//------------------------------// // 11.0 … In Which There May Be Cake … // Story: Through A Darkened Mirror // by Dorath //------------------------------// Rarity carefully lined up her scope on the guard, if she could pull off this shot, she’d be able to free the prisoners without the rest of the raiders being any the wiser, but just as she was about to fire … her PDA began to beep. “Well, ponyfeathers,” the fashionista grumbled as she paused her game, “I was just getting into the story too.”  Looking at the flashing icon, Rarity raised an elegant eyebrow as she recognized the caller, Romeo. Romeo was a fixer of Rarity’s acquaintance, although a much smaller fish than the likes of Mercy or Imaginary Annie, who had hooked the girls up with a few jobs in the past, “Hello, Romeo, darling.” “Rarity, babe!  Sorry I haven’t been in touch lately, but I got just the thing to make it up to you, sweet cheeks.  I’ve got a sweet little honey of a job lined up for you, a real cakewalk.” “Indeed?  Do tell me more,” replied Rarity as she maintained a smile of polite interest.  As sleazy as Romeo could be, dealing with such personalities was an unfortunate reality of the criminal world, or the fashion world, for that matter.  In truth, Romeo had been more useful in connecting Rarity with clients for her fashion and seamstress work, ‘Still, work is work,’ the fashionista observed. “So listen, babe, Syntech is transferring a shipment of cybernetic parts from a warehouse to one of their research facilities.  I’ve got a buyer who would love to get his hands on that shipment, and he’s willing to pay good nuyen for it.  All you and your hot little friends need to do is arrange a little accident for that truck somewhere between the warehouse and the lab.  You’ll get a third of the street value for all the parts you manage to recover, and I’ll even pay you one-thousand nuyen each as a retainer.  The truck’s gonna leave at twenty-two hundred tonight, so I recommend you get that team of yours together and get to work.” The fashionista nodded and reached over to disconnect the call, as Romeo added one final caveat, “And don’t keep any samples for yourself ….” Glancing at the paused game, Rarity shrugged philosophically, ‘Well, I can always save the Capital Wastelands some other time,’ before she turned to call out to her roomies, “Fillies, we have a job!” “I don’t like this …,” Fluttershy said, her hands tight on the steering wheel, “Won’t the guards be paying more attention while they’re in low-security areas?” “I’m not exactly thrilled with it either, Flutters’,” Sunset replied as she leaned forward to look out the windshield between the shy girl and Twilight at the truck they were trailing, “But it’s the best plan we’ve got.  At least we’re unlikely to run into a random Lone Star patrol, and none of us really wanted to try and intercept the truck while it was on the freeway.” “A bit more time to prepare would have been nice,” admitted Rarity from her seat, “Still, Romeo assured me this job would be a piece of cake.” “Hey, we should go out for cake after this is done!” chirped Pinkie, “Or pie!  Or pie-cake!” “First thin’s first, sugarcube,” the farmgirl reminded her hyperactive friend, “Once we hit Tukwila an’ all tha traffic clears out, we’re goin’ ta stand out like a cat at a canary convention.” “We’ll need to close in fast,” Twilight agreed with a nod, “We’ll be entering Tukwila in … approximately five minutes, everypony make sure they’re belted in, this will probably get rough.” Soon after, they turned a corner to see their target had pulled away and was accelerating, “Drek, we’ve been made!” swore Sunset, “Floor it ‘Shy!” The truck surged forward and quickly overtook the slower delivery vehicle as Flutershy leaned on the gas.  A panel in the back of the Syntech vehicle popped open while the they closed, and the rip of automatic fire roared through the streets as a guard sprayed the truck with SMG fire.  “Yer friend, Romeo, has a mighty odd definition of ‘cake’,” Applejack grumbled at Rarity as she ducked down. “Not the time, darling,” the fashionista admonished as she threw up a wall of pale blue light before the Syntech truck, causing the fleeing vehicle to swerve.  Clipping the telekinetic barrier with one front tire, the vehicle started to spin out, before the driver got it back under control. Unfortunately for him, his control proved to be short lived.  Fluttershy veered in to, very carefully, ram the delivery truck from the side, which, coupled with Twilight raising an angled magenta barrier of her own in front of the speeding vehicle’s hood, set the delivery truck rolling. Fluttershy pulled her truck back around alongside the Syntech vehicle as the echoes of the crash faded, and she and her friends got out.  Walking over to the truck, Twilight’s aura wrapped around one of the gun ports and forced it open just long enough for Sunset to toss in a pair of stun grenades, before slamming it shut. Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Rarity were helping the stunned driver out of the cab, “Oh my, are you all right?” the timid girl asked, as she ran the scanners in her medical bracer over the man. “Y-yes,” the driver slurred, staggering slightly as Rarity held him up, “I think so.” “That’s wonderful!” Fluttershy beamed at the man, causing him to hesitantly smile at her, “Oh, and I’m really sorry.” “Sorry for what?” “For this,” replied the former pegasus as she raised her pistol and shot him. The two Equestrians carried the limp body over to where their friends were laying out the guards from inside the cargo bay, “Everything go okay?” inquired Twilight as she bound one of the unconscious men. “Oh, yes,” the pink-haired girl responded as she began to check the men for injuries, “But I’m afraid the driver will be very cross with me when he wakes up.” “We could leave them all cupcakes?” offered Pinkie. “Yes, Pinkie, I’m sure that some cupcakes would make them feel much better,” Sunset snarked, “You know, if we had any cup …” she trailed off as the grinning partygirl pulled two boxes of cupcakes out of her pack, “Nope, not going to question it,” the razorgirl declared as she turned to start loading crates into their truck. “Is everyone okay back there?” asked Twilight as she used her telekinesis to trigger the Panic Button in the crashed truck’s cab. “As okay as we can be, Twi’,” answered Applejack with a small groan, “We’re squeezed in here like apples in a cider press.” “We’ll get everything dropped off, and everypony all comfy as soon as we can,” Fluttershy assured her friends as she pulled onto the I-Five and accelerated towards Tacoma. A while later, Rarity decided to break the silence, “I think that went rather well, over all, don’t you?” “Eh, I guess so, but your guy’s ‘cakewalk’ could have used more cake,” Rainbow grumbled. “Aww, we’ll have cake soon, Dashie!” Pinkie promised the athlete, “Just as soon as – Twilight!” The girls reached for the academic as she slumped over, only for her to wave them back, “I-I’m alright, fillies, really, it was j-just feedback.” “Feedback from what, darling?” “I put a ward on the dimensional tear we came through, so I would be alerted if anyone tried to manipulate it,” Twilight rubbed her head, “It hit me harder than I was expecting, is all.” Sunset stared at the indigo-haired girl, “Wait, you can do that?” “You mean espers can’t?” Twilight shook her head in bemusement, before turning her attention to Fluttershy, “We need to get back to 7th street right away, before the Princesses move on!” “O-okay, but to get there really fast, I’ll have to break all the traffic rules.” The academic flinched at her friend’s words, “I guess we’ll just have to make an exception,” she sighed resignedly, “But only because this is a special, emergency situation!” “Uh, Sparky?  You do realize that as a SINless criminal, most things you do are breaking the rules, don’t you?” “Oh, shut up,” grumbled Twilight as her friends grinned at her, “And no pony tells Celestia about this when we get back!  Or my parents!” A rumble of thunder announced that another storm would soon descend upon the metroplex as the seven women climbed out of the panel truck to stare at the blue glow that was pouring out from deeper in the alley, “Come on!” Twilight urged the others, “We don’t know how long the Princesses can keep the portal open!” Following after her friends, Sunset rounded a dumpster only to come to a dead stop as she stared at the oblong of blue light, about the size of an old full-length mirror, that floated in the air a few meters away, “Well, ain’t that some hoodoo drek.” “Home,” Fluttershy breathed happily, “We can go home!” the Equestrians shared a cheer, while Pinkie wrapped the shy woman in a bone-creaking embrace. “Well?  What are you all standing around for?” demanded Sunset, wiping a bit of moisture – probably some early rain – from her eyes, “Get going!” “There’s no need to be pushy, darling,” Rarity admonished the flame-haired girl. “Yes, there is!” snapped Sunset, “Your families, your lives are waiting for you, and the door could disappear at any moment!  You need to go now!” “Sunset’s right,” sighed Twilight unhappily, “We don’t know how much time we have, Fluttershy, Pinkie, you two go first, I don’t want to risk overloading the portal again, and you can reassure the Princesses that we’re alright and will be coming through shortly.” Nodding at the academic’s instructions, the two women delayed only to give Sunset a final embrace and wish her a tearful farewell before they passed through the portal, Pinkie leaping through with a loud “Wee!” as she cannonballed into the shimmering blue field. “Okay, Apple—” whatever Twilight was going to say was interrupted by the roar of an engine and the screech of heavy tires on pavement. Rainbow and Sunset cautiously peeked around the dumpster, only to return grim-faced as they urgently motioned to the others to keep down. “What is it, darlings?” asked Rarity in a tense whisper from where she crouched on the stained pavement. “A Citymaster riot vehicle just boxed us in!” replied Sunset, her voice carrying a mix of incredulity and dread, as she unslung her rifle, “And it’s unloading a squad of riot troops!” “It’s only eight troopers,” Rainbow corrected the razorgirl as she checked her M-24, “With darkened face plates and no insignia,” she glanced at her friends, “Maybe they’re looking for somepony else?” she added hopefully. “Attention, the group hiding behind the dumpster!” an amplified voice called out, “Send out the esper, unarmed, to be taken into custody, and the rest of you will be free to go, you have thirty seconds to comply.” “So much for that hope, Rainbow,” exhaled AJ as she raised Little Mac, “Well, ‘em varmints ain’t gettin’ Rares an’ Twi’ without a fight.” “No, they’re not,” Sunset declared as she shifted to face back towards the alley mouth, her muscles tensing as her augmented reflex kicked in, “Because the four of you are going through that damn portal right now, while you still can!” “What?!” exclaimed Twilight, “But what will happen to you?” “Doesn’t matter,” stated Sunset firmly, “As long as the six of you get back home safe, it’ll be worth it.” Any further protests were interrupted by a shot tearing through sheet metal, armor, flesh and bone to knock the razorgirl onto her back, blood pouring from her shoulder, as a pair of energy barriers, one magenta, the other cornflower blue flickered into being, cutting the five girls off from their attackers. Rarity’s eyes flickered up, and then her telekinetic wall shifted to rest upon Twilight’s, deflecting a pair of grenades back the way they came, where they burst and quickly began to fill the alley with gas. The four displaced ponies exchanged a look, and then Applejack and Rainbow scooped up a cursing Sunset and ran for the portal. “I do believe we should leave these ruffians with a proper farewell for their atrocious behavior,” the fashionista observed, nodding at the dumpster as several gunshots spanged off their barriers. “I think you’re right, Rarity,” the academic agreed.  With a slight flicker, the barriers vanished, only for Twilight’s aura to envelope the dumpster and send it hurtling down the alleyway and into the gas cloud as the two girls turned and plunged through the portal after their friends.