CyberPone

//Hocus Pocus

“Do you like hurting other people?”

Rain drops created a symphony of metallic music on the steel roof of my car as I turned into the parking lot in front of the Moonlit Megabuilding, a single straight line shooting from its base to the roof in a glorious dark royal purple contrasting from its other blue neon lights.

“You see a prime parking spot anywhere?” I leaned over the steering wheel, trying to peek past every parked vehicle in hopes to find the spot next to it open.

“How about there?” Hexadecimal pointed over to the left, right in front of my face. “Oh… nevermind there’s a motorcycle tucked in there.”

I let out a long groan, “Fucking hell. Why are so many ponies showing up to these kinds of clubs?”

“A fake world is a lot less painful than the real one,” Hexadecimal shuddered a little, looking at the Wayward Pony’s sign that hung alongside other glowing advertisements. The neon red-lit heart and pink X’s light glimmered out off the tops of the wet parked cars, hanging off the side of the building like a scab. “We really do live in a world of total dusk.”

“Beautiful words, Hexie, but are you planning on drowning over there in all that self pity?”

The punk unicorn raised a single eyebrow at my rebuttal, crossing her forehooves and leaning back further into her seat. “Shut the fuck up.”

“Come on! You’re sounding just like the characters on holoTV.’” Hexadecimal groaned and turned to look out the window. “No, no I’m serious you sound just like the actors on the silver screen giving out canned lines. Look around you, I don’t see everyone’s consciousness controlled. As long as we can think, we can act.”

“For now,” Hexie grunted.

I pulled up my hood with a free hoof, “You’re really stubborn sometimes, you know that choom?”

I stopped the car as a vehicle in front of us pulled out and drove off; I quickly took the open parking space. My friend silently exited the car and walked through the rain to the building’s entrance for cover. I levitated my shotgun out the back seat and tucked it into the back of my jacket. Turning off the vehicle, locking it in the process, I began to saunter over to Hexie.

“That guy? Really?” A voice scratched the edge of my ears, the nerves on my spine crawled up from my tail. I looked over my shoulder and scanned the area with my eyes. My eyes were instantly drawn to a small tan and brown spotted mule in a high collar trench coat sitting under a mural. It depicted a shining silver balance scale surrounded by a deep violet spiraling void. There was something else. A presence. It encased the mare.

The mule raised an eyebrow at me, “Whatcha you looking at, punk?”

“You coming?” Hexadecimal yelled from the doorway.

I looked at the punk mare then back at the small mule who was trotting away.

“Yea… yeah.” I nodded my head and hurried over to the building’s entrance.

Hexie nudged me with her shoulder as we walked into a nearby elevator. She continued to just smile at me as I pushed the button for floor twenty.

“Was that baddie an old booty call of yours?”

I choked on my own spit. “What?”

“I don’t blame you. If I wasn’t in a relationship I’d hit that too.”

“I don’t date anymore. You know that.” Hexie just laughed at my comment.

“Emotions just create so many problems.” I looked through the rising cage’s fence-like walls at the dirty apartments across from me. “Causes choombas to do incredibly stupid things for love or whatever.”

“Explains why you’re so dead all the time.” The elevator dinged and displayed that we had arrived at the twentieth floor. “You need to get laid.”

I rolled my eyes with a grunt. Exiting through the opening doors, we were hit with the smells of processed meat and baked synthetic grain mixed with sweat. Ponies, zebras and griffons crowded the area buying goods and conversing in the crowded area. We pushed our way through the people on the floor towards a neon-lit heart just ahead. Folks entered in and out of the establishment’s front sliding doors. On each side was a digital stripper dancing on a pole, its species changing to whatever user walked in front of it. In big stylistic letters the sign read: The Wayward Pony.

Hexadecimal shivered at the sight of the projections changing to a pair of stallions as we walked in. The floor was a violet grid which reached all the way through to the next room. Different sex toys and foreplay items were displayed like prized token on shelves to both sides of us. I couldn’t understand why someone would want rainbow colored dildos as decor, but everyone had their style. Hexie was just completely melted with blush at their sight.

The hallway gave way to a dim club with everything a horny pony would want. A stage filled with metal poles and dancers of all genders, a dance floor where folks rubbed together like packed meat under maroon-colored laser lights, waiters and bartenders dressed in questionably tight glossy clothing, and of course private back rooms for more serious “business”. A mare dressed in black straps and glowing neon pink eyes approached us.

“Hi, I’m Mountain Creek. What desires can I fulfill for you two?” she yelled over the loud techno-dance music.

“I need to have a private talk with your boss.”

“Don’t worry sir,” the waitress gave a hollow smile. “Our dolls will be willing to talk to you about anything you wish.”

“I know Cornicle here. Don’t bullshit me.” My tone shift caused the mare to flinch; her eyes flickered off into a dull green.

Mountain Creek gestured to a staircase next to the private rooms, “His office is up the stairs on the left.”

“Thanks.”

I nudged Hexadecimal, who was now boiling bright red, to follow me. Mountain Creek ran her long tail across Hexie's neck as she walked past.

“Maybe I’ll be seeing you later, cutie.”

The punk mare immediately began to walk hip-to-hip with me and stared at the floor. I chuckled at her dismay. Upon reaching the base of the stairs up to Cornicle’s office, I used my magic to flick off the safety of my pistol. I wasn’t leaving there without answers or a head.

“You have a plan?” Hexie asked as we reached the top of the stairs.

“Nope. I was kind of hoping we’d catch a break this time.”

I got a hearty laugh as a response. “When has the ‘Child of Discord’ ever gotten a break?”

“Why’d you say the name like that? What, you don’t like it now or something?”

“Nah,” We started approaching the door to the left. “It’s the only good idea you’ve ever had really.”

We paused in front of the office. Hexadecimal looked me straight in the eye.

“You really don’t have a plan, do you?”

I gave a warm smile. “Is that a hint of worry in your tone?”

“And if it is?”

“I’d tell you I’m a big boy,” I tugged the door open with my crimson magic and waved her to enter. “And not to worry about it.”

“Well, I’m gonna lead so you don’t do something that’ll make Celestia’s light shy away.”

We entered the square office where pegasi laid on each other on the couches inside. They stared, some in shock, as we walked towards the other end of the room where behind a desk a familiar voice rang out.

“We can’t. It’s too risky!” The large black chair spun around as a zebra stallion appeared sitting in it. His flickering blue eyes went wide at the sight of me.

“Oh… I’m going to have to call you back,” the neon in his sight disappeared. “Glazia, would you mind getting drinks for our guests?”

“Of course,” a large griffon said from behind us.

“I hope you do understand that it was in our best interest to leave the building at that time. We did hear about your companion and you have our sincerest condolences, but you seemed to have escaped just fine.” Cornicle gestured at me as he shifted into his real form.

I gritted my teeth.

“Then we can cut to what we want,” Hexadecimal waved a hoof. “And I’ll take a coffee, five cream with one sugar.”

“And what about you sir? Our alcoholic section is the largest in the Evergreen district.”

I locked eyes with the young griffon. “I’ll take a glass of orange juice, please.”

“I’ll see if we have any.” Glazia cheerfully sauntered off.

The changeling raised an eyebrow. “Don’t drink during a job I presume?”

“Reminds me of my mother...”

“Well,” Hexie cut in before Cornicle could ask a follow up question. “Could we continue?”

“Certainly.”

My punk friend and I sat down in the chairs in front of the desk. Glazia returned with a silver tray and placed our desired drinks in front of us. Everyone took a sip as the large griffon went to stand by Cornicle’s side.

“It’s not your actions necessarily we’re pissed at, we just want revenge on the piece-of-shit borg from that night. I hope you can understand,” Hexie said with a smile I could tell was fake.

“So,” the changeling leaned back into his chair. “What’s your offer?”

“Excuse me?!” I squinted at his grin.

“The city runs on deals, my friend. The powerful demons at the top can take from the powerless below because of their subconscious submission,” Cornicle leaned over to the young griffon and opened his mouth. Slowly, pink energy was pulled from Glazia into his mouth. He finished with a satisfied lick of his lips. “But those who rebel, who try to deviate from their given roles need to crack a deal with the devil to rise or they’re doomed to fall. So I’ll ask again. What is your offer?”

I felt my internal flame begin to grow. “You left us there to die and you have the fucking balls to ask what we can give you? You know what? Fuck you and your two-bit whorehouse! Hexie, let's delta.”

I stood up from my seat and headed towards the exit, but Cornicle’s laugh made me stop in front of the door.

“Something funny?” I glared back.

“I read that kirins were emotional, but didn’t know it was this severe,” The changeling took another swig of his drink. “I know how to find that borg and I’m willing to help you if you help me.”

The room fell silent for a few seconds. I returned back to my seat, softening my facial expression.

“I’m in a tight situation myself currently and I need someone to break into SomaTech’s main servers. You--”

“But you’re changelings. Can’t you just sneak through the front door and do it yourselves?” Hexie cut in.

“We could, but even with our netrunners we have no idea what the layout of the lower floors are like. The corpos have that information on lock and key. We need an insidepony.” Cornicle stared directly at me.

“Is that it?” I raised an eyebrow, taking a sip from my glass.

Tilted his head to the side, his grin growing to a large toothy smile, “Of course. We need access to their servers for information and we can help you find that borg. A real ‘win-win’ if you ask me.”

“What kind of information are we talking about?” Hexie asked.

“That’s something I would prefer not to be discussed.”

“There’s no way in hell we’re going into that building without knowing what we’re there for.” Hexadecimal impatiently tapped her hoof on the floor waiting for an answer.

“We’re trying to gain information to increase our power in the city.”

“Blackmail?” my friend and I said at the same time.

Cornicle took another sip of his drink, “Yes. We’ll handle getting you two into the building, but need uniforms and ID cards. Luckily, two new employees are being transferred here as we speak. Jump the convoy outside of the city and take their credentials. Simple.”

I turned to Hexie, who was nodding in agreement. I pressed my lips into a thin line and shook my head. “I don’t know. There’s a lot of variables in a job like this.”

“Things you can solve of course.”

I let out a sigh. It was the best chance to find Meltdown. What other chance would we have? I nodded. “You’ve got a deal.”

The door to the office swung open and everyone turned their head to see a unicorn enter the room. Half of his body had been replaced with jagged metal pieces, wires and tubes. The pony’s muzzle, if you could even call it that, had been completely replaced by sharp fang-shaped copper that hung from the roof of the mouth.

“The Techno-Scorpion sends her regards, bitch!” He quickly drew a pistol from his wrist and took aim at Cornicle.

*BANG!*

A single shot deafened my ears as blood splattered onto my face. The metal Techno-Scorpion member slumped onto the blue carpet, tinting its color. Glazia had a long smoking barrel revolver right next to my ear. I wiped my eyes.

“Well, shit.” The changeling’s face grew sour. “Glazia, inform the rest of The Jets that we need to move ahead with the plan.”

“Of course.” She bowed her head and left the room by gracefully hopping over the headless corpse.

Gunfire and screams erupted from the floor below. The building seemed to shake at the rapid vibrations.

“Let me guess,” Cornicle’s ears perked up at my question as he finished his drink. “Someone decided to play favorites in the turf war?”

“Can you blame me? Those robotic freaks have been messing with my capital.” He smirked a little. “Take the stairs down into the dress room. Just make sure you get out in one piece. We have a deal to keep.”

Hexadecimal and I nodded as we made our way out the door. I pulled my shotgun out from under my jacket with my magic, flicking the safety off in the process. She pulled out her own weapon with her magic, a pistol with a heavy two-toned yellow and black slide and compensator.. The grip was made of wood with a rose stamped on both sides. Its orange-colored trigger was positioned just below its grey name: .30 Silver.

Together we took the stairwell in front of us down to the dress room. We paid no mind to the ponies running away from the situation in the main room at the stairs. Hexadecimal waved a hoof for me to come to the swinging double doors in the room. She took one side while I took the other.

Hexie nodded towards the window. “What’s in the way?”

As quietly as I could I peeked through the space in-between the doors.

“Five… wait… shit that’s a big guy.” I quickly darted back into cover as one of the cyber amalgamations glanced over to the doors in the midst of combat. “At least six visible, but I can’t see the bar.”

“Shock and awe?” She raised an eyebrow.

I nodded. Hexadecimal’s horn began to glow a brighter lime-green with each passing second as she concentrated on the spell. The bright light was overtaking almost everything.

“What the fuck?” one voice in the other other room yelled over the gunfire.

“Go check that out! We’ll keep the winged freaks grounded!” another commanded.

I stole another peek through the space. Three bodies, two ponies and a zebra, were approaching us fast. Quickly I turned to Hexie.

“Open it!”

I bucked the swinging doors wide open and leapt out of the way. Hexadecimal launched her charged light spell around the corner. It exploded in the center of the main floor, blinding everyone on the other side indiscriminately.

I quickly popped out of the entrance and rapidly fired off shots from my shotgun. The rounds ripped off chunks of my target’s legs, dropping him forcefully to the ground before I blasted his nearby friend’s head clean off. Hexie followed me out shortly, pulling out her fiber optic wire out from her hoof. She slid by the third hostile and tripped them with the wire before popping two shots into their head. I pointed my barrel at the last injured pony and dispatched him with a quick blast.

The other Techno-Scorpions had finally regained sight, opening fire on us. Hexadecimal dove at me, knocking me behind a turned-over table.

“Fuck you!” they screamed in between shots.

Both Hexadecimal and I began unloading blind shots over the table, making sure to reload only when the other was covering.

“Alright,” I screamed over the ringing in my ears. “You cover me and I’ll make a break towards the exit!”

I got out from behind cover and was immediately shot in the shoulder.

“Fuck! That was a bad idea,” I said as I fell back into cover.

“I could have told you that but you’re always acting too fast!” Hexadecimal scolded.

The fight went on for a few more minutes. The taste of burnt gunpowder replaced the chilled club air. My shotgun gave a click as I pulled the trigger for another countless time.

“I’m dry,” I told Hexie while reaching into my belt. “Fuck me.”

The pouch was completely empty. I was out of shells.

I leaned nearer to my friend. “What are you at, Hex?”

She fell back behind cover and reloaded her .30 Silver then checked her own belt. “Three mags plus one.”

“Can you prepare another spell?”

“Ya, just buy me some time,” Hexie responded as she began to focus her magic.

One of the gang members must have seen the light begin to grow from behind the table because the sound of galloping was approaching fast. I levelled my shotgun and swung with my whole body at the cyborg zebra that rounded the corner. The mare’s legs shot out from under her as her head bashed into the floor tiles.

I chucked my shotgun at the gangbangers as I ran out of cover towards the bar under a hail of bullets. Sliding into cover I noticed more borgs walk in.

“Kill the fucker behind the corn—“ He was cut off by a hoof to the face that threw him to the ground.

I popped my head above the corner to watch multiple colored blurs assault the Techno-Scorpions. The big one swung at one of the blurs, slamming it into the ground. It was a pegasus with a clear cybernetic spine injecting black liquid into different points of their body.

“Fuck off fleshy!” the stallion screamed at the pony before unloading the whole clip of his automatic pistol into the poor soul.

I locked eyes with Hexadecimal and gestured to the exit. She nodded in agreement. It was the perfect time to make a break for it. This wasn’t our fight. I wasn’t dying in someone else’s stupid turf war.

Hexie tossed her charged magic over the cover, its rays bursting everywhere. She made a break for the door, shooting anyone who got in her way. I slid over the bar and followed.

Then I heard the thunderous sound of galloping metal hooves. I couldn’t stop. The large Techno-Scorpion knocked me off my hooves and sent me flying through the stage’s wall into the next shop. The force knocked the wind out of me before I even hit the construction site's floor.

The world spun around me. Workers screamed while running away from the scene. The huge cyborg pony stepped through the hole in the wall in my double vision.

He slammed another magazine into his pistol and yanked back the slide. “Ready to die, Ashie?”

I pulled my pistol out in response, firing multiple rounds into his legs before rolling back onto my hooves and sprinting to cover. He didn’t even flinch, instead just unloading a whole magazine as he tracked my movement. My ears perked at the sound of his slide locking back.

I peeked out of cover with my pistol first. The cyborg was hastily reloading his gun. Lining up my sights with the ganger’s head, I squeezed the trigger slowly.

CLICK

I turned my baby eagle sidewises. The slide hadn’t closed fully from the last round. It was a failure to feed. My eyes went wide.

A familiar dark nirik watched cheerfully next to the hole in the wall. He even gestured to me to ignore him.

The cyborg’s eyes zoomed in and narrowed as his slide slammed forward. In response I whipped my pistol at him, bouncing off his forehead. He dropped his pistol onto the ground while stumbling backwards. I ran as fast as my cybernetic hooves would carry me to close the distance.

He regained his hoofing just in time as I lunged at his face. Gas rapidly escaped from his spine, shifting his momentum forward with a single point; his hoof. I cartwheeled into the floor after the punch connected with my legs. The ground was painted with watery blood.

“Need some help, choomba?” My shadow knelt down to my face.

I wiped blood slowly oozing from my mouth and got up. I felt my flame start to burn. The hissing and yawning of heavy metal joints and servos approached from behind. I pointed my hoofcannon straight in front of me before firing. The recoil whipped my body around as the black hoof made contact with his face.

Quickly discharging another round, this time into his leg, the cyborg had dropped into a low crouch. I could see him grimaced through a blood soaked face for only a moment before he tackled me back into the ground. We tumbled.

I tried firing another shot from my hoof but he held it to the ground with his own. The large stallion began pummeling me with his free hoof. My vision grew blurrier with each punch. My lung tried to grasp for fresh air but only received a mixture of his and my blood.

A call connected through my head up display.

“Afterburner! Where the hell are you?” Hexadecimal screamed on the other end. All I could give her were gasps. I forced the call to end. She didn’t need to hear this.

My soul had enough. My core began to burn along with my mane and tail. My coat was forcefully overtaken by an almost animalistic black color. The cyborg’s eyes went wide as I blasted a breath of flame directly into his face. He howled as he fell back on his spine.

I gritted my fangs together as I fought to find my balance back onto my own hooves. The stallion was still padding out the fire off himself. I picked up a hammer off the floor with my magic as I approached the cyborg, flames dripping from my hooves with every step.

The Techno-Scorpion stared up at the pair of glowing angelic eyes that stared down at him. I raised the hammer high then slammed it into the robotic half of his face. I repeatedly hammered his skull again and again and again. The cyborg’s eyes had rolled back after the second hit, but that didn’t stop me. I kept going. Kept clobbering. Covering myself in his blood.

When I regained control of my mind the corpse’s head was nothing more than a mess, chunky blood splattered onto a backdrop of grey. I returned back to my normal colors as ragged breaths escaped from me. I dropped the hammer and looked back through the hole at the fight still occurring in the club.

Ricochets bounced all around the area. I glanced back down at the mess on the floor before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. Using my magic to clear the chamber of my pistol, I returned it back into my hostler.

“Good shit,” my shadow said while admiring the corpse.

The sound of hissing and yawning of metal joints and servos came once again from the club. I groaned, turning to see the source of the noise along with the rest of the gang members.

A tall and slim earth pony entered the room. His whole body was covered in blue tinted steel except for his mouth. The crest of the Detrot City Police Department sat on his left breastplate. He scanned the room slowly before he stopped and spoke, “You all are under arrest.”

Laughter erupted from the room and one of the Techno-Scorpions aimed his pistol at the side of the cyborg’s head. The laughter was cut off by a single loud crack that ripped through the air. The gangbanger looked down at the gaping hole in his chest as he dropped to the ground. The rest of the room opened fire, but it didn’t stop the cop from continuing his speech with practiced bravado.

“Anything you say or don’t say will be used against you in a court of law.”

I dropped the cigarette from my mouth as police officers began to discharge bullets from the hallway behind the robocop. I decided it was time to go. I’d heard enough bullshit for today. Trying my best to nonchalantly walk out of the construction site, I was spotted by two officers.

“Hey lowlife, freeze!” They drew out their sidearms with their magic and began opening fire. The bullet followed my movement as if guided by an invisible magic thread. I started to run.

Bolting through the next corner my HUD notified me of another call trying to get through. The ear piercing sounds and image, of which could only be deciphered as Hexadecimal’s reddened face yelling rang in my ears.

“Don’t you ever hang up on me again!”

I dived over outside dining tables and fenced areas, dodging the cops that tried to close me off. “Sorry I was a little busy when you called.”

Hexie’s eyes looked up and down. “Holy shit. Your face get caught in a meat grinder?”

“Can we talk about this later?!” I yelled as a bullet caught my shoulder. “The pigs are hot on me and I don’t have any plans to get dirty.”

“Meet me on fifth street, I’ll be waiting next to the laundromat.” She paused as she let the engine roar in the background. “Don’t be late, Smokey!”

A cop busted out of a nearby stairway. I jumped off the floor’s railing, riding a pipe down a few levels before returning to the solid ground of a lower floor. The DPD officers watched while screaming into their radios, “Solo. Kirin stallion in a sleeveless hoodie moving fast down towards the ground floor!”

I peeked down a stairway to see more members of the police begin to rush up to my floor. I returned to the edge of the floor in search of an exit. In the corner of my eye I spotted a nearby elevator descending down from a higher level. The nearest platform was roughly ten to thirteen feet from the shaft. Nothing I couldn’t work with.

I bolted through groups of ponies that had gathered together to watch the chase, shoving them aside as I drew closer to my destination. Hopping over a hoofguard rail, I was now running over barely stable rusty sheet metal roofing. Cops on the nearby balconies sent bullets my way, chipping the wall and metal around me.

‘Keep it together. Keep it together.’ I kept repeating to myself in my head.

The elevator was only a few floors from my level now. I generated as much speed as my hooves could muster before leaping towards the moving platform. In midair, my hooves boosted my distancing shooting fire to propel me even farther. I crashed on my side on top of the elevator. Ripping open the service hatch, I dropped into the box.

An elderly couple hugged each other tightly in the corner of the elevator as my hooves crashed onto the metal floor. To my right was a very startled mother and her captivated skinny young colt. I caught my breath and just stared at the small colt’s grinning bruised face. I wiped some of the blood off my muzzle onto my sweatshirt before holding up a hoof to the yearling. The mother pulled him closer to her body before he could react. I shrugged and hoof bumped myself before exiting the elevator’s opening doors.

I looked towards the ground as I exited into the rainy streets of Detrot, scanning for possible rides out of here. Police SWAT members were now entering the building just as I left. The rows of parking spaces were mostly filled with cheap beater vehicles. After a few short minutes a high end sport car pulled in, most likely a local landlord. The unicorn mare locked her car before walking off. I didn’t expect biometric hooflocks on the car when I tried to open it.

“Shit,” I vocalized to myself.

I looked around the parking lot for pigs before breaking the driver side window with my cybernetic hoof. An alarm from within the vehicle began screeching for help. I unlocked the door and hopped in, working as quickly as possible to hotwire the automatic car. The sound of stampeding hooves came from the Moonlit Megabuilding. It was time to leave.

The sports car roared to life. I quickly switched the radio to The Underground before I shifted it into reverse and pulled out of the parking spot, slamming into another backing out car as I did. Switching it into four wheel drive, I sped off to the high bpm of techno music under a hail of gunfire. Patrol cruisers chased me through corners and traffic as I drifted and ran through intersections. Cars piled up were left in my wake as I rocketed past red light after red light, slowing down the cops on my tail.

My reflection manifested himself into the passenger seat and pointed out the window. “Watch out.”

I swerved out of the path of two cars trying to t-bone me. As I nodded to him a heavy suv rammed into my side of the car. Sparks flew off in every direction. I tugged the wheel back into my control.

“Stop this vehicle right now!” the zebra officer demanded over the SUV’s megaphone.

I responded by opening fire with my hoofcannon, zeroing the passenger while the driver’s face got splattered with blood. They lost control of the wheel, whipping sporadically all over the road ahead of me before cutting sharply to the right. I slammed on the brakes but it didn’t stop the collision.

The zebra pulled out their pistol, firing off shots that barely missed me. Only after I heard their weapon’s deafening click did I sit up and return two shots that ripped through their vest. The two vehicles sailed across the road before the police cruiser was crunched by a lamp post. My seatbelt was the only thing that stopped me from flying out the front window.

My brain rattled around in my skull like a bell. My heads up display informed me that I was suffering a mild concussion. I pulled up Equestria Maps in my HUD to check where I was. Fifth street was just a few blocks through the back ally on my right.

“C-Celestia damn it. Keep it t-t-together!” my shadow’s voice stuttered over the continuous ringing in my head.

I groaned, forcing myself to roll out of the car. The shadow glitched in front of me. “Well shit. I’ll step in, so you better fucking thank me.”

My eyelids were too heavy for me to fight against him. All my senses faded as I fell through the threshold of unconsciousness.

*** *** ***

The ringing in my head was replaced with the hiss of police sirens filling the streets. I couldn’t see. But I could feel myself running.

“Come on,” my own voice called out. “I can’t run half a ship.”

I felt my chest being pierced with tight pain as a cool minty liquid rushed through my veins. My body arced forward as my eyes snapped open. The vivid colors of the city rushed at me all at once. Hyperventilating, I removed the syringe I had injected into myself with magic. The large yellow and purple medical injector read “Buffalo: Buck Back!” in big black lettering. I tossed the device over my shoulder as I checked my map. I was only a single street away.

“You gonna thank me or what?” my spitting reflection asked while smoking a cigarette, the ashes disappearing into thin air as it fell off the white and orange stick.

“Thank you?”

He scowled. “For getting you out of the heat.”

Rolling my eyes I continued down the alley. I could feel the frown on his face. Phasing in front of me, he brought his hoof down with a loud stomp.

“Listen, I’ve tried playing nice, but this thing between us only works if both of us work together. Ya following?”

I scrunched my lips together, “I guess, but um… I don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?”

“What you are,” I continued out of the alley and quickly crossed the street. “Like I get it. You’re me, but why?”

It was my shadow’s turn to be completely bamboozled. “Now you’ve lost me.”

I stopped at the front of the next alley and turned to him. “Why now?”

“Well, tha--”

“I can’t grasp why this fucking world wants to destroy me just because I was born in it,” I cut him off. I failed to realize I was making a commotion. “It’s not enough I lost a close choomba but now… now I have to deal with myself! Why can’t I just have one single good day in my life!”

Ponies were staring. Some even recorded the scene with their phones or eyes. I glared left and right of the whole street before my vision landed on two cops nearby. They imminently dropped their coffee before one bolted after me. I hightailed into the small avenue. Hexadecimal should be only a few feet.

I swung around the corner and was stopped by the second police officer at the end of the alley. She quickly drew her firearm, aiming directly at my chest.

“Freeze! Don’t move or we will open fire,” the second pig yelled from behind me.

My HUD tried its best to calculate an escape, but failed. There was no way out I was getting out of this situation on my own.

“Get on the ground!” The zebra officer jabbed me in the back with the butt of her pistol, which caused me to fall. “Hooves spread out wide!”

I followed the orders, slowly spreading out my legs away from my body on the ground. The sound of the pig holstering her weapon and rifling through her pockets echoed softly off the buildings. It was replaced with the soft electrical hiss of a power device that grew closer to me every second.

My ears perked up at the sound and smell of burning rubber. The officer at the end of the alley turned to the left just in time to catch the front end of a Ford. Not just any Ford vehicle, but my beautiful gunmetal grey Ford GT. The GT sent the mare flying.

Rapid shots came down the alley, hitting the flesh of the zebra behind me, her body falling limp on the ground. On the other end of a smoking compensator I saw Hexie giving a warm grin.

“I’m not the Trauma Team. Pick yourself up off the pavement and get in.” She swung open the door with her telekinesis.

I picked myself up off the ground and rushed into the car. I let out a long sigh of relief as we drove off. Hexadecimal turned down the punk rock that was playing over the radio.

“So, you have a nice run?”

“Fuck off.” I started to clean the blood off me, flicking some onto her as a retort.

She giggled. “I already called Crash Bug for suggestions on how to hit that transport convoy.”

“What’s she got?” I lit a new cigarette.

“She wants to keep it simple.” Hexie paused for an uncomfortable amount of time. “The plan is to hit while moving.”

“What?! That’ll take more than just us.”

“Neh? That’s what I told her.” Hexadecimal merged into the massive highway heading west. “Crash Bug is setting us up with a local nomad clan.”

I groaned, “We’re really gonna be working with those psychopaths?”

“Come on, you’ll fit right in with the greaseponies.”

“Maybe when they’re done stripping my ride for parts,” I scoffed.

I looked out at the rising colors of dawn over the city skyline of Detrot City before asking, “What family is it anyways?”

“The Blood Drinkers.”