//------------------------------//
// BONUS: Blood $pillage alt. events 
// Story: An Eque$trian Payday 
// by The card holder 
//------------------------------//

"Guys, I think I'm coming down with something: Being rich!"

The other three laughed at Wolf's shenanigans as they entered a pair of elevators.

"You guys can still hear me, right?" Bain asked.

"Yeah, run the plan!" Wolf urged.

"Right... Go to the third floor, the non-pony ward."

Taking two separate elevators, the crew pressed the appropriate buttons, cutting them off from the rest of the hospital.

"So, once we get in, I'll deactivate the cameras, and you'll have to keep the civilians in check. At the same time, one of you will have to plug me into the hospital database, so I can find out exactly which room this changeling is in. Now, if you do your jobs, and if nothing goes wrong, I'll be able to pick you up from the roof. Now let's get to work."

The elevator doors opened, and the four career criminals filtered into the crowd of waiting ponies and humans. Doing their best to appear nonchalant, they began to get into position to enact the plan. All they were waiting for was Bain's signal.

"Alright, and... done, cameras are offline."

All at once, the lobby broke into chaos, as four men all immediately put on masks, drew guns, and began shouting everyone to the ground. Several civilians screamed from the sudden commands, but they complied nonetheless. 

The moment he was sure they were down, Wolf plugged a small USB drive into the receptionist's computer, and then typed feverishly. "Alright, Bain, it's all you."

"Good work, so far. I'm looking now, keep the civs away from the panic buttons, and don't let them make any calls. And remember, no civilian casualties! That means you, Wolf."

"You better pray that I don't see a phone!" Dallas shouted, making the civs cower even harder.

Suddenly, the phone began to ring, and Wolf, still at the computer, quickly patched Bain in.

"Uh, Ponyville hospital, this is Bain- er, nurse Bain. How can I help you?"

There was some indistinct chatter over the radio, followed by Bain's response.

"It's nothing, I'm sure, everything's fine here."

There was a bit more chatter.

"Alright, I understand."

The line clicked dead. "Gang, they're sending a repairman to check the cameras, don't let him blow the whistle on us!"

Heeding his warning, Hoxton took up a position near the stairs, giving him a good view of anyone coming up without exposing himself to them. After a few moments, a stallion in a maintenance uniform began causally trotting up, whistling an upbeat tune. The moment he was clear of the stairwell, though, Hoxton crept up behind him, and leveled the barrel of his gun to the pony's head.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll get down, and stay quiet," the Brit instructed. Silently, the stallion complied, and Hoxton went ahead and tied his forelegs and dragged him into the lobby with the rest of the civs.

"Alright, and... done! I found our bug friend. It's just that... hang on..." 

A few more seconds passed, before Bain spoke again. "Damn, apparently there was supposed to be a sort of small 'presentation' for this guy, even though only four people signed up. Wait, that gives me an idea..."

Quickly catching on to what he was getting at, Wolf started to move away from the computer.

"Okay, Wolf, you still have one of those sentry guns? Set it up in the lobby, tell the people to not move. The rest of you, it's time to scrub in."

While the rest of them went to a back room, where a set of lockers were located, Wolf began setting up his sentry on the lobby desk, flipping a few switches. "Any of you get up, this thing will know, and it won't be pretty!" he threatened, his statement punctuated by a beep from the sentry.

By the time he got back to the others, they had already dressed for the part, complete with face masks. Thankfully, the gloves they wore in matched the disguises perfectly.

Once Wolf was dressed appropriately, they calmly walked out of the lobby and down the hall, their guns well concealed. Because of this, once they reached the large, soundproof door leading inside the ward, the guard let them in with no issue. Past him, a yellow pegasus was waiting for them, standing in front of a particular room. Recognizing the pony, Wolf strayed to the back of the group, hoping that he wouldn't be noticed.

"Oh, there you all are!" the pony said softly, smiling. "For a second, I was afraid you wouldn't make it. Now, are you ready to see what a changeling is like?"

At the front of the group, Dallas nodded, and they all followed the pegasus into the room, where a strange mix between a bug and a pony was lying on the bed, unconscious. Behind them, the guard also entered the room, which Hoxton began planning for.

"As you can see, the poor thing is still knocked out," the pony continued. "However, he is stable, at least, so that's good news."

The pegasus went on to explain various aspects of the changeling, but the crew had almost completely tuned her out, only nodding every once in a while to give the impression that they were listening.

Eventually, the pony stopped her explanation, but the moment she spoke again, Bain talked into their earpieces.

"Guys, I don't know what's up, but apparently someone saw something, because you got a few 911's originating from the hospital. Action, guys!"

"-and, I hope that this was as informative to you as it-"

The pony was cut off as Wolf, now masked, punched the everliving hell out of the guard, then whirled around to face her. "You, on the ground, now!"

Completely taken by surprise, the pegasus complied, shivering uncontrollably as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Moving quickly, the rest of the crew masked up and began drawing blood from the changeling, then placing that blood in a blood dilution machine further down the hall. There were a few more guards there, but they were quickly dispatched with gunfire, causing some of the civs in the lobby to scream.

"Alright, you got regular police and SWAT on the scene! It's only a matter of time before they begin an assault!"

Looking back at the cowering yellow pegasus, Wolf got an idea. Saying nothing, he tied her forelegs behind her back, then roughly picked her up, causing her to whimper slightly. Moving fast, he made his way to the roof access stairs and barged through the door, emerging into sunlight. He could hear chatter and police radios on the ground near the front of the hospital, so he made his way there, earning a few screams followed by silence once they got sight of his hostage.

Putting his handgun to her head for dramatic flair, Wolf began to shout. 

"Don't come in! We've got hostages!"