//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: The Runners // by DungeonMiner //------------------------------// Applejack sighed. Today was the day, the day where she would land the biggest blow against Flimflam Incorporated in all her years as a Runner. This was the gold mine she had always hoped for, a hit on Flimflam’s most important complex, with their most important data. It was the closest she’d get to putting a bullet through either of the brother’s heads. Loading her shotgun with the AP shot, the osmium, 000 buckshot pellets weighing twice as much as their more common, lead counterparts, she barely noticed that her arms were shaking as she licked her lips. With nine shells loaded into the shotgun, she lifted it up, and stared down its sights, checking the new smartlink, and making sure everything was properly calibrated. The ammo counter was up, the AR sight aids were ready, and the ballistics breakdown algorithm for possible spreads of the shot was running optimally. Nodding, she slid the shotgun onto her back and opened up the loading compartment on her arm. A box of .44 magnum slowly disappeared into the mare’s leg hidden in her arm, before it was followed by another, filling her arm with forty rounds of ammunition. Finally, she checked her right leg and extended her cyberhoof into its manipulation function. Three, long, mechanical fingers and a thumb emerged from the leg, and carefully whirled as she ran through the movements, checking their dexterity as she went. They all glided through their servos, with motion as smooth as a 34,000 nubit watch. She nodded, approvingly, before they snapped open, with long, claw-like blades protruding from them. Another thought and another blade shot out of Applejack’s arm, turning her whole leg into a vicious club if push came to shove. With the physical check confirming what her diagnostics had told her across her cyber eyes, Applejack was ready to go. At this point, the only thing that could mess with her implants and weapons was a decker, and Gem would have her covered. That mare could out-hack an air elemental made of blades, she’d keep her network safe and in working order. Applejack sighed. Gem knew, didn’t she? Of course, she knew, they’d been running together since the time the unicorn had saved her from having her leg hacked and nearly strangling herself with her own hoof. That was the night Applejack learned to trust your personal network to your decker, despite what all your instincts have told you. Gem knew the beef she had with Flimflam. The question was if she was going to do anything about it? She’d hadn’t pulled a “you’re too close to this,” before, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to start. Still, she’d probably go anyway, even if Gem told her otherwise. I mean, she had to know, right? Of course she did. She sighed, again, before she accessed her cybereyes. Gem may like the natural look, but this was personal, and she’d even have her eyes let everypony know that. She flipped through her options, before coming up to a skull that inhabited the middle of her eyes. She stared at her own reflection, glaring at the death that was literally in her eyes. Then she thought better of it. Just red would do, then. She flipped through her options again, and her irises came away red. That was much better, and it didn’t make her look like some teen that thought being sad was cool. With another sigh, she went down her list, checking everything one last time. Her cybernetics were working, her guns were working, her blades were ready, and she had enough grenades to level the whole place. It was time. Steeling herself one last time, she stepped out of the door of her small, fifteen by fifteen apartment, and walked down the rickety old stairs that threatened to collapse every time she crossed them. She thudded down the cheap, plastic stairs, which groaned under the weight of her cybernetics, and stepped outside into the drizzle of rain that filled the Canterlot Sprawl’s twilight sky. Pulling the brim of her hat low over her eyes, she quickly made the short trek to the monorail station. A few ponies eyed her as she walked onto the platform with a shotgun strapped to her back, and enough chrome to mistake her for a piece of construction equipment, but they kept their mouths shut, and did their best to look away. A short five-minute wait was all it took before the train arrived, gliding on its magnetic track in pure silence. “Please step away from the doors,” a voice called over the speaker, before the doors slid open and dropped small gangplanks onto the platform. Applejack walked in, and took a seat, before putting a call through to Gem. The white unicorn answered in a moment, and her face popped up on her AR interface. “Steel, dear, there you are. How far away are you?” “Hoi, Gem. I’ll be there in five minutes, assuming Candy’s there to pick me up.” “I’ll make sure she is,” Gem replied, as her eyes danced over an unseen interface. “Are you ready, dear?” “Eeyup.” “Uh, oh...the one-word answer. A sure sign that things are bothering our dear street sam.” Applejack glared at her, the fury in her red-tinted eyes boring through the matrix itself. “Alright, alright, calm down, Dear. Just remember we need your head clear for the run. No running off this time, and no heroics. You can manage that, can’t you?” Applejack sighed. There it was, the unspoken question she had been dreading. “Can you make this run without letting your personal feelings get in the way?” She could say yes, of course. It’d be easy to say yes, even though she didn’t know if she could or not, but her team’s lives were on the line for this, and even if she was going to enjoy every second of pumping Flimflam for every ounce of satisfaction, she knew if she got carried away she could get them all killed. So, she told the truth. “I...I hope so, Gem.” “Alright, I’ll do what I can to help, but I’m going to ask for some self-control, alright?” She nodded. “Good, we’ll go over the plan one last time, and then we’ll move out. See you when you get here.” Applejack nodded. “See ya soon, chummer.” The call went dark, and Applejack sat there on the train, with no one else but a sad, pathetic wastrel that sat on the other side of the car. A quick look revealed atrophied muscles, and a gaunt stomach, that was covered in dirt, grime, and other unmentionable substances. His wings were nearly plucked free, with only a few feathers left in either, while an infection stewed on his left side. He glanced up at her, eyes focusing and unfocusing as he tried to view the world around him. A worn datajack, polished smooth by the pony rubbing it after installing chip after chip told Applejack all she needed to know. “Muh fin...my fune...my fine…” the wastrel said, trying to move a tongue that was not used to speaking. “My fine ladddy...could I trouble you for directions, I seeedm to have lost my way home.” “You are, you’re a very long way from home,” Applejack replied. “Ahg,” he said, his lungs gulping for air even as he spoke. “You recognize me then?” “No, I don’t.” “Why I’m Curtain Call, actor extraordin...extrodin...dinaire!” He was not, in fact Curtain Call. Curtain Call was a unicorn, for one, and had just finished filming the latest in a long line of spy movies in Applewood. No, this was some poor pegasus that simply thought he was Curtain Call. It wasn’t a surprise, though, it’s what he had been dreaming for a long time. “Are you sure that’s who you are?” Applejack asked, as she watched the pegasus’ face. A moment of confusion passed across his face for a moment, before he looked down. “I...oh...oh no…I...I guess I’m not, am I?” Applejack shook her head. “I...I...I’m sorry to bother you, miss.” He said before he began to wander back to his corner. Halfway there, he stopped. “You...you have any nubits?” She shook her head. “Spent them all.” “All of them?” “I don’t have enough for a Dreamchip.” “Dreamchip? Dastardly things they are!” the pegasus said, slipping back into being Curtain Call. “Why, the whole indus...dustry needs to clamp down on them, ban them all, I say.” “I’m sure you do.” “Well, cheerio, Miss, I must be off, I need to find my way home.” Applejack nodded. “You have no idea.” “Next stop, Worker’s Place,” rang the voice over the intercom, and Applejack stood, keeping her eyes on the dreamer as he sat back down, and plugged a nearly-ruined chip back into his skull. He’d dream on, living a better life, if only in his head. <><><|><><> “Alright,” Gem said. “The plan is as follows: with the help of the team that Spikarunz set us up with—” “Can’t we just call him Spike?” Wingmare asked. “It’s just so much easier to say, and he told us we could.” Gem rolled her eyes. “With the help of the team Spike set us up with, we’re going to move in once night falls. Spike’s team has infiltrated the power plant and will shut down the power grid for fifteen minutes. Unfortunately, Flimflam has on-site generators that will re-supply the building within five minutes. These five minutes are our window to enter the building. “We’ll enter in three teams of two. Wingmare and I will enter through the west door, here,” Gem said, pointing to the 3D layout they built from the floorplan Applejack had gotten from her brother. “It’s the closest one to their core system, and we need every moment we have to get past that security as fast as possible. Once we get to the core, we’ll walk the retrieval team to the location of the jewel, and I will simultaneously start downloading paydata. “Web and Candy will be the distraction. Staying on the outside, you’ll wait for the signal from the retrieval team, and light up the entire south side. Candy, throw everything you have at it, Web, get as many elementals that you can on there, and just let them loose. Web, you’re also in charge of distracting any security elementals there may be. “Steel and Rookie, you’re moving in and retrieving the jewel. You enter through the eastern entrance and do your best to shut down on-site security. If we need your help during the initial infiltration, you’ll have to back us up, however, once the core is secured, I’ll direct you to the jewel. You’re in charge of getting through to the vault, and grabbing it, once you have it, then you have to warn Candy and Web, and hopefully, it’ll give us enough of an opening to get through. “Everypony understand?” Gem said. “Last minute to ask questions.” The team looked around. “Alright, then we have to move, the light’s are out at 11:15 on the dot. Let’s go.” <><><|><><> 11:13 pm blinked in the corner of Applejack’s vision. She sat outside the eastern side of the complex, sitting on a bench not fifteen feet from the wall. Twilight sat next to her, staring up at the building as she fiddled with a bullet in her magical aura. “Ya nervous?” Applejack asked, continuing to glare with her glowing red eyes at the corporate warehouse. “A little,” the mage admitted. “Well, you have a minute to set that aside,” she said back. “I know it ain’t the most comforting thing to say, but it’s what we’ve got to work with.” “I know…” “If it makes ya feel any better, ya never get used to it. You’re going to feel it every time.” Twilight sighed. “I figured.” Applejack stood. “Come on, we need to be ready to go.” Every light around them immediately shut down. “Let’s go.” They rushed the wall, and with a single cast of a jump spell, they both lifted in the air, flying the seven feet they needed to clear it in a moment. “So far there doesn’t seem to be any elementals after us,” Twilight remarked. “Less talking, more moving,” the earth pony warned, as she rushed the door. The door was equipped with a standard maglock, which normally stayed closed even without electricity. Normally a maglock was one of the cheapest, yet effective ways of stopping intruders, as any tampering with the lock would set off an alarm and could bring an entire corp down on a single door. Unfortunately, Applejack had an armor-piercing shotgun, and the alarm didn’t have power. Three shells slamming into the lockbox that held all of the electronics, and the door swung open. Applejack was already in, shotgun ready, and rushing down the hall. “Steel! Steel, wait!” “Can’t wait, we have 3 minutes and 46 seconds,” she said, reading off the time clock running in the corner of her vision. “Who’s there?” A voice called out, and Applejack saw a blind security stallion gasping around in the darkness. She had already switched to night vision. Blam! Her shotgun roared, and the osmium pellets tore his face to mush, leaving him to fall to the floor. “Yer fallin’ behind, Sugarcube!” “I can’t see so—ow! I can’t see in the dark! I need to cast a spell for that!” Applejack groaned and ran back. “Fine, I’m coming ta get ya!” she yelled before she slipped underneath the unicorn. Twilight yelped in surprised as she was carried away by the chromed-up earth pony, until the street sam shushed her. “We ain’t got time for yelling, Rookie, we gotta go! We only got a minute and a half to get as deep as we can!” “Hey!” another security pony said before another shot from Applejack’s shotgun silenced him. The clock kept ticking. She had four more shells before she had to reload. She had three hundred feet before she needed to be where they planned. The lights kicked back on, and an alarm began to ring. Trenchcoats were off mohawks out. Another two ponies were waiting for her, weapons up and ready to shoot. Blam! Another dead pony hit the floor, as the blades ejected from her arm, and cut the second one down. “Gem, what’s the status?” asked over the comm “I haven’t even jacked in yet!” came the reply. “Are you in the core room?” “Yes, we’re in the core room,” Wingmare said. “Great, waiting for instruction.” Two seconds passed and a message flashed across her vision. “Head to the north side of the building, You're looking for an elevator shaft.” She knew the one. All the hours spent studying the fire escape plan Big Mac had given enough her was paying off. “Rookie, this way!” Twilight, who had just enough time to slip off of Applejack's back, spun as the earth pony left her in the dust. “Wait, Steel!” Down the north hallway, taking a right, left, left, right, Applejack's led the way, emptying her shotgun into a few more security ponies, before she screeched to a halt in front of the elevator, loading the tube with her hollowpoint slugs. She always thought that they seemed like a very particular kind of “frag you,” and, honestly, that was the message she wanted to get across tonight. “Where are we heading, Gem?” the earth pony typed. A split second later, the reply came. “Hang on, dear,” He's text read, “dealing with some matrix security, right now. Give me a moment. For now head down.” Good enough. Twilight ran up next to her. “Sorry, I'm not used to so much running.” “Ya get used to it,” the colony answered. “Where are the security teams? We should have been swarmed by now.” “I'm fairly certain that they're being used to prepare the EC Expo.” Applejack glanced at her. “What?” “Flimflam Inc was elected to host the Equestrian Corporation Expo, you know, where corps show off all their new stuff for the year to brag to each other and the public?” Applejack nodded. “Yeah, I've seen the Expo, but that's not for another few months.” “I know, Flimflam tends to secure the area first, and then hold it, so their security isn't spread thin for a long time, or when it's obvious,” Twilight explained. The elevator arrived. Both Runners shot inside, keeping their eyes on either side of the hallway. “I think Mr. Spike got us in when Flimflam's busy trying to save face.” Applejack shook her head. “Glad to know somepony's looking out for us,” she said, as she pulled out a hoof-held tablet. “Ya know how ta work this thing?” Twilight glanced at the tablet, and its four-inch screen. She nodded and grabbed it from the earth pony's hoof. With a click and a push, the tablet came to life,  and it immediately revealed the world in a green tint, not unlike the first Augmented Reality programs that flooded the market more than three decades ago. “There it is,” she said, pouring to a highlighted glow. It seemed a ways away,  but they knew what they were looking for. “Great, now all we need to do is get there.” A text appeared, from Gem. “Here are some downloaded instructions, I don't have time to walk you through, they've brought the heat in matrix defense if nothing else.” A quarter-second passed, and an attachment came through, which automatically opened, revealing a floor plan, marked with green arrows. “Alright, I got the map, let’s go!” Not two steps down the hall, another security pony, this one dressed in an armored vest that was not thick enough to stop Applejack’s shotgun, though she did need two shells to put him down. They spun around the corner, following Gem’s instructions, before Twilight tackled Applejack to the ground. As they fell to the floor in a mess of limbs and chrome, a ball of shining energy, as bright as a star, shot past them, rocketing down the hallway before slamming into the far wall, popping like a bubble. A mage walked down the hallway, followed by a massive, flaming elemental. “Well, well. Two different Runners. That could earn me quite a bonus.” Applejack cursed, before she pushed herself up, and then felt herself freeze. “Weapons down, dears,” the mage said, as magic flooded Applejack’s body. Her cybernetic limbs didn’t respond to her commands, she couldn’t even fight, the dead metal unable to distinguish between her and the spell. “Now let’s see, your weapon’s too long for you to put it to your temple, so I suppose I’ll just have you kill each oth—” Twilight suddenly shot forward through Applejack’s vision and slapped the Flimflam mage. He had enough time to blink, before he dropped into a puddle of orange goo. Applejack felt the spell loosen on her, and the elemental shrugged before dissipating into the astral plane. The cowpony blinked. “What just happened?” “Well, I took some advice to heart,” Twilight said, “and once I figured out that conserve ammo applies to spells as well, I’ve started to look at the effectiveness of my spells. Anyway, long story short, the easiest way to get rid of the mage was to turn him to goo, so I acted like I was also under the effect of the spell, praying that he cast Mob Mind, until his guard dropped enough that I could close the distance.” Applejack blinked. “Huh…” she said, raising her shotgun to blast a pony as he came around the corner. “There might be hope for you yet.” “While I appreciate the thought, we do need to move. Just help me cut this goo in half first.” “That carries over?” “There’s a reason Spike taught it to me.” “Huh.” Applejack said, ejecting the blades in her arm. <><><|><><> Wham! Wham! Wham! Applejack’s legs were a battering ram against the steel door. Her heavily chromed hind legs were designed with the purpose of breaching a door and given enough time, Applejack had yet to find one that she couldn’t break down. Twilight sat not two feet away, staring into the hallway they had just come down with her pistol in her magical grasp. “How much longer?” “Don’t worry, Rookie,” Applejack said, before unleashing another kick. “Just give me a minute.” “It’s already been a minute.” Wham! The door slammed open, and the poor, broken maglock began to whine. “Told ya ta give me a minute. Let’s get that gem.” Twilight raised the tablet again, and glanced into the tinted room, searching for the highlighted gem. “It’s over here.” Applejack followed the unicorn, rushing through the rows of shelves and racks before they both screeched to a halt in front of a small, glass case. An orange gem sat, suspended by eight, needle-like protrusions. It gleamed in the fluorescent light of the warehouse and shone with a slight, other-worldly light. Applejack smashed the case, and opened a compartment in her arm, sliding it in. “Alright, let’s go. Wingmare, we have it!” She cried into her comm, already running back the way they came. “Roger that. I’ll get Gem out of here.” “Let’s go, Rookie!” “Don’t have to tell me twice!” Twilight said, hot on her heels. They ran back through the halls, rushing past the bodies of the guards that the pair had left behind. They finally made it past the elevator, leaping over the bisected parts of the mage, before they ran in, and pressed the button for the main floor. As the doors closed, and the elevator began to rise, Web’s voice cut in. “There’s a problem with the plan,” she said, her voice strained. “The rest of the security force just arrived.” “How many of them?” Gem asked over the comm. “I see twenty APCs,” Candy said, “so, I dunno, a hundred and twenty?” “There’s that security we were worried about,” Twilight muttered. “With backup.” “Have they moved in on the entrances yet?” Gem asked. “Not yet, they’re gathering forces right now.” “Okay...okay...let me think…” Gem said. The elevator shuddered. “What was—” The floor beneath them swung open, and they had just a fraction of a moment, before they began to fell. Applejack moved through the air, grabbing a hold of the mage, and pushing off of the still-swinging floor as they tumbled down the elevator shaft. She reached out with her cyberhoof, the fingers stretching out and digging into the steel and plastic of the far wall as they fell. “I gotcha!” she yelled, holding onto the mage as she tore a gash into the elevator shaft before they both stopped. “I got ya.” “Good,” Twilight squeaked. “Because we’re a long way up.” Applejack glanced down and saw the dizzying four hundred foot drop below her. “Well,” she muttered, “at least they gave us enough time to curse Flimflam with our dying breath.” “I wish I learned levitation…” Twilight whimpered. “Well, we have some time to think about it,” Applejack said before she began to yell into her comm. “Wingmare, Wingmare, we need an extraction!” There was no answer. “Wingmare?” Still no answer. She cursed. “We’re in a dead spot.” Twilight whimpered. “Come on, Rookie, we’ll be fine,” the street sam said, as she started to glance around the shaft, looking for any sign of a way out. “Look for a vent of some kind.” “You’re not going to drop me are you?” Twilight asked. “No, I ain’t,” she grunted, checking around. “Oh, don’t drop me, don’t drop me, don’t drop me…” “I’m not going to drop you, now look for a way out!” “You're going to drop me, you're going to drop me!” “I’m not going to drop you!” “I’m going to die! I’m going to die!” “Rookie!” Applejack growled. “I’m going to die! I’m gonna die!” “Rookie! Rookie listen!” she said, shaking the mare in her grip. The mage screamed, before staring up at Applejack fear in her eyes. “Listen to me, Rookie,” Applejack told her. “I’m an awful liar. Gem does not let me talk to Ringos, Wingmare doesn’t let me disguise myself, and I couldn’t even talk to my own brother without breaking his heart, cause I had to tell him that our sister went missing years ago, and it's all my fault. I can’t lie to save my life, so when I say I’m not going to drop you, you know it’s the truth. “I will not drop you, okay?” Twilight didn’t answer. “Okay?” “Okay.” “Good, now help me find a way up, I can’t climb with only one arm.” “R-right, right. I’m on it.” Applejack kept looking around, looking for any sign of a way before Twilight spoke up. “There’s a vent right there.” The cowpony glanced at it, a small vent that was nine feet up. “That’ll do. Can you climb Rookie?” “I...I don’t know.” “Alright, grab that bar right there.” Twilight obeyed, gripping the oiled bar with both hooves. “Now, try to climb,” Applejack said. She pulled herself up an inch, only to slip back down. Her legs trembled. “Come on, you’ll be alright. Use your hind legs.” She pushed back up, and slid back down. “Alright, it looks like it’s too oiled right now. Just stay right here, Rookie.” “What?” “I’ll be right back.” “You’re leaving me?” “I’ll be back,” she said, already climbing the elevator shaft. “You’re leaving me?” Twilight repeated. “I’m getting help.” “No, no don’t leave me!” “I’ll be back, Rookie, don’t worry just hang on.” “No! No! Don’t leave me.” Applejack kept climbing, listening as Twilight cried and whimpered behind her. <><><|><><> Twilight hugged the slippery pole and wondered how long it would take her to die. Steel had left her, and now she was going to die. She’d probably just become so exhausted that she’d fall asleep and slip off the pole, where the only good news was that she’d die unconscious. Why did Spike do this to her? Why did he trust Runners? They stole, murdered, and lied their way into wherever they wanted to go and ripped ponies' lives apart for money. Security ponies would leave families behind, scientists were kidnapped, and ponies were simply taken away, all for doing their jobs while in a Runner's way. And she had been dumb enough to think it was any other way. Of course Steel left her. Of course she did. She had the jewel, the job would be complete, and all it cost them was a small little mage that they didn’t care for. Oh, sure they got her a room, but that was just kissing up so they could use her. Sure, they kept her alive during the Hoofball job, they needed an extra pair of eyes, but now she was useless to them, so they dropped her like a hot rock. “Oh, I’m not going to drop you, Twilight,” the mage muttered, mockingly. “I’m a bad liar, so you know I’m telling the truth. Says the Runner, the pony that makes her living lying. No, you didn’t drop me, you just left me, so I would fall on my own.” She was an idiot. They were Runners. Professional Runners, they knew all the tricks, all the lies, each and every little thing to say to get people exactly where they wanted them before they ripped ponies apart. Of course they acted like they were warming up to you, Twilight, they wanted you on their side, they wanted you to trust them, it made you easier to control. And then they leave you to die when you’re no longer useful. They were exactly like she thought they were, and she'd been dumb enough to fall for the lie. She sat there, holding onto the pole, wondering how long it would take to die before she heard the beating of wings. She looked up, searching for the source, and blinked as she saw Wingmare and Steel, both coming down through the shaft. “The old dropping elevator trick,” the rainbow-maned pegasus said with a smirk. “It’s a classic, even if it doesn’t work on pegasi.” Twilight blinked before she glanced into Steel’s eyes, which had turned back to a natural green. “Told ya I’d be back, Rookie. Now come on, let’s go.” “Yeah, the sooner the better, my strength spell only lasts so long,” Wingmare said. Twilight blinked, and she leaped into the chrome arms of Steel. “Oh, thank Celestia! Thank you! Thank you, thank you!” “Let’s go, Wingmare,” Steel said. “We still have to get out of here.” Twilight smiled as Steel and Wingmare carried her up and out of the shaft, only faintly aware that relieved tears were running down her face. <><><|><><> Gem’s plan had gone off without a hitch. Candy and Web, instead of assaulting the front of the building, began lobbing every explosive and spirit they had onto the gathered mass of security ponies. This had, of course, garnered the attention of the hundred-plus ponies, and they began to fill the entire building the runners had been standing on with lead. Both of them had taken a few shots, but once the word that the others had exited the building reached them, they disappeared into the darkness with an invisibility spell while Web’s spirits continued to throw grenades and spells down on the mess. Now, they were rushing through the streets, swerving through the busy, night-time traffic to the meeting spot for their Ringo. Inside of Candy’s van, Web was still administering First Aid to Candy, who was now heavily bandaged as she drove the van, while she herself was bleeding all over the seat. “How are you holding up, Web?” Gem asked. “I’ll be fine,” she said, handing the decker a syringe, “just stick this in my leg at a twenty-five-degree angle.” “Uh...alright…” Gem replied before she tried to follow the instructions as Web continued to move to take care of their rigger. Applejack watched this all from the back seat while fiddling with the jewel in her cyberhoof, slowly letting it spin in her fabricated fingers. “This better be expensive,” she muttered. “It’s more than expensive,” Twilight said. “If it was just expensive, Spike could buy it. No, that’s invaluable.” Applejack nodded. “I figured as much.” The van pulled up to the guarded, Harmony Inc. owned lot that Spike had directed them towards, before being waved through by a security pony. A stallion with a blue mane and white coat was waiting for them, wearing mirrorshades and carrying a katana at his side. “Alright, we’re here,” Candy said, sounding slightly delirious from the blood loss. “I’m going to stay in the van. I’m a little tired, and I think I need some time off.” “That sounds like a great idea, Candy,” Gem said. “Steel, grab the gem, and let’s go. Rookie, come with us.” “Why me?” “Proof of life among other things.” “Well, that’s a lovely thought.” “Come on,” Applejack said, as they all stepped out of the van. The three ponies approached the unicorn stallion, before joining him in the spotlight that illuminated the meeting ground. “Do you have the gem?” he asked. Twilight paused. “We have it right here, Ringo.” “Excellent, I—” he began before cutting himself off. “Shining, is that you?” Twilight suddenly. “Twilight?” the Ringo said. “You’re a Runner now?” “Mr. Spikearunz wants me on the job to make sure things are done right.” “I...he hired you, specifically for this job?” “Yes.” Shining blinked. “Can I see your comm?” “Um...sure?” she said, before handing her small, communication device over. “Uh...I’m sorry to interrupt, but we have business?” Gem said. “One minute, Runner,” Shining said, before making a call. A moment passed. “Yes, I received some very interesting orders for dealing with these Runners.” “My sister’s with them, that’s the problem!” Gem glanced between the two, before scanning the guards. Applejack pressed close to Twilight, her leg weapon ready. “So you didn’t order me to kill them?” Silence echoed in the entire lot. The Runners were tense, while Twilight stared at him shocked. “I see...I see. Thank you for clearing that up, sir.” “Yes, sir.” “Goodbye.” Shining hung up, and sighed, before turning to the Runners. “Sorry about that, it seems that someone in middle management has been taking some unapproved bonuses lately.” “Well you’ve made it very hard to trust you,” Gem said. “I’m aware,” Shining said, handing the comm back to Twilight, “but I’m not going to order someone to shoot my sister.” Gem glared at him for a long moment, before she took a step back. “Then you wouldn’t mind reschedule—” “Here,” Applejack said, handing their Ringo the gem. “Steel!” Gem cried. She didn’t respond, and Shining took the gem before reaching into a pocket and holding it under a jeweler's loupe of some description. Shining sighed, before pulling out a credstick. “Alright, this is it. Here’s your payment, just keep my sister safe, and we’ll be on good terms.” Steel nodded. “I get it. You ain’t the only one with a sister.” Shining didn’t say anything but turned to Twilight. “Stay safe Twi. You know where to find me if things go wrong.” Twilight nodded. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. They’re taking good care of me.” Shining sighed, before walking away. “Come on, Rookie. Let’s get home,” Applejack called, leaving Gem to stand in the middle of the lot, still unsure of how Steel just took control of the negotiations and walked out without getting anyone killed. “I...what?”