//------------------------------//
// $ugar and $pice and a Whole Lot of Gold 
// Story: An Eque$trian Payday 
// by The card holder 
//------------------------------//

"Bodhi's Plumbing?"

"Yes, this is Mr. Cake, at Sugarcube Corner. The pipes you fixed last time...? Well, they're leaking again."

"Sorry to hear that, sir. We'll be over as soon as possible."

"Thanks."

The client hung up.

"Alright, they bought it!" Bain said. "Let's drain the place!"

"Load up and suit up. Let's get to work," Dallas instructed as the crew loaded and cocked several weapons in the darkness of the van. Once they were armed, and the guns suitably concealed, they opened the back door, letting the afternoon sun flood in. As they dismounted the vehicle, they began walking to the target building, being easily spotted due to its external decor.

Heading inside, they quickly scoped out how many patrons were inside, and where they were located. They stopped just as the orange stallion who hired them approached them. 

"Oh, you're here early," he said. "Right this way." He led the four down to the basement, where he pointed to a leaky pipe on the far wall. "It looks to be the same problem as last time, so I hope you can fix it. Er, again." He went ahead and headed back to the stairs as the crew began setting up for work. Once the stallion was out of sight, the men put their masks on and waited for further instructions from Bain.

"Remember the plan, guys," he said. "The room with the gold should be right above you; look for the support beams and saw it free. Business should be slow right now, so you shouldn't have to worry about too many civilians."

While Dallas and Wolf prepared the saws, Hoxton and Chains prepared to go up top to control the customers and staff.

Peeking out the doorway, they waited until they were sure everyone who was in the building was in the front. Once that was made sure of, they waited until they heard the saws start up in the basement, which caught the attention of the ponies who were behind the counter, as well as a number of customers.

Before any of them could even ask what that noise was, both Chains and Hoxton got to work.

"All you mothafuckas get on the ground!" Chains said, doing an admirable impression of Samuel L. Jackson while waving his gun around. Everyone immediately complied, and the two criminals set to work tying them down and moving them behind the counter and out of sight, as well as gagging them to prevent any alarms being raised to anyone who wandered in. 

"Good work, now just stay away from any windows and wait for the saws to finish. So far, no one spotted you guys."

Keeping one eye on the hostages and another on the door, Hoxton and Chains watched the ground floor while Dallas and Wolf focused on the saws, restarting them occasionally when they jammed.

"Heads up, guys, you got a cop coming in, human; it doesn't look like he knows what's up. Take him out quietly."

Having no suppressed weapons, Hoxton ducked into the basement stairs while Chains got into position. The police officer walked inside, oblivious to the masked man hiding behind the door. Readying a strong section of hose he had on him as part of the disguise, Chains waited until the door was closed before making his move.

As the cop walked up to the counter, he saw the customers and staff bound and gagged behind it. Before he could call for backup or even pull out his gun, he was strangled and tackled by Chains. About ten seconds later, he was choked out.

"Nice work, but keep your guard up. We don't know how many more will come in."

"Saws are done!" Wolf called as he came back upstairs, Dallas close behind him. 

"You guys know what to do next; head upstairs and plant the C4."

Dallas and Wolf went upstairs, causing the same stallion who hired them to thrash against his bonds. 

Seconds later, the two returned. "C4 placed," Dallas reported.

"Alright, get ready to fight. Detonating in three, two..."

A loud explosion rocked the building, making the hostages wince, while the same stallion had visible fury in his eyes. Over the racket of crumbling wood, the sound of crying could be heard.

"What the hell...?" Hoxton asked.

"Looks like they had kids up there," Wolf said, somewhat apologetic. Even if he was essentially a bloodthirsty criminal, he couldn't bear to hurt children if he could help it.

"Don't worry, if they're still crying, then they're fine," Bain assured them. "People definitely noticed that, though, so get into defensive positions. I'm coming in to pick you and the gold up now."

The four did so, flipping over tables to give themselves cover.  Outside, police sirens could be heard approaching the bakery. 

"You got regular police and even a few bomb squads on the scene."

A lone pony officer opened the door to the building, only to be met with a hail of gunfire. He fell, and more cops started filing in after him, guns drawn. They, too, were cut down with minimal effort. 

"You got SWAT coming in, as well as some hostage rescue units, so watch that back door."

More cops came in, followed by SWAT units trying to flank the armed assailants by going through windows, but the tactic didn't stop them from being shot down. 

"Alright, I'm coming in. Start making your way back upstairs."

As they defended their position, the crew did so, moving back whenever the incoming fire from the cops died down. Once they were all on the stairs, they ran the rest of the way up, stopping at the edge of a hole in the floor, the small room full of gold visible past the still-burning wood. Up above, they could see Bain's helicopter fly in through an equally sized hole in the ceiling. The chopper lowered its large magnet down through the hole and clamped it onto the gold room as the four continued to hold off the police.

"It's connected, let's get the hell out of here!"

The masked men wasted no time jumping onto the magnet, holding onto the cable as Bain pulled it out, barely hitting the side of the hole as the criminals were taken into the open air. As they flew off, they took a few one-handed potshots at pursuing pegasi, and it was enough to either drive them off or take them down.

"Excellent work, gentlemen! That's another couple million dollars, at least!"

"This was totally worth shaving my beard!" Wolf yelled over the noise of both the rushing wind and the helicopter. The others laughed all the way to the safehouse.