Neo Somnambula: Guns and Lotuses

Tansha’s entry into the Joy-ripper’s base was going very well. While most of the gangsters had given her suspicious glances, once they saw her with Bright Beam, they simply rolled their eyes and went about their business. Judging from that Tansha guessed that it was common for Beam to bring mares back to his quarters.

Carefully Tansha observed her surroundings. It would seem that the base was heavily fortified both by armed gangsters and active sentry turrets.

‘Well, as long as I can find a terminal, then everything will work out fine,’ Tansha thought to herself.

"Hey, Bright Beam, whose this?" Another one of the gangsters barked.

Any other mare might have flinched at the outburst, but Tansha held her cool as she and her escort turned to the gangster.

He was a fearsome looking stallion, and judging from the flickering mechanical eye, he had been in a scuffle recently. Behind the stallion was a small, yet intimidating pegasus mare. A mechanic’s harness covered her orange coat, with numerous explosives attached. Her face was obscured by her short purple mane as well as a face mask with neon pink shark fangs etched into the fabric.

"Oh, she's just another recruit, boss!" Bright Beam said, swallowing nervously.

The boss looked Tansha up and down suspiciously. It was then that Tansha realized that it might be wise for her to take the lead. Quickly she adjusted her stance, standing tall while also holding herself in a way that was a bit provocative.

"The name's Cryptic," Tansha said, "I look forward to working with you, sir."

"Uh, thank you. I'm Seeker." Seeker blushed slightly.

The intimidating mare rolled her purple eyes and walked away.

"I was just going to begin initiating her boss," Beam said.

"Yes… you do that," Seeker mumbled as he walked off.

With the boss no longer breathing down his neck, Bright Beam continued escorting Tansha.

The mechanical door hissed as Beam led Tansha into his quarters. Quickly Tansha looked over the room. It was a small room, which contained an alcove with a small bed inside, a few lockers, a pin-up poster of Ocellus along with a small table with a data terminal resting on it.

“Wow, you have some fancy digs here,” Tansha said flatteringly.

‘The terminal isn’t the fanciest,’ Tansha thought, ‘but it’ll work.’

“I’m glad you think so,” Beam said, as he closed the door to his room.

Reaching into her satchel, Tansha pulled out some lipstick and as she began applying it to her lips, she cast a quick spell.

“I’m really excited to be working in your gang,” Tansha said, “although there is something else that I’m excited for.”

“Oh, what’s that?”

Putting away her lipstick, Tansha walked over to the bed, before turning around to face Beam, while leaning up against the bed seductively. “Why, you of course.”

This elicited a chuckle from Bright Beam as he walked over, a sly grin on his face. “Oh, you’re a naughty little filly, aren’t you.”

“Only when I find a bad colt who’s worth my time.”

Beam purred, his lips mere inches from hers. “Oh, I’m worth every minute.”

“Then show me.”

With a chuckle, Beam closed the distance, his lips locking with Tansha’s, their tongues dancing together. In a matter of seconds, they were on the bed and with a few quick motions, Tansha managed to wrestle her way on top, her forelegs holding Beam to the bed.

“You’re… a wild one… aren’t you,” Beam said, breathing heavily.

Tansha gave him a sultry grin. “Absolutely.”

“That’s… so ho…” Before Beam could finish his words, he drifted off to sleep. His snoring, signaling that Tansha’s spell had worked.

After quickly looking at her HUD, Tansha noted the time. “Wow, you managed to resist my spell for twelve seconds. That’s a new record.”

Smiling, Tansha pulled herself off the bed and walked over to the terminal. Turning it on, Tansha saw that it was password protected. While she could bypass it with some coding, it could take some time. Quickly looking around the room for a clue, Tansha saw something written on the pinup poster, KnottyDDog69. Typing it in, Tansha was pleased to see the terminal unlock.

‘At least it wasn’t on a posted note.’ You’d be surprised how many ponies do that.

Touching the device, Tansha activated her Ba-Link and began uploading Maat into it. After maybe half a minute, Maat appeared on the screen.

“I have made it in ma’am,” Maat said in her ear.

“Infest their systems while I try to find the cargo.”

“Understood ma’am.”

After quickly hacking the terminal, Tansha began looking through the Joy-rippers data banks.

Scrolling through the information, it didn’t take Tansha long to find out where the stolen container was being held. With a few more swipes, she was able to download a map of the entire complex. Unfortunately, while she was able to find the container, it was on the other side of the base.

“Maat, how much progress have you made?”

“I have integrated myself into twenty one percent of the base’s digital network ma’am,” Maat answered.

“Keep working on it,” Tansha said, “I’m going to find that crate.”

Standing up, Tansha walked over to the door and opened it. The door hissed once more as she stepped outside. Pulling up the map on her HUD, Tansha made her way to the storage area.

Midnight stood a distance away from the Joy-ripper gang base. Now it was time to retrieve the Lunar Core Module and either these gangsters would give it over or Midnight would have to extract it himself.

After quickly pulling off his cloak, Midnight reached up and tapped the centerpiece of his power harness. Immediately, his body was wrapped in golden energy before he was completely encapsulated in his knightly power armor. The armor was mostly made of blue metal, with golden trim, symbolizing the authority given to him by Pharaoh Sunset Shimmer herself.

Having the dual function as a battle saddle, his armor had two automatic ballistic weapons attached to his sides.

Now that he was armored and ready, Midnight approached the Joy-ripper base. The entrance consisted of two metal doors, the image of a grinning skull munching of a heart, painted onto the gate. A pale blue skull with red eyes and a pink heart in its jaws. Above the door was what appeared to be a large mechanical eye.

"Hey, what'cha want!" A harsh sounding voice came over the speakers.

"I've come here to retrieve the Lunar Core Module you stole," Midnight answered.

The sound of somepony could be heard snickering over the coms. "Well, good luck with that!"

"If you don't turn it over, I'll have to retrieve it myself."

The snickering turned into laughter. "Oh, really! You and what army!"

That wasn't the right answer.

Stretching out his armored wings, Midnight flew toward the door, slamming his shoulder against it, causing the metal to buckle. Seeing the damage he had done, Midnight pulled back.

“Ah! Crap! He might actually do it!”

Once more Midnight charged at the door, which gave way in response to the impact. Folding his wings, Midnight landed beyond the threshold. On this side there were many Joy-ripper gang members waiting, brandishing fearsome weapons in the knight’s direction.

The chamber beyond the broken door consisted of a medium sized room with the Joy-ripper’s logo painted crudely on the far wall. On both the right and left side of the room were doorways leading deeper into the base.

“I will not warn you again,” Midnight said, “give over the-”

“OPEN FIRE!” One of the Joy-ripper commanders bellowed and immediately the gangsters began shooting at Midnight.

Instinctively, Midnight lunged into the air, the few bullets that did hit him, reflected off his armor. Seeing that these gangsters wouldn’t listen to reason, Midnight aimed the two guns that were attached to his armor at the Joy-rippers and returned fire.

As many of their comrades were cut down, the remaining Joy-rippers fled the entrance room and went deeper into their base. No doubt there would be sentry turrets and traps beyond this point with many gangsters lying in wait.

Taking a deep breath, Midnight pursued the gangsters into their lair, in search of the Lunar Core Module.

Stepping through the doorway on the right, Midnight found himself in a hallway with a few barricades set up. Poking out from the barricades some Joy-rippers fired upon Midnight.

Quickly Midnight pulled an armored wing in front of himself deflecting some of the bullets.

“Die knight! Die!” A gangster barked as he fired his weapon.

Pulling back his wing, Midnight fired upon the gangster as well as his comrade who was behind the barricade. While his comrade was able to duck under the barrier the gangster that had been yelling wasn’t and took a bullet to the brain. As the gangster crumpled to the ground, his rifle, which was undoubtedly manufactured by Flim Flam Industries, began to overheat as it toppled to the ground.

“Oh, sh-” the other Joy-ripper yelled as he tried to jump away, only to be caught up in the explosion caused by the overheated firearm. The base rumbled from the explosion.

Well, if these gangsters were going to use cheap weaponry and potentially vaporize themselves and their comrades Midnight certainly wasn’t going to complain, so long as innocents weren’t harmed in the process.

Slowly and methodically, Midnight pursued his goal.

Following the map, Tansha was very pleased when she found the door to the storage area. While it had been tricky sneaking her way here, she had managed to remain out of sight.

Stepping up to the door, Tansha saw that it was locked with a digital keypad. Tansha just rolled her eyes. “This should be easy.”

Pulling up her HackPro6.91 application, Tansha played a quick game of tic-tac-toe, causing the keypad’s password to pop up on her HUD.

“Figures,” Tansha said as she typed in the passcode: 1, 1, 1 and 1. With a click the door unlocked. Smiling, Tansha pushed open the door and walked inside.

Passing through the door, Tansha found herself on a railed catwalk in a large room filled with crates and boxes. Looking around, Tansha saw a few carrier drones off to the side, three times larger than the standard drone, all of which appeared to be powered down. Upon recognizing the transportation drones, Tansha instinctively looked up to see that the ceiling consisted of two large, metal doors. Already a plan was being formulated inside her head.

“Alright, let’s go find that container…”

The building rumbled as some sort of explosion happened in the distance.

“Maat, what was that?”

“Well ma’am, it would seem that a Horizon Knight has infiltrated the building,” Maat answered, a few scenes of security footage showing the knight inside the base.

“Shoot!” If there was a Horizon Knight here, then Tansha’s time was short.

Finding some stairs down to the bottom of the room, Tansha began looking among the crates for the one with the designation of B-7331.

“Ma’am, I thought you might like to know that my infestation progress is at ninety six percent.”

“Very good,” Tansha replied, still looking among the containers.

After maybe a minute or two, Tansha found the crate. Fortunately there weren’t any boxes on top of it, though if there had been she could probably have hacked a drone to move it out of the way.

“Alright, now I just need to find a way to open those doors.”

Looking around, Tansha spotted a control room attached to the catwalk above. Smiling Tansha ran back up to the platform and went over to the control room. Opening the door she stepped inside, the room had large windows that looked over the storage room, with massive terminals that were used to control the carrier drones as well as the massive doors above.

Stepping up to the terminal, Tansha examined the controls as she began to link her Ba-Link to it. “Alright, let’s hijack this bad colt and-”

Suddenly Tansha was slammed into the wall, the impact knocking the breath out of her. Tansha barely had time to recover when she felt herself being pushed against the wall with two strong hooves wrapped around her neck.

Wide eyed, Tansha looked as Stone Splitter strangled her, anger burning in his eyes.

“I knew you were trouble,” Stone Splitter growled, “you brought that knight here didn’t you?”

No, but it wasn’t like Stone Splitter was going to let her answer. All Tansha could do was cough, her lungs burning for oxygen.

“Well, if we’re going down, then I’m going to make sure that you never trouble us again!” The gangster’s grip grew tighter.

As Tansha’ vision began to grow dark, images of the past began to flood her mind, images of a similar, traumatic situation from a while back, and it was those memories that filled her with anger and hatred, that rage giving her the strength to resist the foreboding embrace of death.

Pumping magic into her horn, Tansha formed the hieroglyphs and cast a spell, causing an obsidian shard to materialize and fire forth, piercing Stone Splitter’s shoulder and impaling him on the opposite wall.

With her airway no longer obstructed, Tansha coughed as air filled her lungs. Once her lungs were satisfied, Tansha looked over to Stone Splitter, her insides boiling with rage. Her horn glowed with turquoise magic. As Tansha drew closer to the gangster, the anger in Stone Splitter’s eyes gave way to fear.

"Oh, you just had to do that!" Tansha growled.

The gangster grunted, trying fruitlessly to pry the shard from his shoulder.

As Tansha stepped closer she was briefly interrupted as Maat's icon appeared on her HUD. "Great news ma'am, I have successfully infested their entire network as commanded."

"Now's not the time," Tansha growled.

"I'm terribly sorry ma'am."

Tansha took in a deep breath. "Just proceed with aggressive takeover protocols."

As Tansha finished her command, Maat's icon changed from a golden feather to what appeared to be the black silhouette of a pony on a red background, with the icons of numerous white eyes scrolling downward on the pony's darkened form.

"Understood, ma'am," Maat spoke, only this time his voice was much deeper and more robotic.

Once Maat's icon disappeared, Tansha turned her attention back to the stallion that had tried strangling her to death.

"L-look I'm sorry… it won't happen again," Stone Splitter pleaded.

"Yeah, that's what he said too," Tansha growled, her horn crackling with magic.

"I-I just needed the money… That's all! I have to pay the bills, y-you know! P-please, I-I don't want to die!"

As much as Stone Splitter pleaded, Tansha wasn't listening. Maybe if he had just tried shooting her or punching her lights out things would have been different. Instead he just had to strangle her. Had to bring those painful memories to the forefront of her mind and now he had to pay.

A sphere of black energy surrounded by a flaming turquoise aura, forming above Tansha's horn. “I guess it sucks to be you… doesn’t it!”

Despite Midnight's efforts, it was clear that the Joy-rippers had no intention of complying to his demands. How unfortunate.

As he moved through the facility, Midnight came to two conclusions. Either the Joy-rippers would have a designated room for the Lunar Core Module or it might be in storage. Using deductive reasoning, Midnight made his way toward storage.

Midnight was about to enter the storage room, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Using an armored wing, Midnight deflected a trash canister that was tossed at him.

"Well, well, well look what we have here!" A familiar, masculine voice spoke.

Turning, Midnight saw the Joy-ripper who had been beating up on Aneyh, only now his robotic eye was covered with a black eyepatch. He wore a battle saddle, which had a robotic arm attached, bearing a sinister chainsword.

"Guess I'm cutting a knight down to size!" The gangster bellowed as he charged forward, the sharp teeth of the deadly weapon running furiously.

The weapon roared as the Joy-ripper performed an overhead strike, bringing the chainsword down on Midnight. Instinctively, Midnight raised his hoof, materializing his khopesh and blocking the attacker's strike. As the chainsword and khopesh clashed, Midnight was able to muster up enough strength to push the aggressive gangster away. Admittedly, Midnight was impressed that this Joy-ripper was strong enough to give a Horizon Knight in full power armor a run for their money.

Charging forward once more, the Joy-ripper continued to slash violently at Midnight, the automatic blade cutting through the air. The gangster struck with such force that the only reason Midnight didn't lose his khopesh as he deflected the blows, was due to the magic in the weapon's hilt that held it fast to the knight's hoof.

Even when the gangster let up on their attacks, Midnight was unable to score a hit of his own as the chainsword deflected his blade.

Growling the Joy-ripper pointed his hoof at Midnight, a brand new brace blaster attached. Midnight was able to dodge to the side as the weapon fired. Oh course, it shouldn't have been a surprise that a gangster might play dirty.

There was a slight blast of wind as the gates above opened, the air buffeting both Midnight and the gangster as something large began to float up from the storage area below. It was then that Midnight saw a familiar mare riding on top of a carrier drone.

‘Tansha?’

What was she doing here? Was she a Joy-ripper too?

As her carrier drone rose through the air with her ill gotten booty, Tansha saw on the platform, the gang boss Seeker and the Horizon Knight.

“Oh, crap! Crap! Crap!” Tansha mumbled as she tried to compel the drone to fly faster.

While Tansha was trying to escape, Midnight saw the Joy-ripper he was fighting let out an angry growl, as he raised his hoof and aimed his brace blaster at Tansha. Judging from this response, it was clear that the gangster didn't view Tansha as an ally.

‘Protect the innocent.’

Swinging his khopesh, Midnight cut off the gangster’s foreleg, causing the severed limb and brace blaster to fall over the railing.

“Ow! You little-” Before the Joy-ripper could finish his outburst, Midnight was able to cleave the mechanical arm holding the chainsword from the battle saddle and held his khopesh to the gangster’s neck. While the Joy-ripper was clearly angry, he stood completely still.

While keeping the khopesh on the gangster, Midnight watched Tansha as she escaped. Some questions were in order.

"How do you suppose she is doing?" Sweetie Belle asked Spike as he tinkered around with an old circuit board.

Using the soldering tool in his mechanical arm, Spike made a few adjustments before examining it more closely. "Tansha's been pretty capable so far. I'm sure that she'll be-"

Spike's statement was interrupted as the sound of metal scraping against brick and concrete resonated from the alley behind the shop. Hearing this both Sweetie Belle and Spike's eyes went wide as the dragon put down the circuit board and made his way to the back. Not sure what to expect, Spike aired on the side of caution and immediately swapped out his soldering gun, for a built in blaster with far more firepower.

Opening the garage door to the back, both Spike and Sweetie Belle were pleased to see a disheveled Tansha leaning up against a scraped up carrier drone, with a crate attached to the bottom.

Seeing Spike and Sweetie, Tansha gave them a smile. "Got it!"

Tansha managed to stumble three steps away from the crashed drone before her face turned green and she found a trash can, there she held onto the rim for dear life in the case that her stomach decided to betray her.

As Sweetie went to tend to Tansha, Spike walked over to the crate. Flexing his muscles and robotic arm, Spike prepared to open it.

After about an hour, Spike was able to uncover the VR-program that he had hired Tansha to retrieve.

During this time, Tansha had recovered and was enjoying a cup of coffee with Sweetie Belle in the backroom.

“So, there was actually a knight there?” Sweetie asked as Tansha recounted her tale.

“Yeah, thankfully I managed to fly the drone away before things became too crazy,” Tansha answered, “but that’s why I was in a hurry to get back here.”

Stepping into the room, Spike walked over to a computer terminal and inserted the drive that had the VR-program and began running diagnostics.

“Let’s just hope your little stunt didn’t jeopardize the integrity of the program.” Spike grumbled.

“It’s not like I wanted to rush out of there,” Tansha retorted, “If I had my way, I would have gone in, searched the crate, grabbed the program and snuck out. Stupid knight!”

Spike watched as strings of data sped across his screen. “Did the knight see you?”

“They might have,” Tansha replied, “so I’ll hang low for a few days until things cool back down.”

After another minute, the terminal beeped as a message appeared on the screen showing that the VR-program hadn’t been damaged. Spike let out a sigh of relief.

“Well, we’re in the clear,” Spike said, as he pulled the drive free. “I’ll contact the client and let them know we have their program.”

Hearing this a wide grin stretched across Tansha’s lips. “Yeah, money, money, money.”

“So, what are you going to do with your share?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Oh… I have a few ideas,” Tansha said with a sly grin.

Knick Knack relaxed as he sat in the calm waters of the bath. This room had been specially designed to resemble an ancient Somnambulian bathhouse, the stone walls giving off a warm vibe as the sunlight peered through the skylight above, illuminating the water as well as the murals of reeds and lotus blossoms painted onto the walls. Just judging by how the Shallow Drift VR-program looked, Knack could have sworn that he was back in those ancient days.

The sounds of a sistrum, lyre and flute resonated through the air, playing a slowly relaxing tune.

'To think that there was a time that something like this was a royal luxury,' Knack pondered.

While this room was luxurious, it wasn't by far the most expensive thing he had purchased. Of course, the fact that the program had been created by Lullaby helped. Still as great as it was, there were things far more valuable that came at an even greater cost.

His ears twitched as Knack heard the sound of the door opening. Turning, Knack watched as his pet drew closer to the bath, her movements portraying a beauty and an innocence that very few ponies even among the nobility possessed.

'To think that I'd been blessed with a gift like this.' Knack marveled as Lullaby stepped into the pool. 'If only my parents could understand.'

"You look lovely," Knack greeted.

Lullaby blushed as she drew closer to him in the bath. "Thank you, KK."

Knack admired how the crystal clear water embraced Lullaby’s sleek curves. She was so beautiful and enticing as she nestled up next to him.

"You did a wonderful job," Knack said, admiring the great detail Lullaby had made with the hieroglyphs on the wall, depicting stories of when Somnambula, the priestess who had once been a member of the Pillars of Equestria, was alive.

Lullaby's blush grew hotter. "You flatter me, master."

Leaning down, Knack gently kissed Lullaby's lips, eliciting a soft moan from his pet.

After a short kiss, Knack pulled away and gazed longingly into Lullaby's eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too, master."

Snuggling closely to one another, the two of them began to share a passionate kissing, their lips locking and their tongues dancing together. Knack was about to take the next step when his HUD started ringing, signaling that somepony was trying to contact him.

With a slightly frustrated sigh, Knick Knack pulled himself away from a surprised Lullaby.

"One moment." Knack said as he answered the call and put it on speaker. "Hello?"

Spike's gruff voice came over the speaker. "Hello sir. I just wanted to inform you that we have your program."

"Thank you," Knack said, "I will be seeing you later."

As Knick Knack ended the call, Lullaby pulled away, moving toward the edge of the bath.

"Where are you going?" Knack asked.

Turning around, Lullaby gave him a confused look. "I thought you wanted to leave."

"Oh, we will." Knack waved for Lullaby to come back, an impish look on his lips. "But first we are going to relax and enjoy each other's company."

Understanding what her master was saying, Lullaby returned, only this time instead of nestling up against him, Lullaby positioned herself seductively in front of him, resting herself on his lower stomach, looking up at him provocatively.

"If that is what you wish, my master."

It hadn’t taken long for Horizon Knights to swarm the Joy-ripper base, incarcerating the gangsters that surrendered and bringing a swift end to those that resisted violently. Midnight was observing some Joy-rippers being rounded up into the back of a truck when he saw commander Spitfire walking toward him, with two other knights accompanying her.

“Commander!” Midnight stood at attention and gave a salute.

“At ease,” Spitfire replied, “you’ve done a great job.”

“Thank you, commander.”

Spitfire signed. “Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to find the Lunar Core Module.”

As Spitfire mentioned this, Midnight remembered seeing Tansha escaping with a crate. Had she been after the module or something else?

“I think I may know who has it,” Midnight said, “I observed a mare that I had met while undercover escaping earlier.”

“Then let’s go after her!” One of the knights escorting Spitfire, who Midnight recognized as Thunderlane said, his voice very stern.

“That won’t be necessary,” Midnight replied, “let me talk to her, I’m sure I can reason with her.”

It looked like Thunderlane was about to protest, but Spitfire raised a hoof.

“Very well,” Spitfire said, “I’ll trust your judgment on this matter.”

That was good. The last thing Midnight wanted to do was cause Tansha trouble, at least until he had more information on what she had been doing here. It was about that time that another knight ran up and gave a salute.

"Commander we found something you need to see,” the knight said.

“Is it the module?” Spitfire asked.

The knight shook his head. “Please come this way.”

Spitfire motioned for Midnight to follow as the other knight led them away. Following the knight they entered a room overlooking the storage area. Upon entering the room, Midnight realized the urgency of the knight’s statement. Pinned up against the wall was the body of a pony, most of their features obscured by numerous obsidian shards.

“What happened here?” Spitfire asked, her jaw tense at the sight.

A forensic officer, an earth pony mare who had been examining the body, walked over to Spitfire and Midnight. Midnight recognized the scientist as Nano Scope. “Commander, while I have more information in my report, it seems that this stallion here met an unfortunate end.”

“I can see that,” Spitfire said, “what happened?”

“From what I’ve gathered so far,” Nano continued, “he was eviscerated down the center by some sort of magical blast, after which the magical residue cause these shards to grow from the victim’s remains as well as a part of the wall that was caught in the blast.”

“Did one of the Joy-rippers do this?” Spitfire asked.

Nano Scope adjusted her glasses. “It’s difficult to say, it isn’t uncommon for gangsters to fight among themselves.”

So this was a Joy-ripper. As Midnight looked at the body and how horrifically mangled it was, he couldn’t help but feel very uneasy. A dark foreboding question lingered in the recesses of his mind.

“Was he killed during the infighting?” Thunderlane asked.

“It is possible,” Nano Scope replied, “however I haven’t seen magic like this used by the Joy-rippers before, or any other gangs for that matter. These crystals possess the aura of a unicorn’s magic and yet it seems… darker somehow.”

“Could this have been caused by a member of the Gleaming Eye?” Midnight asked.

The Gleaming Eye was an insidious organization of magic users that would seemingly appear out of nowhere, perform terrifying experiments on the citizens of Princess Sunset’s sacred cities and then vanish, leaving only chaos in their wake.

“It’s difficult to say,” Nano answered, “I haven’t seen any magical spells like this before, so there is no way for me to distinguish whether this was caused by the Gleaming Eye, another unicorn or perhaps something else entirely. At least, not at this time.”

This was very disconcerting. The Gleaming Eye had been gone for a long time, but if this was indeed their work then it was only the beginning.

"Was there any security footage?" Spitfire asked.

Nano shook her head. "Unfortunately, all the security footage was corrupted, however we were able to uncover that the Joy-rippers had stolen the Lunar Core Module for a third party."

"Were you able to discern who?"

"All we know is that they went by the username of PigmentCardioInc," Nano answered.

While Spitfire and Nano discussed this, Midnight's attention remained on the corpse. Looking at the body, Midnight recalled seeing Tansha here. Could she be responsible for this?

A smile stretched across Knick Knack’s face as he stepped out of the limo. Sure the air down here wasn’t as clean as it was in the upper city, but it didn’t bother him. Soon he would have his prize.

As Knack and Lullaby stepped into the ByteNBrew, they were greeted by a beautiful mare.

“Oh, hello,” Sweetie Belle greeted, “what might I get you today?”

Knack gave a polite nod. “Hello, I’m here to speak with Spike.”

“Of course,” Sweetie said, “please come this way.”

Following Sweetie Belle into the back, they found both Spike and Tansha. While Tansha lounged on an old couch reading a magazine, Spike was organizing the other items that had been in the crate.

Spike was looking at a black, metal briefcase, when he saw Knick Knack enter.

“Greetings.” Spike said, standing up. “I’m glad you were able to make it.”

“I’m glad to hear that you were able to retrieve my program.” Knack looked over at Tansha. “And this must be the pony you hired to retrieve it.”

“Yes, this is Tansha,” Spike said.

Setting her magazine down, Tansha stood up. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, mister…”

“Knick Knack,” Knack answered, “and this is my assistant, Lullaby.”

Feeling a little shy, Lullaby simply gave a curtsy.

“Now, may we see this program?” Knack asked.

Brandishing the cartridge, Spike presented it to Knick Knack, who gave it to Lullaby. Pulling forth a small gadget from her saddlebags, Lullaby attached it to the cartridge. Seconds later the device beeped and flashed a green light.

“It's intact, master,” Lullaby said.

“Very good.” Knack tapped his Ba-Link as he sent the funds to Spike.

Seeing the promised amount appeared on his HUD, Spike smiled as he sent Tansha her forty two percent. “Thank you.”

As her payment showed up on her HUD, Tansha grinned. That VR-pod was as good as hers.

Smiling Knack turned to Lullaby. “Then I guess we must be off.”

“Before you go, may I ask you about something?” Spike asked.

While Knick Knack was eager to return home with his prize, he was also curious about Spike’s question. “By all means.”

Spike walked back over to the briefcase he had been inspecting. “After we retrieved your program from the Joy-rippers, we found this in the crate as well.”

Opening the briefcase, Spike presented its contents. Resting in a hollow space of black fabric was a white mechanical sphere about the size of a pony’s hoof. On the orb’s surface were numerous ports where wires and cables could be inserted. In fact, as Tansha looked at the device, it kind of reminded her of a small moon.

Examining the item, Knack recognized it for what it was. “It would seem that you’ve come into possession of a Lunar Core Module.”

Spike nodded. “I thought so, but I wanted to make sure.”

“What’s a Lunar Core Module?” Tansha asked.

“A cornerstone in lunar travel,” Spike explained.

“Is it worth anything?”

“Depends,” Knick Knack answered, “unless you’re trying to create a rocket and travel to the moon or plan on repurposing it, it might serve as a crown gem in somepony’s collection.”

“What should we do with it?” Spike asked.

Knack shrugged. “I don’t know of anypony who would be all that interested in it, but I’m certain that if you were clever about it, that you could make a hefty profit off of it.”

Upon hearing this, Tansha’s eyes lit up. “So it’s worth a lot of money.”

“Certainly,” Knack nodded.

“You wouldn’t happen to be in need of a Lunar Core Module would you?” Tansha asked with a clever rin.

Knick Knack shook his head. “I do not.”

Now while Knack had no use for the module, he knew plenty of ponies that for better or worse would love to get their hooves on such a relic.

‘Best keep an eye on them for now,’ Knack thought. While he didn't need the module, it wouldn't hurt knowing who ended up with it later. Information was power after all, and the knowledge of a Lunar Core Module could be an excellent bargaining chip.

Midnight took a deep breath as he entered the ByteNBrew. Out of all the places he had seen her, Midnight figured this was most likely the best place to find Tansha. Fortunately for Midnight as he looked through the booths he spotted Tansha at the far end.

Tansha was reading a menu when Midnight sat down across from her. Looking up from her menu, Tansha smiled.

“Hello moneybags,” Tansha teased, “fancy seeing you here.”

“That’s not my name,” Midnight growled.

Tansha giggled. “Don’t be so sour. Let me buy you something to eat. My treat.”

Well, Midnight certainly wasn’t going to complain about free food, especially after Tansha scammed him out of his Instant Cupcake.

“Alright. I’ll have a bite.”

It was about that time that Sweetie Belle walked up, her magic holding a notepad and pen.

“What can I get you two today?” Sweetie asked.

“My friend and I will have two cups of coffee,” Tansha said, “and two Cheesy Scarab Bowls.”

Then again, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea accepting free food from Tansha. Before Midnight could protest, Sweetie had already taken their order and was off to the kitchen.

‘Better just go with it,’ Midnight thought, ‘It’s not like I’m here just to eat.’

“So what’s the special occasion?” Midnight asked.

“Well, I just so happened to have finished a job with flying colors and with a hefty bonus too,” Tansha said, as she reclined back into her booth, a bright smile on her lips.

That would certainly explain why she was at the Joy-ripper gang’s base. The questions were, did she take the Lunar Core Module and did she still have it? Midnight would have to be cautious when trying to probe Tansha for clues.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

It was about that time that Sweetie Belle returned. “Here you go. Two cups of coffee and two Cheesy Scarab Bowls.”

Midnight scrunched his nostrils at what was a large, blue beetle the size of a foal’s head, lying belly up in a bowl, it’s legs and head missing.

‘I forgot they ate bugs down here,’ Midnight thought to himself.

“Well, let’s dig in,” Tansha said, as she used her magic to hold a knife and sliced the scarab down the middle. Steam emerged from the opening and the scent of melted cheese wafted into the air.

Not wanting to appear rude, Midnight whispered a quick prayer to the Pharaoh, before copying Tansha’s movements and cutting a slit in the scarab’s belly. Like before a gooey, cheesy aroma filled the air, something that might have been appetizing for Midnight if not for its source. With its insides exposed, Midnight could see the contents within. Inside was a white, creamy cheese sauce that had a slightly greenish tinge to it and inside the sauce were numerous white clumps.

Ignoring his stomach’s apprehension, Midnight took a deep breath and using a spoon he scooped up the cheesy contents and after closing his eyes, placed it in his mouth.

Much to his surprise it didn’t taste horrible. It was savory and cheesy and while the white clumps were a little rubbery it wasn’t too bad. In fact, it tasted almost like mac and cheese.

Opening his eyes, Midnight saw that Tansha had been watching him.

“So, what did you think?” Tansha asked.

Midnight chewed his food. “It’s actually not as bad as I thought it would be.”

“Well, that’s good,” Tansha said, “since all the nutritional value of the insect is in its insides.”

“Really?”

Tansha nodded. “An insect’s carapace consists of chitin, which provides a small amount of protein, assuming you have the necessary enzymes to digest it. However, for the most part it functions more like fiber.”

“So then why are there so many insect based products?”

“Because they’re easy to farm,” Tansha replied, “also it doesn’t take much skill to take a rock, put glitter on it and sell it as a gem. Especially if nopony questions it.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

As Tansha watched Midnight eat his food, she had to admit that he seemed like a smart guy. He’d managed to acclimate to living in the lower city so far.

Looking around Tansha checked to see if anypony else was around who could listen. Seeing that there was nopony else within earshot, Tansha leaned in close.

“Hey, do you think you can keep a secret?” Tansha asked with a sly grin.

“Uh, sure,” Midnight replied.

After another glance around Tansha continued. “During my last job my friends and I came across something pretty spendy.”

“Oh, what is it?”

“A Lunar Core Module.”

So, she did have it. Still Midnight was sure to maintain ignorance for now. “What’s that?”

“Some sort of device to help with space travel,” Tansha answered, “but that doesn’t really matter, because we’re going to sell it to the highest bidder.”

Now that could be a bit problematic.

Midnight furrowed his brow. “Are you sure you shouldn’t just give that to the authorities? I’m sure somepony would appreciate it.”

Tansha crossed her hooves. “Midnight how many Horizon Knights have you seen down here?”

“Well…” Now that he thought about it, it wasn’t until the bust yesterday that Midnight had seen any of his fellow colleagues in the lower city. In fact, as far as he could tell he may have been the only knight in the lower city at this time. Reluctantly Midnight sighed. “None.”

“In all my years down here, I’ve only met five knights,” Tansha said, “three were corrupt scoundrels working with the gangs, one I met in passing yesterday and one had retired early, lived and ultimately died here in the lower city. You see Midnight, the authorities don’t care what happens down here so long as it doesn’t affect them, so why should I care about their property when it helps my friends and I pay the bills?”

While he hated to admit it, Midnight could understand how Tansha felt. Perhaps if his sister and he had been abandoned to the streets then maybe he would have shared her viewpoint.

But he also knew that she wasn’t entirely right. After all, he cared. Plus there must have been other undercover knights in the lower city, right?

“I’m sure somepony cares,” Midnight said.

“If that helps you sleep at night,” Tansha said, “just don’t be surprised if you find yourself being stabbed in a back alley and no knights in shining armor come to save you. My advice, make as many friends as you can down here. Cuz they’re the ones who’ll stitch you back up after you’ve been shanked.”

As Midnight watched Tansha eat more of the contents of her scarab bowl, another question came to mind. “We’re friends, right?”

Chewing her food, Tansha pondered the inquiry. So far Midnight hadn’t betrayed her, drugged her or attempted to strangle her in her sleep, so that was a point in the friendship category. He also hadn’t done anything to hurt her friends, so there was another point. Sure he was still a little green but he was starting to understand what it was really like in the lower city.

Tansha nodded. “Yeah, I’d say so.”

Hearing this, Midnight smiled. It was nice having a friend down here.

Even if he couldn’t convince her to give up the Lunar Core Module, perhaps there was another way to retrieve it.

As Midnight mulled this over, he noticed a series of red beads inside his bowl. Scooping up one of the odd orbs, Midnight bit down on it. It popped like a grape and had a citrusy, nutty flavor.

“This is pretty good. What is this?” Midnight asked, showing Tansha one of the beads.

“Aww. You had a female,” Tansha pouted, “so lucky.”

Upon realizing that they were scarab eggs, Midnight slowly pushed the bowl away. “I think I’m good for now.”

Tansha gave him a confused look. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, you go ahead and have it.”

Looking out the window, Midnight saw three black crows perched up on a nearby building, starring down at them. Midnight shivered under their alien gaze.

“Is there something wrong?” Tansha asked.

Midnight shook his head. “No, it’s nothing.”

It was about this time that Midnight’s HUD started beeping and an icon appeared, signaling that Spitfire wished to speak with him.

“I’ll be right back,” Midnight said, “there’s something I need to tend to in the colt’s room.”

“Alright, but it’s your loss,” Tansha said as she began scooping the contents of Midnight’s scarab bowl into her own.

Quickly Midnight went to the restroom and entered an empty stall. As he closed and locked the door, Midnight activated Spitfire’s message. Upon opening it, he noticed that Thunderlane was also present.

Midnight: Alright I’m here.

Spitfire: Good, how is your mission going?

Midnight: The mare I thought it was, did indeed have it, though it seems that it wasn’t her goal when she was in the Joy-ripper base.

Thunderlane: So, do you have the Lunar Core Module?

Midnight: Unfortunately, I don’t. She has since learned of its value and now seeks to sell it.

Thunderlane: You should just take it so we can be done with this mess.

Midnight: I can’t do that.

Thunderlane: Why not?

Midnight: If I do I’ll lose my cover.

Spitfire: True, but we do need to retrieve that module.

While Midnight knew that Spitfire was right, he had worked hard to earn Tansha’s trust and he would prefer not to lose it, especially if there might be another way to retrieve the Lunar Core Module.

Midnight: Please allow me to make a proposition. What if instead of taking it from her, we take it from the pony she’s selling it to?

Thunderlane: I don’t see the point in delaying it.

Midnight: We still don’t know who hired the Joy-rippers to steal the module. Chances are that the pony responsible will be there for the purchase either as the buyer or will attempt to intercept the buyer shortly after.

Spitfire: That does seem risky.

Midnight: I know but this way I feel that we can capture two birds in one cage.