Operation: Alicorn

Man musk, her sinuses were thick with it. It had been eons since Focus woke to that blissful, yet haunting odor. She opened her eyes as she heard another creature breathing. There he was, chest deep in her covers and sleeping on his stomach. He was a stomach sleeper. Such a thing was by far more of a rarity than the one night stand from the night before sleeping comfortably in her bed.

There was a long pause as Focus turned on her sight. She examined him. The black earth stallion was built like a gladiator, but his bright blue hair, which was only maybe one or two shades away from her own hair color, turned him into more of a surreal art piece.

Her first instinct was to start talking to him and tell him she wasn't running a hotel. Instead, she suddenly wondered how his mane locked in so much moisture. One tiny little touch was probably not going to matter.

Rain Shadow lied there, his arms around one of her most comfortable pillows. Many girls would find his face cute when he slept. However, she was beyond such contrived notions. She was just going to give his cheek a little pet too. Two of her finger tips traced along the edge of his cheek.

“I know you're awake.” She whispered. That was when his hand shot up and snatched hers in an instant. She gave a sudden shriek and then a wail of guffaws. While she laughed, one of his green eyes was opened and looking toward her with a grin on his face. “You really are an asshole.”

“Take me in, Miss Crime Scene.” He groaned as he got up and popped his back in the pushup position.

“How'd you guess.” She stated, not asking. The crime scene files that were no longer in use but still deemed worth keeping were scattered in ordered chaos through the house. “Still, you're avoiding the issue.”

“You're not single?” He asked. She was given pause, a bit derailed by the question. That was obviously a negative. “You live with your Uncle Gross Drawers?”

Her face twisted in disgust. “Ew! No!”

“What's the problem? You don't like bass guitar, xylophone, cello, trumpet, flute, lute, and accordian players?”

The pause between them was like one crazy desert of a fever dream. The thoughts that ran through her head ranged from circus clown to just a plain old wacko. “Do you… really…”

His nod made her blink three times. “No, I love instrument players b--”

“Whoa, shouldn't you buy me a drink first?” He asked, then she got a good look at his wrist watch. She grabbed his arm to bring it in close.

“Shit!” She shouted before tearing the covers off her and hurrying to get up, but it was a struggle as all of her jointed popped in quick succession and she nearly hit her face on the floor. “Damnit! Shadow!” She cringed and kept trudging and limping to her bathroom.

“Sorry.” He also got up and started gathering his stuff. “So, ummm… about--”

“One a.m. pick me up here, and next time, try not to attempt to break my pelvis!” She shouted as they both scurried to get ready.

She pulled her ID card from her jacket as she swiped it to get into the lab, where Grem and Diamond were sitting around her desk, a generous pile of small daisy blossom dumplings were piled in a huge bowl with both of them eating with chopsticks over small plates. Both of them looked up at her as she walked into the forensics lab. Before Focus could even open her mouth to apologize to the two of them, Grem disoriented her further.

“How was he?” Grem asked, eating was was left of her dumpling. “The man.” Grem clarified.

“Oh…” Her face flushed. “I'm…”

“Glowing.” Both of them nodded and Diamond added. “Like the fullest moon.”

“That's not glowing… she's still hot.” Grem laughed a bit. “Oh my God, Focus, what did you find?!?”

“Later.” Focus pointed at the gray bat pony on her way to the desk. Then she grabbed three dumplings and handed Grem the file. One flick to open the folder and she went from zero to a hundred in no time at all.

“You're serious…” Grem could already see Focus nodding from her peripheral vision. “Okay… that sounds like a tall order.” One look from Diamond and he wore a similar look of shock.

“Windmane has risen to four times the star than she was when she consulted.” He said, but then looked in the file block for phone numbers. Silvia's phone number was once sold for charity at seventeen thousand bits. To hold such an item was the subject of dreams.

“We are going to try.” Grem was in no mood to hesitate. She picked up the phone.

The definition of paradise had only changed for the better, it seemed. Diamond and Grem wore their black uniforms, symbolizing them as royal guards as they walked up to the gate. Both of them showed their ID’s to the very large, studly clydesdale guard. As they walked toward the building, both of them talked about perhaps bringing the guard to bed, thinking that he would give Grem a run for her money on how much she could bare as a bucking bang session. They kept him in mind as they all walked into the building, the lobby was very wide, and spanned half a football field.

“Hello, how may I help you?” The receptionist at the desk greeted them with a smile. The cute, bright gold unicorn woman with electric red hair stood just a hair over four feet. She was very young, but she must have been around eighteen or nineteen. She was an unusual sight, but also quite cute. “You’re here to see Miss Windmane?” She turned her head to the side as her headphone was apparently talking to her ear. She nodded and spoke into the microphone. “Roger that.” She smiled back at them. “Come with me.”

The two of them followed her as she barely stood above their knees. She stood up straight and prim, but walked with a casual stride. They weren’t sure if they should ask her the questions that were swirling around their heads as she led them to th back of the building, and out the back door into the huge acre of green grass across a decorated field. It was protected from wind without blocking the sun. There were large shady spots with chairs all through the grass, and little spots where women could lay down in a sun chair and rest for a moment.

Then there were the girls. All shapes and sizes. All dress types that went with all bodies. The girls were beautiful in so many different ways, it was hard to know where any man would ever start. The plus sized lady walking by had her rump in plain view as she carried a snake to a shoot on the other side, where the shades were brought down to allow natural sunlight. Her purple ass was painted with strange symbols that looked like leaves and trees, things of nature.

So many of them turned their heads as Diamond Sword came into view. A man in uniform seldom went unnoticed in such a place as this. There were whispers among the crowd of women as they stood out of their way. Grem gave them all looks, and even she was getting a few herself. One of them even kept her naked ass right up in the air so that Grem could see all of the goods, and Diamond could look if he wanted.

Then, there, at the table with the tea kettle, tea pot, all of the cups and saucers laid out in front of one mare with yellow fur and a bright blue mane. Silvia Windmane stood up and held up her hands to both of them.

“Ah, my brothers and sisters at arms are always welcome in my house.” She walked around the table and met Grem in an embrace. Then kissed both of her cheeks. Her red eyes went from Grem, then to Diamond, with whom she smiled with half open eyes at. She held both of his hands and slowly wrapped her arms around his neck. He blushed at this, her presence was a tad overwhelming.

Silvia was something of a legend in any and all circles. Her philanthropy knew no bounds and her beauty was so far deeper than her skin, though it lied there in mass quantities. Her love was bigger than many had ever known, and her charisma rivaled any and all princesses. Yet she was so humble.

“Welcome, please, sit.” She wore a bright green spaghetti strap tube top that didn’t reach her belly, and her deep chocolate brown shorts reached the top of her hips. She wore very lacey sandals on her feet, and her sunglasses barely even covered her red irises. She led them both in front of her desk, and began to pull the teabags from the kettle, then poured the tea from the pot into the cups. “You’re Grem, and you’re Diamond Sword.” She said with a smile.

They both nodded. “We cannot thank you enough for seeing us.” Grem smiled big, her palms were sweating so hard she had to keep them off the table so it wouldn’t smear the glass. “I’m, ummm… I’m kind of one of your biggest fans…. Ever…. Actually.”

“Grem, that is so wonderful. I cannot tell you what that means to me. I never heard that sort of thing growing up, especially when I first started as a model. To get such a compliment from ones of your esteem is an honor. Now, what honors me more is your business here.” She picked them both up tea cups, and bowed to them both as she handed it over to them. “I was told that you found more Crimson magic in the crime scene of this latest robbery. You have the file?”

Diamond had it ready for her immediately, and she nodded as she took it and opened it. She shook her head, sighing. “Unbelievable. Even in this dampened form, it’s so destructive. This one was at least restrained. Whatever it hit was not harmed too badly, but judging by the residue coated with ammonia, there was blood from an impact where the head met the concrete.” She looked the photo over more. “And you’ve questioned the suspect thoroughly?”

“He won’t take a deal. He’s keeping his lawyer close, and the chip on his shoulder closer. He’s already denied a five year deal. We told him if he cooperated we could possibly do better than that. He is giving us, literally, a twenty year guarantee.” Diamond Sword explained as he passed her the suspect’s file.

“Lime Grass, age twenty two, in and out of jail since he was fifteen years old. How tragic.” Silvia shook her head. “He did so well in college under the magic tutelage of one, Sword Knight. He had perfect grades. It’s no wonder he could perform the proper spell so well.”

“Yes, we’ve got his magical signature at the scene, he’s dead to rights as it is. What we need to know is where he learned the spell, and if you can identify its source…”

“Of course.” Silvia nodded as she looked. “This is definitely the 3rd Scroll Crimson. It is the weakest of them, but that is a good thing. If it were the 5th scroll, neither the victim, nor our own Mr. Lime Grass would have survived…” She looked at them with a very dismal expression. “And neither would have eight square miles of innocence.”

The gravity suddenly hit them in that moment. “If they have one form of dark magic, it’s a safe bet they’d be willing to use a much stronger one to get what they want. We’re dealing with an adversary that is without bounds, has infinite resources and influence. We know who it is, but we cannot say their name for--”

“Legal reason. Royal reasons. As Royal Guard you are unable to act in any direct way, however, you are not acting within the bounds of the law yourselves. Whoever defended the warehouse are very strong allies, and they are invaluable to your cause, however, I fear they will not be enough. I cannot act myself, for obvious reasons. However, I know where the spell came from, and I know who sold it to the guilty party.”

Both royal guards instantly sat up in their seats, listening with great intent now. That was when Diamond sipped his tea. His eyes widened and he looked at the tea to see that it looked so very weak, and pale orange, but the flavor burst in his mouth and he could taste a tea blended with a citric acid that mixed oranges and lemons perfectly. It tasted like he was drinking the nineteenth century in a sweet, sumptuous leaf blend.

“He is a collector, his name is Ruby Red, and he is… eccentric. Do not approach him with questions of the crime, he will know nothing. He knows nothing other than the artifacts he holds in his house. He deals in many illegal magics, but if you go with intent to arrest him, you will never find him. He knows much of what you seek.” Silvia bit her lower lip and pulled a pen from her table as a cool breeze passed over the field and the paper she wrote on almost flipped off the table without her very elegant, yellow gem she used to hold it down. “However, he comes with a price.” Windmane handed Grem a slip of paper that had a phone number and a name.

“Sky Blue?” Grem asked as she looked at the paper, then over to the yellow pegasus mare as she nodded. The bat pony actually knew the name quite well.

“I am going to call in a favor from her. She will help you, as will I, when I can.” She stood up from her seat, as did they. They all knew that it was time to go to work. She held both of their hands in her own. “Do not give up hope, no matter what is to come. They must not bring Pearl down. That mare has done more for this town than I have, and she will do more when this is through.”

All of them nodded, and they bid her adieu.

Focus’s cellphone rang as she arrived at the hospital. She walked the hallways, going around the other patrons in the lobby and heading for the patient rooms. She clicked the button, recognizing the phone number, she just couldn’t remember from where. Her photographic memory was a bit selective when she was in the swamps of a case such as this.

“Hello?” She held it up to her face.

“Hey, it’s me, Rain Shadow.” He said, and her eyes brightened a bit. “I have some bad news.”

“Bad news?” She asked, forgetting where in their relationship bad news came into the mix.

“Yeah, I can’t make our date. Something came up. I need to go see some family.” He said, and she could tell by the tone of his voice, something was very wrong. He was not making this up to get out of dating a cold hearted cunt that barely gave him the time of day. “I’ll be happy to make a…”

He stopped midsentence as they both turned the same corner and nearly ran into each other. Rain Shadow and she came in front of the exact same room and gazed at one another, face to face.

“Shadow?” She asked, hanging up. They both looked one another over for a moment before she shook her head. “What are-- you said you needed to see family?”

“I do. This is it.” He pointed to the patient room where there were two armed guards in police uniforms and long daggers at their sides, ready to pull them out at a moment’s notice.

“This guy is a suspect in a case I’m working. He--”

“Just helped in an attempted robbery of a warehouse. Yeah, I know.” He said and pulled out his photo ID, handing it to the officer, who looked it over. “He’s my brother.” He admitted as he was let through. She wore a flabbergasted face as she walked in with him.

As soon as he walked in, there was a reddish orange unicorn handcuffed to the bed. His long, white mane a complete mess as he had not exactly kept it very well in this place. It was clear that the cuts on his body were extensive, though his face was more or less unharmed. He could barely move, and his torso and arms were covered in cast and stitches. His eye was cut shut, but his other was wide open as Rain Shadow walked in. The Earth Pony eyed him and Focus Sight closed the door.

There was another officer in the corner of the room, sitting and watching him very closely. He did not move very much, as it was his duty to stay alert, and make sure the suspect did not attempt to make a move, no matter his condition.

“Lime… Man… What--” Shadow asked, and the unicorn snorted.

“Don’t start with me, Shad. We ain’t going through this again, and we ain’t talking about what happened. Tell mom I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry, what the fuck did you just say? Say that one more FUCKING TIME! You’re what?!” Shadow pointed at him, aggressive as hell, but the officer in the corner of the room didn’t seem to care. Focus pursed her lips. Lime Grass sat there, obviously the swelling in his lips and cut eye were pulsing and the pain was extensive as he was given the minimal amount of painkillers. “Fine is not a word that is going to be used in this room again, is that convenient for you, little bro? Do you need me to take out the trash for you again because you’re too fucking high? Should I tell Mom her money walked off again? What should I do this time? Tell these cops ‘Oh, sorry, officer, my brother, he’s been in and out of jail, why not just cut him a break this time?’ Yeah, no. That ship has sailed.” Shadow’s face told Lime Grass that this was a one-sided discussion, and the adult was talking.

The air in that room was absolutely thick with tension. The silence could but cut with a knife.

“Who taught you how to use crimson magic?” Focus asked as she saw her chance. Both of them looked over at her as she held the file up to her side and looked back at both of them with her glasses on.

Shadow pointed at her and nodded. “What she said.” He looked back at Lime. “Well?”

“Fuck you.” He said and crossed his arms.

“Oh, here come the big boy arms.” Shadow laughed and clapped his hands, pointing at his brother. “This means he’s pouting and his bottom lip won’t let him tell us. Isn’t that right? Mouth like a steel trap, this one!” The ridicule on Lime Grass’s face was palpable, but he stood there, absolutely still with his arms crossed. “They’re going to get what they want, whether you give it to them or not. But, hey, if you want to rot in a medical prison rather than get better in one like this, go right the fuck ahead. I’ve had enough of this, anyway.”

“They’ll fucking kill me, Shadow.” He said, looking over at a shocked black stallion. “These people, you don’t know who is working for them. For all we know, Mr. Star over there is working for them. If I say one single thing, he’s going to impale me with a dagger. Or that trollop over there, she could be ready to poison me, even if I say a word, bro. So, no. I’m not saying a damn thing, and I’d rather get put in the stocks!”

That was another long, long pause. All who were talking were no longer talking. Shadow didn’t have the words. After just a moment, he began to feel numb. The little brother he use to bathe, the one he taught to ride a bike, and the one who built a fort made of pillows with him in their bed was now laying there. He was a broken stallion. The wounds on his body were the perfect analogy for his true form. Every moment staring at him was masochistic torture. He loved him, but the pain was rising in his chest and his eyes were beginning to fog up.

Shadow opened his mouth to talk, but the knot in his throat was far too thick. Instead, he closed his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks as he turned and knocked on the door. The guards opened up for him to let him out. In that instant, Focus Sight decided she could go with him.

“Shadow.” She called to him. However, he kept walking, shaking his head. “Shadow! Wait!” That’s when he turned around suddenly, and they were face to face. The anger in his face was boiling hot, and suddenly she regretted calling after him as she backed away one step.

“Well?” He choked out before a sob. He wiped his nose and raised his arms up. “I’m waiting.”

“I need your help. I need to know everything you can tell me about your brother and his history in the teachings of magic.” The worried look in the bat pony’s face did not leave her, especially when he began to laugh. It was one of those unbelieving laughs, like when your dog just died and they ask why he wasn’t wearing a collar.

“Oh, is that all? Well, that changes everything.” He turned and began walking faster. She reached out to him, but he was very fast. He dodged all of the hospital personnel faster than even they could keep up with. Focus couldn’t find the strength to even take a step toward him. The hospital continued to move around her as she took off her glasses and sighed.

“Shit…”

Computer technology has come to a point where we can now take pictures of deoxyribonucleic acids. Robots can now clean your floor to near perfection, and modern medicine could now cure diseases that once were known as mass killers. Proxy, however, was far beyond what many knew as “modern science.” Her circumstances were different, and her body brought a new meaning to the word “Complicated.” She was updated with all of the highest technological advances available (and many not available) in the market today.

Her spy drone had successfully landed in the midst of a very interesting, smaller lady whose lab had some equipment even Proxy didn’t have yet. This was coming from a woman whose entire right side was worth upwards of twenty million bits upon its creation. With upgrades and attachments, it could go for ninety million without breaking a sweat. The cyborg mare’s right eye sat in the center of a steel eye socket, and glowed a green color as she gazed at the beautiful computer tech this hacker had.

She could see the girl’s computer screen, but only just barely. Proxy’s lab was nothing to sneeze at. This video surveillance equipment could never be replicated, as she knew the ends and outs of how to make them to where they self destruct if tampered with. However, the fly drone detected an energy field around her, kind of a literal bug zapper. It prevented her from getting too close to the computer screen to read everything, but she got some pictures out of it. Those pictures were already closely monitored and filed away in her databanks. She had computer efficiency, as she was fed through internal tubes and could remain stationary until she was depleted of the protein paste she consumed on a daily basis. With her main attention sensors directed at the screen, her brain could entertain itself, interact with her pleasure centers in order to reach orgasm, or shut down for a period of time, activating the movement sensors to alert her of any change.

This time, the flashing, dexterous hands of the hacker girl began to bang on the keyboard once again. At first, Proxy couldn’t make out what the screen had on it. It was a symbol of some sort. It looked like a crescent moon with two long swords crossed behind it. The background was gold while the symbol was a dark purple. Then there was another pattern beside it as the flag was actually something of a banner. The site she was on had the look of an encrypted forum.

That’s when she caught a glimpse of the name of the forum. However, proximity alerts went off on her scope, and she turned to the left. She saw that Crystal Clear, the hacker in question, was looking at her fly with a computerized scope, one that fed it a magnetic force that did not allow it to move.

“Whahahahahahahhaaaaat the fuck is this shit?!” She shouted as the fly was starting to break down all the way to its bare essence, along with the camera that was attached to it. Proxy, began to press buttons, she had to cut the server, why could she not cut the server?! Even if she disconnected it, it was no use, it was remotely enhanced to stay on! “Well hello there, little fellow. What’s your name? Who’s your owner?”

Shit! She had to act fast, she switched on her auxiliary power, along with the emergency power to her firewall. She did not want to take a single chance on this one. Proxy had faced hackers of this caliber before, she had no desire to do so now! Not when there was so much at stake!

Video feed incoming! Shit!

“Hellooooooo!” Her face popped up on Proxy’s view. “Anybody hooooome?” The cute red mare said as she looked around. “Anybody hooooome?”

That’s when Proxy appeared as a normal pony. As if she had never had the illness, she smiled at the new girl, nervously. She was bright orangish peach in her fur, with a yellowish mark leading down her snout. She had freckles, and her hair was still in dreadlocks. Her bright blue eyes flickered as she blushed.

“Ummmm hi! I’m Shimmery! I see you… found my bug.” She said, trying to sound as normal as possible, using contractions and talking in a normal, nervous tone. The digital video imaging did the rest beautifully while her eye worked furiously to launch counter measures digitally.

“Oh, yes, the bug, and every single little file I see raining into my file box in stealth mode. My dear sweet loveable asshole. You’re about to get triple fucked!”

Before she knew it, the signal was overrun. She tried to switch over IP address but she was locked in!!!!

“Damn, you sure know how to struggle. I’ll give you that! Now take it like a bitch!” She tried to implant a death virus known as Cerberus, blocking her systems from all outside contact, but it only partially worked, part of it was deleted in key files that were prevented from going off. However, she had no contact with her teammates, as her systems were still in a jam.

That’s when she picked up the inbounds. Fuck fuck fuck FUCK! She cut the video feeds. All contact was now lost as she was on voluntary lockdown. Her systems began to reboot, at least the main ones. The mechanical ones were already booted, but now they were gaining power as she pressed buttons, turned knobs to maximum and cut all feeds, even solid surveillance. Everything was loaded into her eye, which she plucked out of her metal socket and placed into the computer port beside her robotic coffin. Her dead husk, no longer viable as a person, slumped over into the coffin and many coils began to come around it.

Everything went dark other than one single flashing red light in the middle of the darkness that was now being barged into. A team of alpha mercenaries brought their weapons and moved with precision and great speed. They came out of their vans, approximately twenty of them. The red orb calculated all that had to be done. All power was generated to the proper consoles and she waited.

“Alpha Bones, in position.” The stallion said as the black suited men and women carried their two long daggers each, strapped with kevlar armor meant to repel the sharpest blades. They wore ski masks, but she had thermal scans on, she literally see right through them, especially with x-ray. They all stood at the door until a unicorn female came to the front and lit up her horn, blasting through her steel plated door as it crumbled into rubber. The small house was so unsuspecting. It was a normal grandma sort of house. Nova Proxy was sure of this because she shopped at the mall online and ordered drapes that she saw in a movie she liked. Now it the jig was up. Especially when the first male in the door who searched the corners tripped a taser clip that zapped him from head to toe and made him hit the ground hard.

“Shit, Nine is down!” One of them shouted as he went down to his friend, tripping yet another laser and a syringe shot out of the wall and into his arm. “GA-” He landed on his teammate’s back, limp.

“Everyone, watch your fucking footing!” A female voice shouted as she searched for anything around the hallways. Of course, they would wise up to her act. The attic was all but too common a place to hide. However, not all attics spray tear gas in mass quantities when you pull the cord. “GAAAHHH!!!!! FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!”

“Charlie! Are you alright!” Her other teammate asked as he went to her aid. He had to talk over the very loud spraying tear gas. He turned his head away from the gas but he still got a whiff of it as he carried his teammate.

Over the next twenty minutes, there were little wooden caltrops, marbles, and any other early 90’s trap Proxy could think of when she modified the house. However, she had miscalculated their conviction. It wasn’t long before they busted open the wall to find an entire dark lab chock full of secrets and things they could not begin to comprehend.

There were now ten of them. She had disabled eighteen of them, as they had called in a whole nother van to aid in the evac of the injured and then carry on the mission. This strike force was the real deal, and she knew it. This next part would need to be played very carefully. Like smart people, they approached every single piece of equipment like it was a sleeping bear. The red flashing light was especially a no-go area. All of them stayed far away from it, checking everywhere for any connections. No trip wires, no mines, no acid spray of any kind in the attic, and that made them nervous… rightfully so.

The screens came on, and there was nothing but a single ball of red light. All of them froze and pointed their throwing knives at the screens, but then thought better of wasting their ammunition. That’s when the deepest, darkest, most robotic voice they had heard in their lives blared into the attic, making them all wince.

“Targets Analyzed.” Said the bionic being. “Initiating countermeasure deployment!”

That was when all screens turned white and fizzled as the red light in the middle of the room began to go haywire in beeping with it getting louder!

“Someone hit that thing!” One of them shouted.

Then came the flatline beep. As it happened, the coffin began to rise very slowly, the screens going red as it stood, and opened to reveal a automaton of enormous stature, covered in metal parts with two red glowing eyes. Both of her arms were encased in cybernetic bracers, and her body was simply covered in a metal that looked flashy. She stood on legs that made her three feet taller and stared every single one of them down, stopping all of their breath.

“Stage one: Deliverance.” The dark, gruesome voice boomed toward them as it began to move. Three daggers went into its metal shell, harmlessly penetrating the outer metal layer as both of her hands shot two cords into two of the mercs, zapping them with enough power to drop a moose.

The next soldier who made a move to take Proxy’s new form on was met with two cords that snapped out of her the side of her arm, and locked his arms and legs into place, making him fall to the side.

As she contracted her taser cords, she whipped them around to stun two of the aggressors from approaching. Two very large pensers grabbed them, and they were thrown at the next two.

There was Crystal Clear, watching all of this from her computer, mouth gawked in still life for a good five to six minutes now as she watched from the cameras on the Alpha Team that was now down to one stallion. He was being webbed up onto the wall.

Proxy began to emit a beeping from her arm when she finally got the whole team piled up in one area. A single, small EMP knocked out all of their equipment, including trackers. With that, there was no time to waste. She took money, important files, extra food and any other essential she could cram into the old Pluto they had parked out back. It was a tiny little car that no one would suspect was built to last through a machine gun fire fight.

When she had everything loaded, she remembered her communications were still taken out and she couldn’t contact them! Immediately, her anti-virus kicked up and she went to work decrypting her brain of this little blemish. She sighed, doing that and running was going to be an absolute joy for the next forty eight hours. Station three was compromised. Beyond that one, there were no other safe havens for her, digitally. At least, not that the Sweepers knew of.

She got into the car, looking into the mirror at her red eye. That face, the right half, she didn’t look at it very often. She sat there in the backyard of the house, knowing she had to run, but in that moment, she started to question…

No, now’s not the time. She reached into the glove compartment and smashed a magic potion onto her metal face. As her skin turned normal in the mirror, it reflected. As did the tears welling up. She swallowed hard, the adrenaline needing to go somewhere. She pulled the drive and pumped the gas. The natural looking pony wanted to savor both days of this. Normally it was for vacations, but today, she had to run. She hated running.

Especially alone.