Vinyl and Octavia Rob a Casino

by DoctorSpectrum

Chapter Three: Robbing a Casino and Casinos Being Robbed

For the second time in a week, Octavia walked up the steps towards Or Die Trying. Unlike last time, she was entering on her own, and so without the reassurances of a companion to distract her, she felt a bit more nervous. What if the guards found out that she was with COBRA? What if they recognised her from the other night and found her appearance suspicious? What if they kept surveillance on her once she was inside the casino?

Fortunately, as Octavia entered Or Die Trying, nothing happened. Nopony called out to frisk search her or ask for ID. Nopony halted her in her tracks and asked her to come with them to the guard station, or kicked her out. No, Octavia’s entry into Or Die Trying was as smooth as could be, and within moments she was in the familiar, carpeted game room. What did she have to do next? Octavia thought back to the COBRA meeting of several days ago.

===============================

“So…if those are the defences in place, we’ll need somepony with muscle, somepony who can hack into the security system, and somepony who can acquire the door codes from Royale,” said Serpent Superior. “Overall, this will be a difficult task, but nevertheless I expect you all to follow my orders blindly.”

“Is there any other way to follow orders?” asked Vinyl cheerfully.

“Vinyl? Octavia?” Serpent Superior said.

“Yes sir?” asked Octavia, Vinyl listening intently to their leader beside her.

“How do you two feel about being the getaway drivers?” Serpent Superior asked, looking at a clipboard he had on the table. Without waiting for a reply, he turned to Tomax and Xamot. “How do you two feel about being the hacker and muscle, respectively?”

“Err-” began Tomax.

“This, of course, leaves you, Destroyer, with the role of the pickpocket,” said Serpent Superior to the weapons manufacturer. “Or con pony, whichever you feel suits you better in getting those security codes. I, of course, will be the explosives expert.” He cast his gaze over the room full of stunned and disgruntled looking ponies. “Any questions?” Every hoof in the room went up. “Yes, Xamot?”

“Why am I the muscle?” asked Xamot.

“Wait, wasn’t I the muscle?” said Tomax. “You’re the hacker.”

“Whatever. Why am I the muscle?” repeated Xamot. “You know that my brother and I are more suited to planning, espionage…more the behind-the-scenes aspects of a crime or terrorism act than the engaging parts of it.” Tomax nodded in agreement.

“Hmm…that is certainly true,” agreed Serpent Superior. “Well then in that case, Octavia can be the muscle and Xamot can be one of the getaway drivers, alongside Vinyl. Now, if-”

“Vinyl and Xamot?!” Vinyl exclaimed. “That’s a terrible name for a fictional series!” Everypony looked at her, some with more confusion than others. “Oh, and also I want to be the hacker, I guess.” Serpent Superior silently spun his skull towards Tomax, awaiting his opinion.

“Sure, I guess,” said Tomax, shrugging, “Vinyl can be the hacker instead of me. It’s not like I have a psychic connection with my brother that makes me look forwards to whenever I’m able to spend a bit of time away from him.”

“Excellent,” said Serpent Superior, missing the venom in Tomax’s voice. “Now, between the security measures Vinyl and Octavia identified and our team, we should be able to – what is it now, Destroyer?”

“I was hoping for a bit more of an…active role,” said the weapons dealer. “I’m more used to the feel of a weapon between my hooves, not this…misdirection and – and treachery you wish me to commit.”

Serpent Superior sighed slowly. “Are you telling me that you want to be the pony in charge of the explosives?”

“If he doesn’t, can I be?” asked Vinyl, waving a hoof in the air. “I love explosives!”

“For the sake of Equestria, please, please, please don’t indulge her in this,” Octavia said seriously.

“Right, sure, Destroyer. You can be the explosives expert,” said Serpent Superior, ignoring the two mares in the room. “And now, if everypony will excuse me for a moment…”

Without word, the masked commander pulled a small cigarette lighter from his pockets, and after a moment or two of waiting for it to catch alight, set fire to his clipboard and the set of papers upon it. The group watched silently for a few moments.

“Um, sir-” attempted Octavia, curious.

“Sssshhhh,” said Serpent Superior. “I’m watching my work of the past five days go up in flames. Don’t disturb me.”

Octavia opened her mouth to say something else, but faltered. What was the point? She turned to Vinyl, wondering what her take on all of this was.

“How did he light the lighter?” Vinyl asked, staring intently at the burning clipboard. “He has hooves!”

===============================

Shaking her head slightly in an attempt to refocus, Octavia snapped back to the present. This wasn’t the time for reminiscing; it was the time for acting and filming! Serpent Superior told me to meet him on the gaming floor, recalled Octavia, but where is he? How am I supposed to recognise him without that mask he wears all of the time?

Idly wandering amongst the various games and ponies in the casino, Octavia kept an eye out for her boss, hoping to recognise some mannerism of his in the ponies around her. He obviously wouldn’t be wearing his COBRA uniform – Octavia was currently dressed in a fancy dress as she had the other night, and imagined that Serpent Superior would also be wearing formal clothes. Octavia hoped that even if she couldn’t find Serpent Superior in the crowd, he would recognise her and they could continue the mission.

“Octavia!” a nasally voice called out from somewhere behind Octavia. The grey mare spun around, finding herself face-to-face with a pony with a brown coat and a white mane.

“Commander!” Octavia said, pleased that one of them had been able to find the other. “Are we ready to go? Is Destroyer in position?”

The pony gave her an odd look. “Who?”

“Destroyer! You know, our – oh, um, never mind,” said Octavia, realising her mistake. “If I may enquire, who are you?” Even as she asked the question, she had a vague notion in the back of her head that he looked familiar, but she couldn’t place him.

“Frederick Horseshoepin,” said the stallion. “We used to play in an ensemble occasionally, remember?”

Octavia literally smacked herself on the forehead with a hoof. “Of course! How could I forget?” she asked. “My apologies, Frederick, it has been a while, and to be honest, I recall your voice sounding slightly different to how I remember.”

“I currently have a cold,” explained Frederick. “Anyway, how are you doing? More to the point, what are you doing here? I thought you lived in Canterlot.”

“I was living there with my marefriend, but then…” Octavia’s voice trailed off as she thought. She had been forced to leave Canterlot after she and Vinyl had been framed for a crime, of course. Was Frederick aware of it? She and Vinyl were technically escaped prisoners, and whilst she’d like to think that he wouldn’t turn her in to the guards if he knew, it had been too long since she had seen him, and she wasn’t sure what his thoughts on the matter would be.

“But then?” prompted Frederick, a look of curiosity upon his face.

“But then…a series of contrived coincidences forced me to leave,” Octavia said, wincing internally. There was no way that that wasn’t going to prompt further questioning. She had a quick look around her. Where was Serpent Superior?

“Yes, I believe I read about these… ‘contrived coincidences’ in the paper,” said Frederick, chuckling slightly. Octavia froze, not sure what to say in response to that. She felt her pulse race, felt butterflies appear in her stomach. What was she supposed to respond to that?

“O-oh?” said Octavia. She stared at Frederick’s face intently, trying to decipher his intentions. What was he thinking? What was he planning? Still, if she thought that Frederick’s last line had been shocking, it was minor compared to the bombshell he dropped on her next:

“But I’m glad to hear that the charges were cleared,” Frederick said, commenting as casually as though the two ponies were discussing the weather.

“W-what?” Octavia asked quietly, her whole world crashing around her. In the background she could hear Frederick saying something about a follow-up investigation revealing that Octavia and Vinyl were innocent, and reading about it in the paper, but the mare wasn’t listening. All she could think about was what this revelation meant for her and Vinyl. Leaving Manehattan and COBRA. Returning to their nice Canterlot house. Playing music again! How long had it been since Octavia had played music; since she had been allowed to express herself in her medium of choice? If she could leave this silly set right now and go play in a concert, would she? Of course she would!

Realising that Frederick had been waiting for a reply from her, Octavia snapped herself out of her fantasy. “I-I’m sorry, Frederick, I was lost in my thoughts,” she said.

“Happens to the best of us,” commented the stallion, smiling.

Regaining her composure somewhat, Octavia said, “Anyway, we’ve talked about me for long enough…how are you doing? What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to the casino for a night out with the boys,” said Frederick, as refined as ever. “I and a few of my friends are staying in Manehattan over the weekend for a concert, and we decided to-”

“Octavia!” A nasally voice called out to the Earth pony. Looking in the direction of the noise, Octavia saw a pony who she knew, for certain this time, was Serpent Superior, her boss.

“Terribly sorry to cut this short, but may I be excused?” Octavia asked Frederick politely. “As it is, I’m here for business, not pleasure, and I’d best get going if I don’t want my boss to be annoyed at me.”

For a moment Frederick looked a bit disappointed, but the expression disappeared as quickly as it appeared. “Of course, Octavia,” said Frederick. “We’ll see whether we can’t write to each other at some point in the future – I’m sure we’ll be able to play music together once more.”

“Agreed,” said Octavia. Waving goodbye to Frederick, she walked past several tables where card games were being played and to her commander, Serpent Superior. “H-hello,” she said to him.

“Glad to see you’re on schedule,” said Serpent Superior, “Royale should be coming to the gaming floor any minute now, and I – what is it?”

“Nothing,” said Octavia hastily, hoping that her expression hadn’t given away her thoughts.

“No, come on, tell me,” insisted Serpent Superior.

“Well, it’s just, I- why are you wearing your mask, even here?” asked Octavia. “It’s somewhat…conspicuous.”

“The true face of COBRA need not be shown until our penultimate moment in overthrowing Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!” screamed Serpent Superior, raising his front hooves into the air as though he was milking a giant, invisible cow. “I wear this mask not out of concealment, but to represent the hidden threat we represent, ready to strike at a moment’s notice with the speed of our namesake! For whilst the common pony may be suppressed by our rulers, we will not roll over and accept this punishment! Neigh, although we appear to be relinquishing our schemes and blindly accepting the rule of other ponies, we shall merely steel ourselves for what may come! For we are COBRA!”

As Serpent Superior finished his speech, it dawned on Octavia that everypony in the casino had gone silent to watch him. Now that he had finished, most looked confused – what was going on? Who was this pony, and what was COBRA?

“Ignore me!” shouted Serpent Superior to the masses of bewildered ponies, before slinking away into a corner, followed after a moment of hesitation by Octavia.

“So, what do you want me to do?” Octavia asked her leader. “You were somewhat vague about this part of the plan during the briefing.”

“Simply watch and listen,” said Serpent Superior. In spite of his conspicuous, shiny mask, he had made at least a small attempt to blend in with the regular casino goers, and was wearing a tuxedo. Rolling up a sleeve, he glanced at a watch on his leg. “Now, according to my calculations, Royale should be coming up to the casino floor to mingle with guests in exactly….thirty seconds ago.” Serpent Superior rolled his sleeve back down and looked upwards to the room full of games and guests. “Any sign of him?”

Octavia looked around for the pony she’d seen in Serpent Superior’s photo, back what felt like over a month ago. A white-coated unicorn with a blue mane…It took Octavia one or two passes of the casino before she spotted him- the dark tuxedo he was wearing made his white coat stand out less than it otherwise would have.

“There,” Octavia said, pointing a hoof.

“Excellent eyes, Octavia,” said Serpent Superior. He began walking towards the unicorn, attempting to look casual but utterly failing. “You’re absolutely sure that he’s been given the codes to the casino vault for tonight and that he keeps them on him?”

Octavia thought back to the conversation she and Vinyl had overheard back when they were in the casino’s basement. “Yes?” she weakly suggested.

“Perfect,” said Serpent Superior. “Stay here. I don’t think this should go badly, but if it does, be ready to jump in.”

“What are you-?” began Octavia, but it was too late – Serpent Superior had already strode up confidently to the casino owner. Watching from a distance, Octavia saw Serpent Superior trip –clumsily –and crash into Royale. Both ponies fell over, and after a few moments of what appeared to be profuse apologies from Serpent Superior, Octavia’s boss returned to her.

“Success!” he declared as the two ponies headed back towards the corner they had previously been in. “As always, one of my plans worked perfectly, and we can now continue the mission! With this-” the stallion held up a small piece of paper “- which I successfully pickpocketed, we can unlock the vault with the codes printed upon it, and continue the reign of COBRA!”

“Don’t you have to be ruling over something to have a reign?” Octavia pointed out.

“Silence, minion!” said Serpent Superior. “Read out the code upon the paper, that we may be sure of our progress before continuing!” He passed her the piece of paper.

“Umm, let’s see here...Milk…Bread…Eggs…Breaded Eggs…Milky Bread…” Octavia began.

“How ingenious! He has disguised the codes as an innocent shopping list!” Serpent Superior shouted. “It’s foolproof!”

“You don’t think you just accidentally pickpocketed his shopping list instead of the codes?” Octavia suggested. “Although these are some weird items…”

“…Crap,” said Serpent Superior. “Wait here a moment.” Watching Serpent Superior once more, Octavia saw the stallion run up to Royale once more, before leaping into the air and kicking him to the ground. Once again, apologies were made, and Serpent Superior was soon back by Octavia’s side. “There!” he declared. “This time I was successful, and stole – his wallet?”

“Anything good in there?” Octavia asked.

“Just a couple of bits,” said Serpent Superior, holding the wallet upside down and shaking it. “Oh, and apparently our friend Royale is a member of something called Fanfiction Writers Associated, if this platinum membership card is anything to go by.”

Octavia grimaced. “Well then,” she said, “third time’s the charm?”

Serpent Superior sighed. “I swear, if I don’t get the codes this time, we’ll just mug him for them.”

“With what?” asked Octavia. “Our invisible crossbows?”

“You’re supposed to be the muscle!” exclaimed Serpent Superior. “What sort of muscle needs a crossbow to do their work for them?”

“Hey, just because I’m good at fighting does not mean that I like getting injured,” Octavia said.

“Whatever,” said Serpent Superior. “Be back in a minute.” For the third time, the masked villain walked across the casino floor and to Royale, this time punching the unicorn to the ground before claiming that the whole thing had been an accident. “There,” said Serpent Superior as he returned, “if this string of random numbers isn’t the code to the vault, I’ll eat my mask.”

“It could be an encrypted reminder for something,” pointed Octavia. “Or a-”

“Oh, shut up,” snapped Serpent Superior. He once again looked at his watch. “Now all we need to do is wait for Destroyer to begin his first part in the scheme, which will begin in minus two minutes.”

“Wait, doesn’t this mean that we’ve got to get going now then?” Octavia asked, standing up straighter and paying attention for the first time in a while.

“What?”

“If Destroyer’s part began two minutes ago, shouldn’t we make the most of it whilst we can?” Octavia asked.

“What in Equestria are you talking about?” Serpent Superior asked. “Destroyer’s part doesn’t begin for another minute and a half.”

“Wait, minus means that’s how long until it begins?” Octavia said.

“Yes,” said Serpent Superior, irritated, “it’s like a countdown. Only, you know, in reverse, so that’s why it’s in minus minutes.”

“Minus minutes?! Do you even know what you’re talking about? And anyway, countdowns go down, and don’t use minus minutes,” countered Octavia, “so if anything, we should be counting up. You should have just said that we had to wait two minutes for Destroyer’s part.”

“If I’d known I was going to be having this conversation, then yes, I would have,” said Serpent Superior, placing a hoof to his face in frustration.

For the next few minutes, Octavia and Serpent Superior were silent as they waited for Destroyer’s part in the plan to begin, Octavia’s few attempts at starting conversation swiftly shut down by Serpent Superior. And then, just when Octavia was wrapping up a daydream about Vinyl she’d been having –

BOOOOOOOM!!!

“There, that’s it,” said Serpent Superior. He had been a lot more relaxed during the waiting period, but now that Destroyer’s part had begun, he was all business once more. “Destroyer has begun the distractions.”

Around the casino floor, most ponies were looking nervous or confused. A few had stopped their gambling all together, whilst some others had merely paused before continuing. Mere moments later, however, another explosion, louder than the first, sounded, followed immediately after by the third explosion so far.

That was more than enough for the majority of ponies, who, already startled by the initial explosion, decided that whatever was going on, it wasn’t worth hanging around in the area for, especially if it meant risking their lives. Chaos erupted across the casino as ponies – both gamblers and employees of the casino – attempted to leave as quickly as possible, crashing into and knocking each other over in their haste. Unnoticed by most of the evacuees were the two ponies in the corner merely doing their best to avoid the chaos – one an Earth pony in a black dress, the other a well-dressed stallion wearing a mask.

“Perfection!” said Serpent Superior as the chaos began to subside. “Destroyer’s work was successful, and just as planned, the guard watching the elevator left in the chaos!”

“Brilliant!” agreed Octavia. “Although shouldn’t we be more quiet?”

“Whatever,” snarled Serpent Superior. As inconspicuously as possible, Serpent Superior and Octavia walked over towards the elevator, and then, after double-checking to make sure that the few remaining ponies were all focused on their games, they entered the elevator.

“Now, all we need to do is meet up with Vinyl, get past the casino’s defences, meet up with Destroyer, and we’ll be done!” said Octavia as she pressed the basement button.

“Did somepony beautiful call my name?” asked a voice. Looking upwards, Octavia saw that a panel of the elevator’s ceiling had been removed, and Vinyl Scratch was looking from it into the elevator. As always, she was grinning broadly.

Octavia smiled in response, unable to help herself. “Not half as beautiful as the pony being addressed,” she said as Vinyl jumped down into the elevator, not a moment before it started moving.

“Oh, you old charmer, you!” Vinyl replied. She leaned in to nuzzle Octavia playfully.

Serpent Superior cleared his throat. “Trooper Vinyl Scratch, how did your part of the mission go?” he asked. “Did you disable the surveillance from the upstairs security room, as discussed?”

“All that’s left to do is disable the stuff in front of the vault,” said Vinyl, nodding. “Would you believe I managed to disable all the cameras and get out of there in absolute stealth? Like a ghost!”

“I find that hard to believe,” said Serpent Superior bluntly.

“…Would you believe I had to knock out three guards but everything else was great?”

“No,” said Serpent Superior. Standing next to Vinyl, Octavia bit her lip, worried for her marefriend.

“How about me getting caught and having to sprint here with some guys shooting at me?” Vinyl offered. There were a few moments, during which nopony said anything. “You’re frowning at me from behind that mask, aren’t you?” asked Vinyl.

“Glad to see that you know me so well after your time in COBRA,” said Serpent Superior.

“Who cares?” said Octavia. “The genre dictates that something bad of some sort must occur during a heist, and if in our case it’s Vinyl temporarily getting caught, that’s still rather good.”

“I’d rather nothing go wrong if possible,” said Serpent Superior threateningly. He withdrew a small, portable crossbow from somewhere within his tuxedo and attached it to his foreleg just as the elevator door opened.

Silently, the three ponies slinked along the wall of the basement, past the doors Vinyl and Octavia had seen barely a week ago. Serpent Superior had his crossbow leg aimed upright, ready to snap to any threat the moment it appeared and fire immediately. Octavia walked with most of her weight poised in her back legs, prepared to throw herself forwards and attack any foe with her raw strength. Vinyl, having neither weapon nor natural strength to rely on, brought up the rear of the party, jumping from shadow to shadow and remaining as invisible as possible. If somepony found them, the element of surprise – one of Vinyl’s favourite elements, after uranium – would give Vinyl the advantage she needed to make the most of her magic.

“Trooper Vinyl,” breathed Serpent Superior, pressed up against a corner, “Trooper Octavia. Are those the guards whom you claim are guarding the vault?” He was looking down the next corridor, where sure enough, the guards Vinyl and Octavia had spotted the other night were standing there. Apparently, they hadn’t heard Destroyer’s explosions down in the basement, or perhaps they were just that professional that even the threat of the building collapsing around them wouldn’t make them abandon their post.

“They are,” said Octavia, equally quietly. She was positioned diagonally opposite to Serpent Superior, in the farthest corner where the two corridors met. When Serpent Superior gave the word, she would run towards the guards as fast as possible and take them out with all of her strength.

“Excellent,” said Serpent Superior. “And then beyond that we merely need to get past the security door and the laser room, and we shall be at the vault door!”

“Assuming that the set has been arranged already, yes,” said Vinyl confidently. Serpent Superior faltered.

“Th-the set?” he questioned. It was hard to tell whether his tone was more angry or confused.

Vinyl and Octavia both nodded friendlily at him.

“…I swear, sometimes I think I never should have quit being a used-cart salespony,” growled Serpent Superior. “Whatever. When I give the word, you two get in there and stop them. I’ll cover you with the crossbow.”

“What word would that be?” Octavia asked, frowning slightly.

“Retreeaaaattt!!!!” said Serpent Superior, pointing a hoof down the corridor.

“Got it, commander,” said Vinyl. “When you say, ‘Retreeeaaaatt!!!’, we’ll know that we have to attack them.”

“N-no, Vinyl,” sighed Serpent Superior. “That was the command to attack.”

“Right,” said Vinyl. “We got that. So just say the word when you’re ready for us to go.” Octavia nodded in confirmation.

Restraining himself as much as possible from undertaking any sort of action which would be detrimental to the mission, Serpent Superior ignored his base instincts and instead pointed a hoof down the corridor once more. “Retreeeeaaattt,” he said, much less enthusiastically than before.

Whether or not Vinyl and Octavia realised how little his heart was currently in this, they nevertheless both ran down the corridor as swiftly as possible. When they were both around halfway down the corridor, the guards noticed them and raised their crossbows, shouting out warnings as they had been trained to do. It wasn’t very effective. Vinyl and Octavia had been in too many fights to back down at a threat, and one like this was hardly going to be the exception to the rule. And besides, both mares believed that these were merely stuntsponies following the script, and that they were invincible.

What followed wasn’t so much a battle as a symphony of chaos. Sure, the guards fired off a few crossbow bolts when they realised that the mares weren’t going to stop, and some of them even hit their targets. Sure, they tried their hardest, some of them even being wise enough to switch to hoof-to-hoof combat once their targets came close enough. But against these two mares they didn’t stand a chance. It was a reckless struggle; a few brief moments of raw violence in what had been an otherwise quiet evening for the guards. It was a fight the guards were destined to lose, and which finished as quickly as it started.

“Ouch,” muttered Octavia, examining her back leg, where a crossbow bolt was still stuck. Her every instinct was telling her to remove it, but she knew from past experience that the better thing was to keep it in until she could find a hospital of some sorts. “Why is it always I that get shot? And why weren’t these ponies using rubber bolts?”

“Psst!” whispered Vinyl to a guard she had knocked out not ten seconds ago. “I know I’m not supposed to break the fourth wall when we’re on camera, but you had really good choreography there! If I wasn’t going out with a really hot and beautiful mare, I’d ask you out!”

Octavia overheard that, and giggled, the pain in her leg temporarily forgotten. “Come here, you-” she said, grabbing Vinyl and pulling her lips towards her own.

The two mares expressed their feelings towards each other for as long as they could, before Serpent Superior, who by now had stridden down the corridor, cleared his throat loudly. “If you two don’t mind, there’ll be plenty of time for that after we’re done here,” he growled. “We’re here to rob this casino, not waste time.”

“Unless this is a sexy casino robbery!” exclaimed Vinyl, Octavia nodding beside her in agreement. “I’m sure there’s some ponies who’d be interested in this film solely for the sexy bits. I can see it now… Vinyl and Octavia Make Out in a Casino,” she said, waving a hoof softly through the air as she spoke.

“…You two are idiots,” sneered Serpent Superior. “Just try to keep up,” he added, walking through the doors the now unconscious guards had been protecting.

“Somepony needs to get laid,” muttered Vinyl to Octavia moments before following him, eliciting a snigger from Octavia in response.

“So what is in this room, commander?” asked Octavia. As with the corridor before it, it was made entirely out of concrete. Opposite to the doors through which the three ponies had entered was another set of doors, this pair made out of a shiny metal.

“Why, it’s exactly as you described, of course,” said Serpent Superior, fiddling with some sort of magical terminal in a corner. “This set of doors is protected by a code, which, thanks to Royale, I am in possession of!”

“It is?” Vinyl asked, dumbfounded. “I mean, it is!” As she finished speaking, Serpent Superior finished inputting the code from the piece of paper he had acquired earlier, and with a small ding!, the doors slid open.

“…Well, that was anticlimactic,” commented Octavia as they headed into the next room.

“Don’t worry, Octavia!” said Vinyl enthusiastically. “I don’t think the next room will have any of that stuff I made up, so it’ll be a complete – holy crap! Look, Octavia!” The next room had a gigantic vault door before it, looking heavy enough that Octavia doubted she could have forced it open had she ten times her natural strength. But in spite of the large amount of wealth the vault door promised, that wasn’t what Vinyl had been excited about.

“Lasers! Rearranging every five seconds or so!” Vinyl jumped on the spot in glee. “Man, I am so cle-” Stopping speaking mid-sentence, her expression turned into a frown of confusion, then a look of horror. “Oh no,” she muttered. “I think there’s another trap for thieves in here.”

“A trap for thieves?” Octavia asked.

“Yes,” confirmed Vinyl. “I think it’s a time loop trap for thieves!”

“A trap for thieves?” Octavia asked.

“Yes,” confirmed Vinyl. “I think it’s a time loop trap for thieves!”

“A trap for-”

“Could you two cut out your inane joking for five minutes?” Serpent Superior snapped.

“Sorry about that, chief,” Vinyl apologised, “we just wanted to have some fun.”

“I trust you two aren’t so busy having fun that you can’t recall the rest of the plan?” Serpent Superior asked coldly.

Vinyl nodded and grinned. “I use my magic to disable the lasers which were apparently here all along, and at some point in the next few minutes, Destroyer will blow up that wall there-” she gestured to the right “- from within the sewers that run next to this casino. He then blows up the vault door, and we use the sewers to carry as much money as we can to Xamot and the other one in their carts. Roll credits and give an important lesson about how crime pays if you use your brain!”

“Close enough,” sighed Serpent Superior. “Vinyl, if you’ll do the honours?”

Vinyl’s horn illuminated as she searched for something to magically connect to. A laser system such as this would be most likely powered by a crystal of some sort, holding and storing a simple, repeatable spell – this case, rearranging the position of the lasers every few seconds, and sending out an alarm if they touched somepony.

Fortunately, whilst Vinyl was a terrible hacker and didn’t even grasp the basics of the concept, she was a fast learner, and so once she had found the crystal, embedded in the ceiling, and formed a magical connection to it, it was a simple matter of trying out every spell she had on it until either she or the crystal broke. Whilst the security firm Royale had outsourced his defences to had been prepared for almost every spell in a hacker’s metaphorical library, they had failed to consider what would happen if somepony sent the crystal hurtling through time, and so wasn’t long before the lasers disappeared; the spell that had powered them having appeared somewhere in the same place four thousand-odd years ago.

“And they said the time travel spell was a gimmick for that one adventure we had!” exclaimed Vinyl excitedly.

“Good job, Vinyl!” said Octavia, seeing the current laser pattern decorating the room disappear. “Now all we need to do is-”

BOOM!!!

An explosion similar to the ones heard earlier in the night sounded; quieter, but much closer. Although the force of it had been mostly contained on the other side of the wall Vinyl had indicated earlier, it was still large enough to send Vinyl, Octavia, and Serpent Superior knocked to the ground with considerable power.

“Destroyer?” asked Serpent Superior in his nasally voice as he picked himself up. He coughed once or twice, a result of the smoke that had been caused by the explosion. “Excellent timing. We’re just about to-”

Serpent Superior’s voice faltered as the smoke cleared out somewhat. Standing in the new hole in the wall was Destroyer all right, but accompanying him were at least twenty other ponies –guards from the casino, judging by their outfits. All of them, including Destroyer, were pointing crossbows at Serpent Superior.

“Destroyer? What is the meaning of this?!” demanded Serpent Superior. “Explain yourself!”

“Sorry, commander, but I got a better offer,” commented Destroyer, cocking his crossbow as he did so.

“See? I told you so,” whispered Octavia to Vinyl, both mares still lying on the ground. “Something bad always goes wrong during a heist!

Author's Note:

Sorry about the slow update; I've recently started full-time work so naturally that leaves me with a bit less free time than usual.

I don't want to make any promises, but I'll hopefully have the next chapter up within the next month!

Comments

[Oreeng]

When you visit my site to make sure you can't find better. To start winning at https://casinosanalyzer.com/casino-bonuses/luckyredcasino.com you don't need to study a lot, because there is nothing complicated here, even a schoolboy can handle this easy task.

[whitesw]

One of the best casinos in Canada is Zodiac casino https://slotostock.com/zodiac-casino/ I win a lot there