Thorn wondered if it was possible to wear a rut in the ground by pacing. If it was, Sparkle was going to do it very soon with as many loops around the room as she had covered. The mare’s eyes, Thorn observed, were dull and emotionless, obviously as a result of the emotional dampening spell she had cast upon herself.

It was great to keep her relaxed, but it did little to ease her indecisiveness.

“What to do, what to do...” she mumbled to herself. “Time’s almost up. What to do?”

“Take a page out of Twilight’s book,” Thorn suggested. “Make a list.”

“Right. Thorn?”

“Ready,” the drake said after procuring a quill and scroll.

“Saying Yes, Pros: Money, no debt, food, allies within the criminal sphere, political influence, favors, more clients, more work, false IDs, a darker turn on my reputation, gain permanent influence over Card Gambit post-ritual.

“Cons: Murder of an innocent, murder for profit, loss of potential light allies, helping a known criminal, branded as a criminal, must live under disguise for rest of life, more requests for similar rituals, might lose Shiny’s love... ouch, inability to live with myself.

“Saying No, Pros: No change in status, not a ritual murderer, other criminals not wanting immortality from me, Shiny still loves me.
“Cons: Gambit mad at me, syndicate turning on me, potential for coercive tactics to be used against me or Shiny, loss of fortune, debts, hunger. Got all that?”

Thorn nodded. “Got it. Sparkle, If I were you, I’d just do it and be done with it.”

“But I’m not you,” she snapped. “Gyah! Stupid, motherbucking, feather-brained son-of-a-bitch! Why couldn't you have rolled over and died before you brought me into this mess?” She raged, temporarily overcoming the emotional suppression spell.

“Language, Sparkle,” the drake habitually quipped.

Sparkle glared at the drake. “Not. Helping.”

“Look, I know this will hurt you to hear this, but you've already killed for personal gain. You've already crossed that line," Thorn said. His words made Sparkle step back, her ears flattened against her head. "The market, remember? Look, most of your arguments revolve around emotion and morality, and there isn't much of that for us, Sparks. You taught me to be pragmatic, you teach your students to be pragmatic, you always say to do the best possible choice; now be pragmatic."

Sparkle glared at him. "Thorn, this is- I can't just- You don't understand!"

"Don't I? Why don't we just ask your brother? Shining Armor’s going to be-” Thorn was interrupted by a pounding on the door. That definitely wasn’t her brother.

“Open up, Sparkle,” the pony on the outside called. “Time's up. The boss wants to see you."

Dispelling the magic around her mind, Sparkle sighed. "Great, just bucking great. Thorn, can you follow me discretely? I may need you."

He nodded as he spoke, "Sure thing, Sparkle."

The blindfold and the horn-suppressor were things that were constants when dealing with the boss. Nopony outside his trusted inner circle knew where his offices were, or where he was at any given time. And, as paranoid as the old warhawk was – there was no better way to describe him – there was no way he'd let a questionably loyal unicorn keep their magic in his presence.

Not that the best of the best even needed to use their horn to cast magic, or to have a horn in the first place. Hell, even non-ponies could call upon the arcane with the right training.

Despite that, the ring on her horn did mess with her magical circuits, weakening her drastically. To the power-hungry pegasus behind the decadently over-decorated desk in the similarly excessive office, it was exactly the way he liked it. "Tell me, Ms. Sparkle, have you come to a decision? I trust you'll pick the right thing."

"I've thought about it, Mr. Gambit, and I am afraid there is no way I can accept the task." A pony who had been standing in the back of the room exited. "This is a personal thing; I'm sure you can understand."

The smirk on Card Gambit's face didn't fade as much as Sparkle expected it to. "I understand. I guess it simply was not to be. Now, would you be so kind as to help an old stallion to his hooves? I want to show you something."

She nodded, at least willing to show a pony common decency. Trotting round the desk, she offered a hoof, which he gladly accepted. Card stood, showing that his rear leg was supported by a metal brace. "Come, walk with me."

Sparkle obliged, following behind the slow-moving, elderly pegasus. In silence they walked for several minutes, not going relatively far because of the elder's speed. Sparkle was about to break the silence when the two turned a corner and came upon a metal door. His hoof pushed on the lever, allowing the door to swing in.

The scream that punctuated the air had her moving faster than she thought possible, for one simple reason; she knew that voice. "SHINY!"

The room she burst into was large, hot, dank, and cram-packed with metal cages. Most were empty, but the occasional cage contained a pony or some other sentient race. None of that mattered to Sparkle. What did was the cage in which she saw one pony kicking the downed form of her brother. "LET HIM GO!" She roared, charging towards the guards around his cell.

A set of strong hooves and a strong magic field intercepted her, pinning her to the floor. Her head fell at just an angle needed to see Shining Armor out the corner of her eyes. She struggled, her magic thrashing under her skin in an attempt to break her captors' grips.

"Now, now, Ms. Sparkle. Your brother here is going to be our guest until the job is done. He'll be quite cozy as long as you just say yes. If not..." Card's wing flipped open. Magic, a property of the soul and directly the body, grew stronger with age, and Card Gambit was no exception. His wing, suddenly quite electrified, struck the bars of the cage. Shining Armor screamed while his previous torturer looked on, unaffected because of the rubber boots he was wearing.

There was movement in the background, observed only by Sparkle. Thorn. Suddenly reassured with extra confidence, Sparkle twitched her magic. To those onlookers who could feel it, they would think nothing of it. To Thorn, the short-range communication from his mother said, 'wait for a better opportunity.'

"Well?" Card asked. "My workers are so temperamental, and I can't keep them calm forever. Now, as long as you agree to the job within the next, oh, thirty seconds, I'll let him go and even still pay you for the job. Or not..." Again, he let the implication hang.

From the cage, Shining Armor hoarsely called out, "Do whatever they want, Sparks! Don't fight, or somepony could get hurt, but potect yourself. We can deal with whatever comes afterward when we're both free."

"Fine," Sparkle relented. The pony on her back lifted up, while the aura pinning her down suddenly dragged her backwards. "Shiny!"

"Sparks!"

The last she saw of him before the metal door closed was his hoof sticking out the bars of his cage.

"Let him go!"

"Not yet, Ms. Sparkle. There's an order to these things. First, I give you this." From under his wing, Card pulled out an envelope and passed it to Sparkle. "These are the instructions to get the first half of your money; you'll get the rest when the job is done and I am young again. Then, after you keep your end, the rest of the money and your brother are yours."

"Fine." She took the envelope and pocketed it. "There are some things I need before we can do this. Blood of the victim, blood of the predator, two large corundum-based gems – rubies or sapphires, as large and clear as possible – and a wooden basin. I'll also need to get some books from my place.

"And if so much as one hair on Shining Armor's head is out-of-place when I get back, NoT eVeN ThE cReAtOr WiLl SaVe YoU wHeN i DeVoUr EaCh AnD eVeRy OnE oF yOuR sOuLs." The shadows bent and stretched, the wind blew around her, the stench of rot assaulted the noses of everypony nearby, the suppression ring on her horn groaned with the strain of keeping her back, and Sparkle's powerful voice reverberated down to their very souls.

She wasn't the only pony to flare their magic. Card and the hired muscle each flared their magic, creating various sensations depending on their tribe, with the pegasi producing electrified wind, unicorns producing an outwards pressure, and earth ponies seeming to make everything feel heavier. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife.

Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the moment was gone and everypony could breathe again. "Now that this little pissing match is over, I suggest you run along and get your money, get your books, and come back when you're ready. After all, the longer you take, the longer Shining Armor stays my guest," Card Gambit smugly said.

Sparkle snorted angrily and scraped her hoof on the tile floor. "Mark my words, Gambit. If you break your end of the deal, I will make you immortal, and I will make every last moment of eternity an absolute hell."

He only smirked.

The scent of cigar smoke - while as pleasant as smoke could be - irritated Sparkle’s muzzle. Thorn, had he been with her, would have sucked the ambient fumes in with great gusto. Around them, dozens, maybe even a few hundred ponies sat around gambling their money away. Despite the drab, ordinary exterior, this rather lavish casino was the place the letter had instructed her to go.

She walked up to one of the clerks at the barred exchange window and passed a slip to her. The slip, covered in symbols that Sparkle had no clue what they meant, was taken by the mare and given a once-over. She stood up and walked away.

A minute later, the mare was back with a bucket in her mouth. She passed the lidded bucket to Sparkle, and then passed a different slip of paper. “Here are your chips. Have fun playing, don’t come back for an hour and use a different window to get your cash. Keep this receipt for your own financial records.”

The receipt in question denoted that Sparkle had only bought thirty bits worth of chips, while judging from the high-stakes chips in her bucket, Sparkle was probably carrying several million’s worth. Sparkle nodded in understanding.

As soon as she walked away from the window, her horn darkened. Two spells formed; the first would stop ponies from having any interest in the bucket, while the second would make them dearly regret it if they still did.

Sparkle didn’t play but one game, where she lost a measly ten bits. Her nerves were too frayed to enjoy herself, knowing that every moment she waited, her brother could be in pain. She trusted Thorn not to do anything that would jeopardize the situation, but couldn’t help but worry anyway.

When the time was up, Sparkle almost literally materialized before the exchange stallion. The magic on the bucket evaporated as she passed it to him, and he took it without batting an eye. Like the mare before him, he disappeared around the back. When he returned, he was carrying a locked briefcase and a key, which he passed back. Quickly opening the case, Sparkle saw that the proper banknotes were present. Gratefully, she took it, the key, and the receipt that showed half of Card’s promised amount minus her losses.

She left in a hurry.

A quick stop at her house saw her lightened by one briefcase and burdened down by two vile, leather-bound books, a used ritual blade she’d liberated from a poor soul who had tried to steal her powers once, and several rolls of genuine parchment. The door, opened not two minutes before, was locked down and sealed with several nasty spells to keep out the nosey.

Racing across the ground as a shadow, slipping under ponies and carriages as if they weren’t even there, she made a mad dash towards the meeting place where the grunts would be. Much to her relief, the pierced unicorn and the burly pegasus were there.

“I’m ready,” She said as she emerged from the disembodied shadow.

“Come.”

"If he gives you the signal, he's in charge of the organization. If he doesn't, kill her."

"Yes, sir."

The room she found herself in was quite empty, devoid of all furniture and windows. Candle holders lined the wall, providing an eerie light. The floor itself, granite, was unusually smooth and extremely clean, giving the impression that this room had been made for expressly the purpose of conducting rituals.

“Here you go, Ms. Sparkle. Plenty of space for us to work,” Card Gambit said.

“And the ingredients I need?” Sparkle asked.

“Ah, one moment. Savior!”

From outside the room, a voice called out, “Coming, pops.” In walked a young, muscular, pegasus colt, possibly two years younger than Sparkle herself. “Here you go!” he cheerfully exclaimed as he set the bowl and the two rubies within down before her.

She eyed it and, determining that everything was satisfactory, said, “Now, I need your blood, Mr. Gambit, as well as the blood of your victim. Where is he? I’d assumed you would have already had him in here.”

Savior looked at her as if she had asked if the weather was playing a G# today. “I’m right here.”

“Wait, you’re using your own son for this?” Sparkle realized, horrified. “And he’s fine with that?”

“Of course he is,” Card replied smugly. “I’ve been planning this for years now. It’s only natural that a son would want to help his father.”

Sparkle was shocked, horrified, disgusted, and enraged, all at once. Shocked because that was his son, horrified because apparently Savior had been groomed to die, disgusted because Card was old enough to be Savior's great-grandfather, and enraged because one of the plans for trapping Card involved using a completely unrelated pony for the sacrifice.

"You are. One. Sick. Bastard. You know that, right?" Sparkle spat. She grit her teeth in rage.

"Don't worry, Ms. Sparkle! When pops and I are together, I'll be sure to fix him," the optimistic colt said.

"Savior, it doesn't work that way," Sparkle informed him. "You're going to be gone for ever; your father's just going to be wearing your hide."

"Are you sure? 'Cause that's not what pops said, and he's been studying," Savior replied.

"I'm sure."

"Oh." He was silent for a second, then, "That's fine."

"Savior..."

"Sparkle, I'm not getting any younger here," Card Gambit said, "and your brother sure as hell isn't getting any free-er."

"..." Sparkle said nothing, but glared at him. Regardless, she started preparing for a moment she would regret for the rest of her life.

Surrounded by the sounds of other illegally-held prisoners, Shining Armor lay on his side, recovering as best he could. He could feel at least one broken rib, a possibly fractured leg, a few gashes, and several dozen bruises. Nothing career ending, provided he could get medical help soon, but painful regardless.

He lay on his side, his leg hurting too much for any other position to be even remotely comfortable. He did fear for his safety, but he also had no clue as to what they were going to make his little sister do. Considering her talent, it was probably better that he didn't know; that didn't mean he wanted his sister to go through it.

It was in this lying position that he first saw the shadows move. At first, he thought it might be his sister, that is, until the terrifying visage of a dracolich emerged instead. Shining nearly screamed, err... hollered in manly distress, but silenced himself as his reason caught up to his perfectly rational fear response.

Thorn was a scary little fucker.

At that moment though, he gladly took an undead dragon over his captors. "Thorn."

"Shiny, I'm here to get you out," the drake whispered. "Are you hurt?"

"Leg, ribs, limited mobility, mild blood loss," Shiny stated clinically, as all guards were taught in basic training. "Sparkle?"

"She's fine. I'm getting you out in case something goes wrong," Thorn replied. He stood up tall and blew a thin stream of super-hot fire on a bar, melting it in seconds.

He was about to do it again when Shining Armor stopped him. "No! If I'm gone, they'll start executing the other prisoners to get her to work."

"She's already working; it's fine," Thorn replied. He yanked out the first bar and started on the another. "Now, do you mind if I grab something to eat on the way out?"

"What do you- oh..." He suddenly shrank back instinctively from the predator before him, prey instincts awoken. "Only those who are trying to kill us, and not if they retreat."

Thorn snorted. "They'll all be trying to kill us, and I won't give them the chance."

"Buck."

"Language, Uncle Shiny."

The screams echoed loudly within the stone ritual room, but not a sound escaped beyond it thanks to Sparkle's silencing spell. Blood oozed from Card's original mouth, as well as dozens of other runes carved into his skin, as his soul was forcefully ripped from its body and shoved into the first jewel. Sparkle let out a sadistic snicker. "If you wanted it to be less painful, you should have paid me more. If you wanted it to not hurt at all, you shouldn't have touched my brother. I told you I'd make you regret hiring me."

Savior, on the other hoof, had a much nicer time of it, with the modified spell circle easily sliding his soul into the second gem. The change allowed her to take his soul, unconscious but unharmed, with her. She thought of it at the last second – literally – and it had made her sigh in relief. It couldn't save all of him, but it could save the vast majority of him.

The moment both souls entered their respective jewels completely, Sparkle paused the ritual. She removed the jewel containing Savior's soul, which sparkled with an internal light, and set it aside. Over the runes surrounding the blood-filled basin and Card's soul-gem, Sparkle placed rune-inscribed parchment to add extra effects that would permanently alter his mind and soul. They would be subtle and devious for sure. She couldn't abuse them without him figuring it out, but they would certainly be helpful.

Finished with her modifications, she resumed the ritual. As Savior's old body started convulsing and writhing in agony, she felt guilty for the real one, but felt no remorse for the one who had doomed him.

The darkness of her magic receded momentarily, but returned with specialized diagnostic spells. Sparkle grinned like a mad-mare, which she arguably was, when she saw the results. It worked. The extra spells were settling in nicely, fading into his own magic. A true curse, she would assert.

Card Gambit-as-Savior stood up, somewhat shaky on unfamiliar hooves. In a minute though, he had asserted full control over his form. "It worked. It actually worked! Ha! Thank you, Ms. Sparkle. Your payment and your brother are yours."

"Thank you. Now, would you kindly leave the room for a few minutes? I need to clean up and decontaminate the room from my corruptive magic."

"Sure, sure." He said, and then left without another word.

In truth, she needed to do nothing of the sort. Instead, she flopped down on her back and balanced Savior's soul-gem on her navel. Her horn darkened, and so did the light of his soul. She smiled at the warm sensation spreading through her abdomen. "Don't worry, Savior. Mommy will have you all better in no time."

Standing up again, she pocketed the two jewels, grabbed her belongings, and trotted out of the room. Shoulders far lighter than she had anticipated, her hooves barely seemed to touch the ground. Humming a happy tune, she never noticed the tiny mistake she had made.

Shining armor hobbled out of the hospital with his leg in a cast and his wounds bandaged. He hadn't yet seen Sparkle since Thorn had rescued him from captivity, but that was rectified only a moment later. "Shiny!"

"Hey there, Sparks!" Shining Armor called out, waving a good hoof at her. "Are you alright?"

"Hehehe, I should be asking you that. But I am really happy right now; you're safe!" She walks up and gingerly hugged her brother.

"What kept you, though? I would have thought you'd have come running the moment Thorn got me free."

Sparkle nervously chuckled. "I did, but not to you." She flinched at the look Shining Armor gave her. "What? I had to get the money before they could stop me when they realized that you were gone."

"So money is more important than me?" Shining inquired.

"What? No! I just knew Thorn was with you. That's all."

Shining rolled his eyes. "I feel so loved. Now, I'm afraid to ask, but they didn't tell me what you were doing, or why. Care to fill me in?"

Sparkles ears flattened as she drooped her head and looked away. "Nothing interesting..."

"Nothing interesting? Nothing interesting, my ass! Sparks, they kidnapped me in broad daylight to get you to work for them! What the hell are you not telling me?" Shining Armor yelled, breathing hard afterwards.

Sparkle sheepishly turned towards her brother. "Promise you won't get mad? Or tell anyone?"

There was silence for a very long time. The stallion glared at his sister. "Fine," he growled. "What. Happened?"

"Card Gambit wanted me to sacrifice his son so that he could have his son's body, youth, and identity. He offered Ten million bits for the job."

"T-ten million?" Shining gasped. "That's-"

"A good chunk of his fortune and enough to put us in the top 15% of ponies, yes," Sparkle stated. "All our debts with him would be gone, too. But I said no. Then they showed me you, who they'd already captured, as incentive."

"So you did the job."

"Yes, but not for the original price," she answered.

"So, how much did you lose?" He asked.

"Nothing; I gained. It's only fair that since they took something of mine, you, I should take something of his too. Let's see, I got you, two rubies for Thorn, half of his new immune system's strength, and his deceased son's soul."

Shining stood with his mouth agape. "What. Why would you need his son's soul?"

"A project," Sparkle replied mysteriously. "If everything goes well... Nah, I won't ruin the surprise. You'll figure it out."

"Dear Celestia, now I really don't want to know."

Author's Notes:

I've never played the game the reference I included came from. It was my brother who told me a joke about how he and one of his friends pestered another friend with that phrase while he was playing the game. His reaction at the end was priceless.