’s back. “And you’re coming too. No excuses.”

“Eeeee!” Nova squealed in protest as she was practically dragged over to the unicorns who were already leaving the lab. “Technically, though, you were the ones coming up with reasons to kill me or take me along.”

“Yeah well, you’re a thestral, so you’re coming. We’re too rare to split up after tonight.” The two reached the hallway, and Rainbow saw the unicorns were making for the stairs. “That’s another thing,” Rainbow stated with steely forcefulness. “You are never ever allowed to think of or call yourself a bat pony ever again. You’re a thestral. Accept it, own it, and never forget it.”

The pair reached the stairs and decided to glide their way down, giving their legs a rest. “Ah - sure. Thestral sounds cooler and all. I still don’t get where all this pissiness about bat ponies came from. You didn’t seem to bite my head off when you thought I was one, what did they do to you?”

The two landed hard on the first floor of the labs and continued to sprint for the exit. Twilight was flagging, and running out of breath, but she still worked up the strength to keep pace with Rarity.

“I’ll tell you when we get home.” Rainbow and Nova skidded to a halt at the elevator. Twilight had collapsed on the floor sucking in breath and whimpering to herself. “You need to exercise more, egghead.” She poked the bit of pudge on Twilight’s stomach.

“Don’t you start too,” Twilight whined.

Everyone piled in with Rarity slapping the floor button. “Girls, we’re going to end up over half an hour late. Our ride’s probably long gone by now, so we’ll need to take the truck Flash brought.” A round of nods circled the elevator.

Down on the street, a stallion was sitting nervously in a van parked a block away from the tower. Through tinted windows, he kept watch around him, but most of his focus was waiting on the four runners. “Damn it. Mares are always late. I bet they see the clock as the most useless invention ever.”

His phone started buzzing as it hit one o’clock sharp. “Well, my contract said wait until one AM, and they still aren’t here, so they’re probably dead anyway.”

He was about to start the engine when a hoof rapped on his driver side door. He jerked over to see it was Lightning Dust. He growled in annoyance and rolled the window down. “About damn time. When you said you were on your way down, I thought you’d be back hours ago! I only stuck around this long because I owe you, LD.”

“Yeah well, that’s not me you’re waiting for.” Lightning purred. “But my damn doppelganger. I called you from Fisto’s place.”

“And you didn’t bother telling me that until now?” Burnt Rubber snorted in irritation.

“I know you, Burnt. You always watch out for any runners you have on the job. So you would have warned my evil twin, am I right?”

He crossed his forelegs in a huff. “Damn right I would have. I got a reputation to uphold.” He snorted in amusement over it all. “This is what you get for advertising yourself like that.”

“Shut up! I’m calling in the favor. Pop your side door.”

“What for?” he asked while still doing as instructed.

Lightning Dust climbed in and racked her submachine gun. “Because I’m going to kill her right here and now. Keep your mouth shut when they show up and I’ll kill her when she tries to get in.”

“They’re probably dead by now,” Burnt Rubber said as he turned around to keep looking at her. “They’re late.”

“I’m not taking that chance.” Lightning Dust rolled the side door shut and settled in to get comfortable, and ultimately left her weapon on the middle seat. “Either by the tower’s security, or by me, she’s dying tonight.”

“Whatever, my contract ended at one o’clock. Just try to not get blood on my floor back there.” Burnt Rubber ignored her and returned to keeping an eye out. If I tried to leave, she’d plant a bullet in my skull.

Time dragged by slowly. And it was roughly twenty minutes until two when Burnt Rubber spotted some activity. Three passenger helicopters screamed onto the roof of the skyscraper and dropped off troops while a gunship started orbiting the building, clearly intent on blasting through the glass walls if that meant killing the intruders. “Welp, if they weren’t dead before, they sure are now.” Two more helicopters went for the main doors and the only other exit point: the parking garage.

“That’s it, we’re leaving!”

Lightning Dust climbed over the seat to join him up front. A humorless grin cleaved her muzzle. “Never thought I’d be happy to see the knights roll up in force.”

Burnt Rubber was about to make a reply, but the sound of screeching wheels brought his attention to the parking garage. The four knights that had deployed down to street level briefly started firing into the garage. A pickup truck smashed through the restraining bar, causing the knights to dive out of the away. The truck sailed right under the helicopter.

An armored suit that was still standing in the deployment bay of the helicopter started firing its heavy minigun at the fleeing vehicle.

A brilliant sapphire blue shield with a lavender base popped up, absorbing the first few seconds of fire before collapsing. But that gave the truck enough time to round the street. It ran on the sidewalk so the buildings could be used as cover. Yet that did not stop the helicopter gunner from firing as close to them as possible, shredding every parked car along the way.

The truck was coming down their street, and would end up dragging the cannon fire right on top of the van. Lightning Dust scrambled to the back seat to get her weapon, kicking Burnt Rubber in the process. “What are you doing?! Get us out of the way!”

“I’m trying!” Burnt Rubber slammed on the accelerator and swerved to escape the autocannon fire snaking its way towards the truck from the gunship high above. The moment the van started moving, the gunner from the first helicopter started targeting them due to the truck still being blocked by the buildings.

Cursing his luck, both the truck and Burnt Rubber dove into the same side street as bullets found him, and smashed every window on the passenger side. Lightning Dust was thrown against the passenger side bay door, and risked looking out of it once the van was no longer on leaning on two wheels. She came almost face to face with her doppleganger in the truck barely five feet away. The body double stared at her for a moment before both mares realized who they were staring at. Lightning Dust lifted her submachine gun up and was about to fire at the cursed identity thief when the autocannon fire raked the back of the van, shearing off the entire rear half of the vehicle. Even as the van started to tumble and trail a river of sparks behind it, Lightning Dust held onto the side of the broken window, glass cutting into her leg as she did. She fired fifteen rounds at the fleeing truck, doing little more than maring its tailgate until a few bullets hit the back tires.

The truck fish tailed and slammed into an outdoor cafe before coming to a stop. The van then rolled and crashed into a streetlight, throwing Lightning Dust along the sidewalk before stopping against a bollard of a skyscraper. She cracked her eyes open long enough to see the four mares vacate the ruined truck and make a mad dash for the shadows.

Police sirens were blaring from the north, forcing Lightning Dust to shake off the shock from crashing as best she could. She looked to the van’s cabin, only to find Burnt Rubber had been thrown through the windshield headfirst into the streetlight.

Lightning Dust tried to get to her hooves, but the impacts had banged her up too much to walk. Eventually, several knights arrived and arrested her on the spot.

Pinkie Pie was at home creating new pictures and laying new string to her investigation board when the phone on her desk lit up with Flintlock’s face on it. She snatched it up and answered. “What’s the scoop, Flinty my boy?”

He growled deeply at the nickname, but didn’t voice his displeasure. “A government genetics lab was hit off Fifth Avenue. We have two survivors, one of them saying they went out of their way to spare his life. Sound familiar?”

Pinkie’s eyes focused on the focus of her board: Rainbow Dash. Once more her Pinkie Sense told her she was a friend. “I’m on my way.”

“Good, we’re going to need your mysticism on this one because they set fire to the security center. You’re going to be our best bet for any forensics leads.”

“Roger dodger, I’ll swing by the office and pick up my clue kit.”

“I took the liberty of taking it with me on the tilt-rotor, just get over to the scene.”

“You got it boss,” Pinkie chirped back. She kept her newfound distrust in him quiet. Should I really be surprised about all of it though? It’s not like he’s a master spy or something.

Luckily for Pinkie, Flintlock had momentarily looked away as he kept speaking. “Also, the KE arrested one of the shadowrunners. Does the name Lightning Dust sound familiar?”

“Yeah, she does.” A feral grin cleaved Pinkie’s muzzle at the news. “I crashed a few of her parties back in the day. She took offense for some reason. Honestly, I made them all much more fun.”

Flintlock looked back at her with something caught between amusement and concern. “I see. Well, you can add tonight to her rap sheet because the surviving Knight Errant trooper just hoofed her as one of the assailants.”

Far above the light pollution of Canterlot, the stars inched closer to the moon.

Author's Note

Did our heroines have insurance for that truck? Did RD solve the curse of the moon? What exactly is Celestia's deal with cakes?

You may or may not find out next time!!

This chapter took far longer than originally planned as it was supposed to be out 1-2 days after the last one. But here it is! Honestly I blame Ponkers.

:pinkiegasp: I just wanna know when I get to punch that no good frienemy! I just gotta figure out who that is exactly...

12: Counterplay

Rarity burst through a solid steel door, and quickly ushered the rest of the team inside. The poorly lit room they found themselves in had rather spartan accommodations: a weathered brown sofa, two folded up steel chairs, some blankets, and a small foam cooler. Three other rooms branched off from here, but aside from the streetlights from a nearby window, everything was dark.

Once the door was closed and locked, both unicorns collapsed onto the sofa, both of them were drenched in sweat and gulping the stale musty air. Rarity’s horn brightened, and turned on room light. Rainbow and Nova claimed the chairs, and neither of them were in much better shape.

After a few long moments, Twilight groaned in pain while holding her sore abdomen. Running for just about an hour had brought her to her limits. Her only saving grace were the pauses to lay low to stay out of sight. Even then, it took her several seconds to have enough breath to speak. “Any chance we can get some air going?”

“Afraid not, mon ami.” Rarity was in better shape than Twilight, and she wasn’t as out of breath now. “This is a safehouse with all the amenities striped down for costs. That means no water and no electricity.” Rarity pointed up at the light to show it was a magic glowstone attached to a switch.

“Isn’t water supposed to never be turned off?” Twilight asked. She stood up on limp legs and started to scan around for a restroom.

Rainbow Dash scoffed and flicked a wing in no particular direction. “Ha! Who said it was the water company who turned it off? The slumlord doesn’t want the homeless getting free showers so he only gives water to paying tenants. Diamond keeps this place because Slummy owes her, but not enough to keep the water on.”

“Well, if the water’s off, how am I going to use the restroom?” Twilight started to whine.

Rarity pointed at the correct room. “I have some gallons of water stashed in there to fill the reservoir. It’s horribly degrading doing it like that, but that’s the point of it. Nopony who knows me would think I would stay in a place like this, and would overlook it in a search. There may only be some canned food in the, I hesitate to call it a ‘kitchen’, but if you’re hungry, please, eat and clean yourselves up. As best as you are able anyway. We can think of our next step after we’re ready to leave.”

Upon Pinkie Pie’s arrival at the genetics lab, she was quickly rushed to the lounge near the security center. Flintlock was standing close to Guiding Light who was muttering cranky obscenities at him. Vapor Trails was pressing the surviving Knight for details as well. Both thestrals were wearing robes similar to what Pinkie saw Rainbow wearing the night they met. The only difference was that their robes looked much sharper and had the stylized “S” and “9” printed on the sides.

Pinkie noticed her snooping kit was resting close to Flintlock. The stallion looked away from Guiding Light once Pinkie approached. “Heyya boss. Where do ya want me?”

Flintlock grumbled under his breath for a moment. “Detective, we need to get you a private helicopter if you’re going to be this late again.”

Pinkie shrugged, her slight grin never leaving. “Eh, getting a pilot’s license would sure beat traffic.”

Guiding Light arched a curious eyebrow at the pink pony bedecked in shaman fetishes and icons. Yet what got him to speak up was the small clay smiling mask lodged in her mane and her most prominent necklace. “You’re bringing a shaman to do your forensics now, Flint my boy?”

“She’s done good work so far. Guiding Light, this is Detective Pinkie Pie.” Flintlock waved at both of them. “It was her… patron’s prodding that gave us the justification to go in and arrest Denim Pants.”

Guiding Light hummed in approval. “Denim was a stain upon Equestria. I might just have to make an offering, provided it is nothing obscene. Who is your patron exactly?”

Pinkie Pie let off a snorting giggle and waved casually at him. “Oh, that would be Gelos. And all he likes is hearing ponies laugh and smile. But only in good fun. He doesn’t like benders or fun times that hurt yourself or others.”

Flintlock scoffed with only modest disrespect. “Quite a prune if he’s so restrictive. Anyway, Detective, go to the security center behind me and see what you can sniff out of the astral. Focus on where they’ll go next if possible.”

Pinkie did a stiff salute and held a hard face for a brief second. “Rogerino!”

Guiding Light watched her go. An idea formed. “Flint my boy, my old bones ache, are you done with your questions?”

Flintlock was too distracted by his own thoughts to notice Light’s mood. “The big ones, yes. The rest can wait until tomorrow. Get some rest, ya old salt.”

The intervening hour was a quiet one. Between some passed around cans of food and the growing heat of the safehouse, no one felt like talking much. Twilight had fallen asleep on top of some blankets after cleaning up her fur and mane as best she could with jugs of water. By the looks of Rarity’s drooping face, she wasn’t long for the waking world. Nova was still wide awake, and had taken the time to wash off the fur dye. An act only possible because Rarity had stocked the proper shampoo for her own disguises. Nova was finally able to reveal her true fur color as navy blue with her mane a two toned caramel. She had rebandaged her missing implant, and was currently stuffing her maw with canned carrots. Dribbles of vegetable juice ran down the corners of her mouth.

Now that Rainbow had a safe-ish place to think and come down from the adrenaline, all she could think about was Guiding Light’s words. The first real thestral. Rainbow Dash would be the first to admit she was no scholar, probably brag about it too, but even she couldn’t shake the feeling he was being poetic. Maybe the first generation of thestral mares instead, since none of the guys were sterile.

Rainbow felt around for her moon pendant, and tugged it out to look at its silvery surface. She had it rest on the frog of her right hoof while tracing it with her left. “So which is it?” she whispered, barely audible to her own ears. “Am I a real one?”

For a long moment, the pendant remained inert, but Rainbow didn’t sulk. She fixed a hard grimace at the icon, daring it to do something. Her mage senses started to pick something up from the pendant, a buildup of mana, and for a second she saw it start to glow.

“What’s that?” Nova called from her side of the room. She started walking over, the can of carrots tinging noisily on the ground, where not even a drop of carrot water was left behind.

Rainbow Dash sighed as the pendant went fully inert once more. Maybe it was enough of a sign. I hope. She remained still until Nova inched her way over to Rainbow’s side. That was enough to motivate Rainbow into showing the pendant to the other mare. “This is the Window to the Moon. It’s something all modern thestrals have, or at least I thought so until you showed up.”

“Yeah well, I thought I was a run of the mill bat, genetically speaking at least, until tonight,” Nova shrugged with a half-grin.

Rainbow leveled a massively lifted eyebrow at the decker. “To hear anypony who used to be in bat land call themselves run-of-the-mill is a new one.”

“Spoken like somepony on the outside,” Nova tossed spat right back. She frowned, and lowered her ears. “That’s the big reason I don’t like showing my tribe.” Nova remembered herself and pawed at the ground and looked away from Rainbow. “Sorry… I just can’t stand the other bats. Ponies who see my wings always ‘throw shade’ as mom loved to say.”

Some part of Rainbow was amused the only reason she knew that phrase was because of Rarity. “Hey, at least we have something else in common, am I right?”

“Psh, I guess.” Nova’s wound where the holographic projector had been started itching, but she kept on talking as she scratched at the gauze. “So what do we do now?”

“First, I need to send my husband a signal that I’m laying low. After that, we need to update our client on what we found out in the lab. But—” Rainbow shook her head at the sleeping unicorns. “The daywalkers will need at least a little sleep before we move, and my dude’s in the know enough that he won’t start to worry crazy high if the news never says they caught any of us.” Rainbow was still holding her medallion, and presented it to Nova. “Which at least gives me some time to show you this.”

Nova looked down at the crescent moon with only passing interest. “I’ve seen the moon before. We are nocturnal after all. Er, right? All bats are, but I think we did it for the appeal.”

Hearing that from a bat pony would have been expected, if insulting to Rainbow. From an ignorant thestral, it was grounds for immediate education. Twilight would be pleased if she wasn’t asleep. All the same, Rainbow had to suppress her need to lecture Nova’s ears off. “Yeah, but for us, the moon means a lot more.” Damn it, Winter was always better at explaining things to the kids. How do I explain anything without her experiencing the rebirth first? Not like she’s a kid who’ll believe me because I’m her mom. Rainbow briefly closed her eyes to both think, and to recall how emotionally moving her rebirth had been. Maybe I should try from a worldly approach first.

“Okay, so - here’s the deal. Science brought our tribe back from the grave, but Mother Moon is the source of our magic. If you wanna be poetic like my Winter, science is our father and Mother Moon is well - obviously the mother.” Rainbow inwardly cringed a bit at Nova’s face wrinkling. “So because Guiding Light was the big brain behind us, his only request was that we never chrome ourselves up, but some of us got him to allow datajacks for the deckers we had.”

Nova scowled angrily. “Don’t tell me your whole group are essence purists.”

“We are for good reason,” Rainbow tried to counter back with less vitriol than Nova was showing. “We’re made so our bodies and minds can handle using both the projected magic of mages and the inner magic of adepts tribe-wide. I dare you to try and find anypony outside of cutie mark naturals who can do that.”

“Wait, are you saying we can all do that!?” Nova perked up with intense interest.

Rainbow gave off a smug grin. She flexed, and used a bit of magic to make her foreleg look even beefier than normal. “Every last one of us, all thanks to Mother Moon’s magic. Well, we can, but not all of us do. Some of us were deckers before joining the Nightborne, and I’m sure they were as willing to keep their decks as much as you would.”

“Okay, I can dig it if I can keep my board.”

“Awesome. As for me, I already liked kicking flank, so it was a no brainer for me to join up. I was a bit slow to pick up the spells, but the Nightborne still managed to beat them into me.”

Nova felt around her missing implant wound. “Can this Mother Moon repair essence if you remove implants? I’ve heard about some shamans whose patrons can do that for them.”

“I don’t know about implant removal, part of the Nightborne screening process was strength of your essence. But I can tell you what I do know about her.” If there was ever a time Rainbow would have a non-mom lecture mode, it’d be tonight.

Deep inside the royal palace, Shining Armor sat inside a mission control center. His position was at the top of a multi-tiered line of consoles where a dozen operators remotely aided two squads of Solar Paladins. While Shining had a few screens next to him, giving various readings, it was the large wall screen that displayed each paladin’s helmet feed.

Shining Armor used some magic to switch two of the displays immediately in front of him to show the feeds from both squad leaders. The one on the left was at Mercy Hospital while the squad on the right was at the Royal Equestrian Supreme Court. Shining Armor was playing it quiet, with neither facility being aware of the squads’ presence.

“Door lock cleared, moving in,” said the leader in the hospital. His feed revealed a tactful shrine encapsulating the Element of Kindness. An earth pony moved towards the shrine’s console, and typed in the security code Celestia had provided. The shrine dutifully shut down and released the Element, allowing the squad leader to claim it in his magic. “Artifact secured. Exfiltrating.”

“Very good, Commander,” Shining Armor radioed with professional pride. “But it looks like you’ll be owing Team B a round of drinks this time.”

Shining Armor absently listened to the squad groan and complain. Good, things are going smoothly. Too bad, Sunset, I was almost hoping you’d try something. His attention shifted to the other team leader. The unicorn commander was flanked by three others on camera and were stepping onto the roof of the courthouse. The rooftop lights, which usually illuminated the towering statue of Celestia, had been shut off so the magically silented tiltrotor aircraft didn’t draw unwanted attention.

Ropes fell from the back bay doors, and each one of the five pony team latched them onto their harnesses—not even the pegasi wanted to risk flying so close to the downwash, and rappelled up as well. The team leader moved up right behind the pilots before pulling out the Element of Honesty to show it to the camera. “Piece of cake, Captain.”

The co-pilot looked up to see what was being presented. Barely a second after he did the whine of the engines started to drop. The co-pilot looked back at the dashboard with a worried brow. The pilot tried to increase thrust, but there was no response. “Central, we have a problem.”

A bit of cold sweat appeared on Shining’s brow. “What kind of problem?”

The tiltrotor was beginning to lose what little altitude it had, forcing the co-pilot to pull the aircraft away from the roof and over the street. The dashboard started flashing half a dozen warning lights, and an alarm that the pilots squelched. The pilot continued his efforts to reengage the engines. “Throttle’s not working. I can’t get the engines to respond to anything. It’s gone into emergency glide mode for some damned reason.”

“Glide mode? Did somepony flip the wrong switch?” Shining asked blindly, being unfamiliar with the craft.

“Negative,” the pilot said before directing his attention to the co-pilot. “Set us down, and watch out for the streetlights.

“Sorry sir, best guess, this is an equipment malfunction. Glide mode should only activate if the computer was compromised in any way to prevent theft of the aircraft.”

“Compromised?” Shining parroted as the sweat started dampening his uniform, “or hacked?”

The tiltrotor remained responsive as far as movement was concerned at least, and the pilots were able to settle it down safely. “Sir,” started the co-pilot, “permission for total shut down. If the computer is compromised, we shouldn’t leave the aircraft active.”

“Granted. Lieutenant, get your troops out of there, I’m calling in a new exfiltration option. Hang tight and bunker down.”

“Yes, Captain.” The leader turned back towards the troops who were nervously watching outside the windows or checking their gear. The atmosphere was electric with both worry and determination in equal measure.

“Alright, I want everypony to fan out and make our way south and stay on this side of the concrete divider. We’ve already swept the courthouse, so we know that’s clear of hostiles. Flyboys!” he called out to the two pegasus pilots. “You’re with us. Stay in the center.”

The two pilots finished the last of the fast shutdown, and climbed out of the cockpit. Both of them already had nervous fidgeting wings, but they kept their service pistols close. “We’re with you, LT.”

The bay doors had never been closed, so the team and two pilots were able to disembark. The team moved quietly, with only the occasional clatter of plastic on fabric. The leader stayed behind, ready to bring up the rear. As the last of his team made it onto the street, breaking glass and a loud ripping sound from the opposite pizzeria roared to life. Heavy machinegun fire raked the team, dropping half of their number before they could duck behind the concrete divider.

The squad leader cursed and remained tight against the frame of the bay doors, laying down covering fire of his own while another unicorn summoned a thick mist with his magic. A few others poked out from behind cover to add their own fire.

With everyone so focused on the machinegun, no one noticed the four griffins who flew in until they landed all around the tiltrotor. One of them grabbed at the squad leader at the back of the downed aircraft. Two of them starting laying down automatic fire from on top of the aircraft, nailing the pilots and two other troopers. The return fire was quick, with one of the bird getting a trio of shots right in the chest and neck while the other was forced to hide behind the tiltrotor’s starboard engine.

The squad leader squared off against his attacker, aimed, and fired too hastily. The griffin ducked under the rifle and slapped it out of the unicorn’s grip, and fired his pistol point blank. The unicorn spasmed and jerked as a tranquilizer dart sank in his neck with a follow up taser bolt.

The griffin was shot a moment later by one of the soldiers that had made it out of the aircraft, dropping him in a bloody heap. Machinegun fire arced back over the shooter’s position, forcing him to hunker down behind a wrecked van. A dark feathered griffin rounded the tiltrotor from the other side and jumped on top of the squad leader who was now drooling from the tranquilizer. The griffin slammed a riot shield between himself and the soldiers, and ducked behind it. The pony didn’t struggle as the second griffin frisked him until he found the proper satchel and looted the Element of Honesty. Weapons fire rattled against the shield, but the griffin held firm.

A trio of rifle launched grenades sailed into the pizzeria, blowing the machinegun nest to apart, with burning pieces raining down all over the street. The distraction allowed the griffin to abandon the shield for speed, and slink back around the side of the aircraft and vaulting the concrete divider. “I got the package. If anyone’s still alive, disengage!” The remaining soldiers were still ducking from the debris of the explosion, and didn’t move in time to stop the griffin from vaulting down a subway entrance.

Shining Armor was already tapping the radio, broadcasting to the tac team. “I want medics at the crash site.” He looked up at the operators. “Whistle Breeze, track them! Don’t lose sight of the Element!”

“The leader ran down a subway entrance. I’m accessing the local security grid… I - What?! He’s off my scopes, the local cameras must have been hacked ahead of time.”

“Damn it!” Shining Stomped the desk in a rage. Dreading the news, he looked up at the vital signs screen to find everyone was still alive. Some vitals were outside the norm, but he didn’t know what it meant. “What?! Vitals, is there something wrong with the equipment?”

“N-negative sir. The unconscious soldiers’ heart rhythms spiked before they went down. I’d say it’d got to have been taser rounds. I’m reading some broken bones, but nothing life threatening. Their helmets stopped T-round hits that could have been fatal. Damndest thing I’ve seen in years.”

Shining Armor look a long, angry breath through his nose. They went out of their way to avoid killing my troops, even though they lost some of their own. One one person came to mind. No one else would have had the knowledge of the operation and access to that kind of equipment. Sunset Shimmer. This less-than-lethal attack was all to mock the Princess and Rainbow Dash’s efforts. Shining Armor stomped his desk hard enough to hurt himself. “One way or another, Sunset, I’ll have your head for this.”

It took Rainbow’s team until dawn to return home. The group was walking two abreast up the last leg of the street when Rarity leaned into Rainbow’s ear. “Some of my other ‘friends’ have finished going over Miss Nova’s history. Her family claim checks out, but she went off the grid after she was disowned. Naturally.”

Rainbow glanced backwards. Nova was wearing Rainbow’s outer robes to hide her tribe, while Rainbow was stuck tucking her wings inside her tighter robes. Nova and Twilight were locked into a quiet discussion that Rainbow couldn’t overhear. “Alright. I guess we’ll take the chance she’s on the level.” Rainbow developed a smug smirk. “Looks like you finally get your wish of having a backup decker. You’ve got a lot of vacation time saved up, I’m sure.”

Risking unwanted attention, Rarity peeled off laughter. “Oh ho ho. Does that mean we get other benefits? My sister is about the age for braces, you know.” Rarity’s laughter petered away as they closed in on the front steps. “I hope you’re feeling better. Knowing the truth about ourselves is important, as Farmer would no doubt parrot.”

Rainbow’s smirk deflated, but not entirely. “A bit, I guess.” Rainbow stopped with a hoof on the door. She could smell coffee brewing inside. He’s pulling out the good stuff today. “If a fake mare can have real kids, then maybe I’m real enough to matter.” Rainbow stepped inside to find the coffee machine had a gentle ribbon of steam coming from the pot. The kids were absent, and Winter was asleep on the kitchen table, an untouched cup of java sat beside him.

What threatened to ruin the moment though, was Twilight’s sunstone sitting on the table as well. It was glowing hot.

“That can’t be a good sign,” Rainbow said worriedly. Did we make too much of a mess at the lab? Cold dread chilled Rainbow’s good mood as she stepped over to Winter Glen, allowing the other mares to file in. Rainbow gently nuzzled him awake.

Winter awoke with a start, but calmed upon seeing Rainbow’s face. He smiled in relief before enveloping her in a bear hug. “Hey, my Awesome Bow. How’d it go?”

Rainbow snorted in amusement and buried her muzzle under Winter’s jaw to be as close to him as possible. In the first time all night, she felt safe. “You got my message, or else you wouldn’t have had the pot on. You know how it went.”

Her moment of bliss was short lived however, when the glow of the sunstone doubled as soon as Twilight was in front of it.

Nova was still behind Twilight, and thought the silent glow was just a lamp at first. She looked around at the cheap kitchen walls, appliances, and the worn down look of the den beyond it. “Wow, and I thought my place was—” She had walked around Twilight by now, with her attention drawn to the sunstone. “—bad. Um?”

In a flash, the stone sent a beam of sunlight at Twilight who briefly became incandescent. Celestia teleported in between the kitchen and den. The spell had enough concussive force to slam the door shut and blow a few ramen cups away. “Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, I need you—” Celestia stopped when she saw the new face in the crowd.

Nova felt a chill run up her spine and she prostrated herself not nearly fast enough. She barely noticed how everyone else was quick to bow as well. “Princess Celestia?!”

“Please rise, everypony,” Celestia insisted impatiently. She looked to Rainbow. “Is this bat mare a member of your team or a mercenary?”

Rainbow stood up and pulled a bit away from Winter to have a bit more room. “Yes, Princess, she’s a new member, but honestly I was hoping to have a longer trial period before revealing the whole ‘working directly for you’ thing. And she’s actually a thestral.”

Nova leaned back on her haunches in utter amazement. “You all really are working for the Princess?! The way GL was talking I kinda figured, but hot damn, I hit the jackpot!” Nova skittishly shrank back at the unamused lifted eyebrow Celestia leveled at her. “Ah, I mean, it’s an honor to serve the crown for a change.” She grinned sheepishly, wanting to sink into a hole and die from embarrassment.

“For a change?” Celestia asked incredulously. “Nevermind, I’ll trust you know what you’re doing, Captain. Madam Diamond, was your excursion fruitful? Recent events have strongly indicated our culprit is none other than my very own regent: Sunset Shimmer.”

“I wish I was surprised.” Rarity cleared her throat after a flash of embarrassment in calling out the princess. “Er um, yes It was, your majesty. We found out a number of things. According to Guiding Light…” Rarity looked to Rainbow Dash to speak, sensing Rainbow would wish to say it herself.

And there it was. Thanks for your stupid forced therapy session, Rares. Rainbow Dash inwardly shored up her courage. No way I’m crying in front of the Princess. “It seems our newest member here, Nova, has been a thestral since she was born.” Rarity kneed Rainbow in the flank, earning a brief sour glare from the thestral. “And so am I. There were some genetic shenanigans involved I’m sure you know of.”

Celestia blinked in surprise. “Light spoke so openly with you? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. I heard he had an uncharacteristically friendly relationship with you.” She regarded the new face again. “ I assume Miss Nova was present to hear it all?”

“Yes, your majesty, I was.”

Rainbow stepped forward. “That was my call. After he revealed Nova was a thestral, it just seemed right that she’d know more about what she was.”

Celestia went quiet as she mulled over it. “...Very well. I trust you’ll make sure no state secrets find their way onto the matrix.” Celestia noted Nova’s implants. “Be sure you do not betray such trust. I have no doubt my captain here has little mercy for treachery.”

Shaky laughter bubbled out of Nova. “And piss off somepony who could melt off my face without even lighting her horn? I’ll be good. I promise.”

Rainbow inwardly chuckled at that. Heh, can’t say I didn’t think the same thing when I first joined up. “Seaking of melting faces, we found out Sunset Shimmer is still in command of Resolute Chorus. She could easily sniff out potential Bearers like Twiggles and me. I bet you anything she framed both of us!”

Rarity was left tapping her chin. “There’s still the ‘why’ of it all to figure out, but I’m sure you would already have an idea of a motive, your highness.”

“I know why…” Celestia glanced at Twilight who wasn’t saying anything further. “Last night however,” Celestia moved on. “Sunset Shimmer stopped trying to be covert about her aims. My Captain of the Guard sent two teams to retrieve Honesty and Kindness. The one securing Honesty was ambushed far too expertly for anypony else to set up on such quick notice. There is no doubt she is behind it all.”

Rainbow smirked and clapped her hooves together. “There you go, case solved. Summon the Guard, throw her in jail and we’re done by lunch. I’ll even forgo asking for a few billion bits for slandering my name for all these years if you let me ‘interrogate’ her first.”

The room seemed to darken as Celestia sucked in a breath. “Short of an attempted coup d’état, I’m afraid I can do precious little to Sunset Shimmer.”

By now, Winter has blinked away all the residual grogginess of sleep. “Uhhh, how is this not a coup d’état or at least treason? Your word is law. Anypony acting so blatantly against your wishes is guilty. Sunset is just a regent, you could throw her in chains and still have time for breakfast.”

Celestia was silent for a solid moment. Long enough for the crowd to get nervous.

“Winter,” Twilight asked when she saw Celestia wasn’t answering. “Do you know why Equestria has a regent in the first place?”

That stopped everyone else’s lines of thought. Winter looked away to think about it for a moment. “Not sure why that’s relevant, but I’ll bite. I always thought it tradition,” he answered with a bit of a shrug, “and Sunset was more accurately a majordomo or something.”

“The Princess takes holidays does she not?” Rarity asked next. “Surely Sunset takes over when she is away, yes?”

Both were common theories, among those who cared to ask. And as such, Rainbow felt compelled to stand out, if only to get a rise out of them. “Well duh, there’s a second Princess, right?”

“You say that in jest,” Celestia said at length. Her face was a mess with rising emotions long buried. “But you are correct, Rainbow Dash. Sunset Shimmer stands watch over a throne that has sat empty for just about a thousand years.”

“A thousand?” Rainbow repeated with mild confusion. “No offense, Princess, but isn’t that a bit too long to hold an empty seat? It’s gotta be covered in a mountain of dust.”

Rarity stepped in ever so politely, and roped a foreleg around Rainbow Dash and pulled her ear in close. “Shut your howling screamer. This is still the princess you’re talking too!” Rarity laughed sheepishly for Rainbow Dash and squeezed her ear keep the thestral quiet for a moment longer. “She is quite the jokester, Princess. Her time down here amongst the underworld has obviously robbed her of proper etiquette.”

“Perhaps…” Celestia was silent as she looked over the gathered ponies. She took a long breath. “The position of Regent has certain protections and privileges anypony else does not. Twilight, my faithful student. You may share what you know. I need to personally address Sunset Shimmer. I will let you know of what must be done later. I urge you to bring in Farmer and Angel. If my hunch is correct, this will involve all of you.”

Without further preamble, Celestia teleported away.

Celestia teleported back into her private office. The office was rarely used as she much preferred doing her work on the fly as it so often required. She used a touch of magic to ping her regalia to summon Shining Armor. As she turned around to her desk chair, she halted with a start at seeing Sunset Shimmer leaning silently against the desk.

“Hello, Princess. Busy as always I see,” she stated flatly. Any humor or snideness was completely absent from her dour, tense face. “How nice of you to tell me Plan A was still in the works.”

Celestia jumped a bit, but kept her composure. “Sunset Shimmer… You know me better than I thought.”

“Or hoped?” Sunset offered bitterly. “I thought we had an agreement.”

The office door suddenly swung open, silencing Sunset Shimmer for the moment as Shining Armor stood in the doorway with his horn still aglow from a teleport of his own. “Your majesty, I came as soon…” He locked eyes with Sunset, and went for his sidearm, horn aglow. “You. My sister’s been through hell thanks to you!”

“Thank Celestia,” Sunset retorted bitterly at the elder mare. “Still pisses me off what her little secrets forced me to do to Twilight.”

Shining Armor’s anger flashed, and his grip on the pistol tightened. “Don’t you dare blame the princess for your actions!”

“Captain!” Celestia yelled to silence them both. She shored herself up to take advantage of her towering size. “Both of you calm down before one of you ends up getting shot. Regent Shimmer. Since you’re already aware of my activities, then I must have Honesty returned to me.”

Sunset fixed an iron grimace at her monarch. “And I shall gladly tell you where it is, after Nightmare Moon is dead.”

Shining Armor marched over so Sunset was forced to look at him. “You’re refusing a direct order? As the princess as my witness, I have more than enough cause to execute you for treason.”

Sunset gave him a terse scowl. “Not while I am still regent,” she rebuked while shoving him back with a hoof. “You know my immunities perfectly well, Captain. But I assure you, your sister came to no real harm. And never would have actually come to any danger if Rainbow Dash had not bumbled into Twilight’s cryopod.”

So she was listening in on my talk with Shining and Cadence when they returned. Glad I didn’t mention how Rainbow was guided to the pod. Celestia manifested the same cold wrath that kept the megacorps from encroaching on her royal power. “Even so, Twilight stepped up to the challenge that you put her in. Indirectly or not. But I will not be bogged down by your misdirections!” Celestia ended with a heat wave that instantly caused the mortals to sweat. “The Elements will work!”

“You have no proof of that!” Sunset bit back before Celestia could insist further. She stared straight into the blistering alicorn, refusing to so much as blink. “The Summer Sun Celebration is in three days. Even if you had all six Elements, you don’t have enough bearers do you?” Her eyes were hurting from the heat so she paced away to hide her blinking. “Let’s say you did somehow get all six ponies with the proper Elements. What then?” She turned back to the Princess. “Wouldn’t the Elements just banish her again?”

“It’s… possible,” Celestia conceded. “But I know if wielded by selected bearers, the Elements can purify Luna of the darkness that took her. Having her return to my side can allow us to reverse many of the ills that plague Equestria. It is worth the risk.”

Sunset shook her head. “I said it once and I’ll say it again, we ponies have to be able to keep moral integrity ourselves. Using the Elements or your sister’s powers—”

“Is no different than using vaccines or gene therapy,” Shining Armor interjected with a scathing look at her. “And I don’t see you saying we shouldn’t use those.”

“Outside of genetics, we can’t improve our immune system, Captain,” Sunset rebuked dismissively. “Only make it adapt. Culture and moral fabric however, are more malleable. But moral degradation is a much simpler problem than allowing a rogue alicorn to bring about a damned ice age!”

Shining Armor shoved his hoof into Sunset’s chest. “Which we can prevent!” The two unicorns glared at each other with utter contempt. “Why don’t you just admit it, Sunset. Enough with the charade. You’ve always wanted to be an alicorn. When Luna returns, you’ll have lost your chance to ever sit on the second throne.”

“Shining Armor, that’s enough,” Celestia admonished sternly, silencing the stallion, but he didn’t back off.

Sunset batted his hoof away, her temper rising. “You short sighted idiot. Once this crisis is over, I plan to resign.”

Celestia was taken aback, while Shining snorted dismissively. “Lies.”

Sunset pushed him out of her sight. “I am tired, Princess. I’m barely past middle aged and I’m close to needing a Lazarus treatment. I’m hardly the first regent you’ve burned through, am I?”

“‘Burned through’ is a bit harsh,” Celestia replied sullenly. Shining Armor is too blinded by the ordeal Sunny’s put Twilight through, but I know her well enough. She means every word she’s saying.

“I know you created Twilight to be a more robust replacement. I know I’m pushing the longest reign as regent as it is. I’m not blind, your highness.”

“And yet you think I am.” It wasn’t an accusation, more of a sad admission from the alicorn. “What if - what if we compromise then? Give me time for the bearers to use the Elements on Nightmare Moon. If we can’t do it, or in enough time, then—” Celestia took a long shuddering breath. “—I will not stop you from completing Plan B.”

“Princess,” Shining Armor pleaded.

“How much time are you asking for?” Sunset cut in.

“A few hours,” Celestia replied with a chill running up her spine. “Long enough for the bearers to try.”

“Three hours is a long time for her to go to ground.”

“She wouldn’t do that,” Shining Armor countered with only mildly less hostility. “Nightmare can’t bring about eternal night without control of the sun, and that means going after Celestia.”

Sunset eyed him carefully. “You assume a lack of tactical thinking on her part, but ultimately the Princess’s security is up to you. Don’t fail us.”

“I trust Shining Armor will perform his role admirably. Now, do I have my three hours?”

“From the moment Nightmare Moon first appears?” Sunset Shimmer sagged a bit. It was only now that the others could see the age lines marring her face. “Fine, you have them.”

Sunset made to leave, but Celestia walked over and came close to draping a wing over her regent. She hesitated, finding it difficult to forgive so quickly. “Thank you. I can’t condone what you did to Twilight and Rainbow Dash. For what it’s worth, I’ll make sure they do not seek retribution when this is over.”

Sunset stiffened at the offer. “Don’t.” She turned to face a bewildered Celestia and Shining. “Denying them retribution is unconscionable after what I put them through.” Sunset went silent for a moment. “But I will say this: Flintlock and I didn’t do much to Rainbow Dash. All we did is we implicated her in the deaths of her squadmates when it was their own damned fault for not following her orders.”

“In what way?” Shining asked, curious about the meaning of it. “The recordings your pet, Flintlock, brought in was damning. Are you finally admitting he tampered with it?"

“He didn’t, no,” Sunset replied coldly, though more at her own actions than the hostile captain. “Flintlock quietly mentioned to me that he found a Vavera terrorist decker was tampering with it for propaganda purposes they’re so fond of. Flintlock killed him of course, but we went with his idea anyway after finding out it was tampered with to implicate Rainbow Dash. I doubt they realized her importance outside of being a government agent. Resolute Chorus had identified her as the definitive candidate for Loyalty. So we did what we did to remove her.”

Shining Armor’s body tensed. Treason, in his eyes, stood right in front of him, and every fiber of his being wanted to strike her down. He kept it in check, but only just. He spat on her face, an act Sunset took with only a slight flinch. “Bitch.”

“Captain!” Celestia half-shouted, moving to interpose herself. “That is unbecoming of you.”

“As if you actually disapprove!” Sunset countered with sudden force of will, halting both other ponies. She fixed him a harsh, iron glare to surpass his own. “I want Equestria to survive Nightmare Moon. Long before you made Captain, the Princess and I came to an agreement to forgo this laughably convoluted plan of using the Elements, which,” she focused on Celestia for a bit, “at best will kick this can down the road another thousand years. Which we have no guarantee there will be an Equestria around to stop her a third time.”

Sunset was getting too worked up to allow the others to get a word in, no matter how much Shining wanted to silence her. Celestia on the other hand, listen to it all in mounting sorrow. “And yet here you are, Your Highness, going behind my back in trying to resurrect your plan with Twilight Sparkle. Training her in how to use the Element of Magic. And it just so happened that Rainbow Dash was brought into the fold of the Nightborne.”

“You knew, Plan A was a fool’s errand, so you stopped working with me. You let me think Plan B was still the go-to all the while making your own version of Resolute Chorus away from my purview so you could search for Rainbow’s replacement without my knowledge.” She turned back to fix Shining with a spiteful glare, one that he was only able to meet with shock. “A group no doubt led by your more trusted advisor, the Captain of the Guard." She punctuated her point with a harsh scowl at the princess. "But that's why you chose me to be your regent, all those years ago. You knew I could do these things you were too sentimental to do.”

To that, Celestia was rendered disturbingly mute, a dark look settling over her. Shining Armor fumed, and breathed heavily through his nose, but he couldn’t bring himself to lie or potentially weaken his position with the wrong words.

A humorless grin crossed Sunset’s muzzle. “Well it worked. I acted to save the entire planet against the madness of an alicorn, and the sentimentality of another. And all it cost was the honor of one soldier, one clone, and my self-respect. As my predecessor would have said, ‘I don’t know about you, but I call that a bargain’.”

Having said her piece, and with the other two ponies too preoccupied with their own thoughts, Sunset made to leave. However... she felt the need to add, “History may call me a fool, but I will honor my agreement of three hours. I’ll pass along where I sent Honesty shortly. I'll also lend you my detective as well. You're going need her." Both Celestia and Shining Armor shared a deeply worried look. "I pray for your success, Princess," Sunset said at the door. At first she was looked out towards the hallway, but she let off a tired sigh before looking back at her old mentor. "I dearly wish to be proven wrong.”

Author's Note

Vegas has 2:1 odds Sunset tossed the Element down a sarlacc pit. 3:1 She gave it to Mariarty and told her it was Holmes' good luck ball. What role will Ponkers play? Will Butter Ball ever get the super Robo Rabbit operational? Will Batwing Dash discover the meaning of the mask? Can Twilight solve the Drake Equation? Can Applejack crossbreed apples with pears and make her new crime against farming appear?

You might find the answer to one of these next time on Shadowrun!!!

13: Uprooted

During Celestia’s confrontation with Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash was laying on her moldering foam bed, using Winter’s belly as a pillow. As Applejack was on her way over, Twilight decided to hold off any explanations until everyone was present. It gave Fluttershy and Twilight an excuse to both work in the garage and watch over the twins.

And so here she lay, staring up at the drab blue-grey ceiling that had stared back at her for half a decade. The house’s cheap construction was showing through the cracks that were spider webbing all over the ceiling and was starting to appear on the walls. Despite how exhausted she may have been, Rainbow actually found herself in a damn good mood. “So how much money you think Celestia is going to throw at us?”

A cautious grin crossed Winter’s features. He started teasing a lock of Rainbow’s hair with the claw of his left wing. “Well, you uncovered a conspiracy with the regent as the mastermind. That’s got to be worth a cool few million bits, tax exempt, of course.”

“Of course,” Rainbow replied derisively. She turned her head and rubbed her muzzle across Winter’s flank, taking in his pleasing, familiar scent. It was one that called to the primal part of her brain, an instinctive sense of home and safety.

His grin became slightly more at ease. “So do you still want to go with the old plan? Find a quiet place out in some small town where no pony would care what tribe we are and raise the kids?”

Rainbow looked back up at the ceiling. “We need a real house on the ground. With actual plumbing and steady power supply.”

As if to punctuate her point, the table lamp flickered and died a bit before going steady again. Winter eyed the thing with mild contempt. “Applejack’s been eyeing some land around Ponyville. We should move there too so the twins can still be around Applebloom. Convincing Rarity might be tricky though. You know how much Amber Lotus and Sweetie Belle get along.”

The thought of keeping her children around their friends warmed Rainbow’s heart. A gentle smile graced her face at the mental image of Sparks and Amber Lotus scampering around on a playground, surrounded by other children. “I’d be happy enough with a place where the twins can play openly with other kids.” He felt Rainbow slightly nod while burying her nose in his fur again.

“Speaking of other kids…” Winter chuckled heartily and started gently rubbing the side of Rainbow’s neck with a hoof. Rainbow didn’t respond, other than to scoot up so more of her neck rested on his barrel. “How about we skip using protection today?”

Rainbow’s eyes snapped open and she got up a bit to look at his face. “The twins are already a hoofful, why add more now?”

“I guess that’s true,” he answered while giving her a reassuring smile, the kind that always worked on her. “You can’t tell me you want to rejoin a spec ops group or keep the Shadowbolts operating while we still have kids in the house.”

She tsked, but didn’t argue. Six years ago, Rainbow would have been more than happy to go back to agency work. Now though, the mother side of her held sway. “No.” Painful memories of Winter coming home with grievous injuries flooded in. So many times the kids almost lost their father. “We’d have enough cash to not have to work for a good while.”

“Buuut,” he dragged as he rolled over so he could hug her. Rainbow gladly sunk into his warm embrace. “We’re going to be in our prime for three hundred years. There’s no reason to keep interrupting that with kids every so often. So it makes sense to get all of our foaling out of the way first.”

Rainbow hemmed and hawed with herself, rocking in his grip. “Makes sense.” At least he didn’t bring up my ‘only fertile mare’ point. Rainbow hugged her husband with a longing tease. This was hardly the first time she thought about having another foal or two. The mental image of seeing more little rainbow-maned thestrals running around pulled heavily on her heartstrings.

“Plus, with the whole Sunset Shimmer drek over with now that Celestia knows about the real traitors, we’ll be outta here in a week, tops.”

Rainbow hummed with pleasant thoughts of a life free of the big city. It helped she was still in good standing with the mafia, she couldn’t think of anyone who’d hire an assassin against her. The hopeful part of Rainbow, one that she had to constantly squash to survive, shouted to be heard. That there might finally be an end to her life in the shadows that didn’t involve dying. “What makes you so sure she’ll let us go after all this?”

Winter tussled her mane, only to be playfully slapped away by a wing. “I’ve been busy with things other than the kids and cooking you dinners so good you almost forget it’s soy. Whatever Celestia needs these Elements for, it’s all coming to a head at or soon after the Summer Sun Celebration. So our timetable is already less than a week. Plus, now that she knows we’re innocent—”

“Of treason at least,” Rainbow butted in.

“Well, yeah, sure,” Winter sputtered a bit, eliciting a nasal giggle out of Rainbow. “But she’s already giving us a pass on that. But the biggy here is, she already promised me we’d be free to do whatever we want after all this since we already have the twins. The way I figure it, having some more little wings back to back would be easier in the long run.”

Rainbow frowned as memories of diapers clouded her rose tinted glasses. “But the foals were a hoofful as it was, and still are! By the Moon I still have nightmares when both of them got it in their heads that clown wallpaper needed to be everywhere.”

“Cute little hooffuls though. But believe me, I know,” Winter said as he tickled her in just the right spot to keep her interested. “But think of it this way. Would you rather have a kid or three back to back and be done watching Blarny and Friends after four years of hell, or randomly have kids over twenty odd years, forcing us to watch the show even longer?”

Rainbow groaned so melodramatically she’d have made Rarity nod with approval. “Or three! Whoa, whoa, hooold on, Buster, I wouldn’t mind a third foal after all this jazz with Celestia’s over, but I never agreed to more than that. You’re not the one who had to suffer for eleven months.”

“True,” Winter nodded with faux solemnness, “but I know you.” He emphasized by gently poking her chest. “Don’t think I haven’t caught you looking at little league teams in rural towns.” Rainbow’s face went flat with thinly masked embarrassment. “You and I both know our lives as they were was the only reason you haven’t been trying to make an army of little rainbow haired foals and unleashing then on every sports team north of Appleoosa.”

With an approving smile she surprised him by rolling over, and dragging him with her so she was on top of him. She fixed him with the same wiry grin that first caught his eye all those years ago. “An army’s a bit much.”

“That didn’t sound like a ‘you’re wrong’ to me.” He nuzzled right under her jawline, shooting a thrill down her spine.

A primal grin came over her. “It sure didn’t.”

Down below in Fluttershy’s garage, the quiet pegasus was sitting on a rather comfy, if quite ragged and worn-out bean bag chair. More than a few beans had leaked out and were nestled by the sagging bag. Her goggles were down over her eyes while she remotely controlled a pair of maintenance robots. The first was a large crane with multiple heavy tools while the second was a smaller, more nimble bot that allowed her to work on all the tight spaces.

Her current project was a muscle car that had needed several small parts replaced. Most of the work was already done. Still, Twilight had joined her to help out, and was studying the engine with scholarly fascination. It was a useful distraction to keep herself from thinking about Sunset Shimmer. At least until the others arrived. Sunny, was this really the best play? Being distracted this way, she didn’t hear the patter of small hooves coming up behind her.

“I got the thing, Miss Twilight!” shouted an energetic colt.

“No fair, I wanted to carry it!” his sister whined as she climbed on top of him, threatening to make him drop the bolts and nuts off his left wing.

“You’re just a slug; too slow and you get slime eeevvvverywherrrre!” Sparks blew his tongue at her in triumph when Amber Lotus tackled him with a growl, and knocked the tools off his wing.

“Thank you, Sparks.” Twilight pulled her head out from under the hood just enough to see the two foals bickering by slapping each other with their wings. She patted the colt’s head, still not exactly sure how to talk to such young children, yet managing to stall the bickering it’s tracks. She levitated the fallen pieces away from them. She couldn’t help but to both giggle at their antics, but also get annoyed at the disruption. “Why don’t you both bring me a socket adapter off the shelf, one from each of you?”

“Oo, oo! I know where that is!” Amber shouted before flying off. Her brother zipped right behind her.

Fluttershy peeked from behind her goggles, and cringed a bit as the foals pounced on her tool chest and started rummaging around. She couldn’t bring herself to tell them to stop, so instead did something more comfortable. “Thank you so much, Twilight, for helping with this job. I didn’t know you were good at cars too.”

Twilight blew on the bolts, making sure no loose dirt had gotten in them. “Thanks, but all I’ve been doing is following your directions. Everything else is just common sense safety.”

Fluttershy grinned from behind a hoof. “These days we should call it uncommon sense. It’s why I don’t let Rainbow touch my projects. The little ones know they’re only allowed to grab small things, not do actual work.”

As if to illustrate Fluttershy’s point, the two thestrals flew over to Twilight, both with the adapters clutched in their forelegs. Amber had sprinted the distance and gotten to the unicorn first. “I win, I win!!”

Twilight’s reply was cut off by the garage door creaking open. Applejack bent down to enter before the door was even reached halfway, while Rarity was content to wait for the door to open fully. Sparks grinned at the sight of the earth mare and dropped the adapter to race over to her, and his sister was right behind him. Twilight had to scramble to catch the falling pieces.

“Aunty Farmer!” The foals tackled Applejack, but the sturdy mare took it with only a mild flinch. Sparks roped himself behind Applejack’s neck, while Amber first collided with her barrel before scrambling to sit on her back.

For her part, Applejack let off a good-natured chuckle and wiggled a bit to elicit some manic laughter as the foals clung tighter to hold on. “There’s the little rugrats. How y’all been?”

“We’ve been helping Angel and Twiggles!” Amber replied happily.

By now, the garage was fully open, allowing Rarity a more dignified entrance. “Hello, Dearies. As much as I would love to gossip, I believe we have urgent matters to tend to now that we’re all here.”

“Just as well,” Fluttershy said as she fully donned her goggles once more. “We’re almost done with my last job. Can you give us about ten minutes?”

Applejack shook the bouncing foals off of her. “Sounds fine ta me. It’ll gimme a chance to meet this Nightborne spy ya brought in.”

Rarity huffed irritably. “I keep telling you, Nova is. Not. A. Spy. She saved our lives.”

“With the bot?” Applejack countered with a dismissive eye roll. “Accordin’ ta you, her bacon was in just as much hot drek as the rest of ya were. She saved herself.”

Rarity’s face puffed up. “And even if she were,” Rarity hesitated, waiting for the garage door to finish closing behind her. “Celestia showing up would have stayed her hoof from doing anything nefarious.”

“Could be loyal to Sunset Shimmer like that Flintlock fellow is.”

At that, Twilight stood up with indignation marring her face. The sudden movement caught the two runners’ attention. “Farmer, Sunset is a lot of things, but she’s only doing her job. She’s not a traitor to the crown.”

The defense was stunning enough to get even Fluttershy to pull her goggles off a bit. Applejack was utterly flummoxed, and took a half-step back. “Ya do remember she’s the one who put you on ice, right?”

Twilight gave a firm, yet resigned frown. “To be fair, I don’t actually remember it happening, but—”

“‘To be fair’?” In sudden rage, Applejack stomped her hoof with enough force to crack the floor, stunning everyone around her. “‘To be fair’?! What in blazes is wrong with you?”

Twilight jumped backwards against the car. “What? What do you mean?”

“Why are you defending the regent like this? Yer obviously close with the Princess if’n she’s giving you her magic. Is Sunset a sister to ya or somethin’? Cause that’s gotta be the only reason anypony wouldn’t want to put a gun ta’ her head.”

Seeing that Applejack wasn’t threatening her physically, Twilight moved away from the car, but kept her distance from Applejack. “Of course I know her. I’m her potential replacement. She’s personally taught me a few classes and lessons.”

Rarity gently pulled Applejack back to keep Twilight from melting under the cyberized mare’s critical gaze. “Farmer, darling, familiarity breeds the rosiest glasses imaginable. How often have you seen you ponies trapped in unloving relationships? Why my friend River Stream refused to break up with that disgusting excuse for a stallion because he-”

“We never loved each other,” Twilight blurted out hastily, not fully intending to cut Rarity off. “I admired her, yes, but we were never sisters or the like.” Twilight’s eyes fell to the floor. “I used to hear that Sunset was a caring pony once, who knew the common pony like the Princess never could. That she was responsible for the complete restructuring of state run orphanages and universities. ”

Applejack snorted disrespectfully. “You hear Winter talk, she shoulda started with the lower schools.”

Twilight ignored the jab, mostly since it wasn’t directed at her. “By the time she gave me her first lesson though… I was hoping that by giving her the benefit of the doubt she’d come back around. I even tried bringing it up with Celestia whenever it seemed appropriate. The Princess always told me Sunset was both to be trusted and respected, and that Sunset’s duties were understandably harsh on her.”

Seeing Applejack was on the verge of yelling her head off, Rarity opened the stuffed plastic bag she had nearly abandoned on the floor near the garage door. The smell of cheap, greasy food derailed the hungry mares’ trains of thought. It was the kind of food Rarity had long abandoned turning her nose up to. “Why don’t you finish filling us in during dinner? I got Sareeni’s lasagna and pastaaaa!”

“What do you mean Sunset’s not going to prison!” Rainbow yelled at Twilight while slamming her hooves down on the worn coffee table. Silverware clattered, and the foals flinched at the sudden outburst. “We proved she’s going behind Celestia’s back!”

Those gathered only briefly looked at Rainbow before joining in her surprise. Winter pulled the foals close, whispering reassurances. Rarity was the first to join her leather-winged friend. “It must be some powerful blackmail if the regent has that much leverage over the Princess of all ponies.”

Twilight stared blankly at her pasta, her appetite waning. “What I say here can’t be repeated.” She looked up, eyeing Rainbow in particular before glancing at Nova and the foals.

Fluttershy loudly pushed her chair away as she stood up. “Winter, maybe somepony should give the twins a bath. They’re dirty from helping me downstairs.”

He nodded with a dour grimence. “Good idea.” He climbed to his hooves with an ache in his knees. “Come on you two.”

With their mother’s outburst still fresh in their minds, the twins needed no further prompting to leave. “Yes, daddy.”

Fluttershy started to gather the foals herself until she realized Winter had taken her advice the wrong way. Her ears fell at wanting to run from the conversation, but couldn’t summon her voice to correct him.

Twilight waited for the door to close behind the children before sighing. “The public story is that the regency is subservient to the crown. But that is not the real relationship. Sunset Shimmer is not committing treason, she’s performing the function of her position as the Princess intended when she created the regency.”

Fluttershy balked at her, and had to take a moment to sit back down. Nova however, leaned forward, loudly slurping down some noodles. “Are you saying the regency is some sort of balancing force?”

Twilight actually smiled at her and nodded. “Glad to see your quick wit goes beyond imitating others.” She returned her gaze to the room as a whole, leaving Nova unsure if she had been insulted or not. The den was already tiny, and packing six adults into both it and the kitchen was an effort only really possible because half of them could fly. “Celestia picks her regents very carefully. Their task can be simplified into this: they are to protect Equestria, even if that means going against the Princess indirectly. More than that, they keep her grounded, and give her a rebuking voice that will make her rethink issues for better solutions. They act independently, and with near her level of authority Equestria-wide.”

“Independently?” Applejack spat. “Don’tcha think foalnapping, clonin’, and framing both you and Flash for treason, and who knows what else goes way beyond what the Princess coulda possibly wanted? Especially to a pony she trusts enough to put her own magic into?”

Twilight’s ears wilted, and she had a hard time meeting Applejack’s eyes. She said to share what I know. I have to make sure no pony thinks the Princess wants to harm them on purpose. “You don’t understand. It’s because… there used to be another alicorn who sat on the throne Sunset Shimmer presides over.”

“Used to be?” Nova muttered, her curiosity spiking. “The old money in the bat families whispered about one, other than Celestia and Cadance, but I always blew it off as fantasy.”

“The lost alicorn is very real, Nova,” Twilight began with a long breath. “The Princess said a thousand years ago she and the other alicorn ruled Equestria as equal partners, in name only. Princess Celestia…” Twilight winced a bit at having to speak ill of her. “She had the admiration of the populous while the other was unjustly feared. Over time, Celestia ended up brushing off the other Princess’ advice and concerns. Celestia admitted she was impulsive and self-centered back then, and it led the other alicorn to enact an actual coup d’etat. They fought, and the other alicorn was banished. She’s hoping one day that alicorn can come back, and has been using the regents to train herself to be more receptive.”

Applejack eyed the feathered unicorn with measured disbelief. “A self-help seminar and some counseling would be a lot easier. Besides, does Princess Cadance not count or something?”

Fluttershy meekly left the kitchen table and joined them properly by the couch. “I think it makes sense. How can counseling work if nopony is your equal? Princess Cadance ascended less than twenty years ago, I think.”

Rarity sighed with past scandals jumping to mind. “I heard Mi Amore Cadenza was to be groomed as an heir or the like. But scuttlebutt says she’s got no interest in the job. Just as well, given what salacious rumors I’ve heard floating around her.”

Twilight bristled in indignation. “What rumors?! Just because she’s the Alicorn of Love doesn’t mean she’s a harlot!”

“Ahhh,” Rarity smirked with intrigue dancing in her mind. “So you do look at more than just text manuals. I simply must pick your brain sometime.”

Applejack clamped Rarity’s mouth shut, both sharing a tense glare. “Can we focus on what’s important here?” Rarity shoved Applejack’s legs off her muzzle so she could fix the fur on her face.

“So, umm, who is this mystery alicorn anyway?” Fluttershy asked, believing it was on everyone’s mind.

Twilight hesitated for a good while. She took a couple of bites to stall and think, but the silence around the room was oppressive to her. I really don’t want to go that far with the truth. Only Celestia should give that up.

Eventually, Rainbow let her fork drop noisily on her empty plate. “Doesn’t matter. Whoever it was is probably long dead, or was banished from time and space or something. What I want to know is, did Celestia get ahold of Honesty or are we going to have to fetch it ourselves again?”

“Knowing Sunset…” Twilight sighed heavily, “we’ll have to go and get it. She makes plans even better than I do. I’d wager she has a contingency plan already in effect since there was no way she could hide her involvement in taking Honesty. We can only hope Celestia can point us in the right direction.”

Rainbow moaned and flopped backwards into her chair. “Typical.”

The silence that set in was brief. Fluttershy was the first to stand up with her ears swiveling. “Does anypony else hear that?”

The unmistakable, steady thumping noise of a tiltrotor aircraft was on approach. Rainbow’s blood ran cold, and she bolted for the nearest window. She was soon joined by everyone else, cramming themselves together to get a good look, but not dare open the window for fear of a sniper’s bullet.

It ended up being a pair of aircraft, but the house was not their destination, and the two flew by too close for comfort. “Oh drek, they’re headed for Little Griffin Town.”

“Those were Royal Guard markings, too!” Twilight added hastily. “Do you think it was a message for us as well?

Now that the aircraft had left, Rainbow pulled back and fell into her runner mindset. “Five bits they were headed for The Lost Unicorn.”

Applejack’s face darkened. “The LU? Why?”

“Why indeed,” Rarity aimed her attention towards Twilight. “Any ideas?”

“The timing is no coincidence, it has to be about the Element of Honesty.” Right as Twilight thought about it, the sunstone sitting on the table lit up so brightly it got everyone’s attention. “Back away, she’s coming in!”

Everyone pulled back to the kitchen while Twilight touched the stone. Celestia teleported in and was not her usual immaculate self. Bags were under her eyes, and her usual gentle features were tired as if she had not slept at all.

Celestia gave a brief nod towards Twilight before surveying the rest of the gathered ponies. “Ah, good, you’re all here. There is no time to spare, and I need the Shadowbolts to move immediately. You will be briefed along the way.”

It wasn’t a surprising order, given the tiltrotor they saw. Rainbow stepped forward. “Where do you need us?”

“Make your way to the closest subway station. A traincar will attach itself to the next arrival. Be sure you board that train and make your way to the rear car. The guards will make sure nopony else will board there by accident,” Celestia directed at Rainbow, “I must insist your family comes with you.”

A shiver of absolute dread ran down Rainbow’s spine. “Did Sunset put a hit out on us or something?”

“No, at least not directly.” The ancient mare looked grim. “She named some members of the mafia and their location. Since you have had dealings with them, and at least some of them must know what you are, they may take you for an undercover operative. Would they not?”

Rainbow gave Fluttershy a poignant look. “Fixer knows. If he lives…”

“He may use us as a scapegoat to the Don. And he knows where we live.” Fluttershy started nervously chewing on her bangs.

“Then my concerns were justified.” Celestia took a quick look around the pitably cramped house. “Pack only what light, sentimental belongings you have. You will have plenty of bits to furnish a new home when the dust settles.”

Rainbow did the same as Celestia, but her focus was more on the upstairs bathroom where her family was. “Not much beyond the pictures and our old uniforms. I could throw it all in a go-bag in a minute.”

“Good.” Celestia lit her horn. “Time is critical, and any further questions must wait. I will await you in the private car. Be careful until then.” With that, Celestia teleported away.

“What am I going to do about my client’s car?” Fluttershy fretted.

“Just have it auto-drive back home,” Applejack replied, watching Rainbow race out and up the stairs to alert her family. “Bill the guy, and hope he pays up.”

“Oh, of course he will when he finds out nopony’s home,” Fluttershy grumbled under her breath.

Rarity squeezed by everyone to get to the door. “Farmer,” she said, switching to work mode, “the two of us should go now since we were seen coming together. Everypony leaving at once would raise eyebrows.”

“Good thinkin’,” Applejack said, and moved up to join her. “It’ll give me time ta pick mah rifle up from the drop spot.”

Just as Rainbow had promised, the house was stripped of what few irreplaceable items they had in short order. The only things the family of four brought with them were the pictures and uniforms in some saddlebags, with the children lugging some toys in their own bags. Twilight and Nova drove the car to the subway station, and took all of Fluttershy’s bots with them. Afterwords they commanded the car to self-drive back to the client. That left Fluttershy waiting behind the garage door. She was weighted down with three saddlebags full of what tools she could carry.

The others had been gone for only five minutes when the thestrals bounded down into the garage. By now, Fluttershy was slowing looking over the oil-stained tools racked on the walls. Her gaze had been on the powered down car-lift before her attention was brought up to her childhood friend. She sighed while popping the button to get the door to open. “I’m going to miss this place.”

Rainbow’s instincts were telling her to bust through the door and never look back, but she stalled a bit and laid a wing on Fluttershy’s back. “Me too. Even though the place sucked tail.”

“It leaked every time it rained,” Winter added with a touch of wistfulness.

“Ugh, and it stank when it did,” Rainbow added.

Fluttershy giggled at their playful tone. “The sewer pipes had to be realigned every storm, too.”

Sparks had to truly buzz his wings to fly up to the adults’ eye level. “I like how the walls got real bouncy when it rained though.”

“Yeah!” Amber chimed happily. “Remember when we would jump on the roof and made water fall on mommy and daddy’s bed?”

Winter grumbled and swatted his daughter’s ear, making the filly giggle and hide behind her mother. “I hope that was worth getting a pop quiz.”

“It was,” Amber blurted out, giggling from under Rainbow’s mane.

“I didn’t think so,” Sparks huffed at his father.

Rainbow took a moment to relish the petty bickering, a far cry from the more common gun and spellfire. In the end though, future family moments like this would have to wait. “Come on, we better move before Celestia or Twiggles gets pissed with how long we’re stalling.”

“Roger that.” Winter nodded to Fluttershy who promptly tapped the garage door opener. The group gave the garage one last sigh as they waited for the exit to open. Once the creaking motor halted, the adults nearly took to the air, only for Rainbow to see her twins had scurried off to the side of the exit so direct sunlight didn’t hit them.

She doubled back and nuzzled them. The pair immediately shot over to hide behind her legs, but still eyed the outside world with longing curiosity. “It’s okay, my little vamps, after a few more days, you’ll be able to play outside during the day like regular kids.”

“For realsies?” Amber asked.

“Honest to the Moon?” Sparks added.

Winter took up Rainbow’s side, but kept his attention on the children. “Yup, but we’re going to be going on a little vacation first. So if you wanna play outside like that, you’ll need to behave. Got it?”

Sparks jumped out and gave his father a snappy salute. “Yes, sir!” Amber merely nodded dumbly, shocked to the point of speechlessness.

Rainbow picked Sparks up with her teeth and set him down on her back. “Then let’s motor.”

Winter did the same with Amber, and the group flew off at best speed for the subway station. And for the first time in so many years, Rainbow tried to, for the briefest of moments, forget her troubles and simply enjoy the thrill of flight once more.

Rainbow arrived at the subway station, and glided right through the open stairway, and banked hard to the left to come in at a sharp landing. She grinned in pride as Sparks hooped and cheered at the ride. The subway had just arrived, so no one paid her any attention.

Winter and Fluttershy landed a moment later, causing Rainbow to point at the door towards the back of the train. “Come on, I just saw Farmer go in.”

Rainbow and the other thestrals tucked their wings in tight out of habit and pushed and shoved their way through the crowd. The lunch rush made it difficult to push through, and would make using her wallflower a wasted effort. Her added bags and excited foals made people bump into her harder than normal. A few bumps and bruises still was a small price for them squeezing into the train, but undoubtedly earned plenty of curious eyes at the family of four loaded down with packed saddlebags. I hope the mob just assumes we’re on the run from the crown.

Rainbow managed to muscle a path into the rear most accessible car, earning more than enough profanity directed at them to make her kick a few ornery passengers for good measure.

Once onboard, Winter closed in and pointed to the back. Sure enough, there was a final car attached at the back, with a few ponies wanting to go inside to get away from the densely packed bodies of the main cars. Two stallions dressed as the never-present security guards sternly refused them. To Rainbow’s trained eyes, they were clearly not the poorly paid chair jockeys that slept in the security kiosks, but no-nonsense soldiers in disguise.

Both she and Winter had to push and outright shove some stubborn passengers to get to the back. By then, the subway was at full speed towards the high city plate.The guard on the left was silently watching his partner kick a particularly pushy businesspony to the ground. “Sir, you are two seconds from getting thrown off the train, and I won’t bother pulling the brake.”

The downed stallion was shoved back to his hooves by the others he had been pushed into, and made a show of dusting himself off and smoothing his suit back. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer about this.”

“Blow it out your tail,” the other guard remarked dryly, now completely removing the irritant from his mind.

Rainbow barely squeezed by the retreating pony who gave her a dismissive, arrogant snort. She barely restrained herself from smacking him in the face with her tail, but the guards proved more important.

The first guard’s eyes shined with unnatural light. “Come on, you were the last ones and the train was already behind schedule.”

Even in the cramped confines of the train, the guards made enough room for Rainbow and the others to slide past them. The door opened easily enough, though the screeching whine of the high speed wheels grinded at her ears as she passed into the next car. Even to her, she could see the connection between this car and the rest of the train was designed to separate at will.

The car in front of her was much nicer than the standard public fair. The seats were velvet red plush, and the right wall had currently empty display screens. Her team was scarfing down some snacks, with various levels of manners, that had been found in a minibar. The others waved at her and gave a few greetings.

Sadly, the scent of alcohol was completely absent. Not like I can afford to get wasted anyway.

The only thing besides the luxury of the compartment that felt off was the fact that the compartment itself was very short, and most of the car was bisected by a steel wall and door. Rainbow found an empty spot to drop her saddlebags off, with Winter doing much the same. She put Sparks down and waved at the snacks Applejack was devouring like she had been starving for days. Probably has. Chrome maintance is stupid expensive. “Go get some candy, kids.”

“Yippee!”

“Thanks, mommy!”

As much as Rainbow wanted to enjoy the sight of her happy children, she was nervous about putting so much blind faith in anyone, even if it was the Princess. Her mood darkened even further now that she was trapped within a moving train.

The car rattled hard enough for Rainbow to look back the way she came. The two security guards were flanking the exit, so she was able to see they had separated from the train and had just switched tracks into another tunnel. She reflexively shuddered as Winter draped a wing on her back. She gave him a quick kiss and nuzzle before cantering over to her friends.

Rarity looked immaculate as always. Her clothing was clean and shared the same wavy contours that were popular these days, but Rainbow knew from experience the waves hid the tools of the decker’s trade, save for the cyberdeck itself that rested on her back via a strap. Fluttershy seemed the happiest of the lot, but that was only now that the children had raced over and she was showing them where all the snacks were in the bar. Twilight Sparkle had found a comb and some soap, and was grooming herself by the bar’s sink. Applejack had a bag of chips in one hoof and a soda in the other. Her chrome looked better cared for than her organic parts. But whether that was stress or hunger, Rainbow always had difficulty telling. Another reason to never chrome up. Those parts suck calories for power like nopony’s business. The would-be cowpony didn’t dare touch the scotch at a time like this, no matter how much it sang to her.

The lone earth pony stopped feasting on cheap empty food long enough to ask, “You don’t suppose Celestia just put on a show just to get us somewhere away from prying eyes to kill us, do you?”

Winter sighed and gave her a knowing, sad look. “She’s the Princess in the heart of Canterlot. She could flay a family alive and ponies wouldn’t bat an eye. Nopony would believe it. Plus, the moment she popped into our house, we were never going to escape her alive anyway. Not a second time.”

You mean the kids. Rainbow rattled her head in an attempt to dispel her ill-at-ease. “Sorry I ended up dragging all of you into this, provided it’s a trap in the end.”

“Rainbow, please,” Rarity offered lightly. “Getting involved in a Princess’ scheme was a gamble to be sure, but so was trusting a pair of fugitives.” The unicorn gave a dignified grin when Rainbow and Winter gave her a grateful, if weak, smile. “I like to think of myself as a good judge of character, and the Princess seemed genuine enough to me.”

“I’m glad you think so,” said Celestia’s voice from the walls. Everyone looked up to Celestia’s image appearing along the empty wall. “I’ve seen enough movies with double crosses to know what some of you are thinking. And just to reiterate, all of you will get your requested rewards.”

“I never doubted you,” Twilight was quick to say, and totally ignored the various looks of mild disdain from the others. Save for the kids who only gave Celestia a polite wave and greeting before resuming their inhalation of candy.

“Thank you,” Celestia nodded gratefully. “Now, as for the forced relocation of your family, they will be staying in my summer palace until matters of a more permanent house can be found later.”

“You have a summer home?” Rarity asked with a suppressed surprise.

“I never use it. Matters of state are always so pressing.”

“Well, it would be nice to let the kids have room to fly around,” Winter offered.

“Glad you agree. Now,” Celestia focused on Rainbow, but let her gaze drift over the other mares. “As for Honesty. I convinced my regent to hoof it over, but she had planned ahead in case I forced the matter and made her relinquish the relic. In short, she told the thieves that she would not be the one to pay for it, but instead lined up three buyers for the thieves to choose from. The mafia, who’s in contact with Little Griffin Town. Second was a buyer in the Diamond State. Both of which are being raided by the Royal Guard as we speak. But I do not expect success, save for cutting down on organized crime. Your team will be headed to the Holy Griffin Empire, or more precise, the capital: Griffinstone.”

“Griffinstone?!” Rainbow practically cringed at the news. “A… Ah… An old friend of mine lives there, well, not so much a friend anymore. If she joined the Imperial Paladins like she used to dream about, it’s possible we could run into her.”

“Then I will trust you to do what is necessary to keep Equestria‘s involvement from becoming an open secret.” Celestia was replaced on the monitors with a roadmap of Griffinstone. “The location of the buy is here…” The map zoomed into the south quadrant until the Sleek Beak International Airport came into focus. “There is a restaurant just outside of the security checkpoint. The dining area is where the exchange is to take place. Unfortunately, the buyer is none other than Razor Claw, the emperor’s personal relic hunter and second son. Presumably under a false guise, I’d imagine. I would suggest discrestion, but given the Imperial capital’s robust security surveillance…” Celestia centered herself, and paused a little too long for her liking. She could feel the mood of the group worsen. “Do what you feel is necessary to secure Honesty. I would prefer no civilian casualties, but the stakes are too high to tie one hoof to your barrel, you may go weapons free.”

Everyone, even Winter, was stunned. Fluttershy turned away from the screen, her thoughts turning to a potential massacre. Of them all, it was Applejack that posed a sullen question. “Ah take it just asking for Honesty’s return ain’t gonna happen?”

“Doubtful,” Twilight interjected. “Equestria and the Empire are currently in the process of economic decoupling. The emperor is a hardline warhawk, and is willing to prepare for decades to make sure his economy can back a full scale war. He has also poisoned his son’s mind with so much propaganda that, at this point, he too is a lost cause to us. Asking for Honesty’s return would be a useless gesture.”

Rainbow was not entirely ignorant of foreign affairs, even if it was only for potential employers. “And would probably make him hide the thing and play stupid.”

“Precisely,” Celestia added.

Nova raised a wing for attention. “Why is war even on the table? Can’t you just cause an eclipse over the Empire and kill their crops to subdue them?”

The audacity of the question didn’t even faze the ancient mare. “Perhaps three hundred years ago, but when the great powers of the world acquired nuclear weapons, Equestria signed a treaty with them all, no one will ever nuke Equestria during a war in exchange for me never weaponizing the sun or moon. And no, it is impossible to burn missiles out of the air with the sun. Even then, with anti-missile systems being what they are… there are ways to deliver such a weapon to a city with less overt means.” Celestia turned to Twilight and gave a nod, one the young unicorn took as a sign to add what she knew.

Twilight practically leapt to her hooves to give a satisfactory response. “The Empire is not ready for war, and won’t be willing to conduct one for a generation. Even so, the theft of even one element is a diplomatic coup more than a security one. All they need is for the Princess to know they have it, not announce it to the world. They’d correctly deduce the crown would not go public with it either out of embarrassment.”

Applejack tilted her head and gave a disgruntled scowl. “And lemme guess, you don’t see it as treason on Sunset’s part?”

“Put short,” Twilight started while shaking her head. “Sunset is more or less acting within the duties of regent in protecting Equestria. She’s simply just doing her job.”

Rainbow flared her wings and stomped over to shove a hoof in Twilight’s chest. “After everything she did to you, how can you say that so casually?!”

Twilight didn’t allow Rainbow to push her back, but didn’t respond with a hostile glare of her own. Instead, she had one of sad understanding. “Because I know why she did it. She tried the moral path and…” She didn’t want to glance at Celestia. She really didn’t. “It didn’t pan out. I’m sure you know how that feels.”

Rainbow started shaking with rage and went red in the face. She was about to lay into Twilight with all five years of heartache when a family hoof fell on her withers. She looked back to see Winter giving her an even expression. “I hate it as much as you do, Speedy. But don’t take it out on anypony but the regent herself.”

But they enabled her to do all this! Rainbow wanted to say. Oh, how close it reached the tip of her tongue, but out of the corner of her eye, she could see the twins sitting next to Fluttershy. They were completely obvious to the adults in their snack-fueled buffet.

Seeing an excuse to get away from Twilight, she huffed with disgust and pulled away from the unicorn. She brushed her tail across Winter as she made her way towards the children to stop them from making themselves sick. “Fine, I can do that.”

Applejack arched an eyebrow at it all, and eventually shrugged. “Welp, that’s it, I ain’t gonna bother trying to figure it out. You do you, Princess.”

Celestia raised a half annoyed, half amused eyebrow. “I thank you for your permission. At any rate, all of you will take a flight from Crystal Airforce Base. I’ve provided some uniforms for you so you don’t look like a group of civilians moving through a military base.” She was going to say more, but something off camera briefly caught her eye. “I did manage to get one more thing out of Sunset, as an act of good faith. A recent hire of hers and an acquaintance of yours shall accompany you.”

With that, the door to the closed off section of the car opened up to reveal a pink earth pony in an airforce uniform pulling a large clothing bag by the teeth. Everyone jumped a bit at the disturbingly familiar curly pink tail. The earth pony dropped the bag and turned around to confirm their suspicions. Pinkie Pie waved at them enthusiastically. “Heyya, criminal scum, your resident Detective Pinkie Pie is not here to arrest you for once!”

Everyone, save Nova were taken aback with Rarity voicing the shared concern. “You? Your Highness, it might be easier to simply arrest us here and now rather than this game of putting a spy in our midst.”

Rainbow eyed the still smiling shaman with a measure of respect, saved only for competent, honorable combatants. “A dangerous spy at that.”

Everyone’s stomachs went for a loop when the subway went into an above ground rail and went for a sheer drop to the valley below. The rails protested loudly, but the car remained fixed on its track. Pinkie, like the other non-fliers quaked a bit, but managed to stay on topic. “I’m not a spy, honest to cupcakes everywhere!”

“I like cupcakes!” Amber shouted, her head jerking away from her snacks. Chocolate staining her muzzle.

“I looove cupcakes!” Sparks shouted over her.

Winter held the ravening foals from tackling their newest best friend. “Not a chance, squirts, you’ve had enough sugar for one night.”

As the foals argued and pleaded with their father, Nova scrutinized the detective. “Hey, I think I remember you. You were chasing me on Feather Avenue last year.” Nova’s mood went unreadable. “You cost me twelve grand in chrome repair.

“Feather Ave… that was you? You were a lot greener back then.” Pinkie Pie padded her barrel down, subconsciously searching for her absent cuffs. “Ahh, I hope you can overlook the whole throwing-a-lamp-pole-at-you. You were being stubborn after all.”

“Everypony,” Celestia half-shouted with a brief, irate frown. “I will let you introduce yourselves in a minute. Captain, I’m giving you full authority to conduct this operation however you see fit. I would prefer you to keep your Equestrian loyalties a secret, but ultimately the timely acquisition of Honesty is absolutely paramount. You have three days to recover the artifact and return to Canterlot. I am willing to suffer political fallout if our ultimate goal is successful.”

“Three days?!” Rarity blurted out in a rather unladylike tone. “The round trip from here to Griffinstone is twenty four hours!”

“I am aware that is the generally accepted time for civilian transport. The Airforce can get you there and back in fifteen hours. Even still, I’m afraid the timeline is out of my hooves. You must return to Canterlot by that time, or matters will become much more dire than you know. Winter, there will be a seperate flight from the airbase to my summer palace, Colonel Snappy will escort you from the station.”

Rarity started speaking, cutting Rainbow off. “Princess, I mean absolutely no disrespect when I say this, but what exactly will become dire? Why are we suddenly facing a deadline?”

Rainbow had at first glared at Rarity, but after hearing her question, she leveled an inquisitive look at Celestia. For her part, Celestia was more focused on Rainbow Dash and Winter Glen above anyone else. Eventually, Celestia sighed wearily. The camera zoomed out a bit as she sagged heavily into her velvet chair. “I dearly wished to have this conversation in person, but I have put this off long enough, and the two of you deserve to know. The thing that I am ultimately asking of you, is to perform a rescue mission… for my sister.”

Everyone, save Twilight, gave scattered array of confused expressions. Pinkie Pie was the first to regain her voice. “Wowsers, just what did I sign up for?”

Ignoring her, Rainbow looked at Twilight. “Is that alicorn you talked about and this sister the same pony?”

Twilight nodded gravely. “They are.” She looked to her teacher. “I didn’t feel like it was appropriate for me to tell them anymore than that about her.”

“Of course,” Celestia replied with sullen eyes. “I have called upon you, Captain, to gather the Elements of Harmony because they are the only things that can save my sister from herself.”

“Herself?” Applejack cocked her head. “So wait, are we saving this surprise sister from a prison or a mind maze or what?”

Celestia looked to Twilight. “I taught you everything, my faithful student, but I don’t know what you told them.”

“...Yes, Princess.” Taking her cue, Twilight couldn’t help but to look at everyone’s faces, buying time for her to organize her thoughts. “When I said the other alicorn attempted a coup d’etat, something dark happened to her.” Twilight wanted to go on, but guilt and fear of disapproval or saying too much stilled her tongue. Her hesitation prolonged into an uncomfortable silence, broken only by the train tracks.

Celestia took it up before anyone could start to hound Twilight for anything more. “My sister’s long neglect from our subjects and her just resentment against me consumed her utterly.” With a pained tear dampening her cheek, Celestia forced herself to continue. “My precious sister Luna could take it no more one day and her dark magic overcame her where she became Nightmare Moon.”

Winter and Rainbow shared a nervous glance at each other, “Moon?”

Celestia wasn’t ready for the question she could see on the thestrals’ lips. “She refused to let the sun rise, and when I would not let her night continue, she attacked me.” Celestia blinked more tears away. “In the end, I was forced to use the Elements of Harmony to banish her to the… to the moon.”

Rainbow’s ears went flat and her stomach was doing loops. Winter felt physically shaken. He raised a shaky hoof at the monarch. “Are - are you trying to tell us we’ve been revering your sister the whole time? That—that we’ve been communing with a dark alicorn?!”

“Yes and no,” Celestia said with a sudden shift from morose guilt to her command voice, silencing the angry retort both thestrals were about to level. “The thestrals of old always revered Luna as Mother Moon. Your communions reach out to the pony she used to be, not the—” Celestia seized up for a split second. “Pony she is right now. I’m hoping that will help restore her. Secondly, we’ve proven that between her prison and by turning to dark magic, Nightmare does not have the same power over dream magic she did as my sister, something the thestrals of old were quite attuned to. So by praying to specifically Mother Moon, you not only strengthen Luna’s good nature along with the return of her favored tribe, but also lessen your tribal weakness to dream magic and keeping Nightmare Moon from influencing you… at least beyond rare and hard to interpret signs. It was deemed an acceptable risk.”

The scant few signs Rainbow received over the years suddenly felt cold and unnerving. Winter spoke up with a shiver in his tone. “H-How exactly did you test for that?”

Celestia gave a lopsided frown. “Flintlock was the only thestral for close to a decade. I think you can understand why.”

Nova had been leaning against the wall intently listening. With Celestia’s latest admission, the married couple had been rendered speechless. No pony else felt like it was their place to speak over such topics. As a result, the decker pushed off and took a step towards the Princess. “That’s pretty dope. We’re like, your nieces and nephews or something, then?” That got a string of annoyed and dumbfounded faces. Nova gulped and stepped back to the wall. “Well I mean, if we’re calling your sister Mother Moon then it makes sense right?”

Celestia allowed herself a weak smile. “Save my sister from the darkness that has claimed her, and we’ll talk.”

“So Ah’m gunna take a wild stab in the dark and say these Elements do more than just banish people when you flick the switch,” Applejack stated with a seriousness that sapped what little humor had bubbled up. “What Ah’d like ta know is why are we gatherin’ them all now instead of keep’n them in, oh Ah don’t know, in a vault maybe?”

“This plan was originally abandoned for a more… direct means of dealing with Nightmare Moon.” Before anyone could try and pry more information out of her, Celestia directed her focus towards Rainbow Dash. “Captain, when Twilight summoned me, I admit I was taken aback by your actions and, obviously, your young family. It is true you were identified as a likely candidate for Loyalty before your,” Celestia coughed sheepishly, “fall from grace. And you were really my only option for its bearer. So I took a risk in trusting you, rather than kill who I thought to be a traitor. I am honored that my faith in you has been vindicated.”

Rainbow smirked and thumped her chest. “Yeah well, the Element picked me for a reason ya know.” Winter proudly gave his wife a side hug.

“I for one never questioned Rainbow’s integrity,” Rarity mused with a sly grin at her leather-winged friend. “But they say I have a knack for reading ponies. But it does beg the question, how do we use these Elements per se?”

“It’s actually quite easy, on paper,” Twilight spoke up with an academic tone. “I’ve been trained to act as the focal point. The rest of you simply need to allow your Element to take and channel your personal mana to fuel the spell. You shouldn’t need to focus on any sort of pattern or verbal components.”

“Oh, good,” Fluttershy muttered barely loud enough to be heard over the train’s movement. “I’m not really good with magic stuff anyway.”

“You and me both, partner,” Applejack winked.

“Most excellent,” Celestia cut in. “Now, there is a Royal Marine paratrooper division at your destination. They specialize in covert operations, and their equipment has no identifying icons or logos. It should have whatever we attire or items you may require. I will be sure the base commander knows you act with the crown’s blessings, Captain. May harmony guide you.”

Rainbow nodded and gave a crisp salute. Celestia nodded in acceptance before ending the transmission.

Towards the end of the ride, the traincar was closing in on Rainbow Falls, the military town surrounding Crystal Airforce Base. Everyone had chosen to catch what sleep they could, but Rainbow had woken early and had quietly made her way back to the front room since it was the only place where she wouldn’t be bothered. She had changed into the offered military uniform which thankfully fit her. Rarity must have passed on our measurements at some point. It at least looked official enough that any officers unaware of her orders would at least stop from bothering her when they saw them. Doesn’t matter if they know we have the Princess’s stamp of approval. There’s always somepony who is a bit too eager for their paygrade.

The back of the train car had all of the proper accommodations for long distance travel, so Rainbow was alone in the front, watching the night sky drift by. Light pollution around the capital left everything except a few dozen stars and the moon mired by haze. But truly, only the moon was necessary for Rainbow Dash. She was meditating, both to hone her mana control and to commune with Mother Moon. No, that wasn’t quite true anymore. Mother Moon’s true name: Luna. Has a better ring to it. “Still… Wish I had thought to ask more about how different Nightmare Moon is from Luna. Is Nightmare a different person that took over, or is Luna so pissed she’s calling herself Nightmare Moon and is still the same person.” Damn it though, why couldn’t she just tell us up front?

Heading over to the window, Rainbow stared up at the Mare on the Moon. It looked no different than usual, save that it was nearly a new moon now. The bright white light had been so welcoming before, but now doubt clouded her as much as the mare did to the surface of the moon. I may not be able to hear much or Luna or Nightmare, but who’s to say she can’t see me plain as day? There was only one way for her to find out. She sat down and forced herself to meditate while keeping her gaze fixed on the moon.

Minutes passed. The lights from Rainbow Falls was starting to obscure some of the weaker stars now. Yet as usual, the moon was silent. It was actually unexpected this time around. As if knowing Luna’s true name would draw her out, nightmare or not.

The peace might have lasted until they reached the airbase until Rainbow felt something utterly alien. A crackling pressure wave akin to a wash of static electricity passed over her, causing her fur to stand up. It startled her breath as it washed over her spirit, causing her gaze to break away from the moon. A second, stronger wave hit, enough for her to sense a direction. Rainbow blinked some spots out of her vision and looked back up to the moon. Right before her, four stars inched closer to the celestial body.

She rubbed her eyes, and looked again. The stars were stationary once again, but the distance was undoubtedly closer. “What in the? Wait, aren’t those the Sync-Star Stations? Why would they be that close together?”

Before she could think any further about it, the door leading to the cabin closed, drawing her attention to the fetish adorned shaman. The Pink One was holding a pastry box. “Heyya, wanna piece o’ cake?”

Hunger may have been clawing at her since she had skipped breakfast, but her concern with the moving space stations was still on her mind. I need to tell Silver, probably Twiggles too. This might be a sign of something. “Not now, I gotta talk with the others.”

Pinkie Pie started to watch her go until she blocked her with the box. “Hold on now! I needed to ask some questions about you and Flintlock.”

Just by hearing the name, Rainbow’s short fuse lit off, and derailed her train of thought. The fact that he could have been acting within the special privileges of the regency only served to deepen her sour mood. “What about him?”

Rainbow fully expected the shaman to balk under such a hostile gaze from a close fighter like herself. Instead, Pinkie simply opened the box and all but shoved the last two pieces of rather delicious smelling cake in Rainbow’s face. “I’d like to know why he spared your life.”

“Spared my?” Rainbow’s vision went red and she ground her teeth. She kicked the box away, scattering crumbs and frosting everywhere. “That bastard ruined my life! And one of these days I’m going to kill him, slowly. I don’t give a drek what kinda sacrifice he made!”

Not really wanting to take her anger out on Pinkie Pie, the shaman had earned a warrior’s respect, so she decided against speaking with Winter just yet and went to sit in front of the window again.

Having fully expected something similar to that reaction, Pinkie Pie pulled a smaller, personal sized pastry box out from her mane. She walked over to Rainbow and set it down between them. “No pony has really told me what really happened between you two, or three I guess if you include your hubby, quite a looker if you ask me,” she added with an elbow jab and sultry, “ meooow.”

If Pinkie Pie and her cake had walked in, it was quite possible one of her kids could wander around looking for more. She had not seen anything dangerous to the children outside of the unopened alcohol at the minibar. So she took the bait and forcibly calmed down. I’m sure Celestia knows about whatever’s going on with the star stations. Maybe they’re the reason Celestia is so sure on the deadline. Was it smart to assume that? Not particularly, but it was all Rainbow had to go on, so she mentally let it slide for now. “Yeah, he is. And no, he’s got no interest in joining a herd, nor am I.”

Pinkie shrugged and openly giggled. “Come on now. I may be forward, but I have a super strict policy of four dates before any cereal talk.” She shoved the box closer to Rainbow. “You seem hangry.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Probably am. I’m hoping to score some MREs during the flight.” With a forlorn sigh, Rainbow quietly gave thanks and accepted the box. It had donuts drizzled with chocolate. It pained the thestral that such a thing had become a luxury, unless stolen, for her. Hush money and children were expensive after all. So was taking less pay from her fixer to keep ker tribe a secret. Years of eating any candy she wanted before her exile flooded back when she took the first bite. This was a legitimate treat with no illegality about it.

Pinkie half watched her eat, and half kept an eye on the window. The train was slowing now, and they would arrive within ten minutes or so. “When I say, saved your life, I mean a few days ago at Denim Pants’ estate.”

Rainbow was about to bite down on the second pastry when she gave Pinkie an odd look. “Are you mental? You were there, you saw him running after me when the roof collapsed. Your doing, I’m guessing.”

“Guilty as charged,” Pinkie cheered with a bow.

Now that she tasted it, Rainbow gorged herself on the cake slice. “I like your style,” she said while waving a wing at the shaman. “Coulda used a sledgehammer like you a few times.”

Pinkie grinned at the compliment. “The place needed to go boom anyways, it was built to bring pain to the spirits. Such a thoughtful meanie weenie. But no, there is something off about that whole night that my brain is going mulch over it if I don’t get answers. So let me paint the picture,” Pinkie started off by waving her hooves around to simulate a stage play. “The night of the Panty raid, Gelos sent me a tele that something big was going down at Denim’s hanger. I sweet talked Flintlock to investigate, so he, me, Vapor Trails, and Sky Stinger went along in a whirlybird to—”

Rainbow pushed Pinkie’s hoof off of her. “You’re the reason he was there that night?! He almost killed me!”

Pinkie shrugged as if it was nothing special. “As if Equestria has never tried to lethally arrest fugitives.” The veins on Rainbow’s face started to bulge, but Pinkie gave her a thin smile. “Come on, Dashy, that’s all I knew of you at the time, so don’t blame me for not trying to stop him. Them’s the troubles of the blackest of black ops, am I right?”

Rainbow’s rising fury sputtered and went limp. “Fine. But don’t call me Dashy. Street name’s Flash, got it?”

“Rightorooni! So we were like, spying on all the guests during the shindig, pretty boring if you ask me. But anyway, our drone saw you. I didn’t know it was you, but Flintlock did crazy fast. He got so woopsy doopsy that he ordered an immediate attack to arrest Denim, secure the Element of Loyalty, and capture or kill you. Nooot exactly in that order.”

“Makes sense he’d want to geek me to cover his tracks.”

Pinkie Pie hummed inquisitively about the comment, but left it alone for the moment. ”At the end of it all, Flinty said you ghosted him after you jumped the plate. Now, I could see that if he weren’t a wing thing, and maybe if you still had most of your blood still in you, buuut…”

Rainbow smirked with pride. “What can I say? I’m a million times better than him. Plus, Mother Moon probably helped a bit in there too.”

The shaman’s thoughts turned to her patron, making her tap her chin. “Flinty and the others are so hushy about what Momma Moon does on the material plane, but I factored for at least decent interference. I still couldn’t believe you could have gotten away like that. Certainly not alive enough to be ready to tussle with some griffins in a few hours.”

I don’t think Celestia would like it if I told Pink she stole a blood maker. “So I got a great street doc, they do exist ya know.”

Pinkie narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow. “I’m quite familiar with most of them, thank you very much! Personally I think leaving them alone does more good than bad.” She didn’t press that topic any further. Instead she started rustling a hoof into her mane. “You see, I had a super interesting chit chat with a downer recently. I was hoping you could comment on it.” Pinkie pulled out her phone and quickly selected what she wanted and presented the screen to the defensive thestral. The device started playing the conversation she had with the homeless pony in the city park the night after Denim’s arrest.

Were it not for the food, Rainbow would have barely paid attention. Even then, she only gave casual focus, that was until she recognized the green feather and brass horn emblem on the bench, marking it as Green Park. It pulled her attention more than before. She remained fixated until the aged mare mentioned a supposed pegasus fall to the ground and second pegasus lording over the first. Rainbow’s eyes widened when the mare described the glowing Element of Loyalty. Yet she still held her tongue until the bum said the pegasus was actually a bat mare. A pony covered in blood, but not a scratch on her.

“This’s…” Rainbow wrinkled her brow in disbelief. “This is a bunch of fake trash, or she’s lying. The nag had burn marks on her plugs, she was probably still coming down from a BTL.” Were it not for the rather good snack, she would have done worse than just snap at the detective.

“You know as well as I do, addicts only hallucinate about the fantasy they just had after the BTL burns out. So unless she found a BLT about a dying thestral in the same park I found her in...”

“Why show me this? So I’d give that bastard any sort of mercy when I see him again? I’ll tell you what I’ll do—”

Pinkie Pie gently, yet with the firmness of a police officer, pushed Rainbow back enough to silence her more out of shock and personal space violation than anything else. “If I wanted you to be nice to Flinty, I wouldn’t have bothered telling you he gave the order to attack you. He lied to the rest of us, saying he killed you. But the homeless pony apparently says he saved you from bleeding out. So what gives?”

A shadowrunner has to have a quick wit, and it was that alone that made Rainbow think for a moment. “How would I know? Maybe he thinks death is too good for me or something.”

The train car jarred them as it suddenly slowed into the station. It was all the excuse Rainbow needed to put some distance between them. “Doesn’t matter what was going through his stupid head. When we’re done with all this Element drek, I’m going to plant my hoof inside his fat face and leave it there until he stops breathing.”

Feeling her temper rise, she turned away from the detective and said nothing else. She threw her saddlebags on and stormed off. Pinkie Pie grumbled out of exasperation. “Well, isn’t that crummy. Now all I’ll have is guesswork unless I ask Flinty himself.”

If there was ever a place to languish, it would be the police department’s holding cell. Knights Errant only held Lighting Dust briefly before passing her along to the police. With no evidence of Lighting Dust existing in Guiding Light’s lab, and the good doctor failing to identify her in a line up, the only thing the police had her on was vigilantism and not possessing a SIN. That alone was enough to warrant a court case, and strip her of her clothes in exchange for an orange jail jumpsuit complete with an implant inhibitor latched onto her datajack port.

Lightning scratched at the itchy sensation the inhibitor caused, but as soon as her hoof came near the simple looking plug, she felt a sizzling that warned her away. Damn stars. Would it kill them to set my bail already?

That was something bothering her, now that she was giving it some thought. Vigilantism was more of a slap on the wrists, even here in Canterlot, but she was still waiting. Could be my missing SIN. Lightning had been without one for so long, she briefly forgot what it was like for those on the other side of things. She became awash with vengeful ire as she sat up on her steel bench. They must be trying to go over any security records off the star-cloud. If that damn face stealer hasn’t bothered covering her tracks to stop me from finding out, then the stars will damn sure be able to nail me for something!

Lightning’s gaze danced around the holding cell, looking for something to free herself with. The cell door and the observation glass were rated against all but the heaviest chromed earth ponies. She didn’t enhance herself for muscle anyway. Her eyes drifted over the twelve prison-bound mares in her holding cell. Might be able to talk these losers into rioting enough to get me out… Lightning’s train of thought felt as if it suddenly struck a mountain of cotton candy. Drowsiness dragged at her eyelids. She fought it for a moment, but the crash she felt was beyond her will to stop.

When she closed her eyes, Lighting fell instantly asleep. At least, to the waking world anyway.

She felt as if she fell into crystal still water and remained fully wide awake. Blinking at the strangeness of it, she couldn’t help but to look around in bewilderment, Lightning found herself floating in a black starry sky without the aid of her wings. For a short time, she was surprised how detailed the sky was. Constellations, distant planets, and a graceful nebula captivated her like grand, cosmic art. Living most of her life in Canterlot made such a sky utterly invisible.

Still, Lighting Dust was not one to linger when some last gasp of freedom was there. She shook her head, looked around, and started flying out of instinct. “Not sure what dope some star slipped me, but it’s easily a lawsuit,” she muttered to herself in a mildly dismissive tone.

“Why?” Came an unfamiliar, feminine voice from the darkness. “Is our night sky not beautiful?”

A pressure wave rolled over and through Lighting Dust. A sense of real power. Not the kind where you can press a button to destroy a city, but to be the bomb itself. A tall, slim, and utterly dark entity revealed itself from the star field. It resolved itself to be a black alicorn matching the Princess in height. But where Celestia exuded calm serenity, even Lightning Dust could feel the barely controlled hatred, and more worryingly, anticipation contained within her armored face.

Lightning Dust instinctively tried to back away, flapping her wings for all their worth, but she remained fixed in place. “I didn’t do it! Road Streak blew up that altar, all I did was watch!”

“Don’t bother speaking,” the dark alicorn let off a low growl of long-suffered resignation. With a short gesture of a hoof, she rotated Lightning Dust so they were facing each other. “While we know you can understand us, anything you say will be unintelligible. Same for the written word. But...” The living embodiment of the night stared deep into Lightning’s soul through predatory slitted eyes. “We have gotten quite good at reading,” she grinned and lidded her eyes. “Body language.”

With a touch of a wingtip, she pulled Lightning into a sitting position. “We are Nightmare Moon, the…” she tilted her head ever so slightly, “one of the legitimate rulers of Equestria.”

Lightning Dust huffed. “Bulldrek. What are you? Some new interrogation style the stars drummed up to look like a drug trip?”

Unlike many others in Lightning’s line of work, Nightmare Moon studied her intensely, focusing on her face most of all. “Disbelief.” Nightmare Moon pushed Lightning Dust into a slow spin, giving her enough time to step back a few steps before Lightning faced her once more. “Trapped though we are, we can still influence the waking world, now, more than ever, and soon we can return to Equestria properly. But we have seen the strength of the new weapons and spells in the world. Our return will be resisted at first. We have need of soldiers and advisors to ease the masses into accepting how Equestria is meant to be: a diarchy.”

“I avoid the military on principle. Why would I bother being your little soldier?”

Nightmare Moon allowed the pegasus to speak, if only to watch her intently. “You decline? No, you question. So many of you do. Our sister must have worked hard indeed to erase us from history. Does she claim the night sky is her domain too!” The flash of old rage danced within Nightmare’s eyes, but she kept herself from lashing out. “It doesn’t matter. We will return soon enough. If you are not interested in being a warrior, then perhaps an advisor instead. It is impossible for us to see what you mortals do in those glowing squares. Some laugh or cry, while others are clearly at work doing something with them. We peered into your dreams after watching you faint from your little skirmish with the flying war machine. Delightfully destructive wasn’t it?”

Lightning Dust’s ears wilted and she turned away in embarrassment. “Great. An evil spirit starts stalking me and the first thing she sees is me getting my tail shot off.”

A smug grin curled Nightmare’s lips. “Brave, if entirely too reckless. Yes, we were in haste. You would not make a long-lived soldier. At least not in the traditional sense. No. You would best serve fighting for us on that world of light we saw you in. Your mood and stance clearly showed it was no game. But another battlefield.”

Lightning Dust felt arrogant pride bubbling up. “Yeah, sure I’d rather fight there. But why should I serve you?”

Nightmare Moon started pacing around the mostly frozen pegasus. “You have a rogue’s air about you. Your type never truly change. Swear to us, if we free you from this dungeon, you will serve us. If we are unable to free you today, then we will keep no hold over you, and you will never remember our little talk.”

I could just say whatever as long as I sell it. Lightning Dust put on her best lying face. “I swear I will never serve you.”

The slight grin on Nightmare Moon’s face slowly grew into a chilling, superior smirk. “You never change. We may not understand your exact words, but We know you are trying to play games. Your window for escape is closing fast. Swear honesty this time, or you will never see the waking world again.”

Palpable fear coarsed through Lightning Dust. Some small part of her felt this surge of terror was unnatural, but she couldn’t think straight enough to resist it. “Okay, okay, I swear if you can get me out of here.” Slight discomfort passed over her eyes and moved rapidly through her whole body. Suddenly, as if a veil had been lifted, dozens of other draconic eyes were staring back at her from behind Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon’s armor glowed as did her growing smirk at seeing the pegasus now bearing Nightmare’s mark: slitted eyes. “Very good. With you under my… how shall we put it kindly… service, we can now briefly cast a spell through you.

“Shortly,” she continued, forcing Lightning’s jaw shut as the pegasus tried to speak. “One of those metal carriages will arrive in the gatehouse of this dungeon. You are not destined to board this carriage, but you will act as if you are. When the others get inside the carriage, you will walk alongside the machine until both you and it leaves the portcullis. After which you will fly to a place where you are safe enough to sleep once more so we can direct you to my followers. Are we understood?”

Nightmare paused a bit, and released Lightning’s jaw. The young mare rubbed her sore face and eyed the dark alicorn with fear. The multitude of eyes behind the alicorn narrowed from hidden grins. “Whatever. I’ll never make it past the cameras anyway. Those things are designed to see through illusions.”

“Make yourself ready. We will await your arrival.” Nightmare Moon vanished, and a moment later, her night sky.

Lightning Dust jolted awake screaming. Her gaze darted around, seeing only the bemused or annoyed faces of the other inmates. Her heart pounded in her chest and her wings rattled from the adrenaline. She was immediately kicked off the bench by the griffin jane she had originally been sitting next to.

“Get off me if you’re wigging out!”

Lightning Dust was too out of sorts to give any sort of retort, and slunk away to the closest isolated bench, leaving the grouped ponies to assume there would be no further confrontation.

Still, Lightning Dust still had enough wits about her to act like she was moving away on her own, rather than being fearful of the griffin. What the drek was that?! Over a few seconds, Lightning forced herself to try and stay focused. A panicked runner is a dead runner, she chanted. A panicked runner is a dead runner. She got a few more repetitions out when she felt magic welling inside of her chest, near her heart. A magic that felt like oil spreading out and seeping in between her organs until it started pooling just beneath her skin. Her terror started returning with a vengeance, and she would have started frantically scratching at herself had the loud buzzer from the cell door not derailed her completely.

A pegasus guard pushed the door open and briefly surveyed the crowd. “Alright, everypony line up at the platform.” She stepped back towards the platform himself where two other officers were waiting with restraints ranging from common shackles to magic and implant dampeners.

Without much fuss, the other prisoners started filing out. Lightning Dust might have remained planted where she was had she not felt a pull towards the door, as if someone was gently running a hoof down her jaw line towards the exit. Collecting herself as best she could, Lightning obeyed and joined the back of the line. The oily feeling of foreign magic was still permeating her body, but she managed to keep her scream internal, and remain outwardly silent. She came to the door and the guards were already distracted patting them all down and taking extra time to slowly drag a detector wand across manes, tails, and feathers. Three more officers were standing atop the platform. Two were watching the inmates while another was distracted by his computer.

Following the silent compliance of the others, Lightning took her place at the platform. She kept a fearful eye on the only robot she could see: a flying version with visible pepper spray and taser prongs. Her gaze turned to the various domed cameras. This is it. If they don’t shackle me and I walk off, the monitor will end this whole thing and I can get back to rotting in jail for months waiting for a hearing. Neither prospect was really appealing, but at least she knew what to expect from jail time.

Unseen by her, the officer watching the cameras was not having a good time. The earth stallion was guzzling his coffee, but he could not keep his eyes open for more than a second or too. His head bobbed as he struggled to stay awake, but little did he know, it was his coffee that was putting him to sleep. “Damn it, I know I got enough sleep last night.”

His cameras showed the chain gang being escorted out of booking with Lightning Dust following after them unshackled, and yet he was fighting his drowsiness too much to notice. It got bad enough that his neck gave out and he banged his head on the desk. That not only gave him enough adrenaline to have a moment of lucidity, but to put another fear in him that it was unnatural. With what strength he had left, he clicked his radio. “Ten seventy eight Central.”

Utterly spent, he fell out of his chair in a sleep so deep he was barely breathing, and knocked his coffee all over the desk.

The exit gate was opening and the van was slowly picking up speed when, out of curiosity, Lightning Dust glanced back inside the ground level observation windows into booking. A number of officers had abruptly stopped their idle chatter and were sprinting further deeper into the jail. Hearing the van leaving without her, she raced to catch up. As soon as she passed the gate entirely, she bolted into the air and was long gone. Bloody piss, just what have I gotten myself into this time?

Author's Note

Will the cops find out who drugged the coffee? Will Lightning Dust have to take a course in old Equestrian? Does Nightmare Moon realize the diseases she’ll be vulnerable to after a millennia? Is her secret deadly weapon her thousand-year-old bad breath?

You may find out at least one of these next time on the shadowrunner!!

Prologue

My life for the past five years has been about prolonging the amount of time between pitfalls. That is, until I met her. I just didn’t know it at the time. But well… as I’m sure you might have guessed already, I’m a shadowrunner. Shadowrunner. The title means so many different things to so many different ponies that it’s a wonder how we managed to fixate on a single word for us. But since you’re here, let me tell you what being a shadowrunner means to me.

To start, I suppose I could say the moment you become one, the pony you used to be is dead, but that’s not really true now is it? No, I died when my System Identification Number was purged from the matrix. Everything the system knew of me, my identity, my mark on society, was erased. I may still draw breath, but as far as my family, friends, my… old enemies, are concerned, I’m dead. Sure, I could go see any of them again, to show them I’m still physically alive, but I’d rather not cause them any more trouble.

But this world is not without a chance at resurrection, in a sense. I’ve actually made some new friends in this second life, oddly enough. I knew about us in my old life of course, shadowrunners, that is. Nothing but the usual propaganda. Criminal scum, every one of them. A good many of us runners are. The media has some pretty low hanging fruit to cherry pick from. I’ve had to put down my fair share of runners who crossed the line, but often times, that’s only because I’m getting paid. A friend of mine once said, “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.” That doesn’t stop me from going out of my way to look for somepony willing to pay for them to die. A mare’s got to eat, ya know.

I like to think I’m still a good pony beneath the soot and grime. I need to tell myself that every time I kill somepony, or rob from some mook whose only crime I know of is that he didn’t want to sell some bauble and that they had it coming… somehow. That in some way, I’m helping balance the harmony of Equestria one kick at a time. I try to think of who else my vict — my opponents would have hurt if I didn’t put them down when I did. Or how some other team of runners would be more destructive in stealing that bauble.

It’s been getting harder to believe that though. Am I still telling the truth, or have I crossed the line and can’t even tell anymore? If the old me, when I first became a runner, saw me today, would she see the need to put me down? I hope she would say no. Dear Celestia, please let her continue to say no.

User Flash logging off.