Through A Darkened Mirror

by Dorath

8.0 … A Simple Job …

“Do stop fidgeting, Sunset,” Rarity admonished the older girl, “You’ll wrinkle your outfit.”

“Sorry,” the razorgirl mumbled, even as she continued to fret with her collar, “Trying to be all proper and “polite society” leaves me jumpy, it isn’t me.”

“Then I guess you’ll just have to pretend, the ponies at Adventures Unlimited are expecting professionals who can look the part as well as act it, you wouldn’t want to disappoint Ms. Mercy after she sent up this interview for us, would you?”

“What? No!” Sunset paused and then frowned at her friend, “Low blow, Rares, low blow.”

The fashionista merely smirked at the older girl while the van pulled to a stop, “We’re here!” Fluttershy called back to the others.

“Alright fi-girls,” Twilight said as they got out of the van and Rarity immediately began fussily straightening her friends’ seems and brushing their shoulders, “First thing, I know it might be hard, but we should probably try not to use any Equestrianisms during the interview, the po-people we’re meeting might not be as understanding about our ‘unusual’ turns of phrase as Ms. Mercy is. Now, we’re supposed to meet with a Mister Jeffery Johnson ….”

---

A short time later, the seven girls were shown into a conference room where a man with slicked-back hair, a twenty-thousand nuyen suit and a plastic smile stood to great them, “Welcome ladies, can I get you anything? Coffee? Water? No? Well then, let’s get down to business. I have a client who has paid for an adventure package to experience what it’s like to be an actual freelancer, and I want to hire you to assist him with a mock mission.”

“Excuse me, sir, I would just like to confirm … you wish to hire us as actors to provide veracity for a simulated criminal enterprise orchestrated for your client’s entertainment? And nothing else? This entire enterprise is completely above board?”

The sound of carefully enunciated words with a faint posh accent coming out of Applejack’s mouth left Sunset doing her best to not stare at the farmgirl in disbelief while Johnson merely smiled, “While you may be SINless, for the duration of this contract you’ll effectively be temporary employees of Adventures Unlimited, and you will be expected to ensure our client’s safety during his excursion, Miss ….”

“Applejack, sir,” the blonde held out her hand graciously, “Charmed.”

Johnson took the offered hand for a moment, “A pleasure, Miss. So, are you ladies interested?”

After a quick exchange of glances, Twilight pulled out her PDA, “So, what are the particulars of this ‘adventure package’?”

“The experience will consist of one day of mission preparation during which the client, Mister Onyema Adele, will accompany you at all times, followed by a fully simulated rescue-extraction from an abandoned corporate facility in the Avondale district of Redmond. You will be dropped in by VSTOL and will need to commandeer vehicles from the ‘terrorists’, played by other employees of Adventures Unlimited, to escape to the extraction point.

Since this is not a live-fire simulation, you will need to have your weapons equipped with blanks and laser designators, similar to what the military uses for training, our techs will take care of that Thursday morning before you leave to meet with Mister Adele. This will be a two-day contract, for which you will each be paid one-thousand nuyen per day, I’ll provide you with some documentation for the mission’s ‘background’ as well as some limited maps of the facility so Mister Adele can also experience the planning portion of a mission. Are there any questions?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a question,” Rainbow piped up, “What’s the twist?” as everyone’s eyes turned to her, the athlete explained, “It’s in all the adventure and spy stories, the unexpected complication that messes with the heroes’ plans. So, what is it? The person we’re rescuing is a double agent? There’s a third party involved? Zombies? What?”

“You’re quite correct,” Johnson admitted with a thin smile, “Good storytelling, as well as good business, requires there to be something unexpected, in the case of this experience, there will be a second team of ‘terrorists’ waiting at the extraction point. Mister Adele is unaware of this particular alteration to his planned adventure package, and we would prefer he remain in the dark, so as to maximize the impact of the surprise. Now, we just have some forms to fill out to keep the legal department happy, and we’ll all be set ….”

---

“Okay, what was all that about, AJ?” Sunset asked once they were back in the van.

“What was all of what?”

“That!” the razorgirl replied in exasperation as she waved a hand at Applejack, “That whole posh talk thing you just did with Johnson! And what happened to your accent?”

Oh, that,” chuckled the farmgirl, “Ah learned how ta talk all fancy like when Ah was stayin’ with my Aunt an’ Uncle Orange as a filly, an’ it seemed tha thing ta do with Mister Johnson,” she explained, before frowning at her friends, “An’ Ah aint got no accent.”

---

“I applaud those farsighted multinationals that have done such fine work in their efforts to move people’s perspectives towards an economically centered ideology, however, more can be done.

I therefore declare the following: I have no parents, only parent companies; I have no family, only co-workers; I have no children, only subsidiaries. Sacrificing these last sacred cows on the altar of free enterprise has freed me, I implore you all too likewise free your minds.”

The image cut back to the commentator, “Economic philosopher Okino Toshi’s latest statement has sparked debates in forums across the Net ….”

“Would ya turn that garbage off before Ah lose ma breakfast?” Applejack demanded, causing the bartender to shrug and switch the trideo set hanging above the bar over to the urban brawl game, “Ah can’t believe ponies could listen ta such a selfish load of horseapples,” the blonde snarled to her friends in disgust, “‘Ah have no family’, buck!”

“Hey, I think Mister Onyema is here!” Pinkie said happily, incidentally distracting Applejack from her ire at the news report, as she pointed at the man who had just come through the door.

“Oh … dear,” Rarity whispered in dismay as she gazed upon their erstwhile client, his ebony skin damp from the morning fog as he stood in the doorway, decked out in the latest in “street” fashions (as proclaimed by the trideo) that were so new that they creaked faintly as he moved, and glared around the bar while the patrons snickered at his obviously self-conscious attempt to look hard.

Finally spotting the group he started over, only to slow as a growing uncertainty spread across his features, “Are you the people Mister Johnson said I was to meet?”

“Sure are,” Applejack assured him as she cocked a brow, “Somethin’ tha matter?”

Onyema frowned at them, “Aren’t you … ladies … a little young to be,” his voice dropped to a whisper, “Freelancers?”

“Yes. Yes we are,” Pinkie replied solemnly, before returning to her usual cheerful self, “Muffin?”

“I’m Sunset,” the razorgirl introduced herself as Onyema bemusedly accepted the pastry, “These are Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie,” she waved at her friends who all smiled or nodded in turn, “Well, let’s get out of here and get to work.”

“We’re not staying here?”

“No offense to the Murdered Mime,” Rarity said with a faintly dismissive sniff, “But we prefer a place with a bit more privacy for handling business.”

The sight of the man heading for the door surrounded by seven teenage girls drew hoots and catcalls from several of the bar’s patrons, to which Sunset replied with a crude gesture while Rainbow jeered back at them, “Snicker all you want, but you know you all wish you was him!”

---

The ride to Auburn from Renton, with Onyema luckily taking his own vehicle, was filled with Twilight and Rarity admonishing Sunset and Rainbow on the values of “behaving professionally in front of a client”, “showing proper behavior when in public”, and “not encouraging the ruffians”, fortunately their arrival at Tchernobog’s Porch finally cut the lecture short.

“Howdy there, Floyd,” Applejack hailed the bartender, “We got a back room reserved for a meetin’.”

“Yep,” the hulking man nodded absently as he tossed over a keycard that Pinkie snatched out of the air, “Room three, you going to want anything?”

“Nothing right now, darling,” replied the fashionista, “We’ll let you know if we change our minds.”

---

“So … we met at a bar, then traveled partway across the metroplex, all just to go to another bar?”

“It actually makes perfect sense, darling,” Rarity assured their client, “While the Mime was acceptable as a neutral meeting place between strangers, we don’t know if they provide private rooms, and none of us are regulars so they are unlikely to extended the courtesy of discretion if we started discussing business. The Porch, however, does have private rooms and we are known here well enough for the staff to offer us some considerations.”

“Hmm … okay, so what do we do now?”

Sunset gave the man a toothy smile, “Now? Now Sparky tells us what we’re up against.”

“What? Oh, yes,” Twilight activated her PDA and quickly reviewed the information AU had given them, “Here we are, Irene Andrews, a scientist for Orobas Labs, has been kidnapped by terrorists. Orobas has managed to track them to a former corporate facility in Avondale, and has hired us to retrieve Ms. Andrews. According to our information, the facility was wrecked by a fire recently, which may be why the terrorists have chosen it for their base. Due to concerns about anti-air fire, the airlift Orobas is providing will have to drop us off a half-mile out from the facility.”

“If the place was burned out, then there won’t be any working cameras or maglocks,” Rainbow mused, “Not unless the terrorists brought a few portable ones of their own….”

“Umm …,” murmured Fluttershy, “Do we know anything about Avondale? If you don’t mind me asking ….”

“Avondale is an E security slum, so at least it’s not complete anarchy like in the Puyallup Zero Zone,” Sunset explained, “The gangs and the mobs run things, the locals just try to keep their heads down, and Lone Star pretty much ignores the neighborhood unless they’re forced to deal with it. If we get into a firefight with the terrorists, it’ll be shrugged off as merely another bit of gang warfare as long as no heavy weapons are involved."

“So, we have ta watch out for tha local varmints as well as tha terrorist? Wonderful.”

“Facts of life, AJ” shrugged the flame-haired girl, “And life will kill you.”

“And then you’ll be dead,” Pinkie added solemnly, drawing an approving nod from Sunset while Onyema backed away with a faint look of concern and the other girls merely rolled their eyes at the pair’s occasional antics.

“Oookay,” Twilight said, “Thank you, fi-girls, for that morbid bit of philosophy. So, any thoughts?”

“What was they usin’ tha buildin’ for before tha fire?”

The scholarly girl glanced down at her PDA, “According to Orobas’ information, it was a factory of some kind, with a bunch of offices attached, it doesn’t say what they made, though.”

“A factory, huh?” mused Applejack, “Between tha fire an’ tha owners tryin’ ta clean out everythin’ they could salvage, there’s probably plenty of wide open spaces for me an’ Little Mac.”

Onyema gave the blonde girl a puzzled glance, “Who is this ‘Little Mac’? Another member of your group?”

“You could say that,” Rainbow chuckled, “Little Mac is AJ’s rifle,” she explained, reaching over to give the farmgirl a teasing nudge in the shoulder, “She’s something of a sharpshooter.”

“But what if these terrorist meanies are hiding poor Ms. Andrews in the offices?” wondered Pinkie.

“Then we get to do some CQC,” Sunset replied with a wolfish grin, “and we’re going to be damn glad that you have some grenades, Pinkie.”

“But how do we get to the facility?” asked Fluttershy, “I don’t think I like the idea of hiking a half-mile through only the Princesses know what kind of gang activity only to be walking right up to the facility doors hoping that the terrorists’ guards don’t notice us.”

“I think I may have an answer to that …,” Twilight offered as she typed away at her PDA, “Yes … yes … oh, no. Well … I do have an option, but not everyp-everyone will like it.”

“Well, what is it, darling?”

“There is a series of … tunnels … that should take us to the facility’s basement level with us only having to travel a block or two on the surface.”

“T-tunnels?” stammered Rarity in horror, “Do you mean … sewers?!”

“Not real sewers,” the former alicorn hasted to reassure her fastidious friend, “According to the old municipal maps it’s a mix of storm sewers, maintenance accesses and parts of the old underground bus system.”

“Yes, but … all the dirt and the damp and the bugs,” the fashionista shuddered before taking a deep breath, “Still … if it will get us to the facility unnoticed … I guess we will just have to put on a brave face and endure it.”

“Hey, Pinkie,” Rainbow turned to the energetic girl, “Do you still have some of those thermite strip things?”

“Sure do, Dashie!”

“Sounds like we’ve got a plan for the infiltration,” nodded Sunset approvingly, “Alright, once we’re in the basement ….”

---

“Alright everyone, listen up!” Sunset had to shout to be heard over the roar of the tiltrotor’s props as they flew through the early morning smog, “The pilot says we’ll be touching down in five, so check your gear!”

As they went through their equipment, Rarity gave Fluttershy a small, worried frown as the medic checked the drug levels in her medical bracer, “You don’t think you’ll actually need that, do you darling? We’re just acting after all.”

“I really hope not,” Fluttershy admitted, “But accidents happen, even on movie sets, and no pony actually knows what we’ll find down in those tunnels, so I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

Once they had disembarked and double-checked their bearings the group headed out, with most of them simply walking down the street while Pinkie, Rainbow and Onyema quickly scuttled from cover to cover in a display of stealth worthy of one of the climatic night-time assaults on the trideo shows … except that it was in the real world and they were doing it under the (admittedly smog obscured) morning sun, which rather ruined the effect.

It didn’t take long for the trio’s antics to exceed Sunset’s tolerance, “Will you three knock it off, you’re just drawing attention! I swear, it’s like dealing with kids sometimes,” she grumbled, while Pinkie and Rainbow both blew raspberries at her.

“Sunny can be a real spoilsport sometimes,” Pinkie apologized to their client, “So what do you do when you’re not out fighting ‘terrorists’, Mister Onyema?”

“I am an executive with Celestia Medical Systems, Miss Pie,” Onyema replied, “Most of my family are executives actually, except for my brother, Dafe, who is in the British military. Father considers him the hero of the family,” He gave a dejected sigh before going on in a quieter tone, “I would like to be the hero, just once, if only for one day.”

“Hey, that’s what we’re here to do,” Rainbow said, slapping the man on the shoulder, “We’re going to rescue Ms. Andrews and all be big dang heroes, you’ll see.”

Continuing on their way, the group had just reached the run-down tenement whose cellar contained the tunnel access they were looking for when Rainbow held up her hand, “We’ve got company,” she nodded at the half dozen gangers that had walked out from the shadows of the alleys and doorways, while a seventh teen, the only one who wasn’t wearing colors, looked them over before swaggering up to Applejack.

“You eyeballin’ me, puta?”

AJ frowned down at the sneering teen, “What did ya jus’ call me?”

“That dumb hat blockin’ your ears, hick?” sniggered the youth as he reached out to shove the blonde in the chest, moving her not a whit, “What, you think you’re a cholita, you goin’ to try and get crazy with me? Don’t you know I’m loco?”

“Oh, he did not just insult AJ’s hat!” exclaimed Rainbow, “Twenty nuyen says he doesn’t last thirty seconds!”

“Really, Rainbow,” Rarity sniffed reproachfully, “A lady does not normally engage in such behavior … that being said, the little ruffian won’t last twenty seconds against our Applejack!”

Sunset reached out to stop Onyema as he started forward, much to the man’s confusion, “Aren’t we going to help her?”

Twilight shook her head, “In this case, our assistance would be counterproductive, as well as unneeded. See, this annoying young man,” she gestured at the teen who was still spewing abuse at the ever more irritated looking farmgirl, “Is trying to earn his place in the local gang by beating up the toughest person he can find, which is apparently Applejack, while the others are only here as witnesses and to discourage the rest of us from interfering.”

Onyema blinked as he absorbed Twilight’s little lecture, “But what if he tries something underhanded?”

“If he pulls a weapon or esper powers, we tear him apart,” Sunset replied with an unpleasant smile, “But if it’s just him fighting dirty, then it’s on AJ to handle.”

While they had been talking, the youth had given up on trying to provoke Applejack and just lunged for her, but the farmgirl twisted away from his rush and casually slapped aside the right hook he tried to follow-up with, before a jab of her own crushed his nose and left the wanabe ganger blinking. The blonde girl looked him over for a moment as he stood, swaying slightly in his daze, and then dropped to the ground, her hands slapping the asphalt as they caught her weight and her legs shot out to slam both feet into the youth’s chest, flinging him across the street to slam into the wall and collapse in a heap, drawing a sympathetic wince from everyone watching. Rising back to her feet, Applejack turned to glare at the other gangers, “Does anyone else got somethin’ ta say about ma hat?”

---

The old passageways proved to be just as foul as Rarity had feared, with the reek of standing water mixing with the smells of rust, damp concrete and ancient chemical spills to create a fetid air that stung the eyes and nose. As they journeyed deeper into the tunnels, the beady eyes of devil rats, oversized, predatory versions of the normal urban scavengers, gleamed at them from out of the darkness, but the group’s sheer size caused the rodents to remain in their shadows, watching hungrily as the team of freelancers passed by.

“Are we there yet?” demanded Rainbow some time later, as the inky gloom and the weight of the earth that surrounded them combined to leave the displaced pegasus restless, twitching at shadows and eager to be back under the open sky.

“The next juncture,” Twilight assured the athlete as she glanced up from the map on her PDA’s screen and took a good look at her friend’s slightly wild eyes and the faint sheen of sweat that covered her face, “I’m sorry, Rainbow, I didn’t realize that you’re cleithrophobic, I promise we’ll be out soon!”

“I ain't no cleithwhatsit!” the prismatic-haired girl protested, “I just don’t like being stuck underground is all.”

“Well, we won’t be down here much longer,” Sunset observed, “Here’s our stop.”

“Thank Celestia,” Rarity muttered as they gathered around the old, rusted-over door, and Applejack gave it an experimental tug.

“Nothin’ doin’,” she sighed, “It’s shut tighter than a clam with lockjaw.”

“That’s alright,” Twilight replied cheerfully, “Pinkie brought her party favors.”

“Sure did,” Pinkie chirped as she started rigging the door, “Hey, Mister Onyema, when we get Ms. Andrews back from these meany-pants, I think we should have a ‘we’re heroes and everyone got rescued’ party, with cider and nachos and cupcakes, what do you think?”

“That … sounds rather nice, Miss Pie,” the man replied slowly, before turning to whisper to the others, “Is Miss Pie always like this?”

The rest of the freelancers could only shrug in reply, “Pretty much.”

“All set!” the party girl cried happily, “Now everypo-everyone remember, no matter how pretty the lights are, don’t look at them, okie-dokie?” Once everyone had turned their backs, Pinkie gave a cry of “Dragon with hiccups!” and the tunnel filled with a searing light as the thermite strip cut through the reinforced steel of the door.

“Dragon with hiccups?” Sunset arched her brow at her hyperactive friend as AJ and Rainbow lowered the door to the ground.

“Yepper-roonie, it sounds way better than boring old ‘fire in the hole’,” Pinkie grinned, only to stop dead with a gasped cry of “Pinchy knee, ear flop, shudders! Pinchy knee, ear flop, shudders!” as she passed through the doorway.

“Well, Ponyfeathers,” swore Twilight as the girls all dropped into a defensive crouch, with Rainbow pulling their client down beside them, “Something must have gone wrong.”

“What is it?” asked Onyema in confusion, “What is going on?”

“Pinkie has … premonitions sometimes,” the academic explained, “And she just got one that we’re in danger.”

“Miss Pie is an esper?”

“No, she’s Pinkie Pie,” replied Sunset, “That’s way stranger, but we’ve learned to take her warnings seriously.”

Twilight chewed on her lip for a moment as she thought, “Okay, we don’t know what is setting off Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense, it could just be weak floors for all we know, so we’re continuing with the job, but carefully! Sunset, Dash, you’re both on point, Onyema, I want you in the middle with Fluttershy, while Rarity and I cover the flanks, AJ, Pinkie, watch our rear, please.”

“Got it, Twi’,” the other girls muttered as they moved into position and the group started into the basement, the pools of light thrown by their flashlights revealed empty halls, storage rooms and utility rooms as they slowly made their way towards the stairs.

They had just opened the stairwell door, when both Rainbow and Sunset stopped, and RD raised a hand to wave the others off, before moving back to join them, “What’s going on, darling?” asked Rarity as they gathered around the athlete.

“The terrorists’ setup a tripwire in the stairwell and rigged it to a grenade bouquet, Sunset is taking it down.”

“Huh, so tha terrorist folks didn’t jus’ ignore tha tunnels,” mused Applejack, “They jus’ put a bobby trap in ta warn ‘em instead of botherin’ with settin’ guards down here. Danged shame that,” the farmgirl added with a sigh, “I was startin’ ta hope we had bamboozled tha lot of ‘em.”

“Why the long face, Sunny?” Pinkie asked the returning razorgirl, “Is something wrong with the party poppers the meanies left for us?”

“Something is very much wrong,” Sunset replied as she held up one of the grenades, “These aren’t spraypainters or smokers or even flashbangs, they’re fragmentation grenades, whoever rigged this bouquet was trying to kill anyone who came through that door!”

“What the hay?” exclaimed Rainbow, “Why would they be trying to kill us?”

“They’re not,” Sunset replied, “There’s no percentage in geeking us, we’re just collateral damage, but a corporate executive, that’s another matter entirely, isn’t it Mister Adele?”

“You think this is part of some plot targeted at me? Why would anyone try to murder me? And why would Adventures Unlimited be involved in such behavior? They’re a respectable corporation!”

“Gee, who could possibly want to dust an exec?” sneered Sunset, “And of course the corps never dispose of inconvenient people.”

“Not helping!” Twilight rebuked the older girl, who spread her hands and backed off slightly under the glares the academic and Fluttershy were leveling on her, “Who knew about your excursion, Mister Adele?”

“I told several people about the adventure package,” Onyema said sheepishly, “I was rather excited about it ….”

“It probably isn’t an AU operation,” Sunset offered grudgingly, “If they wanted to geek him, they could have done it back in the hanger. But between everyone Onyema’s talked to, AU’s people and the folks from whatever corp actually owns this place, we’ve got to many potential leaks to pin it down right now,” the razorgirl ran a hand through her hair as she sighed in frustration, “The question is what are we going to do now? If we pull out without any more evidence, AU can claim we broke contract, but if we push on, we won’t know if the people we encounter are just actors or armed hostiles until they start firing.”

“We have to keep going!”

The seven girls all blinked at the corporator’s sudden vehemence, “Is there something we should know, Onyema, darling?” asked Rarity gently.

“Ms. Andrews … Irene … isn’t one of AU’s actors, she’s my secretary … she volunteered to help with my experience … and I am not leaving her with real terrorist!”

“Whoa there, pardner, no need ta get all hot an’ bothered,” the farmgirl was quick to assure him, “We’ll get her out, ya got ma word on it,” the other girls quickly nodded in agreement, although Sunset seemed somewhat resigned about the whole matter.

“Can we call AU for help?” inquired Fluttershy hopefully, “I’m sure they would want to protect their employees, wouldn’t they?”

Sunset shook her head, “I already tried to call out,” she explained, “I could pick up you girls’ signals, but nothing from outside the facility, the hostiles must have some sort of jammer set up.”

“Alright,” Twilight said determinedly, “We keep going and get Ms. Andrews, and any AU personnel we can find, out. Same formation as before, and everyone keep your eyes open for …,” she shuddered slightly, “Live ammo. And if we do encounter anyone, remember that we have friendlies out there and make sure of your targets!”

---

The smoke blackened windows reduced the sunlight to a dim haze as the group slipped out of the stairwell and immediately sought cover behind one of the arcane machines, too massive to be easily remove, that still dotted the factory floor. Onyema crouched down beside Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Twilight while Sunset, Rainbow and AJ carefully examined the facility’s layout, the later assisted by her rifle’s scope, “What do we have, girls?” the academic asked as the three dropped back into cover.

“There’re still some walls standing over in the office section, so they got cover and rooms to toss Andrews or the other AU people in,” Sunset reported.

“The bottom two levels are completely burned out, though,” Rainbow added, “It’s just framework and exposed stairs until we get to the third floor.”

“They got some lights on up there, an’ Ah saw movement in tha offices, so they likely got a few guards out patrollin’.”

“Oh, oh!” Pinkie broke in with an excited whisper, “I think I found our way to the extraction point!” following her pointing finger, the others soon spotted a battered roadmaster truck sitting in the loading bay.

“Good catch, darling,” the fashionista complimented her, “At least now we know how we’re getting out of this place.”

The little company quickly moved out, now performing in earnest what Rainbow, Onyema and Pinkie had played at earlier, as they crossed the factory floor. Whether by skill or luck, they made it up to the third-floor offices without raising an alarm, where they slowed down again as they carefully checked each room they passed, their progress frequently delayed even further by the assorted holes they found in the floor, ceiling and walls.

As they pressed deeper into the burnt-out offices, they finally came upon signs of inhabitation, a conference room, its windows shattered by the fire, spilled light and the shadows of moving figures out into the halls, “So how do we figure out if they’re real terrorists or just the actors?” wondered Rainbow as they crouched in the shelter provided by a stub of wall.

“Oh, that’s easy, Dashie,” Pinkie replied as she stood up and called “Hey, are you guys with Adventures Unlimited?” at the room, only to be pulled down by her friends as gunfire ripped through where she had been standing and pocked the wall they hid behind, “I guess they’re the meanies,” she declared brightly.

“You. Are. Insane!” Sunset growled at the oblivious party girl.

“What do we do now?” asked Onyema with a worried frown, ducking lower as more shots chewed away at their cover, and almost having to shout to in order to be heard over the din.

The razorgirl risked glancing out from behind cover for a moment, “There’s four gunmen covering us from the window, and more in the room, and these gunshots have alerted every other terrorist in the building,” she chewed on her lip for a moment, before shaking her head, “If we use Pinkie’s smoke grenades we should be able to close to melee with the gunners while they can’t see, but without knowing how many more are waiting in that room, it’s a desperation move.”

“What if one of us got up there and took a look?” asked Rainbow, pointing up to some exposed crossbeams above the conference room, the light shining on them revealing the presence of a large hole in the room’s ceiling, “Shoot, we could just drop the smokers right down on top of them from up there.”

“It’s a great idea, Rainbow, but we can’t fly.”

“I can do it.”

“Huh?” Sunset turned to Twilight in confusion, “What was that Sparky?”

“I said ‘I can do it’,” Twilight took a deep breathe, “I can get up there, give me the grenades … and two of the fragmentation ones as well.”

“Are you sure about this Sparky?” asked Sunset quietly, at the academic’s reluctant nod, the older girl passed her the explosives, “Remember, these frags have a ten meter kill zone, but they can get you farther away, so if you use them get to cover fast.”

The indigo haired girl took a few more deep breathes, trying to calm herself, the explosives weighing down her pockets, and then she vanished in a burst of magenta light.

---

Twilight reached out to steady herself on the crossbeams as she reappeared, perched precariously over three meters above the floor below. Looking down, she had an excellent view of the conference room, snack wrappers and empty drink cans scattered about, the four gunmen who were keeping her friends pinned down, and four others, all armed, who stood waiting to back up their companions at the window. ‘It looks like they’ve been waiting for us. There’s no sign of AU’s ponies, though,’ the academic sighed, ‘Rushing them, even with the smoke grenades for cover, is looking like a bad idea … maybe if Rarity and I used our shields to separate them?’

A cold dread speared through her guts as the sight of one of the four waiting people heading for the window, pulling a grenade from beneath her jacket as she crossed the room, interrupted Twilight’s musings, ‘No!’ She hesitated for only a moment, anguish gripping her heart as Twilight realized what she was about to do, before arming her fragmentation grenades and dropping them into the conference room, and then she teleported away.

---

A second eruption of light heralded Twilight’s return as she shouted, “Everypony get down!” and desperately threw a telekinetic wall around the group. On the heels of her warning came the heavy “whump” of grenades detonating, followed a moment later by a second, louder, explosion that shook the floor they were crouched on.

“What in the Princesses’ names was that?” demanded Rarity as they got back to their feet, the Equestrians’ noses wrinkling at the acrid smoke that drifted from the, now silent, conference room.

“That first blast was frags going off, probably the pair I gave Sparky,” Sunset said as she worked a kink out of her shoulder, “The second one sounded like a high explosive grenade, probably got cooked off when the frags went up. Nasty things,” she added with a frown, “I’ll go check for any useable gear, you … should probably all wait here,” the razorgirl immediately headed for the conference room without waiting for a reply.

A few minutes later, a muffled whimper caught Sunset’s attention as she was digging through the ruin that three grenades could make of people in search of serviceable ammo or weapons, looking up the razorgirl saw that everyone had followed after her; Fluttershy had her face buried in Pinkie’s shoulder, whose hair had gone completely straight, while Onyema was quietly throwing up in the corner and the other four girls where staring around in horror, “I told you to wait,” Sunset said resignedly as she slapped a fresh magazine into her rifle and stood up.

Walking back to the group she handed clips to Applejack and Rainbow, and passed a small pistol to Rarity, “This is all that’s salvageable, everything else is either damaged or won’t work with our kit … Sparky? Are you okay?” Sunset reached a blood-coated hand out to the wild-eyed, hyperventilating girl, only for the academic to shrink away from her.

“Best let me handle this, Sunset,” Rarity murmured to the razorgirl, before wrapping Twilight in a hug and leading her over to Fluttershy and Pinkie.

“Don’t let it get ta ya, sugarcube,” Applejack advised as she swapped out her blanks for live rounds, “Twi’s jus’ havin’ a freak out, she don’t mean no harm by it.”

“It’s nothing, AJ.”

“Pull tha other one, it has bells on it,” the blonde retorted, “Yer eyes may be empty machines, but we’ve gotten pretty good at readin’ ya,” Applejack took another look around the room, swallowed thickly, and turned to resolutely face the blown-out window, “An’ ya might want ta wash-up a bit.”

“We don’t have time to waste on that!” objected Sunset, “We still got people unaccounted for!”

“Yes, we do,” Rainbow declared firmly as she joined them, Onyema in tow, “We all need a few moments to try and … deal … with everything in here, so you taking a minute to not look like something out of a horror trideo isn’t going to cost us anything, and it’ll definitely make us feel better.”

---

A few minutes later, once the group had calmed down somewhat and collected themselves, they resumed their search, checking several more rooms without any sign of either the missing actors nor other terrorists, until they reached an intersection and came face-to-face with a pair of armed men in plated vests coming the other way. Augmented reflexes triggered instantly and three guns roared; Sunset’s burst tore at armor and knocked her target backwards, while his return fire plucked at her own protective gear, drawing blood from her arm, and the other man’s shot ripped through Pinkie’s thigh, dropping the rose-haired girl with a cry, while the high-pitched chatter of Rainbow’s M-24 quickly joined the gunfight, the combined fire drove the men back into what shelter they could find in doorways and corners.

A magenta rampart flared into life as Twilight and Fluttershy rushed to their stricken friend, while AJ and Rarity joined the athlete and razorgirl behind the bulwark, adding their own potshots as the two men desperately scrambled back around the corner and out of sight. Once the terrorists were gone, they immediately turned their attention to their injured, “Flutters, how’s Pinkie doing?”

“The shot went clean through her outer thigh,” the medic reported as she steadied the party girl, “I’ve stopped the bleeding,” she added, turning to her patient, “And pumped you full of PainAway and stims for the shock, but you need some time before you’ll be able to walk, and you need to see a doctor.”

“Alright,” Sunset sighed, “AJ, Sparky, you two stay here and guard Flutters, Pinkie and Onyema, Rainbow, Rarity, you’re with me, let’s go finish those two,” she ordered as she slapped a synthskin patch on her arm.

The trio set off, checking each room they passed for signs of their quarry, until Sunset stopped the other two near the end of the hall, “I’m getting a lot of thermal-bleed from that room ahead, if they’re in there, they’ll be waiting for us.”

“I’ll put up a barrier right before we open the door,” suggested Rarity, “On three?”

The girls moved into position and there was a flare of cornflower blue light just before Rainbow smashed in the door. Inside, seven people lay bound and gagged, fortunately none was particularly close to the burned-away back wall that let out onto a drop to the factory floor, and above them stood the two terrorists, their guns blazing away.

As the men’s bullets flattened against Rarity’s barrier, Rainbow and Sunset’s counter fire dropped the man on the right. The remaining terrorist pointed his gun at the helpless woman at his feet, “Drop your guns or I’ll –,” a bolt of blue light interrupted his threat, striking him in the face and sending the man stumbling backwards – right out the ruined wall. He desperately waved his arms as he tried to regain his balance, only to plummet three stories onto the concrete below.

Rarity, her face pale, let her barrier fade, before she blinked and pointed at the prisoner the terrorist had threatened, “Oh my, isn’t that Ms. Andrews?” asked the fashionista as the bound woman stared up at them in fear.

Any reply was cutoff as the report of a single gunshot echoed down the halls.

Racing back, the three girls found their friends huddled together while Applejack stood not far away over the corpse of a headshot woman, “Ah told her ta put down her gun an’ surrender,” the farmgirl said quietly as Rainbow, Rarity and Sunset gathered around her, “Why didn’t she listen? Ah told her Ah would shoot ….”

“I don’t know, AJ,” Rainbow replied as she put a hand on the blonde’s shoulder and gently pulled her away, “Come on, we found Ms. Andrews and the others, let’s get everyone loaded up and get out of here.”

---

Although they managed to make it through dropping everyone off at the Adventures Unlimited building (where they received medical treatment and a nice bonus from Johnson for “services rendered”), between the adrenalin crash, injuries and emotional overload, the Equestrians were staggering on their feet when they finally returned to their crowded apartment and Sunset managed to herd them into bed.

Several hours later saw Sunset quietly sitting in a corner, a half-empty bottle of cider in her hand, as she watched her friends toss restlessly in their sleep, while the occasional whimper cut through the dark, “Damn it,” the razorgirl finally muttered, as she activated her cell implant, “Heya Doc,” she subvocalized when the call was finally answered, “Sorry to wake you, but there’s a problem with the twinkies, and I need some help.”

*What kind of problem? What’s going on, Shimmer?*

“A job went pear shaped on us, and there’s some fallout that I don’t know how to handle.”

*You didn’t get them involved in wetwork, did you?* Razor demanded, *Damn it all, Shimmer, I asked you to look out for them!*

“I am!” Sunset protested, “This job was supposed to be completely on the up-and-up! A sweet little corporate gig, but then everything went to drek … and they had to geek some folks … and I think they might need therapy.”

*… I thought you said it gets easier?*

“It does, but the thing is … I don’t think I want it to get easy for these girls. Despite everything, Twilight, Fluttershy, Dash, all of them, they’re all still … innocent, you know? And I don’t want any of them to lose that … I don’t want them ending up like me.”

*Alright, Shimmer, I’ll talk to a few counsellors I know, one of them should be willing to talk to the girls, try to help them work through things. It won’t be proper, regular treatment, but it ought to help.*

“Thanks, Doc.”