Neigh York – Bucklyn – Flash's Parents' Apartment
Schwisssssh—Thunk! Lightning Dust slid the balcony window shut, muffling the loud urban world beyond. Smiling, she turned to look into the heart of the apartment. "Tell me... are you familiar with Jasmine Enterprises?"
Flash Sentry leaned up against a wall with his forelimbs crossed. "Well... who isn't?" A breath. "They're a major Manehattan Corporation," he said. "They own several of the trans-oceanic manacrystal imports from Saddle Arabia." He blinked, thinking hard. "They also specialize in real estate... tourism..." He scratched his chin. "Aren't they situated in Sapphire Towers in the heart of Manehattan Island?"
Lightning Dust nodded. "Now..." She took a few quiet steps across the barren apartment. "...what would you say if I told you that they're corrupt as all Hell?" Her brow furrowed. "And that their chief executive—Jasper Jasmine—is the worst of the whole bunch?"
Flash sighed. "So... what you're telling me is that a large, insanely-rich corporation is somehow crooked in its upper levels?" He gave her a cynical look. "Come on, Lightning. You're usually a lot more impressive than this."
"Shhhhh!" She frowned. "This world is full of liars and cheaters, sure. But I'm talking really... really corrupt." She glanced over her shoulder as if there might be spies in the walls of the room. "Like... 'innocent ponies disappearing in the river on a weekly basis' corrupt." She looked back at Flash, her eyes wide. "I'm talking about an organization that has its claws sunk super deep in every bank imaginable and is robbing money from Manehattanites every day and every night."
"Since when were you so concerned about conspiracy theories?"
"Flash! I'm being serious here!"
"I know. And it tastes weird." Flash's eyes narrowed on her. "Since when were you so concerned about crooked bureaucracies?"
"You know me, Flash." She winked. "I like a little bit of morning schaudenfraude in my cup. There's just... something super... super satisfying about seeing big fat cats take a huge tumble once justice catches up to them."
"You've always had a real fetish for the establishment crumbling apart."
"Yeah! You see?"
Flash droned, "Only because you've always had an anarchist edge to you."
"Psssst! Shuddup. I really mean it this time!" Lightning Dust gestured. "These dudes up in Jasmine Enterprises? They're running the biggest mafia empire in the history of Manehattan! And the shittiness drips all the way down from the very top—Jasper Jasmine herself!"
"Lightning, Jamine Enterprises has been hailed by multiple publications as one of the most generous philanthropist organizations in the last decade," Flash said. "Jasper Jasmine has shaken hooves with Princess Celestia and had her face featured on Trot Magazine. She's the very paragon of Equestrian business ethics and public relations."
"And where better to hide your true colors than at the very top?!"
Flash frowned. "Didn't Jasmine Enterprises build an entire low-affordable residential complex on Stallion Island?"
"Mmmhmm..." Lightning Dust's teeth showed beneath her smile. "And just where do you think Jasmine hustles her stupidest, cheapest thugs?"
Flash rubbed his forehead, sighing. "Lightning... I haven't the slightest idea where you're going with this latest crazy scheme—"
"It's not crazy!" she pouted.
The stallion continued: "—but assuming that even an infinitesimal smidgen of this was true, then the organization would have had to have gone through incalculably epic lengths to cover its own nefarious tracks." He looked up. "And a single pegasus couldn't possibly unveil any of this overnight."
"What if... a certain single pegasus... has already found evidence?" Lightning Dust murmured.
"Like, what, from the inside?"
Lightning merely grinned.
Flash paled. His ears drooped as he stood up straight, growling: "Lightning Dust, what kind of trouble have you gotten into this time?"
"Okay... look..." Lightning Dust cleared her throat, waving a hoof from side to side. "After all that bullshit at Wonderbolt Academy, I needed... uh... to do some silly things to scrape a few bits for myself, y'know?"
"What have you done?" Flash snarled.
"Nothing violent! I promise you!" She gulped. "I mean... I'd never stoop to mugging. Even if this world is full of cowards and pussies, that's no excuse to do something uncool like harming other ponies' health, much less their bit bags—"
"I thought you were done with this crap, Lightning!" Flash began pacing furiously, tail flicking. "Those gangs in the Lower Broncos! The 'used watch salesponies' from Stallion Island—"
"Hey! You're not the only pony who can learn from past mistakes!" Lightning tilted her chin up. "Once burned, twice shy, Flash! I'm not gonna repeat history! Especially the cruddy parts!"
"Then what in Tartarus are you doing now?!"
"Just delivering packages, y'know!" Lightning shrunk away slightly from his glare. "I... uh... started seeking some quick jobs around town, y'know? I made some friends... and some of their friends' friends connected me to other friends who... uhm... gave me a courier job every few days. Just... delivering stuff from block to block while... ahem... avoiding the fuzz..."
"Grfffff..." Flash Sentry face-hoofed. "...Lightning..."
"And, like, I do a good job at mindlessly zipping around from building to building! Ain't no denying that!" She smirked. "And one thing led to another and suddenly I'm being sent downtown to Manehattan Island, assisting in... erm... group jobs."
"What kind of jobs?"
"Transporting a bunch of unmarked boxes in and out of the shipyards. Real hush-hush stuff."
"And none of this ever struck you as even the least bit fishy?"
"Well... uh... there was that one time that one of the boxes tipped over and... erm... a bunch of strange purple vapors came drifting out of the lid."
Flash blinked.
"I rushed over to set the thing upright again, and the overseer at the time shoved me back, yelling a whole bunch of random shit about how 'dangerous' it was. At first, I thought the guy was looking after my neck. But then—with each delivery—I started... hearing things. Like... stuff about shady dealings with parties in central Equestria: minotaurs and diamond dogs and other creeps. Then I start hearing about blacklists... with names that match the next week's obituary..."
"Lightning Dust..." Flash moaned. "Won't you ever... ever learn to stop digging a grave for yourself?" He gestured. "You've just got yourself attached to the hip of the Black Market."
"Yeah! And almost all of the delivery spots take place on Jasmine Enterprises property! I'm telling you, Flash... they're doing some nasty things!"
"No, you're doing some nasty things." He frowned. "You need to get out of this business before it buries you!"
"Nah! Don't you get it?!" She smiled. "There's something super awesome about this! We can turn this around on its head!"
"Lightning—"
"Sure, it's really shitty, and I've run into a bunch of really nasty ponies... but I like to look at it as though there's a supreme purpose! Something divine... even destined, y'know?" She waved. "I've stopped being an observer! Now I'm a pillar! And if I so choose, I can release my grip of the foundation and let the whole stinkin' organization collapse in on its own weight!"
Flash stared calmly at her. "... ... ...how much do you owe them?"
"Pffft. What?!" Lightning Dust laughed raspily, her mane slightly frazzled. "What are you even going on about?"
"You don't delve in things unless there's a risk to it, Lightning," Flash said. "Admit it. Getting tangled up with these creeps has a certain degree of excitement in it for you. But you absolutely suck with money. It's one of the few things in life that you can't outfly. So tell me... just how deep are you in debt? And what stands to happen to you if you don't pay up?"
"This isn't a repeat of the mess I made in the Lower Broncos, Flash. For real! We're in the right place and the right time to expose these motherbuckers!" She folded her forelimbs, blew a tuft of golden mane hair out from before her eyes, and glared off. "... ... ...anyways... five thousand bits."
"I knew it..."
"But th-that's not a factor, Celestia Damn It!" Her voice cracked. "If I wanted to, I could split! I could fly far... far away from this town and live safely outside of the influence of Jasmine Enterprises!"
"You mean these stupid gangs—"
"They all answer to Jasper Jasmine, Flash," she said with a frown. "And this next job I've got going on late tonight? Out by the docks?" She smirked. "I've come up with a plan to expose these morons... to bring their corruption to the light."
"You'll be exposing yourself too," Flash droned. "Ever thought of that?"
"Pffft. Shuddup! One thing at a time! For once, I wanna do something that's heroic." She smirked slyly. "You wanna be a hero in life, right?"
"What do you want from me, Lightning?"
"I want to borrow your badflankery," she said. "Just for a night." Silence. "And no, not in the sexy way. Although..." She purred. "I wouldn't mind that either... heehee..."
"Ugh..."