Clout

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie sat outside of a cafe sipping coffee out of lidded cups. Rainbow Dash looked slightly irritated, and quite bored. Her facial wounds had mostly healed, and she only had a single bandage over her nose. Pinkie Pie had a rather soft and focused look on Rainbow Dash. Both wore the signature black sweaters, hoodies off.

“Hun, why can’t you just relax?” Pinkie Pie cooed. Rainbow Dash’s eyes slowly drawled over to Pinkie Pie.

“Why the hell’s she got us just wasting time on this shit? This is already the third day of going on these damn dates, and ain’t shit interesting happen yet. Twilight barely says shit anymore either, I feel funny about this…” Rainbow Dash sighed in frustration.

“Babe, chill, out. Twilight would’ve killed you if she had the chance, she clearly had more than enough information to work with, and who knows for how long? Let’s just, enjoy the date for once? Without you being so tense, huh? For me?” Pinkie Pie urged, trying to get Rainbow Dash to relax, who had been on edge since Twilight had been constructing this operation to lure out Big Mac.

“...” Rainbow Dash was silent, but she at least turned around in her chair to face Pinkie Pie, trying to calmly sip her coffee, and ‘relax’.”

“So, what’s up? How do you think this is gonna go down?” Rainbow Dash asked, trying to make small talk. Pinkie Pie smiled, finally having her attention. In truth, Rainbow Dash focused on her peripherals, examining the streets behind Pinkie Pie.

“Well, I think… that, as you always do, you’re gonna find a way to finesse this, and do some crazy shit to get more Clout again. You picked up some good allies, especially with Twilight. She’s a good drip from the Flowers. So, chill out, and let some weight off your shoulders for once. You can’t carry the entire city on your back when you win.” Pinkie Pie spoke softly, as she raised her hand to caress Rainbow Dash’s cheek.

“Yeah? You think so?” Rainbow Dash asked, with a small smile tugging at her lips, looking into Pinkie Pie’s eyes momentarily.

“Mhm. So don’t be so anxious. It’ll be fine. Twilight wouldn’t screw us. The plan’s gonna be a hitch, they’re watching.” Pinkie Pie reassured her.

“I hope you’re right…” Rainbow Dash sighed, as she started focusing on her peripherals once again. She turned her body to look just slightly behind her, and saw nobody walking down the street behind them. She focused forward behind Pinkie Pie again, and saw nobody down the other way, either.

She breathed a calm sigh, and simply sipped her coffee. “I guess I’ll enjoy it for now. You picked a great spot. This shit’s bomb.” Rainbow Dash commented, taking another, much longer sip.

Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but smile. “Ain’t it? Glad you like it.” Pinkie Pie chuckled triumphantly.

“Yeah, yeah. My bad I been kinda off. I enjoyed all the date’s, for what it’s worth. I just… I dunno, my gut always twinges up when that Twilight girl interacts with me. She feels so… robotic, or somethin. Maybe I’m paranoid, I dunno…” Rainbow Dash vented momentarily, taking another few sips from her coffee cup.

“A twinge, huh?” Pinkie Pie commented, with an intrigued look.

“Yeah, like a real bad gut feeling. Like I can’t figure her out. It’s prolly nothin’, maybe I’m just anxious getting over withdrawals, huh?” Rainbow Dash said with a half-empty laugh.

“Hmm… Maybe…” Pinkie Pie said, raking her mind about Twilight -- in truth, she wasn’t too sure of the girl, herself. She knew a scary amount, and yet, they’d never met before just a few days ago. How many other people were capable of tracking their footprints that well? Not to mention that the girl was their age, arguably even younger, judging from her small and petite figure.

“Do you think Rarity would come through for us if things go sour with Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asked, deciding to begin shifting the subject little by little.

Rainbow Dash gave a proud chuckle. “That lady can dress her words up however she wants, but she’s easy to see through. That ‘investment’ was as generous as it gets. She’s loyal to us, I’d say.” Rainbow Dash commented finally, after pondering upon her interactions with Rarity some days ago, where they left Rainbow Dash, or the RainBooms more specifically, $25,000 to help kickstart her operation.

“You think so? Well, I guess she is usually pretty stingy with her ca--”

*bang!*

A large, red hand slammed down onto the table with an unsettling smack, startling both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie from their conversation.

As both shot their necks to look up, their eyes widened -- an extremely large and burly man with red skin towered above the both of them, standing 7 feet tall. His gray sweater hugged his muscles, and though his hoodie was on, they could see his short blonde hair spilling out.

This was the exact description Twilight had given them for Big Mac, Applejack’s older brother and rival, head of the Pirus gang.

“Rainbow Dash, is it?” The large figure spoke in a nauseatingly ominous manner, his voice deep with a grisly bass.

His hand shot forward with great speed towards Rainbow Dash, catching her and Pinkie Pie off-guard as he clutched her wrist with one, large hand.

In one swift moment, he lifted Rainbow Dash out of the chair aggressively, knocking over her chair and the umbrella laying over the table. As he looked down at Rainbow Dash, he noticed the cyan durag tied to her neck, his brows furrowing into his head.

“Hey--!” Pinkie Pie yelped, immediately hopping over the table, but the man was prepared, knocking Pinkie Pie back rolling over the cement with one swift, powerful backhand. She knocked over several tables, and lay still in a mess of tables, chairs, and umbrellas.

“Pinks!” Rainbow Dash yelled in concern, being held above ground in one hand by the monstrously large man.

“You sonuva bitch!” Rainbow Dash growled in anger, turning to face him with a glare that could burn holes through cloth -- she lifted a single leg to kick the face of the man with ferocity, causing him to stumble, but not nearly enough damage for him to loosen his grip.

His face turned back to Rainbow Dash slowly, still holding onto her forearm with a grip that she thought would break her forearm. Her teeth gritted in pain.

“I came to say just one thing.” The man spoke with intense animosity. Rainbow Dash’s face began to form sweat droplets as she saw the man reach inside of his sweater. She could try to reach her own piece, but she wouldn’t make it in time like this, and besides, that wasn’t the plan.

This was going south, fast, and just when she thought there’d be no action. She hissed her teeth, realizing she was stuck.

“Applejack is off-limits to street rats like you.” The man stated, as he pulled out a single handgun, aiming it to Rainbow Dash’s chest, from his hip. “Ah, shit…!” Rainbow Dash thought in frustration, simply bracing herself .

As the shots went off, frantic shuffling could be heard immediately, not far off from behind the two.

“That cyan durag looks like dirt. Keep my sister out of it.” The man stated, watching smoke rise from Rainbow Dash’s chest, who only looked on with a bit of blood leaking down her chin from her mouth, an intense glare on her face.

The man chuckled. “You’re tough, even if you have a plate in there.” He lifted a single leg, and released his grip from Rainbow Dash’s forearm. Before Rainbow Dash could hit the ground, his foot stomped into her chest, forcing her into the concrete beneath his shoe.

He grinded his foot into Rainbow Dash’s chest, who tried to no avail to lift his leg off of her -- the man was quite heavy, and even stronger than he looked somehow. Rainbow Dash cursed underneath her teeth -- he was observant -- she was certainly armored, but even now, she could feel the pangs of pain ring throughout her body. Undoubtedly, she had taken damage.

She could feel the parts of her chest where some shrapnel got through -- the plates were only good for three or four impacts, as she recalled. She wasn’t sure how many hit the same spot, but either way, she certainly felt some damage.

She gritted her teeth beneath the man’s gaze, trying to block the pain out. The man held the gun to her face, blocking out most of the light with his tall figure.

*BANG!*

The gun flew out of the man’s hand, his head turning in surprise. He flexed his hand, barely wincing as he felt the pain out in his now sprained wrist. Pinkie Pie stood, a gun trained on the man, her face still and brows furrowed. She clutched her gun harder, squinting with anger, and a focused, hostile grimacing frown on her face.

“Next one’s the kneecap, unless you get it up off her.” Pinkie Pie said in a rather authoritative tone, pointing the gun at his knees.

The man chuckled, before stomping down into Rainbow Dash’s chest with violent aggression, in antagonizing protest to Pinkie Pie.

“Agchk!” Rainbow Dash coughed up blood over her sweater, as her head fell back onto the concrete. The stomp intensified the pain from the bullet shrapnel that pierced her body armor.

*BANG, BANG!*

The man’s leg began to leak red, and Rainbow Dash felt some pressure let up off her chest, but not a great enough amount for her to get up.

“The hell is this guy made of? I know Pinkie Pie doesn’t miss!” Rainbow Dash thought, trying her best to displace the man’s foot between pained groans and gritted teeth.

“Nnghhah!” Rainbow Dash grunted with all her strength, but no matter how hard her wrists twisted and pushed, the man was overpowering her weakened body easily.

The man gave a menacing smile to Pinkie Pie, his foot not leaving its position, even with two new holes in it. Pinkie Pie’s eyes stood wide.

Big Mac thought for a few moments, before making his next move -- he could easily finish off the girl with a curb stomp, but the girl was clearly a marksman, she hit her target twice, with clear precision. He decided that they weren’t necessarily hoping to kill him, for whatever reason, he couldn’t be sure. But, if he killed Rainbow Dash now, that would surely change. He’d have to start with “Pinks” first, and move on her ulterior motive of going for non-fatal blows, and the weakened girl would be easy to defeat after he recovered the pink one’s firearm.

He smiled. This was the confidence and combat-experience of a veteran with much Clout to his name. His face grew a small smile, as he met eyes with Pinkie Pie.

“You’re lucky you shot the gun out my hand. That was a smart move, but…” The man began talking, as he lifted his foot finally, and began walking towards Pinkie Pie.

Unexpectedly for Big Mac, Rainbow Dash had more endurance than he anticipated, as she immediately rolled over, threw the sweater off of her, and withdrew her gun in one swift movement, having it trained on the man’s back. Her posture was weak, and red could be seen painting three different spots on her chest, though they were not bleeding profusely.

Just as the man took two steps towards Pinkie Pie, car tires began screeching around the corners, catching the attention of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.

Both felt a flush of relief, as they heard cars pull up -- they held out long enough, it was time to wrap this up.

Now between two guns, and with multiple cars pulling up, the man paused momentarily, baring his options, looking between Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, and the cars now parking up on the sidewalk.

“For the record, buddy... if the plan was to kill you... you’d be dead already...” Rainbow Dash said lowly between deep breaths, training her gun on the man with aggression and regret that she couldn’t make him pay for the shots he gave her. It hurt her pride that she had to let the man handle her like that. Applejack had better make good returns on this little operation, Rainbow Dash thought.

People finally began filtering out of the vehicles that pulled up; three different black jeeps and two SUVs.

The first to pull up was one that only reaffirmed the comforting feelings of relief that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie felt.

Twilight stepped onto the premises of the outdoor cafe, carrying a rifle in one hand. She had no durag on her.

“Bout time, bitch. I thought you said one minute, didn’t you hear the fucking gunsh--”

“Well, well, well, Twilight, you weren’t kidding…! What a catch!”

Rainbow Dash’s rant was interrupted by a traumatically familiar voice that made Rainbow Dash’s hair stand on edge with animosity.

Then, her features dropped entirely, as did Pinkie Pie’s. Even the large man looked on with a look of mild surprise, keeping a mostly lean face.

“Big Mac, and the fag-haired bitch and her girlfriend?” Lotus spoke, finally walking into view, in rather casual street wear. Beneath his elbow was an orange durag with yellow-gradient tips. Behind him filtered out a group of at least a dozen people, armed, and with orange decorating their wear.

Big Mac’s eyes seemed to train on Twilight. Though his face did not change from its lean features, there was a clear one-sided transfer of aggressive resent, his slimming slightly over the lavender girl.

Upon closer inspection, Rainbow Dash found that Sunset, Trixie, and Starlight were within the crowd, decorated in orange durags like the rest of the Death Lotus.

“What’s going on? Why the hell are the Flowers here, and what’s up with Sunset and the ball-tuggers being all decorated with that shit-ass orange??” Rainbow Dash thought to herself, feeling a familiar twinge in her gut as she watched Twilight’s face. Things weren’t supposed to go down like this… She clutched her gun harder, placing her finger over the trigger, though it still laid in an unready position.

Twilight informed them that it would just be her and Sunset’s crew to help subjugate Big Mac and bring her to Applejack. But the more Rainbow Dash thought about it, the more she cursed herself for not realizing this was a set-up -- the reason Twilight gave for not simply inviting Applejack along on the drill was pretty weak and vague.

“Death Lotus, huh? I knew it was only a matter of time, Twilight. So you used my sister to lure me out? With two grass green girls in over their head messing with any gang in this city? You’re dirty.” Big Mac commented, taking the hoodie off of his grey sweater. His voice was deep, and stale, simply cold.

“I might be. But you’re caught, aren’t you?” Twilight smiled, slugging the rifle over her shoulder, still securing it in one hand, her finger beside the trigger.

“Alright, alright, lock it up y’all, let’s make this quick and clean. Pops wants me for 2 o’ clock.” Lotus said, walking forward, no weapon in hand. He was cocky. Trixie, Starlight, and Lotus, along with two other boys in orange walked up towards Big Mac, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie.

This left Twilight, Sunset, and five other boys in orange crowding around the vehicles.

“Yo, what the fuck, Twi--”

Rainbow Dash’s words stopped, as Twilight brought the rifle over her shoulders down into her hands, the barrel pointing directly in between Rainbow Dash’s eyes.

“You got sum’n to say, Dashie?” Twilight spoke with her usual icy and cold tone, taking a few steps toward Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash looked to her right, and saw two boys with rifles surround the tall burly man, she could now confirm was Big Mac after Lotus’ identification.

Starlight, and Trixie approached Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie looked on with a similar confusion and frustration as Rainbow Dash, taking two steps back from the approaching girls, deciding whether or not to raise her gun. She looked on to Rainbow Dash for an answer, but she was busy staring down Twilight’s barrel.

“Drop it.” Starlight said blandly, aiming a small SMG directly in Pinkie Pie’s face.

“And don’t even act funny, I’m sure you can do the math here.” Trixie chimed in, walking around to Pinkie Pie’s back.

She violently kicked the back of her knee, immediately bringing Pinkie Pie down to her knees, the gun dropping from her hand before she could do anything.

“Are you fucking serio-- oof!” Pinkie Pie was interrupted by Trixie kicking Pinkie Pie down to the ground, firmly grinding her boot into her back, holding her still.

She looked towards Starlight, and nodded, as Starlight walked over, and stomped over the gun, holding it underneath her shoe, and standing beside Pinkie Pie. She looked down with a small frown, but not one of great aggression.

Rainbow Dash looked on with a resentful rage -- this is why her mother taught her not to trust people, she thought furiously.

“Fucking backstabbers!” Rainbow Dash thought with anger. She began to run over towards Pinkie Pie, but just before she could lift her weapon or even pass Big Mac, or even take more than three steps in total, she was slapped to the ground with something heavy.

She collapsed to the cement, dazed for a moment, as she felt a foot kick the gun out of her hand before she could recover. She turned to her side, and saw a shoe over her gun, securing it, and as she followed the leg up, she saw Twilight above her, rifle aimed towards her.

*BANG!*

The barrel from Twilight’s rifle steamed, a hole in the cement some inches from Rainbow Dash’s face flowing with a mix of brittle and smoke.

“You understand what kind of situation you’re in, you dumbass?” Twilight asked in a rather calm and quiet voice, as she looked down at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth in anger, as she punched Twilight’s leg, and immediately grabbed the gun with swift speed.

With even swifter speed, Twilight stomped back down, onto Rainbow Dash’s forearm this time, grinding her foot into it, the gun dropping once more.

As Rainbow Dash looked up, another stomped right into her chest, forcing more blood out of her mouth.

“Do me a favor and stay still, would ya?” Twilight said in a low and stale tone.

Rainbow Dash tried to displace her once more, but she stood firm over her body, and Rainbow Dash was quite injured from the encounter with Big Mac.

Twilight looked over to Sunset Shimmer, and nodded.

Lotus looked on with glory at the subjugated Big Mac, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie with a wide smile.

“Well, this how you think it would go, Rainbow Dash?” Lotus shouted out towards the grounded Rainbow Dash. “Ending up like your mother, hunted and pinned for execution like some stray dog?” Lotus chuckled, as his smile grew.

Rainbow Dash’s neck craned back to face Lotus, staring at him with a furious fixation, her teeth gritted with rage.

His grin reached ear-to-ear, and his tone was of amusement and arrogance. However, a short chorkle from beside Rainbow Dash interrupted him. He turned over to its origin, seeing Twilight with a growing smile, one he had never seen her with before -- it was crooked and sleazy. Immediately, he felt chills in his stomach.

Twilight looked up with a now wide, smug smile, her eyes meeting with Lotus’. For a moment, everything was silent, and the world itself seemed to pause with suspense, the skies still and the atmosphere silent, allowing this one moment alone to play out independently on a spotlight. Lotus’ smile began to falter, feeling a dark opposition from Twilight’s gaze.

“Is this?” Twilight said, her voice gliding through the silence with an ominous and dark tone.

Twilight turned her rifle towards the two boys aiming Big Mac down, and let out two precise shots, as their bodies folded over lifelessly, being sure not to let any hit Starlight, Trixie, or Pinkie Pie out beyond them.

“Twilight, what the f--!!”

*BANG-BANG, BANG-BANG!*

Shots rang off from behind Lotus all of a sudden.

Lotus looked behind him, and four of the remaining Death Lotus members crowding the vehicles dropped, Sunset now aiming both hands towards Lotus, two handguns staring him down from behind.

As the other three members began raising their arms to do anything, fire from Trixie and Starlight suppressed them in moments.

Lotus stood, shocked, and still. His body seemed to freeze with anxiety, as his mind tried desperately to calculate what exactly had just happened.

Trixie and Starlight helped Pinkie Pie up off of the ground, patting the dust off of her clothes gently.

“Sorry, but in order to trick your enemies, you’ve gotta trick your friends, first. The kick wasn’t anything personal.” Trixie apologized sincerely, as she dusted off Pinkie Pie’s back.

Pinkie Pie huffed, and grabbed her gun from off of the ground, looking up at Trixie and Starlight through slitted eyes, before she calmed herself. Her nerves were on fire, but she was slowly calming down now seeing what the plan really was.

“Whatever.” Pinkie Pie said, trying to shrug it off. All was well, after all.

Twilight held a single hand out to help Rainbow Dash up, but Rainbow Dash aggressively slapped it away, picking up her pistol, and immediately pushing the barrel of it to her forehead, rising to her feet within a second. Her face was wrenched into a menacing scowl, as she got face-to-face with Twilight.

“The next time you pull some stupid shit like that without informing me first, will be the last breath you draw. You understand me, Twilight? Don’t ever hide anything from me. I’m not asking you, I’m telling you, as the RainBooms’ Top Dog.” Rainbow Dash hissed with aggression, shoving the barrel deeper into Twilight’s head with each word.

Twilight didn’t flinch -- in fact, she stood still the entire time Rainbow Dash pushed against her, a small, almost unnoticeable frown on her lips. As she pulled back, a small imprint of the barrel was left on Twilight’s head in a red, sore spot.

“I’m forgiving it this time, because you netted us a pretty big fish. But don’t fuck with me, because if I wasn’t injured, Orange wouldn’t’ve been the only casualties, today.” Rainbow Dash finished.

Twilight was silent for a few moments, calculating her response.

“Rainbow Dash, think! Who stopped Lotus from shooting you in the classroom? Who made sure you met Sunset at the stash and made sure she got recruited?” Twilight began, as Rainbow Dash’s features began to settle. Come to think of it, Sunset had never asked for anything back, yet. As if she wasn’t robbed in the first place.

“And you think Trixie and Starlight were just hanging around, ready with armor and arsenal to bang with you? C’mon now, get real. I’ve been on your side this whole time, but some things have to go a certain way. It’s about planning ahead, taking every possible contingen--ungh!”

Twilight was interrupted by Rainbow Dash aggressively shooting her arm out and grabbing Twilight’s collar. There was a moment of silence, as Rainbow Dash’s nose touched Twilight’s, her teeth showing through an angry frown.

“Listen up, kid.”, she began, her grip on Twilight’s collar tightening further. “It sounds like you don’t understand what it means to be on my side, then. There’s one person here who’s going to be in charge of the plan of action. You’re overplaying your role.” Rainbow Dash said in a near-growl, before pushing Twilight back, as she stumbled and fell back onto her butt.

“Now I’m gonna make myself clear. The next time you overwrite me like that, you’re an opp. Understood?” Rainbow Dash reiterated, fiercely holding her position. Twilight was quiet, watching Rainbow Dash for a few moments, her mind grinding in thought.

“Before I agree to that, we need to clear this up, and talk, first. I’ve been at war with the Death Lotus much longer than you. I need to have a certain level of power, permissions… there’s things that you don’t even know yet, I need you to be on board with me, before I am with you. I assure you that we both want the Death Lotus dead, especially now that I no longer have their protection from the people who had your mother whacked. But, like I alluded when I formally met you, the Flowers are just the trail.”

It dawned on Rainbow Dash that this implied the Death Lotus hadn’t been the ones who assassinated her mother, but that didn’t make sense. She knew from many interactions with the Death Lotus, and more namely, Lotus Rich, that her mother was killed by Filthy Rich’s closest underlings. They were directly responsible, that was an irrefutable fact. And the Death Lotus answered to none, as far as she knew…

Lotus, who had been frozen in shock the entire time, heard Twilight’s rambling, and reminisced on what his father, Filthy Rich, had taught him about cleaning up messes swiftly. But why did Twilight seem to know so much more than him? How many sides was this girl playing? Two? Three?

Lotus knew one thing, however -- while they were busy dialoguing, he had one chance to exit the scene; he eyed a pistol not far off the ground from him. He decided to wait for a more crucial moment, scoping out who he’d have to down first.

“So, you were playing both sides, were you Twilight? You really never change, do you?” Big Mac chuckled lowly, assessing the scene as it played out, kicking the two lifeless bodies beside him with no remorse or cares.

“On the contrary, Mac. I do change. The question is, can you? We’re gonna need you to team up with your little sister to wrap this mess up with the Orange quickly.” Twilight offered. Big Mac hummed in thought momentarily.

Lotus, in the meantime, had decided who he’d target first: Rainbow Dash was weak, and she had to be the reason Twilight defected in the first place; she was easily his first target. Next up was gonna be Big Mac, the fastest person capable of tailing him -- but, he did have Sunset Shimmer behind him, which would certainly be a problem. He looked back and forth, frozen, as cold sweats trickled down his entire body. He mentally counted each gun that would lay on his being the second he moved, and his heart only thumped faster.

“Six vs one… No matter how you look at it…” Lotus thought to himself, slowly losing his nerves.

“... I’m fucked…!” Lotus thought to himself, feeling his lips tremble. His brows furrowed, and he steeled his eyes.

“Focus. Get your phone, emergency dial 1, pops’ll know what to do.” Lotus thought to himself, beginning to slowly fish one hand into his pocket casually, trying to do it from muscle-memory, as to not cause any alarm by withdrawing his phone.

“I’d say you have yourself a deal. But just because we’re working together, don’t expect me to just bury any hatchets. Once we’re done, it’s back to business as usual. And I’ll be taking Applejack with me, once this Death Lotus fiasco is wrapped up.” Big Mac declared, standing proud and tall despite the bullet wounds in his leg.

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth, looking towards Twilight.

“I thought you said there’d be no problems, Twilight…” Rainbow Dash hissed with aggression, with a low enough tone for Big Mac not to hear.

“Relax, we’ll get this all sorted out before you know it.” Twilight responded in a cool and calculated manner… which ticked Rainbow Dash off.

“Twilight, I’m going to say this one time, and one time only. I don’t know who you’ve dealt with in the past, but I am not them. You ain’t finna string me along with vague reassurances and empty promises. I’m going to talk to you, one-on-one, later. But, for now…” Rainbow Dash spoke, quelling her displeasure with Twilight, turning to face Lotus.

“Aye,” Rainbow Dash called out, immediately spotting Lotus’ hand in his pocket. She raised her arm, aiming the gun directly at him.

“Out. Now.” Rainbow Dash said, gesturing to his pocketed hand, as she immediately closed the distance between the two. Lotus gave a rather small, but relatively smug smile, as his hand exited his pocket.

“Whatever you say, fag-hair. Can I ask you one thing, though?” Lotus asked, his smug smile falling into a rather calculated focus.

“Yo, Twilight -- check his pocket.” Rainbow Dash called back behind her, ignoring Lotus, as Twilight began to walk forward, a rather cocky smile on her face. Her eyes met directly with Lotus, and her smile gave him some level of hope that she was going to turn the tables once more, but in his favor.

“Why keep me alive? Dead or alive, I’m the same use to you, ain’t that right?” Lotus asked. This sentence seemed to perk some unique excitement in Rainbow Dash, as she chuckled. She motioned for Twilight to pause, seeing as she was just about to search him.

“Lotus… when your father ordered for my mother to be killed, it was something that I had to witness. It’s a memory that has been burned into my memory, etched into my synapses. I couldn’t even hear her final words, because the shot she got in her throat began drowning her words in blood. You don’t know what it’s like to watch your entire world crash and burn right in your arms…” Rainbow Dash began, before placing a hand on Lotus’ shoulder, tightening her grip with such ferocity that Lotus’ legs nearly buckled. He tried his absolute best not to give her a satisfying grimace of pain.

“But soon, you will.” Rainbow Dash said, as her grip began to loosen. The “RD” chain she wore proudly over her neck dazzled in the soft afternoon sunlight. “The same use to me dead or alive? That’s hilarious. You’re of your best use to me while you’re alive. I need to see you feel what I felt. I’ve dreamed of some really fucked up shit, Lotus, I ain’t gon’ cap. Blowing your little sister’s brains out right in your lap. Shoving a knife down your mother’s throat before she can tell you she loves you. And your father? Oh, he’s gonna have a long, slow, gruesome, painful, messy death, and you’re going to witness every second of it.” Rainbow Dash began to ramble, but collected herself.

“So, that’s why I’m keeping you alive, pussy. Hope you’re ready. Twilight, hop to it.” Rainbow Dash stated, shaking her head in Lotus’ direction, signaling her.

Lotus only chuckled, no words leaving his mouth, although, throughout the entire monologue, he couldn’t hide the glee grin on his face. Rainbow Dash’s dreams were about to be shattered when his father’s retaliation to this initiated, and he was rescued.

He was able to successfully retrace his phone to the emergency dial as he’d done many times before, and by now his father should’ve already realized something was wrong. His smile only grew, which didn’t unnerve Rainbow Dash, as this cocky behavior was rather normal of him.

Twilight stood face-to-face with Lotus, who only smiled back at his former fellow gang-member.

“Say, Lotus, you seem to be in pretty high spirits right now, real cool and collected. It’s a stark contrast from how you usually are when you realize you’re in a pretty fucked situation, ain’t it?” Twilight began, one hand in her pocket. Her smile was small, and faint, but far more genuine than any of her previous facial expressions.

“Well, Twilight, when you’re the son of the largest power this city has ever seen, it really takes a lot to unnerve you. Especially more than an opp and some nameless buffoons.” Lotus chuckled in an arrogant retort.

“That so?” Twilight began returning with a small chuckle of her own. She dug her hand into the pocket of her pants.

“Do you know what this is, Lotus?” Twilight asked, as she fished out from her pocket, a small black box. It almost resembled an old cell phone, but with a very uniform and symmetrical aesthetic.

Lotus’ smile faltered some. Truthfully, he had no idea what the device was, but one thing he did have an idea of, was how damn resourceful the lavender-skinned girl was. She was one of the backbones of intelligence and technical operations with the Death Lotus. If there was one person who could actually make his disappearance go correctly, it would be her. Realizing this, Lotus’ smile fell less and less -- was she going to lie to his father, and lead him in the wrong direction? Was his phone disabled? Stolen? Why was she so smug, knowing how quickly and fiercely the Death Lotus could respond to things?

Surely, she knew that the longer they kept him here, the larger danger there was of someone spotting it and communications somehow reaching the Flowers. So then, why was she so calm? His smile faltered further and further.

“This, my dear boy Lotus, is what they call a cellular jamming device.” Twilight stated, silencing herself to let the realization truly settle in with Lotus.

As it did, Lotus’ smile completely dropped, and his entire aesthetic seemed to dull and gray. His posture weakened, his skin paled, and his fingers became restless. He was quiet, and his eyes seemed to sink back into his skull. His mouth was still.

“So, that cute little trick you have, keeping your pops on emergency call? Yeah, that’s not gonna work with one of these boys active. Here, lemme show you,” she began, as she aggressively fished the phone out of his pocket, smiling a cocky and toothy grin.

As she showed him the screen, Lotus’ features only worsened. There was a large red circle with a white ‘X’ on the screen, and above it, read “Call failed.”

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle at Lotus for a few moments.

“There’s the pussy I recognize. The real you, without all your protections and luxuries -- the you that faces what the rest of us face in these streets every day: death. You may have some Clout, Lotus, but I have always despised the way you boast feats that would be impossible for you to achieve with a majority of your own ability. It’s gonna be a slow crash, Lotus… A real slow crash.” Twilight chuckled, as she patted his back with pseudo-reassurance.

“Alright, you had your fun, Twilight. Now, tell me, how much of the plan has changed? What else haven’t you told me?” Rainbow Dash asked, interrupting Twilight’s dialogue with Lotus, or more accurately, her monologue to him.

“The rest remains the same. Capturing Lotus was the final plan of action that required me to… deceive you. There won’t be any hiccups from here-on in, I promise.” Twilight reassured.

“Good. Then, let’s get a move on -- Twilight, Big Mac, Pinkie Pie, take one of the SUVs. Sunset, Trixie, Star, you’re with me on the other. We’ll leave the rest, we want to keep a low-profile until the next operation. And don’t leave these motherfuckers with they shit; pick up every gun and bullet, and search every pocket, we need everything.” Rainbow Dash instructed, as the other members crowded her, Twilight, and Lotus, who were the current center of attention.

“And please, keep the radios off. There’s a good chance these vehicles will be easier for the Death Lotus to track, it won’t be a good idea to even hold on to these for long.” Twilight cautioned. Rainbow Dash nodded approvingly.

“You heard the girl, let’s get a move on, people!” Rainbow Dash barked, as she turned to Lotus, who had been staring at the ground in silence since learning he hadn’t even contacted his father.

She balled her fist, growing a crooked smile, and prepared to give him just the nap he needed to rest up while they were on their way to regroup with Applejack and the rest of the Crips...