The Friendship Mafia

by FlareGun45

Misled Zeppelin (Choices)

The cargo chopper was approaching the zeppelin, but we’re making sure we don’t get too close where they spot us. In fact, we were close to the ocean under the zeppelin so we can be under the radar and not get spotted.

“This is it, boys. The Commission Zeppelin.” Annabelle said.

“Heavens to Betsey!” Clay said surprisingly. “Or whatever that means.”

“Booooooy… we’re gonna cause a real racket tonight!” Angel said.

“That’s the zeppelin my pop and brother are on, and Poni and his guys.” I said. “We’re going into that airship, and we’re going to rescue Poni.”

“Thanks for giving us the obvious info, captain obvious.” Turnip said sarcastically.

“Hey give him a break, Turn! He’s about to be in a difficult situation.” Sunflower said.

“Sorry for correcting you, Sunny, but I’ve always been in a difficult situation my entire life. I never stopped.” I said. “If my situation were to be perfect, I’d make peace with my pop and still be loyal to my organization and friends. The day he would accept me and the Friendship Mob is the day I’d feel at peace.”

“Well let’s save our feelings for later, H. We have an airship to raid.” Annabelle said.

“Indeed we do.” Turnip said. “So, Herb here chose the (left / right) side of the ship, so we’re going to be dropping you off over there. Once you get inside, look for any computer, and then Angel will attach the external device into it and hack the system. Clay, I gave you the radar gun. Let me know if you find a camera and I’ll disable it from here.”

“Yeah, like I didn’t have enough fun with this thing.” Clay said sarcastically. “As if I liked having my arm tired. As if I liked being the last one to get to a place.”

“Alright, holms, we get it.” Annabelle stopped him. “Anything you want me to do, T?”

“You and Herb just need to keep quiet and get to the brig.” Turnip said.

“How about Sunny? What’s she doing?” Annabelle asked.

“Minding my own business of my job, thank you.” Sunflower hinted.

“Whoa, discúlpeme!” Annabelle said defensively.

“Now, it’s time to do this thang!” Turnip said excitedly. “Sunflower here is going to jam their transmissions so we don’t appear on the radar. They also won’t be able to call for help. This will give you an easy entrance to the airship, but it won’t be much time until they find out. When they do find out, we’re going to distract them so it’ll keep their mind off you.”

“HEY!” Brown Fog complained. “I didn’t agree to no distractions!”

“You’re here, you’re doing it.” Sunflower demanded.

“You’re here, you’re doing it.” Brown Fog mocked whisperly as he and the co-pilot both laughed.

“WHAT?!” Sunflower yelled.

“Nevermind, Sunny, let’s just get to work. Jam their transmissions.” Turnip said.

“Ay, ay. Jamming transmissions.” Sunflower said as she pressed a few buttons on her controls. Before the Commission knew it, a giant jar of jam shatters on the satellite dish on top of the airship. “That should do it!”

“I hope you did the raspberry.” I said.

“Like you requested.” Sunflower said. “Why that flavor though out of all others?”

“Oh just for kicks.” I said with a grin.

“Alright, so this is our chance to drop you off. Let’s head towards the airship.” Turnip said. The two pilots start rising the chopper quickly over to the zeppelin, avoiding the view of the bridge, and we headed towards…

(When the music gets more upbeat is the part where the chase is happening.)

CHOICE A: …the right side of the ship.

So Turnip gave Angel, Annabelle, Clay, and I the equipment we needed and they dropped us off at the right platform emergency airlock. He gave us ear pieces so we can communicate with him and each other if we get separated. Once we got dropped off, the chopper flies away to a safe distance.

Clay looks down and said, “WHOA! I think I’m going to be sick!”

“Why did you look down, boy?” Angel asked. “That’s the last thing you should do while up here.”

“I was curious, alright?!” Clay yelled.

“Hey, the bright side is – we’re flying over the ocean. So if we did fall we’d be landing in the water.” I said.

“You think that’ll be a soft landing, Herb?” Angel asked.

“No idea. I never tried it.” I said.

Annabelle pulls the door but it wouldn’t even budge. “Well, anypony have any ideas?”

“I might have a few.” I said. I have a few choices; you want to help me in making sure I pick the correct choice?

How should we open the door?

A: Knock on the door.

B: C4 the door.

C: Acid

D: Giant Vacuum

The results:

A: The guards open the door and aim their weapons at us. “How unfortunate.” One of the guards said. “If you had any filly scout cookies, we would’ve let you in.”

B: The door explodes, opening it, but then sending us flying and plummeting to our doom.

C: I open up a jar of acid, hoping that would open the door, but I forgot to calculate the wind direction and the acid falls on my legs, burning them off and sends me freefalling.

D: The giant vacuum sucks off the door and the guards inside in the process.

“Good choice, H!” Annabelle said as we walked inside. Once we got in, he aimed the vacuum hose towards the opening where the door used to be, pressed the blow button on the vacuum, blowing the door and the guards out of the vacuum, putting the door back in place so the wind doesn’t suck us back out.

“Hey! Let us back in!” the guards cried from the other side as they pounded on the door.

“Say the magic word and we’ll let you in!” Annabelle said.

“Please?” one of the guards asked.

“Wrong magic word, amigo!” Annabelle said.

“Ok, now what?” Angel asked.

“Do you see that computer over there on that desk, Angel?” Turnip asked from the ear piece.

“Uh huh.” Angel said. “You want me to hack it?”

“NO!” Turnip yelled. “That one’s got a lot of malware on it. Go to the one next to it.”

“You shouted right in my ear, boy!” Angel yelled. So Angel heads over to the computer next to the other computer and connects his external device into the USB slot. He then heads to ‘My Computer’ and opens the device.

“You know what to do, right Angel?” Turnip asked.

“Sorry, boy, all I hear from you is ‘ring-ring-ring-ring’.” Angel said as he opens the HackConnect.exe and then searches for the matching IP numbers.

“How long is it going to take?” Clay asked.

“With you complaining, maybe too long.” Angel said.

“Now he knows how I feel.” Turnip said.

“Ah yeah, boy! That’s what I’m talking about!” Angel said as he finishes with the HackConnect.exe and moving to the BruteForce.exe. He stops the scrolling to the marked letters and the passcode spells ‘JELLYBABY’. “Alright, boys! I’m in! And now I’m feeling a little hungry.”

“You got it?” Turnip asked. “Alright good, I got your signal. I’ll be changing the security clearances around the ship from here so you’ll be able to get through almost any door.”

“Sounds promising!” Angel said.

“So which way to the brig?” I asked.

“The quickest way there is through that meeting room.” Annabelle pointed. “But there’s a meeting going on in there.”

“Maybe we should take the longer route.” I suggested.

“No, no, no time. We have to get through this fast, H.” Annabelle said. “We have your chosen items with me. What should we use to get through here?”

I dunno, what should we use?

A: Disguise

B: Glue

C: Transdimensionalizer

The results:

A: “Commission disguises, huh?” Clay asked as we all put on some tuxedos, and really cool facial hairs, ones that are not so scruffy. “Don’t they know what we look like already?”

“Boy, I’m invisible! They won’t even see me without this disguise!” Angel said.

“If you’re sure about this, H, let’s do it.” Annabelle said.

“Just follow my lead, and we should be fine.” I said. So we all walked into the meeting room and walked by as they continued on with their meeting.

One of them, however, notices us and says suspiciously, “Hey, you four! Where do you think you’re going?”

“Uhh…” I said as I didn’t know what to say.

“You four are those Marmellata brothers, right?” the mobster asked.

“Uhh, yeah. Yes we are.” I nodded.

“Yeah fo’ sure!” Angel agreed.

“What are you four doing here?!” the mobster cried out. “Your mom’s in the hospital right now! Take that escape pod behind you. It’ll take you right to the hospital she’s at.”

“Whaaaaaa?” I asked.

“Don’t worry, we’ll tell the boss. He’ll let you off the hook.” The mobster smiled at us.

“Well good! C’mon, bros! We have to see our mom RIGHT NOW!” Clay yelled.

“Oh I hope she didn’t get a liver attack again!” Annabelle panicked as we all climbed into the escape pod. Angel quickly started pushing the button rapidly to make the doors lock and the escape pod launch. All four of us were getting really antsy. We really wanted to see our mom so….. WAIT A MINUTE!

B: So we all put some glue on our hooves. Made them really sticky. “What are you planning, H?” Annabelle asked.

“We’re going to use this glue to climb on the ceiling, over the meeting room.” I said.

“That sounds like a terrible idea!” Angel said as he clopped his hooves together.

“Hey, I’m willing to try anything.” Clay said.

“Alright, let’s do it.” Annabelle agreed. So all of us except Angel placed our hooves on the walls, climbed up to the ceiling, and over the meeting room without even being noticed. Angel eventually followed us once he got his hooves unstuck, and we made it to the other side.

C: Transdimensionalizer.” I read the receipt. “Visit alternate dimensions just by flipping a switch. It’s super easy to use and gives great results. Swinebutt Industries, 2013.”

“Are you sure about using that thing, H?” Annabelle asked.

“What could be easier than just flipping a swit-“ I then flipped the switch and everything went flat. Really flat. Everything was just one big line.

“Niiiice. You just ruined the universe.” Clay said.

“Relax! All I have to do is flip the switch to go up… oh, right.” I just figured out. How in any way was this going to help?

So after we got through the meeting room, we got into a corridor section with a sign. One of the signs says ‘brig’ and it points to the left of us. So we turned left through the long corridor and went as fast as we could to get through there, but without making too much noise. As we were moving, Clay stopped us and whispered, “Wait!”

“What’s wrong, C?” Annabelle asked. He then points up ahead and sees a camera watching over the hallway in front of us.

“Alright, you boys go on ahead.” Clay said as he takes out the radar gun. “I’ll keep the camera busy while you go through. Don’t wait for me, alright? I mean unless there’s another camera.”

“Alright. You know what to do, Clay.” I said as the three of us got prepared to run through.

Clay aims the radar gun to the camera and says on his ear piece, “Turnip, are you getting the signal?”

“Yeah I got it.” Turnip said. “I just froze the footage. The rest of you, run now!” The three of us then quickly ran through, and Clay started to slowly follow us while still aiming the gun at the camera. Once we got to the other side, we waited for Clay.

“Go!” Clay instructed us. “I’ll just slow you down. I’ll catch up.” We did what he said and just ran on. When we got to the end of the hallway, there was a large gap between us and the brig which was on the other side.

“Looks like a bridge opens up here.” Annabelle informed us. “T, there’s a bridge that opens up at the location we’re at. Can you open it?”

“Gimmie a minute.” Turnip said on the ear piece. After a moment of waiting, he says, “Hmm… this isn’t working.”

“Does the ‘out of order’ sign on the panel have something to do with it?” I asked.

“Ah.” Turnip said. “Looks like you’ll have to find your own way to the other side. Do you have anything that might help?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Annabelle said as he checks his bag.

“Back.” Clay said as he catches up to us. “Glad there wasn’t another camera here.”

“I’ll send you something via supply drop.” Turnip said. “There’s a window in the room you’re in, and there’s a little latch on the window for an emergency water landing exit. Perhaps I’ll get something through that. We got plenty of supplies here; just tell me what you need.”

What should Turnip give us?

A: Platform

B: Gravity Bubble

C: Robo Helper

D: Helicopter

The results:

A: “Dropping off a platforrrrrrrrrm… now!” Turnip said as he drops a platform through the latch on the window and it falls on me and Annabelle, knocking us out. “Did you get it?” he asked.

B: “I hacked the gravity systems on that airship.” Turnip said. “I’ll try to lower the gravity so you can float your way to the other side. I just gotta find which button to push…” Turnip was confused between the ‘up’ and ‘down’ button. He then presses the ‘up’ button and asks, “Did it work?” and all four of us laying on the ground like we were being held down by a heavy force. Makes me wonder if ‘up’ actually meant increase gravity, or did it mean we go up?

C: “Alright, here you go.” Turnip said as he sends down a robot to us that looked a lot like Tails from Sonic. “Treat him with care.” The robo Tails with his propeller-like tail started floating in front of us. We grabbed onto the handle, he did stink a bit with exhaust gas, but he safely got us to the other side.

D: “Need a helicopter? Alright, we know just the thing!” Turnip said. “Brown, take us in!”

“Alright, here we come!” Brown said as he started humming a superhero tune as he started flying the helicopter into the airship. “Dah dah dahdah dah dahdah duhduuuh!”

“The door’s unlocked. Head through.” Turnip said as the door opened and we walked through. There was another corridor, but this one was shorter, as we could see the entrance to the brig on the other side.

“Whoooooa!” Annabelle said shockingly.

“Yeah I can see that.” I said. “Those hidden doors in the walls, those vents on the ground. This is a trap.”

“Maybe.” Clay said as he takes out his radar gun again. “But there’s a camera over there. The trap might activate if whoever is in the monitor room sees us. I’ll just freeze the camera, and we can get through. Just like before!”

“Alright, let’s do it.” I said.

Clay aims the radar gun towards the camera and said, “Turn, you got the signal?”

“Yep!” Turnip said. “Aaaaand… freeze! Go now!” The three of us ran over to the other side quickly, and then we stopped once we got to a certain distance.

“Go ahead!” Clay said as he slowly started to catch up with us.

“We can’t. There’s another camera by the door.” I said.

“Oh, ok, I’m on it.” Clay said. Once we caught up to us, he looked over at the camera at the other side and said, “Oooh… I dunno about this. Turnip, there’s a camera on the other side, but it’s facing right at us. I think we’re too far though so it probably doesn’t see us… yet.”

“You can use the radar gun from that distance, but you have to keep even more still than before.” Turnip explained. “The camera is further away from you, which means it’s harder to keep aim at it.”

“Can I walk slowly towards it?” Clay asked.

“You could, but be absolutely careful!” Turnip said.

“Alright.” Clay said. He aims the radar gun at the camera and asks, “Got a signal?”

“Not yet, a little to the right.” Turnip said.

Clay moves his arms a bit and asks, “Now?”

“A little more.” Turnip said. “Ok, right… a little more… a little more… TOO MUCH! Wait, now you’re really far away now.”

“You startled me!” Clay yelled.

“Sorry.” Turnip said as Clay aims the radar gun back to the camera. “Ok, left… left… up… up… a little down… little more… left… ok, good! Now walk slowly, Clay. Don’t move anything other than your hind legs.”

“It’s hard to walk on my hind legs.” Clay said as we all started walking.

“My cousin doesn’t think so.” Angel said. Once we finally got to the other side towards the door, Clay still didn’t move the radar gun. We were closer to it so it was easier for him to aim it.

“Alright, guys, hurry and open that door. My arms are getting tired!” Clay said.

“Alright.” Annabelle said. “T, can you hack this here panel to the open this door?”

“No it requires a keycard.” Turnip said.

“Do we have time to get one?” Angel asked.

“No, but there’s vent right there by the door.” Turnip said. “It goes right through a duct and into the brig, but once you climb down there, don’t move forward yet, there’s security down there.”

“Ayright.” I said. “Annabelle can you help me with this vent?”

“Sure, H.” Annabelle said as we both crouched down and started unloosening the screws to the vent.

“I… can’t hold… much longer!” Clay hesitated.

“Hang on, Clay! We almost got it!” I said. Once we unloosen the last screw, we moved the vent. I jumped down first, followed by Annabelle, then Angel, and then Clay right after. Once we climbed down, Annabelle climbed back up to close the vent.

Meanwhile, in the security room, the security guard got startled. In the monitor which showed footage of the brig’s hallway, right at the same time the monitor got unfrozen, Clay just appeared right in the middle of the footage, and then quickly ran to the vent to jump down, but the footage didn’t show the vent, just Clay appearing and running. It startled the security guard so bad he spit out his coffee. “WHOA!”

“What happened?” another guard asked.

“Must be a glitch or something because I swear I saw a strange pony just pop out in the middle of the screen and run away!” the first guard said.

“You play waaaaay too much Five Night’s at Freddy’s, dude.” The second guard said.

Back with us inside the duct, there was an electric fence right front of us. “There’s NO way we can go through that. Not even one as athletic as I.” Angel said.

“I hacked into their power grid.” Turnip said. “What should I do?”

What should he do?

A: Shut off the power.

B: Relocate the power.

C: We don’t need your help.

The results:

A: The power to the electric fence shuts off allowing us to go through, but then it felt like the whole airship started falling right from the sky.

B: The power to the electric fence shuts off allowing us to go through, and the power to the TV in the lounge room over bursts with power and breaks down, causing the mobsters that were watching TV to complain over the fact that they didn’t know if she would stay with him.

C: “Oh… ok… I… I thought I’d want to be… of help, but… its ok.” Turnip said sadly.

“Alright, we jump through on three!” I said. “One… two… THREE!” We jump through the electric fence and we get burnt up.

Once we got through the duct, we climb the ladder and climb up to the brig where we see the warden and another mobster talking. “Think I should go out to get us some snacks?” the first mobster asked.

“Go ahead.” The second mobster said. “Can you get me some chips? And not the barbeque ones, alright?”

“There are some ponies up here, H. What should we do?” Annabelle whispered.

I dunno, what?

A: Flashbang

B: Sleeping gas

C: Banana bomb

D: Force gun

The results:

A: “Fire in the hole!” some random voice from the radio called out. The flashbang blinds all us as we start running through. Our ears were ringing, but once the flashbang effects wear off, we all crashed into the wall.

B: I throw the sleeping gas into the room and both of the mobsters fall asleep, but the gas comes towards us and we fall asleep as well.

C: I throw a banana bomb in the room, and a little black square with red numbers appears beside it, 3… 2… 1…, then it explodes, and banana splatter was all over us and the mobsters and all over the room, but that didn’t stop the mobsters. They aimed their weapons right at us.

D: I aim the force gun at the mobsters force pushing them right into the wall which knocks them out.

Once the mobsters were taken care of, we climbed out of the vent and the only ones left in the brig was us. “We did it, boys! We made it to the brig!” Angel said excitedly.

“Now all we have to do is find Poni.” I said.

CHOICE B: …the left side of the ship.

So Turnip gave Angel, Annabelle, Clay, and I the equipment we needed and they dropped us off at the left platform emergency airlock. He gave us ear pieces so we can communicate with him and each other if we get separated. Once we got dropped off, the chopper flies away to a safe distance.

Clay looks down and said, “WHOA! I think I’m going to be sick!”

“Why did you look down, boy?” Angel asked. “That’s the last thing you should do while up here.”

“I was curious, alright?!” Clay yelled.

“Hey, the bright side is – we’re flying over the ocean. So if we did fall we’d be landing in the water.” I said.

“You think that’ll be a soft landing, Herb?” Angel asked.

“No idea. I never tried it.” I said.

Annabelle pulls the door but it wouldn’t even budge. “Well, anypony have any ideas?”

“I might have a few.” I said. I have a few choices; you want to help me in making sure I pick the correct choice?

How should we open the door?

A: Joy buzzard

B: Expanding Foam

C: Wait

D: Spinach

The results:

A: I placed the joy buzzard on my hoof, and then I placed my hoof on the panel next to the door hoping it would short-circuit, and it did, however… the whole ship short-circuited and started falling from the sky.

B: I took out a jar of expanding foam from my pocket and started shaking it. I shook it some more because I liked the feeling of it, but I seemed to shake it too much and my head grew 50x the size of my body. Boy, do I feel like an Equestrian Girl right now.

C: “Awww! Do we have to?” Angel whined. We just waited, and waited… and waited… and waited… and after a while the door opens and a mobster comes out for some fresh air, not knowing we were even there, and so we slipped inside and locked the door behind him.

D: I took a big can of spinach, squeezed it and the spinach flew right into my mouth. I gulped it down, held one of my eyes closed, and then I felt a giant bulge inside my body go up to both of my arms, and then my ears started to steam as some type of sailor music played in the background. I then had the strength to grab the door and rip it right out of the socket! I then lost balance and fell off the airship.

“Good choice, H!” Annabelle said.

“Hey! Let me back in!” the mobster cried from the other side as he pounded on the door.

“Sure, for a million bits.” Annabelle teased.

“Are you kidding? I’ll pay double!” the mobster said.

“Really?” Annabelle asked as he was about to press the button, but then I slapped his hoof away and I shook my head. “Ow!”

“Ok, now what?” Angel asked.

“Do you see that computer over there on that desk, Angel?” Turnip asked from the ear piece.

“Uh huh.” Angel said. “You want me to hack it?”

“No I want you to play freecell on it. YES I want you to hack it!” Turnip said sarcastically.

“Ow! You shouted right in my ear, boy!” Angel yelled. So Angel heads over to the computer and connects his external device into the USB slot. He then heads to ‘My Computer’ and opens the device.

“You know what to do, right Angel?” Turnip asked.

“What? I can’t hear you. You made me deaf.” Angel said as he opens the HackConnect.exe and then searches for the matching IP numbers.

“This isn’t going to take too long, is it?” Clay asked.

“Was waiting outside not long enough for you?” Turnip teased.

“Shut your face, boy. I’m working!” Angel instructed him as he was just about finished with the HackConnect.exe. “Ah yeah, boy! That’s what I’m talking about!” He then moves to the BruteForce.exe. He stops the scrolling to the marked letters and the passcode spells ‘ALLONSZEE’. “Alright, boys! I’m in! Allons-y!”

“You got it?” Turnip asked. “Alright good, I got your signal. I’ll be changing the security clearances around the ship from here so you’ll be able to get through almost any door.”

“Sounds promising!” Angel said.

“So which way to the brig?” I asked. “I have some of my chosen items with me if they’ll be any help whatsoever, but we gotta be quick and quiet, so where’s the quickest and quietest way?”

“Both?” Turnip asked. “Well I’m not sure. There’s an elevator in there, and there’s a wind pipe that’ll take you close to the brig, but you can also try out that computer next to you to see if you can find a way there.”

Tough call. Which should I do?

A: Wind Pipe

B: Elevator

C: Computer

The results:

A: We all climbed into the wind pipe, but as we climbed in, we started getting blown in all places around the ship until eventually we fall through a tube that takes us to a hallway. It kinda hurt, but we’re still on track.

B: We step into the elevator and pressed the button, but then Turnip yelled, “Wai- WAIT! That’s not an eleva-!” He was too late. It turned out to be an escape pod that brought us to the hospital for some reason.

C: So I went on the computer and opened the ‘Special Files’ folder. Inside was ‘Secret Files’, ‘Commission Secrets’, and ‘Civilization V.exe’. We played Civilization for about five hours, and then we were caught by some mobsters.

After we got up and tried to forget about our pain, especially the fact that my spine was a bit disordered, we saw some signs on the walls. One of the signs says ‘brig’ and it points to the right of us. So we turned right through the long corridor and went as fast as we could to get through there, but without making too much noise. As we were moving, Clay stopped us and whispered, “Wait!”

“What’s wrong, C?” Annabelle asked. He then points up ahead and sees a camera watching over the hallway in front of us.

“Alright, you boys go on ahead.” Clay said as he takes out the radar gun. “I’ll keep the camera busy while you go through. Don’t wait for me, alright? I mean unless there’s another camera.”

“Alright. You know what to do, Clay.” I said as the three of us got prepared to run through.

Clay aims the radar gun to the camera and says on his ear piece, “Turnip, are you getting the signal?”

“Yeah I got it.” Turnip said. “I just froze the footage. The rest of you, run now!” The three of us then quickly ran through, and Clay started to slowly follow us while still aiming the gun at the camera. Once we got to the other side, we waited for Clay.

“Go!” Clay instructed us. “I’ll just slow you down. I’ll catch up.” We did what he said and just ran on. When we got to the end of the hallway, there was a large gap between us and the brig which was on the other side.

“Looks like a bridge opens up here.” Annabelle informed us. “T, there’s a bridge that opens up at the location we’re at. Can you open it?”

“Gimmie a minute.” Turnip said on the ear piece. After a moment of waiting, he says, “Hmm… this isn’t working.”

“Does the ‘out of order’ sign on the panel have something to do with it?” I asked.

“Ah.” Turnip said. “Looks like you’ll have to find your own way to the other side. Do you have anything that might help?”

“I think I got something.” Annabelle said as he checked his bag. “What do you need, H?”

“Oh NOW you got stuff! You didn’t have stuff in the alternate path.” Angel complained.

“I’ll unlock the doors on the other side while you figure this out.” Turnip offered.

Thanks Angel for that. So what should we do to get to the other side?

A: Leap

B: Teleport

C: Stretch chewies

D: Magic pencil

The results:

A: “You’re kidding, right?” Angel asked.

“On three.” I said. “One… two… three!” so we leaped off the platform and I expected us to jump that 50 feet long gap, and… I was right! We were successful! Mainly because the whole ship shook.

“Uhh, sorry everypony.” The driver on the intercom said. “Had to run evasive maneuvers. A flock of ducks flew by.”

B: So I so happened to have a teleporter device with me, and I pressed some buttons on it and… it pretty much worked. Worked a little too well. The four of us ended up into the plain of infinite. Also the device stopped working.

C: We ate up some stretch chewie candies that I so happened to have with me, and now our hooves are really, REALLY flexible!

D: I used a magic pencil to draw a bridge, but then it punches me in the face and jumps down into the gap.

“The door’s unlocked. Head through.” Turnip said as the door opened and we walked through. There was another corridor, but this one was shorter, as we could see the entrance to the brig on the other side, along with a pony walking over to the door. But he was pretty far and didn’t notice us.

“Whoooooa!” Annabelle said shockingly.

“Yeah I can see that.” I said. “Those hidden doors in the walls, those vents on the ground. This is a trap.”

“Maybe.” Clay said as he takes out his radar gun again. “But there’s a camera over there. The trap might activate if whoever is in the monitor room sees us. I’ll just freeze the camera, and we can get through. Just like before!”

“Alright, let’s do it.” I said.

Clay aims the radar gun towards the camera and said, “Turn, you got the signal?”

“Yep!” Turnip said. “Aaaaand… freeze! Go now!” The three of us ran over to the other side quickly, and then we stopped once we got to a certain distance.

“Go ahead!” Clay said as he slowly started to catch up with us.

“We can’t. There’s another camera by the door.” I said. “Also there seems to be a pony over there carrying snacks, one of them seems to be flaming hot Cheetos. Also the pony seems to be having trouble with his keycard.”

“Shhh! Why you talking so loud? He’ll hear us.” Angel asked.

“No he won’t. He’s listening to music on his headphones, and I can hear it from here!” I said.

“Oh, ok, I’m coming.” Clay said. Once we caught up to us, he looked over at the camera at the other side and said, “Oooh… I dunno about this. Turnip, there’s a camera on the other side, but it’s facing right at us. I think we’re too far though so it probably doesn’t see us… yet.”

“You can use the radar gun from that distance, but you have to keep even more still than before.” Turnip explained. “The camera is further away from you, which means it’s harder to keep aim at it.”

“Can I walk slowly towards it?” Clay asked.

“You could, but be absolutely careful!” Turnip said.

“Alright.” Clay said. He aims the radar gun at the camera and asks, “Got a signal?”

“Not yet, a little to the right.” Turnip said.

Clay moves his arms a bit and asks, “Now?”

“A little more.” Turnip said. “Ok, right… a little more… a little more… TOO MUCH! Wait, now you’re really far away now.”

“You startled me!” Clay yelled.

“Sorry.” Turnip said as Clay aims the radar gun back to the camera. “Ok, left… left… up… up… a little down… little more… left… ok, good! Now walk slowly, Clay. Don’t move anything other than your hind legs.”

“It’s hard to walk on my hind legs.” Clay said as we all started walking.

“My cousin doesn’t think so.” Angel said. Once we finally got to the other side towards the door, Clay still didn’t move the radar gun. We were closer to it so it was easier for him to aim it.

“Alright, guys, hurry and open that door. My arms are getting tired!” Clay said.

“What’s wrong with this pony’s keycard?” I asked.

“Let’s see if we can get rid of him.” Annabelle said.

How should we get rid of him?

A: Mind Control

B: Remote Access

C: Knock out

D: Portal Gun

The results:

A: Turnip successfully takes control of the pony, but it would seem controlling a pony is harder than it looks because Turnip forces the pony to swallow his keycard… safely.

B: “Alright, guys.” Turnip said. “I’ve gotten control in that area you’re in. I should be able to open the door automatically from here. Ready? I’m pulling the switch now.” And just then, a trapdoor below us opens and we start falling. “Woops, wrong door.” He said embarrassingly.

C: As I sneak up on the mobster while he’s dancing to his really loud music, he punches me in the face unexpectingly and knocks me out. He then notices us and sounds the alarm.

D: So I took out the portal gun, and I aimed it right over the pony. I was about to shoot one, but Angel stopped me. “Hang on, man.” He said. He took out a bucket of white paint and dumped it all over the area, including the pony. Before the pony could do anything, I shot a portal over him and under him so he can get stuck in an infinite loop. That takes care of him!

We took the mobster’s keycard and swiped it in the slot and the door opened. “Ah there we go! He was just inserting it upside down.” I said as we walked inside. Clay then quickly follows us in relief and we’re all in the brig. But Clay decided to go back and get the snacks the mobster dropped.

“Out of all I did, I needed a little something hot.” Clay said.

“Clay, c’mon!” I called out.

“Coming!” he called out back. He then ran inside after us, and closed the door behind us.

Meanwhile, in the security room, the security guard got startled. In the monitor which showed footage of the brig’s hallway, right at the same time the monitor got unfrozen, Clay just appeared right in the middle of the footage, and then quickly ran into the brig’s entrance, but the footage didn’t show the door, just Clay appearing and running. It startled the security guard so bad he spit out his coffee. “WHOA!”

“What happened?” another guard asked.

“Must be a glitch or something because I swear I saw a strange pony just pop out in the middle of the screen and run away!” the first guard said.

“You play waaaaay too much Five Night’s at Freddy’s, dude.” The second guard said.

Back in the brig as we snuck inside, the warden was sitting on the table in front of us reading a book. “HAHAHAHA!” the warden laughed. “I can’t read!”

“Now what?” Annabelle whispered to me.

You heard the pony!

A: Ninja Star

B: Falcon Punch

C: Spider

The results:

A: I stood three feet behind the warden and I threw a ninja star right at him… and missed completely.

B: I jumped behind the warden and yelled, “FALCON… PUNCH!” and… nothing happened. The warden just sounded the alarm.

C: I so happened to have a spider dangling on a stick, so I wanted to use it to scare this pony. I dangled the spider right in front of him and he says, “Oh, hello, Mister Spider!” I got annoyed and knocked him out with the stick.

“This pony is the first pony I ever seen that likes spiders!” I said.

“What were the odds?” Annabelle asked.

“Yeah.” Clay said as he was nibbling on some flaming hot Cheetos.

“You had Cheetos and didn’t even bother to share them?” I complained.

“Finders keepers, brother.” Clay said.

I then grabbed the Cheeto bag right from his hooves, opened the window and threw it out. “Now nopony gets to have any.”

“You just littered, bro.” Clay informed me.

“Who cares? We did it, boys! We made it to the brig!” Angel said excitedly.

“Right! Now all we have to do is find Poni.” I said. “And no more snacking!”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We now return to our regularly scheduled chapter. Both choices end up here now.

The four of us walk through the brig corridor to see if we can find Poni anywhere. “Turnip, any readings of where he could be?” I asked.

“Hmm… a lot of these brig cells are empty.” Turnip said. “The only cell with any prisoners is number four. Contains three prisoners. It’s gotta be them.”

“Could it?” Clay asked.

“Be swift, you four.” Turnip informed us. “There is somepony heading towards your position.”

“We gotta go fast!” Angel said. “Gotta go fast!”

“Number four, here it is!” Annabelle pointed.

“I think it might be locked.” I assumed. “Turnip, how do we unlock this door?”

“Angel has to insert his external device into the slot by the panel and hack it open.” Turnip said.

“I know the drill, boy.” Angel said as he takes out his external device and plugs it into the panel. He opens up the HackConnect.exe to find the matching numbers. While he was at it, I started knocking on the cell door.

“Poni! Poni are you in there? Poni?!” I yelled.

“Herb?!” Poni called out. “Herb is that you?!”

“I asked you first!” I called out.

“Yeah it’s me.” Poni said.

“Hey what about us?” Star complained.

“Yeah what gives?” Bright agreed.

I sighed and said, “Bright, Star, are you ok?”

“Yeah we’re fine thanks for asking.” Bright said sarcastically.

“We’re here to get you boys out!” Angel said.

“Of course you are! Why else would you be here?” Bright asked sarcastically. “Would you be here just so Poni can sign your paycheck?”

“We can leave you two here if that’s any help.” Annabelle suggested.

“So good to have you all here!” Star said excitedly. “I really mean that! I do!”

“How did you get in here though?!” Poni asked surprisingly. “How did you get into the airship?”

“It’s a long store, Pone. We’ll explain later.” I said.

“Ok. Is the door almost unlocked?” Poni asked.

“Almost.” Angel said. “I’m starting up the Brute Force now.”

“The… what?” Poni asked.

“It’s just nerd talk.” I said. “Tell me, Pone, did they hurt you?”

“Did they hurt me?!” Poni asked. “Worse! They hurt Star and Bright! Tortured them!”

“But what about you?” I asked.

“You know what, Herb, you’re a jerk!” Bright said angrily. “I mean we care about the boss too, but do you care about us at all?”

“Of course I do.” I said. “Poni’s the don though. Without him there is no Friendship Mafia. I hope you two can realize that.”

“Just open the door already!” Star demanded.

“Angel are you almost… DAD?!” I gasped.

“Hello, son!” my pop said as he punches Angel away from the panel.

“OW!” Angel yelled as he collapses on the ground. Clay catches him at just the right time though. “I was still using that! I had one last letter, boy! Also, great catch, Clay.”

“Well I didn’t want my prized prisoner to escape me… boy.” Pop said.

“Wait… that’s how I say it? Is that really the way I talk?” Angel asked. “Oooooh… I’m going back to ‘man’. At least it sounded friendlier.”

“To be honest, A… I liked it better when you said ‘man’ too.” Annabelle said.

“I’m sure we all did, brother.” Clay said.

“Give up, pop, it’s over.” I said. “We’re going to rescue Poni. We managed to get past all that the Commission threw at us. They’d be lucky to have us on their side.”

“You’re just a pawn to them, H senior.” Annabelle said. “Just accept the fact.”

“I do… I always did.” Pop said. “I knew they were using me, so that’s why I used them back! With Mr. Marmellata occupied down at Manehattan, this is my chance to take over the Commission!”

“How? Whoever controls the zeppelin controls the Commission, and Mr. Marmellata has the key.” Clay reminded him.

“Oh… you mean this key?” pop asked as he showed us the key.

“I dunno. We don’t know what the key looks like.” Clay said.

“THIS is the Commission key! I stole it from Marmellata’s quarters. I control the airship now which means I control the Commission!” pop said. “With the other dons distracted trying to test you, it was my chance to sneak in while nopony was looking. Most of the other mobsters are down in the city right now looking for you. The dons have no idea that you’re here! But I did, just as soon as the guard picked up Clay in the monitor room.”

“Ooooh, was I not fast enough?” Clay asked.

“Nope… you weren’t.” pop said. “So now it’s time for me to claim my rightful place. Perhaps the Friendship Mob can still have a part in the Commission. I know for a fact Mr. Marmellata is doomed. The FDA is right on top of him. He doesn’t stand a chance! We’ll need that fifth seat.”

“Ok, stop there, pop, stop.” I said. “You wanted the Friendship Mob to be disbanded, but now you want it to have a seat in the Commission?”

“Junior, my son, “pop places his hoof on my shoulder, “don’t you understand? You’re already the new don of the Friendship Mob! It’s your rightful place! This is your chance to make me proud! You own your own mob, and we can work together! With the city of Mareami trusting you, this will make my operations so much easier! We can have that alliance you wanted! You can still do some good while still making me proud! Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“But what about Poni?” I asked.

“What about him?” pop asked. “He’s where he belongs… in a cell.”

“No he doesn’t. He’s a good pony, unlike you.” I said.

“HA! I get it!” Angel laughed. “That’s what Poni’s name means!”

“A good pony? A good pony?” pop asked as he shook his head. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Herb, my son… didn’t you listen to your brother?”

“Barely. He’s an idiot.” I said.

“You don’t seem to understand that all you’re doing right now is in vain.” Pop said. “Poni is not a good pony. He’s not a good don. He’s a liar and a criminal.”

“You’re a liar and a criminal!” I said.

“Yes, but I have my reasons.” Pop said. “All that I do, I do for the family. I’m just trying to make the Leafhorn name mean something! The Guns took it away!”

“So if the Guns are your problem, why is Poni your problem right now?” I asked.

“Herb, my son…” pop started.

“You’re starting to sound like a broken record.” Clay informed him.

“I can’t worry about the Guns until I know you’re safe from Poni’s wrath!” pop said. “I want to save you from his lies and deception!”

“What lies and deception!?” I yelled. “Poni is very inspirational to me, just like Alberto Palma was his!”

“Junior, don’t you understand?!” pop yelled. “He IS Alberto Palma!”

Just then I was surprised. I didn’t know it to be true, it never came to me. My heart was pounding hard, and my head was spinning. I felt pretty cold. I felt a bit of rage inside, and I had to let it out. “WHAT?!” I yelled.

“You heard me.” pop said as he crossed his hooves. “Poni Cipriani is Alberto Palma, former don of the Ovest Palma family. He used to run the Commission, until he got corrupted by… friendship… and harmony. He was a threat to the Commission, so the whole Commission AND his own ponies turned against him. All of them! All… except two.”

“Two?” I asked. “Who?”

“Who do you think?” Turnip asked sarcastically on my ear piece.

“Star and Bright.” I mumbled.

“Ah ha! Now we’re not looking so bad, huh Herb?” Star asked from inside the cell. “Poni trusts us because we were the only ones that did not betray him. We know that whatever Poni does he does for his friends… for us. You betrayed him once, and he praised you for not giving in.”

“Exactly.” Bright said. “Poni is lucky to have all of us. Ponies as loyal as us. We may not be the cool ponies you think we are, but do you think you’ll ever get the chance to have the trust that Poni has with us?”

I was silent for a moment. I felt so guilty, and so disappointed in myself. “Poni… is all this true?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, kid.” Poni said.

“Star… Bright… I’m… I’m sorry!” I said.

“NO! Don’t apologize to them!” pop yelled. “He was a threat to the entire Commission! He even changed his name so the other dons wouldn’t recognize him, but we saw through his disguise! You think the Commission would ever let him in? The only thing they’d do is use him like they used me!”

“Wait a minute, man.” Angel interrupted us. “I’m not at the hacking panel anymore and it’s been well over a minute.” Just then, the alarm on the zeppelin started going off.

“ALERT! ALERT!” the PA intercom alerted. “Hacking interference detected in brig level, cell 4. Preparing for security lockdown.”

“You HAD to jinx it!” Turnip said sarcastically.

“You boys might as well give up.” Pop informed us. “The Commission knows you’re here. The guards are coming. This is my chance to take over the ship. You had your chance to join me son, and now that chance is long gone!” Just then, he started to run away.

“We have to catch him!” Annabelle yelled.

“We have to rescue Poni first.” I said. “Turnip, you think you can still unlock the door?”

“No! I can’t do anything anymore!” Turnip said. “It’s a security lockdown! All the electronics in that airship have been disabled! You’re on your own now.”

“Seriously?!” Annabelle complained.

“The best I can do is wait for you.” Turnip said. “Once you rescue Poni, get to the hanger, and I’ll come pick you up.”

“Got it.” I said.

“So how are we supposed to unlock this thing?” Clay asked.

The first thing that came to my mind was just… pull it. When I pulled the cell door, it just opened, just like that. “Wait… it was unlocked this whole time?” Annabelle asked.

“Booooy… that’s a mind blow.” Angel said.

“I thought it would be locked!” I complained.

“Yeah that’s what you get for assuming.” Star teased.

“Why didn’t you open the door then, genius?” Annabelle asked sarcastically.

“This is no time to fight!” Poni said. “Are there any other prisoners? There were some next door to us.”

“Uhhh…” Annabelle peeked over inside the cell next door to Poni’s cell. “No, the cell’s empty.”

“They must’ve been moved.” Poni assumed. “Oh well, forget about them. There’s something we gotta do. You boys follow me down to the engine room.”

“Wait, the engine room?” I asked. “Why are we going down there? Turnip’s waiting for us at the hanger.”

“You heard what your pop said.” Poni reminded me. “He’s going to take over the Commission. We can’t have that. The only way we can stop him now is to take down this airship.”

“Take down the airship?” Annabelle asked.

“Boss, don’t you remember? The airship is the Commission.” Clay reminded him. “Without the airship, there is no Commission.”

“Exactly!” Poni said.

“I’m down with that.” Bright said. “Are you boys in or out?”

“Ok now I’m officially tired of that word.” Angel complained.

“Poni…” I started, “if we do this, this will ruin our chances in being in the Commission.”

“The Commission is already done for.” Poni said. “You heard your pop. Mr. Marmellata is screwed and he’s taking over. We can’t have that. Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“WOO! We’re gonna blow things up!” Clay yelled in excitement.

“For the streets, man! For the streets!” Angel said as he removes his external device from the panel.

“I’m only down if you’re down, H.” Annabelle said. “So what’s it gonna be?”

“Well…” I continued. “I gave it some thought… and I’m in!”

“Then let’s do this thang!” Annabelle said as he takes toilet plunger guns out of his bag and gives them to us. No doubt there’s a bunch of mobsters heading right over here to finish us.

“There they are!” one of the mobsters yelled as a bunch of them spotted us. We shot our plungers right at them and they got stuck on their bodies, limbs, and faces. Some of them got really disgusted since some of these plungers didn’t even get cleaned out. We escaped the brig and saw a bunch of mobsters heading our way, whether they were Fraternos, Melas, Pennas, and even Sharks. At least we were knew what we were expecting when we were fighting them individually. Now it’s all of them together, which makes them a lot more difficult, but at least now we have Star and Bright, and they’re pretty pro when it comes to fighting other mobsters.

“Man I’m glad they’re on our side!” Angel said excitedly.

“We must protect the don!” Star said.

“Protect the boss!” Bright repeated.

We successfully got passed the corridor and we returned to the gap. Since the mobsters were running through the corridor, we knew the bridge was out this time, and it was. “Wait a minute how did they activate the bridge? Isn’t this a security lockdown?” Bright asked.

“The mobsters might have something to give them clearance.” Annabelle assumed. “Let’s search these knocked out mobsters, they might have something.”

“I’ve got something.” Turnip said. “I’ve researched that airship, and with the possibility of a security lockdown, each security panel in the ship has a panel that gives security clearance to only one faction. That bridge had permanent clearance for the Fraterno family, and that door that leads back to the first corridor you were in requires a Penna passcard. The incapacitated Penna there has a keycard that’ll be useful, but just in case, get all the passcards from each faction. The Fraternos, the Pennas, and the Melas each has one, but since the Sharks aren’t trusted that much by the Commission they don’t have any.”

“But how is pop going through the ship freely?” I asked.

“He’s got Mr. Marmellata’s super keycard.” Turnip said. “He’s able to get around the ship as he pleases, and since there are no Marmellata mobsters on the ship, you won’t be able to get any Marmellata keycards, so whatever door that has a Marmellata key panel you won’t be able to go through. That also includes the hanger doors though. The hanger doors requires a Marmellata keycard.

“I’m going to go to the bridge and get that super key.” I offered. “The rest of you can go to the engine room and destroy it.”

“Alone? You’re mad!” Star said.

“Mad? Yes. Crazy? No I’m not.” I said.

“Kid, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Poni said.

“I have to face my pop.” I said. “I have to. If you manage to destroy the airship we won’t be able to escape without that superkey. I’m going to get it. My dad is my responsibility. The rest of you have to protect the don.”

“Herb, I know we haven’t been on good terms, but I’m telling you, it’s not a good idea!” Bright said. “It’s not safe. Poni wants you to stay alive, and if he wants it, I want it.”

“Me too.” Star agreed. “We’ll come with you.”

“You have to protect the don.” I insisted.

“What about us, man?” Angel asked.

“Yeah we never leave a brother behind.” Clay agreed.

“All the mobsters are going after you guys.” I said. “This will give me a chance to slip through undetected and get to the bridge so I can face my pop and take his keycard.”

“Niiiiice, using us as bait.” Clay said sarcastically.

“So please, all of you just go on.” I insisted. “I’ll be fine.”

“No!” Annabelle said. “I’m coming with you!”

“No, Ann, I’m fine.” I insisted. “You’ll be alright with Poni. Just disable the engines and meet me at the hanger.”

“No, H.” Annabelle said as he walked over to me and placed his hooves on my shoulders. “I ain’t asking for your permission.” Annabelle then… WHOA! WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! He just… he just… he just kissed me! No not like the mwah kind, more like the mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmwah kind.

“Whoa, man! Not cool, man!” Angel said.

I was blushing really badly. Then I said, “DUDE! I mean I like you and all, but not that way!”

“Yeah, but the thing is, I ain’t a dude.” Annabelle said.

“Wait… what?” I asked surprisingly. “WHAT?! You’re not a… but I thought… Angel did you know this?”

“No idea, man.” Angel said.

“You’re a mare, Annabelle?!” I asked surprisingly.

“That would explain the name.” Star said.

“Yeah all this time I thought it was a stallion named Annabelle, and I was like, who would name their colt that?” Bright asked.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, H.” Annabelle said. “But you always seemed to think I was a stallion. So I went with it. I always thought you were cute. But you had a marefriend at the time, and…” He starte- I mean SHE started to whimper. If I say ‘he’ accidently in this story, it means I’m not used to it yet.

“You should’ve! Why didn’t you?” I asked.

“Because… I… didn’t want that to ruin our… friendship.” Annabelle said sadly. I really didn’t know what to say. This was all very new for me. However, in a way, I already seemed to know, and it didn’t bother me one bit. *twitches*

“Annabelle and I are going to the bridge to face my pop.” I said. Annabelle then smiled and jumped up and down full of hype. “The rest of you, head to the engine room and destroy the engines.”

“Wait! I was a mare this whole time too and I love you. Can I come?” Clay asked.

“At least Annabelle has some hints of her being a mare.” Star explained. “She’s got a mare’s face, and what about the ear rings?”

“I’m wearing ear rings too, man.” Angel reminded him. “Well only one ear ring on my left ear.”

“Do what you can, Herb, but please…” Poni places his hoof on my shoulder. “Be safe!”

“Don’t worry, boss.” I smiled. “I’ll be fine. Herb Senior will surely be finally defeated.”

“Surely be finally?” Poni asked.

“Don’t make fun of the way I talk!” I yelled at him.

“Whoa, ok ok!” Poni said defensively. “Just be careful, kid. The Friendship Mob will be nothing without you, or Annabelle, or Star, or Bright, or… umm… Clay, or… I guess Angel.”

“Hey what about me?” Turnip complained on the ear piece.

“Turnip asks what about him.” Clay said.

“Oh sure, him too.” Poni said. “In fact it wouldn’t be the Friendship Mob without any of you! Any of those that joined us.”

“Well we really appreciate that, boss, thank you.” Clay said.

“Fo’ sure, man.” Angel agreed.

“So, H, shall we go now?” Annabelle asked.

“Let’s do it!” I agreed. So Star uses the Penna keycard to open the door and we all ran through. The sign in the corridor pointed us to the different locations we need to go to. To the left was the engine room and to the right was the bridge. Annabelle, Clay, and I went right, and the others went left.

“No, Clay!” Annabelle and I both said to him.

“Awww.” Clay said upsettingly as he sadly walked the opposite direction.

Annabelle and I ran through the corridor, and since the others gave us the keycards, it would be much easier for us to get through this. They said they’ll be able to find more easily because all the mobsters are after them. As Annabelle and I kept running, we passed a camera that we either passed already before or this is our first time passing it. As we passed it I asked, “Don’t we need Clay to disable that camera?”

“What’s the point of that?” Annabelle asked.

“Oh. You know, I just like seeing Clay struggle to keep his arms up as he disables it.” I said humorously.

“HA! Nice one, amigo!” Annabelle said as she “bro”hooved me. After a while of running, Annabelle stops me by one of the sealed doors. “This is a nice seal isn’t it, H?”

“It is! It really is!” I nodded.

“Arf, arf, arf!” the seal flapped his flippers. Annabelle then tosses a fish inside the seal’s mouth and he… or she, I dunno, catches it and eats it. Annabelle then pats the seal on the head and she said, “Good seal.” She then points to the locked door next to the seal door and said, “Ok where we need to go is through there.”

I checked out the keycard slot and it looked like it required a Mela keycard. I swiped the card through, the key slot ding-donged as it unlocked, and the door opens to another corridor. Only this corridor was just one straight corridor. There were no doors on either side, and it seemed darker. “I smell a trap. Be careful.” I said.

“I’m with you, H. Whatever happens, we’re together.” Annabelle said.

“Yeeeeah I’m still new to this whole… you’re the opposite sex thing.” I said awkwardly. We both then walked inside, and the doors closed and locked behind us. We walked slowly through corridor as the only sound we heard was our hoofsteps on the metal floor. “Are you sure the bridge is through here?” I asked as my voice echoed through the corridor.

“Sure, I’m sure.” Annabelle said.

“Famous last words.” I teased. “Turnip, did you hear that? I made a funny!” I didn’t get a response from him. “Turnip? Turnip are you there?”

“T?” Annabelle asked.

“Must’ve lost the signal.” I assumed. “We are going through a cave after all.”

“This ain’t a cave, H.” Annabelle corrected me. “It’s a large dark spooky metal corridor.”

“To be honest, I don’t see the difference other than the metal.” I said.

“Heh, yeah right?” Annabelle chuckled. Just then, from above us, we heard the metal ceiling making tapping sounds. Almost like somepony was running by.

“What was that?!” I asked startlingly.

“We are not alone.” Annabelle said. We just continued to walk through corridor very quietly and rationally. I started singing quietly to myself to ease my worry. I began to sing Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, and as I got to the ‘so good’ part, Annabelle started singing along. I felt a smile coming on my face as we started singing louder and louder until we were rocking it! I wasn’t even nervous anymore! I was just having fun with my new… I dunno, is she my marefriend now? As we got to the next verse, we heard a large pounding sound coming from in front of us. “HEY! We were in the middle of having a moment!” Annabelle complained.

“Sorry, Annabelle, but…” My brother Autumn reveals himself from the shadows. “It is time for me and my brother to have some family time.”

“Autumn!” I said angrily. “I was wondering when you’d show up!”

“Did you miss me, bro?” Autumn asked. “I sure missed you! As quoted by Discord.”

“A, what your pappi is doing is a big mistake!” Annabelle said.

“Shut it, transpony! This is between me and Herb!” Autumn said.

“She’s right.” I said. “What our pop is doing is- wait, how did you know she was a mare? Actually, nevermind. Forget I asked that.”

“Then why did you ask anyway?” Autumn asked.

“I didn’t think it all the way through, alright?” I informed him.

“Typical Junior.” Autumn shakes his head. “Thinking is still very difficult for you, isn’t it?”

“Bro, I hope you realize what pop is doing is wrong.” I said. “He can’t take over the Commission. He’s going to run it right into the ground.”

“Isn’t that what you’re doing?” Autumn asked.

“Well, I… umm…” I had a hard time knowing what to say next. “Ummm… Annabelle help me out here.”

“We’re going to disband the Commission the quick and easy way before Senior destroys it slow and painfully.” Annabelle said. “We’re going to save the other mob families by destroying the Commission now. With your pappi on board, both the mob, and the Commission, and himself, and you along with it all is going to all be destroyed.”

“Exactly. We’re going to stop him for all of our own goods.” I said. “I want to save him, and you. I do want us to be a family again, but we have to stop all this hate! Do you know the reason why Flare Gun left Mareami?”

“Because you and Swinebutt ran him out of town, duh!” Autumn said.

“No. It’s because the hate and disharmony is too much for him!” I explained. “I owe him a debt. I created a monster, Dr. Swinebutt, and now he’s trying to ruin him down in Ponyville because of me! I want to help him, but all these operations that pop is throwing against the Friendship Mob and Mareami itself is stopping me from doing so! You want to redeem the Leafhorn name? Join me! We can make a change! Pop is obviously too corrupted to see that, but there is still a chance for you! Pop is not a good pony! Everything you know about him is a lie! He wants the Leafhorns take over.”

“And I’m going to help him make that happen!” Autumn added.

“He’s a coward!” I said. “I mean, why is he making you fight me instead of him? He’s not a good father either! He’s making you do the dirty work!”

“He wants me to be the best son I can be!” Autumn said. “He’ll give me all I want! All I need to do is end you, right here and now!”

“If that’s the way you want to be…” I snapped my neck. “Then so be it!”

“Let’s do this, H!” Annabelle said.

“No… Ann… I gotta do this… myself.” I said.

“O… k.” Annabelle said, mocking me.

“I’m going to yoyo the poop right outta you!” I promised my brother.

And so, I’ve prepared to fight my brother… Earthbound style!

Autumn Leafhorn attacked!

Herb Leafhorn, Jr.

HP: 495
PP: 88

How should I coordinate my first attack?

A: Bash

B: PSI

C: Goods

D: Defend

E: Auto Fight

F: Run Away

The results:

A: Herb Leafhorn, Jr. attacks! 110 HP damage to Autumn Leafhorn! Autumn Leafhorn created a massive shockwave! 510 HP of mortal damage to Herb Leafhorn, Jr.! Herb Leafhorn, Jr. got hurt and collapsed… Herb Leafhorn, Jr. lost the battle…

B: Herb Leafhorn, Jr. tried PSI Flash B! Autumn Leafhorn could not stop crying! Autumn Leafhorn fired a burst from his mustard gun into Herb Leafhorn, Jr.’s eyes! 498 HP of mortal damage to Herb Leafhorn, Jr.! Herb Leafhorn, Jr. got hurt and collapsed… Herb Leafhorn, Jr. lost the battle…

C: Herb Leafhorn, Jr. fired the Multi bottle rocket! 2388 HP of damage to Autumn Leafhorn! Autumn Leafhorn was defeated! YOU WON! Herb Leafhorn, Jr. gained 2266 exp.

D: Herb Leafhorn, Jr. is on guard. Autumn Leafhorn swung wildly at Herb Leafhorn, Jr.! 110 HP of damage to Herb Leafhorn, Jr.! 182 HP of damage to Herb Leafhorn, Jr.! 210 HP of damage to Herb Leafhorn, Jr.! 144 HP of damage to Herb Leafhorn, Jr.! Herb Leafhorn, Jr. got hurt and collapsed… Herb Leafhorn, Jr. lost the battle…

E: Option unavailable

F: Option unavailable

Autumn was on his knees on the floor, catching his breath. “You think… you think… this is going to stop me?” Autumn asked.

“I have defeated you, bro. I’m going to see pop now.” I said.

“No… no… you won’t defeat him! You won’t!” Autumn yelled. Just then, from behind us, some Sharks ambushed us. We started firing at them.

Annabelle got shot in the shoulder by a burning plasma beam by one of the mobsters’ magic spells. “AAH!” she screamed.

“ANNABELLE!” I yelled. I then shot the mobster with my toilet plunger gun and he collapsed on the floor with a stinky plunger on his face. When the mobsters got defeated, I ran over to Annabelle to assist her. “You alright, Ann?”

“Ow!” Annabelle said in pain. “Yeah I’m alright.”

“Does it hurt?” I asked.

“Nooooo, I just said ‘ow’ because I felt like it.” Annabelle said sarcastically.

“You clever girl.” I smiled.

“Wait! Where’s your brother?” she asked. I turned around and saw Autumn has ran off into the bridge with pop.

“A coward, much like pop.” I said. “They have nowhere left to go. Do they?”

“No… AGH! N-not as I know of.” Annabelle said hesitantly. “Well one thing’s for sure… we’re even. I’m hurt, Autumn’s hurt. It’s just you and your papi now, H. Time to finish this once and for all!”

“Yes… yes I will.” I nodded. “And you’re going to be there with me.”

“I’m in no condition to help you though.” Annabelle said.

“Don’t worry.” I smiled at her. “With you by my side… it’s all the help I need.” She smiled at me as well.

“Well?” Annabelle asked. “What are you waiting for! Go get him, Herb Junior!” I nodded, and then I picked up Annabelle and I carried her with me to the bridge so we can face him.

Meanwhile down at the engine room, Poni and the others have taken out the rest of the mobsters that followed them. They swiped the Penna keycard into the slot, it ding-donged, it opened, and there they were. “This is it! The engine room!” Poni said. “Time to smash some engines!”

“Smashing?” Angel asked. “Man, I was actually thinking of more of a… street-friendlier way. I mean, man, aren’t we going to crash this thing into the city, man?”

“He’s right.” Star said. “We should’ve thought this more through.”

“Oh no, you’re fine.” Turnip said on the ear piece. “Herb is in the bridge room now as we speak. We just have to tell him to deploy emergency crash measures. In the event that the airship goes into an unexpected crash landing, there is an automatic that points the airship to the area with the least population. The mobsters are criminals, but they’re not murderers. They know a pony’s life is sacred.”

“It’s not every day you hear a progressive-type pony say ‘scared’.” Clay said.

“So tell Herb to deploy the… whatjamacallit.” Angel said.

“I’m trying, but I can’t seem to get to him nor Annabelle.” Turnip said. “Just start smashing the engines, and I’ll try to get in contact with him when I can.”

“You hear that?” Clay asked. “He said smash the engines. Herb’s got it all under control.”

“If Herb’s got it under control,” Bright said as he takes out a gravity hammer, “then that’s a good enough answer for me! Time to go brutal on these bad boys! AY-YA!”

“WHOA!” Star cried as he started flying after Bright smashed the ground and Star was standing too close.

“Woops.” Bright said awkwardly.

After a few minutes, Annabelle and I made it to the bridge room, but unfortunately it was locked. “Dang it!” I said angrily. “This door requires a Marmellata keycard, but we don’t have one.”

“That sucks. How are we supposed to get in?” Annabelle asked. Just then, the whole ship started shaking.

“Whoa! Earthquake!” I said.

“Impossible. We’re not on the ground.” Annabelle corrected me.

“Then it must be the engine room.” I assumed.

Another alarm started going off and the PA announcer said, “WARNING! Engine levels going critical! Emergency evacuation procedures imminent! Security lockdown sequence disabled.”

“Well that helped.” I said. The door unlocks and opens up automatically, and we now have access to the bridge. Time for the moment we’ve all been waiting for! Right after my bathroom break, please excuse me.

While we wait, let’s check up on the dons. We haven’t seen them in a while. While the ruckus was going on, the dons felt the tremors around the ship. Even Mela fell off his chair, and Fraterno spilled his drink. “Where’s the honor in this?” Fraterno asked.

“What’s going on?” Penna asked.

“WARNING!” the PA voice says again. “Engine levels going critical! Emergency evacuation procedures imminent!”

“Oh… this wasn’t part of their test.” Fraterno said.

“YA THINK?!” Mela yelled as he rubbed his head while climbing from under the table.

“What does the Friendship Mob think they’re doing?” Penna asked.

“Who cares? Evacuation procedures. We gotta get outta here.” Mela said.

“Why? Doesn’t a captain go down with his ship though?” Fraterno asked.

“Tell that to Marmellata! It’s his ship!” Mela reminded him. “We ain’t captains. We’re good to go!” So the three dons escaped the meeting room and were on their way to the hanger for evac.

Back at the bridge, after I walked inside carrying Annabelle on my back (she was lighter than I thought, I guess that’s how love works), Autumn was limping towards the captain’s chair where pop was sitting. Pop turns around from the captain’s seat and says, “You just don’t know when to quit do ya? See how much Cipriani wants to take over? See how corrupted he is? He’s bringing down the whole airship, destroying the Commission, and perhaps a part of Manehattan, depending on where this lands.”
“He’s not taking over.” I corrected him. “He’s stopping you from taking over. The other mobs will be fine without the Commission. In a way we just lowered crime big time. The mobs no longer will have a private headquarters for their criminal operations. They’ll be on their own.”

“You think that’s going to stop the Commission?” pop asked.

“The airship IS the Commission, pop.” I said.

“The rules are made by the leader of the Commission, and since I’m now the leader by taking over the ship, I say neigh!” pop said.

“Booooo.” Autumn said. “Bad pun.”

“I wasn’t making a pun. What are you talking about?” pop asked him.

“Hey it just sounded like one to me, pop. That’s all.” Autumn said.

“Jeez! Listen to you! You’re as dumb as Herb!” pop complained. “I’ve raised a dumb family! Look what society did to my two colts! Ma was always easy on you! Bush was a moron too when she divorced me! I should’ve picked a better mate!”

“Autumn, are you really going to let pop talk to you and ma like that?” I asked.

“I am his second in command.” Autumn said. “And ma… well… I dunno. I always loved ma. I wouldn’t call her a moron.”

“She was the best to us.” I said. “She’s the one that kept us together. Pop is drifting the family apart!”

“No… YOU drifted the family apart, Herb!” pop said. “You and your… pity. Why did you pity Flare Gun, Herb? Why? If it weren’t for you and the Friendship Mob, I would’ve helped Swinebutt in ruining his life for good already! And Autumn, your ma IS a moron! She missed out on the best opportunities in her life! She would’ve been rich and successful like me! Instead… she raised two useless sons!”

“Pa I’ve been good to you!” Autumn reminded him. “I was there for you when Herb wasn’t!”

“Oh phooey! I could get any moron to do my bidding!” pop said. “I just chose you because you the best moron I could find!”

“That’s not true, pop! You’re just stressed out.” Autumn said. “I know you don’t mean that. You’re just upset because you’re not going to take over the Commission.” Just then, the airship shook again. I lost balance and toppled over. Pop used this opportunity to flee. He started running to the door and Autumn was trying to follow. “Wait for me, pop!” But pop didn’t wait for him. He just ran off leaving him behind. “POP!” he yelled.

“You’ve always been a good son, Autumn!” pop yelled out as he continued running. “You’ve always been my favorite! I’ll be sure to remember you! The Sharks would deal with a great loss!”

“POOOOP!” Autumn yelled. “DON’T LEAVE ME HERE!” But it was too late, he was gone.

“Let’s go!” I said to Annabelle as I picked her back up and we started chasing after pop.

“Let’s get him, H!” Annabelle said.

“HERB!” Autumn yelled.

“I’ll come back for you!” I promised.

“No you won’t.” Autumn said upsettingly to himself. His head falls face first onto the floor, and he just laid there in sorrow.

I run through the corridors of the ship, chasing after pop. Even with Annabelle on my back I was still catching up to him. “Go, H! Go! You can do this! You’re amazing, amigo! You are the best pony the Friendship Mob- no, the Commission could ever ask for! Remember that!”

“You really mean that?” I asked as I continued running.

“I do!” Annabelle swore. “It’s his loss that you’re not the son he wanted. You can go your own path. He doesn’t have to make you do anything.”

“But…” I said sadly. “Is it worth it? I mean… all I wanted to do was make him proud of me. I just thought what I did to Flare Gun was wrong. I wanted to make a change, and he just can’t accept that.”

“You don’t have to, H.” Annabelle said. “A father that doesn’t accept his son’s decisions is not a father at all.” I was thinking about what she said, and she was right. She then added, “I mean unless what a son is doing is illegal, or something he knows he’ll regret. A father just needs to be a mentor. The son may not always be right, but then again, neither is the father. They both need eachother to make good decisions. Even after all that your pappi has done for you, you still think there’s good in him, and I respect that in a pony, and I think the boss does too.”

“Yeah… perhaps you’re right, Annabelle.” I agreed as I continued running. “Sweet Celestia… is this corridor long or what? It feels like the Flintstones or something.”

I was really catching up to pop. He was getting really nervous. He takes out a remote control of some sort and starts pushing buttons. “Hurry it up now – activate the doors!” The hallway doors started to close behind me, and it won’t be long until the ones in front of me do too.

“We’re going to make it!” I yelled.

“No you’re not, not with me.” Annabelle said.

“NO! I am not dropping you! He’s not worth it!” I said. Just then, the zeppelin started to tilt forward. The airship was really on the verge of crashing, but luckily for me, as the ship tilted I tripped and fell. How was I lucky you may ask? Well, think of this as one big playground. I started sliding through the tilted corridors with Annabelle still on my back. “WHOA!” I yelled. I was sliding on my stomach as I was really starting to catch up with my dad now. The final hallway door closes the same second I go through it, and I am so lucky I didn’t have a cool hat with me. Otherwise I would’ve dropped it, and I ain’t brave enough to go back for it.

“WEEEE!” Annabelle cried out as her hooves were in the air. “This is fun, ain’t it H?!”

“FUN?!” I yelled. “Your stomach is not sliding on a metal floor! This burns me!” Pop turns around and sees us catching up to him. He should hear me this far, and there’s something I should really tell him. “POP!” I yelled.

“WHAT?!” pop yelled. “I know you hate me! You want to ruin my operations! Don’t think this was anypony’s fault but your own!”

“POP!” I yelled. “I love you!”

“Don’t think your words would make me change my mind of… wait… what?” pop asked.

“I love you, pop!” I said. “I always have! I’m not trying to ruin you! I’m trying to help you! I know you want the best for me too, but your way isn’t right for me! I’m just trying to redeem our family name the right way! Don’t you understand?”

Pop then suddenly turns right to an open door. Annabelle points that out for me. “H, he went through that door.”

“I see.” I said. As we were approaching the open door, I held my hooves out to the right to catch the edge of the opening. Annabelle falls off my back and slides down to my leg where she’s holding on. The airship started tilting even more, and at that time, all the mobsters and dons that were on the ship made it to the hanger where cargo choppers were waiting for them. Most of the mobsters had their own choppers where each family got in. Fraterno, Penna, and Mela all went into one chopper with the rest of their gangs with them, and they flew out of the airship. There was one chopper left and it was filled with Sharks. Poni and the others eventually made it to the hanger.

“TURNIP! Turnip, man!” Angel yelled on his ear piece.

“You don’t need to yell! I can hear you!” Turnip yelled back.

“We need evac, man!” Angel said.

“Ok, I’m on my way.” Turnip said. “Is Herb with you?”

“No, he’s not here yet.” Clay said.

“Ok, we’re coming in to pick you up, but I’m not taking off without all of you.” Turnip said.

“You know, in a way, we may not have much of a choice in a few minutes.” Clay said.

“Why is Herb taking so long?!” Bright complained. “The airship is going to crash any minute now!”

“Don’t worry, he will come.” Poni said. “We ain’t leaving without him.”

“Like I said – we may not have a choice eventually.” Clay said.

“Herb’s better than that!” Star said. “Right, boss?”

“Absolutely!” Poni agreed. “He will come! Just give him one minute.”

“Are you sure that’s enough time, man?” Angel asked.

“Clay did say the ship will crash in a few minutes.” Poni reminded him. “All Herb needs is ONE minute.”

“But-“ Angel stuttered.

Poni then interrupts him as he leans down on Angel’s face and says, “ONE… MINUTE… ONLY!” My buddies were too busy talking that they didn’t notice pop heading towards the Sharks’ chopper.

“Climb aboard, boss!” one of the mobsters called out in the open latch behind the chopper as it started ascending.

“HEY!” Star pointed. “It’s Senior! He’s getting away!”

“Get us outta here!” pop ordered his pilots right after he jumps on. My friends started to chase after the chopper. As it was about to fly off, my friends started shooting all the weapons they had at the chopper. Even though it made quite a mess, it didn’t do any damage to it. The chopper flew off, and pop got away.

“Are any of you thinking that these condiment or appliance weapons are useless?” Angel asked, speaking the truth.

Back with us, I kept trying to pull up. The airship was tilting a lot more and the city wasn’t too far below now. The ponies from down below in Manehattan saw the ship falling. They all started to panic. As I kept attempting to pull both Annabelle and I up, Annabelle yelled, “LOOK OUT!” Debris from the upper end of the corridor started falling down, forcing me to dodge them all and making it harder to pull up. The next debris that was coming down was explosive boxes. When they fell to the lower end of the corridor, they exploded and a hole appeared. “HHHHHHHH!” Annabelle cried. The hole was starting to pull us in like a vacuum cleaner, but I didn’t let go, but I can’t say the same for Annabelle. “H, I’M SLEEPING!” Oh woops, autocorrect. She meant ‘slipping’.

I started to slip too, but I couldn’t give up. I couldn’t! I can’t! I’m not going to die for nothing! But it may seem that way pretty soon, because eventually I started to slip. “I… can’t… hold on… much… LONGER!” I yelled.

“Herb!” Annabelle yelled. “No! You can do it! You’re awesome!”

“No… I…” I stuttered. I then slipped and we started to fall. We were both screaming. Well, it looks like it’s the end of Herb Leafhorn, Jr. and- WAIT! Does my hoof deceive me? Annabelle and I continued to scream, even after my hoof was rescued by something. Annabelle stopped screaming, but I continued.

Annabelle glared at me said, “HERB!”

I then stopped, just like that, and I said calmly, “Yes, Annabelle?”

“Look!” Annabelle pointed up. I saw Bright Wing holding on to my hoof.

“This is not the way you’re going to go, Herb Leafhorn.” He said.

“That’s right!” Star said from behind him. Star started to pull Bright, and Bright started to pull me, and… well I would say I was pulling Annabelle, but quite frankly she was holding onto my leg.

Once we were pulled up, we were catching our breaths, and Bright asked, “Are you too ok?”

“Yeah… yeah we’re fine.” Annabelle said.

“Wow.” I said surprisingly. “You two saved us. I… I misjudged you two.”

“This is not your time, Herb.” Bright said.

“Yeah, the boss needs you.” Star agreed. “We need you.”

“Wow… thanks!” I said.

“Don’t mention.” Bright said. “Now c’mon, the others are waiting for us!”

We all ran over to the other end of the hanger where Sunny’s pilots land the ship, and the latch opens where Turnip was waiting for us. “Come on! Hurry!” he yelled. Poni jumped into the chopper first, followed by Angel, and then Clay, and then Star and Bright helped bring Annabelle on. I didn’t hop on though. “Alright Herb, your turn.” Bright said.

“Hang on, I left something behind. I have to get it.” I said.

“Herb there’s no time! Get on!” Star demanded.

“I HAVE TO get this! It’s very important!” I said.

“We can’t wait for you much longer!” Turnip called out.

“Go on without me then! I’ll be fine!” I said.

“H, no!” Annabelle yelled.

“Don’t worry, A. I’ll be fine.” I said as I smiled at her. “Trust me!”

Annabelle then smiled back. “Ok.”

“Herb, be careful, kid!” Poni called out.

“I will!” I said. So I ran off through another door. Since the corridor was not really an option, I have to take another path to where I need to go. Ok, I really don’t have to keep making hints. You know exactly where I’m going to! I also know what you’re thinking: I could’ve just told them I was going after Autumn, but that would’ve ruined the suspense, like what I’m doing now.

Over at the bridge, Autumn was struggling to get up. He places one hoof on the counter, and then the other hoof. He looks out the window and sees that the zeppelin was approaching the city fast. “Oh no!” he said nervously. “No, no, no! If I’m going out, I’m going out the right way.” Autumn then turns the steering wheel left, like all the way left, and the zeppelin began to turn. It was still crashing, but at least this time it was pointing to the ocean. “There. Let only one pony’s life be lost today. I ain’t like my pop. I ain’t a coward.”

“No you’re not.” I said as I was standing out by the bridge door.

Autumn turned around and looked at me surprisingly. “Bro… what are you doing here? Save yourself!”

“I am not leaving here without you.” I said.

“Why? You’re not the idiot here. I am.” Autumn said upsettingly. “Let me sacrifice myself to save Manehattan. It’s what ma would want.”

“No.” I said as I walked over to him and picked him up. “What ma would want is for us to save Manehattan, and you to get out alive.”

“Well… you do make a good point. Maybe you’re not as much of an idiot as I thought.” Autumn admitted. He then pushes the automatic button which will keep the zeppelin into the direction of the ocean.

“Real quick, is there a parachute in here?” I asked.

“Yeah I believe there’s one in that emergency cabinet.” Autumn pointed. I went over to the cabinet and opened it. After I opened it, a bunch of plastic gag snakes popped out and startled me. “HA! Gotcha!” Autumn laughed.

“BRO! Our lives are at stake right now!” I reminded him angrily.

“Totally worth it!” Autumn laughed. “But still, there is a parachute in there.”

“Got it!” I said as I grabbed it out.

“Are you planning to jump and carry me too?” Autumn asked.

“That was the plan.” I said.

“You’re usually a butterhooves, if you forgotten.” Autumn reminded me.

“I won’t drop you this time.” I promised as I put the parachute on.

“You said that as you carried ma’s expensive china cabinet.” Autumn reminded me.

“I wouldn’ve dropped it if that mosquito wasn’t buzzing around my face.” I said.

“Whatever, just hurry! We’re about to crash!” Autumn yelled.

So as I escorted Autumn into the corridor right before the long broken one, everything was falling apart. Debris started falling from the ceiling, and walls started to explode. The engine failure must be really serious. When we got to the end of the corridor, I stuck my head out and saw the hole at the end of the corridor getting bigger. Though I was so distracted, I didn’t see the desks falling over from the other end of the corridor, but luckily Autumn pulled me in and saved me. “WHOA!” I gasped. “Wow… thanks, bro!”

“I owe you, bro. I owe you big time.” Autumn said.

“Right.” I said. “Well hang on to me, bro. We’re going in!” I held my hooves up in a hug-like position.

“Are you sure this is the right time for a hug?” Autumn asked.

“Just… COME ON!” I grabbed my brother with both of my hooves and then I jumped without hesitation. Autumn started to scream as he held my neck tight. He was kinda blocking my view but that didn’t stop me. We went right through the hole and we started to freefall right out of the zeppelin and down, down, down, until I pulled the parachute string and it was easy going from there on out.

As the parachute opened, Autumn stopped screaming, and he started to feel a startling relief. “Oh Celestia! Oh Luna! Oh Cadance! Oh Twilight! Oh all the princesses! I think I peed myself!”

“You didn’t.” I said. “That’s just your sweat, which is probably not much different. It’s still disgusting either way.”

“Herb… why did you save me?” Autumn asked. “I’ve been such a fool, following pop’s hoofsteps. All this time I was jealous of you of getting his attention and affection, and when you finally left, I wanted to take advantage over the attention he gave me. I believed everything he said just so I could impress him, but it turns out… he’s the idiot in this family… just like me.”

“No, shhh, you’re not an idiot, Autumn.” I corrected him. “You were just blinded by your will to impress pop. Now you see him by his true colors.”

“I do.” Autumn agreed. “I am going to get him for this! He’s going to pay!”

“Revenge isn’t the best solution, bro.” I said. “Don’t worry. He will plot his own downfall. Now that the Commission is gone, he’s no longer a powerful mob don. He’s probably scared poopless right now. He’s going to be spending a majority of the time now trying to find other powerful ponies to protect him.”

“Yes, he’s vulnerable now.” Autumn said. “The Sharks won’t last long without the Commission. But… if they find out you were the ones that caused the Commission to collapse, they’ll go after you.”

“We’ll take our chances.” I said. “I just couldn’t allow pop to take over the Commission. Poni’s a very wise leader. I know he had his secrets, but… don’t we all?”

“I know Poni wants to do good.” Autumn said. “And… I do too.”

“So… are you interested in joining the Friendship Mob?” I asked.

“Maybe later, man.” Autumn said. “There’s still something I need to do.”

“What?” I asked.

“I… I can’t tell you right now.” he said. “All I know is he’s plotting something. Something very big. He’s been in contact with Dr. Swinebutt.”

“Oh… it must have something to do with Flare. I have to warn him.” I said.

“Later, bro.” Autumn said. “No need to worry him. You’ll know it when you see it. But still, my point is, I’m really sorry for everything. I haven’t been a very good brother.”

“Remember on Sundays? Ma brought the whole family together with some of our favorite foods she made.” I explained. “We then played board games and watched movies. We… we were happy. It’s like greed and begging for attention didn’t matter. We were a family.”

“What are you trying to say, Herb?” Autumn asked.

“I mean… all I want…” I started to whimper a little. “I just want those days to come back. I want to be a family. But look at us. Pop brought the whole family apart because of his beliefs, and his greed.”

“And you’re the one that’s going to bring us back together.” Autumn said. “Once I do my time, pop will be stopped, maybe we can prove to him that there is a better way.”

“I know pop will change back. I know it.” I said. “Wait… do your time?”

“I’m turning myself in, Herb.” Autumn said. “I can’t forgive myself knowing of all the criminal activities I been through. But when I turn myself in, it’ll be in Mareami, so we can be close together. Please… visit me often.”

“You don’t have to turn yourself in!” I said. “You redeemed yourself! Pop is the bad guy, not you!”

“I have no choice!” Autumn said.

“You always have a choice!” I said. “How about ma? With me being so busy with the Friendship Mob, how about… how about you take care of her? She needs somepony, and if I’m around her, it’ll put her life in danger. I don’t want pop anywhere near her right now.”

“Won’t he find me with her though?” Autumn asked.

“Pop’s not after you.” I reminded him. “He doesn’t even know you’re alive. For all he knows, you’ve crashed into your doom along with the airship.” Autumn and I both looked over at the airship as it already crashed into the ocean, and it started to sink. “Perhaps we can make that to our advantage. Take care of ma, lay low, and when the time is right, we’ll both take care of pop.”

“You know what?” Autumn smiled. “That is a good idea, Herb! You’re not an idiot at all! You’re a genius! I mean, despite your bad grades though.”

“Oh shut it with that. You want me to drop you?” I teased.

After a while went by, Autumn and I landed at the pier in Hooflyn. I gave Poni a call so we can meet. We met over at the beach where the cargo helicopter lands, and everypony was relieved to see me safe. Annabelle gave me a big hug and said, “H! I am so glad you’re ok!”

“We all are, brother.” Clay agreed. “That was a very brave thing you did.”

“Yeah, man, I mean after all Autumn did to you, man, what made you want to save him, man?” Angel asked.

“He’s my brother.” I said. “Not to mention pop betrayed him.”

“I was foolish to earn his respect.” Autumn said. “I now see the coward and liar that he is, and he’s going to pay!”

“He will, A! We promise you that!” Annabelle swore.

“Herb, it was an honor to serve by your side!” Sunflower said. “You taught me a lot, and after all we’ve been through, I feel I’ve been neglecting my sister. She’s been interested in what I’m interested in, but I felt she couldn’t take it. Maybe perhaps… she will.”

“Well that’s a positive attitude, Sunny!” Turnip said. “I mean, it’s not every day ponies are interested in what you’re interested in!” Sunny glares at him and punches him in the shoulder. “OW!” he yelled. “Can’t you take a joke?!”

“Regardless, Herb, you’ve been an inspiration to us.” Bright said. “We won’t forget that.”

“The boss was right about you.” Star said. “But still… don’t get cocky. You did ruin our chances to be in the Commission.”

“Excuse me?!” I yelled angrily.

“Did you forget that it was Poni’s idea to destroy the airship?!” Annabelle yelled. “What is wrong with you two?!”

“I know you saved Herb’s life and all, but c’mon!” Clay complained.

“Wow.” Autumn shook his head. “Don’t tell me these two are licking the boots of your fellow boss!”

“Ok man, we won’t, but it’s pretty much self explanatory.” Angel said.

Autumn sighs and shakes his head. “I can already see how their downfall is going to be.”

“I can see YOUR downfall too, smart-allic!” Bright yelled.

“HEY!” Poni yelled. “Enough! Enough!” Poni then walked to me and said, “Herb… kid… good job! We are lucky to have somepony like you. We didn’t have a choice. We couldn’t allow the Sharks to take over the Commission. We did the other families a favor by doing this.”

“Actually, we will be the judge of that.” Mela said as he and the other dons showed up and walked over to Poni.

“Stop right there!” Bright stopped them as he and Star protect Poni by walking in front of him.

“Yeah, you got a problem with the boss? You have a problem with all of us!” Star said.

“Relax, relax.” Penna said as he chuckled. “We don’t have a problem with him! We’re here to thank him!”

“Thank me? For what?” Poni asked.

“We were slaves to the Commission.” Fraterno said. “Marmellata was a complete jerk! He took advantage over all of us!”

“Yeah. He always took 15% of our jobs’ funds as a protection fee.” Mela said. “It was communism in that Commission! We thought we were equals, but Mr. Marmellata felt like he was more equal than us!”

“He never he showed us his face or his identity!” Penna said. “And yet, he has to know all of our secrets. Now that Mr. Marmellata has finally been arrested, his gang is scrambled and unorganized, and now that the Commission is gone, we’re free! Thanks to you Poni Cipriani!”

“Oh, well, I couldn’ve done it without my pals.” Poni said. “I know we don’t have much in common, and I know doing good doesn’t pay as much as being criminals, but it pays just to be good. We love seeing ponies happy and free from hate, and that’s rewarding enough for us.”

“It is.” Fraterno agreed. “Which is why we want to follow in your hoofsteps. We want to do good too. Crime… all that money we got from stealing… we’re rich, but it made us miserable. Seeing as you make other ponies happy, well… it’s more honorable than anything!”

“We all want to follow in your hoofsteps, Mr. Cipriani.” Mela said. “You saved us from an awful fate. Both Leafhorn Senior and Mr. Marmellata are both fools. Now that Mr. Marmellata is taken care of, it’s just Leafhorn, and he won’t last long.”

“So like we said, thank you so much for everything Mr. Cipriani! It was a pleasure serving along side you!” Penna said as he takes his hoof out, and he shakes Poni’s hoof. “You have yourself a very noble family. They put on quite a fight. They are just what Equestria needs to end the misery that crime has given this peaceful kingdom.” Penna looked over at us and he smiled. “Farewell, Mr. Cipriani.”

The dons said goodbye and they headed back to their choppers and headed off. “Wow.” Turnip said impressively. “We were lucky that time. Little did I know the other dons would be thankful for us, and I’m supposed to be the genius here.”

“Regardless, it feels good to do a good deed.” Poni said.

Just then, a courier pony started running over to us, and says to Sunflower, “Telegram delivery for a Miss Sunflower Seed.” He gives Sunny a letter.

“Oh, what’s this?” Sunny asked as she looked at it.

“Uhh, it’s a telegram. Didn’t you listen to him?” Turnip asked sarcastically. Angel then punches him in the shoulder. “OW! Angel?!”

“Thank you, Angel.” Sunny said thankfully. She then reads the letter, “Dear Miss Sunflower Seed, You are needed in City Hall. You have broken our laws for far too long. We have told you time and time again to stay out of police cases. We’ll explain everything once you get here. Sincerely, the Mayor.” Just then she got angry. “Are you kidding me?! After all we done! We took out a crime syndicate!”

“You need our assistance in this?” Poni asked.

“No, Poni, you’ve been through too much.” Sunflower said. “Me and my team will handle this. All of you just head back to Mareami. You’re done here. Friendship Mob, it’s been an honor.”

“Thanks for your help, Sunny!” I said.

“Not a problem.” Sunflower smiled at us. After she turns around and walks away with her teammates, she then mumbles, “Well, maybe a bit of a problem.”

“Bright Wing? Star Trot?” Poni asked.

“Yes, boss?” they asked.

“You two have pilot experience. Fly us home.” He ordered them. They both ran into the chopper and they started her up. He all followed them inside, and they flew us back to Mareami. Our work there was done. Our mission was successful. Poni has been rescued, and even though we didn’t join the Commission, rather than destroy it, there was a lot of good that came to this. I have always been proud to serve under the Friendship Mob.

The next day came, I was packing my things in my apartment so I can move into Poni’s old place. While I was doing that, I was watching the news. Live in Manehattan, over at city hall, Sunny was having a brief with the mayor.

“And even though we thought the Friendship Mob were just a bunch of troublemakers stealing jobs from our fair police,” the mayor started, “it is with great pleasure that they make a great counter-crime syndicate!” The crowd cheered.

“We just wanted to help our fair ponies.” Sunflower said. “We want to free this world from hate. It’s what the princesses would want.”

“Yes it is.” the mayor agreed. “However, you still stole a lot of jobs from the police, and they’ve giving a lot of angry emails. So we cannot allow you to fight crime in Manehattan anymore. On the other hoof, there is still hate around the streets of Manehattan. Perhaps, you can still provide harmony, by getting rid of the major legal disharmony problems around our fair streets. Provide an example for our precious foals.”

“We wouldn’t have it any other way! I mean, as long as it pays!” Sunny teased. The crowd all laughed.

“Heh!” I chuckled. “I guess she does have a humorous side after all!”

Just then, my friends all opened my front door and barged inside. “Yo, man!” Angel said excitedly.

“What’s up, my sweet baby H?” Annabelle asked.

“AAAH!” I yelled. “Don’t you all have knock?! I could’ve been naked!”

“Cool!” Annabelle said.

“That’s silly, you don’t wear clothes.” Turnip reminded me.

“Uhh, yeah I do.” I corrected him.

“Well… not pants.” Turnip added.

“What are you four doing here?” I asked.

“We have a surprise for you, brother!” Clay said.

“Oh yeah?” I asked. “Is it a new box of deodorant? Because I think you could use it right now, Clay!”

“Oh, har har.” Clay said sarcastically.

“No, man, we got something really cool to show you!” Angel said.

“What is it?” I asked.

“It’s a surprise, man! C’mon!” Angel demanded as he pulled my hoof. “The streets wait for nopony!”

“Hey!” I yelled. “Alright, alright! I’m coming!”

“You won’t be disappointed, Herb!” Turnip said. “I mean, who knows? Maybe you might be a little bit… upset… in a way… because… you might feel… too overpowered?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Nevermind, I said too much.” Turnip said. “You’ll find out when we get there.”

“I hope it’s not far.” I said.

“You won’t need to catch a plane to get there that’s for sure!” Clay said. So we headed over to Little Hoovna, over to Poni’s place. We got out of the carriage, and I was feeling a bit concerned.

“What’s going on? Why are we here?” I asked. “If I would’ve known we were going to be here, I would’ve brought some boxes.”

“Come on! Inside!” Clay said as we walked over to the front door.

“Hey by the way, H, how’s Autumn doing?” Annabelle asked.

“He’s fine.” I said. “Ma is really happy to have him back. I’m happy too.”

“All because of your bravery, amigo!” Annabelle said.

“If only Cherry Pop saw me now.” I said. “She would’ve been really happy.”

“Yeah, well, she’s not your marefriend anymore, remember?” Annabelle reminded me as she gave me a kiss.

I blushed, and then I said, “So… what’s this about?”

Clay opens the front door and holds it open for me, and then he says, “Come inside!”

“Wow… that’s creepy the way you said that.” I said.

“Yeah, I agree!” Turnip said. So we all walked inside Poni’s house. It was really dark in there. Once we got in, the door shuts behind me. I got a bit startled.

“What’s going on here?” I asked nervously. “Poni? Poni you home? What is this?”

“Hello, Herb.” Poni said as candles started to light the room, and Poni, Bright, and Star were wearing dark robes right in front of me. Behind and beside me, I saw my friends wearing the robes too.

“What’s going on here?” I asked again. “Was the Friendship Mob a cult this whole time? Because I joined a mafia, not a cult.”

“No, kid, you’re missing the point.” Poni said. “You have been really good to us. You’ve saved my life multiple times, which make up for the fact you almost betrayed me.”

“I dunno how though.” Bright said.

“Shush! The boss is talking!” Star ordered him.

“Herb Leafhorn, Jr.” Poni started. “You are one of the greatest things this mob has to offer, and for that I am going to reward you with something really big!”

“And what’s that?” I asked.

“Herb Leafhorn, Jr.” he said again. “Today is the day… you’re being made!”

And so, we end the story there. Flare should be really satisfied knowing that you got to know me well. I’m going to be making a large impact on his life soon, and he’s going to have a large impact on mine. Thank you so much for reading my spin-off! This is Herb Leafhorn, Jr. signing off! I’ll see you on Friendship is Epic! Now make like a bus-boy, and take off!

Author's Note:

I did it! It's done! The Friendship Mafia is finally done! Well, not completely. I'm going to be making chapters featuring them alot in Frienship is Epic. I just wanted to use this opportunity to get to know them, as I stated many times already. But I'm really proud of myself for getting this done! This information is well needed for the Friendship is Epic Movie Book I'm going to be making after Book 3.

In this chapter I wanted to give alot of plot twists and character development. Also like all of my other stories, I wanted to give the readers choice on how the mob should execute their plan. Special thanks to the Raiding the Airship game by Stick Figure Games for the ideas of making these choices! They are geniuses.

Finishing this story was perfect for the 5th anniversary of MLP! The events of Crusaders of the Lost Mark, well at least one of them, was pretty similar to the relationship between Autumn and Herb Senior. Autumn redeems himself, and Herb Senior remains the bad guy.

Originally, the betrayal between Herb Senior and Autumn was going to work out a different way. In fact, after the choices stage, there were so many different options on how I wanted to play this out, until I left what you see here now.

Anyways, thank you so much for reading! Be sure to finish reading the Friendship Detection Agency story as well, and Friendship is Epic if you haven't read that yet!