Spitfire soared over the strip. They had given her freedom. The fools. Wind rushed through her mane and tail, making both flutter violently, but it felt good, so good. Her poor pony side, she had realized as she had worked to regain that fit body that only came with work and regular training. She had been suffering in silence, unable to be her real self. "Never again." She'd heard that, for most, it was the humans that had been subdued, unable to be themselves. "Never again." She, both Spitfire and Penn, were in complete agreement. Never again would they be shackled.

She raised a hoof, feeling along her new collar. "Never again…" But there it was. She was still shackled, just with a kinder felt lining. It would not do. Neither of them would tolerate it. They'd heard the rumbling and planning. They would win their freedom, so the casino could be a good home to both sides of themselves. Where they could soar for cheering crowds! Where they could… win.

Now, plans were coming together. Meticulous plans. But… But sometimes opportunities came up. Spitfire was a Wonderbolt. She knew the importance of keeping to her part of a routine. But she also knew that… once in a while, opportunity arose too powerful to ignore entirely. Below her, walking down the street, unaware… One of the brothers. Alone? It was so rare. Those two were often wed at the hips, but once in a while. One in a while… they'd go their separate ways, getting whatever they needed done.

Was it Flim, or Flam? She never bothered to tell the two apart. It was one of them. They had a beard, which identified them, at least if she remembered which was which. It didn't matter. He was alone. No guards, no backup. No collateral damage. She could strike…

No. Wonderbolt training rebelled against her. Acting out like that against the unity of the team? A bold move, that could result in ruining the entire performance. The price of failure was too high for an action that wasn't part of the plan. She was a team player! She swooped away instead, circling down towards the casino. It was time to share the news, and maybe get an update to the plan.

She soared in through the open doors, touching the ground and transitioning into a trot that slowed to a proper walk. Flying around the interior of the casino was against the rules, unless it was a part of an act. Spitfire's eyes wandered quickly. Ah, LunaClassic. She approached hastily with a smirk. "Have I got news for you."

"Do share." LunaClassic's voice had lowered from her usual loud proclamations. "What have you learned?"

Spitfire pointed behind herself. "One of the brothers, alone. That means both are alone. Do we want to act on that?" Yes, ask a leader what the plan was. She was a leader herself! It would have annoyed her to no end if one of her squad mates ran off and did something instead of asking her. She would show at least that much courtesy. LunaClassic was royalty. Surely she counted. Former?

"Marvelous." LunaClassic brought her hooves together up in a steeple, a sly grin on her face. "Flim…" She looked around slowly. "Ah ha. Not on the floor. That means he must be in his office, counting the bits we earn for him. Very good… Very good…" She rose to her full height. "This is an opportunity. Let us not allow it to slip from our hooves."

She did not go directly towards the back, instead swinging by Tempest's table. The two met their eyes in a glance. A nod from Luna was all it took, and she was moving. GamerLuna joined the procession. Four mares with a purpose. No words were shared, only purpose.

"What are you all doing back here?" There was Flim, just outside his office, looking upset. Clearly he had seen where they were, but he thought they were being naughty.

The looks they gave were not one of simple disobedience. GamerLuna struck her hooves on the ground in a stomp. "Just the pony we were comin' to have a match with."

Spitfire hissed through her teeth. "We've been marching at your orders, but we have some complaints."

"That's putting it mildly." LunaClassic scowled in the imperious way she knew best. "That is locked." Flim had realized a moment too late that the group meant him no good. His magic was no match for LunaClassic's, trying to open the door to no avail. "It is beyond time we have a discussion, Flim."

"Those collars are not just for tracking," he got out, voice shaking with worry. "Stop right there!" But GamerLuna stepped forward anyway. "Stop!" He zapped her, or her collar to be specific. That drew a sudden pained yelp from the smaller alicorn. She toppled over, strength denied her. "Not one more step!"

"Player down," weakly whimpered the faintly twitching GamerLuna.

Tempest did not look scared. She looked… relieved. A slow malicious smile spread over her face. "You just made a critical error, Flim. You just took things to a level you don't want to be at. If you think you can shock me into submission, I will remind you that I've had worse bosses than you. The last one that tried is broken into little stone pieces. Think your odds are better?"

"You can't zap what you can't see." Spitfire was gone. She didn't teleport, she flew. It was against the rules, but the rules were also quite firm in not striking or attacking a fellow mare. Flim had forsaken the rules. She felt no shame in doing the same. The rules would come back after the situation was resolved. The hot beam of the unicorn's magic danced around her, beams trying to lock on her as she darted left and right in the hallway, half-circling Flim.

LunaClassic nodded. If the other brother had been there, two sources of magic would have made the battle far more difficult. "Last chance, stand down."

"Nah." Tempest wasn't in the mood for that, her horn glowing and crackling as power grew. A thin precise beam struck her collar and she began to twitch faintly, her shoulders and sides flickering, but she didn't fall. "That all? She's a gamer. I'm a warrior. You just swung at me, and I didn't fall over. Now let's try the other way." She grabbed the door, her influence roughly shoving LunaClassic's aside with such a forceful yank that Luna recoiled in shock.

Though that was little compared to Flim who was bashed from behind by the violently mobile door, slamming into him, ripped right off the hinges with her roar of defiance. He was sent sprawling on the floor, just for a pained yelp to follow. Spitfire landed right on the door that had fallen on him, stomping it on top of him without mercy.

Lunaclassic thumped the top of the door with a single hoof. "Though I continue to struggle with what I am precisely, I am still Luna."

"Me too," came GamerLuna's still weak reply, quite knocked out of the fight.

"You thought you could hold Luna at bay with such little trinkets?" She tapped at the door. "A critical error."

Tempest sneered, but didn't touch the door. Spitfire had that well in hoof. "And, idiot, you swung first. You are guilty of assault. I will take great pleasure in hauling you in to the authorities. This game is over."

"N-no!" Flim wriggled beneath the pinning door. "My brother!"

Spitfire hiked a brow. "What about him? Maybe he'll see reason now. He won't be doing it with you. You're going to jail."

LunaClassic raised a hoof. "That is the human in you speaking."

Tempest blinked. Oh right. Assault laws were a human thing. That entire justice system was a human thing. Ponies handled their laws very differently… Often without police involvement at all. When a pony wronged a pony, it was often dealt with between them.

LunaClassic did not look upset. "I have just the right punishment for you, Flim. First, you will remove these accursed collars. Then you will enjoy one yourself. Then, we are adding you to the sheet of mares."

"B-but I'm not a mare!" came his piteous whine.

"Many of us play with ponies of all kinds. You love using your mouth."

Tempest grinned maliciously. "This should come like a second nature, really."

Spitfire waved a hoof wildly. "Woah woah woah. I'm not cool with signing the jerk up for being raped. That's a bridge too far."

"Yes, listen to the nice mare crushing me." Flim grinned, not that anypony there could see it.

Spitfire stomped the door with a single hoof. "Hush up, you. Still, I like that idea. Flim, you can work as a mare without that part. The floor needs more hooves, you have hooves. Deal cards, entertain ponies. You like doing that kind of thing, don't you?"

"My brother won't allow this!" came his shrill cry.

LunaClassic leaned over, setting a hoof on the door without pressing down. "Your brother is next. You two are running this place poorly, and treating us terribly. This is a management shift. You took this place from another pony, didn't you? You should be used to the idea."

GamerLuna was slowly rolling up, head spinning. "How… did you… Not just die? That hurts! I'm still dizzy." She held her head with a hoof, trying to find her balance. "Ow!"

Tempest thumped the door. "One thing. How did you get two of us in the same place? You deserve to know what that's like. Tell us."

"I don't know," he wailed. "We hired another pony to make you."

Tempest recoiled. "Make us? Make us?!" Her horn began to spark with a new fury, leaving scorches on the ground where her angry magic landed. "We are not things that were created from nothing! You wretched…" She turned away. "Is deadly force off the table?"

Spitfire snorted powerfully. "Yes! We are not killers." She jumped in place, getting a new grunt of pain. "He deserves punishment, not more than that. Hey, I still have a collar on. Get it off, now."

LunaClassic nodded firmly. "Spitfire speaks truly. Collars, remove them. No other discussion may proceed before then."

"How did you know?" His head peeked free from beneath the door. "To not just take them off?"

Spitfire laughed at that. "We didn't, but we guessed."

"I guessed," triumphantly, if still a little dizzily, called GamerLuna. "What kinda nasty debuff would have happened if we did?"

"Um… If I turned them on and they weren't on you, it would have been even worse. Once you put them on, they're bound to you." He kept wriggling, trying to get out from under the pinned door. "But you didn't do that."

LunaClassic raised a brow. "And yet, we still have them on. Get on with it, little stallion. Your treatment relies on this."

Flim looked from mare to mare, even the one on top of him. "We'll keep a cool head?" Three of them nodded. It'd have to be good enough. He zapped LunaClassic first, causing her collar to fall limply to the ground.

"Better." She picked up the inert leather. "Now the others. We won't have your brother lording this over us."

"Alright, alright. How about the other moon pony?" He zapped GamerLuna free with a beam of unicorn magic to her immediate cheer. "There, see, I'm doing it."

Spitfire stepped off his door, but kept her eyes on him. "Alright, keep cooperating and we can all be grown ponies about this. No reason to make this strange, Flim."

Flim sat up, finally free of doors. "Yes, right…" He turned his horn on the scowling Tempest, freeing her from the collar.

"That's quite enough." At the front of the hallway stood Flam, horn glowing brightly. "I knew it! You were planning something this entire time. We won't have it!"

Author's Note

Hm, I like this chapter. Hope you did too.

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