> My Little Pony: Payday is Magic > by Twisted Gears > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Welcome back, crew... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...Allright guys, this is it: Ponyville. Hope that you enjoyed your vacations at Las Pegasus, but it's time to get back to work..." Said a voice in the radio, inside the train the group was traveling. It was a group of four, each occupying a different seat. All Stallions, and everypony was wearing a clown mask, decorated with what they thought was more symbolic, and their cutiemarks covered with blue ductapes. Also, they all were wearing suits, wich had magic-proof vests under them, almost unnoticeable. The whole train was empty, but the group and the driver. The wagon they were was full of ammo, weapons and explosives, or what they called 'Work equipment'. One of the Stallions went to the Radio. "Bain, why Ponyville? There's nothing worth of taking here," Said a Stallion, behind a smiling clown mask painted with the emblem of United Equestria in its forehead. "Dallas, there's something you don't know, my friend. There's a huge payload of Golden Apples, hiding between normal apples at the Sweet Apple Acres. And, guess who's going to take them?" Replied the voice in the Radio. "Sounds good," Said another stallion with a crying, creepy clown mask covering his face. "What's the plan, boss?" "Gun n' shoot, like the last seven times?" Said a bigger Stallion with a creepy, red-painted smilling clown mask, like if it was plotting something every second. "Not this time, Chains. We'll try to sneak untill it's too late. Wolf, how close are we to Canterlot?" "Close enough for them to send the Royal Guard. If we fail, we'll have them on our flanks," Said another one, with the creepiest non-clown mask you'll ever imagine, with its jaw like the mouth of a beast, ready to swallow your soul, with pointy teeth mashed up, ready to open and eat somepony's face any second. "...But, you guys have something in your favour. They don't expect a hit so close to Canterlot," Said the voice in the radio again, "And my ponies have some extra surprices to distract them meanwhile." "Gentle-stallions, we're arriving. Get your bags ready!" Said a different voice in the Radio. "If they get us some extra time, those apples are ours. Hoxton, you'll be in charge of locating the apples. Chains, get the biggest thing you've got. I'll.. Convince anypony around to look somewhere else, and Wolf... Keep your hoof away from the trigger." The Stallion in the most creepiest mask left out a fart sound with his tongue, mocking at this last order. Once the train arrived the station, they unloaded everything they needed in the opossite direction of the station, away from anypony's sight, to don't bring any attention. At the other side of the tracks, a large blue carriage was waiting, with two Stallions at its front, that were wearing sunglasses and their cutiemarks covered with blue ductape. "Here Twich at your service. Next stop, the Safehouse. Hop in," Said a Mare inside the carriage, with her cutiemark covered, and with sunglasses too. Everypony dumped the bags they were carrying in the carriage, and jumped in after that. A little trip later, the carriage stopped in front of a suit rental. The group unloaded everything, and went inside quickly, as nopony was in the street in that moment. "Guys, I'll get the carriage in the alley," Said the Mare, popping her head out of the window, "Give me a call if you're ready to hit the Acres. Untill then!" The carriage went away from the sight of the crew, as they unlocked the door, and walked to the backstore. There was a nice, little something that could be called 'home' there. It was a loft, still pretty much unfinished, as some tiles of the wooden ground were not placed, and the painting of the walls was undone. Not even the lights were done, as they were only hanging wires from the ceiling. It was a loft, as everything was connected to the living room, without walls. The only walls there were the two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and the door to the suit rental, and the door to the back alley. "...Home, sweet home." Said Hoxton, dropping his bag in the middle of the stance, right at a bunch of unopened boxes. "Well, this isn't exactly beautiful..." Said Dallas, walking to the statue of Celestia in the middle of the loft, "But at least, we've got here a nice Mare with us, eh?" The statue of the princess was the exact size of the real one, and it represented her sitting with both her wings opened, and with her ominous serenity expression. Dallas placed his hoof in her right wing, and it cracked down. "...Whops. My bad." "Heh. Bain's going to kill you for that, mate." Said Chains, throwing his bag towards what would be his room. He actually threw the bag from one side of the room to the other, right at the door, describing a perfect arc. "Nothing that some ductape can't fix." He trottled towards one of the boxes, and started to look for tape. Once he found a roll of the same blue ductape that was covering his cutiemark, he trottled back to the statue, grabbed the wing, and made a quick repair, on his own. "Good as new." "...Right. Hey, Wasn't Bain going to contact us anytime?" Asked Wolf, pushing his bag inside what would be his temporal room. "He's the one that should call anytime," Replied Hoxton, that was laying in the sofa, completely occupying it, "Just enjoy your stay before we have to fight hundreds of Royals again, Wolf." "You're right. Well, then, I've got some surprices for you, gentlestallions. Come over here." Wolf pointed at the table. "What do you got for us now, Wolfie?" Replied Hoxton, mocking at him. "A very special gift from our friend, Gage, Hoxy." Said Wolf, while pulling out a briefcase from under the table. When he opened it, it showed a series of documents and papers. Nothing special. "...And?" Said the other three at the same time. "Oh, right." Wolf pulled the papers away, and from under them, there was a series of round metal pieces with small triggers at their tops. They had the Warning: Explosives words printed on them. "Gage calls theese 'Graneades'. If we're in real trouble, just pull the trigger, and trow it away, and run. That's what Gage warned." Chains grabbed one of them. "Are you really sure of this, Wolf?" "Well, Gage was really serious when he gave me this briefcase." "...Right." Dallas remembered Gage. A very old Stallion, that had to go on a wheelchair since he lost both his back hooves traction at the last years on his Royal Guard duty, during a raid on Canterlot. This made him rethink on what side it was worth fight, so he became an arms manufacturer and dealer, after being hired by Bain himself. A small silence was created, when everypony went to do what they thought was a better idea to kill the time waiting. Hoxton started to clean his silenced Bernetti-9 hoofgun, that he called 'My lovely head-popping friend', after five years before placing his hoof on its trigger. Chains wore his beloved full-body Heavy Armoured Suit, that easily made him look even tougher than what he was already, at the cost of barely being able to move in that 110-pound suit. Wolf grabbed a suitcase, and completely turned that into a fully-working turret, with only a small machine pistol, lot of rounds, a small radar, and a few detectors here and there. Dallas went back to repair the statue's wing, as it was starting to fall down on its own weight. ...And, finally, the silence broke, when the radio turned itself on. "Allright guys, time to stop playing. Iv'e got a last surprice for you all. If you haven't noticed, the Mare in the middle of the longue has a button in her 'privates', if anypony dared to look there." The whole group started to look at eachother. Even through they could not see eachother's eyes trought the mask's visors, they could still feel how nopony actually had that idea. They were criminals, but they were professionals, most of the time. They didn't thought in that kind of stuff, mostly. "...I'll take that silence as a 'No'," Continued the voice in the radio, "Well, c'mon. I think that you're all wanting to do that, even if you already did what's not supposed to be mentioned in Las Pegasus." Dallas was the first one to come to the statue, and examine the mentioned part. There it was, a red button, at the lowest part of the very detailed sculpture. He got his hoof there, and pressed the button. As he did this, small vibrations could be felt in the entire loft, as the statue itself started to move backwards, opening an access to a basement. These vibrations made the right wing of the statue fall again, and this time, it cracked to the point it was not repairable. "...I hope that nothing happened to the statue meanwhile, right?" "Eh... Nothing to worry about, Bain. It's just..." Said Dallas, grabbing the statue, as his back hooves were hanging in the air, over the access. "That statue's worth almost two-million Bits. And it's there for a reason. If anything happens to it..." "No worries, Bain!" Wolf came to the rescue, "We've got it covered." "...Hope so. Well, in that little extra room, there's the map of the area, and some extra room to train. Go there, and take a look!" Said the ominous Stallion voice in the radio. The group went downstairs, as they saw a large control room, with everything they could need: Maps, camera images of the surroundings, and even a shooting gallery, with its own workshop to modify guns, and paint masks. "Well then, get ready! You guys are leaving in twenty minutes. Give Twitch a call once you're done. Oh, and Dallas..." "...What." "You'll better start saving some Bits to repair that statue, mate." The radio got cut before he could reply. The group only needed fifteen minutes to get ready and plan everything they would do, as they picked what they could think it is more usefull in the next Hit. Wolf, always being the Happy trigger in the group, brought his beloved 'Betsy' -Locomotive-88 Shotgun, his fully-fitted Crosskill Hoofgun, and his newly-made suit, with the magic-proof vest under it. Chains, always ready to start a masacre, brought in his full-body cover, his ammunitions saddlebag, the JP36 Machinegun he used during his services in the Royal Guard -before he was kicked for extreme violence and the ban of gunpowder-based weapons, and his Compact-5, an extra gift from Gage. Hoxton, that never liked to wear anything else from his Suit, always carried his Bernetti-9, that he could perfectly hide in his pocket, but he always had a CAR-4, modified to be fitted inside the suit too, as this allowed him to run unnoticed -even if he wore his crying clown mask, and allowed him to run the fastest he wanted. Of course, he always has to run, when the Guards started to fire their magic shots at them, as he had nothing to stop them with. And last, but not least, Dallas, the Boss. He only needed his suit with the magic-proof vest, and his Bronco .44 Revolver, that was always enought to creep any Royal that treathened the life of his group. Also, if they had to go Plan B, he had an M308 rifle modified with sedative darts, just in case. "Allright, Twitch," Dallas attended the radio, "We're ready." "Got it. We're at the back alley," Replied the Mare's voice in the radio, "We'll take you guys to the Apple Acres', and from there, you know what you have to do." They all headed to the back alley, and hopped inside the carriage that was waiting. The trip towards the Sweet Apple Acres was not long, but boring. It has been a long while since they were on this same situation: Waiting to reach their objective. Once in the outskirts, they all hopped outside the carriage, with their masks still covering their faces. "Don't take too long, or the Royals will be in our flanks in no-time!" Said Twitch, while popping her head outside the vehicle, again. "Got it. Hox, how much ponies around?" Asked Dallas. "Two. Wait, three. A Mare, a Filly, and a huge guy over there." Hoxton pointed towards the Barn, where the mentioned ponies just came out from. "...Damn. There's where we must go. Well, Hox. Time to... Convince them to look somewhere else. Wolf, Hox, you're with me. Chains, wait over at that tree, and keep your eyes open, if anypony come close." Dallas ordered, as he trottled towards the trees behind the Barn, with the other two members of the group. "...Allright guys, get ready..." Dallas got on his two back legs, and took out his Bronco .44... > Hostages can do the job! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...Anypony moves, and her brain will paint this barn!" Shouted Wolf, that was aiming his 'Betsy' at the back of the head of Applejack, with his hoof tilting in the trigger. "You both! Open this barn now!!" Shouted Dallas, aiming with his Bronco .44 at Big Mac. The image of the revolver completely creeped him out, as he knew that a single shot of that could tear a Buffalo appart. Hoxton didn't said a single word. He just slipped between Big Mac and Applejack, and tied Applebloom's hooves and applied ductape to her mouth, so she wouldn't scream, or run. But for real, they didn't expected a Foal there. It's true that criminals have their own morality. Well... Ones more than others, but still, they had a job to do -and a Filly would compromise the whole operation. "Hox, apply some ductape for her eyes," Dallas said, still aiming the hoofcanon at Macintosh's face, "You know what always happens." Hoxton did so, observing for the last time the Filly's innocent eyes, before being covered with the same blue ductape that was covering his cutiemark. "...Open the damned barn!" Shouted Wolf, pulling his Locomotive-88 closer to AJ's head, making her feel the metal piece in the back of the mentioned bodypiece. Big Mac obeyed, always looking at the menacing Buffalo-ripping metal piece. He slowly opened the door, showing hundreds of barrels, with apples inside of them. They all looked exactly the same. "...Great." Hoxton said, while carrying Applebloom inside the barn, "Anypony up to start counting apples?" "I've got a better idea." Said Dallas, while walking inside the barn, still aiming at Big Mac. "Wolf, bring that Mare in. They'll count the apples for us. If not..." He looked towards Wolf, that was still aiming his shotgun at Applejack's head. "Start counting, big guy." Said Hoxton, trottling from one side to another of the barn, checking the obvious golden apples, mixed with the rest, "You too." Wolf pushed AJ inside the barn. "You know what to do." The group observed the two members of the Apple Family count apples, selecting the golden ones, and putting them in a stack away. When the stack was big enough, Hoxton grabbed one of the saddlebags, and filled it up. But, when he was ready to leave the barn and head straight to the carriage, he was forced to stop. An old Mare was slowly walking towards there, that just left the house. "Sh... Guys, we've got a visitor." Said Hoxton, pointing towards the entrance. "Who? Another by-passer?" Asked Dallas. "Not really," Replied Hoxton, "It's just a granny." Applejack raised her sight. "Granny Smith? No! Don't do anythin' to her!" Dallas and Hoxton turned to her. Wolf was too busy trying to hold himself of pulling the trigger. Then, a voice up from the radio that their masks have integrated. "...Guys, bad news. There's a group of civis' trottling inside the area. And, a Granny's heading towards the barn." Said Chain's voice trought the radio. "Got it. You." Dallas pointed at Applejack. "I'll give you one chance to make your granny look somewhere else, and don't call any Royals here. If not, you can already say good-bye to the big guy." Dallas rolled the cylinder of his Bronco, meaning he was dead serious about this. Applejack didn't said a word, as she slowly trottled outside, looking how Wolf was aiming at her brother with his shotgun, and Dallas was aiming at her with his revolver. Once AJ trottled outside the barn and headed towards Granny Smith, nopony in the group could hear what she was telling to the granny. "Guys, she's going to reveal us." Said Hoxton, while dropping the closed saddlebag, and pulling out his silenced Bernetti-9. "Now that I remember..." Said Dallas, rubbing his chin, under the mask, "She's Applejack, the wearer of the element of Honesty, right?" Hoxton tilted his head, remembering her name, and the events that made the mane-6 famous all over Equestria. "Well, we're screwed. Good one, Dallas." "Shut up." Dallas pulled out his M308 rifle, modified to be silent and bolt-action, and placed his telescopic sight on it. "Plan B, Hox." "Granny, get back to the house, quick!" Whispered Applejack, trying to act normally. "What'dya said, sweetie?" Said the granny, cleaning her right ear "...I said..." Before she could end the phrase, she heardt a a quick buzz, followed by the image of the Granny falling in the ground, with a dart stuck in her neck. She turned, to see horrified how Dallas was standing on both his hind legs, holding a rifle aiming straight at her through a telescopic sight. He pulled the bolt, and loaded another dart. Before he opened fire again with his silenced rifle, he signed Applejack to come to the barn. Hoxton came running from behind Dallas, with a saddlebag on his back, towards Applejack. "You'd better go back..." Said Hoxton, pointing at Dallas, "He's a real markspony with that." He continued his way to the carriage, withought allowing AJ to reply. She looked back at Granny Smith, and she saw her sleeping in the ground. Sleeping? Applejack crouched, to check if she was allright. Then, she felt how a needle went trought her neck, and everything around her blacked out... "Bullseye." Said Dallas, loading his modified to bolt-action rifle. "Chains, everything clear?" He asked trought the radio on his mask. "The other by-passers are heading somewhere else." Replied the Chain's voice in the radio, "But move your flanks, they'll be here anytime. Hey, Hoxtinator, how's it going?" "Bffff..." Replied Hoxton's voice in the radio channel, "These saddebags weight a ton." "Guys, focus. We're not done here yet. Hox, help me bring them both over here." Said Dallas, putting back his rifle, and trottling towards AJ. "Got it. Let me give this to Twitch first." "One saddlebag." Said the Mare's voice in the radio. "Bain believes that there's enough apples for six saddlebags there." "Allright. Everypony, let's do this." Said Hoxton, trottling back to Granny Smith, that was snoring like if there was no tomorrow. He tied her legs with the ropes they all bring, and applied ductape to her mouth, both to prevent her from speaking, and snoring. Then, Hoxton dragged her inside the barn, and dumped her near Applejack, that was in the same situation, and close to Applebloom, the only tied hostage that was still awake. "Hox, bring this saddlebag too." Said Dallas, while throwing another saddlebag to him. "This guy counts really slow." "Heh." Lightly mocked Hoxton, while placing the saddlebag in his back. "C'mon, let's keep going." He left the barn, and made another trip to the carriage. "Two bags so far." Suddently said a Mare's voice in the radio. "C'mon guys, we're going well. But be quick, ponies around are starting to suspect." "Pfffft. I'm starting to get dead bored here." Exclaimed Wolf, that was still aiming his 'Betsy' at Big Mac, to make him do what he was told to. "Iv'e got a better idea to make this quicker." "...What did you had in your strange mind?" Asked Dallas, that was sitting on an empty barrel, supervising Mac's work. "This." Wolf took out from his suit a piece of plastic explosive, attached to a trigger and a battery. "...Wolf..." Dallas face-hoofed. "Dallas." Wolf replied. Dallas sighted. "My dear Wolfie, didn't you learned your lesson from the Manehattan Diamond Hest?" "Just think. Golden apples are stronger than normal apples, right?" He said, trowing the C-4 explosive towards a bunch of barrels of apples. "And, we have to make this quick too, right?" "Wolf... Don't... Do... It..." "Too late!" Wolf took out a hoof-helf detonator, and pushed it in the ground. This made the plastic explosive... Explode, blowing up the bunch of barrels, with apples inside. The explosion didn't only made the apples turn into cider almost instantly, but also trew away the golden apples, that bounced in the walls. Bic Mac flew away in the blast too, but since he's a tough one, he didn't really suffered any damage, but he smacked his head when he reached the ground, and felt uncontious. Somehow, nopony outside the barn heard the explosion. Outside it, everything seemed normal, but the suspicious carriage parked in the outskirts. Applebloom and Applejack were completely covered in the remains of the apples, and the little Filly was trying to scream the hardest she could, but the ductape in her mouth didn't allowed her to. "Wolf, you deserve a medal... Sometimes." Said Dallas, cleaning the splattered apples from his suit. "C'mon, we've got some apples to pick." "Whatever." Replied Wolf, doing the same, and cleaning his beloved 'Betsy'. When Hoxton came inside the barn, he only saw Dallas and Wolf picking apples in the mess. "Eh... What did I missed?" "Wolf's big plan. That's what you missed." Said Dallas, throwing him another saddlebag filled with golden fruits. "I see." Replied Hoxton, picking the saddlebag, and to his back. "Hey, Chains. Come over here, and help us carry all this." He said to the radio channel. "Allright." Replied Chains. "Let's do this quick, I think the group from before is coming back." Dallas and Wolf finished packing other three saddlebags, and Hoxton took another one. Once Chains arrived, they all picked the saddlebags, and went to the carriage. "I can't believe that nopony heard that explosion." Said Dallas. "What explosion?" Asked Chains. "Mine, of course." Replied Wolf. "Let's say, they'll have to collect apples again." "I see... Damn Wolf, thanks to you, no more cider in a while!" Shouted Chains, as he hit Wolf in the back of his head. "Ow! Don't worry, with the money we'll make with these, you'll be able to buy all the cider you want, from anywhere in Equestria." "Hm. You're probably right. Sorry, Wolfie. I'll get you a nice Mare with that money too." Mocked Chains. "Hahah. Very funny. If I had fingers, I would just popped the middle one to you, jerk." Replied Wolf, as they arrived to the carriage, and dropped all the saddlebags inside, and jumped in. "...Guys, you're starting to don't sound professional." Said Dallas, trying to recover a bit of morality between his team members. "Whatever..." Replied Wolf. "Hoho. You've got them all?" Asked Twitch, shooting out a smile. "Bain's going to get jumpy for this." "Ya, whatever." Replied Dallas. "Straight to the Safehouse, sweetie." "At your command. C'mon guys, let's go!" She said to the two Stallions pulling the carriage. ...Big Mac woke up. He was facing the roof, and was completely covered in the remains of apples. His head was hurting, as he seemed to hit the ground. When he got up, he saw horrified how the apples they've been collecting for a while were splattered all around the barn. He didn't remembered anything from before he hit his head, but he remembered AJ and Applebloom being tied up in front of him, by a band of masked, and suited ponies. He trottled around, trying to find his family, untill he heard a muffled cry, from under a pile of mashed apples. He came closer, and started to clean the splattered apples, untill he finnaly saw something recognizeable: Applejack's hat. He got his hooves deeper, and grabed Applejack, and lifted her in the air. She had a dart stuck in her neck, and she was asleep. "AJ... Wake up, sis!" He shouted. No response. She was deeply asleep. Then, he heard another muffled shout, right from where he took Applejack. He left applejack at his right, and digged deeper in the small hill of mashed apples. He felt something soft at the end, that wasn't more mashed apples. He pulled, and had Applebloom hanging from her tail. She was hoof-tied and had blue ductape in her mouth and eyes. "Hmmmmpf!" Half-said Applebloom. Big Mac just pulled out the ductape from his little sister, as she screamed of full pain, as it took out some hairs. "...Ow!" She finally said, as she could see and breathe again. "You allright, Applebloom?" Asked Macintosh. "Not at all... Who where those ponies?" She asked, "And why did they did that?" "Iv'e got no idea..." A loud snore was heard. Deeper in the mashed apples, Granny Smith was sleeping. Macintosh untied Applebloom, and digged deeper. There she was, sleeping like if nothin'. Applebloom jumped over AJ, in an attempt to wake her up. "I.. Ugh... Wha...?" Finally said Applejack when she woke up. She wasn't used to sleep much, as the job in the Apple Acres required a lot of phisical workout, and a daily wake up early. She got untied, and they all hugged (But Granny Smith, she was still asleep). "What did just happened here??" AJ said, when she saw the splattered apples all around the interior of the barn. "We've been robbed..." Said Bic Mac, still shocked abbout the assault of the Acres. "By who...?" Asked Applejack. Before she recieved any answers, she felt something in her pocket. She grabbed it. It was a small paper, wich had written: " Applejack. If you say anything about us, we'll come back, and finish what we started. -OVRKLL. " > The next move... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...New record. Less than twenty minutes, gentlestallions." Said Twitch, while pausing her clock. "And I believe that this one's also a very profiting hit." "Auuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh yeah!" Howled Wolf, while raising his hooves in the air. "Wolf, we're not done yet." Said Dallas, recounting the saddlebags. "We've still got to 'sell' these. Bain, what's the plan?" He asked trought the radio on his mask. "Iv'e already got you a buyer. He'll be at the train station tonight." Replied a Stallion's voice in the radio. "I'd suggest you get back to the Safehouse untill that moment." "Copy that." Said Dallas. "Hoh, it has been a long while since we've done this, right?" "You can say that again." Replied Chains, slowly taking parts of his armour. "Iv'e missed wearing this again, fo' real." Hoxton took out his mask, finally showing his real face; his light brown eyes matched his coat, and his darker mane. "I can't say that Iv'e missed this." Wolf did the same. He showed his red eyes, that completely contrasted with his white coat and black, short mane. "Why do you say that, Hoxy? Been busy going without us?" "Actually..." Replied Hoxton, while scratching his nose. "Yes." Dallas took out his mask, showing to the public his blue eyes, that matched his mane, and his brown coat. "Heh. You couldn't hold yourself, right?" Hoxton nodded. "Las Pegasus holds a bunch of good places to steal from. I just hope that the Mendoza guys don't track us to here." Once Chains was done taking out his heavy armour, he placed his mask away, showing his dark brown eyes, his short light gray mane, that contrasted with his dark brown coat, and his perfectly kept beard. "If they did, we'll be waiting. Overall Hector." "No shit!" Suddently said Twitch, taking out her sunglasses, showing her purple eyes, that matched her mane, and her gray coat. "Hector's here?" "As far as I know... Yup." "Aw, that Stallion... Iv'e gotta get his autograph, really!" She said, trying to find a paper in her pockets. "Hold your hormones a bit, missy." Said Dallas, while throwing his mask at her. "Remember who he is. Damned cartel owners..." Twitch facehoofed. "Oh, you're right... He probably has all the Mares he wants..." "Heh." Mocked Chains. "And they say I'm the perverted one in this carriage." Before this conversation could go any further, they reached the suit rental. Twitch wore her sunglasses again. "Allright guys, we're here. This time, act normally, there might be some ponies around." "Got it. C'mon guys, let's go." Before the group jumped of the carriage, that parked in the entrance, they took out the ductape that covered their cutiemarks, and dropped inside all their equipment, excluding the masks, that could be fitted inside the suits they wear. Once out, they simply trotted inside the shop, said 'hello' to anypony there, nodded at the clerk, and go inside the backstore, or their 'Safehouse'. Meanwhile, Twitch would park the carriage in the alley behind the rental, perfectly hidden between the buildings around. Hoxton layed back on the sofa, assumed personal place. Chains went to the basement, straight to the shooting gallery, to do what's obvious there. Wolf, straight to get back to his turrets. Dallas went to the kitchen, and placed a piece of pizza that was in the fridge, in the microwave. When Twitch trotted in from the backdoor, she lifted her sunglasses, to see horrified the mess of the loft. "Guys!!!" Twitch shouted. Even Chains, with his earplugs, and the gunfire in the gallery heard her. "Start cleaning this mess! NOW!" "Holy Luna!" Chorused Dallas, Hoxton and Wolf. Then, Chain's head popped out from the entrance to the basemet. "Holy Celestia!" He said, while taking off his earplugs. This simple order made the whole group of professional criminals reduce to maids, as they started to clean, repair and organize every single milimeter of the loft. Once they were done, Twitch checked every corner of the safehouse, if there was anything out of place. "Good job." She finnaly said, to the group that was in a perfect row, like if they were abbout to sign for the Royal Guard. "...Are we free to go, sir?" Mocked Chains. Dallas slighty laughted, as so did Wolf and Hoxton. Twitch launched him a soul-penetrating look, that would make a Bulldozer turn away and flee for its life. "Go now, but if I see this place as a mess again..." She walked towards the microwave, that was beeping. She opened it, took the pizza, and trotted towards the couch, and sitted on it, exacly like how Hoxton was sitting. "...And? Nopony wants some pizza?" Twitch asked. The group started to look at eachother, and mentally asked themselves, "How? What?? Why???" "That's my sofa!" Suddently said Hoxton. "That's my pizza!" Said Dallas. "Come here and get it." Challenged Twitch, narrowing her eyes. Hox and Dallas got ready to jump on her, and take the named items by the force. When they were mid-air, Twitch jumped out of the way, and they both landed in the sofa, with their heads digged between the couches. "Heh, nice try, both of you." Mocked Twitch, still holding the pizza in her left hoof. Dallas got up from the sofa, and tackled Twitch. Hoxton returned to his original position in the sofa, while Chains and Wolf observed the scene confused. Twitch rolled the pizza, turning it into a mini-burrito, and ate it in one bite. "Mph." Muffled Twitch, with her mouth full of pizza dough, "Tgho Laghte." Dallas almost started to let tears fall from his eyes. "...My pizza..." "Thou bill hagve to ghet ift..." Half-said Twtich, challenging Dallas, again. "Tghrought mein mought." Dallas remained silent for a while. They already had a quick relationsip before, that had to end due to professional matters, and he never expected her to make another try. "You know how to conquer a Stallion, little missy." He raised his sight, to see Chains and Wolf whispering at eachother. "...Shut. The buck. Up." They both mocked a bit, before heading inside the basement. Hoxton was still laying in the sofa, almost asleep. Twitch ended swallowing the full piece of pizza, and looked at Dallas' eyes, amost asking him to make the first move, in the position they were. "No." Said Dallas. "You ate my pizza. You'll sleep in the sofa tonight!" He mocked, launching a smile. "Heh. You're the one that's sleeping today in there." Twitch replied. "Hey!" Shouted Hoxton. "Leave my sofa alone!" Dallas and Twitch laughted a bit. then, Dallas helped Twitch up. "Well, it's almost nightfall. I'll get the other two ready to take y'all to the tracks." She said, while placing her sunglasses back on, and covering her red rose Cutiemark with blue ductape. "Let's see what Bain has to say about this." "You're right. Hox!" Dallas threw a plastic plate towards him. "Get up, you lazy flank!" This made him jump from the sofa, as he was already asleep. "Ugh... Fine..." When Twitch left, Chains came from the basement. "Wolf, get up here, you freak." Wolf came a bit later, with a briefcase in his back. "Ready. Anytime, Dallas." "What's that on your back?" Dallas asked, while grabbing his mask, and placing it in the pocket in is suit. "This beauty?" Replied Wolf. "Just my 'SNTNL' automatic turret prototype." Dallas facehoofed again. "Wolf... My dear Wolfie... You know what always happens to your prototypes...?" "...What happened with the Vault Breaker wasn't my fault. You know that a damned Cloaker blew it up." Wolf remembered. "Ya, right.." Dallas rolled his eyes. "Well, I just hope that it doesn't targets us... Right?" "No worries." Replied Hoxton. "The turret identifies the radios in our masks, and targets anypony that doesn't wear one." "...Civis included?" Asked Dallas. "Uh... I'll have that fixed the next time." Dallas facehooved again, and sighted. "Wolf, I'm not responsible if you're bumped straight into the dungeon, okay?" "I get it... I get it..." Said Wolf, rolling his eyes. The group went back to the carriage that was waiting. "C'mon guys, I don't have all night!" Said Twitch, that popped her head from the window, again. They jumped in, and headed straight to Ponyville train station... "...Here we are. We'll be waiting for you guys here." Said Twitch, while throwing out the saddlebags outside the carriage, and looked to the masked group. "Come back with a ton of bags filled with bits for me!" "No promises made there, ma'am." Replied Dallas, picking one of the saddlebags. "Bain, what's the deal." "Let's see..." Started to reply the radio, "The buyer left a radio somewhere in the tracks. Find it, and do whatever it says." "Got it. Wolf, you know what to do." He ordered. Wolf started to look for anything that looks like the mentioned object in the middle on the night. "Found it." Said Wolf, pointing at a small box with an antenna popping from it's side. Hoxton, being the fastest one, trotted to it, and pressed the button on it's top. Then, a Mare voice came out of the radio, with a certain Canterlot accent. "Ah, I see you finnaly made it here. Well, let's get to business. You see, in these legaly-questionable deals, we preffer to step safe... We left a wagon empty at your left, if you're kind enough to leave the saddlebags there. Thank you." "Well, you've heard that. Saddlebags to the wagon." Dallas said, while they dropped the six saddlebags filled with golden apples inside the train. Then, the radio started again by it's own. "Ah, six saddlebags. Good. Our 'Trader' will be there with the same ammount in bags with Bits. I would like you all in the same wagon, if you want to proceed." Wolf, Chains and Dallas jumped in the wagon. Hoxton didn't. "Guys, I smell a trap here..." "My dear Hoxton..." Started to speak Bain, through the radios on their masks. "That's why I hired a Sniper for you tonight. Say 'Hi' to Bruce." Another voice came from the same channel. It was the voice of a rather old Stallion. "I'm covering from the hills. Iv'e got a pretty line of sight, if you need me." "Fine..." Said Hoxton. "We're counting on you." He jumped inside the wagon, and waited for anything to happen. Then, the upper part of the wagon opened, and a Pegasus Mare popped her head inside. "Well hello there. Throw me the saddlebags with the apples, and I will drop down the bags with the money. Deal?" "Deal." Said Dallas, throwing her the first bag, and another one filled with bits went down from the aperture her head popped out. This continued with the same other five saddlebags. "Nice to do business with you. We're going now. Have a good night!" Said the same Mare voice of the radio, and they saw a group of seven Pegasus fly away, with saddlebags holded with their frontal hooves. "...Well, this went better than-" Dallas got cut, as all the lights in the station turned on at the same time. "Ambush!" Said Bain's voice trought the radio. "Quick! Leave the area!" Hoxton trotted towards the door of the wagon, to only check that it was perfectly shut close. "...Damn." Said Chains, pulling out his JP36... > Applejack's Ambush! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...I knew that that easy flank would reveal we're here!" Said Hoxton, while breaking one of the windows, and opening fire randomly. "Oooh, if I see her ever again..." "Count me in." Said Wolf, shooting trought the window with his 'Betsy', at anypony he saw. "Dallas, this is your fault!" "Mine??" Replied the leader, trying to figure a way out of the train. "At least I'm trying to find a freaking way out of this mess! Bain! The closest way out of here!" "Eh..." Replied the voice in the radio, "Sorry guys, Twitch had to move places, the Royals would have catched her. She'll tell you where she landed. Untill then, hold it there!" "Great." Said Hoxton, swapping from his Bernetti-9, to his packed CAR-4, and shooting out, randomly. "Heh, just like in the 'Mercy' hospital, back in Manehattan, right?" "Don't make me remember that disaster!" Said Chains, shooting like a Madman from the aperture in the roof of the vagoon, both shooting and receiving magic shots, that were instantly absorbed by his full-body armour. "That almost ended in a freaking virus breakout!" "Naaaah." Replied Wolf, while reloading his 'Betsy'. "The Royals were intelligent enought to burn the hospital... With everypony inside." "Yeah... remind me to thank Bile for taking us out of that hell later." said Dallas, observing the end of the wagon. "Ah-hah! Got it! Wolf, you still got your 'Graneades' around?" "Each one of them. Planning on bombing the Royals?" "Better. We're leaving this damned wagon." Dallas walked over to the other end of the wagon, and took out his pack of ductape. "Wolf, the explosives." Wolf threw him the graneades, without pulling the trigger. Dallas catched them in mid-air, and taped them to the door, that was pretty well closed. He pulled the pin of one of the graneades, and trotted to the other end. "Fire in the hooooole!" The following explosion made the door blast away, and the resonance of the blast almost left deaf all the group, but not blind. Dallas signalled the group to run out the wagon. Once outside, the constant fire of magic blasts ceased, probably due to the explosion. They saw a warehouse at the other side of the tracks, somewhere where they could cover their flanks. They trotted there the fastests their hooves could, while carrying the saddlebags filled with heavy ammounts of bits. "Crap, the other two bags!" Remembered Chains, while turning to the half-blown up wagon. "I'm heading back!" "Chains, wait! It's not safe out!" Said Dallas, pulling his tail. "Dallas, I've got the armour, and we've got sniper cover, remember?" Then, the radio channel started. "I'm still here, guys. I've got already seven for y'all." "Fine. Hox, what if..." When Dallas turned, Hoxton wasn't there anyore. Well, his saddlebag with bits yes, but not him. "...Great." "Howdy. Missed me?" Said Hoxton, while trotting in, with another saddlebag on his back. "I ain't leaving this behind." "I'm going in!" Shouted Chains, while jumping outside. The magic blasts started again, and every single one of them were aimed at him. Luckily, the heavy armour was absorbing every single hit. Once he reached the wagon, he jumped in, and started to shoot back. "Shiet!" He said to the radio channel, "The armour's not going to hold another wave like that!" "Give it time, Chains!" Replied Wolf's voice. "That's pure Innovation Inc. shit. It should regenerate itself with the energy of the blasts themselves." "Holy Luna. How does that work anyway?" "I've got no idea!" Replied Wolf's voice, followed by shotgun blasts in the background. Chains grabbed the Saddlebag, and made his run back to the Warehouse. When he entered, the rest of the group just saw horrified how damaged the armour was. It almost had holes in every inch of it, and the mask was barely recognizable. "Well, at least we know they're not treating us exactly well." Suddently said Wolf. "No shit Mr. Genious!" Said Chains, throwing his money saddlebag over where the other five were stocked at. The firefight continued for at least three minutes, untill a very disturbing message appeared from the radio. "Eh, guys, how to say this..." Said Bain's voice. "They're throwing in heavier gear... Way heavier..." "Bain, please... Don't tell us..." Dallas looked at the roof. "BULLDOZEEEEEER!!!" Shouted Wolf, while pointing at a rather huge Buffalo, wearing a complete body armour, even heavier than the one that Chains was wearing. It was walking on it's hind legs, and wearing a shotgun, even larger than Wolf's 'Betsy'. "...Bullshit." ...Meanwhile, in Appejack's room... "Are y'all right, Applejack?" Asked Applebloom, while sitting next to her. AJ. was covered in her blankets, shaking in fear. What if they come back? I kept my nouth shut, but... What if they do come back? These were the only thoughts in her mind. She still had the note she found in her pocket, in her pocket. Applejack tried to keep on, like if nothing, but she knew perfectly that if she said anything, she would be risking all the Apple Family. "Applejack..." Applebloom poked her in the shoulder. "Eeeep!" She almost jumped out of her bed. "Don't creep me like that!" "Sorry Applejack, but y' haven't aten anythin' since this morning..." "Ah, sorry for that, sugar cube..." She placed her brown hat back on. "Ah'll go down and eat somethin'..." "Okay, sis..." Applebloom looked at AJ's eyes, that completely seemed to be somewhere else... "Twitch!!! Where the BUCK are you!!" Shouted Wolf at his radio. "You don't need to shout to me like that!" Replied the radio, "But, since you're asking, we're at the other side of the Warehouse you're at." "Allright everypony! Let's get the hell out of here!" Shouted Dallas, picking one of the saddlebags. Hoxton followed, so did Chains. Wolf was too nervous, shooting at the Bulldozer with everything he had, untill... "Aw, why do I always forget about..." He dropped the suitcase that was in his back, that once attached in the ground, automatically opened, and its frontal side aimed towards the Bulldozer. Then, it started to shoot it. Even through the Bull's bodyarmour was stopping every single bullet, they hit hard enough to actually make him slowly back up. This gave enough time for the group to pick the rest of the bags, and meet up with Twitch, that was awaiting at an alley, at the back of the warehouse. The group just loaded the bags in, and jumped inside the carriage, that quickly settled off to the Safehouse. "Phew." Said Hoxton, while taking out his mask. "Close one, eh?" "You can say that all the times you want." Replied Wolf, taking out his. Dallas did the same. "Why did it took you so long, Twitch?" This time, Twitch didn't had her sunglasses on, since it's already night time. "Damned Royals had almost all the tracks locked down. I had to say these two to find a way around." She pointed at the two Stallions pulling the carriage, the fastests their legs allowed them. "I see." He poked Wolf, and threw out a smile. "Hey, at least we made it out alive, eh?" "If they have Bulldozers here..." He started to scratch his chin. "...Maybe they also have... Tazers... Or, even Cloakers..." He started to shake of the idea. "C'mon, don't be scared about that." Said Hoxton. "Oh, and Chains, take off that armour already." "Eh..." Replied Chains. "I'm not sure if it's such a good idea." "Why not?" Asked Twitch. "...Because... I feel a very... Itchy swetting here." Replied Chains. "...No shit that..." Before Chains could reply, he felt uncontious in the seat... Chains opened his eyes. He was laying in his bed, facing the roof. He also had bandages covering his torso, and forehead. He tried to get up, but his strong hooves didn't had enought strenght to lift him up. "Twitch? Hox? Dallas? Wolfie? Anypony around?" No response. He could only hear the fan that was in his right side, over a side table. Chains looked at the window across the room. It was already in the afternoon, of the next day. He sighted, and leaned his head back in the couch. Probably, I went too far yesterday... He thought, while trying to roll on his bed, and get a more comfortable position. Then, he heard the back door open. Hoovesteps heading to the kitchen, somepony opening the microwave, closing it, and walking towards the room he was laying on. It was Twitch. "Oh, mornin'." She greeted Chains. "Or, should I say, good afternoon?" Chains looked at her, and blinked a few times. It was the first time he actually saw her without her suit, sunglasses, and her cutiemark covered with the blue ductape. "What did I miss?" "Not much. Just a breakfast, and the fact that you survived four hits in your chest, and one in your head." Twitch pointed at the bandages he had. "And, it's not exactly nice to patch you completely." "Ah, so you're my guardian angel?" He mocked. "Hah, no." She replied, combing her hair, and looking towards the kitchen. "Actually, Dallas helped a bit. He's the one that knows medicine." "Like as always. And, where is the group anyways?" Chains asked. "Hm." Twitch started to rub her chin, trying to remember. "Dallas is walking in the park... Wolf's probably drinking, trying to forget the Bull from yesterday... And, I don't really know where Hoxton is. Oh, and the Twins are probably sleeping in the carriage." "Allright. What abbout Bain?" He asked, after another attempt to get up. "He's trying to figure out who sent the ambush from yesterday night." Twitch replied. "You hungry? We've still got some pizza from yesterday. I've placed some in the microwave, if you want." "I'd like some, actually." Another attempt to get up, that ended with his head back in the pillow, while Twitch was looking, laughting to the insides. "You gonna' help or what?" "Heh, let me enjoy this situation a little bit more... The badass Chains, isn't capable of getting out of the bed..." "Ha, hah. Very funny." ...Little bitch... "Well, once you feel better, be ready to go back to the fight. Bain told me that we're hitting the Library next. Something about gathering intel from Canterlot." "...The Library? Why that place?" Chains asked. "Don't you know? Princess Twilight lives there. And, since she's a princess, she must know something. At least that's what Bain says." Replied Twitch, while taking the pizza from the microwave, and bringing it to Chains. "I see. So, we're going to ponynap a princess?" Asked chains, while eating the pizza in one bite. "Yup." > Rule #1 in: "How to 'Ponynap' a Princess" > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...Think a bit, my dear Chains..." "What? Does't it sounds good enought to just step in, shoot everypony, ponynap her and go out?" Dallas facehooved. Again. "Chains... She's an Alicorn..." "And?" Replied Chains. "Ghuand? Be can use magic, ghand she can ply..." Said Wolf, between his gibblerish. "...What?" Twitch sighted, bringing him a cup of coffe, and pulling a blanked to him. "I think he said that she can fly, and use magic at the same time." "...And?" Re-asked Chains. "Just... Nevermind. Bain!" Dallas turned over to the radio in the table. "Any ideas on how to do this?" "Let's see." Started the voice in the radio. "Innovations Inc. has something interesting in their files. Some kind of 'Magic Inhibitor', or somethin'." "Hm. How opportunate." Hoxton said, while eating another piece of pizza. "Aren't they the best security guys around?" "That's the interesting part." Replied Bain's voice. "It was actually outside their security sistems." "I smell a trap here." Said Dallas. "Another damned ambush?" "There's only one way to know." Said Chains, limping to the sofa. "Chains, are you sure that you can walk?" "I am. I'm fine now, Twitch." "Whatever you say, big guy. So, what's the plan? Hit the Innovation-whatever first, then go for Twilight?" Asked Twitch, after sipping some coffe. "That's a plan. Bain, you know what to do. Chains, this time... Stay here. We don't want you get shot... Again." Said Dallas, while catching his mask the way to the carriage. "Why just me? Why not Wolfie too? He's still damned drunk!" "Ghut dupp. I'ghm fieeen." The only understandable parts that came out of Wolf's mouth. "No worries, he'll be fine... As long as he doesn't grab anything that fires. C'mon, Wolfie." Said Hoxton, while leading the drunken Stallion out, grabbing both their masks in the way. "Don't. Do. Anything. Got it?" Asked Twitch, while holding him from getting up and leaving. "...Fine. Don't screw up in the way, Twitch." She left out a smile, wore her sunglasses, and left. Next, the sound of the hooves, and a carriage, leaving to somewhere else. "...Great. I ain't staying here for any longer. Gotta' take a walk r'ound." Chais said, mostly to himself. He got up, even through he could barely stand on his four legs, and walked outside the Safehouse, not wearing his mask, suit, or covering his cutiemark, or a golden helmet. He also got rid of the bandages of his head, and chest. He was actually proud of now having a new scar in his face that matched his beard... "Allright guys. Think. We've got the Innovation HQ right across the street. Any ways to get inside?" Asked Hoxton. "Pretty simple. Two guards in the entrance, glass doors... Like taking a candy from a Foal." "Camgheras?" Said Wolf. "Oooh, right... Theese guys know what they're doing. Bain?" "Allright, let's see." Said the voice in the radio. "Iv'e got access to their camera feed. Oh, I can see you guys over there. Say 'Hi'!" "...Bain..." Facehooved Dallas. "My bad. I'm just like Wolf, but at least I can control myself." Wolf left out a fart sound with his tongue, after almost falling on himself when he got up from his seat inside the carriage. "...Well, let's see. The best way inside is trought the roof. No cameras there, no guards. Hox, your time to shine." Ended Bain's instructions. "Oh, and I'll let you know if the alarms are tripped." "Got it. One little trouble. For what am I looking for again?" Asked Hoxton, scratching his mane. "This." Dallas gave him a blurry picture of a small sphere, with a tripod in its lower part, and a button on its top. "Got it. Wait here." Hoxton placed his mask in the pocket of his suit, and trottled to the side of the bulding... "...Whoops! Sorry, madame..." "Agh! My mane!" "I said I'm sorry!" Replied Chains, while helping up a very known pony: Rarity. "You better are! Ooh, look at me now! It took me hours to be presentable!" Said Rarity, cleaning the dust and mud from her mane. "...Is there anything I could do?" Asked Chains. He just felt over on Rarity, after he missplaced a hoof over the other, tripping right over a puddle of mud... When Rarity was trottling there too. "No, but thanks for ruining my mane! Oooh!" Rarity shouted, trotting away. "...What..." Chains was out of words. Everypony was looking at him. For being the first time he goes out of the Safehouse without his mask on, this is the second strangest thing that ever happened on his life. First, being the fact that it started to rain Vodka in his first day in the Royal Guard duty. He just decided to carry on, and ignore this incident. His little, limpy trip led him to the park, somewhere where he could relax, with clean air. Way much better than Las Pegasus one... "...Guys. It's starting to get very tight here." "Hold it there, Hox. A few more feets, and you'll reach the Prototypes chamber." Hoxton was slipping in the vents, following Bain's instructions blindly. He was narrow enought to actually fit in there, and move freely. Getting in the roof was pretty simple. As Bain said, no cameras, no guards. "Hold!" Suddently said Bain. "There's a movement detector right in front of you." "...Great. Then what? A--" He got cutted there. "Don't say a word, Hox." Said Dallas voice trought the radio. "Remember what happens when you say anything." "Pff. It's just coincidence." Replied Hoxton. "I have a pretty list over here, anytime you want to read it." Replied Dallas voice. "...Fine... I'll keep my mouth shut... For now." He slipped backwards, and took a different way. He couldn't be noticed, yet. Narrow spaces was something he always feared, but unlike Wolf, he had enough strength to jump in one. "So, what's the new way?" "Straight. You'll see an opening under you right..." Before he could continue, the floor under him opened, and he felt over something soft. "...Now." "What the fu..." He looked on what he landed. He was over a guard, that was completely uncontious. He got up, and dragged the guard with him, and dumped him behind a few boxes that were perfectly placed there. He grabbed his cap and uniform, took out his mask, and wore the named clothes. He looked exactly like the many guards he saw in the entrance, and trought the air vents, so he should go unadverted. One little trouble. He could not contact his crew anymore, since the radio is connected to his mask. ...But, he knew what he had to do, and how to do it... "...Applejack... Applejack!" "Uh.. Wha... Oh... Sorry, Twi, Ah'm not here today..." "Is anything going wrong? Is it related to what happened yesterday?" Said Twilight, while passing her a cup of tea. "It's... Nothin'... Just... Nothin'..." Her empty eyes looked at the cup of tea, as she grabbed it, and tried to sip a bit. "...You don't seem well... Applejack, you can tell me..." Applejack inmediatly started to let tears go out of her eyes. "...I just can't!" "Why not, AJ?" Asked Twilight, surpriced by this sudden sea of tears. "...Becasue they'll kill y'all, and mah family!!" Applejack barely said, between her sobs, and tears. Twilight placed a hoof on the table. "...Who!" AJ sniffed, and tried to clean out some tears. "...Somepony's organization named... Eh..." She took out the paper, and gave it to Twilight. "...These... Guys..." Twilight read it: " Applejack. If you say anything about us, we'll come back, and finish what we started. -OVRKLL. " "...OV-R-KLL... Overkill? Oh... My..." Twilight stopped there. She read that name somewhere else, five years ago. "...Applejack... This is just... Really serious..." "Ah, y' don't say!!" Shouted Applejack, before returning to her eye-flooding process... Chains just passed close a group of high-ranking Royal Guards, saluting them as they passed, and they saluted back with smiles on their faces. This lit up one of the few good memories he had from his duty, appart from his 'not much orthodox methods'. The high-ranks thought he was some kind of veteran, judging from his scars (And matching beard), and started to ask him where he fought. "Let me remember... Hm... Baltimare's Revolts... Appleloosa's Massacre... And I'm not proud of that one, but at least I came out of that alive... Hm... Oh, and the Griffin' front, too..." And the list continues. The group of three high-ranks couldn't hold their jaws any longer, as they almost hitted the ground. Normally, a Royal Guard (Or any other wing of the regular military) is limited to one battle, as the Stallion population is insanely decreasing. This is also another reason on why they started to accept Mares in the military, and peacekeeper forces. "Well, I'm going. G'luck out there, boys! Make us proud!" As he limped away, he remembered one little detail. He was a criminal, and the guys he just spoke to, were his mortal enemies in the field... "Hey there. Anything in this zone?" Asked Hoxton to a guard, that was standing in front of a door. "Nope. It's just as boring as always..." The guard replied. "Allright. Y'know what to do if you see anything suspicious. Well, I'm going." Hoxton trotted deeper in the HQ, that looked way much bigger from the inside. After a quick go within the maze that the bulding was, he found an elevator. An elevator? Here? Hoxton looked at both sides, and called it. A few seconds later, it arrived, and a Mare in a lab coat came out. Hoxton nodded at her, as so she did. He slipped inside, and pressed the only button that was inside. The doors closed, and he was slowly going down. Way much down, actually... "...How do you think he's going in there, Wolf?" "Igh gwoght nuop ighdea..." Barely said Wolf, that was now laying in his seat, almost completely alcohol-poisoned. "Aw, sweety. You drank too much today..." Said Twitch, pouring a bottle of water in his mouth. "Bain?" Dallas asked. "His signal is going very deep in the ground. He probably took an elevator or something. Aaaand yeah. I just lost his signal. He's somewhere in the blueprints that's not anywhere I have access to." Replied Bain's voice. "...Great." "...Great." When the doors of the elevator opened, he was in front of a huge laboratory, built underground. His jaw was already in the ground, and one of the guards there noticed that. "Hey. You new too?" Hoxton recovered from his trance. "Eh... Yeah... First day." "I see. Newbie, I'll give you a trip, since there's nothing better to do here." Said the guard. "...If you say so..." ...Shiiiiiiiiet... > Rule #2 in: "How to 'Ponynap' a Princess" > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...And this is where the 'Magic' ends." Said the Guard that was giving Hoxton a guided tour of the huge laboratory, built underground. Its walls were white as the snow, and seemed to be made out of a mix of steel and tin, and perfectly reflected anything it was fired with. That's what Hoxton learned, as in one of the testing areas, they were directly shooting to the walls, and every shot was perfectly reflected. They stopped in front of a metallic door, with the words 'Security Coordinations'. "And this is the last stop. You'll head in, and say 'Hello' to the boss." The Guard opened the door, and pushed Hoxton inside. The door closed behind him, as he observed the office. Its interior was the same of the Laboratory. White walls, made out of metal. Tall ceiling, easily thirty feet from the ground to the roof. The office itself wasn't big, compared to previous rooms Hoxton saw. There was only a large crystal table, with two armchairs in its front, and a black executive chair on the other side of the table. There was a large monitor in the end of the office, and at the sides, there were two spheres attached to the walls. When the executive chair spinned, a dark-gray Stallion with dark-green mane was sitting there. It had its hooves crossed, and he was looking at Hoxton with one dark-green eye. Wait, what? -The other one was covered under a black eyepatch. Hoxton remained silent, so did what was his 'boss'. He smiled, and pressed a button under the table. The spheres in the walls opened by their halfs, and turned into turrets. Also, a part of the ceiling opened, and another circular turret came out of it, and all of them aimed at Hoxton's head, with red laser pointers. ...Shiiiiiiet... "...Two Bits, please." "Here y'go. Thanks for the muffin'." Replied Chains. "Anytime, good sir!" Said a gray Pegasus Mare, and her yellow eyes were pointing at two completely different directions. This made Chains get a lot of confusion trying to follow her eyes, and back to reality, he was buying two muffins. The Mare placed the muffins inside a bag, and placed it in the counter. Chains placed two Bits there, and grabbed the bag. Once Chains was at a certain distance from the stand, he ate them both in one bite. He checked his clock, and remembered another thing. Aw, shiet. Gotta go back to the Safehouse before they're there first. Chains limped the fastest his four legs left him, straight to the Safehouse. Enough fun for a day. "...Come on, Applejack. You will be safer in my library." "...Ah don't think so, Twi... What if they know ah'm there?" "Don't worry, they won't. I'll make sure that you are safe." Said Twilight, placing the piece of paper in her pocket, and guided Applejack outside the house. A quick trip later, they were in Twilight's library. Applejack would sleep in the sofa downstairs, while Spike mounted guard, if anything strange happens in the surroundings... "...Hoxton, right?" "...How do you..." "You guys should get a safer radio signal." Said the one-eyed Stallion at the other side of the table. "But, I'm interested in what you are going to do." Hoxton remained silent. Not really knowing what to do. "...So, I'm intended to help Overkill. You see, we share a common enemy. You will go back to your group with this message." He got up from the table with a piece of paper in his hoof, and slipped it in Hoxton's pocket. He couldn't really react, as he had both his hooves high in the air, at the menace of turning him into swiss cheese. "...And tell Bain that Alex's waiting." Hoxton's face changed. If he knew Bain, that means he's part of the CrimeNet. "...How do you..." He sitted back in his chair. "Oh, almost forgot. This is what you are looking for." He pressed another button under his table, and a small plate in the center of the room opened, and the Magic Inhibitor lifted out of it. "Instructions: Press the button, and nothing magical in a mile will work. Notice that it also affects radio transmissions." The three turrets stopped aiming at Hoxton's head, and retracted back to their sphere position. Hoxton trotted close to it, and grabbed the small machine, that could easily fit inside his suit. "Um... Thanks for not killing me?" "Anytime. Oh, one last gift." The mysterious one-eyed Stallion opened a drawer in the table and took out a steel ring, and tossed it to Hoxton. "What is this?" Asked Hoxton, after catching the ring. "One of my personal prototypes. You put that in an Unicorn's horn, and it will supress its function." He said, like if wasn't anything of importance. "...You're saying that you created two different devices to counter magic?" "You can say that, yes. Now, if you mind, we both have work to do." He turned his chair back to the screen at his back, and Hoxton left the office with the two prototypes hidden in his Guard suit. Another quick travel, but returning on his steps to the elevator, and from there, to the upper floors. Another walk in the maze, and he found the exit. Somehow, nopony asked where he was going, or what he had in his suit. Once outside, he went to the carriage. "...My good sir, this isn't a parking lot." Mocked Hoxton, still wearing the guard uniform, popping his head inside the carriage. "What the hell, Hox. You got it?" Asked Dallas. "Even better. Some cyclops there says 'Hello' to Bain." Replied Hoxton. "Bain, you heard that?" The voice in the radio started to speak again. "Hm. Who says 'Hi'?" "No idea. He just gave me a note, and said... 'Alex is waiting', or something." The voice in the radio remained silent for a while. "...No shit. He's still alive?" "Baign, Wgho aghe we talking abghout...?" Barely said Wolf. "Alexander Dragunovv." Replied Bain's voice. "He's the guy that designed Chain's armour, and most of the guns you guys are using right now." Hoxton hopped inside the carriage, and dropped both inventions. "He seemed to know you already." "Yeah, he made most of the stuff I used, back in the good ol' days." Replied the voice in the radio. "Hm. Is he related to Vlad?" Asked Twitch, while she guided the Twins to the Library. "Nope. And he probably doesn't even know he exists. He's not in that business. But well, back to something more important. Guys, you're now heading to the Princess' library. Make it stealthy, we don't want anypony knowing... That." "Got it. Hox, you're the one that knows how this works. You'll come in with me. I'll sedate anypony around, while you put that to capture Twilight. Wolf, can you hold anything yet?" "Da." He was so much alcohol poisoned that he even lost his accent. "...That means no. Twitch, sweety. Do you have any toy guns here?" "Nope. Why don't you just give him an empty one?" Replied Twitch. "Good idea. Well then, y'all know what to do. Make Chains proud." The carriage stopped behind the library, barely making any sound, and covered in the night. This was an almost military-grade perfect operation, if it wasn't by the fact that they were criminals one step of ponynapping a princess, and that one of the members was drunk to the bone. But well... Hoxton deployed the Inhibitor behind the huge tree. "You know what happens when this is activated." He said the the radio. "I'll wait for your signal. Then, just bring her to the carriage, and we'll leave this place in no-time." "Allright. Wolf, keep your mouth shut, we're slipping in on this window." Dallas picklocked the window at the side of the tree, that leaded right into the library. Apparently, nopony was there, and it was too dark to actually tell. How wrong he was. "Aaaahhh!!" Shouted Applejack, the strongest her lungs could. Dallas just landed on her, once he crossed the window. Spike, that was guarding the door, turned on the lights, and saw the clown-masked suited Stallion on top of Applejack. Dallas first reaction was to pull out his M308, aimed at Spike's neck, and press the trigger. The energy used to launch the tranquilizer dart was enought to pierce the strong baby dragon scales, and reach his blood torrent. He instantly felt to the ground, uncontious. Dallas jumped off AJ', loaded another dart, and signaled Wolf to jump in. Same process, Wolf felt on Applejack, that was still in the sofa, pretty much scared to the bone. Then, the reason on why they were there, walked down the stairs. Twilight just woke up from her light dream, and was ready to blast out anypony holding a weapon. "Hox, do it!" Shouted Dallas to his incorporated radio. Outside of the treehouse, Hoxton hitted the button on top of the Inhibitor, as it started to glow in an eerie green, and the radio on his mask started to burst interferenes. This forced him to turn it off. Back inside the treehouse, Twilight was charging a perfect burst. Her eyes were even glowing in white. "Get out, and never come back!" She shouted. "Not without you, Madame." Mocked Dallas, aiming to her. The smile in his mask made this mock look even better. Twilight finnaly decided to release the blast. A very strong light came out of her horn, and it was directed at Dallas. The light lost all its strenght at the first two feets of travel distance, from the stairs to halfways the library. "What...?" Twilight charged another blast. Same result. Wolf started to clap his hooves, to pick back his 'Betsy' and aim at Applejack's head. Dallas simply shooted another dart at Twilight, that tried to take off and fly, but she got hitted in her right side, and felt to the ground in a matter of seconds. Applejack was now scared to the soul. "P... Please... D... Don't Kill Me..." The barely understandable worlds that came out of her mouth. "Shudggt Up!" Shouted Wolf, hitting her neck with the back of his 'Betsy'. This knocked AJ out. Dallas trotted to the window. "Hox, we've got them. Get over here and help us out!" "Allright." Replied Hoxton's voice from a distance. He slipped inside from the window, tied Applejack, and carried her to the carriage, with the help of Wolf. Dallas applied the Inhibitor Ring that Hoxton gave him to Twilight, and tied her wings together. Then, he tied her hooves. Once the group was back, Dallas and Hoxton carried Twilight out, while Wolf turned off the lights, and carried Spike to the carriage too. Hoxton pressed the button on the Inhibitor again, and its eerie green turned off, and they could turn their radios back on. The first voice to be heard through was Bain's one. "Succes?" He asked. "Yup. We've got the Princess. And some extra hostages too." Replied Dallas. "Exellent. Bring them to the Safehouse. I'll interrogate her. In private." "...If ghou say so..." Said Wolf, in his gibberish. "Allright Sweetie, straight to the Safehouse." Said Dallas to Twitch, that ordered the same to the Twins, that started to trot straight to the HQ's direction... > Twilight's "Little" Trouble > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...Allright, they haven't arrived yet. Got some time to get myself a nice piece o' pizza, and..." "Honey, we're home!" Mocked Hoxton, opening the door from the alley to the Safehouse, and carrying Spike in his back, still sedated and pretty much out of this world. "...Ohaideer. Went well?" Said Chains, limping to the kitchen. "It went pretty well at job, yet. Look, iv'e got you a good piece o' meat!" Kept mocking Hoxton, dropping Spike in the table of the kitchen, still tied and sedated. "Baby dragon meat? Hm. Y'know I don't have Canines in my mouth, right?" "Psh. Don't break the fun of this, Chainsy. Did you know that Bain's coming to interrogate the princess himself?" Replied Hoxton, taking Spike again, and dropping him downstairs. The little dragon didn't suffered any damages, with the protection of his scales, and hard skull while he rolled dowstairs. "No shit. Why don't we just do it ourselves? I've always wanted to taste a pretty princess' flank, y'know." Said Chains, while picking a glass of water, and drinking of it. "Chains... Just... No. You had enought fun at Las Pegasus." Said Dallas, while carrying Applejack inside, with the help of a still very drunk Wolf. "Plus, we can ask more Bits for her if she's... Clean, if you get it. Not to exclude DNA samples." "Fine..." Exclamed Chains, abruptly sitting in one of the chairs of the table. "Need some help?" "Nah. You've still got to rest your leg." Replied Dallas, going down with Wolf to the basement, carrying a still uncontious and tied Applejack. Hoxton followed them dowstairs. "Okay..." ...Heh. Next, the Twins came in, still wearing their sunglasses and their suits. Cutiemarks covered. They were carrying Twilight, still sedated, and tied till' the end. They didn't said a word, and trotted downstairs. Next, they trotted up, and went outside from the same door they came from, without saying one single word in the way. Next, Twitch. "Hey, Chains. How's the leg going?" She was pushing a heavy box inside, and still wearing the sunglasses, suit and blue ducktape covering her cutiemark. "Not bad, y'know. Hey, what's that box?" Asked chains, looking at the heavy cardboard cube. "No idea. It weights a lot, tho. Let's see..." Twitch examined the large box, looking for anything. "It says 'For Chains'." "How so? A gift for me?" "Seems that you've got a secret fan, eh?" Mocked Twitch, leaving the box in front of the table. "Why don't you come here and open it?" "Sounds good." Said Chains, getting up from the chair, and limping towards the box. Indeed, it had a paper in it's top, only with the words 'For Chains' on them. He rippped the paper, and opened the box. He got a rather large surprice with what was inside: A brand new full-body set of armour. A piece of paper, perfectly bent was at the top of the set. Chains took it, and readed it. 'Iv'e got news that the prototype your people took five years ago doesn't work anymore. Here, have another one. This one won't break at constant fire, Iv''e made sure of that. Contact me anytime you need something fixed. -Alex.' ...Alex? "...So. Anypony has idea when Bain's coming?" Asked Dallas. "Ghno Idea..." Replied a still intoxicated Wolf. "I bet he's already here." Said Hoxton, taking off his mask. "Shhh! Why do you say anything, damnit!" Said Dallas, getting up from the chair he was sitting, in front of a map of Ponyville. "What? It's nothing bad at all!" "Hoxy, remember your curse. Everything bad you says turns real the next second!" "Pfff. That's just a mock of Wolf." "Nein!" Replied Wolf. "Remember when you said that a Cloaker would kick Chains in the nuts for taking your coffe?" Dallas took off his mask. "Pff. That was a mere coincidence." Said Hoxton, rolling his eyes. "And, when you said that a Sniper would blow up Mike's head?" "...That wasn't my fault. That Sniper had a clear shot on him." "...And, that a Tazer would rape Wolf with three Bulldozer's around?" Wolf shrugged when he heard that. "...Eh... Coincidence. At least he survived that." "And when you said that I would get shot at the Ruby Hearth Heist?" "It's not my fault that you decided to take more jewels in the way." "I spent one damned week in an hospital bed because you said that I would get discovered, Hox. And..." "...Nice story, gentlestallions, but we've got something more important between our hooves." Said a Stallion voice, that completely interrupted the conversation. It was a voice they all knew, that was always in the radio, but it sounded more aged outside of it. "...Bain?" Asked Dallas. "You're learning quick, kiddo. You still owe me a new statue, by the way." Bain took a step front, from the darkness of a corner. The lamp that was over him only illuminated his front. Only his suit, covered forehooves with blue gloves, and a little piece of his lower chin, covered with a white beard could be seen. "If you excuse me, Iv'e got a princess to interrogate. Got the 'theater' ready?" "Yup. Everything's inside. Once she wakes up, the show can start." Said Hoxton, getting up from the table he was sitting, and pointing behind him. "Good. Let's get this show started." ...Twilight opened her eyes. Everything around her was dark as a moonless night. The only thing that had light was her. She looked up, for how much hard it was for her to move her head. There was a small lamp over her. She looked back front, and tried to move. She was tied with ropes to the chair she was sitting. She couldn't move her wings either: they were tied together. She tried to use her magic, but she couldn't feel her horn. What in the name of Celestia is going on? A shady pony figure made a step front in the light. Twilight could only see the frontal hooves, under a suit, and with the hooves covered in some kind of blue gloves. "You'll better start talking, Princess. Or else, your friends will pay for you." "...Where am I? Why are you doing this!" "Oh, you won't talk? Fine." The figure signalled with his right forehoof, and a light at Twilight's left appeared. It was aiming at Spike, that was tied with ropes, and uncontious. His chair was looking towards a wall behind him, as he was facing to it. "...Spike! Wake up!" Twilight shouted. "...Do it." Simply said the Stallion in front of Twilight. Another Stallion, with a very creepy mask, with a sewed mouth walked in. He attached something in Spike's back, then walked away. Next, Spike simply... Exploded. The walls, ground and ceiling were splattered on red. dragon scales were scattered all around the room. The splatter even reached Twilight. "...SPIKEEEE!!!!" Shouted Twilight, the strongest her oppressed lungs could allow her. "...Speak. We want to know one thing. Where. Is. The. Golden. Mirror." Twilight started to sob. She just presenced how her best friend exploded, right in front of her. "SPEAK!" Shouted Bain, getting another step closer. Twilight looked up, to only see a horrible mask covering a face. The mask had incredible details. It's surface seemed to be the one of an alligator, with a slight arrow pointing at it's forehead. Over it, it seemed to be showing the brain, with incredible detail. Its eyes were merely two black shades, that covered the eyes that were hiding behind it. "I... I don't know on what you're talking about!" Shouted Twilight, in the edge of starting to cry. She got punched in the stomach, with enought strenght to almost puke her dinner, and the tea. "Start speaking, or your other friend will end in a more painfull way!" Bain signalled again, with his left hoof. A light was turned on, in a room at Twilight's right. The crystal wall that divided the rooms only showed Applejack uncontious, tied to an iron chair, with ropes, pretty close to the glass. Hoxton trotted in, with his silenced Bernetti-9 pistol already in his hoof. He aimed it at Applejack's head, and waited for Bain's instruction. "...Last chance. Where is it." "...I don't know!" Shouted Twilight, letting tears go out. "Do it." Hoxton nodded, looked back at Applejack, and pressed the trigger. No sound was made, but the glass that divided both rooms got splattered in... 'Tomato sauce'. Twilight started to cry out the strongest her eyes could. Bain got closer, and punched her in the eye. "Where the buck is it!" "...In the left wing of the castle!" Finnaly shouted Twilight, in her sobs and tears. Bain stared at her for a while. She was saying the truth. Or, at least she seemed to. "Thanks for your... 'Cooperation'." Bain walked away, grabbed a syringe with blue liquid, and injected it at Twilight's neck. She felt how the light around her started to turn darker and darker, and how her muscles started to stop responding, untill she finnaly felt uncontious... Hoxton walked away from a still uncontious Applejack, cleaning his Bernetti-9 from tomato sauce. He left the room where she was locked, and walked towards the room where Twilight was sitting. "Aaand, what does the Director has to say about this?" "You guys did well. Now, we've just got to send a letter to Celestia, and ask for a shit ton of cash for theese two. Where's the dragon at?" "Ohver hier." Said Wolf, pulling Spike from under a table. He was finnaly awake, but his claws were tied together at his back, so were his legs. Also, his mouth was shut with blue ducktape, that prevented him from opening it. "Wolf, good job making that purple dummy." Said Dallas, getting up from a chair in the darkness. "Okay, little fella. We'll give you a letter, and we want you to deliver it to Celestia herself. Got it?" The baby dragon nodded, for how much hard it was for him. "Good." Continued Dallas. "Just add this: We'll ask twenty-thousand Bits for each one of them. Alive." Spike nodded again. "...Tell her to deliver the cash to the Sugarcube Corner, at the Dumpster at it's back. If we see any Guardspony around, you can consider them both... Dead. Got it?" Another nod, but this time he was way much more worried. "...Allright. Now, if you excuse me." Dallas walked behind Spike, and hitted him right in the back of the neck, knocking him out. "How we'll just have to dump him back in the Treehouse, and wait. C'mon Hox, let's go." "Right behind ya. Wolf, keep Applejack out of combat." "Whatevs." Half-replied Wolf. "Bain, you coming, or heading back to your hole?" Asked Hoxton. "I'm heading back. You guys can't live a day without me in the radio. Bile's taking me, so dump the little dragon already. Oh, and Dallas... The damned statue." Bain took out his mask, with his face still hidden in the shadows, left the mask in the table, where the map of Ponyville is. Then, he trotted upstairs, always moving in the shadows. Dallas and Hoxton followed him, carrying Spike with them. Wolf moved the the room where Applejack was tied, and reinforced the ties with double ropes, and cuffs. Then, he just trotted out of the room, and locked the door with three locks. Applejack was a foe to be aware of, and Wolf knew that. Then, he just left the basement, and meet up with Chains... > Operation 'Dumpster Dive' > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...Spike woke up. He was laying in front of the Library, with a note attached to his tail, with blue ducktape. He recognized the tape on first sight. Then, memories started to come to his mind. ...Send message to Celestia. Spike detached the note, and directly sent it to Celestia. Reply arrived almost instantly, and he readed it. ...Oh, Twilight. What evil jokes you're sending me recently. If you need more Bits, you don't need to ask it that way. Spike face-clawed. He runned inside the library, and wrote a proper reply in the same note. ...This isn't a joke! I'm Spike, and they've been ponynapped for real! Please, help me! Note sent. This time, no reply. Instead, Celestia herself teleported in front of Spike, and looked around, checking if it was true. Only Spike was in the library, and everything seemed to be in it's place. Everything, but Spike's face of preoccupation. "...You're saying the truth?" Asked Celestia, looking directly into the poor dragon. "Y... Yes, your H... Highness!" Spike managed to reply. "They were ponynapped right here, this night!" Celestia's horn started to glow, looking for Twilight's magical print. Nothing that could say where she was, but the faint image of her in the Library, this night. This gave her an idea. As her status of Alicorn, she knew almost every single spell, and one of them could allow her to see back in time. Probably, she could get any hint on what happened. Spell ready, her horn started to glow, so were her eyes. Her vision started to blurry, and when it was back normal, she was standing in the middle of the library. It was midnight, and Applejack was laying in the sofa, almost asleep. Then, the window opened, and a Stallion with a clown mask went in, and jumped right over Applejack, that instantly started to scream. This attracted Twilight downstairs, that attempted to launch a blast of magic, unsucessfull. She tried again, but her horn wasn't responding anymore. Then, the vision started to blurry, and she was kicked out of the memory. Celestia blinked a few times, back in reality. She knew one thing now. She was going to face the largest criminal organization in the whole Equestria. Strange. They splitted five years ago. Why do they act now? What did they used against my student? ...Out of theese thoughts, she had an idea. "Spike, stay here. Send me a letter if anything else happens." Spike nodded, and Celestia teleported back to Canterlot... "...So. Another trip to the bar?" Asked Dallas. "Yugh!" Replied Wolf. "Not you. Hox, what do you say?" Said Dallas, as Wolf crossed his hooves. "Sounds good. Chainsy, we'll bring you a bottle of something. Probably a bottle of vapourized oxygen." Mocked Hoxton, while looking at Chains. "Hah, hah. No. Bring me the friggin' best bottle of the best cider they have!" Shouted Chains, limping back to the sofa. "Count me in, guys!" Said Twitch, jumping from the sofa, to give some site to Chains. "But the Twins will have to stay. You know, not driving drunk." She pointed at the pair of Stallions, that were sitting in a corner, with their suits still on, and their sunglasses. They didn't said a word, but they moved their heads like if they disagreed with Twitch's proposal of not letting them have some fun too. "That's true. Screw you guys, we're going to drink till' dawn!" Said Dallas, looking through the window. "...Actually, till' the night. C'mon guys... And gal', let's go!" Dallas, Hoxton, Twitch, and silently Wolf, left the Safehouse, heading towards the nearest Pub, Bar, or even Tavern, if there still were. Chains jumped in the sofa, and started to unpack the set of armour he recently recieved. The Twins stayed there for a long while, like if they were part of the furniture, untill they looked at each other, and trotted to the back alley. This completely creeped Chains out. ...Yeah, they're twins and that, but gesh... That mind-talking's way too much... Somehere, in a bar at the left of the location of the Safehouse... "Igh I wasn't a Sghtallion, I ghould have kiss'd yah..." Wolf barely muttered, looking at a chair at his right. He was already almost alcohol-poisoned, and another drink couldn't get him worse... Or at least that's what Hoxton thought. His next stop was an hospital, for sure. Of course, Hoxton couldn't hold his laughter, and broke in his mad scientist-like laught, after four rounds of good ol' cider. Dallas was abruptly kissing Twitch, occupying three seats, while Wolf was flirting with the chair that was left over. Hoxton was having his fifth round, while his face was getting red due to the large amounts of alcohol in his veins. This party lasted untill eight in the afternoon, when Wolf started to get off-hoof with the chair. Wolf was being carried by two Mares, both nurses, straight to the detox. department. The chair had to be bringed to the closest carpenter too. Dallas and Twitch decided to continue their run somewhere more private, and Hoxton decided to continue the party, somewhere else. This leaded him straight into one of Pinkie's completely random parties. Of course, Hox came prepared, bringing in his own reserves of extra-strong cider. Things there escalated quickly. ...The next morning, the whole crew (Excluding the Twins and Chains), were suffering a considerable migraine. Dallas did what couldn't be mentioned with Twitch, so did Hoxton, with the first Mare he could get his hooves on, in the party last night. Wolf was still in the hospital, as the nurses were extracting wood chips from his privates. As usual, the crew met up back in the Safehouse. "Sup Dallas. How did your night went? Had some fun last night?" Mocked Chains, looking at Dallas put a bag of ice in his head. "Shut... The buck up... Chains..." Replied the Stallion. "And you, Hox?" "...Could have gone better." He simply replied, while drinking a cup of coffe. He was somehow inmune to alcohol poisoning. He probably got that inmunity during his endless parties back at Las Pegasus. "No details?" Said Chains, pocking him in the arm. "Not for you, or your right hoof." "Pfff, fine... Where's Wolf, by the way?" "Hospital." "Anything I should be aware of?" "Nope. Well, probably chair-humping, but nothing else." Chains inmediatly broke to laught. "Chains, shut up... Or I'll throw you this freaking bag at your face, right now!" Shouted Dallas, as Chain's laughter was making his brain bump inside his head. "Okay, okay, fine... Heh, that Wolf... He's going to end killing himself..." Muttered Chains, while heading back to the basement. Twitch entered the Safehouse from the back door, as usual, and headed straight for Dallas. "Morning. Feeling better?" "No." Replied Dallas, pulling another bag of ice for his head. "Aw. Like if what happened yesterday was something dangerous or anything." "What happened yesterday stays in your bedroom, and nothing else, Twitch." Hoxton inmediatly left out a smile. "Heh. You love birds' trying to make an egg or somethin'?" "Hox, you're going to get your nuts cracked by a damned Cloaker if you don't shut up, right now." "Okay, okay... Fine... Well, I'll see what Bain wants us to do today..." Hoxton rushed to the basement, leaving the two love birds alone. This was completely intentional by him... "...Any news?" Asked Celestia, looking at one of her commanders. "Not yet, your highness. We're doing our best to find Twilight." "...Carry on, then." The commander bowed, and left the throne room in a hurry. Luna came in, when the royal pony opened the door. He stood back, to let Luna walk in. "Tia, another of your troop training?" Asked Luna. "No. This time, it's serious, Luna. Have you ever heard of CrimeNet?" "...No. Why do you ask?" ...CrimeNet... "Because they ponynapped Twilight. I recognized one of their members in the scene..." Celestia looked down, remembering Dallas' mask. She never really understood the why of the United Equestria's emblem on it's forehead. "And that's where you hop in. They're always acting at night." "...And?" "...And, that's when you come in. I want you, my dear sister, to catch them during their operation. Tonight, we'll drop two bags with twenty-thousand Bits in the Sugarcube Corner. They'll come then, and that's when you jump in, to stop them." "This sounds dangerous, Tia..." "It is, but remember what you are. The Princess of the Moon, and the Night." "...You're right... I'll be ready for tonight." "Good. You will meet my commanders in the meeting room. They will fill you with the details." Luna nodded, and headed out of the throne room. ...CrimeNet... I can't believe they're showing now, when I payed them to stay in the shadows for a while... I'll have a talk with Bain after this, that's for sure... "...Bain? You there?" Asked Hoxton, pressing the send button in the radio inside the basement. "Baaain?" "Bain here. What do you want, Hoxton?" Replied the voice in the radio. "Two things. First, how did you got there so fast? Isn't Bile's hot air balloon too slow?" "Not anymore. Welcome to the Zeppelin era, my friend. Anything else?" "Great. Second, when?" "If you're asking for the Operation Dumpster Dive, cancel it. You're heading straight to Canterlot tonight." "How so?" Asked Hoxton, scratching his mane. "Let's say, Iv'e got word that they're sending every single avaliable Royal to Ponyville. They've got our message, so just get your struff ready for tonight. Oh, and one last thing. Bring the Princess with you, just in case." "...What about the other one?" "The Element of Honesty? Meh, just release her. She ain't going to do good to the Operation Castle Crusher." "...Bain, From where the buck you get thoose names?" "The first thought I get when I'm drunk. Oh, and the Internet." "...Internet?" "It's not released yet, but you'll see. Well then, tell the rest of the crew the plan. Oh, you're heading to Canterlot via air. All the tracks and train stations are locked untill new advice, for your last gunfight there." "You're making me blush, Bain." Moked Hoxton. "...Well then, I'm going. I'll be back tonight. Oh, and say 'Hi' to Luna, if you ever see her." "At your command. Well then, see you... Never?" Hoxton thought for a moment. He has never seen Bain's face, excluding his white beard. Either did any other member of the crew, but Twitch. ...I'll ask her later. The radio comunication cutted, as Hoxton pressed the off button, and headed to the table where his mask was laying on, as he wore it. He also applied the blue ducktape to his cutiemarks, but without the suit. Then, he entered in Twilight's torture room. She was awake, and pretty scared. But, since she was tied up, and mouth covered, there's nothing she could actually do. "...Madame, you're coming with us. Don't mind that we killed your friends to get you here, eh?" Hoxton's mask made this commentary look both, completely ridiculous, and creepy. "You'll cooperate, or we'll just have to slaughter everypony here. Got it?" Twilight's eyes tried to find Hoxton's ones, that were perfectly hidden in his mask. She limited herself to nod. "...Good. Now, have a nice, little sleep, my dear Alicorn!" Hoxton injected her another syringe with the same blue liquid as the last time, and Twilight felt uncontious even faster than yesterday. Then, Hoxton headed for Applejack's temporal jail. Last night, she actually broke out, and almost freed Twilight. But, thanks to Chains, and his ability to jump on somepony, and almust crush it to death, they managed to put down Applejack. This time, they needed even more methods, so they locked her inside a safe, with only one hole, for air. Hoxton knocked on the top of the safe, as he heard Appleack's voice inside. "...You motherbuckers! Y'all see when ah'm free!" The entire safe bounced. Even through Applejack had few space to move and make strenght, she still had enought to actually move the safe. "Shut the buck up! If you keep giving troubles, Twilight's a dead pony!" The bouncing in the safe stopped. "...Y... You wouldn't..." "You know that I will. Why do you think there's so much blood splattered in the room? Why do you think there's purple scales scattered all around" A moment of silene. "...That's your lovely baby dragon. Spike, was it called?" ...This time, sobbing. Hoxton started to maniacally laught, as he trotted away, and closed the door behind him. He took out his mask, and stopped laughting. His face was actually the one of seriousness. Chains trotted in, wearing his brand-new full body armour. This model weighted less, but protected twice as the last one. "Holy, Hox. Your laught goes through walls, you know?" Said chains, placing another piece of cover in his neck. "That's because I'm such a good actor. C'mon, get ready for tonight, we're heading straight to Canterlot. Bile's coming to pick us up." "Heh, Iv'e been waiting till' I saw Bile's old face again." They both trotted upstairs, and told the rest of the crew the plans... > To Canterlot we go! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...Bile here. Nice to see you all again!" Replied an old Stallion's voice through the radio. "Five years without hearing your sexy voice, eh?" Said Hoxton. "You're making me blush, Hox!" Replied the voice. "Quit it. Bile, where are you going to pick us up?" Asked Dallas, taking the command of the radio. "Bain told me that they're going to watch every single road, so the Hills should do it. I've got a pretty-ass silent Zeppeling right here!" "Sounds good. Well then, see you tonight!" "Till' the night!" The radio transmission got cutted. "...Well then, you know what to do. Get your equipment ready, we're leaving this afternoon. Oh, and special care with the Hostages." "At your command." Replied Chains. "Sure." Replied Hoxton. "I'll get the Twins ready." Replied Twitch. ...If Wolf was around, he would speak in gibblerish again, or say something like "Yah", following his accent... "...Oh, shit. Wolf!" Suddently remember Chains. "He's still at the hospital, right?" "Yup." Replied Twitch. "He's got for a few days." "Well, he'll have to recover quickly, we need him now." "Should we pay a visit to the Hospital?" Asked Hoxton, getting everything he would need for the ride. "I'll go. They would suspect if any of you ask for him." Said Twitch, wearing her sunglasses again. "...Don't take too much time." Simply said Dallas, watching her leave through the back door... "...Hello, miss...?" "Twitch..." She took off her sunglasses. "Twitch Nerve." Nurse Redhearth looked at her raising an eyebrow. "In what may I help you?" "I'm looking for my... Husband. I think he got in trouble tonight... With a chair." Replied Twitch. "Ooh. You're mister Wolfang's wife?" Redhearth cracked a smile, remembering what the other nurses told her about the incident. "He's at the observations room seven. Follow me, I will guide you to him." "Thank you." "Hey, Dallas..." "...What do you want, Hox..." "What trick do you think that Twitch is going to use to get to Wolf?" Asked Hoxton, while he was organizing whatever he would need for the operation. "What do you mean?" "Like, if she's going to enter the front door saying she's the wife of Wolf or something." "Nah, she's not that kind of actress." assured Dallas, mostly to himself. "She's probably going to enter by the window and pull Wolf out." Said Chains, leaving the basement with an ammunitions crate on his back. "Poor Wolf..." "...Poor Wolfang..." "This isn't anything to be worried, Twitch..." Replied Wolf, scratching the sides of his privates, that were covered in bandages. "It is! How dare you hump a wooden chair, after drinking celestia-knows what amount of alcohol!" "Hey, I did that because you don't let me have fun with you!" "Aah, now it's my fault! Who's the one that's always sitting in the sofa, reading the newspapers!" "Um... I'll better go now..." "Leave!" Said Wolf and Twitch in unison. Once Redhearth left the observations room, they locked eyes on eachother. "Well, Wolfie, I'm here to bring you out of this hospital." "Aha, I was starting to think you guys forgot about me!" "Psh, nopony will ever forget our Wolfie." Twitch headed to one of the windows, and opened it. "Can you walk?" "My privates are itching, and hurts like a shot to the nuts, but I can walk." Said Wolf, getting up, watching to don't make any strange contact with anything. "Ladies first." Said Twitch, throwing Wolf out of the window, that landed with his jaw. Twitch came out later. "...Damn you Twitch..." Cursed Wolf, having a nice look of the grass that was growing close to the hospital. "Aw, that's nothing. You said it by yourself." Twitch raised her sight, and saw the carriage that was waiting at the other side of the street, with the Twins waiting... "He-Hey, it's Wolfie! Welcome back, man!" Said Hoxton, tossing him back his mask. Wolf catched it mid-air. "Hoxtonator, thanks for this honour!" "Hey mate, how's your nuts today?" Asked Dallas, cracking one of his infamous evil smiles. "Itching like Tartarus' gates." "I would put up a party for you, but we've got an operation to do." Said Chains, coming out of the basement with his fourth crate of ammunitions. Wolf raised an eyebrow. That's a word he will remember the rest of his life. "Anything I should be aware of?" "We are going to Canterlot tonight." Assured Dallas, placing another magazine of tranquilizer darts in his saddlebag. "Out of the frying pan..." "...Into the fryer. That's my phrase, Wolf." Said Bain's voice through the radio. "Don't use it too much." "Aw, It's a cool catchphrase!" "And it's mine. C'mon, get your stuff ready, you're leaving in thirty minutes." The radio transmission cutted. "Back to work, Gentlestallions." "...Everypony ready?" "Eeyup. Whenever you're done, we can go. Twitch?" Chains asked through the radio. "The Twins are ready, and waiting." Replied Twitch's voice. "Allright then, let's go." Said Wolf, picking another of his pretious turrets. ...Once the group was outside, with everything they would need in their saddlebags, and wearing their suits... "Hop in, we're heading to the hills!" Said Twitch, popping her head out of the window. "The light of the afternoon should give us the chance to slip unnoticed." "Hey, Dallas. Where's the princess?" "Oh, almost forgot her... Hey, Chains, can you lift a safe?" "Lemme' guess, Applejack." "Exactly. I'll deal with the princess myself." ...Once back in the Safehouse, in the basement... "Masks on, mark covered. Just dump her somewhere out, like a bridge or in the farm." "Got it. Do your best, Dallas." Dallas, wearing his mask, covering his cutiemark, and with his suit, stepped front of Twilight. She was starting to gain contiousness, as the amount of sedative used last time was intended for a few hours. "...Good morning, princess. Or, should I say good afternoon?" Greeted Dallas, lifting Twilight's jaw. She was still pretty much out of this world, with dry tears pouring out from her eyes. "Enjoying your stay in our little safehouse?" She could barely move her mouth, as the Innovations Inc. Sedative nullifies muscles, one step of turning into hearth-stopping poison. Nothing that the princess said could be understood anyways. "...Well, I'll take that as an 'It's going great', okay?" Twilight tried to glare at him, but not even her face was reacting as intended. "...So, we're taking you with us, like it or not. You'll just stay shut, but meanwhile, I'll put this..." Dallas grabbed a set of the (in)famous blue ducktape, and attached some on Twilight's mouth. "...So you stay put. Hey, Chains, done with Applejack?" "I can't find the damn safe in the darkness, dangit!" "...Then just turn on the lights!" "...Oh." Chains turned on the lights, and the room that was divided with the glass could be seen. Only the safe, and the spattered tomato sauce were in the room. The steel chair was mostly crushed by Applejack in her attempt to escape. Chains headed to the safe, lifted it, and to his back. It did weight a lot, but Chain's a tough guy. The bad part is that he could barely move, even through he wasn't wearing his new body armour. "See that safe?" Asked Dallas, moving Twilight's head towards the room. "Your dear friend, Applejack's body is in it. Let's say, we have to dump her, and we need a new safe anyways." ...A tear dropped on Twilight's eyes. "Well, your medication says that you shouldn't take more untill you're fully awakened, but we'll do something different this time..." Said Dallas, getting behind Twilight, and taking out his Bronco .44 Revolver. A hoofgun-wip later, Twilight was back uncontious. Dallas untied her from the chair, but keeping her legs and wings tied, and placed her on his back. Next, he exited the basement, turned off the lights, and headed to the carriage... "Chains, does that safe weights too much for your leg?" Asked Wolf, lifting an eyebrow. "Nope. Make some space, we're dropping her on the road." "Got the princess uncontious, just in case." Said Dallas, dumping the princess inside the carriage. "Well then, let's go!" "Aye. Twins, to the hills we go!" Shouted Twitch, as the back door of the carriage closed, and they headed towards their destination... "...This seems a good place to dump her." Said Wolf, looking on the window. They were crossing a bridge, and there was nopony around. "Allright. Twins, stop for a moment!" Once the carriage stopped, the back door opened, and the safe where Applejack was, got dropped in the road. "We just leave her like that?" "Of course not. Wolf, still got some explosives?" "Yup. Why do you ask?" Dallas pointed at the safe. "Oooh. Iv'e ot some spare C4. Let's just hope that she doesn't end deaf in the explosion." "Just do it." "Fine..." Wolf jumped off the carriage, looked around to make sure nopony was there. next, he placed a certain amount of plastic explosive in the door of the safe, placed it on a twenty-seconds tier, and ran back to the carriage. "Let's go!" ...While they moved away in the carriage, the safe's door blew away, and Applejack left the safe, only with a few scratches. She was free again. "Allright guys, we're at the meeting area. We should be far away from any Royals, or anypony else." Assured Twitch, getting out the carriage. "Allright, sounds good, but... Where's Bile anyways?" Asked Chains, taking out a box of ammunitions from the carriage. "Chains, do you ever look up?" Said Hoxton, leaving the carriage with his saddlebag in his back. Chains looked up, but he did not saw anything. "...Am I missing anything?" "A bit to the left." "...Nothing." "Really?" Hoxton face-hooved. "Over there..." He pointed towards a slight distortion in the sky. A second later, a whole zeppelin started to slowly appear from it. "Holy... Molly..." Those are the only words that Chains found. A huge Zeppelin suddently appeared in front of the hills. As it was slowly appearing from thin air. It's surface was made out from a material that seemed to be black scales of a lizzard, organized in perfect hexagons. It didn't made any sound, as it's propulsion was something out of this world. That Zeppelin had the words Innovations Incorporated printed on it, even through it was clean of any marks. "Well hello there! Get yours flanks up here right now!" Said Bile's voice through the radio. "Did I miss any-holy..." Wolf looked towards the Zeppelin. Since he is the one that loves technology, he was having a severe case of mind-gasm, related to the Zeppelin. "Incredible first words, Wolfie." Said Dallas, pushing him out. "Not bad, not bad. Bile, how long till' we're at Canterlot? "Twenty minutes if we leave right now." Replied Bile's voice. "Allright everypony, get to the chopp-" Hoxton's mouth got covered by Dallas' hoof. "...No." > Operation 'Castle Crusher' > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...Okay, one last time. Hox, you scout through the first hallways, and tell via the Radio anything of interest. Wolf, you take care of any big doors we find. Chains, we'll have you around just in case, and I'll guide you in the hallways. Twitch, stay around the Zeppelin, we might need you sooner or later. Everypony got it?" Asked Dallas, picking his silenced M308. Everypony nodded. In the same silence the Zeppelin arrived at Ponyville, it arrived at the gardens of Canterlot. This time, the zeppelin didn't took out the cloack, and it dropped the whole crew in the other side of the garden. Twilight included. The night covered every movement they did, if we include that they now wore Silent Horseshoes. Innovations has been helping them way too much theese days. The Zeppelin left, and started to go around the Castle, in silence. Chains was carrying Twilight on his back, while she was tied till' the end, and with the infamous blue ducktape in her mouth. If she was going to be a payload, at least she's a silent one. Hoxton was the first one to step front. "Allright guys, stay here." He quickly crossed the garden. It was empty. Nopony was in the area. Only one guard was at the door that led to the castle. Hoxton noticed this to the group, and after a quick discussion, they decided to convince the Guard to lay low. They decided that Wolf would go to the left, Dallas to the right, and Hoxton would jump in if necesary. Chains would jump out next, dropping Twilight somewhere safe. "...HOOFS UP MOTHERBUCKER!" Shouted Wolf, aiming his Betsy at the Guard's face. He quickly lifted his javelin with his magic, but he was quickly stopped by Dallas's Revolver, aimed at his neck. "To. The. Ground." Said Dallas, observing the guard's reaction. He quickly jumped back, and started to swoop his Javelin in the air. Then, Chains showed up. "KISS THE FLOOR!" He shouted, aiming his JP36 at the Guard's chest. Overwhelmed by three armed-to-the-teeth criminals wearing the creepiest clown masks the Guard has ever seen, he decided to drop the Javelin and pray for his life. "Now, stay quiet!" Ordered Dallas, placing a Magic-Inhibitor ring on his horn. Next, he was tied up, and dropped at the side of the door. Chains came back for Twilight, that was in the same situation of the Guard. Hoxton showed up, moving silently between everypony, and went to the door. He was an experiended lock-picker, even for how hard it is for hooves. After a minute, the door was unlocked, and they went inside. When they crossed the first hallway, carrying both Twilight and the Guard, he started to shout for help. Dallas gun-whipped him, knocking him out. Hoxton quickly crossed to the end of the hallway, to check if there was anypony there. ...And there was somepony there. Two Royal Guards were standing in front of a door heard the call of help, and decided to rush there. Hoxton quickly noticed this to the group, and Dallas pulled out his M308. When the two Guards showed up, Dallas was waiting. Two silenced shots were necesary to pull them both down, leaving them uncontious. Wolf didn't liked too much the idea of Less deaths as possible that Bain gave to them. Something about Cleaner costs, and more time in custody. The two guards were tied together, and dumped inside one of the empty rooms of the castle. They also dumped the Guard of the entrance there. Chains had the idea of dumping Twilight there too, but Bain interrupted. "Change of plans. We need Twilight in the Mirror. Once you're there, you will know why." Said the ominous Stallion voice from the Radio. They all nodded, and continued their labour. After fifteen minutes going around the Castle, they finally reached the Eastern Wing, where the Golden Mirror was supposed to be at. After another check of rooms, and convincing a few guards, they arrived at the desired room... "Holy shit, Dallas... Look at this thing!" Exclaimed Hoxton, observing the two-floor gold-stained mirror. The reflective part was black, and it was surrounded by insane amounts of gold decorations. Dallas placed his hoof on Hox's mask. "SHH! Be quest, dangit! Bain, what now?" "Right, now we need some blood of Twilight to make it work properly. Don't kill her, for the love of Celestia..." Replied the voice. Twilight didn't heard that, but she knew that something was going to go bad for her. Chains dropped her in the ground, and she looked up. "So, how do we do this? We beat her till' she drops anythin'? Or we just cut her open?" Asked Chains, hitting his hooves together repeatedly. "The old style. Wolf, knife." Wolf walked by, and pulled out a penknife from his pocket. He made a quick cut in Twilight's hoof. "What now?" "The mirror has a small container at its left. Just let her blood drip in." Answered Bain. Chains lifted Twilight, and placed her hoof in the mentioned container. One mililiter of blood dripped in, and... ...Nothing happened. "Um, Bain. Is something supposed to happen now?" Asked Dallas. "Well, acording to this, Alicorn blood's supposed to activate the mirror." "Well, um... Not to annoy, but as far as I know, she is not really an Alicorn." Interrupted Wolf. "How so?" "From the news I have, she was an Unicorn before. She was turned into an Alicorn while we were out of business." Said Wolf, scratching the chin of his mask, like if he was thinking. Twilight was very confused, and she was suffering from her hoof. She looked around, but she could not talk. "Dangit. Then, we must look after Luna, or Celestia, if you guys are up for the challenge." Said Bain's voice. "Tartarus, no! I'm not going against any Princess! That's just like jumping in front of a Cloaker!" Replied Wolf. "Well, then we have to get Luna. Hox, the door." Hoxton closed the door, and Dallas came close to Twilight, and he took out a syringe from his pockets. "Okay, little princess. You're going to sleep now." ...Next, they dispossed of Twilight, injecting the tranquilizer in her blood for the fifth time during her caption. Next, they placed her behind a column at the end of the huge room. "To Luna we go, right?" Asked Chains, looking over a window. "No, hold on a second. I have an idea." Said Bain. Next, some raido interferences could be heard. "Yeah, yeah.... Whatever... I know, I know... Yeah, five years... Just go to the Golden Mirror, I have some guys waiting there. Once you're done, they will go... Okay, bye... Okay, now just wait. Please, for the love of Celestia, don't do anything stupid..." Said the voice in the Radio again. "...Anything we should be aware of?" Asked Dallas. "I'm sending Luna over there. We made a deal: She helps, and you all leave the next second." Replied Bain's voice. "...So, now we are making deals with the Royalty?" Said Hoxton, sitting in the side of the room. "We make deals with everypony. Now, just shut up and wait." ...After ten minutes of boring waiting, Luna opened the door that led to the Golden Mirror. The whole crew jumped and aimed their weapons at her. "...This is how you all recieve a Princess?" Luna asked, raising her jaw over the whole crew. Everypony aimed down. Chains was the first one, followed by Dallas and Hoxton. Wolf doubted a bit, and finally aimed his Betsy down. "Bain says that we need blood," Spoke up Dallas, "To activate that mirror. Alicorn blood." Luna sighed. She walked close to the mirror, and made a quick opening on her own hoof, with her horn. A bit of blood dripped in the container, and the black reflective part turned yellow. "Now, go. If Tia figures out that you're all here..." "Fine, whatever..." "Oh, now you guys only need to lift the mirror out of the tower. Luna, my dear, could you do us a little extra help?" Asked Bain. "...Bain says that we need you teleport the Mirror out of this castle." Said Dallas, remembering that the Radio can only be heard by the masks they wore. Luna concentrated some energy in her horn. "Where do you want the Mirror at?" "I guess that the Garden would do." Said Wolf. Next, the mirror imploded, and Chains watched it reapear in the edges of the Garden. It was pretty obvious, as it was a two-story tall, golden mirror. "Guys, we have to move quick. Anypony could see that." Said Chains, pointing at the Mirror. "Well, um... Thanks for you help, Princess." Bowed Dallas. "Just go." She said, and she walked away, like if nothing ever happened. It took to them five minutes to leave the Castle, as this time they did not had to clear every hallway they walked into. Once at the Garden, a different surprice was waiting there... "BULLDOZEEEEER!" Shouted Wolf, when he saw a Buffalo walking on its hind legs, carrying a huge Betsy on its front legs. Behind it, two Unicorns were wearing large metal pieces, and behind them, another Unicorn was carrying a Tazer on its horn. It was emmiting a constant 'Btzzzzz' sound. "HOLY, BUCKING, CELESTIA!" Shouted Chains, as they took cover behind a low wall. "Didn't they sent everypony to Ponyville?!" Asked Dallas to the Radio channel. "Well, from the Camera feed, Ponyville's infested with Royals now... Maybe they were left behind or something. Well, you have to fight your way out!" "No shit sherlock!" Shouted Wolf, getting out of cover and dropping all his magazine of shotgun rounds on the Bulldozer. Every single pellet bounced on its armour. ...Next, a terrifying sound raised over the rest. A constant static sound, that made Wolf more insane that what he is. It was the constant menace of a Cloaker, and its electric baton. "HOLY! I'M FRIGGIN' GOING OUT OF HERE!" He shouted, running back inside the castle. "Wolf, wait!" Shouted Hoxton, running after him. "Chains, you know what to do!" "Got it!" Chains pulled out his JP36 and his Compact-5, one on each hoof, and stated to unload everything he had on the group of special Royals. Dallas came out of his cover, and aimed at the Tazer with is rifle. He made one of his sure-shots, but the tranquilizzer dart bounced on the Tazer's helmet... "...WOLF! WHERE THE HAY ARE YOU!?" Shouted out Hoxton, running down the Hallways. The constant static was starting to earn more loudness over time. Something was going from bad to worse. "Wolfie! Get back here, you bad puppy!" ...No responce. Instead, the static disappeared, followed by a loud electric discharge sound. "...Shit!" The cloaker got Wolf. When Hoxton arrived from where the sound came, he saw a Mare, wearing a tight suit, and night vision goggles, beating the cutiemark out of Wolf's flank, with an electric baton. She was shouting something about "Nopony messes with the Royal Guard!". Hoxton aimed his Bernetti-9 hoofgun, and unloaded the whole magazine in the Mare. ...Every single bulled bounced on the suit the Mare was wearing. She just looked behind, and ran away, towards the opened window. She just jumped down, and arrived at the Garden. Hoxton walked towards Wolf, that was suffering spasms from the electric discharges the Cloaker left on him. "Hey, you okay?" "B... Buck... Y.... You... Get me... Up...." Wolf barely managed to say, as he was still shaking in the ground. Hoxton took out a small Adrenaline syringe from his pocket, and injected it at Wolf's neck. Then, he helped him get up. "You allright?" "Y... Yeah..." He replied. "I don't know, you seem a bit... Shocked." Hoxton was smiling, both on his mask, and behind it. "...That's not funny, you psicho." "I'm not the one that was throwed in a mental institution, Wolf." Wolf gulped. "...Don't make me remember that." "Anyways, we still have a Bulldozer to kill." "...I think I have an idea. Bain...?" > A very abrupt escape! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...You sure that it'll work?" Asked Bain's voice through the radio channel. "Well, if you have anything better..." Replied Wolf while they were walking outside, and reloading his Betsy. "Well then, just keep them away from the Mirror. Twitch and Bile should do the rest. Good luck!" "Allright Hox, ready?" "Tartarus yeah, let's do this!" Replied Hoxton, opening the door in one kick. Both of them jumped out, and with some suppresing fire, they met Dallas and Chains again, covering behind a set of heavy rock vessels with bushes in them. They were a perfect cover of two metres of stone, leaves and soil. "Well hello there, boss!" Exclaimed Wolf getting into cover, and reloading once more. Dallas raised his sight, and a blast of magic grazed the top of his mask, wich made him get back to cover. "What the hay were you both doing?!" Hoxton raised his hoof. "Wolf had a date with a Cloaker." He turned towards Hoxton. "Just if I had fingers..." Chains interrupted, and pointed towards the Bulldozer, the two Shields, the Tazer behind everything, and a few Royal Guards that popped out of nowhere. "Not to annoy, but we have something in our hooves!" Dallas and Wolf raised over the vessels and shooted at everypony they saw. Most of the bullets bounced back, and they got back into cover. "So, what's the plan to get the buck out of here alive?" "Bile's coming to pick the Mirror while we distract them!" Said Hoxton, popping up, unloading another magazine, and back to cover. "Once they get the mirror, they are picking us up back in the Tower!" "I love that plan!" Exclaimed out Chains, popping back from cover, pulling out his JP and Compact at the same time, and unloading again. Dallas loaded another tranquilizer dart, and popped out from the side. He aimed down, and pressed the trigger. This time, the dart passed right at the side of the Tazer, and hitted one of the Royals in the neck. He instantly felt to the ground, uncontious. The Bulldozer spotted Dallas in the side, and unloaded one single reinforced 16-Gauge on him. This was enough to penetrate the suit, and his vest. He felt how the gauges made strenght on his chest, and he was already in the ground, two feets away from where he was standing. "Holy Luna! Dallas, you allright?!" Dallas checked his chest. Indeed, his suit was now nothing but a swiss cheese, and the vest was merely a plate, and his chest was bleeding. But, he was still alive. Scared for life, but alive. He got up, and ran back into cover. "Holy, I want a shotgun like that!" "Shit Dallas, your chest doesn't look good, mate!" He dropped a small, red briefcase in the ground. He opened it, and took out a green syringe. He injected himself in the neck. "The hay is that?" Asked Hoxton, coming back to cover, after dropping another round on the Bulldozer. "Another product of our friends." He simply replied, as his chest stopped bleeding, and his coat was slowly regenerating. Even the plate of the vest was regenerating, popping out the reinforced pellets. Hoxton observed this a bit amazed. Wolf was too busy shooting, so was Chains. After two minutes of holding positions, the Bulldozer's armour was pretty scrappy, but it still held. The Shields behind decided to take positions in front of him, and the Tazer was still coming and going, trying to get a nie line of one of the criminals. There were two uncontious Royal Guards laying around, as they recieved a clear shot from Dallas. There is one thing that had worried Wolf. The Cloaker couldn't be seen, and she was not emmiting the Static from her batton. This only means two things: Or she left the area, or she turned it off, and is waiting for a good opportunity. ...Anyways, after the battle got a bit calm, since the Criminals managed to push the Royals away from the Mirror, the crew recieved a message. "Guys, We're coming! Get the coast clear!" Said Bile's voice through the radio. "Finally!" Explaimed Wolf, bandaging himself. No sound was made, and two metallic ropes got attached to the sides of the two-floor golden mirror. However... It was not moving. "Uh... Bile?" Asked Hoxton trough the radio. "That thing weights too much for the Zeppelin! There's no way I'm bringing that with me!" Replied Bile, as the ropes detached from the Mirror. "Bull... Then, what the hay we do now?! Bain!!" "I wanted to do this in a safe area, but screw the plan... Get in the mirror!" Replied Bain's voice, with a lot of preocupation in his voice. "What do you mean with that?" Asked Dallas, interrupting in the transmission. "What I said! Jump in the mirror! Do it quick, a large mob of Royals is heading back to the castle!!" Shouted Bain. "They have y'all surrounded!" The whole group looked at eachother. "Fine!" Suddently said Wolf. "You can't be serious, right?" Asked Chains, taking out a missing pellet from his mask. "Well, I see no other way out. Jeronimoooo!" Wolf jumped towards the Mirror. He bumped on its surface, and slammed the ground, with his face. Dallas and Hoxton facepalmed. Chains looked at the sky, and prayed for their souls. Wolf got up. "Um, Bain...?" "The other side, my dear Wolfie..." "Oh... Eh... Okay..." Muttered Wolf, walking to the other face of the Mirror. He moved his hoof in the surface, to check if it was solid like the other one, and... His hoof went throught it. It was like placing your hoof in flat water. "Hey, this is quite fun." "Shut up, and get in!" Shouted out Hoxton, pushing Wolf inside the Mirror. He grabbed Dallas from the neck, and pulled him inside too. Only Chains was left behind. "Ah, Tartarus. Screw this..." He walked away from the Mirror, and ran towards it, made a cannonball in the air, and crossed the Mirror. Once they all crossed, the face of the mirror turned from black to gold again. It was closed, once the whole group closed... ...Meanwhile. Somewhere in Manehattan... "Good, they made it trough... Did you recieved them?" A weak voice crossed a small Tear between dimensions, controlled by a quartz-based device. "Depends. they appeared in our dimension, however... They appeared somewhere else." The large, black office chair turned towards the Tear, away from a large set of monitors, showing the maps of Equestria, and a large network of cameras. "What do you mean with that, Bain?" "I have their signals, and, well... We will have to guide them out of that... Highschool, Bain."