The security office was empty, almost. Most of the workers had checked out two to three hours earlier. Their cubicles were dark and abandoned. The computer screens and monitors were blank. The reck room was no longer alive and bustling, it was just dark and quiet. However not the whole building was empty. No there was still some pony there, and they didn't plan on leaving soon.
There was a dark green pegasus sitting in a small room filled with monitors. They covered the whole wall in front of him, leaving a the other three walls completely blank. There was a small desk with recording equipment and cameras in front of his small office chair. Most of the workers would have gotten board watching all of these screens. They might have started spinning in the chair, or playing some sort of mind game with themselves, however this stallion's eyes never wavered away. They stared intently at each screen, remembering every pony he saw, and what they did day by day.
What this stallion was watching was the recordings from street cameras, cell phone cameras, and anything else that could film around the entire ring of Celestium! A number of workers and staff had been doing this for a few weeks. They would take turns every night, trying to spot the criminals they were after. Charger and Sights, the two "KNOWN" terrorists who conducted the attack on the building down town. The government knew they were hiding somewhere, every ship leaving Celestium was being searched, so they couldn't have gotten of the ring.
As the stallion starred at the TV screens his eyes darted towards one particular screen. This was camera footage from a security camera outside of a grocery store in a bad area outside of the city. He had the pleasure of seeing a few exciting robberies, however those didn't really grab his attention. What did grab his attention was one particular hooded stallion walking in once a week on the same day. He also always seemed to buy the same things.
The stallion watching the TV's knew he was probably just a commoner buying groceries, but he just seemed so interesting, but in a bad way. He decided he was going to solve the mystery of the hooded stallion tonight! He zoomed in with a small joy stick and paused the footage. The hood was clearly covering his face, however he had a nice look at his fur that stuck out above his hooves. The fur was red.
THis set an alarm off in the stallions head, red fur matched the description of Sights, one of the terrorists! He zoomed in to the hood more. He had to see this stallions face! He hit a filter key on the a key board in front of him. The screen went blue and the words "Loading Filter Please Wait…" appeared in the middle of the screen. When the filter finally loaded the stallion was in shock, he could now clearly see the red stallions face! He quickly pressed the intercom button on the desk in front of him.
" Sir, you might want to see this!"
Back on the Spirit of Fire, things were getting pretty boring. Gold Wings hadn't been assigned a combat mission in weeks, all of the other flyers were getting Ace Crosses and stars for excellence in combat, not that he cared for such selfish awards, but he did miss the adrenaline rush. There was nothing like flying through the sky with your guns blazing.
He decided he would take a little walk over to the mess hall. He wasn't really hungry, but his he wanted to do something! He opened his barrack door and casually walked down the hall to the mess hall. He enjoyed being on the same floor as the mess hall. He didn't have to go far for a meal, and he could get back to his room quickly when he was done eating. He defiantly enjoyed where he was in the ship.
When he walked into the mess hall there seemed to be a large group of soldiers standing around the TV. Gold Wings didn't watch a lot of TV. he mainly stuck to his computer and watched Itube. The soldiers had very serious expressions on their faces, and they didn't want to seem to look away from the program. Gold Wings decided there was nothing else better to do and he walked over to the TV.
As soon as he reached the monitor that served as their TV he jumped back in surprise. On the screen were sketches of Sights and Charger. They also had a message scrolling through screen at the bottom of the sketches. It read " Terrorists found on Celestium Ring" Gold Wing's mouth opened in terror. He thought they had gotten past that already. They got away and made it off scott free, right?
" Well, apparently I was wrong." mumbled Gold Wings to himself. He quickly galloped out of the room and back to his room! He had to get to Celestium, not one of his friends knew how to fly, or at least fly well. He had to get them off the ring! The problem was, the cruiser he was on, was not stopping there again for another few months. By the time he got back, they would be captured or killed, either way it wasn't a good situation.
" Maybe I can request leave!" Gold Wings thought to himself.
" No, that won't be quick enough! I'll have to book some kind of flight, and it's holiday season!" He said throwing that idea out.
He kept galloping down the hall thinking of ways to get back to Celestium. He finally reached his room when he realized, there was no other option.
" If I wont off if this ship, I'm going to have to steal a ship!" He thought. He didn't want to do anything illegal again. He barely got away unrecognized during his last little "mission", he would very much enjoy having a good reputation and staying out of jail! He knew he couldn't leave his friends though. He had to help them, he knew that mattered more then anything. He thought his options over in his head one more time. Then he sighed.
" They're going to ow me for this."
On Celestium The Mane Six, Charger, and Sights were bumming around. The six still couldn't believe they were in the future, but they were getting used to it. Stealth was still a major concern. Charger and Sights agreed to let the mares leave on their own turns, as long as their identities were concealed in some way.
It had been almost a whole month since the tower. Every pony seemed to be calmer now, not as alarmed by cameras. They had a routine now. It allowed them the freedoms they fought for, but it also kept the six safe and unrecognized. Charger was finding his new amount of free time enjoyable. He worked at a local bar now. It was a small place with no Holograms, and it was out of the way. Even if someone there did manage to even find out about the tower event, they wouldn't recognize him. He had completely changed his look. His short cut mane was now long. He grew his tail out so that he could not recognized from behind. The biggest change, was his mark. He had put a clear sticker over it. It was almost like a fake tattoo. Using this he had changed his mark from a charging stallion, to a rag and bottle. This made him look more like a born bar tender, then a military trained fugitive on the run. Sights had changed his look as well. He grew all of his hair out and even darkened his coat with some dye. He had changed his mark to pool ball with a pool stick. He had always been good at pool, so even though it wasn't his true talent, people wouldn't get suspicious when he played the game.
It was a cool night. The apartment was nice and all, but knowing Pinky, she had another plan for her night. While the other ponies were watching the hologram, sleeping, or just eating a snack she snuck over to Twilight.
" Hi Twilight." she said in a cheerful whisper.
" Um, hi Pink…" Twilight started, but Pinky put a hoof over her mouth.
" Shhh!" She whispered. Twilight brushed her hoof away.
" What?" Twilight whispered. Pinky gave a nervous glance over to Charger and Sights.
" They might hear us." Pinky whispered. Twilight gave her a funny look.
" What don't you want them hearing?" Twilight asked a little puzzled and annoyed. Pinky smiled and pulled a giant cake from out behind her. Twilight was noir surprised.
" Let me guess, you want to through a surprise party for Charger and Sights at the bar Charger works at. The whole reason your doing this is to get out of the apartment and to thank them for freeing us. Is that right?" Twilight asked calmly. Pinky Pie just looked at Twilight looked cross.
" Twilight, only I'm allowed to do THAT!" She hissed at her. Twilight smiled, she never knew using Pinky Sense was so easy.
" But, you are right Twilight, I think they deserve it." Pinky smiled. Twilight couldn't help but agree with her, she also desperately wanted to see what Pinky would do with all the futuristic party equipment.
" Fine, how are we going to get them down to he bar though?" asked Twilight. Pinky just smiled even bigger at her question.
" You have a plan, don't you?" Twilight asked.
" Oh boy do I!" Pinky exclaimed. She the trotted off to the door and hid the cake in the fridge.
Meanwhile Charger and Sights were watching the Hologram. There was a lot of crap on, a lot of it. All the shows were drama's or really bad comedies.
" Gaaa, does this ring have anything good to watch?" asked Sights. He was spread out on the couch. The pony on the Hologram had just made a really bad joke about broccoli.
" Just give me the bullet NOW!" Charger weeped. he quickly changed the channel to a boring news program, it was talking about the economy and all that stuff.
" Well, fuck it. I'm out." Sights said getting up. He walked into the next room and jumped in a bed. Charger couldn't help but feel sleepy himself.
" Maybe I should get some shut eye." Charger thought about this, but then the phone rang. He went over to a button on the table.
" Hello?" Charger asked, sounding very tired. He had found out that if it was the bar calling, and he sounded tired, they wouldn't make him work that day. Just incase it was work, he answered as if he were half asleep.
" Yah hey Charger, can you come in and maybe work the night shift?" asked the operator.
" Damnit!" Charger thought. He wasn't going to say no because he could use the money, but it was still an inconvenience to go to work.
" Yah, I can come in."
" Thanks man." Then the operator hung up. Charger got up and called to Sights.
" Hey Sights, want to go to the bar, I got to work the night!" He yelled into the next room. He didn't here anything from the next room. he new Sights would miss something if he didn't go with him, so he shook him awake and told him he was going to the bar with him. Sights seemed to tired to protest, or even know what Charger said, so he just went along with it. They both loaded into the hover carriage outside and flipped the ignition switch.
The car started and they cruised down to the bar. It wasn't very far, seeing how they lived in a smaller town o Celestium, so they were there within a minute. They opened the door and walked in. Charger punched in and got to work. Sights went over to the pool table. There was like, no pony in the bar and Charger was starting to wonder why he was called in to work late. Usually "Misty Taff Bar" only called in employees when they were absolutely needed, the owner was cheap.
Charger was even more bored at the bar than in the apartment. He looked over to Sights who was just shooting random shots during pool.
" If any one saw him playing like that, he'd be screwed." Charger thought to himself. He kept watching Sights shoot until jhe was finally bored of it.
" Hey Sights, want a drink?" he asked. Sights turned to look at him.
" Are you even allowed to give free drinks?" asked Sights looking at him funny. Charger looked around and made sure no other employees were there.
" Well, I'm the only employee here, and seeing how the first in is the manager for the day I guess I'm the manger." Charger reasoned. he pulled out two glasses.
" What'll it be?" he asked looking at the wall of drinks behind the bar. Sights walked over from the pool table.
" Make it a Cider." Sights said.
" Sights, we're in a bar, cider is for fillies." Charger joked. Sights just sat down at the bar.
" No, we've got six mares to go home to after this, if we show up drunk, we'll never hear the end of it. Especially from Twilight." Sights said. Charger poorer to glasses of cider and put them down on the bar.
" I heard you two became pretty good friends." Charger said as he took a sip.
" Come on, you and Fluttershy are pretty close, closer than Twilight and I." Sights said. Charger thought about Fluttershy, they were pretty close. He didn't know why but they just got along so well. He felt so good and elated around her. He wondered hat made him feel that way. Before he could finish his thought though, though door swung open, hard. Charger and Sights both ducked behind the bar, expecting government agents to unleash a hail of bullets upon them, no bullets came. Instead they heard a loud
" Surprise!" from a group of ponies. They both peaked out from be hid the bar looking confused.
" What are you doing behind there sillies." Pinky Pie asked giggling.
" Oh Celestia, do not scare me like that!" Sight exclaimed.
" Come on don't be such a scaredy cat, Stop Light!" joked a random pin in the group. Charger looked over at Sights.
" Really, out of all of the names you could have used to hide yourself, you chose Stop Light?" whispered Charger.
" Well, Sun Rise, wasn't a very good choice either." sights whispered back. The group of ponies walked in. Most of them were regular customers that heard a party was being thrown for the bar tender. They showed up for the beer, but also for Charger too. The Mane Six where there, no doubt Pinky was the one throwing the party.
Almost every pony who knew anything about the bar was there. They even had a DJ who volunteered to play music for the party. Her name was CD Scratch or something like that. Any ways the party was great. Ponies danced back and forth. The bar became full of life in less than ten seconds flat. Sights and Charger were enjoying themselves. They hadn't really attended a party in a long time.
They had always missed the birthdays and celebrations because of their job, seeing how that job was now eliminated they could enjoy something like this for the first time! Charger tried dancing, but all he ended up doing were weird facing movements. Sights played pool until he could no longer stand or lift his front hooves.
The Mane Six were enjoying themselves too. Pinky was being a fanatic as usual. Rainbow and Applejack were having some kind of dance composition. Twilight was trying to dance as well, she was still terrible at it, even in the future. Rarity was chatting with some of the stallions at the bar. She would throw in a flutter of her eyes so they would buy her a free drink. Fluttershy was enjoying herself to, in her own little way. She was never one for dancing or making a impression, but she did enjoy some of the bars mice in the corner. She chatted with them and made conversation like she had done in the past. Charger noticed this.
" That's odd, I didn't know Fluttershy had such a talent for dealing with animals." Charger thought. He broke away from the conversation he was having and walked over to Fluttershy.
" How are you doing?" Charger asked casually. Fluttershy looked up from the mice.
" I'm enjoying myself a lot, even in the future you have nice animals." Fluttershy said cheerfully. Charger just couldn't help but feel she was left out, even if she was having a good time.
" Why don't you come over and hang with the rest of us." Charger asked. Fluttershy got tense at that thought.
" Um… well… I'm not good with strangers." She answered in a small quite voice.
" Come on Fluttershy, I'm sort of still a stranger, I mean you met me during a fire fight." Charger joked. Fluttershy smiled a little bit at his remark, that was good.
" So, are you going to came over." asked Charger. Fluttershy looked over at the party. It did seem like the ponies were having a good time. She was still a little hesitant to walk over. Charger knew this was a long shot, it was going to be hard to get her to join them. Maybe though, maybe he still had a chance.
" Wait here." Charger said. he walked over to the DJ and whispered in her ear. The DJ smiled and knotted. She flipped through a screen in front of her and found the song Charger suggested. Charger then walked back over to Fluttershy.
" Care to dance?" he asked. Fluttershy immediately blushed and her eyes went wide.
" Wh… wh?" she started. Charger couldn't help but giggle a small bit.
" Would you care to dance?" he asked again. Fluttershy gulped.
" But, I… I don't know how." she said weakly. Charger laughed again.
" I don't either." Charger answered. Fluttershy still didn't move. The song started playing and ponies were pairing up. it was a slow song. It was also smooth and not very choppy. The music flowed instead of the modern day dub step, where it just dropped off and random parts. Charger took hold of Fluttershy's hoof. They kind of just stared like this for a second. Then Charger spoke.
" Come on, it'll be fun." They both walked out onto the dance floor. Sights immediately tapped Twilight on the shoulder when he noticed them.
" Check this out." he said. Twilight looked and smiled wide.
" Awwww." she said watching the two of them.
The song started slow with some electric sounds. It was a good beginning. Neither Fluttershy nor Charger knew how to dance, so they tried there best to just copy those around them. They went to left, and then to the right. Then the would turn and do the same. It went on like this for a while, but then the music quickened. The moves became more complicated and snappy. Charger was having a hard time recognizing if ponies were free styling or actually dancing. Fluttershy was thinking the same.
Fluttershy had gone cold as soon as they walked out onto the stage. She didn't want to mess up and be laughed at. At the same time she wanted to dance though. She felt calm and relaxed around Charger. She felt that even if they did mess up, it would look right when they did it. She couldn't explain it, but as the music quickened she felt braver. She just kept looking at Charger. They were in perfect rhythm with each other, even though they were doing any move right.
The music got quicker and they moved quicker. They went to the left memorizing the steps to the dance. They moved to the right with the same smooth hoof work. Soon, the dance was easy. They were actually enjoying themselves. Charger and Fluttershy smiled at each other. They did some spins and turns. They looked magnificent together, like they were meant to be. Sights and Twilight just smiled and laughed from the side of the dance floor. They enjoyed seeing their friends have fun. Charger and Fluttershy were doing the same thing on the dance floor. They laughed and smiled. They had both forgotten about the tower, the fight, and the fact that they were wanted. They just focussed on that moment in time. That happy moment that they wished would never end.
They felt themselves getting close as the danced. They looked into each other eyes. They starred as if in a trance at each other. Both blushed. Twilight and Sights both watched and each time they got closer, their smiles widened.