> TD's Little Rarity 1.5: This Time It's Personal
>  by BronyWriter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Oh No You Didn't
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friggin' captured by the government. Well, short of attempted murder, that's pretty much the only thing that hasn't happened to me yet since I was taken to Equestria. 

It's been about a month since I found filly Rarity in a box in my room. I disliked the idea of having a pony from a cartoon world I had spent four months in in my room, but I took care of her to the best of my ability. I mean, what was I going to do? Just give her over to the government?

Well, about that...

In a wild story that involves a dumb roommate, a car chase, and a police blockade, Rarity and I found ourselves in the hands of the government. I was currently sitting against the wall in an interrogation room in a police station, waiting for two agents from the FBI to tell me what was going to happen to me next. They figured out that I had been to Equestria, and as such they were taking me who knew where with Rarity. I hadn't seen Rarity since my arrest, but I can't imagine that she was happy with her arrangement. When we had been arrested she looked so... scared; like she had to learn how different this world was from the one she had grown up in. 

I partially blamed myself for that. I didn't handle my roommate finding out in the most rational manner. 

Well, the door finally opens up. It's the two agents, Agent Tanner and Agent Johnson, again. "What now?" I growl.

"It's time to move you two. We'll be taking you in a secure car to your temporary quarters." He begins idly spinning a pair of handcuffs. "I trust we don't need these?" I shake my head and stand up, allowing the two of them to escort me out of the room. It is a short journey though the police station to a large SWAT type van in the back of the station and they open the doors and I step inside. To my relief Rarity is back there as well and she is unsecured in any way. She squeals in delight and relief when she sees me.

"Father!" she runs up to me and wraps my legs in a hug. "They didn't hurt you!"

"I'm fine," I say reassuringly. "Did they hurt you at all?"

Rarity shakes her head. "Oh no, not for a moment, even though I was worried that they would," she reassures me. "One of the officers at our arrest, Frank I believe his name was, was very insistent at that. He protected me from anything bad and had them stop asking me questions when I got too upset."

I can't help but manage a small smile at this as I sit down in the back of the van. It's good to know that somebody cares about more than just science. Rarity jumps up on the bench next to me and moves in closer to me allowing me to put an arm over her shoulders. "Where are they taking us, Father?" she asks.

"I don't know." I take a deep breath. "From what they've told me they're taking us to a place where we'll live and they'll learn all about us. They won't hurt us, I promise you." I'll kill anybody who tries.

"And what about your family? Will they let you out to see your parents or Aunt Kristen again?"

My silence doubtlessly tells her all she needs to know, but I try to respond anyway. "Uh, I'm sure that someday I'll get to see them again. Just not right now is all. They want to keep us a secret. It'll be easier and safer for us that way."

"Oh. Okay," says Rarity.

The ride to our new destination is thankfully pretty smooth which allows Rarity to get some much needed sleep. I hear her light snores after only ten or so minutes into the ride. Poor kid deserves it after everything that happened today. Not four hours ago she was relatively safe in my room. Now she's in the back of a van being taken who knows where so who knows what can happen to her. Of course, I'm kind of in the same boat--er, van--as she is.

Seeing the sleeping filly in my arm reminds me that I'm pretty friggin' tired too. I look around the van for anything resembling a blanket but find nothing so I just do my best to tilt my head back and get some sleep.


*  *  *  *


Some time later, we were woken up in the best possible way: the sound of an explosion. Something had collided with the van we were in, and it rocked the whole thing. Rarity squealed in fear, and I held on to her so that she didn't slam into a wall or anything. 

"Father, what's happening?!" she cried. 

"I don't know! Keep your head down."

Er... I don't know how exactly that would help given that we were in a SWAT van, but if something made it through those walls, it didn't hurt to be careful, I suppose. 

Well, to make matters worse, the two of us heard what sounded like gunfire outside of the car. It sounded like we had gotten ourselves caught in an ambush. I tried to figure out of they were here for Rarity or not, but I wasn't sure how they would even know she was here. Then it hit me: there was a news chopper there when we were arrested. It had flown off quickly, but it was still in the sky when Rarity was taken out of the car. 

Oh dear. 

I looked around the car to see if there was something, anything that could hide Rarity. Maybe if I could hide her I could pretend to be some random prisoner who was being mistaken for somebody who had been with Rarity. My eyes landed on a pile of bullet proof vests. Bingo. 

I put Rarity down and moved her over to the vests. "Stay behind here, okay? Don't make a sound." 

Rarity whimpered and nodded as I covered her with the vests. It had to work. It had to work or else I didn't know what the heck I was going to do. 

I froze as the sound of gunfire outside ceased. Maybe the FBI had won, and I we were going to be okay. I'd rather be in their hands than the hands of some shady people who were going to do who knew what. 

I heard chattering outside of the car door, and I sat down on the bench and tried to look stoic. Despite my brave face, my hands were shaking. I tried to take a few breaths to calm myself down just as the back door opened, revealing two men in suits and ski-masks with semi-automatic weapons. Definitely not FBI. 

"Well, well, what do we have here?" said the one on the right with an evil smile. 

"Just hit the jackpot, I think," cackled the other. 

I rolled my eyes and leaned back. "I'm not sure exactly what you guys were expecting, but it isn't here."

"We were told by the boss that the FBI was transporting some magical animal on this convoy," said the one on the right. He hopped into the van and sat down opposite me, tapping the side of his weapon. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

I snorted and crossed my arms. "Do you have any idea how dumb you sound right now? You seriously expect there to be some magical animal around here?"

The man in front of me nodded. "Yep. I really do." 

"The boss isn't the kind of man who gets things wrong," said the other.

I shrugged. "Well, be that as it may, I'm the only one back here." 

It took all of my willpower to not glance at the pile of vests. They'd know for sure that she was here if they did. The guy in front of my glanced over at his partner and jerked his head before pointing his gun at me. His fellow nodded and got into the van. "You wouldn't mind if we take a look around then, would you? If she's not here, then you have nothing to fear."

"Except for you guys shooting me," I deadpanned. 

"The boss is a businessman, and blood is a big expense," said the other man as he looked under the benches. "This is already going to bring some heat."

"If they could definitively trace it back to him, of course," the other one said. "However, you'll be fine if you don't get in our way. The boss doesn't like killing civilians, after all." 

It was at that moment when the guy searching the van lifted up a few of the bulletproof vests. Rarity squealed in terror and tried to run out of the car, but she was quickly grabbed by the guy who pointed his gun at her head. "Hey now, stay still there, little lady. You wouldn't want to be hurt."

I stood up, my fists at the ready, but I was stopped when the other guy prodded me in the chest with his gun. "I can reduce your insides to a fine red mist if you try to act up," he snarled. "You wouldn't want her hurt either."

"Father, please help me!" Rarity sobbed. 

"It's going to be okay, Rarity," I said through clenched teeth. I glared at the two of them. "Don't you friggin' hurt her." I would have added something about collecting their heads, but it wouldn't help Rarity if I got killed. 

The one holding Rarity snorted. "That's up to you, buddy. If you let us take her quietly, she's not going to get a scratch on her."

"You really think we'd mistreat her?" The one pointing his gun at me snorted. "That would be counter-productive."

The two of them began backing out of the car, still pointing their guns at me and Rarity. "Just stay calm, Rarity. It's going to be okay."

I took a few steps forward, my eyes locked on Rarity. They seemed to realize that I was only doing it to comfort Rarity, so they didn't shoot me. They began backing away towards another armored van, and I had the good sense to check the license plate number. 

T390904

My sight flickered back to the man pointing the gun at me. With one more smug smile, he shut both of the doors to the van, trapping me inside. 

As I heard the van drive away, something inside of me... I dunno, snapped, I guess. I suppose you could call it an epiphany, but I knew what had to happen next. I knew where I was going to go from here. Sometimes the amount of crap that life shovels onto you is just too much. Sometimes people cross a line in ways they can't ever imagine. Kidnapping the filly that I had tried to protect, who saw me as her only pillar of strength through her time of confusion in a world that scared her crossed that line. 

I didn't care how I would do it, I didn't care how long it took. I was going to get Rarity back.
> The New Life of Jason Stone
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

According to my watch, I was in the back of that godforsaken truck for two hours while the friggin' FBI tried to figure out how an armored convoy had been destroyed and the precious cargo taken. I spent pretty much all of that time staring at the pile of bulletproof vests, remembering Rarity being taken from me. At least the freaking FBI actually let her stay with me. These people just... took her. They took her away from me. 

And I was going to get her back. I didn't care, how, I didn't care how long it took, I didn't care if I had to kill to do it. I would get her back.

Having said that, when I thought of the fact that if I was going to get her back, I might have to kill somebody to do it. It was a sobering thought, to say the least. I was just some guy from small town Colorado. I'm not exactly a mafia hit-man. I guess it's like Papa Wolf Syndrome, though. Rarity saw me as her father, and I was going to do everything to get her back.

The door to the SWAT van opened, revealing my two favoriteist people this side of Ben and Celestia. I gave them both a curt nod. "Agent Johnson. Agent Tanner."

The two FBI agents who had handled the arrest and transportation of Rarity and I stared into the car. Agent Tanner looked rather blank, though that may have been the sunglasses, while Agent Johnson's shoulders were slightly slumped. Behind the two of them was a pack of heavily armed SWAT members who were searching the scene. 

"They took Rarity," Agent Johnson said with a sigh. 

"Gee, what gave you that idea?" I growled. My face hardened into a glare, and I stood up. "Maybe it's the fact that the entire convoy has been wiped out? Maybe the thing that tipped you off was the fact that Rarity is missing?" 

"Why did they keep you alive?" Agent Tanner asked as she scanned the van. "It seems strange that they'd kill the entire convoy, take Rarity, but keep you alive."

I shrugged. "Something about blood being a big expense and civilians being off-limits. I didn't try to kill them both, so they didn't kill me."

Agent Johnson cocked his head slightly. "Both? This was two guys?" 

"I don't know. Probably not. I just saw the two that took Rarity. They drove away in a van."

"You didn't happen to get the license plates, did you?" 

I nodded. "T390904. California plates."

"Good, that's good." Agent Johnson took a phone out of his pocket. "They're probably still in the state. We can pick them up if we hurry."

"You sure took your sweet time getting here," I growled.

Agent Tanner shook her head and leaned against one of the doors. "We didn't get word that the convoy had been attacked until recently. We were out here the second we thought that something was wrong."

"Oh, I figured out what was wrong a long time ago." I narrowed my eyes and leaned down until my head was almost touching hers. "You couldn't leave well enough alone. You thought that Rarity would make a fun science experiment! You thought that it would be fun to just lock us up with the Ark of the Covenant, and study us for science!" I tapped her forehead. "That's where it went wrong."

"Would you have preferred that they tried this stunt at your school?" Agent Tanner snapped, swatting my hand away. "We weren't the ones who found out about Rarity in the first place! If they did find out because of the news chopper that was in the sky, and I assure you that we are hammering down on them, that was before we were involved."

As much as I wanted to smear Agent Tanner all over the ground, I had to admit that I couldn't get too mad at her. She wasn't at fault for this. She and Agent Johnson had only been brought in after this was all set in motion. I took a deep breath and sat back down, putting my head in my hands. "This is freaking nuts. This can't be happening."

"I'm sorry, TD." Agent Tanner put a hand on my shoulder. "It couldn't have been easy to see that."

"She was reaching to me," I muttered. "She was crying and begging me to help her while two men in ski masks with semi-automatic weapons carried her away to who knows where." My hands began shaking as my veins coursed with anger. I guess it wasn't the healthiest thing, but if they came back for round two, I think I'd forego the fact that they were armed to the teeth and just fight them both. As it was I was regretting not lunging when I had the chance. Maybe I could have taken both of them out. Rarity was protected at either rate. Of course, if they had other people, and they would have, I'd be dead by now.

Agent Johnson came back to the van, and whispered something into Agent Tanner's ear. I didn't even bother trying to guess what they were saying, but I can't imagine that I'd like it.

Agent Tanner nodded and whispered something back before turning to me. "Well, TD. I think it's time to get you back to the station. We have a lot of things to discuss."


*  *  *  *



One year later


I cracked my neck as I unlocked the door to my small house. I walked inside and closed the door behind me before collapsing on my couch. 

The past year of my life had sucked. The only thing that had kept me going with the fact that Rarity still hadn't been found. Lord knows what was happening to her, but I had to imagine that she was scared out of her mind. That hurt me; thinking like that. I sort of felt that it was my duty to protect her. When those jerks just took her away, I felt that I kind of failed her.

No, I did fail her. 

Ug. Why did I have to find that stupid box in my room in the first place?! Celestia was going to hear about it from me when she finally got around to coming for Rarity. Heck, they could have already. 

No, that wasn't the case. If it was, Rarity would have had them find me. She'd be worried that I wasn't okay. She was still out there, and I wasn't going to just give up in my quest to find her. 

After I had been taken back to the station, Johnson and Tanner explained that they'd essentially put me in hiding in case whoever took Rarity came back to get me. They sent me to a suburb a few miles outside of Denver, had me dye my hair brown, grow out my hair and a goatee, and changed my name to Jason Stone. They also gave me a twenty five thousand dollar a month pension. I think that's more than usual, especially since I had a job at a firing range that would have paid for my food and rent if the government wasn't doing that too, but I imagine that they were quite sorry about everything that had happened. 

Life in the Witness Protection Program, ladies and gentlemen. 

I was just about to drift off and take a quick nap when I heard a loud knock on my door. I didn't have to look to guess that it was my handlers. I groaned and opened up the door for Johnson and Tanner. I stepped aside so that they could step inside. They were in civilian clothing, which was pretty funny for me the first time that I saw them, so as to not give anybody the idea that the FBI was routinely talking with some random dude named Jason Stone. 

I sat back down on my couch while the two of them leaned against my kitchen counter. I scoffed and shook my head. "So, I guess it's the third Wednesday of the month, then."

"Yeah." Agent Tanner glanced down at a large sports bag next to the couch. "We've come to talk about that, and why you feel it's necessary to buy guns and become proficient with them? Given your situation, we're not convinced that you aren't planning something."

I smirked and rolled my eyes. "I won't say one way or the other. I'm not buying illegal guns. The ones in there are for... self-defense."

"You're not a killer, Jason," Agent Johnson replied. 

I grimaced slightly at that. It's been six months since anybody has called me TD. I still haven't really gotten used to the whole 'new identity' thing. 

"I know I'm not a killer." I shrugged. "I've never been in a situation where I'd need to kill anybody. The guns are for 'self-defense.' It's because I'm not a guy who's willing to be a killer that I've trained to the point where I can shoot a grape off of a fence post from fifty yards. If I'm flawlessly accurate, I can shoot to disable. Not kill."

"You'd kill if you felt that you had to," Agent Tanner retorted. 

I let out a single laugh. "Uh, yeah. You would too. Everybody would. I'm becoming proficient with weapons so that I don't have to do that kind of thing if I don't feel that I need to."

The three of us were silent for a few moments. We simply stared at each other, each trying to figure the motives of the other out. Technically they couldn't take my guns since I owned all of them legally, but I knew that they wanted to stop me from finding Rarity. 

Yeah, good luck with that. 

"If I get a lead I'm taking it. You know that, right?"

Agent Johnson sighed and nodded. "Yeah. We do. We thought that the license plate would help, and it did a little. We were able to trace the van back to somebody named Jack Hansen, but that person conveniently stops existing from there."

"Good work, Sherlock." I glared at him and lightly shook my head. "Any other leads to follow, or are you going to give up soon?"

Agent Johnson returned my glare. "You know we're not going to stop. There are only a few groups in America that could have pulled off what they did, and we've been investigating all of them."

"I know." I clicked my tongue. "But you're no closer to finding her now than you were a year ago, are you?"

"I believe that we are." Agent Tanner crossed her arms. "We will get her back. When we do, we'll use all of our resources to protect her. We can even let you live with her."

"Sounds like a good plan." I tightened my jaw and scratched my neck. "That's all hinging on you actually finding her, and it doesn't look like that's happening anytime soon."

"We will get her back," said Agent Johnson. "We just want to make sure that you aren't going to go looking for her yourself. That would only get you killed and Rarity in worse trouble. Just leave it to us." 

I inclined my head in a slight nod. "I'll take it into consideration."

Agent Tanner scoffed, but seemed to realize that logic wasn't going to stop me. She motioned with her head for the two of them to go. They left without another word, something that I was more than fine with. I locked my door behind them and picked up my sports bag. I went into my room and laid down on my bed. Work plus everybody's favorite agents meant that I wasn't really in the mood to do much today. It was nine at night anyway. I could stand to go to bed early for once in my life. 


*  *  *  *


I've always been a pretty light sleeper, even when I was exhausted. Kristen used to joke that I'd wake up if a spider was walking across the floor. 

It turns out that when somebody is breaking into your house, that can be a pretty useful attribute to have. 

My eyes snapped open to the sound of my front door creaking open. I sat up in bed and looked at the clock. It was one twenty in the morning, so I imagine that whoever was in my house wasn't coming in with good intentions. As quietly as I could, I unzipped my sports bag and pulled out a Colt M1911 pistol. Despite the fact that this night probably wasn't going to go well, I wasn't keen on having it go that way. 

I checked to see if there was a round in the chamber and cocked it as quietly as I could. No reason to let the guy know I knew he was in here. If he was just some thief he'd be pretty disappointed unless he wanted to steal my projector and X-box that I hardly used. I could replace those if he did. 

Well, he wasn't here for that. I heard soft footsteps coming to my door. Unless Agent Johnson was going to surprise me with Rarity or something like that, I had a feeling that this night was going to suck. 

I hid behind the door and put my finger on the trigger just as it opened up and a figure in a tracksuit and ski mask wielding a silenced pistol walked in. Wow. They weren't screwing around with this. Despite the fact that I had literally been training for a year to deal with this should it ever come up, I got the feeling that I was way in over my head here. Still, it wasn't as if I was just going to let him do this. I slowly raised the gun and pointed it at his head. 

"Drop the friggin' gun," I hissed. 

My would-be assassin jumped a little bit, but he didn't turn around. The gun he was carrying slid to the floor, and he put his hands on top of his head. 

"Well done, Mr. Powell. I didn't even expect you to be awake, much less armed." He chuckled and slowly turned around, and I took a step back so that he didn't lunge at me. "Rarity does speak highly of you. It seems you do deserve it." 

My eyes narrowed and my mouth twisted into a snarl. "If you've freaking hurt her--"

"You have already been informed that Rarity will not be harmed, and she hasn't been," he snapped. "She has been living quite comfortably for the past year."

I scoffed. "Yeah? As what? A zoo exhibit? A pet? A science project?"

"My employer has been researching her magical abilities." 

"Science project, then." I gave an unamused smirk. "Weapons maybe?"

The assassin snorted. "You've seen too many movies, Mr. Powell. Not every powerful organization is in weapons development. I assure you that Rarity is quite comfortable." His own amused smirk faded, and he glared at me. "It will be easier for the both of us if you allow me to make it quick. You were not an issue when we first obtained the foal, but since you seem to be gearing for war if our intelligence is correct, my employer feels that you may attempt to make yourself one. This is easier."

"Well, I'd be glad to be a thorn in his side," I growled. Maybe I can be a bullet in his side too."

"Okay, first off, that doesn't make that much sense." He scoffed and folded his arms. "Secondly, you're not a killer, Mr. Powell. You're a college student who spent a little time in a land of talking ponies. You are admittedly deadlier than you were a year ago, but there is a difference between shooting tin cans and a human." 

"It all depends on the situation," I retorted. "And you--"

That's when he lunged. 

I hadn't noticed that he had been getting in a position that had allowed him to lunge forward and knock my gun aside. I managed to not drop the gun, but he slammed his fist into my chest. I crumpled up and dropped to the ground, allowing him to kick my gun away. He kicked me in the side of the head, and I fell to the ground. I managed to fall in a way that allowed me to land on my sports bag. My open sports bag. It was my one shot. 

The hit-man chuckled, and I heard him pick up his gun. "Once again, I applaud you for getting the drop on me. Not many people have done that. I underestimated you."

"A running theme, I've noticed," I said through clenched teeth as I slowly reached my hand into my bag and grasped the handle of one of the guns. I had one shot, so I had to make it count if I was going to get out of here alive. 

He chuckled and pointed his gun at my head. "Oh? Who else has underestimated you? Your roommate? Somebody in that cartoon land of ponies? You're not strong, Mr. Powell. You can get the drop on me in a moment of foolishness on my part, but--"

That's when I pulled the trigger. 

Two shots from a Smith & Wesson 45 rang out through the house, proving that the night wouldn't go as well as I hoped. Still, I wasn't going to die now, so there's that. 

I took my hand out of the bag and took a deep breath. I was feeling... well, I wasn't sure what I was feeling. Somebody had just tried to kill me, and I had turned the tables on him. Yeesh. Johnson and Tanner were going to have a freaking field day with this one. I'd probably get a new identity, a new look, a new everything. They'd probably move me out of Colorado now too.

I was contemplating my next move when I heard a phone ring. I checked my nightstand and saw that it wasn't mine, which meant that it came from my dearly departed assassin. I figured that it probably wasn't his wife asking him when he'd be home for dinner. I ran a hand through my hair and gingerly reached into one of the pockets of the tracksuit. I pulled out the phone and flipped it open. 

"Hello? Maxot? Is the target taken care of? You were supposed to have checked in three minutes ago."

I gulped and took a deep breath. If there was ever a time for a lead to be dumped on me, it was now. I licked my lips and cracked my neck to steady myself. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Was this Maxot dude the one you sent to kill me? Yeah, he's not going to be checking back in."

The voice on the other end of the line was dead silent, giving me time to calm my nerves a little more. I took his gun out of his hand and placed it and my fallen gun in my sports bag. If this was going the way I suspected, I'd need them both. 

The voice on the other end chuckled after a few seconds. "I take it this is Mr. TD Harrison Powell?"

"Your intelligence isn't completely terrible. Congratulations. I take it you're the one who has Rarity?"

"Indeed I am. I assure you that she is not being harmed. She is quite well taken care of."

"I don't care if she's living like a princess." I stood up and slung my bag over my shoulder. "You took her from me. I was protecting her. I do not like that."

""I'm sure you don't. It was quite touching how she called you 'father.' The voice chuckled. "Would you like to speak to her?"

My breath caught in my throat and my stomach clenched. The voice chuckled again. "I take it that means yes. I have her here right now. I heard the noise of movement on the other end, and I even heard something that sounded like Rarity. "Just speak into that end. It's your protector."

I took a deep breath and ran a hand through my hair again. "R-Rarity?"

"Hello? F-Father; is that you?"

Yeah, that was definitely her. She didn't sound sickly or anything, which was good. She did sound very scared, though. That didn't sit so well with me. 

"Hey, Rarity. How are you doing?"

"I miss you, Father," Rarity whimpered. "Th-they told me that I couldn't see you anymore!"

"Don't worry, Rarity. I promised that I was going to be okay. I'm coming to get you." I paused and glanced back down at my would-be assassin. A shudder went up my spine, and I walked out of the room. "Do you know where you are?"

I heard Rarity sniffle on the other end. "No. It's just some big building. I liked your room at school better."

I let out a half-chuckle. "Yeah, me too." Any trace of amusement faded, and I had to steel myself for the next question. "Rarity, this is very important. Have they hurt you?"

"No. They haven't."

"Rarity... have they hurt you in any way?"

"No. I'm okay. I'm just s-scared!" Her sniffled dissolved into quiet sobs. "I just want to go home!"

"I'm coming to get you, Rarity." I leaned against one of the walls in my house. I was actually surprised to find tears welling up in my eyes. Hearing her like this... it hurt. 

"I promise that I'm coming to get you."

"Are you okay?" said Rarity with a whimper. "They said that they wouldn't do anything bad to you if I behaved."

"Yeah, I'm okay." I glanced back at my room. "They were lying, though. They sent somebody to kill me, but I got him first. Now I'm coming to get you. Just be brave, okay?"

"I've been trying, Father." I heard Rarity whimper as the voice of whoever had her started up again. "I'm really scared, but I'll be brave. Just come soon!"

"I will, Rarity. I will." 

I heard Rarity whimpering on the other end, and some talking. The phone was moved around, and Rarity's sobs faded away as she was led who knows where. I heard the first voice on the other end clear his throat. 

"As she told you: she has not been harmed."

"She isn't exactly happy," I snarled. "Seriously, where do you get off doing that to her? What the heck do you think is going to happen if and when Celestia and the other Elements of Harmony come for her? You're going to find out how well you can survive in the sun." I wiped angry tears from my eyes, and adjusted my bag. "Of course, that's if I don't find you first."

"I'd like to see you try." 

"I'll bet." I walked back to the other room and gingerly began searching the body until I found car keys. I put them in my pocket and walked out of my house. "There is a way to avoid this. If you let Rarity go now we can end it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. If you don't let her go, I will look for you, I will find you... and I will kill you."

The voice on the other end was silent while he mulled it over. I was almost to the black sedan that my attacker had driven before he answered. 

"That's from Taken."

I faltered slightly as I went to go unlock the car door. "W-well..."

"Mr. Powell, if you're going to threaten me, at least think up your own material. You are not Liam Neeson." 

I scowled. "Yeah, well, it sounds cool, okay?" I unlocked the trunk of the car and found everything that a guy would need to take down somebody who had Rarity. Semi-automatic weapons, shotguns, knives, a machete, an unzipped bag filled with tons of cash, that kind of thing. I smiled and closed the trunk before getting into the car. "It also got the point across."

"If we didn't see you as a threat before, we do now. We underestimated you, but no more."

The voice hung up, and I heard the dial tone. I nodded and closed the phone before putting it in my pocket. I turned on the car and hit the gas. I finally had my lead. 

It was time to get Rarity back.
> I'm Coming For You
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had a lead. I just needed to take it. 

I had in my possession a cellphone belonging to an assassin with direct contact with the somebody who had Rarity. If I could trace the call, I could figure out exactly where Rarity was. 

Of course, that left the trouble of figuring out what to do with that information. I could tell Johnson and Tanner about it and get them to trace the call, but that could mean an open attempt to get Rarity back, and I didn't want that. It needed to be done quickly and quietly and... well, it was a stupid thought, but I figured that I was the best guy to get her back. If I did figure out where she was and saw that I could possibly get in, then I was going to do that. If I saw that it was some compound, then I'd bit the bullet and call the cavalry. 

Then get taken to a government facility and have Rarity be put in the exact same situation that she was in before. Yeah, you can see my issue with that plan. We were perfectly content with just living quietly in my room at school. I had enough money to hide us somewhere until Celestia and the Elements came for us. Whenever that was. I'd get us a house somewhere secluded where she could be free. 

... Yeah, I read My Little Dashie to prepare for this kind of thing. I didn't know if it would work, but it was my best idea for when I got Rarity back. 

I pushed that aside and stepped on the gas. One step at a time. I needed to go about tracing the call, and for that, I had to find Tizzy. 

Well, not "find" per se, I knew where she lived; I just had to hope that she was in so that she could trace the phone call for me. You see, my friend Tizzy was a hacker. Yes, I had a hacker in my back pocket. I took a few night courses at a community college in computers to see if I couldn't figure it out myself and that's where I met Tizzy. She enrolled in the class to, and I quote, "mess with the professor." She repeatedly remotely shut down his computer in the middle of class just for the heck of it.

We became instant buddies. 

Well, I needed her now more than I ever have before. I hadn't told Tizzy about who I really was and what I was really doing in this part of Denver. It never came up, and she's not the kind of person who would believe me if I told her. Well, I don't need her to believe me. I just need her to trace this phone for me. If she can do that, I'm in business. Hopefully it'll work. 

I pulled up to her small house and hopped out of the car. I ran to the trunk and threw the duffel bag over my shoulder. Given that it is as late as it is, I figured that she'd be in, but one never knew. I really needed her to be in, though. I couldn't wait for her to get back. Not with this shady organization now knowing without a doubt that I was a threat. I ran to her door and rang the doorbell three times, following that up by repeatedly pounding on it. I glanced over to her driveway. Her car was there, so I knew that she would be. 

She didn't respond after a minute, so I rang the doorbell three times again. I was about to pound on the door again, but it was thrown open by a very unhappy looking Tizzy who was glaring daggers at me. Given that her hair was messed up and she was wearing a ratty t-shirt and sweatpants, I gathered that I woke her up.

"You have three, I repeat, three seconds to tell me why you're on my porch in the middle of the night pounding on my door. One, two--"

"Would you like a challenge?"

Tizzy's glare faded and she raised an eyebrow in interest. She leaned against her door frame and crossed her arms. "I'm listening. Three second rule still applies." 

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the phone from the hitman that had just come after me. "I need you to trace the last call this phone made. It's a matter of life and death."

Tizzy scoffed and rolled her eyes. "A matter of life and death and a challenge are two separate things, Jason. Asking me if I can trace a call is like asking you if you can shoot a watermelon from five feet with a shotgun." 

I shoved the phone in her direction. "Then you get to make an easy ten thousand dollars, don't you?"

That woke her up and improved her mood. 

"Uh..." She straightened up and blinked a few times. "What?"

"You do this for me and I'll give you ten thousand dollars cash right here, right now."

Tizzy looked down at the phone and ran a hand through her hair. "And I'm doing this because...?"

I scoffed. "You really want to ask questions?"

She scoffed in return. "You really have ten thousand dollars?"

I vigorously nodded and offered her the phone. "Yes I do, now will you help me or not?"

Tizzy sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I'm going to regret this somehow, aren't I?" 

She shook her head and jerked her head to tell me to come inside. She stepped aside and I walked into her house. She snatched the cellphone out of my hand and opened up the back to do whatever it was she needed to do to trace the call. She walked towards her computer room and I attempted to follow, but she held out a hand to stop me. "Look, Jason, you know the rules; nobody comes into my computer room, 'kay?" 

I rolled my eyes and sat down on her couch. "Fine. Just make it quick, okay?" 

She clicked her tongue and walked into her computer room. "Mister bossy here." She closed the door partially so that I couldn't see what she was doing, but enough that we could still talk. "So what's so important about this call that you have to come banging on my door this late at night to get it traced? What, some girl you never met in person scorn you?" 

I chuckled and unzipped the bag so that I could begin counting out the money. "Nothing so benign. You wouldn't believe me if I told you. There are a lot of parts to the story, actually, and you wouldn't believe a single one."

She rolled out of her computer room on her rolling chair and shot me a grimace of disbelief. "Uh-huh. You know you're really not as enigmatic as you believe, nor as important in the grand scheme of things. You can stop being cryptic with me. I'm not gonna laugh."

I bit my lip and put the money down on her coffee table on top of her old computer magazines. If she was going to be asking questions, I might as well tell her. It's not like I was going to see her again or she'd believe me, right?

"Well, I'm in the witness protection program. The person you're tracing is the reason why I am in said program," 

Tizzy raises her eyebrow and spins her chair so that she's facing me completely. "What did you do? Did you rat out some big drug dealer or something?" 

I crossed my arms and leaned back on the couch. "I wish it was something that simple. I was involved in the capture of a big government secret by a shady organization that you are now tracing." I looked past Tizzy into her computer room. "If you can find out who called that phone, I can get what was taken from me back." 

Tizzy frowned and tilted her head. "Taken from you or the government?" 

"Me then the government." I deeply exhaled and rubbed my temples. "Now I'm going to get what was taken from me back, go into hiding from both groups and hopefully just... disappear for good."

Tizzy's face fell and she scooted closer to me. She leaned forward and stared at me. "So... this could be the last time that I ever see you?"

I grimaced and looked over at her. "Yeah. It probably will be. I wish it didn't have to be, but... yeah." I gave her a sad smile and straightened up. "I'll miss hanging out with you, Tiz. You're one of the few people who can keep up with me in the snarcasm department."

Tizzy snorted and managed a small smile of her own. "Yeah, well, sarcasm is what separates man from beast." She stood up and walked over to the couch. She sat down next to me and leaned her head against my shoulder. "I like you, dude. You're weird and secretive about a lot of stuff, but... I like you." Tizzy ran a hand through her hair. "And I don't even know your real name?"

"'Fraid ya don't." My small smile fell and I patted her on the head. "It'll be okay, Tiz. If I can find a way to see you again, maybe even show you what I'm going after, I will. Promise." 

Tizzy straightened up and smirked at me. "It's a promise, then." She stood up and walked towards her computer room. "It should be done by now. The results should be in." 

Tizzy walked into the room and I heard the clacking of a few computer keys as she did... whatever it is that Tizzy does to do what she does. After a few more seconds, during which I get her money out and put it on the table, she walked out of the room with a piece of paper in her hand. I noticed that her face was pale. "Whatever you had was wanted by some pretty big people. The call was sent from Roshab Inc."

I frowned and cocked my head. "The pharmaceutical company?"

"Yeah. I don't know why they decided to go after you, but they're not a small business." 

I nodded and got to my feet. "They're headquartered in San Diego, California, right?"

"Sure are." Tizzy walked over to me and handed me the paper. "That's where the call came from too." 

"Then that's where I'm headed." I zipped up the bag and slung it back over my shoulder. I needed to hit the road as soon as possible if I was going to get Rarity back sooner rather than later. "It was nice knowing you, Tizzy. If I run into you again, we gotta hang out, okay?"

Tizzy walked up to me and hugged me. "Definitely, dude. Be careful, okay?" 

I snorted and returned the hug. "When am I not?" 

"I'm not going to dignify that with an answer." Tizzy broke away from the hug and crossed her arms. "Walk away in one piece if you can. I'd hate to hear that I sent you to your death." 

I shrugged. "I'm the one who walked in." With that, I turned around and walked towards the door. It was time to hit the road.

"Wait..." I turned around for Tizzy's last words. "What's your real name?"

I smirked at her. "TD." 

"TD?"

"TD. Just those letters. They don't stand for anything."

Tizzy stared at me in disbelief for a few moments before breaking out into rambunctious laughter. "That's the stupidest name I've ever heard! I mean, TD? That's it?"

I grimaced and let her laugh it up. It wasn't the first time that somebody had made fun of the simplicity of my name. I was definitely used to it by this point. She wasn't laughing for very long at any rate. Just long enough that I would have started to walk out if she had gone on much longer. But she wasn't going on for too long. 

"So TD, huh?" She giggled and wiped her eyes. "Literally just TD?"

"TD Harrison Powell." 

She chuckled and shook her head. "They just don't give babies good names anymore." 

"They sure don't Tizzy."

She frowned at me and shoved me pseudo-playfully. "Hey, I like my name, thank you. It's unique and is not just random letters." 

I smirk at her and shove her back. "Whatever you say, Tiz, whatever you say." My smile falls and I take a deep breath and scratch the back of my neck. "I have to go now. I need to get back what was taken from me as soon as possible." 

Tizzy's smile falls too, and she subtly nods. "Yeah. I know. Just be careful, okay? I really mean it, dude. Be careful. If these guys are so powerful that you're getting put in the Witness Protection Program for getting on the wrong side of them..."

"Yeah." I nod and adjust the strap of the bag. "Yeah, I know. You should have seen what it was like when they took her from me."

Tizzy cocked her head. "Her?" 

I nodded. "Her." 

Tizzy and I shared another hug for a few moments. "I have to go. Thanks for everything. Destroy the phone, okay?"

"'Kay." 

We broke away and, knowing there was nothing else really to say, and that I had to go, I walked out of her house. I gave her one last look and a small salute before getting into my car. I used my phone to look up the HQ for Roshab Inc. If it was in California, I had a long drive in front of me. I found the location, punched it into the GPS, and sped off into the night.
> Roshab Inc.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I could only spend the fifteen hour drive thinking about Rarity. Thinking about how she was being experimented on by a pharmaceutical company of all people. Roshab Inc. was not a small company, and it led its field in medical advances.  I didn't keep up much with companies like that, but even I knew that they had risen to prominence in the past year or so with some pretty big drugs. I didn't need to be a math major to figure out that coincided with their capture of Rarity. Now I was going to go get her back, drugs or no. I mean, yeah, some people would wonder if getting her back would be the right thing to do when she is helping create better drugs, but I literally didn't care at all about that. Get your freaking wonder drugs some other way, guys. Some way that won't bring down the wrath of TD Harrison Powell on you!

Er... that sounded a bit more threatening in my head. 

Whatever. 

Either way, I was going to do my best to get Rarity back, and if bursting into that place and killing everything except Rarity was the best way, then by golly I was going to do it. Of course, I didn't really want to kill anybody. I wasn't some Schwarzenegger or Stallone Rambo type of guy, but... well, it was a little late for that now, wasn't it? I checked the body of the assassin; he was definitely dead. 

The drive to California went without incident, and I found myself coming up on San Diego within a half an hour. From there it was only a matter of finding the place and getting inside. And getting Rarity. And escaping to somewhere we wouldn't be found. And Celestia getting there to take us both back to Equestria, because Earth had become a little hot for me, no matter how much I hated the idea. Assassins and the FBI wouldn't find me there, so I realized pretty fast that it was my best option. 

I guess I was legally dead to my family anyway. I wouldn't know what they're up to, though, I hadn't seen or heard from any of them in a year. Well, it's too late for that to happen, I think. It would just re-open old scars if I showed up, only to have to go back to Equestria when Celestia gets here. Heck, it could be dangerous for them if whoever I'm hunting finds out about me seeing them. 

Within ten minutes of driving, my phone dinged, and alerted me that my destination is on the right. I turned my head, and sure enough, there it was. It was a skyscraper with the words "Roshab Inc." emblazoned in blocky letters just above the doors. If Rarity was still there, then I was going to find her. I parked in a parking lot across the street and slung the bag over my shoulder, hoping that they didn't have metal detectors that would notice my guns. I took a deep breath and walked across the street into the building. 

The entrance room of Rashab Inc. was pretty typical. Marble floors, a large fountain and a bunch of potted plants as decorations, and a receptionist's desk right in front of me. No metal detectors, thankfully. I adjusted my bag over my shoulder and walked up to the receptionist, noting that her name was Mary. 

She stopped her computer work when she saw me come up and gave me a smile. "Hello, sir. How can I help you today?"

"Uh..." I gently cleared my throat. "Well, I have a meeting with the CEO at..." I glanced at my watch. "4:30. If you could just tell me which floor he's on, I would appreciate that."

Man, I needed to do a lot better than that. Stupid TD. You need an actual plan! Well, that was my plan, really. It involved fewer guns. 

Predictably, Mary looked at me with some trepidation. "Er... you're here to see Mr. Stephenson at 4:30? I don't understand; when did you make that appointment with him? I get notices of all of his appointments."

"I made it last September."

"Last September?" Mary crossed her arms. "As in about a year ago?"

I nodded. "Yep. Him and I engaged in some business, and I'm here to finish that up."

"I see." Mary looked down at her phone and hit some buttons before picking it up. She was silent for a few moments before speaking into it. "Hello? Mr. Stephenson? Who is your 4:30 appointment?" She paused. "Uh-huh, I see. I thought so. You have someone here who said he made an appointment with you a year ago and now he's coming to finish some business with you. I don't--"

Oh forget it. I reached forward and snatched the phone from her hand, putting it to my ear. She took it about as well as I thought. 

"Hey, give that back!" she snarled, getting to her feet. 

"No dice, lady," I growled, reaching into my pocket and grasping the handle of my pistol. "Just keep calm."

"Hello?" said the voice on the other end. Mary? What's going on?"

My breath caught in my throat as the voice registered in my mind. Yep, the same one that had spoken to me with Rarity. I noticed that Mary was reaching down for something, and I pulled my gun out of my pocket. 

"Don't even think about it." 

Mary squeaked and backed away from the desk, allowing me to focus on the phone again. "Hello, sir. It's nice to speak to you again."

The voice on the other end was silent for a few moments before speaking. "Ah, Mr. Powell. What a... pleasant surprise. You would truly go anywhere for your dear Rarity, wouldn't you?"

"Yep. Sure would."

"I don't see how you think you can win here, Mr. Powell. I've already sent one man after you, and you've walked into my building full of security officers. Innocent men and women with families who don't know anything about what we're up to. Besides, you wouldn't want me to hurt Rarity."

I shrugged and leaned forward to press the speakerphone button on the phone. I gently put the receiver on the desk. "Yes, well, how about if I killed someone you had an attachment to? Like Mary, for example?"

Mary whimpered, but Stephenson scoffed. "Mary? Receptionists are a dime-a-dozen, Mr. Powell. You kill her and I'll get another one just as loyal. Lots of people want her position."

I looked up at Mary who stared at the phone with a look that was a mix of indignant and horror. I smirked at her and lowered the gun. Mary got to her feet and walked over to the phone, her expression having turned into a scowl. 

"You think I'm expendable? Well then you'll have no trouble replacing me! I quit!"

The voice on the other end stuttered for a few moments as Mary turned to me. "He's on the thirtieth floor. Knock yourself out."

I gave her a slight salute before she wheeled around and walked out of the building. I chuckled and turned off speakerphone before picking up the receiver again. 

"You... you put me on speakerphone, didn't you, Mr. Powell?"

I gave a light chuckle. "Yes. I did."

"Clever. Very clever, but I'm afraid that your intelligence will only get you that far. As I said, I have security here, and they're going to take you out." Stephenson chuckled. "I'm afraid that this is the end for you, Mr. Powell. It was a very good try. Better than I thought, really, but useless in the end. I assure you that Rarity will continue to be well taken care of. Goodbye."

The phone clicked, and I heard the dial tone. I grimaced and put the phone back on the hook. Time to get Rarity back. Now, I could take the elevator to the thirtieth floor, but that would be dangerous. I think he'd be expecting that. The stairs would likely be out too, as he'd send guards down there. I groaned, knowing that I only had a few seconds to make a choice. 

That's when it struck me. 

We were in a rather large city, and there were tall buildings all around us. I ran out of Roshab Inc.'s building and looked around. I grinned when I saw a building to my right only a little taller than Roshab was. 

And the buildings looked to be in jumping distance too. 

I cracked my neck and ran over to the building just as security officers entered the lobby of Roshab's building. I ran into the other building fast enough that they didn't notice me. With any luck they wouldn't find me. I walked up to the receptionist of this building, who smiled at me when she saw me coming. 

"Hi there," I said with a nod. "Can you direct me to the stairs or the elevator?"

"Sure can." She pointed at a doorway to my right. "Just through that door and to the right. The elevator is right there."

I gave her a little two-fingered salute and speed-walked through the doorway. I saw the elevators right where she said they would be, and pressed the "up" button. Fortune was on my side, for once in my flippin' life, and the elevator door to my left slid open with a little ding. I ran inside and pressed the button to the top floor. 

Once the elevator got going, I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding in. "What am I doing?" I muttered. "This is a stupid, stupid idea. Come on, TD, you gotta think of a better plan than this."

"Well, you don't wanna kill anyone, do you?"

"Too late for that, isn't it?"

"Okay, then, anyone else." 

I looked up at the floor indicator. Floor 10. 

"Just gotta make a little hop. That's all there is too it, really. Then find a doorway and head on down to his office." I ran a hand through my hair and felt the gun in my pocket, grimacing at the thought that I had a lot more in my bag. "Just keep going. This is all to get Rarity back."

After a few more minutes of pep talking, the elevator dinged again, and I found myself on the top floor of the building. It looked like a bunch of offices, but that didn't concern me. There had to be somewhere for me to get on the roof. 

"Okay, roof access, roof access roof access..." I tapped my chin as I walked up and down the hall, looking for some staircase that would get me there. As luck would have it, I found one at the very end of the second hallway I tried. I looked around and saw that the few people in the hallway weren't paying much attention to me, probably assuming that I was some maintenance worker. Well, let them. I entered the short concrete stairwell and walked up the single flight of stairs to the door that led to the roof. I pushed down on the bar that opened the door to open it and... 

Locked. 

I bit my lower lip and took a small step back from the door. I hadn't really planned on that. The door had a small window, so I could see the promised land of the roof on the other side. I groaned and scratched the back of my head. I should have figured that my luck would run out eventually. 

Just as a silly test, I rammed my shoulder into the door to see if I couldn't break it down. All I got from that was a sore shoulder. Yeah, better not try that one again. I sighed and went back down the stairway. The door wasn't going to give, and I didn't have anything in my bag that would get it open. I couldn't be at it too long before attracting attention either. I had only one option that I could see: human contact, something that I really wanted to minimize. 

I exited the stairwell and into the hallway again. I saw a few employees in suits lounging by the water cooler, and figured they'd be my best bet. At the very least, I had a better plan this time. I raised my hand to get their attention and walked up to them. 

"Hey, I'm here to do some maintenance on the roof, but the door to the roof seems to be locked. Can I get your help with that?"

The three people all glanced at each other, then looked over at me. "Maintenance?" said the one on the far right. "What kind of maintenance? I didn't think we hired outside contractors for that kind of thing."

I shrugged. "Well, nobody told me that. All I know is that my boss told me that I needed to get over to this building to do some preliminary work on the electrical wiring up there to get an idea of what we needed to do to get it all settled, alright?"

The three of them paused for a moment, glancing at each other again. "So..." the one on the right began, "are you the guy that's here to work on the air conditioning on this floor?"

I scoffed and crossed my arms. "Isn't that what I just said?"

All three of the employees breathed a collective sigh of relief, and two of them gave me wide smiles. "Finally!" said the one in the middle. "We've been complaining about that for months! I thought they'd never get a guy on that."

"Maybe we won't have heat stroke every time we come into work now, eh, Tony?" the one on the left said, nudging his partner. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here to make all of your dreams come true," I snarked. "I just need to get to the roof, alright? I won't be up there for very long."

"Yeah, sure," the one on the right said, putting his paper cup on top of the water cooler. "I'll go get Mac. He'll get you up there." 

On the outside I nodded nonchalantly. On the inside I felt two seconds away from a heart attack. Any moment something could go wrong, and if the cops go involved at any stage, I'd never see Rarity again. Well, the FBI would probably step in, given that I was in the Witness Protection Program and all, but now that Stephenson knew that I was willing to come all the way to California for him, he'd probably step up his game in terms of having me killed. He'd also really make Rarity disappear. I counted myself lucky that I managed to find this lead at all. 

Within a few minutes, the worker came back with a janitor who beckoned me to follow him up to the rooftop. I nodded a goodbye to the three employees and went after the janitor. 

"'Bout time somebody came to fix that darned thing," Mac grumbled. "I always hated coming up to this floor because of it."

I shrugged. "Yeah, well, I hope that I can do what I need to quickly and easily."

"Same here," Mac grunted as he unlocked the door. "In fact, I think I'm gonna help ya out a little bit. Gotta show ya where everything is and all that."

My stomach, which had been relaxing a bit, tightened up again. "Oh, I'm a professional, sir, I think I can figure it out."

"I'm not gonna have you mucking up the AC because you only think you know what you're doing!" Mac snapped as he pushed the door open. "Now I'm not gonna get in your way, I'm just gonna watch over you a little bit for a few minutes to make sure you got everything you need, that's all."

"Oh, sure." I walked past Mac onto the rooftop. "Reasonable enough, I guess."

As we walked further onto the rooftop, my gaze flickered over to Roshab's building. I could see it standing so close beside me. I just needed to get rid of this janitor first, then I could actually... jump between buildings in a busy city. It would all be worth it in the end when I got to hold Rarity again. So much better. 

I tore my gaze away from Roshab and followed the janitor over to some panel on some of the wall jutting out of the roof. "Alright, this is where I think the problem is coming from with our air conditioning." Mac patted the panel. "Something might have shorted out, or something. You'd better be able to fix it."

I nodded and walked up to the panel, wondering how the heck I was going to get rid of Mac long enough to jump over to Roshab. "Er... yeah, sounds reasonable enough. If nothing else it's a good starting point." I put my bag down on the ground and knelt down next to it, opening up a side pocket that I knew was empty. I reached into it and cursed when I, predictably, found nothing. 

"Dang it. I cannot believe this."

"What?" Mac asked. 

I sighed and began rubbing my temples. "I... I know this is embarrassing, but I forgot my case of screwdrivers. You think you can lend me one or two?"

Mac glared at me, but let out a long-suffering sigh and nodded. "Yeah. Fine. Whatever, but you'd better do a really good job. I don't want you to half-ass it then have to come back again next week."

"Neither do I, sir."

"Whatever." Mac walked back over to the door and walked through it. When the door slammed shut behind him, I zipped up the side pocket, slung the bag over my shoulder, and ran over to the edge of the building. 

You know when you're up high and they say "don't look down?" Yeah, sage advice, actually, especially when you're about to jump from one high building to another, and if you mess up, heh, no more you. They're cleaning you off the streets with a spatula. Al of this was made worse knowing that this would probably be one of the least crazy things I did that day. 

"Dammit, TD," I grumbled. "Just do it. This is for Rarity. One step at a time. Your bag first, okay?"

Yeah, my bag first! Good idea. I took the bag from around my shoulders and stood up on the edge of the building. The weight of the bag threw me off for a moment, but with my improved the physique, I could get it across. I gripped the bag, wound up, and threw it as hard as I could. The bag sailed through the air and, to my immense relief, landed right on the edge of the building. Not close enough to the edge that gravity would take its toll and it would tumble down. My bag was safe. 

Now for the nastier part. 

I grimaced and cracked my neck, my stomach getting that feeling in it that you get just as you're about to go down the first gigantic drop in a roller coaster. I groaned to myself and took a few steps back. Had to get a running start. Mac could be back at any moment, so it was now or never. I bolted forward as fast as I could and, just as I reached the edge, put as much power into my jump as I could and sailed through the air. 

My first thought while I was mid-air was that I wouldn't even come close to making it. 

Not a fun little thought. 

However, as I began my descent, I realized that I might have put enough power into it; that I could make it! I reached forward and braced for impact. As I collided with the stone side of the building, pain shot through my arms as I grasped onto any purchase that I could find. I managed to hook my fingers onto the rooftop, stopping my descent. 

Not a good spot to be in: hanging from a thirty floor building by your fingers. 

I couldn't give up now, though. I had to get to Rarity! Using all of my strength, I pulled upward and, inch by inch, I managed to move myself onto the rooftop. I knew that a single slip meant instant death, so that made a nice motivator. It took me a minute, but I finally managed to pull myself fully onto the rooftop. Once I knew I was safe, I rolled onto my back and began taking a few deep breaths. 

"Okay," I groaned. "Not doing that again... I hope."

Okay, enough of that. I had no real time to waste. I stood up and slung my bag back over my shoulder. I looked back over to the rooftop I had just jumped from. Mac didn't seem to be back yet, so that was good. He'd sure be confused, though. Hope they got their AC fixed for real soon. I turned away from that and walked towards a small doorway on the rooftop. 

My infiltration of Roshab Inc. had officially begun.
> I Should Have Watched Die Hard a Few More Times
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With little hesitation, I walked over to the door and tentatively pulled it open, hoping that these guys didn't lock the doors to their rooftops in case guys like me jumped from the adjacent building to come in and take back what was theirs. To my utter delight, when I pulled on the handle, the door came open, allowing me to slip into the stairwell.  I unzipped my bag and pulled out the gun I used to kill Maxot with. I put it in my pocket, keeping my hand inside on the trigger. If I needed it, I could pull it out in seconds. 

Gah, what was I doing?! I mean, besides taking on one of the most powerful corporations in the world to get the cartoon pony who called me "Father" back so that we could, hopefully, go back to the cartoon land where she belonged. 

And honestly? Going through all of this made me wonder... Did I belong there too? I mean, fate, or whatever, seemed quite insistent that I go back. I mean, if Rarity and I were ever going to be truly safe, Celestia would need to come get us. 

I hate my life sometimes. I really do. 

I had to push those thoughts out of my mind for the moment. I had to find Rarity. That was the only important thing right now. As I reached the first of the doors into the main complex, I began to realize that I had absolutely no plan on how to find her, much less get her out of where she was and get away to safety. It wouldn't help her at all if I was killed trying to rescue her. 

One stop at a time. 

I approached the door to the thirtieth floor and cracked it open as gently and quietly as I could. If the receptionist was right, then the big boss Stephenson would be here, and I could get him to give me Rarity. 

Somehow.

Though I have found that people tend to be more open to suggestion if you're pointing a shotgun at their face. 

I looked through the small opening in the doorway that I had created, and smiled when I saw a middle-aged, slightly balding, clean shaven man in a suit talking to two other people in suits, though those ones wore earpieces, and I could already see the holsters inside of their jackets. It seemed I had come to the right place.  

"Be on the lookout for the intruder," the man in the suit said. "He's to be considered armed and extremely dangerous. Shoot to kill, though if you do manage to incapacitate him, bring him straight to me."

"Yes, Mr. Stephenson," said one of the guards. "Though if I may ask: why can we not just contact the police?"

"Because this is an internal affair. If the authorities were contacted, it would reflect very poorly on our company." Stephenson adjusted his tie before continuing. "Now, tell the others to do a floor-by-floor sweep of the building, starting with this one. I'd be quite surprised if he wasn't here already."

The two guards saluted, and Stephenson walked into a room that I could only assume was his office. The two guards walked away, leaving me to wonder how the heck I was going to get to him with zero casualties. 

That's when an idea struck me. A nasty, wonderful idea. 

I shut the door as quietly as I could and began running down the stairs, stopping when I reached the twenty fifth floor. If all else failed, I could go back to my repairman persona, but hopefully I'd get lucky again. I opened the door and stepped into the twenty fifth floor, moving around it as quickly as I could to find my target. I got some strange looks from the employees, but none of them made a fuss about me being there. I opened another door on the floor, and that's when I got one up on Bono and found what I was looking for. 

The kitchen. 

Knowing that I had a limited amount of time, seeing as the security guards would be checking this floor any minute, I quickly went to work. I went over to the fridge and opened up the freezer. I grinned when I found the perfect tool: a box of frozen Hot Pockets. I took one out and removed it from the wrapping before setting it on the counter so that I could find my other ingredient. I began opening up the various cabinets and drawers before finally locating what I was after. 

The tin foil. 

Tearing out a long piece, I wrapped the Hot Pocket in the foil and threw it in the microwave. Part of me hoped that this wouldn't cause too much damage, but then I remembered that this was the company that took Rarity and used her in science experiments. They can lose a wall in one of their kitchens. I don't care. Grinning to myself, I set the microwave for sixty minutes and walked casually, but quickly, back to the stairwell to await the results of my plan. I prayed that no casualties would come of this, but if the building burned down and Roshab Inc.'s stock dropped a fair amount, I'd be way okay with that. Maybe they'd think next time before taking a cartoon character away from her caretaker for science experiments. 

Er... if it came up again. 

I reached the stairwell just as the piercing shriek of the fire alarm began echoing throughout the building. I even heard the sprinklers going off behind me. While they would put out the fire most likely, a lot would be damaged from the water. Not just on this floor either. Good. 

Well, given that humans are herd animals that run from danger, the stairwells instantly flooded with people walking towards the ground floor to get away from the noise. I heard some grumbling about fire drills, but when they saw that people were coming out of the twenty fifth floor soaking wet from the sprinklers, I noticed a shift in their demeanor. Regardless, I had somewhere to be. I pushed through the crowds of people, slowly making my way back up to the thirty first floor. The thought occurred to me that maybe I should have picked a floor higher up, but I didn't want to risk coming across the security guards. 

After a few good minutes of pushing and shoving to get up the stairs, I finally made it to my destination. I put my hand in my pocket and gripped the gun. Hopefully he'd still be up here, or at least just starting his descent to the lower floors. I hadn't come across him on my way down, but there was still a second stairwell. 

I cracked the door open and poked my head through the doorway. The floor seemed relatively quiet. Not surprising, really. I made a beeline for Stephenson's office. If he was on this floor, he'd be there. I reached it and looked through the window. The venetian blinds had been closed, but there was just enough space in between them that I could peek inside. I crouched down a touch to get a better look between one of the slits. I grinned when I saw Stephenson sitting at his desk, his phone in his hand, talking angrily to someone on the other end. However, my grin fell just as quickly when I noticed that he had a bodyguard facing the door in there with him, gun drawn. I'd bet my duffel bag that the door was locked, too. 

Seems I'd need to be patient. 

I crouched down further and snuck to another side of the office, I peeked through another opening in the blinds. He continued yelling at someone on the other end. I grimaced and checked my surroundings to make sure that I wouldn't be surprised by someone popping out of one of the cubicles. Content that I didn't have a stalker for the moment, I turned back to the person I was stalking and pressed my ear against the window, hoping to hear what he was saying. 

It, uh, it didn't work. I could hear his voice, but I couldn't make out any particulars beyond some vague words. Certainly nothing that would help out. Though if he wasn't talking about me and/or Rarity, I'd eat my hat. 

Finally, after another ten minutes or so, Stephenson put the phone down and rubbed his forehead. Well good. I'm glad I could give him a migraine. He raised his head and said something to his bodyguard, who promptly walked over to the door and unlocked it. Now or never. I silently moved towards the door as Stephenson and the bodyguard exited the office. I had one shot at this. Do it right, and I'd find out where Rarity was. Do it wrong, and I'd be riddled with bullets and she'd never be free. I waited until the two were about five steps away from the office door before making my move. Before either Stephenson or his bodyguard could register what was going on, I pulled my gun out of my jacket, rushed up to the bodyguard, pistol whipped him in the back of the head as hard as I could, then pointed the gun at Stephenson. 

I did it all so fast, mostly because of adrenaline, that Stephenson didn't even finish turning around by the time I had my gun at his head. 

"Surprise, motherfucker."

Stephenson's mouth twisted into an "O" of surprise for a few moments. I gave him a smug grin despite my instincts telling me that I wasn't completely in control of the situation quite yet. Either way, I didn't have a gun to my head. The bodyguard flopped down like a rag doll when I hit him. He wouldn't be waking up.

Uh... possibly ever. 

Focus, TD, this is about Rarity right now.

Stephenson's shocked expression quickly faded away, and he replaced it with a vaguely amused smile. He raised his hands and gave me a little golf clap. 

"Well done, Mr. Powell. Very well done. You were right about me continually underestimating you." He crossed his arms and leaned against a cubicle. "Pulling the fire alarm to clear the building to get me alone? You can be resourceful."

"Pulling the fire alarm?" I snorted. "No, no, I'm not quite as cliche as that. I put a Hot Pocket wrapped in tin foil in a microwave set for an hour. I'm going to guess that several floors are absolutely ruined by now."

I could tell he didn't want me to see his eye twitch, but that didn't change the fact that I totally did. My smug smile widened as I watched his brain re-boot. Nice to see him on the receiving end of annoyance for a change. 

"You truly do enjoy being a thorn in my side, don't you, Mr. Powell?"

"Gee, what gave it away, the big, smug grin?" I chuckled and motioned to his office with my gun. "But how about we take this conversation somewhere more private and comfortable, yeah?"

"Very well, if you insist. You are the one with the gun, after all."

"Tons of them, actually," I said as we walked into his office. "If your bodyguards burst came onto this floor right now, I could hold them off for quite some time. However, given that I suspect that there is an actual fire in this place, I'm hoping we won't be disturbed for a while." I closed the door behind us and pushed the chair in front of his desk to the side so that I could have a clear view of him. I motioned for him to sit down on the chair, while I perched on top of his desk.

"So let me guess, you want to know where Rarity is," he said dryly. 

"And he gets it in one!" I cried, clapping my hands together. 

"And you have me here at gunpoint in a presumably empty building to interrogate me on her whereabouts. Am I right in suspecting that you'll shoot me if I don't give up her location?"

"Ooh, you're so good at this game!" I scooched back farther on the desk, knocking over a bunch of knick-knacks. "So, since you already know the rules, it shouldn't be too big of a challenge to win. So, I already know she's close by, because I traced that phone call of yours, but I'd like to know the exact location." I tilted my head to him in a sarcastic bow. "If you don't mind."

"Of course, of course. Some preliminary questions before we begin, if I may. Let's say you find her. You know know she's under heavy guard. She's our most valuable asset currently. We've made several medical breakthroughs by studying her. Breakthroughs that have saved countless lives and advanced medicine in amazing ways." He interlocked his fingers and put them behind his head before leaning back in his chair. "Why would you want to stop that? She's doing more good here than she ever did in Equestria, or in your care. Especially in your care."

"She saved the entire planet from utter annihilation in Equestria. Several times."

"Yes, we--" His retort died in his throat, and he cleared his throat before continuing. "Regardless, what she's doing here is wonderful, Mr. Powell. we think we're on the verge of another breakthrough! The science behind the magic in her blood is fascinating. Even if you're heartless and don't care about all of that, how do you intend on successfully escaping with her once you've found her? We're the kind of organization that can attack and FBI convoy. I think we can--"

I had enough. I put my foot on his computer and pushed as hard as I could, sending it right off of the desk, where it smashed onto the floor. I got up from the desk and looked at the wreckage to find the important parts, and when I found one, I stomped on it. 

"What are you doing?! There are important files in there!" Stephenson cried. 

"I'm positive there are," I responded evenly, keeping the gun trained on him. "But let's be real: you can always get another porn collection. We have the internet." I kicked the remains of the computer one more time before hopping back on the desk. "Now, as for your company files, I'm certain you have backups of almost everything that was in your poor, dearly departed computer." I cleared my throat before picking up a piece of paper that looked important and tearing it into several different pieces. 

"Now, here's my preliminary set of questions. You know that every human has their breaking point? Every one is different, but they're all there. In everyone. Once a person is pushed past their breaking point, they start doing things that they're really going to regret later. So, when you take a man who has already been torn from all he's known and loved twice, send armed soldiers to attack him and kidnap a daughter figure who trusts him implicitly and sees him as the one person she can trust on the whole planet, then sends an assassin to murder this same man, followed by taunting him with the sound of his ward's voice, do you count that as actions that would push a man past the point where he's rational?"

Stephenson's relaxed demeanor slowly started to fade away as it dawned on him that he might actually be in trouble. Glad he got it. 

"Now..." I unzipped my bag and took a sawed-off shotgun I looted from Maxot out, causing Stephenson's eyes to go wide. "You see that experimenting on Rarity and using her to advance medicine is a good thing, and objectively I suppose you'd be right. But let me make one thing perfectly clear: it's just you and me in this place right now, and I don't give a tuppenny fuck about what you've done with Rarity's magical blood. You're going to give her back to me with all haste. Do you believe I'm serious now?"

Stephenson's mouth flopped up and down as he tried to formulate a response. I kept the pistol trained on him, visibly fingering the trigger to add a little incentive to him answering. When he didn't I clicked my tongue. 

"One question: where is Rarity?"

"M-Mr. Powell, I assure you that it is in your best interests if we simply make a deal. We were wrong to not take you with us at the start to be a companion for her, I see that now. We can do that now, right?"

"You'll just shoot me the instant you have the chance. No dice."

"Surely we can work something out. You can't just kill me!"

"You're not answering my question," I said in a sing-song voice. "I want to know where she is." I lowered the gun and pointed it straight at his left knee. "Five seconds, Mr. Stephenson."

"I... wait, no!" he cried, curling into a ball on his chair. "I-in the basement of this building we have a secret laboratory where we do much of our research. We have her there. That's why the call was traced here."

"Hmm." I nodded thoughtfully and rubbed at my chin. "Interesting." I raised my gun to his head, giving him a grimace. "Not buyin' it." 

"NO!" he shrieked. "You go down to the basement level, then take your first right. You'll see a door with a keypad. The code is 7-9-4-9. I swear I'm not lying!"

"Hmm." I sighed and slowly lowered the gun. "7-9-4-9, huh?" Stephenson began vigorously nodding. "Well, I guess I'd better head on down there, then."

"There is one thing, though."

"Oh?"

"Given that the fire alarm went off, we've most likely enacted a protocol for a fire evacuation for Rarity. They're taking her somewhere off-site."

"I see." I raised my gun again. "And that would be...?"

"It's about four hours from here. If you follow the main highway east for that long, you'll come up on a Avelon Street. Take a right there. You can't miss it."

"Good, good." I stood up from the desk and put the shotgun back in my bag. "Well, I have everything I need from you, then. If you're lying, you'd better pray that I don't find out, because I already got you once. It wouldn't be hard to do it again, alright?" With that, I began walking out of his office, leaving him shivering on the chair. Just as I reached the door, a thought struck me, and I turned back around. "So I just realized that the second I leave, you're going to tell them that I'm coming. Maybe get the police involved or something? You'll try to hinder my efforts in some way, and you'll likely be very successful at it. I walked over to his desk and smashed his phone. Then, once he'd relaxed, I raised my gun and shot him twice. Once in each kneecap. 

Somehow the screams were louder than the gunshots, and my conscience was absolutely ripping into me. I hastily dropped my gun into my duffel bag, not really wanting anything to do with it right then. I groaned and put my head in my hands as I walked out of the office, pointedly ignoring the security guard who still wasn't moving. 

I couldn't focus on that. I had to get Rarity back. I just needed to get Rarity back. 
> Arrival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I moved as quickly as I could to the basement on the off-chance that they decided to wait to see if the fire was legit, or if they hadn't finished loading Rarity yet. Thankfully, the building had cleared out, so I had a clear path to my destination. I held out my shotgun in front of me, quickly looking around corners to see if anyone was coming before walking down every hallway. Somehow I managed to do that and be speedy on my way down to the basement. If Stephenson hadn't called down, and, injured as he was, I was pretty sure he hadn't, then I could make it with no incidents. 

I reached the final floor and gently opened the door noticing the right that Stephenson had pointed out for me. The basement itself was empty, though. I did see, with some chagrin, tire skid marks leading away from me. Fresh, too, if the coloration was an indication. I gritted my teeth and quickly walked up to the door with the keypad, keeping my shotgun level the whole time. I reached it and punched in the key code: 7-9-4-9. The red light next to the keypad instantly turned green, and I heard the sound of a lock being undone. I threw the door open and rushed inside, not even caring that if they had laid a trap for me in here, I'd be screwed. 

At first glance, though, the laboratory seemed as empty as the rest of the garage. 

I cursed and began doing a sweep of the rooms. Nobody around, but I could tell that they had left in a hurry. Papers had been scattered all over the floor, while filing cabinets and closets had been flung open and emptied. I moved further into the laboratory, stopping when I felt my foot hit something. I looked down, and my eyes narrowed. 

It was a vial of blood marked "Rarity sample 15".

If they thought that I wasn't going to start using force before. I know Stephenson said something about them tracing the magic in her blood, but seeing it laid out before my like this... Somebody needed to die for this. If I wasn't in a hurry, I'd run back up to Stephenson and finish him off. This... no. Too far. 

The rest of the search proved uneventful. Everyone had left. I'd probably missed them by twenty minutes. But that meant that I was only twenty minutes behind them. I ran back through the laboratory to get back to my car, when something caught my eye in one of the half-open containers. I knelt down and picked it up, smiling when I realized what I held. 

A bullet-proof vest. 

That'd probably come in handy if push came to shove. If I got Rarity and found myself in a firefight, then it'd be good protection for her while I tried to deal with things. I stood up and threw the vest on before continuing out of the laboratory, feeling a little emboldened with the extra protection. 

I ran in the direction of the skid marks until I reached a large garage door. I found the control panel for it and raised the door, sliding under it when I had enough room. Still no sign of anyone setting a trap for me. Good, that meant that they didn't know why the fire alarm had gone off, and thus didn't expect me to be following them. That would give me a slight advantage. Seeing no one who posed a threat, I put my shotgun back in my bag and ran towards my car. I hoped that any responders were letting people leave, otherwise I'd be in trouble. I'd do whatever I had to do to get out of the area and to the people holding Rarity, but the cops getting involved would significantly impede my progress. 

I circled the building until I reached the front, where a large crowd had gathered. I couldn't see any smoke coming from inside the building, so the sprinklers seemed to be doing their job. It didn't matter to me by that point. I'd gotten the information I needed. 

As I made my way toward my car, I saw a group of paramedics running out of the building, rolling a stretcher alongside them. 

A stretcher carrying Stephenson. 

He didn't seem to be responsive, as I saw no movement from him. He already had an oxygen mask on, and a few medics had started working on his knees to stem the bleeding. When one of them put pressure on his left knee, he groaned and began convulsing a little from the pain. His eyes open and he looked around the crowd as a nurse tried to comfort him. 

We made eye contact for a brief moment. 

His eyes widened, and he looked up at the nurse and began slowly pointing a finger in my direction, trying to make some kind of noise. Being strapped down and undoubtedly in a ton of pain, his efforts didn't have the most success, something that suited me just fine. Still, I didn't need to hang around in case he did manage to get their attention, so I resumed my trek back to my car. Thankfully I'd parked it far enough away that nobody really paid attention to it, allowing me to get in and start it up. A few people looked in my direction, but no one made any effort to stop me. No cops had seen me yet, so I pressed the gas pedal and drove away, trying to hurry yet remain inconspicuous.  

Every few seconds I glanced into my rear-view mirror, half expecting to see a fleet of police cars starting to chase me. That would be pretty much the worst. I couldn't save Rarity if I was doing life in prison. If I made it that far. If this company was the kind who had no problem sending assassins after twenty somethings if they thought that they were a threat, then I'd be shivved in prison no question. Seeing no one follow me, though, I pressed down on the gas pedal a little more and sped away from the chaos of my own making behind me. 


*  *  *  *


I started gaining speed once I reached a more deserted area of the state. I began to hope that I would reach the convoy before they got to their base, otherwise I'd probably never get Rarity back. I might as well be infiltrating a fortress. I quickly came to realize that if I could get Rarity back before they arrived, I'd have a much better chance of getting away with her. 

Of course, they already had a nice head start on me, and probably wouldn't be moving very slowly to boot. I grimaced and pushed the gas pedal down a little more. 

An hour went by. Nothing. Another hour. Still no sign of a convoy, or any other cars for that matter. Either they had an even bigger head start than I thought, or Stephenson was lying about where they were going, and I shattered his knees for nothing other than catharsis. With him unavailable, I'd never be able to get Rarity back. Not without serious luck, and a lot of help I had no reason to suspect would arrive. 

Gosh, I was starting to miss Celestia. I hated that a lot. 

As I continued to drive, I saw something in the distance. Something that looked like... dust. As in the sort of dust that a car that was moving rather quickly would make. I made sure that I could reach my gun if I needed it and sped up. Within minutes my suspicions were confirmed: I had found a convoy of four black SUVs, all driving in the direction of the lab I'd been told about. 

I'd bet my life that one of them had Rarity in them. 

I pulled out my gun and rolled down my window, ready to open fire on the cars if need be. I found my suspicions confirmed rather quickly when a man in a suit leaned out of the back windows of the car directly in front of me holding a pistol. 

I swerved to avoid the incoming gunfire, and ducked behind the steering wheel as the bullets shattered my windshield. I popped my head up and returned fire, causing the other guy to duck for cover. The convoy sped up, causing me to do the same. I needed to find out which car had Rarity. Then stop the convoy and get her out. Then get away. Ideally without killing anyone. If I caused the cars to crash, Rarity could be hurt. I needed to make them stop before the situation got too far out of control.

I floored the gas pedal and rammed my car into the back of the one in front of me, just as the guy with the gun popped out of the back window again. He struggled to stay in the car, but in the process, he dropped his gun on the road. One less problem, I guess. I rammed the back of the car again, causing it to ram into the car in front of it. The driver of the second car swerved a little bit, but managed to get back in formation without going off the road. Good thing, too, as I suspected that Rarity would be in one of the middle cars. Given the damage to the back car, it slowed down enough that I managed to speed past it to get on the side of the car in front of it. The driver and I exchanged glares before I rammed my car into his, making him swerve again. He didn't manage to get control before the car behind collided with him, knocking them both out of the running. 

Before I could stop to see if either car had Rarity, I took a glance at the third car in the convoy. 

What I saw made my heart stop. 

One of the men inside had a gun drawn, but not at me. Instead, he had it pointed at the temple of a muzzled, sobbing Rarity. Ignoring the other cars, I sped up to meet this one, but the man jostled Rarity in his grasp. The message was clear: stop this or I'll kill her. 

I had mere seconds to make a choice. On one hand, he might kill her as revenge for everything. On the other, Rarity was one of the most valuable commodities in the world right now. She had made several people extremely rich. If this jerk killed her, they'd never find the pieces of him, and I doubted that he didn't know that. 

I had one shot at this. If it failed, I'd get us both killed. 

Taking a deep breath, I let go of the steering wheel and grabbed my gun with both hands, even as my mind screamed at me that this was a stupid thing to do. I took aim at the guy holding Rarity and squeezed off one shot just as I released my breath. 

Time slowed to a crawl as the bullet sailed forward. My car began swerving now that I had let go of the steering wheel at this speed, but I didn't focus on that. I focused on my target. Just like my job in the shooting range. Steady, relaxed, deep breath. Focus on where the target will be when you fire. 

The man's head snapped back as the bullet entered his forehead. He instantly went limp and dropped both his gun and Rarity. I gasped and grabbed my steering wheel, just as my car began spinning out of control. Now that I knew Rarity's location, I needed to get her out of there. It took me a few precious seconds, but I finally managed to regain control of my car. I floored it again and reached the SUV holding Rarity. I pointed my gun out of the windshield once more and fired a shot right into the back left wheel. 

Now, action movies would have you believe that such a shot causes the car to swerve and flip over a dozen times before blowing into an abstract shape that vaguely resembles Michael Bay. While it's naturally not good for the tire to lose air that rapidly, it won't quite do that. 

Except for maybe the swerving part. 

The driver tried his best to get control of the car before I could get to him, but he spun out of control just long enough for me to pass him and move my car in his way. The lead car in the convoy slammed on its brakes before turning around to deal with me. Now that I'd taken the car holding Rarity out of commission, they didn't have any reason to keep going forward. I quickly grabbed my gun bag and hopped out of the passenger side of the car. I pulled out my Smith & Wesson and emptied the chamber into the windshield of the car coming at me. It started swerving wildly out of control. Seems I'd hit the driver. It crashed into a ditch on the side of the road, and when nobody got out of it to get after me, I turned around and ran towards the car holding Rarity, shotgun in hand. The driver saw me coming and started backing up, but pointing my gun at his head seemed to stop that nonsense. He hit the brakes and raised his hands to his head. 

I took a deep breath and rushed up to the car, keeping my gun trained on the driver. Once I got close enough, I opened the door and backed away, motioning for the driver to get out with my gun. 

"If you cooperate, no one else has to get hurt," I said, glaring at him. "You and everybody else in there had better get out of the car before I start getting annoyed."

"Yeah, sure," the driver croaked out. 

"And no guns, of course. That should go without saying."

"Of course."

I took another step back and watched as the car doors opened and three people in suits got out. They opened up their jackets and turned their pockets out to show me that they were unarmed. 

"On your knees, and don't try anything funny," I said through gritted teeth. "I really don't want to have to spill any more blood than I already have, but I will if I have to, got it?"

The three nodded and got on their knees, keeping their hands at head level. Content that they wouldn't give me any problems, I rushed to the back of the car and threw the trunk open. 

And there she was. 

Rarity lay curled up into a ball, shivering next to the corpse of the guy who had a gun to her head. I put my gun down on the floor of the car, reached forward, and gently took her muzzle off. Her speech returned, her sobs grew louder as I put my hand on her back. 

"Hey, it's okay, Rarity. I've got you now," I said in my best soothing tone. She flinched back when I touched her, but at the sound of my voice, she stopped shivering and looked up at me with wide, watery eyes. 

"F-Father?" she whispered after a moment. "Is it really you?"

I smiled, already feeling tears welling up in my own eyes, and nodded. "Yeah, it's me. I'm here to get you out of here, okay? I'm going to make sure that nobody ever even thinks about taking you away from me again. You're safe now."

Rarity sniffled and wiped her eyes with her hoof as I reached into the car and lifted her out of it, holding her close to me and letting her rest her head on my shoulder. 

And for a brief moment, we both allowed ourselves to cry.
> Come On!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We carried on for a few minutes. The three henchmen didn't even try to stop us, which was good. I didn't want to spill any more blood than I already had, and I especially didn't want Rarity to see something like that...

Again, I guess. She couldn't have missed the guy holding her getting his head blown off. Hopefully Celestia could help with those memories.

If she came back for us at all. She might not know how to get us back. Then what? Go to my family who thought I was dead? Run until we can't run anymore, then die in isolation or in a blaze of glory during one last stand? If we ran long enough, did I need to start teaching Rarity how to use guns?

I pushed those thoughts aside. I had to get Rarity away from here. I picked up my shotgun and slung it over my back, allowing me two free hands to carry Rarity. She continued sniffling, leaning her head on my chest as though I was the one good thing in this world. Well, to her I would be. I began walking towards my car, glaring at the three henchmen as we passed them by. They all shot me looks of.... sympathy? Regret? I dunno, I guess that even for them, the sight of a tired, drained man carrying a sobbing, blood-stained child is enough to evoke feelings of shame in anyone. Neither side spoke a word. 

When I reached my car, I opened the passenger side door and gently put Rarity on the seat, taking care to buckle her in. I'd just gotten her back after a year. I wasn't going to let the fact that my car didn't make it out of the chase in the best shape hurt her. 

Content that Rarity was safe, I got into the driver's seat and drove away at a speedy, but still reasonable pace. Heh, I'd just killed several people and I was worried about the speed limit. The thought caused a humorless smile to cross my face, something that fell when Rarity spoke.

"F-Father... what now?'

"Uh, good question, Rarity." I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand, keeping my eyes on the road. "Right now I think we need to go somewhere to recuperate and clean up, yeah?" Another humorless grin crossed my face. "I don't know about you, but I could use a shower and a nap."

"Yes, I suppose so," Rarity muttered. 

It's odd, but given that Rarity and I hadn't seen each other for a year, and I'd now just rescued her, I thought we'd have more to say to each other. But no, we just sat in silence as I drove down the road. I guess neither one of us really had the energy required for much thought. It'd probably hit us pretty hard tomorrow, but for now, I think we needed to get away from it all. 

After about four hours of driving, we hit civilization again. I didn't even really care where we were, just as long as we put as much distance between us and them as possible. I couldn't deny the fact that they'd be coming for us. They always would, I guess, and eventually I'd need more than guns to stop them. 

After a half hour of driving around in the city, we came across a hotel. I looked at it and figured that for the moment, it'd do. I parked in the parking garage across the street and shut off the car. 

"Okay, so I found us a hotel to relax in for a little bit, okay?" I said, putting a comforting hand on Rarity's head. "I'll get you cleaned up in there, but to get you in..." I hesitated. "You're going to need to go in the bag. Just for a little bit, though, until we get to our room!"

"Okay," Rarity said blankly. 

I unbuckled the two of us and started moving the contents of the bag around to various pockets, or taking out things I didn't think we'd need. I kept most of the guns, though. We'd need them if they came for us in the hotel. It's moments like that which make me hate my life. I had to smuggle a blood-stained child into a hotel in a duffel bag of guns just so we could get some peace, quiet, and protection for a night or two. I couldn't begin to imagine how to make this all right for her. Maybe it never would be. 

I got out of my car and walked into the hotel as carefully as I could so as to not jostle Rarity around too much. Upon entering, I went up to the front desk, where a bored looking concierge sat reading some book I'd never heard of. 

"Hey, I'd like a single room."

The concierge looked up at me with a hint of annoyance, as if it was some great pain that she had to do her job. "How long would you like it for?"

"Just a night or two," I said, pulling some cash out of my pocket. 

"One night or two? The cost is different."

"Uh... one night for now, then we'll see if I need to stay a second night."

"Fine," she grumbled. "Sixty bucks."

I counted out the money and tossed it on the counter. She scooped it up and went to some back room to get my key. As I waited, my gaze traveled up to a muted television showing some stupid comedy. I drummed my fingers on the counter and continued watching to kill the time.

That's when the show cut out, and the words "breaking news" flashed across the screen, followed by an image of the convoy I'd just trashed. I brought a hand up to my mouth, my heart beating a mile a minute and my breath becoming shallow. No no no no no. Not now. 

I tried to act casual as the concierge came back with my room key. I hoped she wouldn't turn around to look at the TV. Who knew if they had gotten a picture of me somehow? 

"Room 64," she said, sliding the key across the counter to me. "Your checkout time is twenty four hours from now. If you want to stay another night, you'll have to let us know before then."

"Right, thanks," I said a little too quickly. "I'll be sure to do that. Have a good day." 

I snatched the key off of the counter and walked away as quickly as I could without drawing suspicion or hurting Rarity. I glanced back at the front desk just in time to see the concierge look up to the TV, which was still reporting on the mayhem I'd caused. Not good.

I went into my room and gently set the duffel bag on the bed, unzipping it so that Rarity could come out.

"Hey, Rarity, how are you doing?" I said with a weak smile. "Are you okay? Were you comfortable enough in there?"

"I suppose so," Rarity said, hopping off of the bed. "Right now I just..." Her jaw wobbled, and a pair of tears streaked down her face. "I just want to get this off of me. I don't like thinking about it."

Right, the blood.

"Of course." I looked around and spotted the bathroom. "We'll get a shower going for you. You don't have to think about it much longer, okay?"

"I don't ever want to go back there, Father," Rarity whimpered. "I didn't like it there. Not for a moment."

"I know, Rarity, I know." I led her into the bathroom and turned on the taps in the shower. "You won't ever have to go back to them again, I promise. Even if they do follow us, they're not going to take you. I'll make sure of that."

The two of us stayed silent while I waited for the water to warm up. Once it did, I gently placed Rarity in the tub, letting the water clear away the blood from her coat.

"Okay, I need to go check on something really quickly. I'll be right back." Rarity whimpered again and grabbed my hand.

"Don't go. I don't want to be alone."

I smiled at her and knelt down to her level. "Hey, you're not alone anymore, okay?" I began gently stroking her mane. "I'm just in the other room, alright? It'll only be for a minute, then I'll come right back. You're safe here with me. Just get cleaned up, then we'll figure something out. If you need me, just let me know. I'm not leaving. That's a promise."

Rarity sniffled and nuzzled my hand before letting it go, allowing me to stand up.

"Don't be gone long."

"I'm not even going to leave our room, Rarity. No one can get in either. I'll be back in a few minutes. Just get cleaned up, then I'll try to see about getting something for us to eat."

"Okay," Rarity whispered, moving farther under the stream of water. "Just please come back. I don't want to be away from you."

"You won't be. You'll be fine. I'll make sure of that."

Content that Rarity had calmed down enough for me to leave her alone for a few minutes, I walked out of the bathroom, keeping the door cracked so that she could still see me if she wanted to. No more closed doors for her. 

I found the TV remote in the room and turned the TV on. I didn't have to search for more than a few seconds before I found a channel reporting on the story. The image that flashed onto the screen showed the security footage of the lobby of Roshab Inc. Me on the phone with a gun pointed at the receptionist. Text scrolled on the bottom of the screen, calling my actions "domestic terrorism." My face didn't appear to be visible, but still... if anyone saw me recently, they'd still have some suspicions of my identity. 

Someone like the concierge at the front desk of this very hotel.

I cursed and unzipped my duffel bag, taking out the shotgun and hiding it underneath a pillow so that Rarity couldn't see it, but I'd still be able to reach it quickly. I stuffed my pistol into my pocket and turned back to the TV.

Somehow things had gotten worse. 

Instead of the security footage, the image had changed to one right outside of the hotel. The camera showed black vans swarming around the place, and men in suits swarming out of them. Of course Roshab would have its own security force. I imagined that some bribes went into this. I cursed again and began laying my guns out on the bed. Even as I did, one prevalent thought kept repeating in my mind. One undeniable fact that I couldn't deny at this point.

They'd cornered us. We couldn't get out of this one. Maybe they'd take Rarity alive to keep experimenting on her, but I had no chance. After everything I'd done, they couldn't leave me alive. Not that they would if they could. 

I wheeled around when I heard the sound of a key card swiping through the door lock of my door. I snatched the shotgun out from under the pillow and pointed it at the door. I'd go down fighting. That much I knew. My vest might extend my life for a few more minutes. Just enough to take a few of them with me. 

The door swung open, and I raised the gun to fire. The first thing through that door would get a face full of shotgun pellets. 

But... it turns out that I didn't need to do that. In fact, I don't know if it would have worked even if I tried. I slowly lowered the gun to my side and glared ahead. 

"Freaking took you long enough," I growled. "I just got her back after over a year, you know."

"Yes... I am sorry about that. I have been trying, TD. Do know that."

"I know, Celestia."
> Going Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I still think you suck."

Celestia entered my room, followed by, thankfully enough, Luna and the Elements. Each of them wore one of the Elements of Harmony, with Luna wearing Rarity's. At the back of the group, the baffled concierge stood with her mouth and eyes wide open. When all of the ponies had entered, Twilight turned back to her with a comforting smile. 

"Thank you, miss. We're not going to be long. We'll be out of your mane before you know it." Then, she levitated a few bits into the concierge's front pocket, and shut the door.

"So, to business," Celestia said, looking down at my collection of guns. "I assume that these are some weapon to defend yourself against harm?"

"Yeah." I sat down on the bed and rubbed my temples. "I wouldn't have even gotten to Rarity if I didn't have them." 

"Do they kill, or incapacitate?" Twilight asked, leaning in to examine them.

"Depends on how good you are with using them, but their primary use is to kill."

Twilight flinched and backed away from the bed. "Oh... uh, I see. And you've used them to kill?"

My silence told them everything. However, before I said anything else, a tiny voice interrupted the calm.

"Father? Who are these ponies?"

All of us turned toward the bathroom door, where Rarity stood, all dried off and staring at us with uncertainty. I gave her a comforting smile and sat down next to her to keep her calm.

"Rarity, these are ponies from your world, remember? You watched the show when you were in my room at school. These are the ponies in the show. They've come to take us back with them where we'll be safe."

"Oh..." Rarity blinked owlishly at Celestia before slowly nodding. "Yes... I think I remember that now. I'd forgotten after..." Rarity's ear twitched, and I saw a shiver go down her spine. What the heck happened to her in there if she couldn't even remember Equestria?

"Do not worry, my little pony," Celestia said, putting a hoof on Rarity's shoulder. The moment she did, Rarity stopped her shivering. Good. If she felt safe around Celestia, even subconsciously, then that would help her a lot with reintegrating into Equestrian society. 

"So I suppose it would be best if we left sooner rather than later, right?" I said, getting to my feet. "Because, ah..." I pointed to the TV, which showed more and more people with guns showing up. "They're not going to give us very long."

"How long do we have?" Luna asked, looking at the TV with curiosity. "How can you tell from this device?"

"Because those are images from outside the hotel," I replied. If you look out the window, you'll see the same thing, but I wouldn't. If they spot us looking out, then they'll know exactly where we are."

"Then we have no time to waste," Celestia said, pumping magic into her horn. "The spell to bring us back to Equestria is complex, and it will take a few minutes to make the portal stable enough for all of us to go through without incident. Luna, if you would."

Luna walked next to her sister and ignited her own horn, pouring magic out of it in tandem with Celestia. The two streams of magic began intertwining in the middle of the room, and after a moment, it combined to form what I could already tell was a small portal. Not nearly large enough for any of us to go through, but a start, for sure.

That's when we all heard a banging sound on the door. 

"Open up in there and surrender your weapons!" said a gruff voice. "We have the place surrounded! There's no way out!"

"How's that portal coming, Celestia?" I growled, rushing over to my guns and collecting the shotgun, which I pointed at the door. "We've got seconds."

"We'll need more time than that, I'm afraid," Celestia said. I could already hear the strain in her voice. 

I growled and turned to Twilight and her friends. "Okay, you five protect Rarity. Do whatever you have to." I turned the safety of the shotgun off. "I'll make sure that they don't get in."

"But how?" Rainbow Dash asked, worry in her voice. "They have those gun thingies too, right?"

"You have ten seconds before we're blowing the door down!" the voice shouted again. 

"Yeah, but I've got this." I tapped on my bulletproof vest. "They can't hurt me with their guns while I'm wearing this. It's designed to stop bullets from hitting me."

"So your world does have some kind of magic then," Twilight said.

I shook my head. "No, this is technology. Almost as good."

"Three seconds!"

"Move into position!" I shouted, pointing the gun at the crack of the door. "Make sure Rarity's okay! It's gonna get loud."

I heard the order to go from the other side. Now or never. Success or death. 

The door opened up, and the people on the other side tossed three canisters in, which instantly went off. Tear gas. I flinched back, expecting to be completely blinded by the stuff, but Twilight ignited her horn and dispelled the gas, something that came as a rather big shock to the enemy coming through the door. My shotgun and I made sure he didn't really have long to think about it. He fell to the ground, allowing me to see the other people in the security force behind him. My second shotgun blast didn't hit anyone, but it sure as heck made them all scatter down the hall. I picked up one of the tear gas canisters and tossed it out the door. 

I figure I'd bought us a few seconds at most. 

"We almost ready, Celestia?" I shouted. "I'm not going to be able to stop them for long!"

"Just a few more minutes, TD!" she replied.

I could already hear the sound of footsteps thundering down the hall to our position. I put a few more shells into the shotgun to top it off. 

"We're not going to make it like this!" I replied. "I'll go hold them off!"

"Father, no!" Rarity moaned. "They'll kill you!"

I turned back to her with a smile and tapped my chest. "Bulletproof vest, remember? They can't hurt me." I ran over to the door, my gun pointed to the hall. "I'll be back in a few minutes once I've driven them off. Just keep it open until I get back."

"Hurry back!" Celestia cried. "We can't keep it stable forever!"

"Won't need to. I'll be fine."


*  *  *  *


TD ran out the door and shut it behind him, allowing me to focus my attention on opening up the portal. I could already see the interior of my throne room becoming clearer on the other side. We would not require more than a minute at most now. I tried to ignore the loud banging sounds outside the room. They were unlike anything I'd ever heard before.

With one more burst of magic, the portal expanded until it nearly filled the room. My throne room became plainly visible on the other side. My staff would be there to ensure Rarity and TD were healthy, and treat any wounds that they may have incurred. 

"It is time, Twilight. Take your friends and leave this place."

"But father's not back yet!" Rarity moaned. "He said he'd come back!"

"What are we going to do if TD doesn't come back in time, Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked. "We can't just leave him here!"

"We won't!" I insisted. "I will make sure that TD is okay, I promise! Now go!"

Without another word, Twilight levitated Rarity onto her back and leaped through the portal. Her friends followed quickly, though Rainbow Dash spared one last look of worry before returning to Equestria. 

"They're safe, Luna," I said. 

"Yet TD has not returned," Luna replied. 

"I know. I made a promise to keep him safe. How long do you think you can keep the portal open?"

"As long as it takes, sister," Luna said through gritted teeth. "Find that stubborn being and bring him back here!"

I severed my magical connection with the portal and turned to the door. I encased myself with a form fitting shield spell and entered the hallway in search of TD.

The carnage before me... I could not believe it. These human weapons that TD wielded frightened me. I'm not ashamed to admit that. I hoped my shield spell protected me from them. I'd never come across such things.

A few dead bodies and a lot of blood lined the hallway. None of the corpses belonged to TD, so I simply followed the trail of blood. I turned a corner and saw a group of enemy soldiers coming down the hall, and more blood. The soldiers instantly stopped at the sight of me, and one raised his weapon to attack me. I heard that loud noise again, and felt something bounce against my head, but once my ears stopped ringing, I realized that I remained unharmed. I glared down at the soldiers before me and shot a beam of magic at the one who'd attacked me. He flew against the opposite wall, and I heard bones crack on impact. 

"Holy crap!" one of them yelled. "Retreat!"

The remaining soldiers ran for their lives. I doubt even Rainbow Dash could match their speed. Content that I would not be bothered, I ran down the hall, following the trail of chaos before me. 

"TD!" I called out. "We must leave! If you can hear me, it's time to go!"

"Yeah, I'm sure it is."

I spun to my right and gasped when I saw the sight before me. TD sat with his back to some metal container labeled "ice" in a small outlet of the hallway, two dead bodies before him. He gave me a weak smile and a small salute. 

"Wondered if you might show up," he said quietly. "Is Rarity safe?"

"She is. She's back in Equestria with her friends." I walked into the room, being careful to not disturb the bodies. "Now it is time for us to return. Luna's keeping the portal open, but she can't do it forever." I nudged TD with my wing to get him standing, but all that caused was a hiss of pain from him. I frowned and sat before him. 

"TD? Are you okay?"

He chuckled and slowly raised the gun he held. "So... you know how I said this vest would protect against bullets? Well, it does a great job of protecting against the bullets that this kind of gun fires." He set his arm down and motioned to the bodies, one of which had a much larger weapon in his hand. "Against those kinds of guns? Not so much."

My eyes widened at the implication, and I shot to my hooves. "How badly are you hurt? I can heal your wounds before we return to Equestria."

I charged up my horn for my most powerful healing spell, but as I did, TD looked up at me with an expression that I will remember for the rest of my days. He looked... tired. Sad, almost.

"Yeah. I guess you could."

I powered down my horn and stared at him blankly. "But you do not wish for me to do so."

"You said Rarity's back, and that's good enough for me." He coughed, and a trickle of blood came out of his mouth. "I worked for over a year to protect her and keep her safe. I failed for a long time. But she's back now. So I guess you could say that my work is done."

"You are young, TD. You can have a good, long life if you let me help you."

"Where? In Equestria?" He shook his head. "It's not where I belong. Like I said: Rarity's safe. I protected her in the end and got her home. That's enough. I don't need any more."

"Are you truly certain, TD? You never have to be alone. We can help you."

TD did not reply. He did not even move. Bracing myself, I scanned him with my magic and bowed my head when it confirmed what I already knew anyway. Using my magic, I closed his eyes and took the weapons from his hands and removed the vest. With a single spell, I disintegrated them. As one final gesture, I used my healing spell to mend all of his wounds. I couldn't bring him back, but I could do that much. 

That much and nothing more. 

"This is not the end for you, TD. I am sure of it. Go be happy now."

I walked out of the room without looking back. 

When I reached the room with the portal, I went through without saying a word to Luna.


*  *  *  *


Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came through the portal a few minutes after the rest of us. My age and memories returned once I entered Equestria again, and the examination by the castle doctor revealed no injuries. I pushed him aside and stood up when the princesses returned, expecting to see TD with them, laughing about the insane adventure we'd just had. 

But he wasn't there. I squeaked when Celestia shut the portal behind them, and ran up to her. 

"Princess Celestia, where is TD?" I asked, desperation and fear in my voice. "He's okay, isn't he? You said you'd make sure he was!"

Celestia paused for a moment before looking down at me, that serene smile on her face that I knew well. "TD is okay, Rarity. He... he found a way home."

My initial reaction was one of joy. I knew returning home drove him above all else. The fact that, after everything that had happened, he still managed to find a way back to his parents and sister, well, I couldn't think of a being who deserved such a reward more. 

But then...

But then I registered Princess Celestia's brief pause. Her smile, despite her best efforts, I'm sure, didn't quite reach her eyes. I quietly gasped and brought a hoof up to my mouth, tears brimming in her eyes. Princess Celestia instantly sat beside me and wrapped me in her wings for a comforting, warm hug. 

"I did not lie to you, Rarity. What happened has hurt us all, but he found a way home."
> Final Report
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

FBI Report on Incident 452: Codename Filly.

Casualty report: 14 KIA, two WIA.

CEO of [REDACTED] suffered two gunshot wounds, one to each knee. Left leg amputated above the knee. Surgeries saved the right leg, but restored next to none of its mobility.

13 members of their security force KIA. Three surviving witnesses of a convoy carrying [REDACTED] taken into custody. Congressional investigation enacted of the aforementioned company. Stock price plummets overnight.

The final casualty, [REDACTED], will be referred to as "John Doe." John Doe entered the Witness Protection Program on [REDACTED]. DOB: 11/13/92. DOD:10/13/15.

Despite being surrounded by the bodies of the security force, no wounds were found on John Doe. Nor was he carrying any weapons at the time of his death. A search of Room 64 revealed several other weapons, all bearing his fingerprints, and fifty five thousand, eight hundred and thirty dollars in U.S. currency. Bank records indicate the money did not come from his account. The cause of death is unknown at this time. No weapons were found matching any of the gunshot wounds suffered by the casualties in the hotel. Several people taken into custody after the incident claim they saw [REDACTED]. Security footage of the lobby confirms the testimony of the concierge on duty at the time, as well as several civilian witnesses, but the testimony of the members of the security force cannot be verified at this time. 

It is known that [REDACTED] also did not carry any weapons that match the wounds of the casualties found in the hotel. [REDACTED] were seen wearing jeweled necklaces, save for [REDACTED] though their purpose was unknown. [REDACTED] matched the descriptions of characters seen in the children's TV show [REDACTED]. Operatives have been sent to question the creators to gain more insight. 

Agents Angelia Tanner and Ethan Johnson, the two agents tasked to stay connected with John Doe, have been placed on leave, pending an investigation following these events. 

John Doe was cremated on 10/20/15. His ashes were scattered in [REDACTED].