A long road back

Sunset, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Applejack, Sci-Twi, Pinkie, Rarity, Wallflower, Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat sat around the table finishing the lunch that Cadance and Shining had brought out. Once the twelve people had finished eating, the girls stacked up the plates and the lavender-skinned girl carried them into the kitchen, placing them in the sink. Cadance helped her sister-in-law rinse off the dishes and load up the dishwasher while her excitedly milled about the kitchen, trying to look busy.

Sci-Twi raised n eyebrow at her brother's obvious excited nature. She turned, still holding a plate in her hands and asked, "Shiny? Why are you so excited? Did they come out with a new module for O&O?"

A big goofy grin was plastered on Shining's face. "No, something much better!"

"Is the next edition of Battlemace fifty-million out early? *gasp* Did they finally fix the balancing issues, making people who like playing as the United Soldiers competitive?"

Cadance laid a hand on Sci-Twi's shoulder. "No Twilight. This is even better. I'm..." "We're having a baby!", Shining blurted out excitedly. The plate fell from Sci-Twi's hands, shattering into pieces as hit the kitchen floor, she started dancing in place. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Omigoshomighoshmigoshomigosh!" Cadance and Shining chuckled at Sci-Twi's excited display.

In the living room the nine girls heard the plate shatter followed by an ear-piercing squeal. They looked in confusion back towards the kitchen. "Ah'll go an' see what's goin' on.'", Applejack said getting up.

The farm girl pushed open the kitchen door open. "Is everythin'..." Applejack paused seeing her friend dancing in place excitedly.

"Applejack!", Sci-Twi shouted giddily as she ran over and took her friend's hands and started jumping up and down, "I'm gonna be an aunt! I'm gonna be an aunt! I'M GONNA BE AN AAAAAAAUUUUUNNNTTTT! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Applejack looked at Shining and Cadance, who nodded. She sputtered for a minute while her brain tried to remember how form words. "Well that's just...Ah mean...C'ngrats are in order."

"AJ?!", Rainbow called out from the front room, "Is everything okay?"

Sci-Twi bounded through the kitchen door, practically doing an interpretive dance as she gleefully shouted about her being an aunt.

Cadance and Shining embraced, sharing a kiss.

A few hours later the ten girls were sitting around the living room. Wallflower and Sunset snuggled up next to each other on the couch, the green-haired girl resting her head on the fire-haired girl's shoulder while an amber arm wrapped around her body, resting on her hip. Rarity sat across the coffee table from Sci-Twi, the purple-haired girl doing the lavender-skinned girl's nails. Sour Sweet and Fluttershy quietly talked back and forth. Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie and Sugarcoat sat at the other end of the coffee table playing poker, several coins in a pile.

Applejack dealt out the cards, replacing the ones the girls had laid down until they all had five each. Rainbow dropped a couple of dimes in the pile. "I raise twenty." The other three girls matched the bet. Sugarcoat shot a sharp glare around the table and she dropped four quarters in the pile. "I'll raise a dollar." The other three girls each added four quarters to the pile. "Time for the big girl panties.", RD said shoving the last of coins into the pile, "All in." "Too rich fer my blood.", AJ said tossing her hand in. The other two girls matched her bet. "Two pair. Jacks over deuces with a ten kicker.", Rainbow said smugly. "Full house, queens over fives.", Sugarcoat said. "Aw poo!", Pinkie exclaimed, "All I got is two pair...", Sugarcoat sniggered as she started to rake the small pile of coins up, the pink girl laid her hand down face-up, "...of kings!" Sugarcoat groaned in defeat and slumped her shoulders. Pinkie produced a purse from nowhere and raked the coins into it.

Wallflower's phone chirped and she pulled it out, checking the message. "My mom's out front." She leaned over and gave Sunset a quick peck on the lips.

Sunset wrapped her arm around Wallflower's back and planted a harder kiss on her lips. "How about this coming Friday we go to the mall and see a terrible movie?", she said after their lips parted.

Wallflower's cheeks turned pink and she nodded yes. "Would the afternoon matinee double feature be okay? They're showing Zardoz and Galaxy of terror."

"Sounds great! See you then."

As Wallflower walked out the door, Sunset looked around as the eight other girls made lovey-dovey sighs, her face became hot.

Wallflower walked over to her mom's car and slipped in the passenger-side. As they pulled off, a car tailed them several lengths back for several blocks before turning off down a side street.
********************************************************************************************************Monday

Abacus Cinch stepped out of her car wearing a pair of dark sunglasses. She had spent the previous day drinking herself into a near-blind stupor and was still a bit buzzed, all-in-all she probably shouldn't have been driving. She fumbled inside her coat pocket and pulled out her six month chip along with her keys. "Well I guess that's shot to shit." She tossed the thin piece of plastic over her shoulder.

As Cinch approached the front of the school, a limousine pulled up with blacked-out windows pulled up. The rear driver's-side window opened up an inch as she walked up. A manila envelope slid out as a familiar voice said, "I want you to tell your players to sweep the legs of three CHS players at the game on Thursday...unless you want the school board to see the video of you telling that Sparkle girl to use something she didn't know anything about."

Cinch roughly shoved the manila envelope back through the gap in the window. "No dice. I've already got the school board hovering over me. The last thing I need is to do something that will give them the excuse to completely ax my pension."

Another manila envelope slid out. "If that's not what's needed to grease your wheels, how about the whereabouts of the secret daughter you had twenty-five years ago? You know the one you abandoned on the steps of that mission?" Cinch's heart dropped in her chest, of course he would try and use the one main point of regret, the one thing that made her drink herself into blackouts. She knew he had that on her and much more, hell he probably had dirt on everybody in the whole state who was older than three. Her hand twitched as she seriously considered taking the envelope and say she would do it, then immediately reneg. "No.", she said crossing her arms, "Even the nuns at the mission don't know who her mother is, so I know you're bluffing. Good day, sir."

The envelope withdrew back into the limo. "Very well, have it your way. Maybe I'll go to Griff street and spread a few bucks around to some of the toughs there to have them snatch her up, get her hooked on meth, then rape her to death and send the video to you. I always get what I want and anyone who says no, it doesn't end well for them." The window rolled up and the limo pulled off. Cinch, her hands shaking, walked up to the door of the school, slid the key in the lock, paused, looked around to make sure she was alone, pulled the flask out of her purse, twisted off the cap and took a few swallows.

Blueblood flopped back in the seat of his limo frustrated, he tossed the envelope onto the seat, Several sheets of blank paper slid out of the end of the envelop. It was rare for someone to say no to him and he thought about another way to get what he wanted as he flipped through his PDA. Opening his laptop, he straightened his suit and made sure his platinum blonde hair was neat as he got ready for his five-thirty video conference.

"Bluey-Bluey-Bluey! Tsk-tsk-tsk!" Blueblood looked down at his laptop seeing the perfectly pixelated image of Mister Scratch.

"What the hell?! Why are you on my computer, Scratch?!"

Mister Scratch looked up at Blueblood from the screen. "Such a waste of perfect chaotic talent. I'm here to give you two warnings. One: If you keep down this path, Kay-kay and Moony will come for you. Then you and I shall get a chance to know each other...intimately. Aaaaaannnnnnnnnnddddd...Two: Windows has encountered a fatal problem."

"What do y..." Blueblood's eyes went wide with a shock as his screen went blue as the screen of death came up. Lines of code filled the screen as it read 'initiating memory dump-please stand by'.

Blueblood stared dumbfounded. Sure he had had computers go into the blue screen of death, but none of them had ever gone into a full memory dump before. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out his phone and opened the app version of the video conferencing program. As he connected, three other images of the senators he had a meeting with. "I apologize lady and gentlemen, I'm having to use my phone as I'm having...computer problems."

Wednesday

Indigo Zap, Suri Polomare and Sunny Flare stood outside their favorite convenience store slurping on sodas they bought from the fountain when a muscle car pulled up in the parking lot.

Pound Farthing stepped out of the car and walked up to the three girls. "Ladies, I'm here on behalf of an 'interested' party concerning the match you're having against CHS tomorrow."

Sunny Flare stepped forward, the sixteen year old girl crossed her arms across her chest and tried to give an intimidating scowl. "If you're here to convince us to throw the game, forget it. Now why shouldn't just run across this parking lot screaming 'Chester Molester?'"

"Nothing like that. I don't want you to throw the match. In fact I want the opposite.", Pound Farthing said, "You're familiar with three players Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust and Spitfire, yes?"

Indigo Zap stepped forward, interjecting her eighteen year old form between Sunny Flare and the man. "Maybe we do, maybe we don't. What's it to ya?"

"I've been personally instructed to offer you three payment ahead of time if you sweep the legs of those three girls at the match tomorrow. Nothing too serious, just a rolled ankle, an injured knee, maybe a broken nose."

Suri Polomare crossed her arms. "And what happens when the ref red cards us?"

Pound Farthing sucked his teeth as he curled his mouth up in a half-smile. "You let me worry about the umpires. Are you in or not?"

The three girls looked at each other, huddled up and whispered. "What kind of payment would we expect if we were to say yes?", Indigo Zap asked.

Pound Farthing walked over to the muscle car, reached in and pulled out three white envelopes stuffed with hundred dollar bills. "Eight thousand dollars each in cash. That would go nicely towards uni, yes?", he said tossing the envelopes to the three girls. He spun the keys to the muscle car on his finger. "You like my car?", he tossed the keys to Indigo Zap, "Take it! There's less than thirty thousand kilometres on it."

"And what's stopping us from taking your generous offer and running off?", Indigo asked. Pound Farthing opened his wind breaker revealing the pistol in its holster. Indigo swallowed seeing the firearm. "You've got yourself a deal mister...uh...I never got your name." "Old Greg.", Pound Farthing replied.

Thursday

Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Sci-Twi, Pinkie, Sunset and Wallflower milled about at the big soccer game against Crystal Prep. Occasionally they stopped by the fence to shout cheers for their team or shout jeers at the Crystal Prep players.

Pound Farthing shadowed the seven girls in the crowd, a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes, waiting for the right moment when Wallflower was away from the crowd to make his move. His half-zipped green nylon jacket kept the pistol in its holster under his left arm concealed.

As the seconds ticked down towards the end of the first period, Spitfire gave a shout to Rainbow and Lightning. She kicked the ball through the air in a lazy arc to Rainbow, who passed it to Lightning with a header, who sent it sailing into the Crystal Prep net as the buzzer sounded.

"At the end of the first period it's the Canterlot High School Wondercolts one and the Crystal Preparatory Academy Shadowbolts zero with an amazing buzzer-beater from number thirteen Lightning Dust.", the announcer said over the PA system, "For that those who care to watch, the Crystal Preparatory Academy marching band will perform their rendition of Ride of the Valkyries while their majorettes act out the scene. As a reminder, all proceeds from the concession stands go to their respective school's athletics and music programs."

As the Crystal Prep marching band made its way onto the field, Sunset and Wallflower wound their way through the crowd hand-in-hand. Like a shark smelling blood in the water, Pound Farthing tailed them through the crowd, sensing one of the best chances he'd get all night.

Sunset and Wallflower made their way to an isolated corner to make out, the former pressing the latter against the wall. As Pound Farthing slunk through the edge of the crowd to line up his angle, he figured he'd give Blueblood a two-for-one. Reaching for the zipper on his jacket, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that someone was watching like a hawk.

As Sunset's and Wallflower's tongues swirled and wrestled in each other's mouths while their hands explored each other's bodies, Cranky Doodle marched up, clapping his hands loudly to get their attention. "Alright you two! Break it up!" The two girls parted, their cheeks flushed. He gave a quick gesture of his thumb and the girls nodded, making their way through the crowd back to their friends.

Pound Farthing allowed himself to blend back into the crowd. His head snapped to his right when someone roughly bumped into him and his eyes went wide when he saw a tall man wearing a neon orange tuxedo, his yellow eyes with mismatched red pupils, partially hidden behind light purple tea shades, a fancy cane with a gilded head that had eight arrows pointing outwards in a circle was held in a hand wearing a sequin-covered glove, the other hand wore a finger-less leather glove. The tall man tipped his neon orange top hat at Pound Farthing, then turned and walked away through the crowd, seemingly to disappear.

Cranky Doodle sighed as he walked up to the counter of the concession stand where Luna was leaning as she drank a soda. He passed the girl at the till a few bucks for a lemonade. "I just caught Sunset Shimmer and Wallflower Blush tonsil-deep in each other's mouth. I swear that whoever made teenagers gave them more hormones than sense."

Luna chuckled at the algebra teacher. "Can you say you made better choices when you were their age? I know I sure as hell didn't. Look at the bright side, at least they still had their pants on." She shuddered at the memory of two student she caught going at it in one of the bathroom stalls several minutes earlier earlier.

As the air horn sounded indicating the start of the second period. Pound Farthing stood by the fence, making sure that the investments that Blueblood had put his money towards came through. As he watched Wallflower out of the corner of his eye, he knew if he was patient, maybe, just maybe he'd get another chance tonight.

Rainbow Dash rushed up the field, dribbling the soccer ball as she deftly wove around the Crystal Prep players, as she prepared to pass the ball to Lightning Dust, Indigo Zap charged straight at her, leveling her shoulder. Rainbow groaned as she scrambled back up to her feet and gestured at the referee in a wordless question 'Where's the card?'. Spitfire quickly recovered the ball and started sprinting across the field. Sunny Flare fell in behind the Wondercolts team captain, trying to trip her or grab her by her jersey. Spitfire glanced over her shoulder several times trying to figure out why several Shadowbolts players were risking getting kicked out or forcing a forfeit.

Spitfire passed the ball to Flitter, then scrambled up the field for position. She juked to the right trying to dodge knee-level kick from Suri Polomare, she was just a little bit too slow and with a loud smack the kick collided with the top of her left knee. With a scream of pain, Spitfire unceremoniously tumbled onto the ground as shouts of disapproval and boos came from both sets of bleachers. Tears pooled in Spitfire's eyes a she held her knee.

Tempers flared as Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust got into a shoving match with a couple of Shadowbolts. The referees ran up loudly tweeting their whistles to get the player's attention. The head ref interjected herself between to two teams and promised to pass out red cards like Halloween candy if the two teams didn't calm down.

After Spitfire was helped off the field, the two teams squared off for a penalty kick. Indigo Zap and Lightning Dust glared as they squared of across from each other. As the penalty kick was deflected by the Shadowbolts players, Lightning made a mad dash and leapt into the air to pass the ball with a header. Indigo charged Lightning, Rainbow saw this and started charging Indigo. Lightning yelp in shock as she found herself shoved out of the air, Indigo smirked confidently as the turquoise-skinned girl slammed onto the ground hard, the Shadowbolt staggered away as a blue fist collided with the side of her face. Fights began breaking out across the field and it quickly exploded into pure bedlam as players from both teams' benches poured onto the field.

Police, security and coaches ran onto the field to break up the brawling players as the faculty from both schools quickly directed the fans out of the bleachers. In the ensuing chaos, Pound Farthing lost sight of quarry as the crowds of people were ushered from the bleachers and out the gates.

Friday

As the final bell rang, Sunset got up from her desk in study hall, excited for her date with Wallflower, it was the first time she went out with someone she actually cared about and she was nervous. Reaching in her jacket pocket, she pulled out her wallet and counted the cash in it that she had earned by helping out the Apples and Pies. Stopping at her locker, she pulled out the duffel bag and journal. Walking through the hallways, she passed the journal to Fluttershy and went into the girl's bathroom. Stepping into a stall, she opened the duffel, changed out of her usual clothes and slipped into a pair of tight black jeans and a form-fitting black sleeveless t-shirt. She slipped on a pair of low-cut silk socks and black low heels. She smeared a roller of deodorant on as she made sure her usual clothes were securely stuffed in the duffel. Stepping in front of the mirror, she brushed out her hair, slipped a scrunchy on, spread some ruby lipstick on, lastly she lightly squirted some perfume on her neck and shoulders. Taking one last look in the mirror, she scooped up the duffel bag.

Wallflower's face lit up as Sunset walked into the school lobby. Her cheeks flushed as she took in the amber-skinned girl's outfit. "You look crazy amazing." She drug a toe on the floor. "I wish I had worn something nicer."

Sunset took in Wallflower's full length white skirt, long sleeved light green top and shiny black Mary Jane shoes. "You look amazing, babe."

As the two girls leaned in to kiss, a loud and purposeful clearing of a throat snatched their attention. Looking up with their faces blushing, they saw Cadance standing outside the office with her arms crossed, she raised a hand and pointed out the front door. After the two girls hurried out the door, she giggled to herself, though she loved seeing puppy love, she was still a professional and didn't let students get away with public displays of affection outside of hand holding, simple hugs or quick pecks on cheeks on school grounds.

Sunset and Wallflower walked through the school parking lot, fingers intertwined as Rosewater pulled up. They stopped long enough for Sunset to huck her duffel to Applejack before they both climbed into the backseat of Rosie's car. As they pulled out onto the road, Rosewater asked what move they were going to see and when Wallflower answered, she busted out in snorts and chortles.

Wallflower raised an eyebrow. "What's funny about Zardoz and The galaxy of terror?"

Rosie managed to compose herself for a moment. "I won't spoil anything for you except shiny red leather speedo with matching shoulder straps."

"Are these recent movies?", Sunset asked.

"Oh no-no-no-no!*snort*"

As they pulled into the parking spot at the mall, Rosie switched off the car and turned around to read Sunset the riot act. "Now you listen here and you listen well. That's my baby girl, my one and only. Her heart isn't a rug for you to walk on or a toy for you to break. If you hurt her in any way, just remember that I am a cop."

"MmmmOOOOOoooooommmmm!", Wallflower complained.

"Don't you 'mom' me. Your my daughter and it's my job to protect you from those who want to hurt you.", Rosewater scolded.

"I get it.", Sunset replied, "If I had a kid, I'd probably murder the whole world if someone hurt them."

Rosie wanted to smile, but she kept up her stern mother facade. "Sunset, could you step out of the car and let me talk to my daughter in private for a moment?" After Sunset got out of the car, Rosewater plucked sixty dollars from her wallet and handed them to Wallflower along wit the car keys. "I've got a shift this afternoon. Higgs is going to pick me up in about thirty minutes. Now I know I can't stop you two if you all decide to get intimate, if you two do the...", she quickly laced the fingers on both hands together, "...I want you both be fully clothed by the time I get home tonight. You two have fun and make sure to gas up the car before getting it home."

Wallflower rolled her eyes as she shimmied out of the backseat. As Rosewater walked to where she was meeting Higgs, she took one last look over shoulder at her daughter and her girlfriend walking hand-in-hand into the mall. She wiped a tear away from her eye, she thought she would have been ready when Wallflower would have started dating and realized just how fast they grow up.

"Aaaaauuuuggggghhhh! My eyes!", Wallflower shouted as she threw her hands over her face seeing Sean Connery in the infamous red speedo.

Sunset nearly fell out of seat as snorting guffaws wracked her body until tears leaked down her cheeks. "Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!*snort* Look at all that...Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!*snort*...hair! It's like he's...Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-*snort-snort* half*wheezing gasp**snort* half-pony-hee-hee-hee!*snort*" She tried to hold her breath only to break out in more sputtering guffaws.

The usher walked up, cleared his throat and blinked his flashlight a couple of times. The two girls look at the usher and broke out in sputtering laughs. "Would you two mind taking it outside?", the usher whispered in a hoarse tone, "You're interrupting the other patrons who want to enjoy the movie."

Sunset and Wallflower nearly fell over themselves as they got up, their faces beet-red as they held their breath to keep from busting out in further guffaws, a fight they were both losing. Reaching the hallway outside the theater, the two busted out laughing, they fell over, tears streaked down their cheeks, their ribs hurt, they felt like they couldn't breath, but they couldn't stop laughing at the image permanently burned in their brains.

It took several minutes before Sunset and Wallflower could gather themselves and get to their feet. The two locked eyes, their breath became deep and quick. Mouths locked in an aggressive kiss, tongues interlocked like two beasts wrestling for dominance, hands roughly explored each other's bodies like their very fingers hungered for smooth skin and warm flesh. The two parted, a thin line of mutually-shared saliva still connecting their mouths, lungs greedily gulped down air, light cyan eyes and deep brown eyes stared into each other. Mouths locked together again in another battle of passion, amber and green hands groped under the two girl's tops seeking the soft orbs underneath, eliciting muffled moans from the two.

The two parted from the kiss again, leaving both girls gasping for air as their nerves burned with the fires of passion. "Let's get out of here and go somewhere more private.", Sunset said huskily. Wallflower jingled the car keys Rosewater gave her. "I've got the house all to myself." The two walked hand-in-hand, passions barely contained as they walked out of the multiplex. Sunset gestured to the food court. "I want to get a soda. You want one?" "A root beer, no ice.", Wallflower replied, "I'll wait here 'till you get back." She leaned against a table, zeroing in on Sunset's rear in the tight jeans as she swayed her hips in an exaggerated manner as she walked over to the Mythic Creature Express.

Pound Farthing tailed Sunset and Wallflower from the time they left CHS. He watched as they went into the local multiplex in the mall, but didn't know what movie they went to see or what theater they were in and he didn't want to waste needless energy he would need running away with the crowd after finishing the job, he was a patient man and could wait. Ducking in and out of stores, he kept the front of the cinema in sight waiting like a tiger in the tall rushes for his prey. Jackpot! They obviously couldn't make it through the whole movie, as the obvious barely-contained desire clearly painted on their faces. As he made his way through the crowd, he repeated the mantra in his head over and over every time he did a hit. 'Slowly. Don't draw attention. You're just another person in the crowd. No sudden movements until you're ready to strike.' As the girls went to the food court and Wallflower stopped by the railing in the back, he thought fortune smiled on him, open space, little risk of collateral damage, plenty lines of approach and the panicking crowd would give him plenty of cover for escape.

As Pound Farthing made his way around the far end of the food court and started his final approach, he didn't notice the strange tall man wearing a neon orange tuxedo watching him from one of the flat screen TVs. Reaching his hand to the holster under his shirt holding the pistol, reached under wrapping his fingers around the rectangular handle, his thumb flicked the small leather strap securing the pistol free, then released the safety and proceeded to draw the gun. His teeth clenched in frustration as the pistol snagged, no matter, he simply readjusted as he continued his calm, slow walk forward. A wicked smirk slowly spread across his lips as the pistol slid out of the holster, as the weapon cleared its leather confines, he spoke up. "Wallflower Blush?"

Wallflower turned her head to see who was calling her name. Eyes went wide, pupils constricted and muscled all locked in panic as she saw the pistol leveled at her.

As Sunset started walking back with both sodas, she saw the man walking towards her girlfriend, drawing a weapon and time started to slow down. The seconds seemed to stretch on for an eternity as she darted forward and hurled both drinks at him, one sailed wide into the crowd on the other side of the food court railing, the other smacked him in the face, blinding him momentarily. It was all the advantage she needed and pored on more speed.

Rainbow looked up from the counter of Taco Gong when she saw a pair of soda cups sailing through the air. Following the arc of the cups, she saw Wallflower frozen in place in fear as a man approached her drawing a pistol, everything seemed to suddenly move in slow motion. Vaulting the counter, she went into a full sprint as soon as her feet hit the ground, she poured on as much speed as she could to close the distance.

Biscuit Hooves was spending the afternoon at the mall with his daughter, Muffins. He adjusted his coke bottle-thick glasses as he and his daughter walked out of the store straight across from the food court. A cup full of soda seemed to sail out from nowhere and slammed into his daughter's face, drenching the both of them in the sticky, sugary liquid. He glared, trying to see who threw the soda. His breath caught as he saw a man drawing a gun on the food court and his training took over.

Sunset leapt through the air for the last few strides. Time seemed to return to normal as her body collided with Pound Farthing's arm. Her ears rang as the pistol discharged, the shot was pushed wide by the narrowest of margins, she wrapped her arms around his and tried to wrestle the gun away. Terrified screams erupted from the crowd as people started fleeing away from the gunman in a panic. Wallflower felt the wind from the bullet go past her ear as it cut through her hair, causing a few locks to fall to the floor, eyes rolled back in their sockets and she fainted. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Rainbow ran forward as fast as her legs could carry her, her heart nearly stopped when the gun went off and she saw Wallflower fall down. The rainbow-haired girl grit her teeth as she prepared to throw an all-out-punch. Pound Farthing reached back with his free hand and backhanded Sunset off him, sending the girl sprawling to the floor, as he started to line up a new shot, a blue fist impacted the side of his face. Rainbow received an elbow to her nose for her troubles.

As Rainbow staggered backwards, blood pouring from under her hand, Biscuit Hooves reach the railing at the edge of the food court. As he vaulted over the railing, he slipped and his foot caught on the edge of the railing, sending him into an ungraceful midair tumbling cartwheel. Pound Farthing hollered in pain as Biscuit Hooves' flailing foot collided with his wrist, sending the pistol tumbling away, he stared in shock for a split second before turning to run away. Thunderhooves was at the mall to pick up a couple of shoplifters, he was making his way to the food court while mall security finished gathering the last of the statements when he heard the gunshot. As he pushed through the panicking crowd, he saw two bodies laying on the food court floor and what looked like Biscuit Hooves doing a move from a kung-fu movie to disarm the man. Pound Farthing ran as hard as his legs could take him when he felt what felt like the force of an overclocked diesel locomotive going downhill as Thunderhooves tackle him, a split second later everything was black.

Sunset leaned up from the floor and shook the cobwebs from her head. She looked around stunned as she saw Pound Farthing sprawling through the air as an absolute beast of a man tackle him and Muffin's dad laying on the floor looking disoriented...well more disoriented than usual. Panning her head around, she saw her girlfriend laying on the floor. "WALLFLOWER!", she scream and scrabbled across the floor on all fours. She quickly searched the girl for blood, extra holes, anything.

Wallflower groaned as her eyes fluttered open and she saw a familiar amber-skinned girl looking her over. "S-Sunset?"

Sunset's eyes went wide when she heard her girlfriend's voice. "Wallflower! Areyouhurtcanyoumovedoyoufeelbloodanywhere?!"

Wallflower sat up slowly and groaned as she rubbed the back of her head. "I think I hit my head."

Sunset wrapped her arms around Wallflower in a tight hug and kissed her repeated all over her face. "I was so scared! I thought he had shot you!"

The memory of what happened snapped back to Wallflower and she gently pushed Sunset so she could inspect herself. Running her hand across her body, looking for holes or blood. She ran her hands over her head, feeling where the bullet had cut a line through her hair. "I-I think he shot my hair.", she said showing Sunset. The two girls squeezed each other in a tight hug.

Thunderhooves radioed in shots fired at the mall as he handcuffed the unconscious Pound Farthing. He quickly directed mall security to take the unconscious gunman to one of their holding cells, then made his way over to the mostly abandoned food court to assess the situation.

Muffins made her way over to Rainbow to help her with her nose, which fortunately wasn't broken. Biscuit sat up, wobbling as his eyes practically spun in their sockets.

"Biscuit, buddy! Are you okay?", Thunderhooves asked, kneeling down next to Biscuit.

"I don't wanna go to school gam'ma. I wanna stay home and make cookies with you!", Biscuit said completely discombobulated.

Thunderhooves laid Biscuit down gently. "Just get some rest buddy." He went over to check on Sunset and Wallflower, they were fine other than a split lip on the former and a bump on the head for the latter. He walked over and checked on Rainbow. "Well little lady, your nose doesn't appear to be broken. It'll probably a little sore and swollen for a couple of days, but hey, it'll match the beaut of shiner you've got." Rainbow grunted nonplussed at being called 'little lady', which made Thunderhooves chuckle.

Outside dozens of sirens and screeching tires could be heard as dozens of cop cars pulled up, followed by ambulances. Thunderhooves quickly took control of the situation as dozens of cops wearing heavy body armor swarmed into the mall. EMTs quickly went through the mall treating the injured, more people were hurt in the ensuing panic than during the attempted murder.

Rosewater pulled into the mall parking lot, she was on the verge of tears, the images of Wallflower lying on the floor with a dozen holes in her bleeding out. Pulling the cruiser to a stop, she leapt out and started sprinting to the doors. Seeing Biscuit on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance only made her panic and the horrific images her mind conjured up worse. "WALLFLOWER?! WALLFLOWER?!", she shouted running through the mall.

Thunderhooves quickly passed the paperwork he was filling out off to another officer as he heard Rosewater shouting, he knew if it was his daughter, he'd be just as panicky and out of sorts, he also knew he was the only officer that get through to her in such a mental state and seeing as Biscuit was being sent to the hospital to be held for observation in case he had a concussion, he was the defacto one. He quickly moved himself into Rosewater's path.

"Where's Wallflower?! Is she okay?! She's not..."

"Rosie!", Thunderhooves firmly interjected, "She's fine. Just a bump on the head. The other two girls got banged up worse."

Rosewater let out a small sigh of relief. "What about Biscuit? How badly is he hurt? What about the other two girls?"

"Biscuit knocked himself silly trying to stop the guy. You shoulda seen him Rosie, he looked like something from an old kung-fu movie. They're going to hold him overnight to make sure he doesn't have a concussion. The two girls that got roughed up are Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Luanne Dash. They weren't hurt bad enough to warrant a trip to the hospital, considering one got a split lip and the other got a bloody nose respectively."

Rosewater made her way over to Wallflower and she quickly checked her daughter over to give herself the piece of mind. Once her mind was satisfied that her daughter was unharmed, she quickly pulled her in for a tight hug, sniffling because of a combination of gratification and residual fear.

Wallflower wrapped her arms around her sniffling mother, returning the hug. "It's okay mamma, it's okay." Mother and daughter held each other for several long minutes.

Sunset sat on a chair at the mostly abandoned food court in a daze, hands trembling. Now that it was over and time was allowed to pass, the weight of it all began to bear down on her, she had nearly lost her girlfriend, the first person she dated that she actually cared about. Her lungs felt like they were shrinking, breaths coming in panicked gasps, it felt like all the oxygen was leaving the air, her head spun. Eyes stung as tears built.

Sunset jumped as a hand came to rest gently on her shoulder. Looking up she saw Rosewater looking down at her. The woman pulled her into a hug and the dam burst. "I-I-I was-was so sc-sc-scared!" She broke down into violent, heaving sobs as the woman gently rubbed her back.

Rainbow squenched her eyes shut, tears rolling down her cheek and turned her head away so others wouldn't see her cry. Warm slender arms wrapped around her shoulders, opening her eyes, vision blurred by tears, she saw the blonde hair and grey skin of Muffins, she buried her face in the girl's shoulder and bawled.
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Pound Farthing sat on a chair that was bolted to the floor, at a flat metallic grey stainless steel table, which was also bolted to the floor. The chain in cuffs around his wrists were looped through a small stainless steel ring that was bolted to the table by four hex bolts. Turning his head, he stared at the two-way mirror on his right. Alright, your name is Coin Purse. All they've got on you is you tried to shoot one girl and assaulted two others. Attempted murder carries a max sentence of twenty years. They will overlook the battery charges for the more severe one. They don't know about the two people you killed in Grand Rapids last year or your past and the bodies you left in your wake in Mexico, England, Italy and Lithuania, unless Blueblood sells me down the river to cover his own ass. If he does, he'll soon learn that there ins't a cage in existence that can hold me for long.

Pound Farthing turned his head to the heavy steel door as it swung open and took note of the two cops who walked in, the tags read 'Higgs Boson' and 'Tin Star'. Here come the game that all American Bobbies like to play, 'good cop-bad cop'. He couldn't help but chuckle. Tin Star plopped the file he was holding in his hand down on the table, then the two pulled up chairs and sat down. "SO YOU LIKE PULLING GUNS ON LITTLE GIRLS AND TAKING POT SHOTS!", Higgs bellowed, Pound Farthing mentally applauded him for his performance. Higgs slammed his fist and stood up aggressively, making the he was sitting to slide across the room. "MAYBE IT SHOULD YOUR FACE IN AND SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT! HUH?! HUH?!" "Whoa whoa whoa! Take it easy buddy.", Tin Star said shoving Higgs Boson back.

Pound Farthing nearly laughed at Higgs walking back and forth with heavy stomping steps, he wished he could give the man a Razzy for his performance, instead he let a smile cross his face just before blowing a raspberry. Instead of doing what was predicted, Higgs instead leaned against the wall and said, "Let's drop the whole good cop-bad cop act. We won't shake someone like him." This prompted Pound Farthing to raise an eyebrow. "We know who you are...Pound Farthing.", Tin said flipping the file open. Bloody 'ell! "Looks loike ya got me knackered. I know my bleedin' roights. I ain't sayin' nuthin' wi'out representation present. So get my lawyer here ya two dossy cunts.", Pound Farthing said sticking two fingers up in the air and blowing several rapid fire raspberries.

Tin Star laid a felt-tipped pen and a clean sheet of paper within reach of Pound Farthing. "Just in case you decide to offer a confession." He and Higgs Boson turned to leave the interrogation room, the latter banging on the door for the two of them to be let out.

Picking up the pen, Pound Farthing rolled it over in his fingers, chuckling to himself. Popping off the cap, he looked at the two-way mirror and started bending the little plastic clip out with a thumb as he started formulating his escape plan. It would take him fifteen, maybe twenty second to slip the latch on the cuffs, another ten to to snatch the wire out of the back of the camera in the corner and fashion it into a garrote, the whole time he would be under the watch of whoever was on the other side of that mirror. Then would come the hard part, waiting for someone to come through the door so he could tangle them up and use them a human shield until he got his hands on a gun. He enacted the first step of his plan and started moving the clip on the pen cap to the lock on the handcuffs.

"I wouldn't do that mon capitaine. You might be able to escape them, but you won't escape me.", a voice said snapping Pound Farthing from his concentration. Looking up he saw a tall thin man wearing an outrageous neon orange tuxedo with matching top hat, a pair of mismatched gloves on his hands grasping an elegant black cane with a gilded head embossed with eight arrows pointing outwards in a circle, yellow with red mismatching pupils looked at him over the tops of light purple tea shades. The man gave Pound Farthing an almost predatory smile that made him shudder slightly. "Lemme guess, you work for Blueblood and are here to knock me off." "Sorry, but no. I only listen to two individuals and I'm pretty sure you don't have pink butterflies on your butt."

"Who is he talking to?", one of the cops asked on the other side of the two-way mirror, which got him a round of shrugs.

"Who or what are you exactly?", Pond Farthing asked nonplussed.

"I have gone by many names in your world, but seeing the author is kind of lazy and doesn't want to type them all out, You can call me the one, the only, often imitated, never duplicates(unless you count the near-numberless iterations on this site), the champion of craziness, the grand poobah of improbability, the lord of chaos himself...Discord!" After saying his name, he pirouetted, fell back on a couch that appeared of nowhere and pulled a silken cord causing confetti to fly from seemingly nowhere and a sign covered in blinking lights to drop down that read 'Discord'. The lights on the second d crackled and went out. "I told Pinkie not to use the cheap bulbs.", Discord muttered to himself. "Alright everypony, back to one!", he said. Discord duplicate dressed as an overweight stage manager, standing next to a TV studio camera that was operated by another Discord duplicate, shook his head and gave the 'not enough time' signal. "Aw, poo! I guess we'll go ahead with it, but know that you'll be hearing from my agent."

Discord leapt up into the air, did a triple front flip and landed light as a feather on the stainless steel table, making Pound Farthing lean back as far as the cuffs would let him. "Don't worry old chap or guv'nah or whatever this stilted and hackneyed author thinks sounds British, I won't hurt you...physically, I'll simply make feel all the pain you've inflicted on others as I force you to write a full confession.", he said as he flipped his hand in an overly-elegant flourish before poking the fingertip on center of Pound Farthing's forehead.

Cops scrambled through the hallways of the station towards the interrogation room where bloodcurdling screams were pouring out. Snatching the door open, they froze in shock seeing Pound Farthing doubled over the table clawing at his face. "Nononononono! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Get it out! It hurts! It hurts so bad! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! NONONONONONONONONONO! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! TAKE IT OUT! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" On the floor was a hastily scribbled confession detailing not only all the people he'd harmed or killed, but also all the things he'd done for Blueblood.
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Rosewater pulled up into the driveway in her cruiser next to her car that Wallflower and Sunset had drove home in. Stepping out of the cruiser as the two girls got out of the car, she walked up to the front door, unlocked it and let the two in before stepping in behind them. "Wallflower, you and sunset can hang out in your room together, just keep your door open and the music down."