Celestia sits once more atop her throne, sister at her side, and lands before her in harmony. Years after the darker alicorns’ return, things had begun to change, Twilight had taken a more active role in politics. The eventual death of her friends weighed heavily on her, and she channeled those feelings toward a desire for change.

Suddenly the world shifted and Celestia was in court, arguing against some bill Twilight had put forward. It would remove some of the technological restrictions Celestia had put in place centuries earlier. She wanted to resist, but Twilight's coalition of landed nobility, with the backing of the burgeoning corporations was too much. An agreement was reached but it was only a half measure, something that would be stripped away in time.

Sure enough, only a few short years later, and with even more money behind her, Twilight returned to the negotiating table. This time she had the public on her side as well, leaving Celestia with little to do but give up, and give in. From there technology began to advance rapidly, and Celestia saw snippets of chrome flash before her eyes.

One moment she was standing in the castle, watching workers build a skyscraper taller than the ancient bastion she stood in. The next she was sitting atop the throne, watching as a pony with a shiny metal limb strode up and made some inquiry or another. The words and colors blurred together, in a violent storm that ended suddenly, thrusting Celestia onto the street.

Around her, buildings burned, ponies moaned in pain, and bodies littered the road like so much debris. Mansions that had stood for centuries were now ruins, their bloated insides spilling out, exposing the corruption within. Black crystals sprouted from the shattered mounds of stone and wood while pools of undulating greenish liquid pulsed quietly nearby. Even the clouds above bore the signs of corruption, as they spat angry purple lightning down on the world below.

Though disturbing, there was no more unnerving a sight than the mare who stood before Celestia. Twilight was barely even recognizable from the young mare Celestia had begun teaching all those decades earlier. Gone was the tiny, inquisitive unicorn, replaced by an alicorn stained black by the heavy hand of dark magic.

Eyes, as black as coal emitted a greenish-purple mist so thick it trailed behind her like contrails chasing a speeding pegasus. Her horn, tall and magnificent was now twisted, curving slightly, sharpening and becoming almost blade-like in its appearance. Her coat had darkened to the point that it was almost black while her mane had become a mass of fleshy protrusions. Like serpents, they twisted about atop her head as if trying to find a more comfortable position on the mare’s scalp.

The damage done was not merely spiritual, however, as all over Twilight's body there were clear signs of damage. Bruises, cuts, and scrapes big and small covered nearly every inch of her, including several larger injuries. For one the alicorn was missing a foreleg, as well as a wing, and the majority of her cheek was completely gone, revealing pointed teeth.

Though warped in both body and spirit, Twilight looked up at Celestia with not malice, but confusion. Face contorted in a mix of pain and bewilderment she whispered a single solitary word.

“Why?”

Celestia lurched upward, banging her head against something hard and metallic. A hoof immediately went the delicate appendage adorning her scalp, a groan escaping her lips.

“I told you that falling asleep in here was a bad idea,” remarked a familiar voice.

Celestia turned to its source and for a moment saw Luna as she used to be. Young, youthful, and still recovering from her time on the moon, she was the Luna from Celestia’s childhood. Then the haze of memory faded and she saw the other pony for what she was now.

Her flowing ethereal mane was gone, its ethereal qualities robbed alongside her connection to the moon. Just as long, it now fell over one side of her face, exposing that half of her scalp had been cut as short as possible. Allowing for several strips of metal to be installed in her skull, each one sporting several different kinds of ports and wires that ran into her deck.

A deck that was clutched in two metallic black hooves that had split open to create a dozen digits that tapped away at the keyboard. The board itself was long, nearly a quarter of the length of the alicorn herself, and was nearly falling apart by the looks of it. It was patched so many times it was hard to tell what make or model it had once been, not like Celestia had the know-how to figure that out in the first place however.

Luna did, though she didn't seem in the talkative mood at the moment, distracted as she currently was. Her one unaugmented eye twitched back and forth, inspecting a hovering screen projected in front of half her face. The other side, partially hidden under a long coat of dark hair was illuminated by a blue light emanating from the eye cluster installed over where the other organic orb should be. Housed within a triangular metallic mass that went back to where her one ear should be, the mass of chrome almost covered the electrical burns beneath which had long since been covered in scar tissue.

The rest of her form was hidden away from sight, the high collar of her coat obscuring her mouth and neck. The rest of her was covered in a long, midnight black fabric that bunched at the shoulders and gained a metallic sheen. There it split into a triangle-shaped geometric pattern, adding a stylistic flare that was hampered somewhat by just how many times the piece of clothing had been repaired.

“You forget who I am again?” Luna asked without glancing in Celestia’s direction.

“No,” Celestia replied immediately, looking away. “I just… had that dream again.”

Luna acknowledged the remark with a grunt but said nothing immediately distracted by her work.

Celestia glanced about the cramped interior of the vehicle she was currently stuffed inside of. The metal box was long, angular, and had only one window, though she didn't look out of it, at least not yet. Rather she searched for a driver, a request to pull over for a moment forming on her lips, only to be dismissed.

The vehicle wasn't only missing ample headroom, and properly sized seats but also a visible driver. There was only two seats, and a stain-covered dash of clearly fake leather that likely hadn't been cleaned in weeks if not months. The entire thing stunk of spilled liquor and blood and had more mystery splotches than Celestia cared to think about. She also tried not to think about how the whole thing rattled like it was ready to fall apart and took most turns fast enough to throw her against the side of the vehicle.

Now growing queasy, Celestia tried to make her stomach stop spinning by looking out the window. Only to see not the much-altered city of Manehatten, but her own changed appearance looking tiredly back at her. Unlike her sister and student, Celestia herself hadn't changed much over the years, though even she could not resist change entirely.

A small dock could be spotted at the back of her neck, the port basically an antique at this point. Barely serviceable, anyone else would have done away with it and gotten an upgrade, but not Celestia. She had refused any offers to do so, and kept it simple, much like the rest of her armor as well her weapon.

A spear, older than most current nations lay on the ground next to her, its appearance so utterly plain that few who looked at it knew its power. Heavily enchanted, the haft was made of a light brown wood and was capped by a six-inch long blade that ended in an incredibly fine point. There were no embellishments, no runic arrays, or anything else to give away its true potential unless you were a capable mage. Then, the weapon hummed and radiated a warmth that could be felt from a fair distance, an effect similar to the armor Celestia wore.

The old set of plate mail may be antiquated in the extreme, but like most of the few items Celestia owned, it was heavily enchanted. Hidden beneath a set of brightly colored yellow and orange robes, only the suit’s gorget could be seen poking out of the neck hole. Together with her simple weapon, she looked to be a knight of old, or an amateur pretending to be one anyway.

Those with a more discerning gaze would be able to tell that she was more than that, however. They would spot the scars, both old and new that dotted her form, such as the scratch that covered one cheek in three long, red lines. Her shortly cropped mane hid little from view, and revealed many of the old wounds that she had gained which would never fully heal. Without the power that allowed her mane to float on an unseen breeze, Celestia had collected these marks of battle in considerable numbers.

“You just get uglier every day,” Celestia muttered to herself.

Stowing away that small amount of damaged pride, Celestia looked out the window, ignoring the grime that collected at the edges. Beyond the poorly cleaned glass whizzed the city of Manehatten, or at least a distant extension of the sprawling metropolis. Far from the mile-high skyscrapers, and dense urban landscape, there was little to mark this place as part of the ever-expanding city.

The only gift from Manehatten came in the form of the massive sixteen-lane highway they were currently speeding upon. Beneath them, half hidden by the enormous concrete pillars was what had likely been a distant town or village at one point. Absorbed by the sprawling corporate-dominated city, it was now a relatively quiet suburb notable only for being crime-riddled and where their destination lay.

Or at least Celestia thought that might be the case anyway.

“What exactly was the job again?” Celestia inquired.

Luna paused and turned to face her sister, tri optic array blinking in confusion.

“Don't tell me you really are getting dementia. I told you how important it is to play more games. They keep the mind sharp even at our old age,” Luna remarked.

“I…” Celestia sighed and took a breath. “You know what happens when I have that dream.”

Luna swiped a metal hoof over her keyboard, digits working furiously for a second before coming to a stop when a holographic image popped into view. The face was of their fixer, that much Celestia recognized right away, the stallion’s smug grin being uncomfortably familiar. He wore a white suit jacket, beneath which was an expensive-looking black vest embroidered with gold and sporting equally as lavish buttons. Under that was a red shirt with a popped collar, from which spilled three or so garish gold chains. His teal eyes were barely visible beneath his reflective silver-trimmed aviators, but they could not contain the glint of greed Celestia saw in his gaze every time she looked upon them.

“Rare Find needs us to get some dirt on a local low-level bureaucrat,” Luna began, flicking her hoof and causing a small, square government building to appear between them. “It's a simple administration building that at one point served as this village’s town hall.”

“Willowseed,” Celestia interrupted.

“What?” Luna replied.

“Before being absorbed by Manehatten it was called Willowseed,” Celestia answered.

“Whatever,” Luna muttered. “It's a suburb of Manehatten now, and its town hall is a satellite location for the Bureau of land management.”

“Question, why are we still working with this guy?” Celestia interrupted. “We know he's wrapped up in everything from illegal dog fighting to fight fixing.”

Luna sighed bitterly. “Because it's either this or become homeless… again!”

“Oh right,” Celestia muttered.

“Need I remind you that we are sinless vagrants that cannot get real jobs, or garner any extra attention? Or did you forget that along with where you are,” Luna angrily spat.

“I remember where I am,” Celestia retorted.

“I doubt that very much,” Luna muttered. “Either way you need to promise me not to attack him the next we meet him. The guy might be bottom-of-the-barrel scum but I will not go back to begging for food on some street corner somewhere.”

Celestia sighed heavily. “I know sister.”

“Good. Besides, the job shouldn't even involve any violence unless you end up blowing our cover again,” Luna continued, pointing to the three-dimensional map projected by her deck. “Security is almost non-existent, and our target apparently has a habit of forgetting his briefcase at work so it should be a simple matter to get what we need.”

“That is… good,” Celestia murmured.

“We should be able to get in the back, sneak up the stairs to the second story, and get into his office with little issue,” Luna remarked. “After that, we grab his briefcase, break into his terminal, download what we need, and slip out before anyone even spots us.”

“What kind of security do they have?” Celestia inquired, peering a little closer. “I would expect at least a few guards even here.”

“Williams and Steel security as well as a handful of cameras, but all of those are facing the street or are in the lobby,” Luna answered. “I don't expect much more than a couple of old-timers in need of a paycheque or maybe a newby trying to get into corpo security. Like I said this is not a high-priority building, and Williams and Steel aren't exactly heavy hitters.”

Celestia nodded slowly. “How far away are we?”

“Few minutes. Gonna drop near a bar in the area, and we can walk the rest of the way,” Luna replied, tapping her deck a few times and dismissing the three-dimensional image. “Should be enough to shake any suspicion, plus if we get paid we can stop by for a drink before heading home.”

“Augh Luna,” Celestia whined. “You know how I feel about your drinking.”

“And you know I feel about your complaining,” Luna spat back.

Celestia bit her lip, forcing down the retort that had been building in her throat.

“Let's just focus on the job,” Celestia conceded.

Luna snorted, and looked away, quickly getting lost in whatever she was working on. Leaving Celestia to sigh mournfully and go back to looking out of the lone window available to her. For several minutes they remained in that awkward silence until swerving down an off-ramp and descending into the sprawl below.

From there it wasn't long before they approached a long, squat structure made primarily of cinder blocks. The front was simple, a single door sitting between four windows, each of which bore metal bars that went over the top of as many air conditioning units. The exterior had a simple sign simply saying ‘bar’ or at least Celestia assumed as much, as only the B lit up.

Illuminated only by the flickering light of a half-broken street lamp was a quartet of ponies standing outside. Just from a glance, Celestia could tell that they were regulars as they were stumbling already despite it barely being ten o clock. Stuck between two three-story apartment buildings, the bar emptied directly onto the cracked sidewalk. With barely any parking to speak of, Celestia was glad for once, that they had hired a taxi.

As Celestia finished her inspection, the car slowed down and eventually came to a complete stop. The moment this happened, she picked up her spear, pressed the release for the door, and stepped outside once it responded by swinging up into the air. Standing outside, Celestia couldn't help but grimace in disgust, the smell of exhaust and distant pollution staining her nose.

“Thank you for your patronage,” announced a robotic, monotone voice.

Luna grunted, and stepped outside, strapping her deck to her back in a single fluid motion.

“Well, that was the last of our money. We had best hope this goes smoothly otherwise we’ll be walking home,” Luna remarked bitterly.

“We’ll handle it,” Celestia replied.

“We better,” Luna spat.

The dark alicorn kept walking, forcing Celestia to trot after her lest she is left behind. Together they continued down the street, passing by the drunks Celestia had seen earlier.

“They ain't bad,” remarked one voice.

“They got the theme down pat, and are pretty big too, no fake wings though so points off for that,” added another.

The quartet chuckled to themselves for a few seconds before one of them unexpectedly puked his guts out onto the ground. That prompted Celestia to pick up the pace slightly so she walked next to her sister.

“Hear that, we got theme down pat,” Celestia offered.

Luna snorted. “Sometimes I hate how it became such a trend to dress up like us.”

“There is strength in legends, a shame we’ve become one ourselves,” Celestia added.

“I’m just happy we don't have to spring for any expensive mods or plastic surgery. I rather enjoy my face, blemishes and all,” Luna remarked, a hoof running over the sensor cluster grafted over one of her eye sockets.

Celestia could barely contain her disgust, but at least resisted the urge to say anything. Instead, she distracted herself by inspecting their surroundings.

Traffic was infrequent but fairly common, with most cars being the same metal coffins that had transported the sisters to the ass end of Manehatten. Cheap, nearly indestructible, and produced in masse, they were the chosen method of transport for anyone on a budget. Despite their repulsive appearance and AI driver, they at least allowed her to travel the city quickly since they had to keep their wings hidden.

The other people they passed by were mostly drunks, beggars, or thieves all of whom gave the sisters a wide berth. Celestia caught snippets of whispered remarks directed at them, with most murmuring that they looked like shadow runners. There were also a few remarks about their physical appearance which Celestia regretted ever hearing but thankfully they were in the minority. Even then, runners were not so uncommon that they caused a commotion, and garnered only passing curiosity from most.

Such whispers vanished completely after they ducked down a side passage and turned into a dimly lit alley. Celestia’s right hoof twitched, her instincts telling her to pull forth her spear and ready herself for combat. She stowed that urge and instead walked with her head held high, doing her best to exude an intimidating aura.

She wasn't sure if it worked, but either way, no one bothered them, though more than a few observed their passage. A trio of street rats sitting on a dumpster watched them go, and further on a working mare puffed on a cigarette as the sisters passed by. Other than that, Celestia saw no one, though she was almost certain that there were others observing their passage.

That all ended when they got close to their target, as a tall concrete barrier hid them from sight. Behind those towering walls were the nicer homes of the bureaucrats and government employees. Their desire for privacy allowed the sisters to make the last jaunt of their travel in silence and without a single pony spotting them.

“Alright it's just up ahead, lets's wait here a second,” Luna whispered in a low tone.

Celestia nodded, and slid behind a dumpster piled high with bits of debris from a construction site. Luna knelt down behind a discarded couch rotting on the other side of the alley, her bionic eye cluster remaining glued to the building down the way. Larger than any they had passed by, it was blocky, and imposing, built in a brutalist style that made it as ugly as it was uninviting. Wide, and squat, it loomed over the rest of the neighborhood like a massive tombstone marking the death of the village it had once been the center of.

A few minutes passed, and just when Celestia was about to ask what they were waiting for, the back door opened. The steel door clanged into place, allowing an elderly stallion to step outside and light a cigar. He then puffed silently on the thing, gaze distant, uncaring as to who or what may be lurking in the shadows.

Celestia noted that although he had a gun, as well as a uniform, he had no body armor to speak of and the weapon was old. It was a sturdy firearm and a decent caliber but likely hadn't been fired in years. That wasn't the focus of Luna though, as she only had eyes for the small square of plastic dangling from a lanyard around the stallion’s throat. Simple, with only a magnetized black strip, it looked about as old as the male who carried it around.

After a few minutes of silence, the stallion pulled out a case, clipped the end of the cigar, and placed the remainder of his smoke in the box. He then tucked it into a pocket, and turned back around, kicking out the block which had been holding the door open. A moment later and the door shook slightly, the guard likely making sure that it was closed before going back to his patrol.

“Come on,” Luna urged.

Celestia nodded and followed after her sister as she hastily crept up the concrete steps. Kneeling down next to a card reader beside the door, Luna pulled out not her deck, but a black velvet bag. Fishing inside, she retrieved a key card much like the one the guard had been holding a moment earlier, only hers had several black bars along the back.

A quick swipe later and Luna stepped back, watching the door with hushed anticipation. It took a moment, but the door clicked, and Luna hastily pulled it open, stepping in.

“Stay quiet, and let me handle this,” Luna whispered.

Celestia nodded once more, though she wanted to assert that she could indeed help and did not need to be coddled. Those emotions were stuffed down deep in her chest, buried under the reminder that they may end up homeless or hungry again. With that in mind, Celestia crept silently after her sister as she worked her way into the building, her hoof steps rendered inaudible due to the carpeted floor.

The hallway they were walking down was simple, and not overly long, turning sharply to the left after a dozen feet. Along the way, there were two doors on either side and one at the end, all closed and locked with the same key card method as the back entrance. Celestia wasn't sure where she should be going, but Luna was confident so with the younger sister taking the lead, they moved onward.

Down the hall, and immediately to the right, pushing open a heavy metal door. Beyond lay a concrete corridor of stairs that lead up, the space quiet save for the hum of the fluorescent lights. Luna closed the door quietly behind them before swiftly trotting upward, careful to not let her hooves make a sound.

Celestia did the same, the larger mare doing her utmost to replicate her more stealthy sister’s movements. Thankfully the task wasn't terribly difficult, and soon they had reached the second floor. Luna once more took the lead, peering out a crack in the door at their surroundings, and after a few seconds, ushering Celestia out after her.

Together they moved into a wide open office space in the shape of a zero. In the middle was a wall of windows that overlooked a courtyard of some kind. It also allowed the sisters to see the conference spaces on the other side, as well as the identical row of cubicles directly across from them.

Luna gestured to her right before motioning for Celestia to stay low while she continued leading them. Celestia did as her sister asked, keeping her neck bent and hoof steps quiet as they trotted past a break room. Pausing at the small lunch room beyond, Luna listened carefully before once more pressing onward.

This repeated several times before finally, they had worked their way to their target, a corner office that bore the number twenty-two directly above it. The door was closed and locked with simple means, but the careful application of a bobby pin remedied that issue. Luna stepped inside, waved Celestia in after her, and pushed the door closed once her sister was safely standing next to her.

“Is this it?” Celestia whispered.

Luna nodded and gestured to the office desk sitting a few feet away from them. Like most things in the building, it was fairly low-tech, a simple conglomeration of plastic and metal. On top of the cheap government furniture was an old computer complete with a monitor as big as a pony’s head.

“This stuff is ancient,” Luna whispered.

“It's not that old. I remember when…” Celestia frowned. “I suppose they are rather antiquated.”

Luna snorted and sat down on the dusty office chair. She then hooked her deck up to the tower and began clicking away. Her face darkened almost immediately, and she scowled angrily at the flickering monitor.

“It's older than I thought. This is going to take a while. Try and find the guy’s briefcase,” Luna exclaimed, gesturing in Celestia’s direction.

The other mare rolled her eyes before starting to look around the rather cramped office space without destroying anything. Behind Luna was a wall of windows, flanked on either side by small bookcases that came a quarter way up the wall. Checking out the first one of these sparsely populated spaces, Celestia found that they were completely normal.

There were small trophies, awards for perfect attendance, a diploma from a school she had never heard of, and a few pictures. What few books there were about management, business, and real estate laws in Equestria as well as abroad. Everything was old, and aged and the central figure in the pictures looked easily about seventy or possibly more.

There was no sign of the briefcase, however, so Celestia continued on until she reached a filing cabinet. Opening the top drawer revealed only rows and rows of data discs carefully secured in plastic containers. The second one held her prize, a simple black briefcase with a combination lock, and a soft, faux leather exterior.

“Found it,” Celestia whispered.

Luna nodded at her sister before turning back to the computer, glaring intently at the screen. Celestia was about to ask what else she might do to help, only for Luna to grin unexpectedly and step away from the computer.

“Got it,” declared the young sister. “Now we just need to get out of here the way we came.”

“That's it?” Celestia inquired.

“Don't jinx it. We still gotta get out undetected. The info we got will be worth a lot less if we are discovered,” Luna retorted.

Celestia sighed, and stepped aside, allowing her younger sibling to take the lead once more. Which was something the other mare did immediately after she had tucked her deck on her back and secured it in place. With that done, she slipped back into the hallway and hastily began moving back the way they came, head bent low the whole way.

As they moved Celestia couldn't help but wonder if something was about to go wrong. When no alarms blared, and no one shouted for them to put their hooves up, she began to relax. Then Luna stopped suddenly and gestured toward one of the cubicles nearby.

Both sisters slipped under the cheap particle board divider, their larger bulk barely fitting under the desk. Now confused, and with her head unpleasantly close to her sister’s butt, Celestia’s anxiety returned. She gestured back the way they came with a confused look on her face, asking without saying what they were hiding from.

Luna pantomimed the action of someone walking towards them before holding a hoof up to her lips. This didn't sit well with Celestia who gestured to her weapon, asking if she should do something about the guard. Luna drew an invisible line across her throat before shaking her head, telling Celestia not to kill the fellow. Celestia replied by rolling her eyes and pointing down to the butt of her weapon, not the pointy bit.

Again Luna shook her head, glaring hard at Celestia. Though Celestia didn't like it, she sat tight, trying to ignore the awkward position they were currently in.

A few seconds later she heard the sound of hooves coming closer, the noise accompanied by whistling. The guard himself drew nearer and nearer before walking right past them without slowing down at all. Only when he was out of earshot did Celestia relax, though Luna evidently did not, the mare shoving Celestia aside and slipping out of their hiding spot.

Picking her head up off the ground, Celestia untangled her limbs and scrambled to catch up with her sister. They met back up at the staircase, where Luna paused, listening for a few seconds before opening the door. They repeated this same slow and steady tactic a few times and were back at the same alley entrance they had used only a few minutes earlier.

Once outside, and out of sight of the building, the two alicorns stopped for a moment next to a dumpster. Luna pulled out her deck, and after ensuring the info was still there, turned to Celestia, who waved the briefcase. The younger mare then looked around, only relaxing once she made sure that they had not been noticed or followed.

“Finally. A job that went exactly as planned,” Luna muttered.

“Uh Luna, are they our contact for the handoff?” Celestia asked.

Luna followed her sister’s hoof to where, just down the alley, there were a dozen ponies walking towards them. Wearing mostly black leather, and wielding improvised weapons as well as the odd firearm, the group made it clear they were there for the sisters. At their head was a slender mare wearing a black motorcycle helmet adorned with a shiny spike, and holding a nail-filled baseball bat.

“No, no they are not,” Luna replied.

Author's Note

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