Demands

Crystal Tower Office

8:22 PM

Juno took deep, ragged breaths. “Theo,” she said into her radio. “What the buck was that?”

“I’m, um, not quite sure.” the unicorn said sheepishly.

“Hazard a guess.”

“Well, it would appear as though Lock and Load, uh, blew up.”

“I can see that. Why, is the question of the day.”

“Let me check the internal cameras.” there was some clicking on the other end of the line and Juno turned her attention to the crystal screen.

“There they are.” Theo said as a window popped up. The video showed Lock and Load loading their weapons and then the pair of them looking down at the floor between them. There was a bright flash as the video cut.

“Grenades.” Juno growled.

“It would appear so.”

“Who threw them?”

There was more clicking and a different video popped up. It showed the hallway where Lock and Load had fired on the airship from. The two stallions were at the end of the hallway, working on their weapons. Juno watched the video closely, and her eyes widened when she saw a head pop out from a vent in the wall. Small and black, it looked like-

“The nanny.” Juno said softly. And then she was suddenly shouting. “The fucking nanny!” she squeezed the radio so hard it started to crack. “Theo, where the buck is Two Guns?”

“I, uh, can’t find him…” the tech said sheepishly.

“That’s because he’s dead! Probably the one that took the dive out the window!” Juno growled and pulled her pistol from within her coat.

Cadance and Chrysalis gulped in unison and exchanged a fearful glance before closing their eyes. Juno snarled and turned her attention on them. But before she could so much as raise the gun, Masque was suddenly by her side. The unicorn gently but firmly grabbed her hoof.

“Nous sommes à proximité, chère, et ils sont encore utiles.” Masque.

Juno gazed into Masque’s eyes for a moment before sighing and nodding, visibly appearing to relax. “Vous avez raison.” she put the gun back into her coat and picked up her radio again. “Theo, patch me into the building’s external speakers. And then tell Blackguard he’s got a new job.”

*******

Base of Crystal Tower

8:26 PM

Sunshine grunted as she pushed a particularly large chunk of crystal out of the way. She looked over the damage and sighed. The whole op had turned to shit and they hadn’t even gained a single foot of ground.

Suddenly, the speakers on the outside of the building gave off a loud whine.

“Attention police.” a female voice with a Trottigham accent said. “There will be a ten minute cease fire. You may collect your dead and wounded. But those doing the collecting must be unarmed. If any of us see the glint of a weapon, we will open fire. Do not test me on this. I also hope that we now understand each other. We will contact you soon with demands.”

The voice clicked off and most of the ponies looked to Sunshine.

“You heard her, pull them back!” the pegasus shouted at the assembled ponies.

They nodded and all began making their way towards the front of the building, where most of Alpha team lay writhing in pain. Although one or two simply laid there.

Sunshine approached a group of mechanics. “Can you get that thing in the air again?” she jerked her head at the stricken airship, which had come to a rough yet stable landing near the edge of the staging area.

One of the mechanics, an earth pony, ran a hoof through her mane. “We can maybe get it flying, but we can’t repair the weapons systems. Not here anyway.”

Sunshine just nodded. “It’ll do, go on.”

The mechanics nodded and scampered off. Sunshine made her way through the staging area, nodding to Blind Justice as she passed him. The stallion had appropriated a rifle and was watching the building, making sure the terrorists held their end of the bargain.

Sunshine pushed away the flap of a command tent and entered. Inside was Robinsson, the pegasus holding his head in his hooves.

“Commander?”

“I’m dead.” he said. “I finally get a break in my career and I screw it six ways. I might as well pick up a rifle and join in the next charge.”

“That might not be a bad idea.”

Robinsson looked up.

“Listen, the ponies out there are looking at me right now. They don’t trust you and they certainly don’t like you. I don’t like you either. But if you want to get through this with a shred of dignity and maybe not be hit by ‘friendly’ the next time bullets start flying, you had better show the troops their lives actually mean something. So yes, grab a rifle and report.”

Robinsson blinked a few times and nodded. “Yes, sir.” he said soberly. “Is there anything else I can do?”

Sunshine nodded. “Get on the horn with High Command and get me everything you can. When this is over, I want that bitch to be a red smear on the ground.”

*******

Crystal Tower Office

8:36 PM

“Guard them.” Juno said to the pair of stallions in the room as she left with Masque.

“So, what do we do now?” Masque asked her as they walked through the halls.

“We go and have a chat with Theo.” Juno answered as she boarded the elevator.

“Vault and Computer Room.” the ever so helpful automated voice informed them as the elevator stopped.

Juno led Masque through the maze of crystal computer banks until they found Theo’s workstation at the computer interface. The spot was strangely empty.

“Theo, my dear, where are you?” Juno called out in a sing song voice.”

“Where do you think?” he answered from somewhere farther back in the room. “Ma’am.” he added quickly.

Juno smiled and made her way towards the tech, Masque following on her heels. They found the unicorn crouched over some sort of drill machine, working on it. The contraption was pointed at a large vault.

Masque stared. “Juno, chère, what is that?”

“Oh, this?” Juno grinned. “This is the third most secure vault in the world.” she tapped the thick crystal door. “A fusion of old magic and new technology, the Vault of Crystals is an exemplar of security. Which is precisely why it currently houses bonds worth over six hundred million bits.” Juno just smiled broadly. “And they are ours for the taking.”

“If we can get in, that is.” Theo grumbled.

Juno just smiled at him. “Oh Theo, it’s Hearth’s Warming Eve. Anything is possible.”

Masque just stared. “Chère, is this what all of this was for? A robbery?”

Juno just smiled at Masque. “Darling, please don’t make it sound so petty.”

“But… but I thought all this was so we could hack into the Canterlot servers.”

“Oh we’re still doing that. This is just a fallback.” Juno pulled Masque close. “Listen dear, don’t worry about anything. I have everything planned out. Sure, I got a little overzealous and a tad mad, but I am calm and collect now. And by this time next week, we’ll all be sitting on a beach in Prance, sipping peach juice, and earning twenty percent.”

Masque smiled and nuzzled noses with Juno. “That does sound nice.”

Juno grinned.

*******

Crystal Tower Ventilation System

8:51 PM

Truth made her way through the quietly as a mouse. Which is to say not very quietly. I mean, have you ever heard a mouse? Bastards are noisy. The changeling huffed as she pulled herself through a particularly tight opening.

She reached back through the opening and carefully pulled Lovebug out with her. Truth cradled the foal close as she looked around. She was in a hallway that was empty for the moment, but that might change at anytime.

Picking a direction at random, Truth began walking. She suddenly heard voices as shadows were thrown on the wall from around a corner. Stopping herself short, Truth turned to go the other way, only to run right into a stallion far larger than she.

“Well hello miss. You lost?” Blackguard sneered.

Truth gulped nervously. “Eh, no speaksei equestrian?”

“Nice try.”

“Aw buck.”

*******

Crystal Tower Office

9:00 PM

“Aw look, the gang is all here.” Juno said jovially as Blackguard marched Truth into the room. The changeling was carrying Lovebug.

“Truth!” Cadance cried.

“Lovebug!” Chrysalis exclaimed.

“Quiet!” Juno shouted, eliciting silence. The pegasus nodded to the two soldiers standing by the wall. “Gag all of them.” she picked up the radio. “I’m about to make a phone call.”

******

Base of Crystal Tower

“Attention Police!” the voice from before said urgently, drawing Sunshine’s attention. “Attention Police!”

The pegasus quickly grabbed a radio and activated it. “This is Captain Sunshine of the Night-Guards. Who am I speaking to?”

“This is Juno Eclipse, formerly of the Night-Guard. I have a list of demands.”

“Let’s hear them.”

“In Canterlot, there are five agents of the Hive Heralds. In Zebrafrica, there are four members of the Stripes Forever. In Trottingham, there are six members of the Unicorns United….

*******

Crystal Tower Office

“…In Prance, three agents of the Prance Perfectionaires.” Juno listed off.

Blackguard shot her a look.

Juno stopped transmitting for a moment. “I read about them in Manes Monthly.” she grinned and started transmitting again. “And here in the Crytsal Empire there are five former Night-Guards, our own brothers and sisters. When these revolutionaries are freed I will release fifteen of the hostages.”

“What if I can’t deliver?” Sunshine asked.

“Captain, I have faith in you. But my faith will only last two hours. After that, the next body that falls out of the building will be a member of the royal family.”

There was a pause. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“I suggest you work quickly, captain. I have over thirty hostages and I only promised you fifteen. If you try another assault, for every pony I lose I will do my best to kill one of yours as well as a hostage. Do you understand?”

“I do.”

“Then don’t test me.” Juno clicked off the radio.

“Do you even think they’ll try?” Blackguard mused.

Juno snorted. “It doesn’t matter. I made half those up anyway.”

Blackguard jerked his head at Cadance, Chrysalis, and Truth, each of whom were near choking on the gags in their mouths. “What about them?”

Juno fished a peach from her pocket and took a bite before answering. “Who the buck are they going to tell?” she said through her mouthful of peach.

Blackguard eyed them suspiciously. “How long until Shining reaches Canterlot?”

“Less than an ‘our.” Masque answered.

“And then it’s less than twelve minutes to the Night-Guard sever room where he will dutifully carry our package. And then,” Juno pulled a detonator from her coat. “Boom.”

Cadance’s eyes widened and she put up a struggle like a trapped animal against her bonds.

Juno glanced at her as if she was a mild annoyance. “What? Don’t tell me you actually still care about him.” the pegasus chuckled and took another bit of her peach.

Author's Notes:

Here's a breather chapter after Hell Fire.
Now, if all goes according to plan, which it won't, the next chapter will be called Coltmando.

See ya then.