//------------------------------//
// Chapter 21 
// Story: The Runners 
// by DungeonMiner 
//------------------------------//

Consciousness slowly returned to Twilight, which, honestly, was the only clue that she blacked out. Her head throbbed but still spun with the familiar and now-hated haze of alcohol. “Wha—what’s happening?” she asked before she suddenly realized that her legs were tied to the chair she was sitting on. 

    “Initiation,” Came a voice from the shadows beyond, a voice that would have sounded terrifying if Twilight didn’t recognize it as Candy’s.

    “Wha—?” Twilight muttered.

    “Flashpoint,” Gem said from the shadows, and it took Twilight a moment for her to realize that she was being addressed. “If all has gone according to plan,” Gem continued, “you should be somewhere between having a hangover, and being sloshed. It should suck.”

    It did.

    “Now that you are properly impaired, we have your mission: you are going to lead a Run.”

    Twilight’s head was spinning too much to really process that.

    “It doesn’t need to be especially difficult, but you need to be able to pull it off.”

    “Wha—Why?” Twilight managed to ask.

    “Because if you’re going to be a real Runner, then you need to be able to hit a FeedBag blindfolded,” Steel replied.

    “Blindfolds don’t work super well on astral projections,” Web added, as she packed her various stimulants away. “so being a little drunk and dealing with a hangover works just as well.” 

    “So you’re going to lead us,” Candy quipped

    “We’re waiting for your call,” Wingmare added.

    Twilight’s head was still spinning as her mind tried to catch up. She needed to what? Lead them? In a Run? They needed to hit someplace, but where? “Guh…” she mumbled.

    “We need directions, Flashpoint,” Gem pushed. 

    “I...uh…” she said, realizing how awful her head felt, and how hungry she felt. 

    “What’s our target, Flashpoint?” Web asked.

    “I…” She was so hungry, and her head hurt way too much to think about this.

    “We need to know where we’re going!” Candy said.

    “I…”

    “What’re we hitting, Sugarcube?” Steel asked.

    “We need to know.”

    “A-Appletea’s?” she said, naming the first restaurant that came to mind.

    The team glanced between each other, before looking back at Gem.

    Gem sighed. “You heard the mare, we’re hitting an Appletea’s.”

    The runners burst into motion. Wingmare cut Twilight loose from her chair, and the next thing she knew, the headlight on Candy’s van were shining in her eyes. She was roughly pony-handled into the back of the van, and she heard Gem cry out. “There’s one on the corner of Acorn and 34th.”

    Twilight barely got her hooves under her before the van lurched forward, rubber screeching as they shot down the street. She tumbled in the back of the van, her already queasy stomach going nauseous as she rolled around the cabin. As her willingness to die increased, a hoof suddenly stopped her. 

    Twilight looked up to see Web looming over before the shaman handed her a pill. “Here, take this, it’s for the hangover.”

    Twilight grabbed them and swallowed the pills dry. “Oh, thank you, I need this to end.”

    “Oh, no. They make the hangover worse,” Web said.

    Twilight just managed to blink before she was released back into the cabin. She slammed against the van wall before Steel grabbed her. “What’s the plan, Sugarcube? We going for wallets or safes?” 

    “Wallets?” Twilight repeated, barely registering the words coming into her ears and out of her mouth.

    “We’re going for wallets! Get your guns and meanest faces ready!”

    “Wait—” Twilight said before she was dropped back into the chaos of the van. Another screeching turn sent her sprawling across the floor, rolling from wall to wall. She hit the steel with a thud before she looked down and took a moment to truly appreciate Candy’s shag carpeting, before being thrown back across the van as it careened around another corner.

    “ETA 1 minute!” Candy shouted from the driver's seat.

    “How are we going in?” Wingmare asked. 

    “Gur?” Twilight asked, feeling things bubble up from her stomach.

    “Wall or door?” 

    “Duh?” 

    “Back or Front?” 

    “Fah?” 

    “Front door!” Wingmare said, before dropping the poor unicorn. She landed hard, before bouncing around until the van screeched to a halt. 

    Gem pulled Twilight to her hooves, shoved her pistol in her hooves. “What’s the move, boss?”

    Twilight’s first move was to not throw up. 

    Her second one was to collect herself and breathe as she realized she was about to go in and rob a whole bunch of ponies. 

The team looked at her expectantly.

“We,” she said finally. “We’re going to go in there, and…” She shook her head and forced herself to think. This was too much all at once. How was she supposed to lead them like this? She could barely stand, much less think, and they were expecting her to plan? Were they out of their collective mind? How was she supposed to do anything?

The team stared at her, waiting.

“We’re going to…” How did they expect her to answer? How did they…

Gem stared down at her, her eyes judging her, weighing her, testing her.

Test...she’s testing me...

And that word alone woke something in her.

Test, she thought with a sudden clarity that tore through her headache. This was a test. Of course this was a test! It’s a test, and by Celestia, I don’t fail tests! I’m...I’m not going to fail this test!

    Her eyes hardened. “We’re going to go in there, and Steel, you’ll take the lead.”

    Steel smiled and nodded.

    “Web, get an elemental on overwatch, the put anyone who tries to be a hero asleep.”

    The shaman agreed. 

    “Gem, keep any emergency signal from reaching the Star. Wingmare, Candy, you’re the collectors. We ready?”

    The ponies nodded. 

    “Then let’s go!”

    “Yes Ma’am!” The team answered.

    “And Web!” Twilight called.

    The shaman glanced back. 

    “I want some pills that will help with this afterward, alright?” Twilight ordered.

    Web smirked. “Yes, ma’am.”

    The team rushed ahead, guns raised, drones buzzing, and blades whirring. The door to the two-star-at-best chain restaurant didn’t stand a chance. 

    Candy would later admit that the C4 may have been a bit overboard, but right now, it certainly made quite the entrance. The door slammed into the, thankfully unmanned, host stand, splintering it in a fraction of a second before the thunder of automatic fire got the attention of everyone in the building.

    “Alright, Ladies and Gentlecolts,” Steel said as she held her shotgun high, where everyone could see it. “We are tonight’s entertainment, and we’re all going to play a game. In order to play, we’re going to need every credstick, credit cards, watches, jewelry, and commlinks you have for the game.”

    Wingmare smirked. “Participation is mandatory.”

    As if to emphasize the point, Candy’s heavy, tank-like drone aimed it’s very large gun directly into the face of a stallion. 

    Wingmare and Candy began moving around the restaurant, gathering anything and everything that the customers had of any value. Meanwhile, Gem and Web had the entire place on lockdown, no signals, or magic in or out.

    Twilight looked down on her operation and smiled. She was Twilight Motherfragging Sparkle, and she didn’t fail tests. 

    “Signal to the local Gold Star branch is intercepted,” Gem said, whispering over the comm with her subvocal microphone. “I can delay it, but if I stop it completely, they’ll send an error message. We have twenty minutes.”

    Twilight glanced around, doing her best not to give away Gem’s information when her eye caught sight of a pony in the back. Large, rotund, with a mustache that screamed bad cop-trid, a stallion with a poorly-hidden gun on his belt. His eyes shifted as he watched Candy and Wingmare go around the various subdivisions of the tacky restaurant, through the scent of overly-sweet and sub-standard food. His hoof dangled by his side, as though it were not trying to make any obvious moves. 

    Twilight waved down Web, before nodding toward the stallion. “Go check him out, he’s worrying me.”

Web nodded but did not move. Instead, she moved her hoof in careful, specific motions before a bolt of green energy arched low across the ground, before slamming into the stallion. He froze where he sat, though his eyes went wide, before tumbling to the floor, paralyzed.

Without another word, Web walked up to the stallion, even as the other ponies at the table cowered at her. She leaned down, picked up the gun off his belt. “This will fetch a pretty nubit.” she said as she casually slipped it into her belt. “Thank you for your patronage, and don’t be a hero, alright?” 

The stallion couldn’t answer, but his eyes danced between her and the floor, a slight panic filling him.

Gem sent another subvocal signal. “Ten minutes, darlings!”

“Come on, keep putting it in the bag,” Wingmare said as she waved her gun in front of the collected civilians. Most whimpered, though a few of the braver ponies made to protect their partners. 

Rarity sent another message. “Time is up. We don’t want to be here when the message gets sent.”

“Alright, Ladies and Gentlecolts,” Steel said with a smirk and a snarl. “The next part of the game is really simple. We’re going to play hide and seek, and y’all are the seekers. So you’re going to cover your eyes and count to 500. No peeking or things are going to go poorly, got it?” 

    The ponies around the room glanced around before Steel fired her shotgun into the air. The blast roared into the room, and the civilians cried as they ducked in fear. “Y’all best start counting now, ya’hear?”

    The ponies obeyed, sticking their noses down into the table, as sixteen different ponies began counting aloud. 

    And with that, Twilight and the others slipped away. The van was waiting for them, engine purring and ready to go. They clambered in, bags of loot hanging behind them, before Candy hit the gas, leaving nothing but a screech, and the smell of burning rubber to mark their passing. 

    “Alright!” Wingmare cheered. “Good job, Flashpoint, we made it clean.”

    “Of course we did!” Twilight said. “Now do you actually have something for this headache or not?” 

    Web smiled before she handed the unicorn a small vial. “Here, this will help.”

Twilight greedily gulped it down and smiled. She then sat down, trying to let the promise of relief wash over her as a sweet balm before the medicine did its work. While the hope of relief did a little to help, the better, greater relief came from the knowledge that she did, in fact pass her test. She passed, and she did with flying colors. Her reputation was safe—  

    Sirens wailed behind them.

    Twilight’s eyes snapped open, and she stood up to look out the back of the van. A pair of Gold Star Cruisers were behind them and gaining fast.

    “Gem?” Candy said before she slipped her consciousness into her van. “Weren’t the Star still a few minutes away?”

    “They were supposed to be,” she replied.

    “Maybe they’re not after us,” Steel said, loading her shotgun just in case. “Maybe they’re after some Go-gang.”
    
    Everyone there knew better, but it was a nice thought. 

    Gem glanced at Twilight. “What’s the call, Flashpoint?”

    “What?” Twilight asked, surprised. 

    “This is still your run,” Gem said.

    Twilight cursed. “Alright, Candy, act natural for a bit. Steel, keep watching the back, let us know if they're still following us.”

    “They are.”

    “Web, do you know the reinforce spell?” 

    “I do.”

    “Start casting it on everything.”

    Web nodded and began to chant.

    “What’s the plan, Flashpoint?” Gem asked.

    “We still being followed?” 

    “They’re gaining,” Steel reported.

    “Candy, pull us to the nearest highway.”

    “On it,” she replied.

    Twilight then began to chant, moving her hooves in the proper movements. 

    “We’re on the highway!” Candy said.

    “The Spells are done!” Web cried.

    Twilight nodded, as she finished her spell. “Then hold on!”

    The second she finished, two things happened. The first, an Earth Elemental appeared, passing through the van in a cloud of sand and dust, before it passed the back doors. The second thing that happened was the haste spell that Twilight was casting on the van began to fire.

    The van shot forward, reaching a hundred, no, two hundred miles per hour in seconds. Rocketing down the highway, the sirens behind them began to fade. “Woo!” Candy screamed maniacally as the asphalt flew past them. The ponies inside were thrown to the floor of the van, as Twilight’s spell worked its magic.

    Then the Earth Elemental began its work. With the services Twilight demanded, it began to push, forcing the van forward even faster as its speed doubled, then tripled. A sonic boom shattered windows, as the van reached nine hundred miles per hour, spared any damage to anything else on the highway with the elementals last service of flight, and Web’s reinforce spells, which even now strained as the van threatened to shake apart. 

    Streaking through the air like a shooting star, the van cleared a number of buildings, before the haste spell ended. The van began to slow, and as it did, the Elemental slowly dropped the van back to the ground. The van’s tires kissed the asphalt, and then it carefully, slowly, rolled to a stop. 

    Gem peeled herself off the floor of the van and came to a tentative stand. “Well...that certainly was an escape.”

    Wingmare likewise pushed herself off the back wall. “Yeah it was, nice job, Flashpoint.”

    Twilight nodded. “Yeah...yeah it was…” she said. 

    “There is no way they’re going to find us now,” Candy said before she slowly began to turn around the corner. 

    “No, no I don’t think so…” Twilight said, with a smirk. “Cause I’m MotherSparkle Fraglight, and I fail don’t tests.”

    And her world went black as she hit the shag carpeting. 


<><><|><><>


    Twilight came to consciousness once again, this time, laying a bed, with a warm, damp cloth pressed to her head. For a moment, she lay there, eyes closed, enjoying the darkness and warmth that surrounded her. Of all the ways she wanted to wake up, this was definitely the best. 

    What made it better was the complete lack of a hangover. 

    Eventually, though it did take her a good few minutes, she decided to finally open her eyes, to see the ceiling of her safehouse room. A soft, warm light colored her room, and she faintly realized it was morning as she glanced up at shadows it cast. 

    She slowly rolled over, before kicking herself free of her blankets, and standing. A languid stretch followed by a loud groan signaled her full awakening, before she walked out of the little bedroom in the corner of the warehouse. 

    Heading down the stairs into the warehouse proper, she first met the wonderful smell of cooking breakfast. Then she saw her friends, lounging about the van as they used the various stations, Candy in the kitchen, Web at her shrine, Wingmare in the chain hammock above the van, and so on. 

    Steel looked up from her workbench. “Well, hey, look at that! Flashpoint’s up.”

    Gem focused on her, apparently looking through whatever AR display she had up. “Flashpoint, dear! You’re awake!”

    Twilight smiled. “Barely. How long was I out?”

    “Sixteen hours,” Web said. “You really didn’t take the drain from those spells too well.”

    “Apparently not. Normally I’m better than that.”

    “It was probably the hangover.”

    “Sure,” the unicorn said. “Let’s go with that.”

    “Breakfast is almost ready!” Candy said, as the smell of fresh soy-bacon. 

    “Oh, yes please,” Twilight said, as she sat at a table. 

    Gem smirked before she slid a credstick across the table. “Here’s your share, by the way! Congrats on leading a successful, first run.”

    Twilight picked it up before checking the contents. “It’s not a whole lot is it?” 

    “They were ponies eating in an Appletea’s,” Wingmare pointed out as she looked over her makeshift hammock. “And splitting it six ways is not going to help it much.”

    “You know, that’s a fair point,” she admitted. 

    “But the important thing,” Gem said, “is that you made it. You passed our test. You are officially one of us, no question or doubt.” 

    “Ain’t that the truth!” Steel said as she sat beside them. 

    “The other good news is we haven’t sold everything yet,” Wingmare said, joining them. “My fence doesn’t like taking too much hot stuff.”

    Web sighed and stood, stretching her legs as she untwisted herself from her meditative position. “It’s still not going to be more than another hundred or so nubits,” she said before joining the others. 

    “But the money doesn’t really matter,” Candy said, juggling six different plates for the table. “You’re really a Runner now! That’s the important thing!”

    Gem nodded. “It is! Of course, this now brings up the question of our next job, and what we’re doing.” 

    “My fixer has an insertion job for us,” Web said. “Planting a mage, I’ve heard.”

    “That might be fun,” Candy said. 

    “You would call Runnin’ fun,” Steel muttered.

    “Well, there’s always—” Twilight began before her comm began to ring. “Hang on,” she said, before flipping on her AR glasses. She blinked as she saw Spikarunz’s name on the call. She answered it immediately, before sending it to the holotable.

    Spike’s face appeared over them, and he smiled. “Ah, I have all of you, good. This will make this easy then. I have your next job. Retrieval again, another gem, but this one will be much easier to find.”

    “How so?” Gem asked.

    “RENUMA is hosting the Grand Galloping Gala this year, and they want to show off. Silver Chip’s daughter, Micro Chip, will be wearing the gem around her neck for most of the evening.”

    An image of a young mare with a pale green coat and a black mane appeared, next to a necklace, with a large pale blue gem at its center. 

    “Retrieval of the Gem will give you the usual rewards, but do be careful. RENUMA will not take this sitting down, especially with the CEO’s daughter so close to the action. For this job, if you choose to use them, my team can act as a distraction in a number of ways.

    “After this, there are only two more jobs. You’ve done well, ladies.”

    “Yes, sir,” Twilight said.

    “Oh, and before I forget,” Spike said. “You may see Princess Celestia at this Gala. Don’t let her see you.”