> Everypony Needs A Payday
>  by Cobolt Soundwave
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Only the Beginning (Prologue)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Prologue

                                                 
"HAHAHAHA WE'RE IN THE CLEAR!"
"WOOOOOHOOOOO!"
"Great work, professional work guys!"
"Bringing the reality check!"

With the cheers of the four heisters done, the getaway van peeled off with them riding in the back. The loot van, and its two decoys, drove off into the sunset so to speak. Five hundred million. Five hundred million in cold, hard cash. Now we can do with it what we please.

"Never again do we have to work a day in our lives, but, this was just the end, the grand finale to all of our hard work of getting to the top. You wanna hear how we got here? Well then, let's bring this all the way back. Back to the beginning, when we first starting out doing this gig. Back to when we became...The Payday Crew."

"I know where to start off now. We were just lounging around in our, uhh, 'safe house' if you will. Just screwing around, waiting for our next contract. When we got a call on the phone."



There was a high-pitched ringing echoing throughout the house. I only knew of one pony who would call us at random times during the day. No matter where we were at. It was impossible to time when they’d call, but we’d all know.

I walked over to grab the phone and answered it, but before I could say anything, a voice spoke from the other side. A voice we knew very well.
"I got a new job for you guys," said a gruff voice. "Check your e-mail."

I put the phone down and left it on speaker phone as I walked over to the computer sitting on the desk not more than a few feet away from where we were hanging around. I turned the monitor on and opened up my e-mail program, and I saw a new notification saying, "Happy Heisting."

Within the e-mail were directions to a nightclub that had opened up no more than two weeks ago. Thing is, that place had made a killing in just that time, so much so, that the nightclub that was already there and home to the towns resident DJ, DJ-Pon3. It was putting them in a slump, and if that place didn't leave of start doing poorly, then they would end up closing, putting the mare out of a job.

"Hey gang," I turned to look at my associates. "Time for a job."

"What's the job?" Asked a big dragon sitting on the couch with a beer in his claw. This guy was big. When I say big, I mean tall, and completely stacked. This guy could bench press both me and one other fellow member of the group. He had a dark grey to an almost black colored skin and crimson scales on the tops of his feet and hands and all along his chest, as well as a patch of scales on his muzzle. Even though he didn't have scales all along his arms and legs, his skin was pretty tough. When somepony tells him he has thick skin, they're right. He has a set of big brown feathery wings as well. Now, the reason the wings are like that is because his father was a dragon and his mother was a Griffon. Boy, was that an interesting wedding. On his head sat a set of slightly curved horns and a pair of crimson ear frills. He had a few scars on him, some from surviving a few close calls while others were from a previous little altercation with another dragon. The most noticeable one was the one starting from his eye-ridge and ending a bit below his eye. Last but not least was his blue Draconian eyes.
This guy, if you didn't know it by now, was the muscle of the group, the Enforcer if you will. He's in charge of the ammunition. He's also the guy that keeps the cops off our asses when we have to make a break for it. He loves his shotguns though. From semi, to pump action. He's a nut with those things, can name them just by looking at 'em.

"It's a nightclub. looks like we're gonna knock it over and then frame the guy in charge somehow."

I spun around to see Jei, our little spook...literally, at the computer. The son of a bitch could go all phantom-y and just slip past guards and security measures alike. That's why he's our Ghost. You'll know him by his purple mane and tail with a light pink strip in it running down the middle. His fur is a light grey, and tends wear a purple scarf with his outfits. Beyond that, not much is known about him. It's all a mystery. It's for the better, I suppose. He is supposed to be a mystery, like a Ghost. 

He prefers to use silenced weapons. Doesn't matter what kind, assault rifles, pistols, shotguns, sub-machine guns, even a sniper rifle every now and again. As long as it's silenced, he's happy. He can crack open safes, pack anything loose into our loot bags with some crazy speed, and not very suspicious when it comes to stealthing around. He's got some electronic jammers on hand too. Perfect for busting open ATM machines, or doors that have an electronic lock. He's got some skills with knocking a guard or any law man on his ass. He's great with C.Q.C.. Plus to add to that, the suckers fast as hell.

"Sounds good, as long as I can hurt some ponies that deserve it, and if the cops show up, I get some target practice with my rifle."

And that's Rin. The only half-demon pony that I know of so far. She's a unicorn with a short, black messy mane, several piercings in her ears, and has a demon-esque tail with a tuft of fur at the tip of it. She loves to blow things up and destruction in general, therefore, she's the group's Technician. She's in charge of keeping the drill and any other heist equipment in working order, plus she handles the the C-4 charges. She specifically uses semi-automatic rifles of all kinds, sniper rifles, a grenade launcher -- which is her favorite weapon out of all of them -- and she's the one that brings the mini-turret gun. She handles the operation of building and customizing our weapons, too. She's a whiz when it comes to unjamming the drill when it gets stuck. 

"Haha, take it easy there Miss Destruction. First things first. We need more info and we need to make a plan A, and a plan B in case shit hits the fan."

Then there's me. The team's Mastermind. I handle the plan making, and make sure the no matter what happens, we make it out in one piece. I'm also in charge of the team's medical supplies. If somepony gets shot up or takes a big hit, I'm there to make sure they can keep on going. I've been told before that I'm the most intimidating of the group. Forget about Onyx for a second, because if I tell you to get down, you listen.

I've gotten a law enforcer to get on his knees and then cuff himself. Only to turn him against his friends and have him help us out by being an extra gun for us. Pistols and assault rifles are my genre. Silenced or not, I'm the best with those kinds of weapons. I can bargain my way to getting quality information and help for a lot less then it should be. Plus with the help of Jei, I can pick out all the guards in the place we're about to jump. They see me walk in and they better know to drop down to the ground.

Now that you know about the team, there's only one thing left to do.

"Alright, we gonna' hit this place tonight. We're going in, taking out any guards in our way, keeping the civvies' down, and making sure the fucking pigs don't show up. If they do, we go to plan B, which is-"

"We make damn sure to let them know who's in charge there." Butted in Onyx, cutting me off.

"Right." I said. "This is only the beginning guys. After this, who knows what kind of contracts await us.

"Ohhhh yeah, time for another payday." Said Jei.

"You got it. Now, let's go get us some food before we get ready. Gotta have a well fed body to focus, eh?"

The others nodded their heads in response. 

"Alright, let's head on out. We can think of a plan while we eat."

The others, along with myself walked to the front door of our house. Before leaving, I hit a light switch on the far wall and locked our erm, 'special room'. I locked up the place and then we headed out. It was gonna be a long and very profitable climb up the ladder on Crime.net, and we were going to make sure everypony knew that we meant business.
        
                         
                Author's Note:
For anybody asking questions, this was just an intro, or rather, prologue. For anyone asking what Payday is. Payday is a 1-4 player cops and robbers game where you and up to 3 other friends can team up and rob banks, jewelry stores, knock over nightclubs, destroy malls, smuggle contraband and plenty of other things for money, and a lot of it.
I hope you will like this story, as I was in a skype call when this idea came up. My friend and I came to the conclusion that my OC and her's would totally team up to rob a place. Of course I got to thinking, and what other game do we know of that involves 4 guys in suits, robbing places.
Give this story a like and a fav if you enjoyed this, and be on the look out for more.
'Till then, this is Cobolt Soundwave saying, we'll see you at the safe-house.
                         
                                                
                                        


> Some New Toys
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
Big or Small, We’re The Ones With The Guns

                                                 
"So explain to me why I can't just set some C-4 on the door leading to the manager's office?" Rin asked me, leaning against the wall behind Jei.

I looked at her sideways and raised an eyebrow. "Well, for starters, we're trying to do this silently. Two, C-4 makes a hell of a lot of noise and the cops will hear it half-way across the fucking city. And three. We. Are. Doing. This. Silently."

Rin just shook her head. "Well, I don't see the problem. Two explosives on the latches and one on the lock, and we're in."

"Well, if it goes south, then yes, it would work," Onyx said. "Only thing is, if we blow the safe, we blow the stuff inside of it. Better to let the little spook just pick the lock on the damn thing."

"Yeah, leave it to me, I'll have that sucker open in ninety seconds flat!" Jei jabbed a thumb at his chest as he boasted.

"I'll hold ya' to that,” I said with confidence before turning myself towards the rest of the group. “I wanna be in and out of that place in under twenty minutes. If the cops show up, we got a problem. That'll only make our getaway that much more difficult," I told them.

"Don't worry, I got you guys covered. Do you always forget that I'm a sniper? Puh-lease, if any cop tries to take a shot at ya', I'll blast 'em back."

"Well, for our sake, I hope your aim hasn't diminished Rin." I said jokingly to her.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, what time are we doing this?" Rin asked curiously, looking up at me from the adjacent wall.
I thought for a moment. "I think doing this at night would be the best idea. No ponies on the street to see us make our getaway. Plus, Jei here can slip in even better."

"Sounds good to me." Said Onyx. "There shouldn't be more than a few guards in the place either. Easy in, easy out."

"That's the plan big guy, though, you're still bringing the muscle."

"Haha, what else would I bring? After all, since when is a shotgun not a heavy weapon?"

"When you put a silencer on it," I looked over at Jei. "then it just sounds like a peashooter."

Rin started laughing, as well as Onyx, and I just smiled at the look on Jei's face.
"I guess you don't need a ghost for this job then, huh?" Jei shot back with a smirk on his muzzle.

"All right, all right, we'll cool it with the teasing." I said back to him.

After that, we made our way back to the house, and slipped into our 'Safe house' portion of the place. The secret room that I mentioned before was just a floor section that opened up to reveal a metal staircase leading down into a whole 'nother set of rooms. Rooms for Jei to practice his lockpicking, a firing range for Onyx and Rin to practice their aiming and long range shooting. Then, of course, there's my favorite room of all. The Vault room, where we keep all of our hard earned money. So far, we only had about a hundred thousand bits in the vault. Of course, that seems like a lot to anypony that never sees that much at once, but for us. This is like like holding a fifty bit bill in our hands.

As we made our way down, we shuffled into the shooting range. Rin sat down a little to the right of Onyx, watching him ready himself with his pump-shotgun. “Hey, Rin?”

“Whatcha need?” She murmurs as she’s rummaging through a new blueprint. Upon it, there was an RPG layout and a grenade launcher, with various ways to connect the two together.

I loomed over her shoulder, looking at the blueprint. Onyx spoke up gently, the shotgun rounds being shot just above the shoulder of the practice dummy. “Are you still going to try and make that RPG and grenade launcher?”

I smiled to myself. “Well, it sure looks like it.” As I spoke up, Rin stuffed the blueprint into her pocket, crumbling it up. Although her handwriting was what I’d call ‘neat’, I’d still say it was legible.

“It’ll work this time, I can swear by it!” The half-demon said with a confident tone, giving a toothy grin as she looked over at a grenade launcher in the corner.

“Rin,” Onyx paused, looking back at her with a pair of goggles stretched over his face and some earbuds in. “You tried this last time with your rifle and one of my shotguns. Do you remember what happened to them?”

Rin sighed, hanging her head. “It blew the barrell of the gun up and made it look like a firework…” Her voice trailed off before a sudden wave of happiness washed over her. “But these are two totally different guns!”

“I know you’re enthusiastic to make a new gun, but keep in mind that doing so could also result in harming yourself,” I murmured softly, grasping her shoulder in my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Nag, nag, nag. Whatever. I do what I want,” Rin stands up, positioning herself in front of one of the practice dummies. “Where’s my fuckin’ rifle?” She begins to look around, and I snicker to myself as the doorbell sounds throughout the house. “Who the fuck is that?”

“Hold that thought.” I scurry up the steps and come out from the room, pacing towards the front door where a dark earth stallion waited. I opened the door and the stallion gave a frown.

“Got a delivery for you,” He said in a husky voice. I took the package and set it aside, momentarily letting the stallion out of my sight.

“Hey, thanks--” When I stood back up, the stallion was half-way down the block already. “Could’ve said you’re welcome...” I closed the front door behind me with my back hoof, locking it with one hand before I picked up the package and made my way back downstairs.

“Aw, c’mon! Let me shoot your gun!” I heard Rin’s voice carry out through the range. As I walked into the room, I saw Onyx holding the shotgun above his head, with Rin hanging on one of his biceps.

“We got a delivery,” I said as I set the box down onto the bench near by. Rin snapped her head back towards me, an excited grin stretched across her face. “Okay, chill out, Destructor. There’s more than just yours in here.”

Rin dropped down from Onyx’s arm, bolting over to stand across from me. Shortly afterwards, the other two members of our team walked in, and Onyx glanced down. “What’s in it?”

“Whatcha think is in it, big boy?” Jei murmured, looking up at the dragon with a soft smile. “Guns, obviously.”

Rin crouched down on the bench, staring at the tape intensely. “Open it.” She demanded, looking up at me with her two different colored eyes.

Onyx stuck a claw out and dragged it slowly down the length of the box, the tape tearing down the middle with ease. “There you go, Rin.” He said aloud, standing back a bit and crossing his arms over his chest.

Using her magic, she lifted four guns out of the box. One being the Kel-Tec KSG, another being a FAMAS, a rifle that goes by the name of Barrett 50-Cal, and a HK SD Semi-Automatic Rifle. She looked around at each of her friends, giving them their assigned gun.

“Give me!” Onyx snatched the gun from her magic, hugging it against himself. I looked over at him, the look on his face was practically that of a child. “What? What’re you looking at?!” He looked up, a soft blush on his cheeks.

“Where’d Jei go?” I asked him, looking around aimlessly. “Oh…” I rested my eyes on a floating gun in the middle of the room, and I shook my head lightly.

“So….where’s Rin?” Onyx spoke up, throwing the new gun over his shoulder delicately. Onyx and I looked around the room, our eyes finally resting on the half-demon floating in the corner with the new rifle cradled in her arms.

“Oh…” Onyx and I stared at her for a bit until we caught her attention. “Are you just gonna sit there and hug it? Or are you actually gonna shoot it?”

At that, Rin leaped up and readied herself at the post of the firing range, levitating a pair of earbuds to her ears and a pair of glasses to her eyes. “What do I do now?” She grinned widely, looking around at the three of us.

“First, you put your finger on the trigger.” She did as I said, and then smiled, looking ahead. “Secondly, make sure you have it pressed against your shoulder.” She crouched a little, digging her foot into the ground so she had a better stance. “Now, for the most important part. Ready. Aim--”

“FIRE!” Rin screamed, pulling the trigger. Seconds later, I hear, “Holy shit!” Before a loud smack echoed off the back wall of the room. The remaining three of us looked at each other before poking our heads out from the corner of the doorway.

“Hey, Rin? Are you okay?” Jei asked curiously, watching her with slight worry on his face.

Rin raised her head slowly, a grin going from ear-to-ear stretched wide across her face. A thin trail of blood trickled from her nose and the corner of her mouth before she spit out a bit of blood. “That. Was. AWESOME!” She yelled, making a fist with her hand as the other held the rifle.

I looked at her demon wings splayed against the wall. “Rin. What’d you do to your wings?”

“What about ‘em?” She said with a smile, but a wince of pain flashed across her face as she stood up. Looking back, her wings were jutting out, one twisted at an awkward angle while the other was dislocated. “Oh, that’s what happened!” She smiled softly as she turned her head slowly back towards us, a painful smile on her face.

“Are you gonna…fix them?” Onyx asked as I wrapped my wings around myself, stroking them gently as a horrified look washed over my features.

“Sure thing!” Rin said, but she still stood there uneasy in her sports bra and jeans. “Is it gonna hurt?” She looked up at the three of us, pain in her eyes. “I can do this!” Enveloping her left wing in her magic, she snapped it back into place, a horrific squeak being released from her throat. “Fucking shit!” She screamed, her legs turning to Jell-o as she crumbled to the ground.

I approached her slowly, folding my wings back. “Are you okay?” I asked, although I knew what kind of answer I’d get.

“Do I look fucking okay?” She glared up at me, hatred and pain mixed into her features. “I got this; they’ll heal soon.”

“Not if they’re dislocated,” I butted in, cutting her off a bit. “Here, let me help y--”

Swatting my hand away, she enveloped her other wing in her magic. “I don’t need your help.” At the end of her sentence, she snapped her wing back into place and then relocated it, an eeeeee being heard as the first two letters of ‘fuck!’ left her mouth.

She smiled weakly, standing up with the rifle in her hand. “I-I’m okay. But holy fucking shit, this hurts.”

Onyx made his way towards her and picked her up, carrying her up the stairs. “You should’ve been more careful,” Onyx scolded her as he made his way up the steps. I watched after them before they went out of my line of sight.

I turned towards Jei for a moment and looked back up the steps. “What if Rin wasn’t who she was?”

Jei looked up at me, sitting on the bench with his legs crossed. “What do you mean? Not herself?”

“Let’s go with that,” I murmured to myself, looking back at her range. A perfect headshot was made with the rifle, even if she wasn’t trying. “What if we had never met her, and were stuck with some crybaby?”

With a faint, sad smile, Jei stood up and placed his hand on my shoulder. “If it weren’t for her, none of us would actually get anything done, and no smiles would be made.” He made his way up the steps, looking back down at me as he reached the top. “We should really pay her more respect. She may be a bit of a dunce and a goof sometimes, but you have to admit she makes all of us smile, without even trying.” Jei turned the corner, leaving my line of sight.

“You’re right,” I say to myself before I stroke my chin. “Maybe we don’t show her enough appreciation.”


Author's Notes:

So, this chapter,though it is my story, was not written by me this time. It was mostly written by my friend SilverMistMLP who is also editing my story. It wasn't supposed to be like that, but I figured that instead of writing it all by myself, that it would turn into a collab of some sorts. I wrote like one chapter in this part, the rest was her. Regardless, enjoy. (Previously known as 'Big or Small We're The Ones With The Guns')

Until next time, this has been Cobolt Soundwave saying, I'll see you at the safe house.
> Going Clubbin'
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Going Clubbin'



I walked out of the firing range and went to go find Rin. After all, she did just break her wings and we were doing a job tonight. I had to make sure she was okay. Reason one, because, aside from being a member of our crew, she was also a friend. Two, I need to make sure every member of the group is able and ready to move out. If one of us is out, especially Rin, then we can’t go.

You see, Rin can do something for us that nopony else can. She can disguise us as different ponies. We need that, since seeing a dragon come walking through the door isn’t exactly something you see everyday. You can imagine what kind of panic it’d put civvies in if we did a job with a dragon, so she changes him completely, making him a pony.

Even as a pony, the guy is still a walking power-house. In his disguise, he’s about three inches taller than me, which is still tall--and I’m six feet tall, that’s saying something.

I went upstairs and walked into Rin’s workshop room, where I found her tinkering with something, most likely that crazy blueprint she had before. I was about to ask if she was fine from before, judging from her -- if you can call them bandaged -- wings, I don’t think she was really doing that fine. Though, before I could ask her, I saw the gun she was working on with her magic catch fire and start to vibrate violently.

“HOLY SHIT!” She yelled.

I tackled her to the ground before the damned thing could remove half of her face. There were a few more after explosions and then it went dead.

“Geez, Rin. Didn’t I tell you that thing was gonna blow like the last time?” I looked down at her, where she was on her back rubbing her head.

She sighed. “Yeah, you did. I just thought it was gonna work out, seeing as they were both meant to shoot explosives...wait,” Rin paused for a moment before realization washed over her face. “Did my grenade launcher blow up too!?” She asked in a slight panicked and worried tone. When she stood up to look at what she caused, I swore I thought I saw her cry.

“My poor baby, I killed my favorite gun!” Her knees buckled from underneath her as she sat back down on the stool, staring at a few remaining pieces of the wanna-be destructive gun.

“Rin? Are you...are you crying?”

“No! I’m sweating through my eyes! There’s a difference!” She shouted back at me as she rubbed her eyes of ‘sweat’

I walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. “We’ll get another one for ya’.”

Rin was clutching the now destroyed launcher to her chest. “Promise?” She asked, looking up at me with an adorable pouty lip and puppy-dog eyes.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Yes, I promise. Besides, you got a new sniper to get used to.”

Rin put the broken gun down and gave a pout, crossing her arms over her chest before sighing and rolling her eyes. “Fiiiiine, let’s go.”

She was about to walk out the door before I grabbed her wrist and brought her back in. “No can do shorty, gotta take a look at those wings of yours.”

“What? Why? They’re bandaged, and they don’t even hurt anymore, see.” She tried to move them, only to cringe and ‘eep’ from the pain.

“See, I told you. Come here and sit’own. I’ll go and get my medic bag,” I told her as I left her sitting on the stool before I left the room and shuffled down the hall and walked into my room. Simple room, really, for me at least. I had a flat-screen, some game systems, and my own computer in there. Aside from that, there wasn’t really anything special besides a few scattered clothing items amongst the floor. With that aside, I grabbed my med-kit and went back to the workshop, only to see Rin trying to move her wings again.

“You’re just going to hurt them even more,” I butted in as I leaned against the doorframe, watching her look up at me with a faint sad smile. “Plus, they’re broken. Here lemme’ try something new I got,” I said as I sat next to her and opened the medic-box and took out a syringe with a fluid in it--said fluid had a faint blue-ish glow to it. “I’ve been told this hurts a bit, so be ready.”

She didn’t hear me, of course, as she’d been idly staring at the broken grenade barrell laying on the floor by our feet. “Wait...get ready for Wha-- Son of a penis, that fucking hurts!” She screamed, trying to pull away from me, but I tightened my grip on her forearm. 
“Argh, geez, what the frick is this stuff? Eeep!” She yelped as we both heard her bones snapping back together and mending themselves.

“It’s a new military grade serum that heals major damage to a body; bones, organs, ligament damage, musculator damage, even heavy trauma. It’ll heal just about everything,” I paused for a moment, looking away from the mare. “Only down side, you’ll feel a bit tired afterwards. Just a side-effect, you’ll be fine in a bit.”

Rin yawned almost on command when I finished speaking. “Well then, guess I’ll just nap for a while then.” She said before shuffling out of the room and going into her and Jei’s room.

“I might as well go and give that new gun I ordered a try I suppose.” I walked out of the room, holding onto the doorframe as I watched Rin’s tail drag into her bedroom, the door closing shortly afterwards. I sighed before I made my way back down into the firing range to see Onyx and Jei happily firing away at the practice dummy’s. Just hearing the loud *Bang* from Onyx’s KSG and the soft *Put* from Jei’s new silenced MP5SD put a smile on my muzzle. I didn’t say anything at all, I just grabbed my rifle, loaded it up, put on my goggles, and some ear protection then proceeded to join in on the practice.



It was eight o’clock and were were getting ready to go and hit the nightclub.

“You guys all set?” I asked as I looked around, shortly afterwards, I got three nods from everypony. “Good. Rin?”

“On it.” She said before lighting her horn up and casting a spell on all of us. Like I said before, the spell she casted gives us disguises. Alongside having masks during our heists, we also get our forms changed so that the police can’t trace us when we leave the crime scene.

Rin got a bit taller to be on par with Jei’s height and made her horn disappear for the time being. Jei was changed into a unicorn with a darker shade of purple for his fur. I had to lose the wings attached to my back in order to change into an Earth pony for the night. Onyx turned into a really beefy Pegasus. Even then, he still looked terrifying if angered, I’ve seen it before. Poor guard didn’t know what hit’em. His fur was still around the same color, his horns were gone, but he had a mask that had horns on it, so losing his didn’t really phase him. His tail though was that of a pony’s, but similar looking to Rin’s tail.

“Okay then, are we all good now?” Once again, I was greeted by more nods. “Good, grab your masks and make sure your guns are good to go. I don’t need a gun jamming mid-heist. That’ll just spell disaster for us, and that also means one of us is down a primary.”

“Right, and we get to test out our new guns. Well, except for Rin here,” Onyx said as a van rolled up behind our house.

“Yeah, not sure if there’s going to be enough room in that place for a gun that’s just bigger than our little Rin here.” I added, which made Onyx give a throaty chuckle in response as we walked over to the van.

“Fuck you guys. That gun didn’t come with us this time because this isn’t a mission that requires a sniper.” Rin grumbled, walking behind Onyx and I as Jei looked around aimlessly. “I brought along a smaller rifle with me, and it’s still just as good.” Rin hoisted up an M308 semi-automatic rifle. “This baby can still put cops in their place.”

“Alright, let’s get in and move out then.” I said before hopping into the back of the van, followed shortly by the others. Once we were all settled in the back of the van, I pounded on the divider between the back and the front of the metal contraption. “Come on, let’s do this!” I yelled, before I felt the van lurch forward.

“Rin, you got your mask?”

“Um, no. Instead, I have a bandana and a pair of sunglasses.”

I looked at her with a sideways glance. “So, in other words, you left your mask back at the house?” I asked her.

“The mask was hurting my muzzle, and this one fits my name,” she responded with a smile.

“But didn’t you make your own mask?”

“Yes, I did. Your point being?”

“Never mind. Jei, do you got your-...you have a balaclava and sunglasses too?”

Jei was sitting next to Rin and holding a mask and sunglasses in his hand when he looked over at me. “Well,” he started, looking out the back window of the van. “I didn’t want Rin to be alone, so I thought I’d hop on the bandwagon.”

I heard Onyx give a chuckle. “What’s so funny?” I turn to look at him, a cigarette resting on his lip.

“Nothing,” he laughed softly before looking at Rin. “She does have a point though. Why not wear a mask, or bandana rather, that suits your name?”

“Because it’s easier to tell who the hell you are in the opposing world,” I retorted, huffing before resting my elbows on the back of the seat.

Rin glanced at me, cocking a brow. “Dude. You do realize this spell completely changes what you and everyone else looks like. Plus, we’ve taken care of what has happened in the past.” She sighed softly, concealing her different coloured eyes behind the sunglasses. “Besides, do you think I’d let anyone get that close to me to where they can identify who I am?”

Jei smiled to himself as he slipped his mask over his head, and slid the glasses on. “Either way,” he spoke up, looking at me. “We’ll get this done and over with, and then we can discuss it at home. We can’t argue about what will and what won’t expose us right when we’re about to go do a heist. It’ll make us too nervous.”

Onyx nodded his head, pointing to Jei before looking at me. “The little guy’s right. We can’t be nervous; it’ll fuck with our concentration of what is at hand.”

I hung my head before omitting a sigh of defeat. “Alright,” I say, looking at the nightclub from the back window as the driver turns into an alleyway. “But please, don’t blow your cover. We don’t need people stalking us when we leave.”

Rin waves her hand dismissively, lifting the bandana from around her neck to cover her muzzle. “Look, no one will stalk us. This is easy, it’s like stealing candy from a Cobolt.” I could hear her snickering from beneath the bandana as she hopped out from the back of the van, landing on pavement with some of the moonlight drifting into the alley.

Jei followed after her, and then myself. Onyx hopped out last, the entire van leveling itself out. “Do we want Rin just strutting up in there, or do we all go?” He spoke up, standing behind the three of us with his shotgun tucked under his arm.

“I don’t care, so long as we get the mula,” Rin spoke up, looking back at Onyx. The four of us turned the corner, setting a steady pace as we approached the front doors of the nightclub. Rin fixed her bandana a bit to where it set perfectly across her muzzle, and Jei readied himself.

I looked at the three of them. Onyx was, if I may say, just waiting for Rin’s go. Even though I’m the leader, it seems like most of the time, we listen to the little half-demon, and follow her. It didn’t bother me, but it does make me think if she should have been the leader. “Alright, here’s what we do--”

“We walk in there, go straight to the manager’s office, and get the dough. Simple. There’s no need to complicate it,” Rin said, her voice muffled slightly behind the bandana.

I rolled my eyes, pulling my mask on over my face. “Alright, alright. Let’s just get this shit done. Remember to keep your ear-pieces in at all times, if you don’t, we can’t help you if you get in a jam, got it?”

“Yeah, understood. Let’s get this show on the road now,” Onyx said as Rin walked up to the bouncer. He didn’t even get to say a word before she fed him the butt of her gun.

“Bouncer’s down, let’s get a move on guys,” Rin said.

We moved into the club in a single file line. The music’s bass was thumping, getting louder as we went farther in. “Okay, spread out and keep the civvies in check! Guards are expendable!”

We moved in to the club and split up. Jei sprinted to the back, Rin bolted up the stairs and to the second floor, and I walked up to the bar.

“Everypony! Get down on the ground!” Onyx yelled from the dancefloor, where dozens of ponies were petrified in fear.

“I’d listen to him if I were you!” Shouted Rin from above, causing the ponies to drop immediately and cover their heads, or huddle up with whoever they were with.

“~This is Stolas here! The guards are neutralized in back and I’m through the door now. Heading up for the safe now!~” We all heard Jei say from our earpieces. “Alright,” I said as I looked at one of the bartenders. “we’ll get the rest of the civvies down and out of the way.” I looked at the two mares behind the counter hugging each other in fear, one of them shaking. “You two! Get. Down. Now!” I shouted at them before I hopped over the counter and tied them together by their hands with some wire-ties just tight enough to hold them.

I brought my hand up to my left ear and tapped on my earpiece. “Ash, how are you doing with the civilians?”

Onyx chimed in a few seconds later. “We’re good here. Just got one more and...YOU, WHAT THE FUCK DID I SAY? STAY. THE. FUCK. DOWN!” Now that’s the Onyx we love and know.

“Guys, we got trouble!” Rin or ‘Grin’, I should say, called out over the headset. I tapped my piece again.

“What is it? What’s going on!?” I shout back.

“We got the fucking fuzz on us outside now! Fucking ballsacks on fire!” Rin muttered something inaudible from her side before she looked around, trying to pinpoint all of our locations.

“What!? How!? Ahhhh shit, I’m only halfway through this damned safe. Guys, you gotta keep those fuckers away from me! I can’t do this if they get in here!”

Shit was falling apart quick. Whoever gave us this contract withheld some information. “Some fucking intel this contract gave us--Alright guys, stick with the plan. If they come at us hard, we hit back harder. Watch your fire too; don’t wanna hit any civvies now.”

“Got it, just give me another minute or so and I got this sucker opened up.” Jei murmured into his piece before there was screams of panic from his side. “What’d I fuckin’ say? Stay away from me!”

“You got it, Stolas. Everypony hear him? He needs another minute, so lets give these guys a show. Grin!” I shouted at the half-demon perched at one of the windows.

She looked back at me, her eyebrows raising. Although I couldn’t see her face, I knew she was living up to her nickname. “Yeah? You want me to waste them?”

“No, I need you to keep them suppressed. If you see them try and move, keep them from getting close to the doors.” I looked over at Onyx and patted him on his heavily armored back. “Ash, go and cover the front door with Grin. I’ve got the civvies here.” He nodded and plodded his way over to the door, his shotgun at the ready.

I looked over at all the ponies on the dancefloor and gripped my gun tight. “Listen up everypony, cause I’m only going to say this once! You stay down, and we won’t hurt you. We’re here to put an uh, questionable pony out of business. I suggest you keep your heads down and don’t try anything funny. You do, and I will put a bullet in you...UNDERSTOOD!” I shouted at them as I made a defiant stance, looking each and every one of them in the eyes, making sure that they wouldn’t move.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the DJ run from behind the booth and try to make a run for it to the back entrance. Of course he never made it. *BANG* The pony stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face me. A bullet hole right next to where his head was about to be.

“What. The fuck. Did I just say?” I walked up to him with my gun leveled at him. “I said, if I recall, to stay on the fucking ground!” I yelled before shoving him backwards, sending him sprawling on his ass and I watched him crawl back to the DJ booth and huddle up under it. “Now stay there!”

“Guys! More cops are here, and they got some heavy shit!” Grin shouted to us.

“Okay, I got it open! Gonna bag this shit and toss it off the ledge to you Grudge!” Jei said in a half-panicked tone.

I looked up in time to see the first bag getting thrown off and caught it. I did the same with the other three bags of money. “Okay, I got all of them. Stolas, you got the stuff we needed?”

“Oh yeah, I got it all right---” Jei said before pulling out a few big blocks of cocaine and putting them in the opened safe to frame the guy in charge. “In there.”

“Okay, Stolas, we’re done here, time to move out,” I said one last time before I started moving the bags to where Onyx was, that is, I was before I heard gunshots.

“Shit! They got fucking armoured shields coming in!” I walked up behind Onyx and patted his shoulder. He turned to look at me and nodded. “Let ‘em have it guys!” I shouted through the earpiece. Shortly after I heard the others shouting at the cops and firing their guns.

“Come and get me you fucking dickheads!” Rin started firing her rifle and nailing a few cops in various locations. Some of them got hit in the legs or the arms. While some took a hit in the chest, which sent them flying back and onto their ass.

“Eat this you son of a bitch!” Onyx screamed as he started blasting away at the shields coming at us, effectively stopping their advance and forcing them them hide behind their shields.

“Silent, but deadly,” Jei said before he started picking off cops one by one. They were dropping like flies.

I walked outside and let loose a few bursts from my assault rifle, silencing a few more cops. “Grab a bag and let’s go, ladies! The van is just around the corner!”

Rin jumped out of the window and landed next to us, where I gave her a bag and pointed in the direction of the van. “This way.” We ran to the van with Onyx and Jei watching the back, picking off more cops who tried to follow us.

“Guys, we got some really weird looking cops after us! Looks like something out of a fucking video game!” Jei shouted out.

I looked back in time to see a pony sprinting full tilt at us; all the while, a very high pitched noise was ringing out.

“What the Fu-argh!” Jei screamed as the cop literally jumped into the air and planted both the soles of his feet into his chest, launching him backwards onto the ground.

“What the fuck is he!?” Rin shouted before trying to put a shot on him, but he was too fast. Just like he did with Jei, he did to Rin. With a spinning kick, he knocked Rin down to the ground.

“Sonuvabitch that fucking hurt-ARGH! WHAT THE FUA-ARGH! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!” Rin was screaming as ‘Mister judo’ continued to beat on her with a nightstick; yelling at her about going home to cry to her mommy or something. “Well!” She started, seething through her teeth as pure bitterness coaxed her words. “I don’t have a mother! So, jokes on you!” Various cuss words escaped her lips after ‘Mister Judo’ paused before beating on her harder.

Onyx wasn’t having it. He leveled his shotgun and just as the guy turned around to try and bring another one of us down, he blasted him in the face; only to see a shattering magical shield. He didn’t care, he just put another and another and another shot into him. That is, until the guy was on his back limp, and full of holes.

“I got ya buddy, you ain’t staying down,” I said as I picked up a dazed Jei off the ground. 

“Thanks, Grudge.” He said as he stood back up with his brow furrowed a bit. Obviously that kick to the chest hurt a bit more than he was expecting.

“That motherfucker kicked me in the face. If I ever see another one of those fuckers again,” Rin looked me in the eyes. “I’m gonna send ‘em to Tarturus.” She declared. I could see the burning hatred in her eyes before she looked away from me, breaking our eye-contact.. Rin was pissed, and I don’t mean, “You ate the last slice of pizza.” kind of pissed. I mean, “I’m going to murder you!” kind of pissed.

“Well then,” I looked at the others before looking back to Rin. “If we’re done here. I’d like to get back home with our earnings.” She nodded her head, clenching her teeth, obviously still pissed at the cop that kicked her.

We ran a bit more before turning another corner. “There’s the van!” I pointed and shouted at the ready-to-go getaway car. “Toss the shit in and lets go!”

We threw the money in the back and climbed in after it. Onyx, Rin and Jei sat down on the benches on the sides, while I kneeled down at the very back. “Hey! Lets move it!” I pounded on the divider again.

Onyx and Rin were about to close the back doors when a bullet ripped past them and nailed me dead center in the forehead. They slammed the doors shut and the van peeled off.

“Holy shit!” Rin yelled again. But before they could move, I grunted and ripped the mask off my face and tossed it at Rin, where she held it in her hands and saw where the bullet had dug into the ballistic protection.

“And that’s why I wear a mask to cover my whole face.” I said as I rolled my neck; popping my joints back into place. “God damn. That fucking thing packed a punch.” I said before plopping down onto the bench next to Rin.

Rin was looking over, most likely inspecting me for any other sort of injury beside the obvious bullet I just took to the face.

“I’m fine, if that’s what you were wondering.” I said as I leaned back against the wall of the car; feeling it sway from time to time as the driver drove us back home, having lost the cops already.

Just a few minutes more and we were back at the house already. We had long since shed our armour and guns and put them into large duffel bags. Rin dismantled her rifle and hid the parts in a guitar case she modified just for that. Onyx didn’t have to dismantle anything since his shotgun was pretty small compared to our guns. Speaking of my gun, I usually just hid it under my suit as we got out with our bags of money and weaponry.

“Thanks, Twitch. We’ll see you again for the next job we do.” I said to the stallion in the drivers seat wearing a pair of tinted aviators.

“No problem boss, I’ll seeya’ round.”

“Not like this you won’t,” I muttered as we walked in through the back door just in time for the spell that Rin put on us to run out and turn us back to normal. “Now that’s better.” I said as I walked over to the couch, removing the suit’s jacket. “Hey, let’s get this shit downstairs.”

No more had to be said as we opened the floor panel again and deposited our things where they went respectively.

“One million in cash my friends. One...fucking...million! Haha!”

“Look at all that fucking money guys!” Onyx chimed in before guffawing loudly. “Today was a very good day!”

“Haha, you said it brother!” Jei joined in as well.

“I think I know what I’m gonna get myself with this money. Something reeeeeeeally nice.” I smiled as I thought of what I was gonna buy.

“Ohhhh yeah. Time for some new clothes. Lot’s of purple things…” Jei was in his own little world, his eyes twinkling as her stared at the money.

“Gonna get me a nice motorcycle jacket with this money,” Onyx said, crossing his large muscular arms over his chest.

Rin looked at us with a confused and baffled look. “What’s wrong, Rin?” The three of us asked her in unison. I raised my eyebrow quizzically, while Onyx just kinda stared at her.

“I’ve never had this much money before. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s really nice and all. I gotta ask though,” she looked at the cash before back at us. “What the hell are we supposed to do with it all? We do have to split it up evenly and fairly, but even then, what am I supposed to get? I’ve never liked spending money unless we have to, and I was just…” she trailed off, looking down at the ground. With a sigh, and a faint sad smile, she looked up at us again. “Let’s focus on necessities and stuff we need, like groceries and guns, and just. Big things. We can get all your stuff on the next heist.”

Onyx looked at her, raising his eyebrows now. “Hey, Rin?” She glanced at him, her eyes clouded. “Don’t feel bad for spending money, think of it as a reward for everything you do.” He walked towards her, picking her up with ease and putting her on his shoulders. She didn’t fight it, but she just leaned against him, resting her arms on his head and placing her chin on her forearms.

“Thanks, Onyx. Although you may be right,” she closed her eyes and just breathed for a few minutes. Silence captivated us as we all just stood there, thinking about important things. “I can’t help but feel kinda bad. I….” Her voice intruded my thoughts and I looked up at her -- never did I think I’d have to do that -- and just kinda stared.

“What did you do?” I inquired. In response, she turned her head away from me, averting her gaze. “Rin?”

“I shot a civvie, alright?” She spoke up before floating off of Onyx’s shoulders, anger surrounding her aura. “I didn’t mean to! The cop picked one up and he just...he just stood there! He didn’t bother to move! The civvie was sacrificed to save that stupid piece of shit! A good-for-nothing piece of trash!” Her voice cracked at the last part before she floated off and up the stairs.

Jei looked at her as she left. “Is...she okay?” He looked at Onyx and I, confusion washing over his face.

“Rin shot a civvie.” Onyx stated, disbelief and shock in his voice. “I never thought she’d do that. Do you think her aim was off?”

“You heard her. Besides,” I paused, looking up the stairs. “The civilian could have stopped out of fear? I hope he did. I don’t want Rin to be down and out of commission. We need her.”

Onyx placed his hand firmly on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. I looked back at him, and he nodded his head towards the stairs. “Go talk to her, man. She needs some help right now.”

“She won’t listen to anything I say. I’m nothing more than Cobolt to her. Not even an occasional ‘thank you’ is muttered around here for me,” I murmured softly under my breath. A smack hit me against the back of my head, and I looked back at the dragon in shock. He stood defiant, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Don’t ever let me hear that come from your mouth again. If Rin heard you say that, she’d smack you too.” He declared before pointing a claw towards the stairs. “Go up there and talk to her, you fucking dunce.”

I sighed in defeat before making my way up the steps, dragging my feet along the carpet. Approaching Rin’s door, I stopped as I raised my knuckles to the door. I knocked gently, and whispered, “Hey, Rin? It’s Cobolt. May I come in?” Silence greeted me. I turned the doorknob and pushed open the door, and then I was greeted by Rin’s clouded, sad eyes. She barely looked at me for several seconds before averting her gaze back towards the wall.

“Oh, Rin,” I paused, staring at her in disbelief. Her cheeks were red, and her eyes were puffy. I walked towards her slowly, before taking a seat on her bed. I started petting her mane, and she shifted to where her head was on my shoulder. I sighed softly; the poor mare was devastated, and even then, that’s an understatement.

“Do you remember the three days I was gone?” She sat back and turned her head towards me. I brought my hand to her face, wiping some lone tears from her cheeks. She nodded faintly, and I continued. “Well, to be honest, I shot a civvie too.”

“When?” She whispered, her voice a little hoarse.

“A few heists back. I didn’t even know she was standing there. I just...I don’t wanna talk about it. I hate remembering it.” I stood up abruptly, turning towards the door when I felt a small tug on the back of my camouflage tanktop.

“Are you going to leave again?” Rin’s small voice made me turn around. Two round eyes stared deep into mine, and I nearly died of cuteness. “I don’t want you to leave again. I missed you when you left. I was worried…” her voice trailed off before she stood up and hugged me tightly, burying her face into my chest.

When Rin pulled away, I felt a random touch of wetness running down my cheek. She looked at me, giving a small smile. “Are you crying?” She asked before raising her hand to my cheek, wiping away a single tear.

“No, I’m sweating through my eyes!” I claimed. I’ll be damned to the day I admit that this half-demon mare successfully made me, the super macho pegasus stallion, cry!

She smiled to herself before hugging me again. “I heard what you said about yourself downstairs,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around my neck and stood on her tippy-toes to hug me.

Wrapping my arms around her waist, I sighed. “It’s true, right? I’m nothing but Cobolt to you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” she pulled back, going back to her regular height as she stared up at me. “You may be ‘just Cobolt’ to everypony else, but you’re my Cobolt. You’re very special to me, because you’re you. You do your best to make sure everypony gets out okay, even if you’re about to get hurt. You’re much more special than most of the ponies I talk to or meet. You may not think so, but you are. You are unique, and even though I may not say ‘thank you’ a lot or at all, but I do appreciate everything you do for all of us.” She stood up on her tippy-toes, licking the tip of my muzzle playfully. I blushed softly before she hugged me again. “Just remember that you’re unique and special, and that you make everypony you know happy in some way.”

The two of us stood there in the center of the room. I buried my muzzle in her mane, smiling contently to myself. Knowing somepony who cares about me, and thinks I’m special to them, is the best thing that could ever make me happy. When they say, “Money can’t buy happiness,” I think they’re right now. Rin does make me happy, and everypony else when she tries, but the best part is that she’s a part of my crew, and she’s one of my closest friends.