4: Summon the A Team
~Team
So yeah, I know I kinda owed all of you a wing and a leg, but the cash Diamond forwarded to all of you should cover the money I’ve borrowed. Now, I know you all are not my biggest fan after our last run together, but something really big came down, and I mean super ultra deluxe crazy BIG!!! All four of us need to get together in meatspace. Meet me at our delta hangout tomorrow night at nine, the entry fee and dinner’s on me.
~Flash
Rainbow Dash reviewed her message for the nth time right before stepping out of the taxi along with Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy. Diamond should show up at least. The day she passes up a mystery is the day I bring her to the Changeling Investigation Bureau in person. They had just arrived at a crowded street a block away from their destination, The Slayer Club. It sat on top of an edifice of glass and steel thirty stories up, and looked no different than the crown of any other skyscraper in Canterlot. In fact, the owner of the club, and the building as a whole, went to great lengths to give the club a clandestine atmosphere by removing any unwanted guests, rather than letting a line form around the building. Entry had to be paid for in advance, and that fee had eaten most of the remaining funds Celestia had provided her newest captain.
That means it’s noodles for dinner for the week, but it’ll be worth the cost if I can get the whole crew to sign up.
This part of the city was fairly affluent, so bat ponies were not a rare sight. Common enough for Rainbow Dash to walk around without a hood, at least. Yet she still had to wear a dress that Rarity had made for her the first time the team had to stake out a high class establishment. It was a simple yet elegant affair that had a style and color that worked more to complement her fur coloration than to fall in line with current seasonal colors. A nigh undetectable enchantment considerably darkened her leathery wings to the deep navy blue that was a staple among the artificial bat ponies, along with brightening her fur to a sky blue. With her mane and tail keeping its prismatic colors, the dress gave Rainbow the appearance of a pegasus turned bat pony. Rainbow Dash hated the dress for it, more so than the fact it was a dress in the first place; and yet it was the perfect attire for where she was going. In the end, it came down to the simple fact that there was something to be said for hiding in plain sight.
As the trio of mares made their way to the sidewalk, Rainbow’s cautious eye scanned Twilight’s and Fluttershy’s gowns, making sure both of them looked the part of rich married mares looking to have a night away from the family. If there was one thing that Rarity was good for, it was finding jobs that offered her excuses to create new clothes for the whole team. Five bits she’ll have a new dress for herself tonight. No way Flutters would take that bet, but Twiggles… oh right, she’s broke right now.
Casting such thoughts away, Rainbow led them through the dense walkways filled with wage-slaves leaving for home. None of them risked making eye contact with the trio, more out of fear of causing insult to the assumed mares in power than anything else. Fluttershy walked between the others, unable to really act the part of a snob. Twilight simply emulated the upper crust’s mannerisms she had suffered while in the palace. A few well placed sneers and scoffs at passersby flowed unnaturally through her expressions, but no one was going to look too closely. Rainbow Dash was the only one comfortable with the act, dress aside, and puffed up her chest, knowing full well she was the best athlete within a city block.
It wasn’t long before Rainbow Dash’s group made their way inside the skyscraper. Thus far, no bouncers were to be seen, but Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy expected as much. However, with Twilight Sparkle’s naivety, Rainbow kept glancing at the lavender mare expecting her to do or say something stupid.
The unicorn glanced about the spacious lobby with a critical eye. The polished stone floors and walls, with alcoves for potted plants, served to promote a calm, positive flow of chi. Ultimately though, Twilight was wise enough to keep her trap shut until they got to the unguarded elevator.
Two stallions had reached the elevator before them, prompting Rainbow to place a barring foreleg in front of Twilight so she would keep a safe distance. Rainbow expected Fluttershy to do the same without being prompted.
“Okay, I’m confused?” Twilight whispered in Rainbow’s ear once she came to a stop. “Shouldn’t clubs have signs or advertisements pointing ponies here? Or have a bouncer at least?”
Rainbow kept from answering straight away, until she noticed something about the stallions. They were waving their cred-sticks at the glass panel adjacent to the elevator button, yet the glass remained red. A bit of schadenfreude danced through Rainbow’s thoughts. She leaned in towards Twilight. “This place is supposed to be exclusive and difficult to find. Part of the appeal if you ask me. But yes, it does have a bouncer, just watch.”
Rainbow saw Twilight furrow her brow at her, but decide to wait and watch. Rainbow then turned to Fluttershy, who was caught between a sad frown for what was to come.
Fluttershy had to content herself with impatiently tapping her right forehoof. “Why is there always a bakebrain or two when we come here?” Fluttershy muttered to herself.
“Come on, I got enough bits to buy this stupid club twice over. Just open up!” one of the unicorn stallions growled. With still no reaction, his partner nudged him to the exit on the far side.
“Come on, Crazy Rich, let’s just go. There’s plenty of better clubs.”
“Tartarus no!” Crazy shoved back. “I told Glitter Soul I could get us in here, and I’m not going back without something to show for it.” He swiped the cred-stick once more, and finally got a reaction, just not the one he wanted.
A deep artificial voice rumbled out from a hidden speaker behind the glass. “No reservation found. Please leave the building immediately. Article 546-B2a gives us the authority to use non-lethal means with which to enact this requirement.”
Typical lawsuit plot-covering, Rainbow mused with a huff of annoyance for such a thing.
“That’s it, you can get yourself tazered if you want, I’m out.” Crazy’s friend backed off and away from the elevator.
Crazy started punching the glass. “Let me in, damn you!”
He backed up when the glass slid open and a lightning prod extended out. It zapped him with more than enough power to render Crazy unconscious. A hidden door behind everyone opened up, and a security robot crawled out, grabbed the stallion by his opulent suit, and dragged him down into the carport so he could be picked up by a waiting taxi to take him home. Double the fare, of course.
Now that Crazy Rich’s friend was leaving him behind, the lobby was free for Rainbow Dash and the others to approach the elevator. Twilight sweated a bit as Rainbow pulled out a credstick from under her dress. “So, you do have a ticket, right?”
Rainbow Dash opted to let the elevator answer for her. One swipe of her credstick resulted in a happy ping and the elevator doors opening. “Three patron tickets registered,” the same voice stated in a more agreeable tone. “Enjoy your night at The Slayer Club.”
As the trio climbed inside, Rainbow offered Twilight a smug smirk that only served to irritate the lavender mare. “Okay, point made.”
The express elevator tried to crush the mares with its acceleration, intent on adding the thrill of danger. Rainbow weathered the extra Gs of force with ease, and even Fluttershy took it with only little noticeable effort. Twilight Sparkle, however, grit her jaw and fought to remain upright.
As suddenly as it started, the elevator stopped and dinged open. The mares were immediately assaulted by ear pounding music, a laser show, and the rhythmic stomping of hooves to the beat. The club was built like an amphitheater with the dancefloor front and center while the dining areas took up the rest. A giant neon sign facing the elevator spelled out ‘The Slayer Club’. A bar sat opposite the dance floor with the DJ’s booth directly above the dancers. A part of Rainbow Dash yearned to join the throng and lose herself on the dance floor, yet her paranoia made her hunt for bat ponies in the crowd. That proved a difficult task with the shifting colors and the low view from the ground floor the elevator opened up on. They left the elevator and skirted the dance floor searching for a suitable table. While trying to act like she was engaging in meaningless chatter, Rainbow Dash noticed Twilight giving the snow white unicorn DJ a scathing glare. Heh, guess she’s not one for bomping parties. We might have to fix that by the time we return her to Celestia.
A nudge from Fluttershy made Rainbow follow the pegasus’ hoof to a balcony table on the third floor. Rainbow followed the hoof to spot that Rarity and Applejack were already waiting. Great, I’m not even the first one here for my Shadowbolt pitch.
Giving a nod to Fluttershy, Rainbow led them towards the stairs, and they made their way up the balcony. Now that she was closer, Rainbow Dash was a bit surprised to see the table sat directly in the middle of a dragon line, a splinter of the much larger ley line the city used to support the many platforms jutting out from Canterhorn Mountain. Being invisible to most, the ethereal green line came in from the floor at one end of the table and then out towards the ceiling balcony at an unnaturally flat angle. What in the world!? Since when did dragon lines get so horizontal?
“Well, well, you took yer sweet time in gitt’n here,” drawled Applejack with a half grin as she stood up to meet Rainbow Dash and the others. The orange earth pony had chrome hind legs that weren’t exactly top of the line, and hadn't been even when she got them. They were a bit noisy, and her back hooves were heavy on the carpet. The mare also had scars that crisscrossed a good part of her body. Unlike all the others, she had refused to wear any clothing. A snarky yet partially friendly smirk was plastered over the mare’s face. That is, until she realized Twilight was not a waitress that was walking impolitely close to Rainbow and Fluttershy. Her mode instantly shifted to all business, and her smirk evaporated. “Is she a new client?”
Rarity arched an inquisitive eyebrow, but remained silent, waiting for Rainbow’s answer.
“Actually, she’s a new recruit, of a sort.” With the balcony being so small, Rainbow Dash went ahead and claimed the seat closest to the railing. Rich bat ponies loved to show off what they were, and she had to act the part. “Everypony, meet Twiggles, she’s… a mage.”
The answer more or less had the desired effect and it eased Applejack into reclaiming her seat instead of remaining poised for a fight. “Another mage? Sounds fine by me. Ah’ll save some bits and just restock on basic ammo then.”
Twilight Sparkle still had her ears flat against her head, and couldn’t hear any of the conversation, save that there was one. “Any chance I can use a privacy spell?” she asked Rainbow Dash more than the group. “This music’s worse than getting an A minus.”
“I suppose we all have our own priorities,” Rarity said with an interested, friendly smile, at least as much as she could while having to yell to be heard. The snow white mare with the curled purple mane looked immaculate in a sparkling ruby dress, a new one of course. She wore a necklace with a diamond stud that drew eyes away from the datajack implanted in the back of her neck, to the right of her mane. The jack was only visible when Rarity fluffed her mane. “I’ve already swept our little oasis for bugs; we shouldn’t need the music to mask our little talk.”
Twilight Sparkle needed no further prompting, and after claiming a chair, the one closest to the dragon line, she summoned her spell. A transparent purple bubble expanded from her horn and encased the private balcony, silencing the music, with only the noise leaking from the floor remaining. She visibly sagged with relief, completely uncaring about how the others would see her rubbing her ears. “Ah, so much better.”
Fluttershy had produced a small noise canceling robot from the satchel she brought with her, but the spell convinced her to meekly replace it.
Applejack whistled as she looked over the barely perceivable bubble. “Ah’ve never even heard of a pony being able to cast a spell like this all by themselves. Mighty impressive.”
“As is your fee, I’m sure,” Rarity added with a poignant look at Rainbow Dash. “Tell me, dear,” she started while placing a caring hoof between them, just short of touching Rainbow’s own. “Should I be worried…” Rarity caught herself and took another glance at Twilight. “How freely can we talk?”
Rainbow caught Rarity’s eye movement and took a slow breath. “Twiggles is already knows I’m not a bat. No need to hold your tongue around her.”
Rarity looked at Rainbow with astonishment before a thin smile graced her lips. “A new recruit indeed. Very well.” Rarity gave Twilight a brief contemplative look, sizing her up. Her gaze did not linger on the other unicorn. “I must ask, who this new benefactor is? I say this as a friend, but… Nopony throws that much money around without having a leash firmly wrapped around their neck.”
“You didn’t put one on me when you fronted the bits for my house,” Rainbow offered with a thankful expression and a casual wave of a hoof.
Rarity pouted a little at the dismissive, yet appreciative answer. “Forfeiting my business venture to help you should not be considered the norm.” Rarity spared a glance at Rainbow who was trying to look as friendly as possible. “I want to help you, Flash, but I don’t want to get tangled into something that could be way over all of our heads. Especially when a dead mare walks up to my table.”
“Dead what?” Applejack asked, looking at Rarity and following her gaze towards Twilight Sparkle. She squinted at the now sweating purple mare, a glimmer of recognition darting in and out within a second. Purple unicorns were about as common as any other color, yet it was a rotting smell that Applejack was trying to sniff out. The rot was absent, but perfume could cover just about anything if applied correctly. The farmer became very tense as she carefully braced her left hoof over her right foreleg, the muted whine of a charging capacitor filled the air. “Flash, Ah swear if you brought a ghoul over here...” The earth pony was tensing up for a kill as a slim section of her right foreleg popped up two inches with a gun barrel aimed right at Twilight.
“What?! No no no no, I’m not undead!” Twilight internally debated on whether or not powering her horn would be a wise move. She ultimately decided to keep it unlit.
Rainbow started to freak out a bit as her runner’s instinct screamed in alarm that Applejack was about to become very ordnance heavy, despite the fact that Twilight was thankfully keeping her horn unpowered. “Hey, hey, easy, Farmer,” Rainbow chided with a bit of personal insult lingering her tone. “Twiggles is on the up and up, and totally not undead,” Rainbow said through a forced smile. Nice choice of words Diamond, I mean come on!
“I suppose you would be somepony who would ignore the news,” Rarity started with no reaction to her friends’ surging panic. She paused a bit while shifting her sitting posture, never taking her eyes off Twilight. “We have none other than the apparently very not-dead personal student of Princess Celestia gracing our table.”
“Who?” Applejack asked in bewilderment. Rarity’s explanation made Applejack slowly separate her forelegs, and her concealed weapon retracted.
“See?” Rainbow said as she leapt at the opening Rarity had given her. “You really think I’d bring a ghoul anywhere near you of all ponies? Or at all for that matter?”
The question gave Rarity and Applejack both a moment’s pause before Applejack visibly shook her tension off a smidgen. “Ah wanna say no, but you don’t just come up with the kinda dough yer throwing around off a single run. Not unless you hit something you weren’t supposed to, or you got so many strings attached to you Ah might as well call ya Puppet from now on.”
Rainbow got red in the face. “I would die for my friends. I can’t believe you would even think that I would ever do something like that.”
“Flash,” Fluttershy called out while placing a reassuring hoof on her friend’s withers. “Why not just tell them everything that happened after we met with our fixer?”
Rainbow glanced at Fluttershy who offered an encouraging, yet weak smile. She looked over at Twilight, who had stopped sweating quite as much and was busying her chattering teeth with the water glass that Fluttershy had offered from her seat. Finally, she exhaled her ire towards Applejack and sat back down. “It’s a really long story, and that’s part of the reason I wanted us all to meet here. Plus the food’s crazy, and they let me take infinite breadsticks home.”
And that was precisely what Rainbow Dash did. She retold every detail she thought relevant between getting the assassination job, finding Twilight’s cryotank, the escape, all the way until Celestia offered her the position of Captain. Fluttershy wasn’t present for anything after returning home that night, so she couldn’t offer much in the way of verification. By the time Rainbow was done, the five mares had finished everything but dessert.
“—And that’s basically it,” Rainbow ended with a hopeful smile, while trying to mask her apprehension. “You three are the only ones I trust enough to offer actual membership. If ya want it, that is.”
“This legitimate?” Rarity asked incredulously. Her voice was almost quiet with a hope she had long since given up on. “The Princess Celestia is offering us full pardons?”
“Only to those Flash brings in as full Shadowbolts,” Twilight butted in, earning a scowl from Rainbow. Once Applejack and Rarity were clued in on who Twilight was, the purple unicorn was much more at ease, and was able to let Rainbow’s ire roll off of her. “We can still, of course, hire other runners should we need to bolster our numbers, but they must not know of the Princess’s involvement.”
“Our SINs too?” Applejack asked with equal reservation, partially ignoring Twilight interjection. When Rainbow nodded, Applejack averted her eyes as memories struck her. “Ah can’t say the offer ain’t a good one, but what exactly could we do if we all got legit lives again? Even if our crimes are forgiven, we’ve made some enemies along the way, and the real thing keepin’ us from being found easy as pie is not having a SIN.”
Twilight felt the need to answer again before Rainbow could, and cleared her throat. “You’ll have Celestia’s backing during this little venture, for however long it lasts. If Flash thinks your assistance is vital, then I can personally guarantee that any… loose ends you need to tie up can be taken care of. Either by us, or by the application of bits from the treasury. In any case, so long as we do that before the pardons are doled out, you’ll be in the clear as far as both the Princess and the law is concerned.” She tried to fix each of them with a stern glare that only got a reaction out of Rarity before saying, “That being said… I…” Twilight scowled at herself. Being conscious that she had the center of attention, she heaved a sigh. “Nevermind, I forgot what I wanted to say.”
“If ya say so,” Applejack stated with stark disbelief. “But that’s mighty nice a’ the Princess. Ah wouldn’t exactly like it so much if Ah had to justify myself after every run.”
Rarity clattered a fork on her plate to look as if she did it accidentally, but still took advantage of the group’s attention on her. “As lovely as these perks sound, I have no desire to become a soldier, and this whole Shadowbolt thing sounds very militaristic.”
“Psh, do you honestly think I could just boss the three of you around like some drill sergeant?” Rainbow asked with plenty of mirth. “Nah, I’d run the crew just like any other team.” Rainbow clicked her tongue. “But you and I both know what you’re real problem is: you think I’m too inexperienced to be a run leader.”
Rarity gave a polite nod with a thin smile. “I’m glad we understand each other. You’re a good runner, Flash, especially for somepony who’s only been in it for a year. But, I don’t feel comfortable with this whole Captain business when Farmer and I have far more years under us than you.” Rarity’s eyes drifted over to Twilight, and suppressed a frown as she imagined Princess Celestia’s phantom standing behind Twilight and sternly judging Rarity. She took a moment to think by sipping from her wine glass. The fact that it was real wine did much to settle her nerves. “Still, if being under an inexperienced team leader is the price I must pay for returning to an honest living, then - then I can agree to the Princess’s terms.”
Rainbow Dash let off a heavy sigh of pent-up anxiety. “You won’t regret it. Angel’s alright, but we really need your decking skills if we’re going after something at alicorn-level threats.”
The yellow pegasus absently stroked her mane over one eye. “I’d rather focus on my little friends anyway.”
“How about it, Farmer?” Rainbow asked with renewed enthusiasm. A massive grin creased one side of her face.
Some part of Applejack knew Rarity’s comment about an honest life was directed at her, making the farm pony frown and reconsider her options. “Money’s always tight, especially since Ah’m the only one in mah family who’s runnin’. The crown’s never done me any favors, but if Ah can get a heap a’ money to get back on mah hooves when all this business is done, then Ah’ll throw mah hat in too.”
Rainbow Dash grinned manically and started hovering above the table. “Awesome! You guys won’t regret it! How about a round on me?” Rainbow waved her hoof on the side of the table, causing her section to light up with a menu. When the other mares gave various means of approval, Rainbow ordered up the drinks.
Some idle chatter broke out, as none of the runners wanted the coming waiter to overhear anything. Twilight Sparkle fell quiet during it all, content to observe her new peers.
After the drinks arrived, Rarity pulled out a small, personal holoprojector. “Since we are all on the same page, we should see what’s in store for us, yes? I’ve been hanging on this rather fascinating scan code from our… benefactor.” Rarity was about to activate the display when she hesitated and cast a brief glance at the privacy screen Twilight had put in place. “Twiggles, dear, can ponies see us through this bubble of yours?”
“As far as anypony outside is concerned, we’re just a group of friends eating desserts at the moment. We could be performing a scene from Lease and outsiders would be none the wiser.”
The prospect of perfect privacy got Fluttershy’s attention in a heartbeat. “Really?” She stepped away from the table, keeping her eyes on her friends. As soon as Fluttershy left the balcony, the sight of her friends watching her shifted, like two pictures merging to match each other. Now she saw the other mares sharing drinks and hushed gossip. The false Rainbow Dash looked like she was a regular hen on the rumor fence with the devilish grin as Rarity whispered in her ear. “Oh my, wouldn’t that be the day,” the yellow robot-rigger giggled happily.
Fluttershy returned to her awaiting friends. Twilight was purposely looking away, blushing from embarrassment. “This is amazing. I bet you got a lot of use out of this in the palace.”
Twilight bashfully scraped the table with an idle hoof. “It’s nothing special.”
“Nothing special is right,” Rainbow scoffed indignantly, upon seeing the teasing smirk from Applejack. “This stuff wouldn’t be that hard if I actually bothered to learn it.”
“Why haven’t you though?” Twilight asked with a mixture of genuine curiosity and a bit of disappointment. “This kind of spell is perfect for the Nightborne.”
“I’m not Nightborne anymore, in case you forgot,” Rainbow growled spitefully as her eyes drifted up and to the right in the general direction of the royal district. “Just a thestral now.”
“You know what I meant,” Twilight rebuked with a huff. “It stands to reason your modus operandi mirrors that organization. So why-”
“Gaps in one’s spellbook aside,” Rarity interjected before Rainbow could become even more defensively hostile. “I was trying to crack the encryption on this…” Rarity tapped the projector, which brought up a golf ball sized digitized sphere. The surface danced with gold, silver, and amethyst lines, floating numbers, and irregular squares that even an untrained eye could identify as a scan code. “This is an encryption method I’ve never seen before,” Rarity fawned over its complexity, something the other mares couldn’t disagree with. “It’s vaguely like a Minitel type encryption key, but brought into a whole new level by introducing color sequences and seemingly random hexadecimal integers based on shifting positions. It teases me with promise.”
“It’s beautiful,” Fluttershy cooed, her mildly trained eyes fixated on it.
“It’s also dangerous,” Twilight warned with a nervous look at Rarity. “You didn’t try to decrypt it on your own did you?”
A disgruntled scowl briefly marred Rarity’s face. “Curiosity kills more than cats, I suppose. I lost my best deck trying to take a peek. The whole thing would have fried my brain if I hadn’t been operating behind a dummy barrier. Not even black Intrusion Countermeasures hit me that fast. The best I’ve been able to do is look at it.”
“Then you were lucky.” Twilight closed her eyes and centered herself. “Anything beyond than the very act of projecting the encrypted message, be it on a screen or even in the Matrix, will cause… almost certain death to any unauthorized access attempt. Luckily, I have a way of unlocking it.”
“Ah would hope so, since the Princess expected you ta be with us,” Applejack stated with the barest hint of sarcasm.
As when Celestia pulled the gold and silver shade out from Twilight, the student now separated that same part of herself from her left foreleg. The ethereal leg was mostly a brilliant gold with veins of muted silver saturating anything the gold did not cover. The limb it belonged to went limp and lifeless.
Having not witnessed the act before, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack were struck speechless by the act. None of them could say a word as Twilight’s spirit hoof made contact with the hologram. The purple lines in the display vanished, and while Twilight returned her spirit fully back into her leg, the hologram warped and shifted into a thin line that flickered as Celestia’s recording began.
“I hope this message is being received without any fatalities.” The Princess seemed unapologetic, yet Rainbow Dash had listened to enough speeches to pick up on a note of fearful concern. “I trust ponies in your line of work understand the need for security.” Rarity ground her teeth to keep from showing any other signs of irritation. “I have a small team of trusted agents shadowing that mafia assassin of yours, but I must insist on you performing an assignment for me first. Included in this recording are details of Royal Clover Research Laboratory. You are to recover an artifact of mine that was under study.”
Clover Laboratory was smack dab in the middle of the Celestial Technology Park, on the outskirts of Manehattan’s suburbs. It was an extremely affluent area, with the direct backing of the crown fueling its rise to prominence a few decades ago. However, the topics of research, geology, astronomy, and various other similar sciences drew little attention from prying eyes.
With the Shadowbolts’ equipment being mostly illegal, they had to charter a ‘private’ aircraft to take them there. Currently, they were leaving their rented car behind, a few streets away from the motel they were using as a safehouse.
At nightfall, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Applejack ducked into the well-manicured shrubs. A tall marble wall was all that stood between them and the rest of the technology park.
“I reviewed the security of the facility just last month as it so happens, so I know of a spot along the walls where the pressure and motion sensors have failed. Perhaps your intrusion will better motivate the security director to give me more than lip service on his willingness to update the protection.”
Rainbow Dash was back in her robes, but presently had her wings free for flight. Rarity wore a tight fitting black suit with a functional, yet classy, tactical vest that had been personalized with flowing, aggressive, muted colors. She had a transparent visor covering her eyes with her pearl and purple colored cyberdeck hanging tightly across her back. Lastly, she had a unicorn-adapted pistol nestled in a holster. The weapon came with a sizable cylindrical attachment on the grip that allowed the wielder’s telekinesis to bleed the kickback of firing in exchange for taxing the user’s mana. The crystal made firing it without magic entirely impractical.
Applejack was easily the heaviest of the group, decked out in ballistic armor that covered everything except her chromed legs. Her armor allowed her to carry an arsenal’s worth of spare ammunition for not only her own assault rifle, but for Rarity as well. Applejack’s weapon, as with most pony firearms, was designed to wrap around the foreleg for stability with a large trigger shielded within a semi sphere-shaped guard. No pony firearms had been created for mouth use in centuries; the kickback had long since proved far too dangerous.
Finally, Twilight Sparkle had opted for the lightest kit, a form-fitting black jumpsuit that covered everything but her mouth and eyes; her only weapon being her horn. She did, however, possess a knapsack to carry the object they were after.
Being the quietest, Rainbow Dash tensed to fly up, yet waited for the signal from Fluttershy. She spotted a single parasprite bot fly over the wall, with its master’s voice crackling over the earpiece in the rest of the team’s ears. ~”Just like the Queen said, there’s no power going to the sensors up here.”~
“Government efficiency at its best,” Applejack jeered as she chewed on some gum.
~“There are two rent-a-cops are watching this section, but they look bored and aren’t watching the tops of the wall. I can take one out easily enough, but the noise would alert the other.”~
“Then I’ve got the closer one.” Rainbow Dash answered back. She slid her goggles on, giving her the same video feed the parasprite was giving Fluttershy. Once she locked her target’s location, a red line imposed itself on Rainbow’s goggles. “Diamond, got the time?”
Without looking away from the street-side guard post half a mile away, Rarity made a slight grin from the thrill. “Ten seconds to midnight.”
As the clock ticked away, Rainbow Dash waited with sweat starting to sting her eyes under the goggles. The red light moved subtly as the guard shifted back and forth. The world outside of listening to the two guards became muted and grey. This has to work in one go or we’re hosed. In the corner of her eye, Rainbow spotted one of Fluttershy’s larger flying drones, a bat-like creation that glided down to the edge of the wall before sitting motionless.
As the clock struck midnight, the crew waited until a radio crackled to life on each guard’s right foreleg. ~“This is Central Dispatch. Please send all clear codes.”~ The speaker was bored, only making the barest effort to hide a yawn.
Rainbow Dash listened in as each code was spoken aloud and waited for the radio to go silent. The moment the camera feed showed the guards’ hooves fall away from the radios, she bolted. With an almost silent flying leap, Rainbow vaulted the wall, and followed the red line straight at the nearest guard. At the same time, the bat-like robot flew over the wall alongside Rainbow and went after the other guard.
Rainbow crashed hard on her target, and slammed his face against the cobblestone pathway just hard enough to stun him. By the time she roped a hoof around his neck to lock him into a sleeper hold, Fluttershy’s bot reached the second guard who was reacting to the commotion. He didn’t even get a chance to activate his radio before the robot tasered him into unconsciousness.
Without even waiting for Rainbow’s grapple to finish off the guard, Applejack used her chromed hindlegs to vault on top of the wall, trailing a rope behind her. Rarity had fastened the other end around her barrel and legs, so that once Applejack had enough leverage, she yanked Rarity up to the top of the wall then lowered her back down on the other side. With practiced ease, Rarity used her magic to undo the knot so Applejack could swing the rope back over again so Twilight could repeat the maneuver. The rookie had spent a good two hours on the way over just practicing tying the knot as quickly as possible. Her efforts paid off and she was ready to be pulled up within seconds.
Rainbow’s target was out like a light by the time her two friends, and one recruit, reached her. Applejack and Rainbow started dragging the guards to a little alcove covered in deep shadow by a tree.
Twilight’s ears wilted at the act of harming a loyal guard, even if they were underpaid rent-a-cops. However, she forced herself to bear a stiff upper lip and took to cover to keep watch for astral threats Fluttershy’s drones had no hope in spotting.
“One thing I want to make absolutely clear on this assignment is that I want no fatalities or life-long injuries to anypony at the facility. This conspiracy may run deeper than I hope, but for now, I am operating on an innocent until proven guilty stance. Should you run into any unauthorized ponies at the park, however, you may act as you see fit.”
Once they were in place, Rarity pulled out two syringes from her kit and injected sedatives in the guards. “There, that should keep them out of it until morning.”
The quiet whirl of propellers momentarily drew Rainbow’s gaze to the four parasprites Fluttershy had brought. With the pegasus safe in a rented car off-site, hiding in a trunk to avoid suspicion, Rainbow felt relief in not having to worry for her. Good thing the park is wider than it is tall. Flutters should get a clear control signal all over the place.
~“The coast is clear, if the patrol cars are as sparse as Queen says they are, we can get halfway to Clover without seeing a single headlight.”~
Rainbow Dash did her best to recall the layout of the park from the short time she had to memorize it on the flight over. ~“Roger that.”~ She looked around and spotted the name of the building they were at on a placard nearby. She crept over to Applejack and Rarity who were sticking to cover. “We gotta keep it low and quiet. The less cylons we run into, the better.”
Twilight’s face twitched at the bad grammar, but said nothing.
“Ah ain’t exactly built for quiet,” Applejack warned with a tense but uncombative face. “Them fancy quiet shoes a’ yours aren’t exactly cheap. Even with the money you gave, Ah still won’t be able to afford them any time soon.” She tapped the cobblestone path with a rear hoof. Even with light movements, the metal legs made a distinct racket against the team’s quiet-attuned hearing. “So uh - ya better scout ahead of me each step of the way.”
Rainbow Dash took a moment to think before nodding. “Okay, I can do that.” She looked to Twilight. “You said you know a spell to quiet hoofsteps though, didn’t you?”
Twilight started to sweat a bit, and was glancing around, yet didn’t see what she was looking for. “It was meant for organic hooves, I don’t know how effective it is with cybernetics.”
Why would that matter? Noise is noise. Fearing she didn’t have time to press her question, Rainbow Dash saw a similar quizzical look from Rarity, but Applejack seemed satisfied with the excuse. “Sure, whatever, okay. Follow my lead, and try to stay on the grass any chance you get.”
With a round of nods, Rainbow Dash took one last look around to the path ahead. Unlike Canterlot’s dense urban sprawl, the Celestial Park was very open with buildings separated by well-maintained lawns and countless marble statues. Each one depicted scientists throughout the modern day and history, each responsible for great breakthroughs or pivotal studies. I wonder if Shining Light’s statue is here somewhere. I need to give a bit of tribute to the grandfather of my tribe if I have a chance. Rainbow had to forcefully ignore the statues to focus on the patrols. Not every laboratory handled sensitive research, so overwatch security was sparse. Okay, three cars, five cops on hoof, and three drones. One thing she was glad to see were no enlisted elemental spirits on patrol. Celestia mentioned a shaman was on payroll, so I still need to keep an eye out.
Rainbow Dash crept along her soft rubber shoes as quiet as a whisper through the darkened fields.
“Since there is so much open ground at the park, I’ve decided to give another helping hoof. I’ll be informing the weather teams to make it heavy overcast tomorrow night, ahead of schedule. One thing I was disappointed with was the lack of night vision equipment there. Due to the nature of the artifact, it would draw too much attention if I personally pressed the need for tighter security without an incident to set precedence. Give me that precedence.”
Rainbow slunk along the length of the first building, and when she saw it was clear, she waved the others forward. This whole operation feels like a field training exercise. Celestia is making this too easy. Ah well, easy bits are easy bits. Rainbow crept across streets and tree filled fields, each time stopping and waving the crew forward when security wasn’t looking.
As she went along, cover to cover, bush to tree, Rainbow’s bravado nearly got the better of her when she saw three unicorn security guards standing and talking right in the path she wanted to take. Rainbow skidded to a stop close to a fountain. The running water would mask some of Applejack’s hoofsteps as the rest of the mares caught up with her. Fluttershy’s two robots flew high enough to be ignored by the guards and pressed on to Clover. Luckily, the fountain was one of the few that did not have any display lights at this hour, allowing them good concealment from the distracted ponies several meters further along. Yet it was not the guards alone that was starting to worry Rainbow. “Twiggles, can you see any elementals? Even if a place this big has only one shaman on payroll, there should be at least a few windies around. Yet all I’m getting are echoes of their passing.”
Twilight was sweating profusely despite the cool air. Her ears were pressed flat against her skull, and her eyes darted back and forth like pinballs. Rarity tactfully nudged the panicky mare, and had the wits to magically clamp Twilight’s mouth shut before she could scream. Muffled cries of fear tried desperately to escape Twilight’s shut jaw, prompting Rarity to speak to her in a dignified, assertive tone. “Twiggles, if you could be so kind as to calm down. You keep this up and you’re liable to summon the security director himself down on top of us.” Rarity produced a white pill in her magic. “I insist.”
Slowly regaining her wits, Twilight thought about it, yet when Rainbow offered no objections, she nodded at Rarity and claimed the pill in her magic. “S-s-sorry,” she whispered with a shiver. “I’m just a student. I’m not cut out for this life.” Taking a globe of water from the fountain, Twilight took the pill.
“Ah wasn’t either,” Applejack said with friendly concern. “Ah think mah street name should make it obvious what Ah’d rather be doin’.”
“We can talk about it later,” Rainbow warned with some frenzy creeping into her voice. “But we have to keep moving, and I need that answer, Twiggles.”
“What? Oh, right, the elementals.” Twilight shook her head to try and clear it and scanned their surroundings. The pill was already having an effect, and her panic was ebbing to give her analytical mind take center stage. She could see Clover Laboratory off in the distance with a sparse parking lot and multiple short ornamental marble walls and shrubs between them. Yet not one elemental was in sight. “I don’t see any, but that shouldn’t be too surprising. Celestial Park has a large elemental study division. Since it’s impossible to control an elemental for too long, the local population is probably poached daily for study and experimentation. I came here last year to deliver my dissertation on ley line fraying theory,” she added with distinct pride.
“How old are you again?” Rarity asked with marked confusion.
“I’ll be nineteen next month. Why?”
“You wrote a dissertation at eighteen?!”
Rainbow dragged a hoof across her face. “By the Moon, could you two focus?!” she hissed quietly while waving a hoof at the guards still standing on the far side of the fountain. “I thought I was the rookie here… if you ignore Twiggles.”
“My apologies,” Rarity replied with embarrassment reddening her cheeks. “You can’t help a decker for being inquisitive. You’d be surprised how much some dirt on Miss Student was worth before her little… spat at the embassy.”
“You were trying to get dirt on me?” Twilight asked with abject shock. Emotional pain tinting her voice. “What did I ever do to you?! Or anypony outside those morally bankrupt money babies? Is it really so difficult to believe I just want to be a scientist?!”
“It’s not my fault you high and noble ponies do disgusting things behind closed doors,” Rarity bit back with a scowl. “Maybe if ponies like you acted in accordance to Harmony, you’d have nothing to fear from snoopers like me.”
“I’ve got nothing to hide!” Twilight seethed with fire in her eyes. “But that doesn’t stop you snoopers from fabricating dirt!”
Rainbow Dash shoved her hooves into both mares’ mouths. “Are you idiots trying to get the cylons’ attention?! Drop it, now!”
Rainbow gave Twilight and Rarity a scathing glare long enough to see Twilight quiet down and Rarity to roll her eyes unapologetically. “We can deal with the drama later, right now we need to focus!” Leaving it at that, Rainbow waved at them to continue moving. “Come on, the cylons’ buggered off.” The west side of Clover Laboratory was within reach, and it only took the crew a few minutes to arrive at the back door safely. As soon as the other mares caught up to Rainbow Dash, the thestral pointed a wing at the key panel. “Diamond, you’re up.”
Rainbow Dash let Rarity and Applejack slip past her in order to focus on Twilight. The unicorn bore a clenched angry scowl at Rarity before having the presence of mind to turn around to watch for threats. Rainbow wanted to approach her about the issue, but Rarity cut her off.
“We’re in. Queen’s decryption algorithm worked like a charm.” Rarity pushed the door open a bit to allow Rainbow Dash to scout ahead. Fluttershy’s drones propped themselves on the roof overlooking the exit.
Swallowing her unease, Rainbow slipped on through. Clover Labs did not have a back entrance per se, but more of a two-sided lobby. It was a two-story, sterile chamber with an elegant receptionist desk backed by the stairs leading up to the open walkways of the second floor. White with sporadic grey colored everything as there was a complete lack of any potted plants or artwork.
Rainbow crept along slower than she would have liked. However, the appearance of dancing orange light from further down the central curving hallway forced her to hesitate, and her mood soured in a hurry. That looks like a fire, yet there’s no alarm or smoke. That means a summoned elemental. And just when I thought Celestia was being generous with the information.
Rainbow Dash stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the light source was headed towards her, and turned to the crew. “We got a code 2319! Twiggles, you’re with me!”
Rarity and Applejack slipped in, guns drawn and took up flanking positions around Rainbow. Twilight came in right behind them and slid in behind the thestral who was camped out in front of the receptionist desk. “So this is where the elementals have been hiding. This won’t be easy if the shaman is competent. He’s probably had ages to set up proper geometric stabilizing points across the whole building.”
Rainbow Dash’s gaze flickered towards the unicorn with an approving hum. “I was worried I’d have to go through the code book later with you. You’re a quick study.”
“I get that a lot,” Twilight replied back with only token good humor. There was little of the fear she had expressed earlier, which had been replaced by a pensive, calculating frown at the approaching light.
I guess she’s not so squeamish about banishing spirits, or that pill works better than I thought. Fine by me either way. With the hallway becoming much brighter now, enough so that it was starting to reduce Rainbow’s night vision, she covered her forelegs with her robes while signing a spellbolt. “Do I have to tell you, you can’t kill these things? Only banish them?” she whispered now, not wanting to fight the thing if she didn’t have to.
“Of course,” Twilight replied almost insulted. “Bullets are minimally effective unless properly enchanted. The multidimensional nature of spells are able to inflict pain, thus are able to convince elementals to-”
“Yeah, yeah, I didn't ask for a thesis, Egghead.” Rainbow’s robes ruffled gently as she had to make the signs entirely by feel and memory alone, while also using the fabric to hide the spell-light. “I gotta admit, it’s nice having a second mage around. I’m going to stun it, assuming it isn’t an earth elemental, while you hurt it enough to banish it. We gold?”
Twilight bit her lower lip, her jaw starting to tremble a bit. “Any chance you can be the one to use spellfire? I uhh, I can only blind it or bash it with something.”
Rainbow Dash held the stunspell in her hooves, still hidden by the robe, and gave Twilight an impatient scowl. “What are you talking about? You were personally trained by the Queen weren’t you? Make with the sparkles already.”
“I—” Twilight’s face went beet red. “I can’t cast very much without the help of a dragon line. All I can do right now is light and TK. That’s all.”
Rainbow’s concentration on her spell broke, and it fizzled in her hooves. “Are you drekking me? I’m all for a good prank, but now’s not the time, Twiggles.”
“It’s genetic, okay?!” Twilight hissed back. The light from the elemental was fully illuminating the lobby, but the two mages were still hiding behind the desk and couldn’t see it directly. “If you can find me a dragon line, I can banish it.”
Rainbow was getting so pissed her temple started throbbing. “I am about to beat your ass! What about that ritual you used to summon Queen?”
Twilight started to feel the heat of the elemental as it lazily drew closer. “Why do you think I needed a sunstone? How many summon spells do you know requires a stone as a focus?”
Rainbow grabbed Twilight by the collar with near-panic in her voice. “You tell me this now?! What is wrong with you, do you want to get your tail burned off?”
“It’s super embarrassing, okay?!” Twilight hissed back with defensive frustration. “Would you go advertising that you could only fly on a full moon or something?”
“If I was going on a run then yes!” Rainbow growled. It was a lie of course, and even Twilight frowned in disbelief, but Rainbow had a point to make. “If you can’t do something basic in a fight, I wanna know about it!”
The sound and smell of burning coals broke them from the hushed argument and they looked over to the opposite wall to see the fire elemental’s light was patrolling down the side hall. It was only then that Rainbow Dash thought to check on her friends. Rarity had ducked behind a pillar while Applejack was behind a wide circular couch. Yet both mares were peeking out from cover and had slack-jawed expressions. Growing concerned, Rainbow Dash slowly pushed Twilight out of the way to see could round the desk to take a look for herself. While the thing was indeed a fire elemental, it was not in the normal shape of a pony or a formless flame. Instead it looked like a piñata, complete with a string that hung it from midair. Being so close, Rainbow and Twilight could hear lighthearted giggling coming from the burning piñata. Small, burning pieces of candy fell out with each giggle, only to turn to ash before going too far.
That is the most demented thing I’ve ever seen. Rainbow shivered and once she was sure the elemental was continuing down the short path to the wall, she frantically tried to think of what to do. It wouldn’t take it very long to reach the end and turn back around. We took too long getting here, and even if we had the time to sneak around, AJ’s too noisy to get past this thing since all the floors are hard tiles. That does it, I don’t care what AJ has to say, everypony’s wearing soft shoes from here on out. She can buy new shoes after every run if she has to.
We might be able to banish it, but… “Fine, ahhh… new plan!” Rainbow had to keep the stutter of uncertainty out of her voice. “Twiggles, you can at least levitate somepony right? Say… Farmer and Diamond by chance?”
Twilight glanced at the mares in question. Applejack had her assault rifle held in one foreleg, but stayed on three legs if she needed to run. Rarity was unmoving, save to keep the pillar between herself and the elemental. She was keeping her pistol in its holster, her horn dark. “I could all day long if needed, but not without their consent. Where am I levitating them to, exactly?”
“Just throw them down the hall. If we have to fight this thing or any of its buddies, we need to do it away from the lobbies, or somepony outside could see the gun and spellfire.” Rainbow clicked her radio and gave curt instructions to the others.
Twilight shivered a bit. “If I had a week I couldn’t list how many reasons this is a stupid idea, but I’ve got time for one at least. That elemental could turn around when it senses me using magic. You do know fire elementals can sense unicorn magic, right?”
“I paid attention to my training, thank you very much,” Rainbow bit back defensively. “Because as a matter of fact, I’m counting on it.”
“You runners are insane, you know that?” Twilight’s horn lit up and she built her magic up, and tried to latch onto the other mares. Her magic washed around them like soapy water. Even unskilled in intermediate magic, Rarity instinctively pushed back at Twilight’s magic, while Applejack’s innate power kept her fixed on the ground. Yet as Rainbow got her point across over the radio, they slowly relented enough for Twilight’s telekinesis to take hold. Applejack was the first to be lifted in the air and all but thrown down the hall, Twilight’s control kept the mare upright until she let go as the earth pony sailed past the receptionist desk. Rarity went flying after her, muffling her wails of fear behind her hooves.
Once she saw Twilight finally obeying, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and made two sets of signs. When the first sign was complete, a wide circle with four points for her legs and two more representing her wings, Rainbow could feel magic filling her bones and muscles. Her second sign, a single circle with jagged lines in the center caused her hooves to faintly glow through her black shoes with magefire. No witnesses. Now I get to fight my way.
The fire elemental paused the instant Twilight powered her horn, and abruptly turned around just in time to see Applejack flying down the hallway from which it had come from. It shrieked an unequine cry as Rarity went flying after the earth pony. In a blind rage, the burning piñata raced after Rarity and Applejack. When it rounded the bend, it saw the two mares were sprinting deeper into the laboratory.
The piñata launched a fireball that careened past Rarity, singing her mane, but thankfully traveled a good ways further down the hallway. The resulting explosion destroyed a security camera before it could see the two shadowrunners and scorched a good chunk of the drywall. As the intruders fled, the elemental went after them. Yet it only got a few meters away when it heard the barest of rapid hoofsteps behind it. It turned around to see a hoof smash its face. The floating elemental was sent spinning, only for a second strike to hit it on the counterspin.
Rainbow Dash hissed in mild pain and waggled her left foreleg to try and shake away the heat from touching the elemental. “Drek that smarts.”
~“Back off, Flash, let me get that varmint’s attention off ya.”~
Needing no further prompting, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and pulled away from the elemental right as the piñata lashed out by breathing fire in all directions, aimless in its surprised fury. Unlike the elemental itself the flames clung to the floor and walls like sticky tar, burning away at the paint and tiles. The burning coals it had for eyes fixated on Rainbow Dash, only for its head to be violently jerked away. It turned its attention on Applejack, who was standing upright. Her armor had extended two long prods from her chest, giving her the balance needed to stand up and hold the rifle with both forelegs.
“That’s right, look at me ya pissed off bonfire!” Applejack jeered as she fired off two bursts. The impacts jerked the piñata around, but did no real harm to the elemental. However, it’s violent efforts caused the sprinklers to activate, dousing it in freezing water.
Rainbow jumped in after the second burst and slammed her left hoof against the elemental, caving its chest in. Panic gripped Rainbow Dash the instant her hoof sank into the elemental’s burning body. Her hoof and lower leg were getting flash cooked, causing searing pain to lance through her body. The elemental writhed in pain and exploded in a shower of embers as it broke its ties to the shaman that had summoned it and returned home.
Rainbow Dash cried out in agony, cradling her foreleg. Her team raced over to her, with Twilight getting there first. “H-hold still, you’re going to make things worse.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Rainbow growled through the pain as tears reddened her eyes. Despite her snapping at Twilight, the unicorn helped Rainbow limp out from under the sprinklers. With a drain nearby, it didn’t take them long to reach dry land.
Rarity skidded to a halt and rifled through Rainbow’s robes with her magic and located one of her three healing potions. She twisted the top off and thrust it in Rainbow’s mouth, who chugged it greedily. “Keep still, I need to get that boot off you.”
Applejack pressed herself against a wall, and watched the outside to see if the fireworks had been noticed. “Twiggles, watch our back, there could be more of them.”
“R-right.” Twilight pulled away from Rainbow to watch for threats.
“With any luck, the shaman will blame the fire on the elemental getting out of control.” Applejack kept glancing back and forth between the lobby and Rainbow. “So what possessed you with the idea that kicking a fire elemental was a smart idea? Ain’t the purpose of a mage ta do annathing but kick stuff?”
“It wasn’t my original plan.” Rainbow grunted from behind clenched teeth as Rarity used a knife to cut the slightly melted boot off Rainbow’s leg.
“Iffin yer magic ain’t sparkly enough to bring it down, why didn’t ya make Twiggles do anything other than toss us around?” Applejack pressed with a mixture of derisive mirth and irritation.
Rainbow’s harsh glare zeroed in on Twilight. “What a good question. Care to explain, Twiggles?”
Twilight started sweating profusely as all attention narrowed in on her, yet a small angry glance at Rainbow spoke of her frustration. “I - ahh - I just,”
Twilight didn’t get far before an angry, bubbly voice crackled over the intercom. “Hey! Come on, Ashy Pants, did you really have to blow up one of my cameras and start a fire?! Do you know how much paperwork I have to do now? You’re not getting any more cookies for a month!”
Rarity shushed the others behind a hoof. “That must be the shaman Queen warned us about. She sounds about as unhinged as I expected.”
“She thinks one of the elementals did that on its own?” Rainbow squeezed her eyes shut as Rarity’s knife started to work its way into the partially burnt sock. “Well, how about you just ignore us, let us do our thing, and you can go on and eat all the doughnuts you want.” Rainbow wasn’t expecting an answer, but it was a nice distraction from the pain.
“Well, Darling, if she’s the shaman who managed to summon a piñata... elemental, she’s probably a few threads short of a spool.”
“The rest of you better not damage anything or you’re not getting any cake!” The voice called out irritably.
Rarity got the boot off to find the fur around Rainbow’s hoof had been charred, and the skin underneath was bright pink and starting to swell. The hoof itself had pockets of embedded burned plastic and other synthetic material that melted, but didn’t burn. “I don’t need to tell you elemental fire can always burn beneath the skin. Even with a potion, I wouldn’t walk on this hoof for at least a week or so. Not to mention I’m afraid you need some burn aloe too. This could scar or worse.”
Rainbow’s first instinct was to dismiss the need for any aloe, but her mind drifted to her husband’s damaged and scarred body and her fear spiked. “This is a lab, yeah? They’ve got to have something to fix this in a first aid station.”
“Not a bad call,” Applejack commented grimly, arching an eyebrow at Rainbow’s surprising outburst. “Ah say Twiggles should be the one carrying medic gear if we’re keepin’ her around.”
“I’m not a medically trained professional though.” Twilight bit her lower lip out of fear. Paranoia was making her jumpy. “Can we please keep moving? I really don’t think we can handle another one of those things.”
With Rarity’s help, Rainbow got back to her hooves, keeping her burnt hoof close to her chest. “Diamond, what’s our time look like?”
Rarity already had the timer running in the corner of her visor. “We’re at the twenty seven minute mark.”
“Okay, here’s the plan. We find the infirmary, fix my burns, and take everything we can carry. After that, we find the stone. If Queen got us the right map, the infirmary should be over there.” With a wing, Rainbow pointed at a door just beyond the smoldering, ruined camera further down the hall. “The stone’s on the fourth floor. I want that stone before minute fifty. Got it?”
“Ain’t no need for all of us to go get the medicine,” Applejack countered while putting her rifle on her back so she could stand on all fours. “Twiggles and Ah should scout ahead. Maybe find a security terminal to shut down any defenses between us and the stone. Ain’t no way a shaman and her elementals are going to be the only things we need ta worry about.”
“A sound idea,” Rarity replied with an approving nod. She beckoned Twilight with a head jerk. “Come along, Flash, let’s find a bandage or two for. We might even find a terminal I can use in there, yes?”
Rainbow Dash inwardly grumbled at the others not even asking her for approval before running off. Winter wouldn’t have put up with that. The throbbing pain in Rainbow’s leg and the ticking clock dissuaded her from reasserting her command. By the time she worked up the right words to do so anyway, Applejack was already dragging Twilight down the hall. The purple unicorn gave Rainbow a troubled look, but ultimately followed after the earth pony.
Wanting to reassert herself in Rarity’s eyes at least, Rainbow ambled her way into a low hover. “Come on, Diamond. The faster we get the one-hoof discounted healthcare, the better.”
“Certainly,” Rarity agreed as she started walking towards the infirmary indicated on Celestia’s detailed floor plan. “I get the feeling Queen’s generous signing bonus was far more than she’ll pay us after this.”
Rainbow cradled her burned leg as she followed after her friend. Her ears rotated back and forth, listening for the sound of any threats. “Yeah, she wanted me to clear my debts so I don’t have so many leashes around my neck.” Rainbow made sure to meet Rarity’s eyes when the unicorn turned to give her a measuring look.
“I suppose trading several for a single one has its merits.”
The station was not far, but it did have a keypad lock that Rarity quickly went to work on by pulling her cyberdeck off her back. She had numerous scripts that could compromise hundreds of keypad models; it was only a matter of finding the right one.
Sensing no present threats, Rainbow Dash cast a final glance at Applejack and Twilight as the pair crept their way to the stairwell at the far end of the hallway. The thestral had to press her good hoof into her mouth to keep from laughing. Twilight was levitating Applejack the whole way so her heavy hoof-falls wouldn’t make so much noise. Damn I wish I had something on me to take pictures of that.
Some of Rainbow’s cackling still leaked through though, drawing Rarity’s attention first to Rainbow, then to Applejack. She stared, mouth agape. “My word, I never thought I’d see the day Farmer let a unicorn carry her around like a doll.”
“Oh, I’m never going to let her live this down,” Rainbow madly snickered. Her good humor died when she felt a gust of wind from the lobby they had come from. She whirled around to see an air elemental, this one in the shape of a bouquet of balloons. It was floating down from the upper floors with eyes on the seven balloons twitching like a bird as it sniffed the air.
“Diamond, any chance that door is open yet?” Rainbow asked with panic gripping her heart. “Because we got more derailed elementals.”
A loud clicking lock was Rarity’s answer. Both mares shoved themselves through the door as quietly as possible. Even with only a single fluorescent light keeping them from being cast into complete darkness, the mares could see the infirmary was long enough to accommodate five patient tables and a walk-in medicine closet. Rarity trotted forward, eyes fixed on the closet. “Keep an eye out. It shouldn’t take long to find something useful.”
“Got it.” Rainbow Dash kept her eyes peeled through the door window. There was a tell-tale ghostly wind-chime at the air elemental’s passing as it closed in on the infirmary’s door. What really set her on edge though, were the muffled twin beeps from door locks that opened as the elemental passed by other rooms. Rainbow sweated profusely, racking her brain trying to think of the right sign to use. Was it Steelwing’s Lance or Cutter that worked on windies?
She tried making the lance sign, but the motions made her left foreleg twitch and ruin the magic. Not good, nooot good! She tried again, and formed the sign correctly, but the building magic in her left hoof shot a sharp pain up her entire leg, making her almost cry out until she cut the empowering spell off.
The infirmary’s lock chirped, making Rainbow Dash roll away from the door, yet she had no cover close by to hide behind. Faint, airy laughter leaked through the door, but eventually it moved on, and the lock clicked again. Rainbow still waited a good ten seconds before exhaling. Rut, that was close.
Not wanting the sound of her flying to give the elemental an excuse to return, Rainbow shambled on three legs to reach Rarity. The unicorn was in the open closet. Her magic wrapped around several bottles and sealed bandages as she read the labels thanks to her goggles. By the time Rainbow reached her, Rarity had pocketed a sizable collection of bottles and levitated a dozen more towards Rainbow after the decker noticed her approach. “Here, these are quite the premium medicines. I also have your aloe.”
Rainbow sat on the floor and used a wing to pull her robe open so Rarity could deposit the medicine in the inner pockets, then offered her burnt hoof. “If nothing else, the pills should net us some bits.”
Rarity expertly unpackaged the aloe along with some gauze. “I was thinking we should keep them for ourselves if we stay in Queen’s employ. We’re going to need it.”
Rainbow sighed in relief the instant the aloe was administered. Rarity’s magic spread it evenly over the foreleg. She couldn’t help but to be even more grateful when Rarity made it a point to unruffle the leg’s fur so it would be more comfortable with the clingy fluid. “I’m really glad you stuck with me, even with all the money I’ve borrowed.”
A half smile crept onto Rarity’s face as she carefully put the gauze on. “I may not live in the slums, but even I am surrounded by filth. So when I saw an honorable couple’s plight, I knew you were worth helping.” A moment of silence passed. “I must say though. I’m surprised you are afraid of being physically scarred.” Rarity nearly missed the troubled look Rainbow was giving her as she put the finishing touches on the bandage. “I admit I’m surprised you care so much about appearances. You’ve always struck me as the kind of mare who liked, how did Forehammer put it? Battle scars, was it?” This time, Rarity looked up at Rainbow, a sympathetic, worried smile on her face.
Rainbow waggled her foreleg without issue, the painkillers in the aloe worked well. Yet her thoughts lingered on her husband and how nearly ruined his body was. “Yeah, that’s what he calls them. But, I don’t want scars.” Rainbow tested her hoof by putting weight on it, using it as an excuse to not look at Rarity. “Stallions can pull it off. Makes them look handsome sometimes, and gives them an excuse to brag.” Rainbow's thoughts drifted to her husband, a playful grin appeared and vanished in a heartbeat.
“If you really cared about being beautiful, you’d listen to my advice about hair care,” Rarity quipped with harmless mockery.
“As if.” Rainbow felt only mild discomfort at putting her full weight on the hoof; it would serve for the mission at least. Yet her thoughts continued to return to her family… her children. “I remember my aunt who was in the service. I was like, six or something at the time. She had this long scar on her forehead, and that’s all I really remember of her. I guess she was kind, but that scar is what I remember most, and I used to think it was so ugly. Not the cool kind of ugly that stallions can get away with. And… if I die on a run, I don’t want my kids to remember me for my scars.”
Rainbow Dash felt the need to say more, but the right words never came. She stared at her bandaged foreleg, silently wondering about the near future.
Rarity packed everything up so as to leave no immediately apparent evidence they were there. As she worked to pocket the trash and whatever medical supplies she could, Rarity’s thoughts lingered on her friend. “Flash, I wouldn’t be so—”
~“Hey, Diamond, Flash, what’s yer status?”~ Applejack’s voice crackled a bit in their earpieces. She was panting heavily, with Twilight’s mutterings being barely audible.
Rainbow Dash snapped up to attention and pressed her earpiece with a wingtip. ~“Just finished bandaging me up. We’re ready to link back up. Did you find a useful terminal? Sadly the one over here is out of order.”~
~“Sure did. Third floor, room three-oh-eight. But we miiight have run into a bit of a problem. Twiggles here shorted out a camera we didn’t haf’ta. If mah timer is right, we ain’t got much longer until those cylons at the wall are missed. That shaman’s gonna know it weren’t her pets that broke these cameras pretty darn soon.”~
Rarity started walking to the exit, with Rainbow Dash following after her. ~“I have to say I agree. Our best bet may be to go after the shaman first. We take care of her, and the elementals will vanish.”~
~“I hope you remember not to kill her!”~ Twilight interjected with more authoritative command than any of the others expected. ~“The Pr - Queen was adamant about that.”~
~“We do,”~ Rainbow stated with blunt annoyance. I really hope this non-lethal requirement is a one time thing. She looked out of the infirmary window, and saw no sign of the elemental. ~“Hold tight, we’ll be there shortly.”~ Ending the transmission, Rainbow opened the door and found the coast was clear. She jerked her head at the stairwell. “Come on, we’ve wasted enough time already.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.031 seconds
Total duration
1,107 users online
2,185,895 hits today, 2,814,898 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
O hai Pinkie
So are we recruiting a shaman next?
Why do I feel a certain shaman's runner tag should be 'Laughtrack'.
I was wondering where Ponk is. So this will give the team a second heavy, with Twi-Twi on lockdown at the moment. Still love this and am following.
Opening nominations for what Pinkie's code name should be. Don't say Ponkers; LAP's ripped off DWK twice already.
Straight into some action, I like the pace. That's a pretty big weakness for Twilight, but I guess otherwise she's pretty ridiculously powerful. Gotta have a flaw to balance out those maxed out wizard stats!
Roseate Pastry might be a good codename too. Or is that too un-subtle?
9127261
I'm thinking "Party," but anything, but "Cupcake."
9127460
Fluttershy's machine shop is called "Butterball Mechanist."
Ok learned what shadow run is after I saw this story and now am so excited
So, Pinkie is apparently the shaman, Twilight is a liability (no combat training, no medical training, and all but useless on the magic front), and of course Fluttershy tucks in her drones at night, the question is, does she read them bedtime stories?
My guess, Pinkie will be fired because of the Crew's raid (Management needs someone to blame, after all) and will either met Dash & co. later and be recruited, or Celestia will conscript her into service.
#1 I just HAD to favorite this story before I was all caught up! This is everything I didn't know I wanted in a Shadowrun x MLP crossover and MORE!! <3
#2 How DARE you say we won't be finding out any of those answers! I mean, who would NOT want to know if Fluttershy tucks her robots into bed?! T_T
#3 MOAR!!! I'm THIS close to being caught up!! T_________T
Is there any information in these chapters explaining the difference between bat ponies and thestrals? Cause there does seem to be a biological and societal difference I would like to know more about.
That author’s note made me laugh so hard.
I figured AJ would be the only unaltered one. But man what you did to Twilight.
I see that you watch Monsters Inc.
10706907
I see I wasn't the only one to notice