//------------------------------// // Preliminary Check-Up // Story: An Eque$trian Payday // by The card holder //------------------------------// "This the place, Bain?" "Yeah, the Ponyville hospital. Inside is a 'changeling', one of the other local creatures. Apparently, a bunch of changelings invaded the capital not too long before the portals opened, and ponies still strongly dislike them, so it'll be somewhat heavily guarded, for a hospital. The rest should be easy, though." Chains scoffed. "That's what you said about Mercy Hospital, and look how that turned out. It was a motherfucking shooting gallery!" "Regardless, this job won't need much preparation; it'll be a case of 'get in, shoot cameras, keep civs down, and get the prize'." As he walked away from the hospital, Chains brought up something that was bothering him. "So, why do we need a changeling, anyway?" "Apparently, changeling blood can be processed into something twice as potent as heroin- and five times as addictive. Our client wants quite a few liters, and we'll get millions." "Sounds good to me." He calmly strode through town, looking for anything that looked good to buy. After all, he still had a few hot bits to spend... Dallas, meanwhile, was taking a quiet walk just outside of town. He wanted some time to think to himself; not to wonder why he does this, or to ponder the morals of stealing a lot of money, but to try and figure out the best weapon combinations for this next heist. Being a hospital, his trusty Reinbeck is an obvious choice, as is a silent pistol, but he didn't know what else to take with him. "Hey, mister!" Dallas was broken out of his thinking by someone calling for them. Looking off to the side of the path he was on, he saw a pair of fillies, a white unicorn and an orange pegasus, sitting in what looked to be a wheel-less wagon attached to a bent tree. "What is it?" he asked, even though he could already guess. "We need you to pull this rope!" the unicorn said, pointing to the only thing keeping the tree bent down. "We would have our other friend do it," the pegasus added, "but Applejack said she was in... therapy, I think?" Dallas thought over this; whatever these two planned to do looked to be in no way safe, and he could probably get some unwanted attention if they got hurt because of it... "...I'm gonna have to say no." Both of the fillies voiced their displeasure as Dallas walked off. "Now how are we supposed to get our flying cutie marks?" he heard one of them say before he was out of earshot. He laughed to himself; no matter the dimension, kids are always the same. It had been a while since Wolf was able to stuff his face in some sweets, so he decided to go to the one place that Chains mentioned. And sure enough, it was a giant gingerbread house in the middle of town. Ducking inside, he immediately went to the counter, where a pink pony was just finishing giving a box full of what looked to be muffins to a gray pegasus. Once she left, Wolf walked up to the counter. "Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!" the pony greeted. "What would you like to-" Suddenly, the pony's smile dropped, and she began looking closely at Wolf, as if inspecting him. Unnerved, Wolf backed up a few steps, only for the pony to lean over the counter. "Um... what-" Just as suddenly, the pony's demeanor changed back to her happy self, and she disappeared behind the counter. Just a second later, she reappeared, holding a cupcake in her hoof. "Here! For being new in Ponyville!" Slightly off put, but still hungry, Wolf grabbed the pastry and, appropriately enough, wolfed it down. "How do you know I'm new here?" he asked, once he finished scarfing down the cupcake. "Because, silly! I know everyone in town, and I don't know who you are, soooo..." "...I... guess that's good logic?" he said, still confused a bit. "Of course it is! Now, what else can I getcha?" Strange greetings now out of the way, Wolf went ahead and ordered a hefty amount of various sweets. Once they were all packaged up, he put the appropriate amount of (stolen) bits on the counter and left, as the pony waved goodbye. These ponies were strange people. Not having any purchases in mind, Hoxton simply leaned against the wall of a building, watching the crowd walk by. Humans and ponies alike gave friendly waves, which he returned with a nod. He overheard a few worried conversations about the robbery at the mansion, which made him smirk slightly. One conversation in particular caught his ear, between a purple unicorn he recognized from the library, and a blue, rainbow-maned pegasus. "I'm telling you, Twilight, I can take those crooks down by myself! Just point me in their direction, and wham!" The pegasus hit her hooves together for emphasis. "I'll get 'em!" "Rainbow, I don't think that's a good idea. After all, there were only four of them, and they killed nearly a hundred officers!" "They just weren't as awesome as me!" "Regardless, I sent a letter to the princess, so she should be sending some guards or something soon." Hoxton chuckled knowingly as he walked past the pair. As Rainbow Dash flew off, Twilight looked at the passing man, who she recognized as the one who came into the library a few days ago. Normally, she'd think it'd be strange to remember him from just a quick glance, but given that her library hardly gets any visitors, even now, he stood out. Something about him seemed somewhat familiar, though, like she saw him in a recording... She decided to look at the recording of the robbery again once she got back to the library. There's no way that what she thought could be true... right?