Chapter 12
"Something Is Not Right!"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Whoever put this here was either really clever, or really, really lucky.
Rainbow Dash studied the assortment of weatherproof sensors thoroughly, scratching her head. She still couldn't wrap her mind around why such high quality equipment was left in the open with only a glorified noisemaker as protection. Stranger though, was the fact that it was all set up in an area without any active security feeds. Originally, that was the reason why the runners chose the location for one of their mainframes, but now that somebody was poking around...
Rainbow looked over to one of the adjoining buildings where Thunderlane was abseiling down to a small ledge to rectify that very issue. Following the rope up revealed both Pinkie and Blaze on the far end, acting as ballast and slowly letting rope out. With a shouted command, they stopped lowering and held firm. Thunderlane grabbed a cordless drill off his safety harness that was also the only thing stopping a fall to his death, and screwed a camera of his own design into the brickwork.
The cameras were a functional marriage between discarded smartphones and solar powered calculators that were cobbled together. Small, discreet, and able to run virtually forever, they were an invaluable tool for guiding runners and keeping eyes and ears on their territory. But, just as Thunderlane could easily hack into a security camera, the Griffs could just as easily hack theirs. Even though GSF hadn't cracked Vinyl's firewalls yet, the runners were too superstitious to place feeds around their more important installations.
Growing tired of the more technical aspects of camera mounting, Dash turned her attention back to the meat of the issue. She continued to study the equipment, especially the sturdy black box that everything plugged into. The dark, military look of the device just didn't seem to fit with the rest of the shiny and polished equipment on the site.
"Hey Dashie!"
Rainbow's attention was once again drawn to the adjacent rooftop, and she felt a heart palpitation at the sight of Pinkie jumping up and down while waving her arms in the air. Now without a second pair of hands, Blaze cried out at having to hold the full weight alone while struggling for traction on the roof. Thunderlane felt his connection to life slacken, and instinctively lunged for the small ledge, knocking off a box of screws in the process. With some of the weight now supported, Blaze could now just hold the rope. If he wasn't dangling from a ledge eight stories above the street, the computer tech would have shot Pinkie a death glare.
The spastic woman cupped her hands around her mouth. "Dashie can we take a break now!" she almost shrieked, completely oblivious to her surroundings.
“Pinkie,” Blaze gasped. “Can this wait?”
“But I really, really gotta pee!”
Rainbow smiled at Pinkie's antics, then looked at the man patiently waiting. "What do you say Thunderlane?" She asked through her communicator.
"Aarg, I heard the lady. Just let me finish this first. I'm almost done." He answered.
"You heard him Pinkie. Wait a bit longer." Rainbow said chuckling at Pinkie from her position.
"Aw man!" she cried out before grabbing the rope and pulling sharply on it. Thunderlane yelped at being pulled up and away from the ledge, nearly losing his power drill this time.
"Damnit Pinkie!" Thunderlane cried out, shaking his fist towards the sky. “If I lose any more gear you're going down there to fetch it!”
Rainbow laughed as she continued to stare at the black box. The box reminded her of some of the equipment Vinyl used to put together for surveillance against their rival gangs from back in the day. She sighed, rubbing her face.
"Alright I'm done. Pull me up guys." Thunderlane said in the feed.
Rainbow looked up watching Thunderlane being pulled back up to the roof. "Rainbow, you want some pizza?"
"Nah, I'm good." Rainbow absentmindedly answered, an eagle’s eye on the flash drive. She placed her fingers around the drive, and waited. Nothing happened. No explosions, and no blaring sirens. She pulled slightly, still nothing. Thunderlane looked over curiously and keyed his mic.
"Rainbow, what are you doing?"
"Something isn't right here." Rainbow whispered, finally pulling out the flash drive with no alarm bells sounding.
"What do you mean?" He asked, confused.
"Do you have your laptop?"
"Of course. Why?"
"Time to see what this really is used for." Rainbow said looking at it.
"Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!"
Rainbow jumped about, dropping the flash drive and deftly swiping it back up. The supposed owner of the equipment dragged herself up the remaining fire escape steps, and charged Rainbow's way.
"Busted!" Pinkie cried through the feed.
Rainbow easily dodged the girl – who promptly tripped – and ran for it with the flash drive in her hand. She leaped over the ledge, grabbing a drainpipe and sliding down to the ground. She landed in a roll and bolted from the scene, the others doing the same.
"Meet me at HQ!" Rainbow ordered. "I want to know what's on this drive!"
"Roger. We're running there now." Blaze Runner answered.
Back on the roof, Twilight was still in shock after seeing the would-be thief leap off the building like they were in a Mare Do Well comic. She wanted to give chase, but was too winded from climbing the fire escape and tripping to do anything other than pick herself up and dust off her knees.
“That was close.” The scientist struggled to catch her breath. “Wow! I didn't know I was that out of shape.”
She dragged herself to the silo to inspect her meteorological suite and noticed something already amiss. "Oh no, don't tell me she..." A more thorough investigation confirmed her worst fears. Something was indeed missing.
"Oh no!" She gasped, seeing that the flash drive that held her wind speed results and air vapor results was taken. "My research," she whispered, rubbing her face.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Rainbow landed in a squat inside Runner H.Q., already hearing Thunderlane typing away furiously at his workstation.
"Our leader returns." Blaze Runner said with a smile.
"What?" Rainbow asked, seeing his smirk.
"You should have seen the look on your face!" Pinkie cried, rolling on the floor laughing.
"What are you guys- " Rainbow started, then paused to notice Thunderlane had the camera feed on one of the monitors showing Rainbow’s shocked face as she was running away from the girl on the roof. Rainbow blushed as all three of them laughed at her.
"Anyway," Rainbow growled. "I got a flash drive from her equipment," She said while triumphantly holding up her prize. Thunderlane smirked, taking it.
"Alright then, let’s see if this girl is a Griff or not." He said plugging the drive into the USB port and waited for the device to be recognized.
As the computer took an unusually long time, the tech began to worry about the possibility of a virus or malware designed to fry his system. Then with an affirmative chime, a window opened and he got to work. He opened a few files and read through them, becoming more confused the further down he got.
"Huh?"
"What is it?" Blaze asked, wiping his eyes while Pinkie continued to snicker.
"Not sure. There seems to be nothing out of the ordinary on the flash drive. It just looks like numbers of wind speeds and the pH levels of water vapor."
Rainbow blinked, surprised. "Are you absolutely sure?"
"Not one hundred percent. Maybe this isn't a GSF supported project." Thunderlane said confused.
Rainbow was confused herself. "Huh," She whispered, thinking. "Maybe but..." She paused. "Were we wrong?"
Thunderlane shrugged, pulling the flash drive out of the USB socket and set it on his desk. "I don't know." He stood up and stretched. "If you don't mind me, I'm going to have some of that pizza." He walked off, leaving the computer alone.
Rainbow was about to hit the road, but a nagging feeling stopped her. She took a seat in the chair in front of the computer and began typing on the keyboard. She found the camera feed and found the camera footage from the roof top. She zoomed in to watch the stranger looking at her equipment with her mini laptop. She zoomed in a bit more on the girl herself.
Rainbow leaned on her hand, watching the girl work. She didn't know why, but she was fascinated with her. Her innocent demeanor felt like a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale city. She probably has never known a single day of misery in her entire life.
Dash looked down at the flash drive sitting on the desktop. She licked her lips, then sighed, grabbing the drive and plugging it in. She opened a word document and began typing.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Applejack groaned, falling into her couch and holding her hand over her chest, she coughed a few times, feeling like her chest was going to explode with each subsequent wheeze. Her eyes watered as she reached into her pocket to pull out her small cigarette tin, and popped it open. But just like a half hour prior, it was still empty.
"Damnit! One day without those cigs and I'm already, ah gah damnit!" She cried out as another coughing fit rocked her body.
Finally surrendering to the pain, she got off the couch and went to the coat rack and grabbed her jacket off the hook. She practically ran out the door while donning her jacket, and took the stairs two at a time to reach her building’s lobby. Once there, she slowed her frantic pace. The last thing needed was an unnecessary distraction from other tenants or building security.
A blast of chilly air hit as Applejack passed through the automatic doors into the city beyond. It was unseasonably cold for the time of year, and if the trend kept up, the first snows of winter wouldn’t be far off. She looked up to see the late October sun setting, casting a stunning orange glow on the glass buildings, making the whole city burn with orange fire. Momentarily at ease, she shut her eyes while basking in the radiance.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Applejack flew across a gap in the rooftops, and the breeze blowing through her hair said that she was totally free. The runners that she was once leader of jumped alongside her; Dash, Thunderlane, C.K., even Vinyl Scratch, but something wasn’t right.
The other couriers overtook her mid flight, and each landed in a graceful roll on the roof. Applejack’s good tidings turned to ice when she saw her landing spot – or lack thereof. The jump had been clearly misjudged, and she was coming up short.
With a yell, the former runner reached out as far as she could, and just snagged the edge of the roof with her fingertips. She kicked wildly at the air below, trying to fend off gravity while attempting to claw her way up. But the first drippings of a summer rainstorm began to soak her clothes, and the surface she clung to for dear life.
“Rainbow! Ah’m slipping!”
Applejack expected all the runners to come to her aid, but she was shocked to see their indifferent stares. At least Dash was willing to help. Or was she?
Rainbow stopped before the struggling runner, but didn’t offer a hand. “What’s the matter, Applejack?” she laughed. “I thought you wanted street level?”
Suddenly the wet roof turned to ice. Without any grip, she fell from the roof, back first. Applejack wanted to scream, but the sound was stuck in her throat. So she plummeted in silence, seeing the darkened sky blow ferociously above. There would be a fleeting pain when she slammed into the pavement, then nothing. She hoped.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The pain hit with the force of a thousand sledgehammers, and Applejack’s eyes flew open as she staggered backwards. With a hand on her chest, she recovered balance and looked around frantically.
W-what the hell was that? I was just, then I... Then a whole new layer of misery was added to the security guard’s situation. Was I hallucinating?!
It was something that hadn’t even crossed her mind when she started “medicating” with a mystery drug about a month ago. She couldn’t argue with her decision at the moment, though. Time was wasting, and if hallucinations were the next stage of the roller coaster, then another fix was needed.
She briefly considered driving to the dealer, but quickly dismissed the idea as idiotic in her condition. So she began a quick jog towards the wall separating the middle districts from Low Town a few blocks away. After a few minutes of jogging, she reached the road checkpoint. As soon as she arrived, she slowed her pace, breathing deeply to calm herself down as her heart pounded away.
One of the guards at the checkpoint looked up from his post, and grinned seeing Applejack walk over.
"Hey, if it ain't Hayseed!" He called, tapping the gate. "Jed, take over for me would you?" He called as another man nodded, taking his place.
Applejack wasn’t exactly thrilled to be greeted with a slur, but couldn’t really care at that point. Another jolt of pain stabbed in her chest, and she would have been on the ground if not for a quick intervention.
"Whoa there, Hayseed!” The man kept Applejack on her feet. “What's up?"
Applejack gripped his shoulders to pull herself up. "Pierce, I need that stuff you gave me."
Pierce smirked and looked around. "Follow me, Smith."
He led the way to a parking lot around the corner that was full of trucks. It was secluded and out of the way of prying eyes. They went in between two semis that were parked specifically to block the motor pool’s cameras. After another check for followers, the man opened a truck door and pulled out a paper bag and held it open for her to look inside. She gasped, smelling the drug and immediately she felt her chest lighten. She looked to him pitifully.
"So I see that my product has helped you?" he said, smirking. "But this time you have to pay for it."
Applejack gulped. "Pay?"
"Yeah, the amount I gave you was about five hundred bills of drugs. How much do you want? Week's worth or a month?"
"What's the difference in cost?" Applejack already didn’t like where this was going, but it was either this, or endure the horrible pain of withdrawal.
"Hmm, you seem to be suffering from the effects. Hmm...." He paused in thought.
"How much for a month?" Applejack asked desperately.
"Hmm, well that will be ... twice the amount I gave you last time."
Applejack felt her heart freeze hearing the cost.
"Fine give me a week."
"Good to hear." Pierce said while reaching into the bag and pulling out a much smaller ziplock bag filled with about ten home rolled cigarettes. Applejack desperately reached for it, but Pierce pulled it away.
"Nah-ah, Smith. Pay me now."
"H-how much?"
"Hmm," Pierce hummed with a grin. "I'll give you this much for let's say... two hundred."
Applejack gasped at the amount. "You've got to be joking!"
"Nope. Sorry, Smith but this stuff here is very expensive to get and manufacture. Pay that amount, or go cold turkey. Your call."
Applejack growled. What was I even thinking coming here. I don’t have that kind of money! I’ll just have to take my chances.
"Forget it."
She spun around and stalked away from her coworker and his Cheshire grin. But Pierce never wavered. He knew all about this particular drug’s side effects, the most dastardly of which were the horrible pain and hallucinations that occurred if the user stopped imbibing. It didn't become Low Town’s most popular drug for no reason, after all. It was time to make the deal.
"Where do you think you're going? By how pale you look you need this shit bad." He laughed while holding the baggie in the air and jiggling its contents around.
Applejack winced and squeezed her eyes shut, riding through the pain. She growled, turning to him to see his smirk. The bastard! she thought bitterly. She coughed, and fell to her knees.
"Alright!" She cried. "I'll pay half of that, just give me the amount for the half!"
Pierce sighed. "Alright then,"
He took away half of the cigarettes, then handed her the bag. Applejack was barely able to pull almost all her bills out her wallet due to the fire in her chest. What she didn’t know was that terrible tremors we’re also side effects. After uselessly fumbling with her lighter, she pulled out a cigarette of the weed and shakily lit it up. The moment she inhaled, the stabbing pain eased away into a dull ache.
Pierce chuckled counting the bills as Applejack sucked greedily on her relief from the pain. Once her nerves were sufficiently calmed, she looked up at him with a snarl.
“You are a bastard.”
Pierce shrugged, and jabbed his shoulder into her. “I may be a bastard, but I’m a necessary bastard. For you, at least."
With that, he put the bag back in the truck, locked the door, and left his customer to her own devices.
Applejack’s glare burned the spot that was occupied a second ago, but it quickly faded into a look of horror at what had transpired. She held her head in her hands, then slowly got up from the ground. Not wanting to stay for a second longer, she stuffed the bag and her left hand into her pocket, and strolled away from the scene as casually as possible. She redoubled her grip, and clenched the bag of cigarettes for dear life.
She walked down the street, continuing to smoke the one in her right hand, trying to make it last as long as she could. Since she had such a limited amount, conservation would be vital. The haunted things had wormed their way into her brain, and she couldn’t shake the mental vision. There had to be something or someone to help her get over this… addiction. Was it really an addiction? Only after a month?
Applejack groaned and rubbed her eyes. I should have known better than to take a substance with Celestia-knows-what in it. Should have known better than to join the Griffs. Known better… than to come to street level.
She couldn’t believe the last thought. She had spent most of her teenage life far above the clouds, away from established culture. Sure, she had a great run with the couriers, but there was only so far to run before time caught you. Applejack didn’t regret coming down. She had Rarity, and that was what truly mattered.
When she made it back to the apartment complex, Applejack disposed of the cigarette in the gutter before making her way through the lobby and up the stairs to the top floor. When she found the apartment was empty as when she had left it, she let out a sigh of relief. It would be awhile yet before Rarity got off her shift, but if the designer found out that she had taken up smoking again – or even worse – smoking some kind of psychedelic drug, she would be beyond upset.
But maybe that’s what I need.
Applejack quickly ran to the bathroom and brushed her teeth to get the taste and the smell out of her mouth. Even better, she undressed and threw her clothes into the washer to get them cleaned. She got a change of fresh clothes – an old T-shirt and shorts – and laid down in her bed. She took a deep breath and was thankful that, for the moment, there was no pain whatsoever. She rolled over onto her stomach and clutched her pillow.
"I can't believe it." Applejack snorted, and felt sleepiness begin taking over. "I'm turning into one them damn junkies." She pressed her face into her pillow and shook her head.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The magenta eyes of Cloudsdale’s most notorious DJ cracked open. She snorted, and flailed around an arm to find her nightstand. Having failed at that, she looked around to find herself in a completely different bed than her own. She groaned, and brought two pale fists up to her face to rub her eyes.
"What time is it?" Vinyl croaked out.
"It's late in the evening."
The bed wasn’t empty. Vinyl rolled over and smiled seeing Octavia sitting next to her. A thick magazine was balanced on the cellist’s thighs, but instead of a publication pertaining to classical instruments, this one had a colorfully flamboyant cover with all kinds of strange characters adorning it. These facts were all missed by her newly awoken mind.
"How long have you been reading?" She asked curiously.
"You fell asleep and I wasn't tired."
"After what we did all day?" Vinyl giggled playfully as Octavia blushed a touch and used her book to slap the DJ upside the head.
Vinyl snickered. "And that is the seventh time I made you blush. That’s a new record, if I do say so myself."
Octavia chuckled. "Should I be wondering what you did before we met?"
Vinyl blushed at that, turning towards her to see her growing smile.
"Touché." She grumbled.
Octavia chuckled and looked back down at her book. Finally awake, Vinyl examined the vibrant tome more closely. "What is that? A comic book?"
Octavia blinked looking to her. "You mean you’ve never seen a manga before?"
“A man-what?” Vinyl scratched her head nervously as she was given an eye that questioned her sanity. "I-I mean, no, what's that?"
"Wow, and where were you living? Under a rock?
"Hey!" Vinyl glared at her. Octavia chuckled and messed with Vinyl's hair.
"Oh come on Vinyl, you know I kid."
Vinyl smirked, then scooted closer to her to see this “manga”. At a passing glance, it resembled an Equestrian comic book, but the art style was way different than any of the ones she had read growing up.
"So um what is this about?" She asked, leaning into Octavia to read.
Octavia smiled as she placed her thumb over her space and shut the book to show Vinyl the cover art. Except it was the back cover.
"Wait, is this backwards? How come the cover is on the back side?"
Octavia couldn’t help but snicker. "Alright, I guess I get to teach you something new this time.”
Vinyl blushed by the choice of words since she herself had said something along those lines in bed the night before. "Aw come on, you’re using my seduction tricks!"
Octavia stuck out her tongue. "Alright, a manga is basically a Nieghpanese comic book. The true manga style is that the books are flipped so you’re reading it backwards." Vinyl looked shocked seeing this which made Octavia giggle.
"They read the opposite way? Wow, Niehgpanese are weird."
Octavia laughed so hard from seeing the hard, serious look on Vinyl's face that she began to hiccup. "Hic – oh Vinyl – they don’t all read – hic – backwards, it’s mostly only prevalent in – manga.”
“I knew that,” Vinyl muttered, trying to salvage whatever pride she had.
“Uh huh.” Octavia returned to reading, but was stopped by her partner’s attempt at small talk.
"Soooo, how'd you get that?"
Octavia smiled. "It's an old favorite of mine..." She trailed off, the jovial atmosphere following along. She frowned, and worked her jaw up and down.
"A-after the attack... I was early to make it home from my morning lessons. But, no one came home at the usual time. A few hours later, my uncle came to my house and told me to pack everything essential and go with him to his place in the upper district." She stroked her fingers along the pages of the book. "I grabbed my brother's manga collection, thinking he would want to see his books. He was a manga nerd."
Vinyl turned away and scowled. She had heard the same story dozens of times from dozens of people. She knew all the words by heart, and understood what her lover’s next breath would entail. Even so, that didn’t stop the inevitable words.
"You lost your family in the attack." She breathed.
Octavia sadly shrugged. "I had my uncle. He's the only family I have here in Cloudsdale. After everything that’s happened, I went to my brother’s manga and, well..." She sighed. "I felt connected to him, even though he's gone."
"Were you there?" Vinyl whispered, staring at the wall. "Did you see the attack?"
Octavia blinked looking to her seeing her expressionless face. She sighed, shaking her head.
"No, I was..." Octavia went silent when she realized that the question might have been rhetorical.
Vinyl thought for a moment, then sighed. "I was there."
Octavia was stunned. She had figured that Vinyl had lost someone in the attack. But the fact that she was a witness to the carnage was chilling.
Vinyl clenched the bed sheets around her knees, and groaned. "I saw it all."
Octavia placed her book on her nightstand and turned back to Vinyl. "Vinyl, I..."
Vinyl shrugged, sniffling. "It just happened out of nowhere. No warning. Nothin’." She stared accusingly at her own shaking hands. "I was young and I wasn’t strong enough to save my dad. Or my brother."
Octavia felt tears in her eyes seeing Vinyl like this. "Vinyl, I'm so sorry. I didn't-"
"I know." Vinyl interrupted, smiling at her. "Once I became a DJ I didn’t tell anyone."
"Still," Octavia whispered. She tried to continue apologizing, but was silenced by Vinyl leaning over and kissing her on her cheek.
Vinyl smiled at her. "Don’t be like that around me." She whispered. “There was something that a woman wise beyond her years once told me, and it’s something I live by.”
"What's that?"
"She said to just let go of the past, and be happy that you have survived the ordeal."
Octavia nodded. "My uncle said something similar to that."
The two chuckled. Vinyl sighed leaning back into the pillows thinking. She turned back to notice Octavia looking at her manga again.
"So um what’s it about? Your comic?"
"Manga," Octavia corrected. "This was the last manga my brother got. It was brand new back then. It's a story about three girls with modifications to their DNA. The three of them have a mission to save every survivor in a heavily irradiated city."
"Huh, that sounds... interesting."
Octavia smiled and flipped the book back to the beginning. "Here, we can read a few chapters together. Then maybe I might be ready for one more round before bed." Vinyl smiled seeing Octavia's saucy wink.
"Alright." She said smirking. Vinyl scooted closer to Octavia's side and the two began to read together.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Adagio climbed down a ladder, away from the whitewashed streets and deep into the ancient catacombs underneath Cloudsdale. An interconnecting web of cisterns, sewers, and mine shafts – they had gone mostly untouched until the attack – when people fled underground away from the chaos. Since then, the infrastructure under the streets had become a veritable hive of criminal activity, ranging from prostitution and racketeering, to drug deals and sanctioned murder.
While the catacombs played host to unlawful activity, it was also a refuge. If one was wanted by the Griffs, or simply didn’t like modern Cloudsdalian society, they could either go above, or below the streets. But with more and more armed patrols of the rooftops, most zealots, ne'er do wells, and vagabonds were setting up shop underground instead.
Reaching the end of the ladder, Adagio peered down into the inky darkness, and dropped out of sight. After a brief freefall, she landed in an expertly timed roll, the sound of her landing was joined by the echoes of her sisters’ landings a second later. There was also a whimper as one of them misjudged the drop and twisted their ankle. Adagio already knew which one.
“Do be careful, Sonata,” Adagio sing-songed her warning to her sibling. “I’d just hate for you to be injured.”
“I would have made it,” Sonata breathed out, “If Aria wasn’t in the way.”
There was a gasp of indignation from Aria. “Oh yeah? I was nowhere near you. You’re the one who can’t stick a simple landing.”
“A-as if! Its pitch black down here, any one of us could miss!”
“So you admit it was your fault, and not mine?”
“You were in my way!”
“Quiet!”
The two bickering siblings stood alert at their eldest’s barked order. They didn’t need to see Adagio to know that she was only a hair's-breadth away from throttling her relations. Then they heard her take several calming breaths.
“Sonata, suck up your injury and get that flashlight out. Aria, bring up the rear.”
With that, Adagio turned on her heel and plodded down a passage, already knowing the way even without proper lighting. Sonata fished around blindly in her duffel bag, and produced a large black flashlight. After fumbling for the switch for a few seconds, a beam of light shot out and illuminated Adagio’s retreating form.
Sonata limped after her sister, being careful with her right leg as Aria followed behind, brandishing her pistol and muttering something about babysitting.
After a few minutes of walking, the trio stopped at the base of a large iron door with yellow and black warning signs around it. Adagio removed her pack, and pulled out a large yellow box with a handle and a wand-like apparatus attached to it by a thick black cord. The machine buzzed to life at the flick of a switch, and emitted a steady wire tone.
Sonata gulped worriedly as Adagio walked up to the door and brought the sensor up to the metallic surface. While the eldest sibling checked the door, Aria kept a close eye behind them with her pistol out. But defending against a possible attack was difficult without visibility.
“I need that light, Sonata!”
“Oh, right.”
Sonata was forced to turn away from the door and shakily shine her light into the black tunnel they had just walked down. But nerves were getting the better of her, and the light shook with her hands. She hoped, prayed that she wouldn’t hear the telltale crackle.
Adagio ran the wand along the bottom of the door and up the sides a far as she could, before turning the machine off with a triumphant smirk.
“It sounds clean. They must have fixed the leak from last week."
Sonata heavenly sighed and Aria grunted an affirmative as Adagio stuffed the Geiger counter in her backpack, then hefted the pack onto her shoulders. She then went to the control panel in the center of the door and began turning the locking wheel, gasping with each rotation.
"Who goes there?" A disembodied voice crackled from an intercom above them.
"Calm down, Doodle." Aria snapped irritably. "It's just us."
After a moment the voice gasped. "Oh, you three have returned. Your father was wondering about you."
Sonata grinned while her other two sisters glared at one another.
"What does the old geezer want now?" Aria asked as Adagio continued turning the wheel to unlock the iron door.
"Oh you know him." Doodle wheezed, causing Sonata to shudder. "He just cares about you three."
Aria snorted. “Whatever.”
"Alright, we're in." Adagio panted hard, slowly pulling the heavy door open with hinges that protested loudly. Sonata ran over to help her pull open the door. With just enough room to squeeze through, the three piled in and heaved on the door. Once the door slammed shut, Aria holstered her pistol and spun the wheel tight.
The tunnel they had entered looked more like the interior of battleship than any unused storm drain. Steam spouted out from leaks in the copper pipes lining the ceiling as the girls walked over the thresholds of several doorless bulkheads. On the far end, another large door opened, and a short man dressed in protective coveralls and with a respirator hanging limply from his neck greeted them.
"Ladies, welcome back." He said politely.
Adagio and Aria ignorantly walked past him while Sonata smiled, waving at him as he smiled in return. "Your father is at his perch." He called while dragging the door shut.
The sisters continued on, until they couldn’t anymore. They were stopped at a balcony made up of rusted pieces of rebar and sheet metal, with an absolute abyss of a cavern stretching out before them. In the middle of the cavern was a large collection of buildings made of trash, reclaimed wood, rusted metal, even plastic. Anything found underground that was suitable for building was used to make the ramshackle homes for the town's population.
Sonata sighed sadly, watching several adults walking about the town. Some were dressed in street clothes with bandages wrapped around their arms and occasionally their faces, while others covered up with hazmat suits, Subterranean life was tough, but it was something she and her sisters grew to accept.
"Dad is at his thinking place." Sonata said, pointing in the direction they should go. Adagio shook her head.
"If you want to see him so badly, why don't you go on ahead?" Adagio snarled, and descended the steps to the cave floor.
Sonata looked to her other sister, hoping that at least Aria would want to join her, but was dismayed to see an indifferent shrug instead.
"We have too much to do."
Sonata flushed red while watching her two older sisters walk away towards the town center without any second thoughts. How they could just not… care about the one person that gave them a chance at life, the one who decided they were worth saving, was something she simply couldn’t comprehend. But that anger quickly turned into a depressed sigh as her train of thought went deeper into the relationship with her siblings.
We were close once. But after the bust, it’s been nothing but work, work, work! I do my best, but I still feel like a third wheel to Adagio’s schemes.
Sonata knew that she should stick with her siblings and assist their latest endeavor, but that was on the surface. Deep underground certainly wasn’t as healthy as street level, but it was a safe haven nonetheless. Her siblings would be fine without her, and she would be fine without them.
With some scrounged up confidence, Sonata headed in a different direction of her sisters. She dodged around the other townsfolk, careful to not run into any of the wounded or infirm sharing the walkway on her journey to see her guardian. Eventually she reached one – of many – giant support pillars that were built to keep the buildings above them from crashing through the cavern roof. Even after almost a century of service, they still held strong.
High above, on the metal catwalks that crisscrossed above the town, Sonata saw a lone figure observing the townsfolk from afar. She bounded up the metal steps that spiraled around the column, then walked over to a hunched over man dressed in a black jacket with a yellow radiation symbol stenciled on the back. Up close, she saw that his head was covered in bandages, with sprouts of white hair poking out through the gaps.
The man hummed, straightening up with a smile when he heard her approach. Sonata smiled, glad to see her guardian’s face after so long topside. Well, what was left of it. His visage was partially obscured by the bandages, and the only parts visible were his sole working eye and his half smile. The rest was too badly scarred from burns to openly show.
"Ah Sonata," He whispered hoarsely. "I'm happy you have returned." He frowned, glancing around behind her. "Where are your sisters?" He asked, alarmed.
"They’re fine, they just... didn't want to come." Sonata shamefully bowed her head and wrung her hands. "They've been busy."
The man sighed softly, returning to his vigil over the town. "I should have known better. Adagio and Aria are ambitious girls, even back when you three were shorter than my hip."
"Daddy," Sonata whispered. "Are you okay? Is the town okay after the leak?"
The man started coughing harshly, and leaned on the rail to keep from falling over.
Sonata ran to him and held him up as he caught his breath.
"Damn these lungs." He coughed again, then began to breathe hard.
"Daddy, do I have to get the doctor?"
"No, no, Sonata." He said patting her arm as he straightened himself up as far as he could go.
He cleared his throat. "I'm fine."
"I'm just scared for you," she whispered sadly.
The man smiled wrapping his arm around her as she hugged him back. "I know you are."
The sound of heavy boots running on the metal catwalk rang out, breaking the tender moment. He stiffened, grabbed the rail and faced the intrusion. Three younger men dressed in protective gear galloped down the catwalk, and halted breathlessly in front of the duo.
"Sir," The leader said panting. He was dressed in a hazmat suit held together with duct tape and with a helmet nowhere in sight.
"What is it, son?" The man asked sternly.
"It's the factory. The work bosses are beating the women again!"
The man sighed, scratching at the bandages covering his left cheek. "Alright, I'll be up there soon. Bring the women down here to be treated. And make sure to have the doc test them. We can't risk having pregnant girls up there!" He ordered.
"Yes sir, Eye Patch." The man said before running off with his two friends. Their leader, Eye Patch, sighed while rubbing the bandages where his long dead eye still roved in its socket. Sonata knew what was coming, and that didn’t make it any easier.
"Daddy, do you have to go back up there?"
"I have to, Sonata. The workers need me to keep the peace between us and our slavers." He slowly limped off in pursuit of his underlings, holding the rail as he went.
"Let me come with you!”
Sonata doggedly pursued her father. “I can help… somehow."
"No, Sonata!"
Sonata stopped in her tracks at the look in her father’s eye. She rubbed at imaginary dirt in her eye, trying to hide the just starting tears. Realizing his mistake, Eye Patch’s features softened. "I'm sorry that I snapped. I got you and your sisters out of there and I'm not risking your health to go back into that damn factory."
Sonata bowed her head. Eye Patch walked back over to her and wrapped his arm around her in another hug. "I know you want to help, Sonata. But following me up there is the worst thing you can do. Why don't you go help your sisters?"
Sonata sniffed. "Yeah, sure."
"Good. If you three stay tonight, we should sit for some dinner. It's been awhile since we sat down like a family."
Sonata nodded. "Yeah, I'll ask Adagio if she and Aria want to have supper later."
Eye Patch nodded. "I'll be looking forward to it. See you then." He held his fist in the air, and extended his index and middle fingers in the universal symbol for peace. Sonata wordlessly returned the gesture, and he continued on his way. In their family, it was an unwritten rule to never say goodbye. Eye Patch had once told a younger Sonata that not bidding farewell would give him the extra drive to make it back home alive.
Sonata sighed, and walked in the opposite direction to reach another staircase that spiraled around a support column, and lamented about the situation on the descent. Why does everybody treat me like the weak one? I’m strong enough to help, but every time I try, either Adagio treats me like dirt, Aria yells at me, or...
Sonata heard a screech of metal on metal, and she looked out across the gulf to see the spinning amber emergency lights of the giant access elevator that was sending her father, and several other workers, up to the factory above. Sonata intently watched the elevator until she couldn’t see the platform anymore. With a sad sigh, she finished her descent and decided to skip on helping her sisters, heading home instead. They wouldn’t want it, anyway. Aria’s right, I really am the worst.
When she reached the shack called home, she pushed past the dusty old blanket that served as a door, and carefully stepped over to the old, worn out bedding pads in the far corner. She went down on her knees onto one of the pallets and laid down. She grabbed one of her few precious keepsakes – a stuffed blue dragon – and hugged it to her chest. It was the only possession that was with her as far back as could be remembered, and she usually found security in its fabric.
Until she heard the screams.
But Sonata wasn’t startled. She carefully set the dragon down, and the terror faded back into obscurity. There was a time of fear, but those days came and went. Now, twelve years down the road, Sonata was tired of being afraid. She glanced at the three other bedrolls in the vicinity, and saw some things that her sisters had collected from the outside world. But it was Eye Patch’s that had the most mysterious memento.
With piqued curiosity, she crawled over and moved the blanket aside to see her father's things; an old photo that was torn on one corner. The picture of a man with a woman on his arm and a little baby in a pink blanket in the woman’s arms. Sonata sat down on her father's bed taking the photo to look at it. She sighed sadly, knowing that her father must have torn his head out of the photo to hide his younger, unblemished self.
The woman was a very pretty young lady. She looked about Sonata’s age, with electric blue hair tied back in a short pony tail, and was wearing a loose fitting jacket and a baggy shirt. Her blue eyes sparkled with joy smiling at the headless man standing next to her. The couple were dressed warm, and the trees in the background were painted in the reds and oranges of autumn.
In the woman’s arms was a baby. A girl, Sonata guessed by the pink sweater and hat that she was wearing. She stroked her finger over the baby’s blanket. She always wondered why Eye Patch kept this old photo. She asked him when she was younger who the woman and baby were. Eye Patch looked angered, and told her to be quiet. Later that night, he told her the story about his early life. His wife and his daughter. When Sonata asked what happened to them, Eye Patch just shook his head, and said that they were both gone.
Sonata put the picture back where she found it, but also found something bigger tucked under the mattress. Without thinking, she tugged it out of hiding, and found it to be a thick book. She had never seen this before, and by the look of the book, it had seen better days. The cover had water damage and the pages were wrinkled by the decay.
Checking the door to see if she was alone, Sonata gently paged through what appeared to be a registry of sorts. After a while of seeing half deformed faces from bacteria and mold, she came across a group photo that caught her eye. It had seen the worst damage by far, and the people wearing robes and strange hats could just barely be made out. Is this what they call a yearbook?
Sonata was about to close the yearbook and hide it away, but the scribblings in the back cover stopped her. But they weren’t just scribbles. She gasped at the realization that the errant pen strokes were actually secret messages. But only one line was readable.
"Love, Firefly." She whispered. Who's Firefly? She wondered. She closed the book and placed it back where she found it. She wanted to know more about Firefly, but that book had no more information to glean. Sonata knew where the answers were, but their keeper was away at the factory.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Flash yawned loudly, stretching his arms in the air. Up above the streets, the early sunset burned red on the western horizon, but he wasn’t there for pleasantries. It was an almost impossible run to reach the location, but these deals demanded absolute secrecy. Therefore, he wasn’t too startled when his contact dropped onto the roof with a muted thud, right on schedule.
"Did it go through as planned?" He asked as his hooded partner stood back up.
"We set the bombs on the train yesterday morning before the princess went aboard."
"Did it work?"
His hooded accomplice shrugged.
"I don't have word yet. Did you get the prints?"
Flash nodded. “I already sent them with the group."
The woman next to him chuckled. "Perfect. Soon, we'll finally have our revenge."
Flash sighed, shaking his head. "I talked to Adagio earlier."
"What about her?" The woman asked curiously.
"She’s starting to have second thoughts."
She was aghast. "You can't be serious."
"She is. I think something happened between the time we made the deal and tonight."
The woman growled turning away. "It has to be that bastard of the factory. What is she afraid of?"
Flash thought for a moment. "She said she'll find us the codes but she doesn't want anyone harmed at the factory nor the town underneath that death trap."
The woman snorted shaking her head. "What about that old geezer. Is he still oblivious to our plans?"
"The boss still thinks I'm on his side. Claiming to become the up bringer of justice."
The woman laughed with him. "Remember keep him in line. Make him believe we are still on his side. We need his men and we need Adagio to keep them in line once he's dealt with."
Flash nodded. "Hard to believe that after years of planning, it's finally happening." He said, smirking up at the freshly twinkling stars.
"I know." The woman whispered, smiling. "We'll get revenge for our pains at the hands of both governments. They will both pay dearly for our suffering." She paused then turned to Flash. "Do we keep to the old plan on how to dispose of Rainbow Dash and her runners?"
Flash shrugged. "It was you who planned that part."
The woman smirked. "True. But I'm concerned about the other things that have popped up."
"Yeah? Like what?"
"Have you seen Vinyl Scratch around?"
Flash shook his head. "No, I haven't seen four eyes in a long time. Why?”
"Well, she’s been missing since last week. I heard people are getting antsy thinking the Griffs whacked her."
“This is the first time I heard that she’s been MIA."
The woman snarled. “Anything could jeopardize this. And there is still a lot more to do."
Flash nodded. "When should we move on to the next step?"
"Not now." The woman said quickly. "I want to wait until Griffin has her hands on the purple eyesore. I need you to get more samples from her, DNA will be better than fingerprints. Until then..."
She paused feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket. She answered it.
"Yeah?" She answered gruffly. Flash waited then saw her let out a sigh of relief. "Great work. Leave the wreckage... is she still alive?"
Flash held his breath.
"Good, did you leave the evidence? Very good. Bring her back to the city and hide her well. We'll work on getting more evidence to hide ourselves. Later."
Flash could tell the woman next to him was grinning. "So, it was successful?"
"Oh yes, it went through perfectly. They blew up the engine and caused a crash in the plains. It'll take weeks for anyone to find the wreckage. And they planted the fingerprints around the engine explosion site."
She grabbed Flash’s shoulder. "You know, I think this deserves a celebration. A toast to our first – of many – victories."
Flash smirked and winked. "Sure thing boss. I think I know the perfect place."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
For the tenth time that night, Celestia sat up in her bed and fluffed her pillow, and attempted to get some sleep. Ever since her departure from Cloudsdale, the princess had been far more stressed than usual. Something was definitely up in the city, and that problem easily carried on into bed. But it was the fact that Twilight was away in a possibly dangerous place that truly had the monarch tossing and turning.
Finally giving up on sleep, Celestia blew strands of her hair away from her face and rose out of her four post bed. She slipped into her night robe and walked to her curtains, and pulled them apart to reveal the doorway to her balcony. She pushed open the glass doors and walked out to the rail to look over the sleeping city below her. She crossed her arms over the railing and leaned forward, thinking.
Her eyes kept looking to the north toward Cloudsdale and the Crystal Empire. She started pricking at her cuticles and biting her cheek. When she realized what she was doing, she began to worry. Celestia took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
Alright, calm down! She scolded herself fiercely. Twilight will be fine. She has security forces watching her at all hours. But if that's the case, then why do I still feel this way? Is it... no. She can’t stay under my wing forever, she must spread her wings and fly.
Remember the last time you left your student to ‘fly’? Look where she ended up. Her mind scolded causing her to shake her head hard.
"Snap out of it! Nothing could have helped in that situation. That was decades ago."
She looked up at the rising moon, then looked down in time to see the rotation of the evening watch guard to the lunar guard. Just watching them march made her feel sick. Images of her last student, a young woman by the name of Sunset Shimmer, standing with a group of soldiers deployed to study the Stalliongrad situation flashed through her head.
At the time Sunset had wanted a way to prove herself a capable future politician, and Celestia allowed her to travel to Stalliongrad as a monitor. She had been studying the ways of war, and the capture of the city was a perfect chance to test her mettle. Celestia never thought that that would have been the last time she saw her student alive.
Celestia groaned, and walked back inside while trying to shake those horrible memories of regret and guilt out of her mind. She sat down on her bed again, then laid back and stared up at the ceiling.
"I hope nothing happens this time. Please," she begged. "Don’t let it happen again."
Hoping the gods of old heard her prayers, she prayed that Twilight was safe and not in any danger. Because unlike in other cities, Celestia had no power in Cloudsdale, and that was what was frightening her the most.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Far below the royal bedchambers, was the cavernous and opulent Canterlot council chamber. On a normal night, Princess Luna would have been conducting night court, and the floor would have been abuzz even in the dead of night. But Luna had been too tired from her long trip, so she put her council in brief recess and retired for the night.
The council members themselves had on-site accommodations in the form of personal offices, and had taken their reprieve to catch up on some much needed sleep. These rooms were filled with the cream of the crop of Equestria’s politicians that had worked as her voice for many years. Some had been there since they were young, others had just been accepted.
In one room, a light was still on, showing that the occupant was still awake. The older man sitting in the room was hunched over his desk, busily scribbling down the previous day’s actions and thoughts in his journal. Finishing the task, he shut the book and slid it in a drawer, and rose effortlessly from his chair.
Despite his age and position, the councilman was in exceptional shape, honed from years in the service of the diarchy, and showed little in the way of fatigue or pain. He sighed, then turned to look at the shelves that featured a plethora of pictures, diplomas, and other assorted knick-knacks he had acquired over the years.
There was even a six foot tall display case with a polished set of ceremonial plate armor that had no modern use outside of a parade. It had been given to him during a brief stint as a royal guard after life had taken a dramatic turn. Thinking of that time automatically brought attention to the shelf lined with pictures ranging from his youth, to his family, his wife, his child, old friends, and even in his time in war.
He sighed, grabbing one black and white photo of him as a soldier in the Equestrian army, with his arm wrapped around a woman soldier wearing a pilot’s uniform. They were standing in front of a helicopter, with a ruined city in the background. He sighed sadly, stroking the pale woman's cheek.
There was a knock on the door causing him to jump and turn. "Enter." He called as he returned his view to the photo. A young man, dressed in the standard olive-drab fatigues of the army and sporting the silver bar of a First Lieutenant on his shoulder pauldron, entered the room and crisply saluted.
"Sir,"
"You don’t need to sir me son.” The elder man snickered while returning the photo to its rightful place on his desk. “You're off duty."
The young man blushed and nodded. "Father,"
The smile never left his face. "How was your first evening on the Solar March, Night Star?"
The younger man, Night Star, noticed his father motioning him with his finger to sit somewhere. He smiled, and found a chair in the corner.
"It was interesting. A lot different than the Border Patrol."
"Yes, well, things are much different in the interior of the nation."
Night Star snorted. "Any new information?"
His father sighed, rubbing his forehead. Age had taught him to cherish the small things, a lesson that hadn’t been instilled in his son quite yet. "My contacts have not gotten the data yet. We are still waiting for it."
"How long will it take?" Night Star asked curiously.
"Once the secret service satellite passes over Cloudsdale, which will be on Nightmare Night, we'll start gathering data."
"Then we'll be able to storm the city?"
"Not so fast my boy. You might have your mother's warrior pride but you must use the smarts given to you." His father scolded. "We can't do anything unless Cloudsdale starts to crack."
"But how will we know?" Night Star argued. "Didn't you say that damn satellite will only be over Cloudsdale once every month? Then how will we know if they're crumbing?"
The man smirked. "The data we collect will let us know how low Cloudsdale is."
Night Star thought for a moment. "What about Twilight Sparkle?"
"What about her?"
Night Star blushed a touch. "Won't she get hurt if they know about her?"
Night Star knew Twilight from the palace. When he was growing up, he went to the same classes as her before he was sent to the academy. He transferred back to Canterlot after an accident, and was able to see her again. He'll admit that he had a crush seeing the book worm walking around the halls, smiling innocently at anyone she walked by. A perfect model for a future Councilwoman in Equestria. Night Star wished one day to be brave enough to ask her out, but he was sent to the Solar Guard before he could profess his feelings.
His father stood up and walked to the window to look outside. "She'll just be another casualty in taking back Cloudsdale into Equestrian hands."
Night Star turned away, biting his lip as his father smirked.
"I won't let another Equestrian City fall because the princesses were gutless to prevent it. This time, things will go differently."
Just then, his government issued mobile phone began to vibrate on the desktop, and he quickly answered.
"Yes?"
Night Star stayed in his seat, watching his father's face lose its color as the call went on.
"What?! What do you mean she-?" he growled, rubbing his face. "No, no, don't tell the princesses about this, nor the other council members." He paused in thought as the frantic speech on the phone continued unabated.
"Calm down. We'll solve this quickly and quietly. Inform me when you find the train." He hung up the phone and rubbed his face.
"What is it?" Night Star asked worriedly.
"Son, you keep this to yourself because I do not want to cause a disaster."
Night Star nodded, saluting. "Of course father."
"Good. Princess Cadenza's train never arrived at the Crystal Empire."
Night Star gasped with shock at the revelation.
"Terrorism?" Star asked with fear. "So those messages to the Crystal Empire were true?"
"Night Star, the first rule of being a strong leader is to not worry too much about something like this. It could be simply that her train got stalled on the tracks."
Night Star glared at him. "I just-"
"No one cares what you think right now Night Star!" His father boomed suddenly. He sighed. "I told you this because I trust you. You must not tell anyone, not even your fellow soldiers about this. Because if they know, then chaos will break and I can't afford to have this country fall because our newest ally hadn’t arrived at her destination."
Night Star bit his lip worriedly. His father patted his back.
"Now, now, my boy. Go on and get some sleep. I'll let you know when I get word from the Crystal Empire."
Night Star nodded, and left the room for the barracks.