Twilight Sparkle had been awake all night, worrying. After reviewing the recording of the robbery over and over, she was able to deduce that the man she saw was, in fact, one of the four criminals. However, this information proved useless if she didn't know where he was. Which led to her trying to identify the other three, in the hopes that it was someone she has seen recently.
While she was busy with that, Kevin came downstairs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. When he saw Twilight, his eyes widened a little. "Twilight?" He yawned. "Did you get any sleep?"
"How can I sleep when a group of dangerous criminals are out there?" she countered. "I found out who one of them is, now I either need to find where he is or who the other three are."
"By chance, do you still think it's that one British guy who came in the other day?"
"I don't think. But yes, why?"
"'Cause it looks like he's going to the hospital."
Kevin jumped when he saw the unicorn right in front of him, looking out the window. Sure enough, she spotted that same suit and hairstyle on the man she was inspecting in the recording all night, and he was heading towards the hospital. Without saying a word, she picked up the phone and dialed three numbers.
"Nine one one, what's your emergency?" the voice on the other end asked.
"Yes, police? I'd like to report the location of a group of dangerous criminals..."
"Guys, I think I'm coming down with something: Being rich!"
The other three laughed at Wolf's shenanigans as they entered a pair of elevators.
"You guys can still hear me, right?" Bain asked.
"Yeah, run the plan!" Wolf urged.
"Right-"
"Oh, excuse me! Hold the door please!"
Even though he did no such thing, a yellow pegasus was still able to make it in the elevator with Wolf.
"-third floor, the non-pony ward."
Both him and the pony went to hit the button at the same time, causing her to retract her hoof, embarrassed. Once he pushed the button, he glanced at the pony, who he recognized as the one he met briefly in the park the other day.
"-deactivate the cameras, and you'll have to keep the civilians-"
The pony seemed to recognize Wolf, as well. "Oh! Hello again, mister."
"Uh, hello, miss..." Wolf tried to remember a name, until he realized something. "I don't think I caught your name."
"Oh, sorry, it's Fluttershy."
Thanks to Wolf's keen hearing, he clearly heard her name, despite the lack of volume. "I'm Wolf."
"-me into the hospital database, so I can find out where-"
"What are you here for, Fluttershy?"
"I was going to visit the changeling here. They're not as bad as everypony says."
Wolf knew an opportunity when he saw one. "Really? Me too. You see, I'm writing a book on Equestrian creatures."
"Oh, that's nice."
"-if nothing goes wrong, I'll be able to pick you up from the roof. Now let's get to work."
The elevator doors opened, and once Fluttershy was out of earshot, Wolf whispered to both the other three and Bain, "Slight change of plan. I'm tagging along with a civ who's going to see the changeling."
"Really? Nice work, Wolf. Let me know when you're in position."
The four nodded at each other before the Swede followed the pegasus to the front desk.
"Hi again, Fluttershy," the secretary greeted. "Here to see the changeling again?"
"Yes, please."
The pony at the desk looked to Wolf. "What about you?" she asked, her earlier friendly demeanor mostly dropped.
"I'm here to see the changeling, too. I'm writing a book on Equestrian creatures."
"Alright, right this way." The pony led the two down the hall and into a room flanked by a pair of guards, both human. She nodded at them, and they opened the door. Inside was a creature Wolf had never seen before: It looked somewhat like a cross between a pony and an insect. It was hooked up to a number of machines, including a heart monitor, which showed a slow but steady beat.
The secretary handed a pair of latex gloves to Wolf, which he accepted and put on.
"So far, he's still completely unconscious," the secretary explained, "but you're free to inspect him for any signs of life." Without another word, she left, leaving Fluttershy and Wolf. The pegasus went to the changeling's side, and Wolf mimed writing stuff down on a piece of paper. "I'm in position," he whispered.
"Alright, cameras going down in three... two....... done."
All at once, chaos broke out back in the lobby, where Wolf's crew mates started yelling at the civilians to get down, the occasional silent gunshot being heard. Fluttershy jumped at the noise, only to come face to gun with a now-masked Wolf.
"Down on the ground!" he yelled. At first, Fluttershy did nothing, but when he repeated his order while moving the pistol closer to her head, she complied, shivering uncontrollably.
"Alright, now start drawing blood from the patient- be sure to go for the joints, those should be the softest parts."
Picking up a syringe, Wolf moved to take the first sample of changeling blood. Once it was done, he said so to Bain.
"Good, now you need to- wait..."
There was silence on the other end. "Bain?" Wolf asked. "What's up?"
"Guys, you got company. Regular police and SWAT are pulling up to the hospital. Looks like someone blew the whistle on you."
As if on cue, one of the cops began speaking over a megaphone outside. "This is the police! We know you're in there! Drop your weapons and come out with your hands over your head!"
Dallas came into the room. "We'll continue with the plan. What do we need to do with the blood?" he asked Bain.
"Our client wants us to take about two pints of blood, and draw the plasma out of it; the first step in processing it. There should be machines for that somewhere in there. Interrogate some of the staff if you need to."
"On it," they heard Chains said, back in the lobby. Shortly after, he started yelling at one of the nurses for the location of a blood separator. While he was busy with that, Dallas peeked out the window, spotting several SWAT squads looking like they were getting ready to breach the doors. A large crowd of civilians was gathered outside of the congregation of police vehicles, watching the daylight heist unfold.
"Guys, they're preparing an assault! You need to try and stall them so you'll have time to complete the separating process unhindered!"
Wolf looked towards the cowering Fluttershy on the ground. "I have an idea."
Twilight watched the proceedings from the crowd, some of her friends watching alongside her. Everyone who was in the lower floors were already evacuated, but so far there still wasn't any confirmation that the criminals were even there. The only odd thing was that all the cameras on the third floor were offline, as well as everyone who was up there not coming out.
"Wasn't Fluttershy goin' to the hospital today?" Applejack asked.
"I saw her leave for here earlier this morning," Rarity added. "I didn't see her come out, though..."
Suddenly, the crowd gasped as a masked figure appeared on the roof, holding a pony at gun point. "Don't come in!" the figure called out. "We've got hostages!"
"Wait, is that-" Rarity's eyes widened in recognition.
"Fluttershy!" Twilight exclaimed.
Sure enough, the pony the man held captive was the yellow pegasus herself, who looked to be crying. The SWAT that were getting ready to enter the building hesitated as the malevolent masked man retreated back into the building, his hostage in tow.
Twilight stepped right past the police tape and walked up to the cop who seemed to be in charge. His concentration was broken by Twilight pulling on his shirt collar, bringing the human down to her level.
"Get. Her. Out of there," she said, her voice both commanding and venomous.
"Y- Yes, ma'am," he replied. Once she let go, he immediately began directing units to control the situation.
"Nice job, Wolf, that delayed the assault. But now it looks like you got hostage rescue units coming in, so don't let your guard down yet."
Wolf tossed Fluttershy into a corner, where she began cowering and whimpering yet again. While he was busy with his diversion, Dallas had put the first vial into the blood separator, which was now about halfway through.
"Go ahead and get a few more blood samples pulled from the changeling; we'll need at least five to get the two pints we need. Let me know once all of them are successfully separated."
With Dallas and Wolf getting the blood processed, Hoxton and Chains kept the civilians under control while preparing a defense. Bags of ammo and medical supplies were thrown down, guns were loaded, and sights were trained on any entrances. Occasionally, they'd have to shift their aim to take out a hostage rescue unit, but they remained where they were.
"Vacation's over: the police are preparing an assault, and there's nothing you can do to delay them this time. Twenty seconds."
"All of you just stay the fuck down!" Chains instructed the civilians, who remained on the ground.
"Ten seconds."
As Hoxton counted down in his head, he heard something tinny bouncing along the ground. Looking down, he spotted a gray canister, and he scrambled backwards just as it went off.
"Smoke! Fall back, let them come through!"
Chains followed him as they left the smoke screen. Turning back around, they saw a moderate group of SWATs entering the lobby, a Shield at the front.
"It's a bloody Shield!"
As they took out the other officers, the Shield's namesake absorbed the few shots that Hoxton and Chains gave it, while his own pistol got them in the vest a couple times. However, the advance was halted when the smoke cleared, and Chains shot the Shield in the side.
"Shield's down!" he called out.
Back in the blood processing room, Dallas and Wolf had taken down a Shield of their own, and they continued to take out SWATs coming in from the windows as the third vial was being processed. In the other room, if one were to observe the changeling, they would see that its blood pressure was nearing unhealthy levels. Of course, no one in the building payed that any mind.
The assault let up a little, and Dallas used the opportunity to reload his shotgun. Out of nowhere, however, someone slammed him to the ground from behind and cuffed him. Glancing up, he saw the green glow of a pair of night vision goggles.
"Fucking Cloaker!"
Wolf whirled around at the warning, and filled the Cloaker with a full mag from his rifle.
"One Cloaker down!" he growled. Making sure no one was shooting at him, he uncuffed Dallas, who got back on his feet.
"Thanks." Without another word, the two continued defending the room, only pausing to grab the processed vial and get another blood sample, before placing that one in the machine. So far, this heist was going rather smoothly, if a bit conspicuous.
"Woah, you got choppers all around the roof! I don't know if I can get you guys out of there like this!"
"Well bloody think of something!" Hoxton yelled, currently taking cover from a Tazer.
"Okay, hold on... I have an idea, just give me a few minutes."
"Whatever it is you're doing, Bain, hurry up!" Wolf urged while focusing his fire on a Bulldozer's faceplate. Behind him, Dallas swapped out the processed vial for the last sample.
The crowd had been watching for just over ten minutes now, but it felt like much longer. Shots were easily heard from inside, and SWAT squads kept piling into the building, but so far it looked as if no progress was being made against the assailants.
Unnoticed by the crowd, a helicopter flew overhead, joining the other three that were hovering around the building.
In the cockpit of the new chopper, Bain turned around to face his passenger. "You better be as good a shot as you say you are!"
The passenger, a skinny, thin-faced human who was holding a large sniper rifle, laughed. "Don't sweat it, man, I never miss! Just hold 'er steady..."
Bain did so, and the man took aim at one of the other choppers. He took a deep breath, before firing off an astoundingly loud shot. The window of the chopper he was aiming at was shattered, and the pilot lurched back violently. The disabled chopper began lazily listing to the side, running into another chopper, which then took out the third, as well as a few hovering pegasi.
"Nice shot!" Bain congratulated, before keying in his mic. "Alright, guys, hurry and get to the roof! I hope you got all five processed samples!"
"You heard Bain! Get moving!"
As Wolf urged his crewmates up the stairs to the roof, he covered them from the door. Once they were all through, he went up himself. Spotting the chopper hovering next to the building, the four of them sprinted towards it and jumped in. Bain wasted no time in pulling out, but a few pegasi police gave chase.
"Knock them out of the sky!" Bain told the crew. They obliged, shooting the pursuing ponies down. Once they were free of anyone chasing them, they high-fived each other.
"Now where's the stuff, man?" the skinny passenger asked, cradling his rifle. "You got the stuff, right?"
"Right here." Dallas handed the man the five vials, and the man let out a noise not unlike a happy squeal, but at the same time something completely different.
"Nice! You'll get your money, guys. We're gonna be so fucked up tomorrow!" He laughed crazily, and the four masked men just shrugged. No matter where it comes from, money was still money.
And money was their own addiction.
Once it was confirmed that the criminals were no longer in the building, police immediately began getting the civilians out. Twilight, being essentially a national hero, was allowed to barge through the police line and look for her friend. Once she found the pegasus, sitting in a corner, crying, she started comforting her.
"Oh, Twilight, i-it was a-awful!" she sniffled out. As she began shakily explaining what happened, Twilight wasn't listening. Instead, she was plotting.
It was one thing that those men were among the most wanted on Earth, but now... First with Applejack, now with Fluttershy, these men were putting her friends in danger. And she wouldn't stand for that. She'd do whatever she could to get them behind bars; or at the very least, shot up in a failed heist. Whatever it took to make sure they wouldn't hurt anyone ever again.