//------------------------------//
// Prelude to Criminal Intent 
// Story: An Eque$trian Payday 
// by The card holder 
//------------------------------//

Vlad came by the bar in person to pick up the tiara, and he didn't hesitate to tell the crew that he was overjoyed. He told them that he would remember them, in case he needed anything done in the future.

Once the Russian left, Hoxton took a gulp of his drink. Dallas watched the TV, smiling subtly when the news reported a jewelry store getting robbed, and Chains was discussing his time in the military with an old stallion, although certain details were left out. Wolf, meanwhile, went back down to the safe house, grumbling about something in Swedish. 

It wasn't long before Bain reported something to them. "Guys, remember that guy that had us frame Blueblood?"

"Yeah, what about him?" Hoxton replied, quietly.

"He just contacted me again. Get down to the safe house as soon as you can."

Hoxton finished off his drink, and him and Dallas went to the back of the club, Chains breaking off his conversation to join them.

Once they were all in the safe house, Wolf opened up the laptop. Seconds later, a pop-up appeared, and the contact began speaking through an encrypted signal.

"Hello again, gentlemen. I'll be brief: It seems that Blueblood has managed to prove that he was framed, though I suspect bribery was involved at some point. He has become paranoid, however, choosing to only travel in a convoy of armored trucks. No more subterfuge and deceit; this time, I want you to have him taken to me, so I can deal with him myself. I trust you will be more than capable for this."

The transmission stopped, and Bain immediately began planning. "I've already mapped out the trucks' route, and I decided the best place to intercept would be at an intersection close to a small group of abandoned buildings, tomorrow in the afternoon. No sneaky shit this time, we're going to make plenty of noise."

The four of them grinned. "A little hell raising never hurt anyone," Chains remarked.

"Make sure you got big enough guns, because come tomorrow, we're gonna put on a hell of a show."



Twilight read her book in peace for the first time in a long while. She read the newspaper, which detailed a sudden spike in crime up in Canterlot, but she wasn't worried about that one group of criminals anymore. Her friends had convinced her that they simply disappeared for the time being, and she was fine with accepting that. Of course, the fact that she found a good book the humans wrote years ago probably helped.

Spike walked into the room, eating from a tub of ice cream. "Glad to see you're not freaking out, anymore, Twilight."

"I'm just glad those criminals seemed to have vanish completely." Twilight looked back at her assistant, only to frown. "Spike, what did I tell you about eating ice cream before bed?"

"What's wrong with that?" Kevin asked, following behind Spike with his own tub of ice cream. Twilight just sighed in defeat.

"Just promise me you won't make yourselves sick. The Gala is in less than a month, and I'd hate for either of you to miss it because you ate too much."

"Is that what Dash had to go to Canterlot for?"

"No, Kevin, apparently a small group of Wonderbolts were needed for some reason, and she was one of the ones called in."

"You think it's for anything serious?"

"No, I'm sure it's..." Twilight's gaze drifted over to the discarded newspaper, the mention of a rising crime rate fresh in her mind. "I'm sure it's fine."

Despite her words, she didn't quite feel that everything was fine. She still had that feeling she was overlooking something...