Clop Hard

Base of Crystal Tower

6:45 PM

The base of Crystal Tower was abuzz with activity as ponies in military armor and attire went about trailers and tents, setting up spotlights and embankments of sandbags. Or rather, crystal bags, if one was feeling picky.

Blind Justice watched them work with a grim and somewhat annoyed look as a medic continued to tend to his wounds. He had more than once insisted he was fine, but the medic persisted, fussing over his wounds.

“Damn it man, that wasn’t the first explosion I’ve been close to.” Justice growled at the medic.

“It certainly seems like the worst.” the medic, a crystal pony, fussed.

Justice scoffed. “Please, there was this one time some joker dumped a bomb beneath my carriage. Busted the damn thing open like a ripe peach and threw me clear thirty feet.”

“Oh my, that sounds awful.”

Justice shrugged. “I ate a lot of ice cream while they stitched me up. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.”

“An afternoon!”

“Captain Justice?” a third voice cut in.

Justice looked for the source and saw none other than Captain Sunshine of the Night-Guards walking up to him.

“Sunshine, is that really you?” Justice asked.

“In the flesh.” she answered.

Justice smirked in a rather humorless way. “I guess I should tell you I’m lieutenant now.”

“I’m just surprised you’re not dead.”

“It’ll take more than a giant spear through my gut to kill me.”

Sunshine smiled a little. “Sometimes you make me forget how much I hate your guts.”

Justice shrugged. “Get in line, sweetheart.”

Sunshine chuckled and then her expression grew somber. “Do you know what’s going on here?”

“They didn’t tell you?”

Sunshine’s expression darkened. “The commander didn’t see it fit to share the intel with the grunts.”

“Commander?”

Sunshine jerked her head to the side, indicating a green pegasus in a brown suit. His blond mane was cropped close to his body and his tail was slim. His cutie mark was a crisscross of red tape.

Justice snorted. “I can smell the cologne from here.”

Sunshine smirked and nodded.

Commander Dwayne T Robinsson had not climbed the ladder to his position in the Battlefield Unanimous Crusading Kickers to deal with one little hostage negotiation.

(I see what you did there. You didn’t do it very well, but you did it.)

(…Shut up.)

Robinsson knew that this was the capital of the Crystal Empire and he knew that there had been an explosion, but he seriously doubted this was anything but some disgruntled employee with some knowledge of explosives.

Hardly worth his time.

********

Crystal Tower

7:00 PM

Truth huddled with Lovebug, shivering slightly as the temperature of the room dropped with Celestia’s sun. The room was sparsely furnished, with only a small bed and a short table. The foal had had fallen asleep not too long ago, nuzzling against her.

Truth always found it calming to be with Lovebug. The foal had attached herself to her like she had attached herself to Shining and her… well, Truth supposed they were her mothers. That was going to be confusing when she started talking.

Truth wished Lovebug could talk. She needed intel. Truth was often called just a maid, but she was a maid that used to, and technically still did, serve a Queen. She was small, but at the very least she could give one attacker a hell of a fight.

She could also do with a drink.

Truth tucked Lovebug into bed, making sure the foal would be snug and warm, and then walked over to the door. She rapped it sharply.

After a moment she heard carpet muffled hoof falls come and stop in front of the door.

“What?” asked a gruff voice.

“I’m hungry. And thirsty. And it’s cold in here.” Truth said, using her most innocent and vulnerable voice.

The voice sighed. “Well, what do you want me to do about it?”

“There was a party downstairs. Bring me something, anything. And see if you can’t get you tech to turn up the heat in here.”

Two Guns frowned. “How did you know-?”

“That you have a tech? I guessed.” Truth said sheepishly.

Two guns sighed and stomped away.

“You’re bringing the stuff, right?” Truth called after him.

“I’m doing it, I’m doing it!” Two Guns said as he pulled his radio from his belt. “Bloody nagging nanny.” he muttered. “Ich brauche etwas zu essen und Punsch hier oben.” he said into his radio.

“The buck?” said the pony at the other end of the line. “Speak Equestrian you stupid mother-bucker!”

“Fick dich.” Two Guns growled. To the radio he said. “Just bring up some food and stuff. And somepony tell Theo to turn up the heat. It’s bucking freezing.”

******

Crystal Tower

7:10 PM

“Relax. Calm down.” Juno said calmly to the chattering group of office employees and executives. But despite her requests, they continued to make noise, the volume steadily increasing. Sighing, she nodded to Blackguard, who stood behind her.

The unicorn grinned and pulled his pistol from his belt, firing several shots into the air.

The hostages quieted down, many clutching their ears. Among those clutching their ears was Juno herself. She glared at Blackguard as he lowered his gun. She smacked him on the back of the head.

“I meant yell!” she yelled at him. “Or break something! Not deafen them and me!”

Blackguard sulked and stepped out of Juno’s reach.

Sighing, Juno turned back to the assembled hostages. “Now, I’m sure you are all dying to just go home and put all of this behind you, but my associates and I will not be leaving until we get what we want. So your best hope for making this quick is to cooperate.” Juno grinned sadistically as she looked over the frightened ponies. “Now, where is Big Wig?”

An older stallion with a grey streaked black mane stood up. “I am Big Wig.”

Juno smiled. “Nice to meet you, sir. Follow me.”

*******

Crystal Tower

7:15 PM

“Hey nanny, I’ve got your food.” Two guns called through the door.

There was no answer.

Two Guns exchanged an annoyed look with his companion, a mare called Cookays. Who, appropriately enough, was carrying a plate of cookies.

“Hey, nanny!” Two Guns shouted as he pounded on the door.

The door was pushed forward by his hoof knocks, swinging open. Two Guns exchanged a look with Cookays.

“You go first.” Two Guns said to Cookays, gesturing to the darkened room.

Cookays gave him a look. “Aw hell no.”

Two Guns sighed roughly shoved the bottle of punch he was carrying into Cookays’s already over stuffed forelegs and cocked one his two guns. He slowly edged forward into the darkened room.

“Hey nanny!” he called out again.

Suddenly Truth swung back hooves forward from the ceiling. Her hooves connected with the stallion’s shoulders, knocking him back and into the opposite wall, jarring the gun from his hooves.

“Oh shit!” Cookays shouted as she scrambled to get her gun, but was delayed tripping over the food and punch.

Truth dropped down from the ceiling and took two long strides before leaping forward and tackling Two Guns. The stallion grunted and grappled with the smaller changeling as he struggled to bring up his other gun.

Two Guns managed to pull his second pistol from its holster, but Truth grabbed his wrist in a death lock. Two Guns struggled to bring the gun front and center to shoot the changeling, but her grip was too strong. He did however manage to fire several times. Unfortunately, he ended up firing those several shots into Cookays, dropping the pony where she stood.

“I… barely… got… a line.” she gasped before expiring.

Truth slammed Two Guns’s hoof into the wall repeatedly until he lost his grip on the gun. As the gun fell away she reached back and put all of her weight into a right hook.

Two Guns’s head snapped back and he promptly returned the punch, knocking Truth off of him and onto the floor.

“Are you kidding me!?” Two Guns roared at Truth. A swift kick made Truth cry out in pain. Growling, Two Guns turned his back on Truth as he bent over to retrieve his gun.

Truth was on him in an instant, wrapping her foreleg around his neck. Two Guns growled and tried to throw her off. Truth kicked the back of his knees, making him kneel. Now with his head more or less level with hers, Truth grabbed his chin with her other hoof and jerked sharply up.

She then twisted his head sharply. There was a wet crack and Two Guns went limp.

Breathing heavily, Truth let Two Guns’s body drop to the floor.

“Und tschüss, anfänger bitch.” Truth said to the body.

Soft cries soon got her attention. Truth rushed back into the room and got the crying Lovebug from where she had hidden her beneath the bed. She rocked her gently, quietly hushing her.

“Hush, little one, hush.” Truth said softly. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Truth here won’t let anyone hurt you. You’ll see Mommy and… Mom, I guess, soon. And Daddy too. Hush.”

The foal soon quieted, fixing her little black eyes on Truth’s face.

“There we go.” Truth said softly, smiling warmly at the foal.

She tucked the foal back beneath covers and went back into the hallway. She searched the bodies, taking three pistols from between the two bodies. She also picked up a pair of what she recognized as grenades and a radio.

“Okay, bitches.” Truth said as she checked the weapons. “Let’s play.”

******

Crystal Tower

7:23 PM

“Here We are, Mr. Big Wig.” Juno said as she opened a door for the older stallion. “You’re a businesspony. So let’s talk business.”

Juno and Blackguard followed Big Wig into the room, where Theo waited at a large conference table with a monitor and a keyboard. Blackguard stood next to Theo while Juno and Big Wig took seats on the opposite side of the table, facing each other.

“Theo, tell Mr. Big Wig here what it is you need.” Juno said as she pulled a pistol from her coat.

“I need the pass code for your computer systems.” Theo said.

Big Wig looked shocked. “I don’t have that code.”

Juno smiled in a sympathetic way, but the warmth didn’t reach her eyes. “Please, Mr. Big Wig. These systems are new. What could we possibly do?”

Big Wig snorted. “Please. Anything you think you could learn in out systems is practically worthless to anypony and whatever you might learn will be equally worthless by tomorrow.”

“Then there’s no reason to not tell me.”

Big Wig shook his head.

Theo sighed. “I told you.” he said, more to Blackguard than to Juno.

Juno shot him a look and then turned back to Big Wig. “Okay. I am going to count to… three. Not four, not five. Three.”

Big Wig looked unimpressed.

“One.” Juno picked up her gun.

Big Wig sighed.

“Two.” Juno gently cocked the weapon.

A small bead of sweat appeared on Big Wig’s forehead.

“Thre-”

“I don’t even know the code.” Big Wig said. “So if you think it’s really going to help, kill me.”

Juno paused and then began suddenly laughing. Blackguard and Theo looked at each other and then nervously began chuckling too. Juno looked over at them, laughing even louder. The two quickly joined in and Juno turned back to Big Wig, laughing even louder. Big Wig looked at Juno like she was insane until she suddenly stopped laughing and raised the pistol back up. There was a look shock on his face an instant before Juno pulled the trigger.

Blackguard and Theo stopped laughing when the gunshot rang out. Juno looked at the body and the slowly growing pool of blood with not an ounce of remorse.

“I don’t know, made me feel better.” she said. She looked at Blackguard and Theo. “How about you two?”

They both shrugged.

“Now Theo, you can crack the code?” Juno asked.

Theo nodded. “Yeah, shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.”

“And then we’re set at this end?”

Theo nodded.

Juno smiled broadly. “Wonderful.” she looked to Blackguard. “You, clean this up.”

“Why me?”

“Because I’ve just gotten my hooves done.” Juno smiled.

Blackguard groaned as Juno got up and left the room. He felt Theo poke him and looked down at the tech.

“What?”

Theo held out his hoof expectantly.

Blackguard sighed and put a small sack of bits into it.

******

Crystal Tower Ventilation System

7:28 PM

Truth sat scrunched inside a very cramped ventilation duct, trying the keep her breathing steady. She began crawling away from the conference room as fast as she could.

“Why didn’t you stop them?” Truth said to herself as she slowly inched her way through the shaft. “Because you’d be dead too, dumb ass.” she answered herself.

Truth grunted as she pulled herself out of the duct and landed with a thump in the little hideaway she had found and stashed herself and Lovebug. Truth leaned against the wall, sighing.

“What do you think?” she asked the sleeping foal.

Lovebug didn’t answer.

“Fat lot of help you are.”

Author's Notes:

Shout Out to Cookays

Part 2 to follow.