“Damn it, Spike! This is exactly why I wanted to deal with him earlier!”

“Hey, he wasn’t a problem—”

“But he is now, and we could’ve solved the problem before it was a problem. And now, between Shining and Dash, the problems are just piling up!”

“He wasn’t a problem until Diamond got arrested. That makes two decisions made without consulting me that blew up in your face.”

Spike was right. I should’ve run everything by him first. I see that now. But then, in the laundromat, I was furious that he was attempting to make the situation my fault. He was questioning my leadership, and it was infuriating me to no end. I was the boss, and he was supposed to answer with “yes, ma’am, right away”. He worked for me.

Except I wasn’t, he wasn’t, and he didn’t. Again, I was too angry to acknowledge how stupid I was being.

“So now I have to ask you permission?” I scoffed. “I need your supervision to run my own Crew?”

“Twilight Sparkle, I’m one of three people in Equestria who will put up with you,” said Spike. “I am one of three people who don’t find you totally, 100% bat-shit insane. Despite what we might put on our taxes, you’re not my boss. You’re my partner. So you’re goddamn right you have to ask me permission to recruit two brand new members to the Crew!”

“I can hire whoever I damn well please, thank you!”

“Twilight, you’re being hardheaded. I’m—”

“Stubborn,” I interrupted. Spike squinted slightly at me. “Stubborn, not hardheaded.”

“Right. Well, you’re being hardheaded.” Spike put extra emphasis on the word. “I’m not saying you can’t hire new members. What I’m saying is that you have to vet them! You saw two girls that did something vaguely impressive and BAM! You want to give them masks!” I began pacing around the War Map, barely resisting the urge to rip my hair out.

“So you’re mad at me for hiring them,” I said, just to make sure I had everything straight. “And you’re also mad at me for firing them?” Spike pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“Again, not what I’m saying!” He hissed slightly on the “s” sound. A good measure of Spike’s anger is how thick his Draconic accent was. Hissing on an “s” was about as bad as I’ve seen in years. “Why did you leave them at the bank?!”

“What? You wanted me to let them walk off with ten million dollars?” I asked. “Money that they’d use to have us arrested and thrown right next to Lyra and Moonie?”

“I hate it when you do that. You think that just hearing their names will make me break down,” snarled Spike. “It’s been years, Twilight. I’ve moved on, surprisingly. And keeping us out of prison was your goal?” He laughed. “Do you see the irony?”

“What would you have had me do?”

“Literally anything but what you did! You could’ve reassigned her. One sentence from you, and she’s riding with me back to the safehouse,” said Spike, counting on his fingers. “You could’ve tasered her in the car and drove off. You could’ve called her out and tell her that next time she tried some slick shit, she was done. You could’ve killed her—”

When arguing with me, it is important that your you phrase your retorts carefully, and always finish sentences. I had a tendency to interrupt people less intelligent/interesting/important than myself when I’ve decided that they were speaking for too long. Spike should’ve known better. When I went to cut him off, he should’ve kept talking.

“So you wanted me to murder children?” I asked. “Does Hell have a basement? Cause that’s where you want me to go. Honestly, Spike! They’re sixteen, and you wanted me to kill them! How awful do you think I am?!”

Unfortunately, Spike knew me quite well, and could read my bluff.

“Don’t try that holier-than-thou shit, Twi, cause I know you’re full of it!” Spike slammed his fist down on the table. “The only reason that you didn’t kill Diamond is because you think that this is a worse punishment! Don’t try to make me out to be evil because I can see into your fucked up head!”

An uncomfortable silence blanketed the room. I could tell that Spike regretted his statement, but that didn’t mean he was about to take it back. Just because he didn’t intend to say it out loud didn’t change the fact that he believed it.

“Let’s… Let’s just focus on the main issue here,” sighed Spike tiredly. “Shining has one of the safehouses. Do you think you left any prints?” I raised my hands to show off the purple latex gloves that I almost always wore.

“Never,” I said.

“And dragons don’t have fingerprints, so I’m good. Dash, on the other hand… Shining will find her in a snap.” Spike tapped his claw against the Map. “There were burners there that might have call records associated with them. He could, at the very least, find out who we were talking to and when. If he were to nab an associate, it’s over for us.”

“We need to get out in front of this,” I said. Then, I shook my head. “No. We need to bring Dash back.”

“We can’t force her back. She did her job, made her money, and resigned. We can’t just bring her back against her will.” Spike flitted out his tongue, deep in thought. “She couldn’t have left at a worse time, though…”

“I’m going to call her,” I said. Before Spike could stop me, I pulled out my scarcely used personal cell phone and dialed Dash’s number. It rang a few times, then the line connected.

“Yo. Who’s this?”

“Ms. Dash,” I said. “We’re missing you over at the office.”

“Heh. Well, I’ll be swinging by later to get my severance package, so you’ll see me again,” said Dash. “And, look, it’s nothing personal. I’m just… I’m done with that part of my life.”

“Of course. And I couldn’t convince you to stay?”

“Nope. Sorry, boss. I’m actually skipping town soon. Me and Squirt, we’re heading up to Manehattan. You’ll be fine without me.”

“I don’t know, Dash. You’re a valuable asset to the team.”

“No offense, Twi, but you can miss me with that bullshit. Nothing you say can bring me back. I’m gone.” She seemed very certain of that. “In a week, I’m outtie. Bounced. Peeled. 86’d. I'm on my way to pick up my check, and then that's it. I'm telling you, you'll be perfectly fine without me.”

“Oh well,” I sighed. “Well, see you when you get here. Maybe we can go out for a drink before you leave?”

“I never say no to free booze. See ya, boss.”

I closed my phone, preparing to punch through the wall when I received another call, on my burner. I angrily flipped it open and put it to me ear.

“Canterlot Postal Office,” I snarled.

“Wow. Did Medusa have a bad day?” It was my hitman friend, Silver Rift, and he sounded very pleased with the situation. “Is this a bad time? I sense some strife in your voice.”

“How's your arm, little boy?” I asked rhetorically. I walked off to a quiet corner of the room. “What do you want, Rift? I'm busy.”

“Busy dealing with Shining Armor of the FBI?” he asked. “I could help you out with that if you like. I'm looking at the good captain right now. A mil and a half and I can send him on his merry way right now.”

“If you hurt him, I swear to God, I will end you,” I hissed. “Do not even think about it. Understand me?”

“Geez, fine! Look, I wanna help you, but if you don't want me to deal with him… Look, I may have a way out, but it's not gonna be easy.”

I heard the door open and Dash walk in. She had a small, kind of tired grin on her face. I waved, pointed at my phone, and held up a finger.

“Make it quick,” I said quietly. “I told you, I'm busy.”

“Okay, you know how I have that travel agency job? Well, my next client is the head of a… Let’s call it an assemblage of like-minded, tightly-knit, fiercely competitive businessmen.” A syndicate of some sort. “Now, I was supposed to set him up on a luxury, all-expenses paid vacation to the north. Before I do that, he might be some use to you.”

“I'm listening.”

“There are three locations that need some… simultaneous remodeling. But he wants the place cleared out first. I can set up a meeting, and I'm confident that he'll be perfectly happy with dealing with your situation if you help him with his. I can call him right now, if you want.”

He wanted me to rob and demolish three separate buildings, all at the same time. Not the most impossible thing I'd ever done, but without Dash… I needed to bring her back somehow.

“I'll run it by the team. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll call you back,” I said. I closed my phone and slipped it into my pocket.

“Sup,” said Dash.

“Rainbow, we're going to miss you,” I said. Spike nodded in agreement.

“When Twi told me who she planned to hire, I wasn't thrilled,” said Spike. “But you made us a lot of money, even if you weren't here for long.”

“Yeah, well, it was fun while it lasted,” said Dash with a shrug.

“I know you said you're done, but how about one more job?” I said. “One last hurrah before you give back the mask and settle down.”

“I told you, Twi, I'm done. I have all the money I could ever need. I just want my check.”

Why was she so damn stubborn? Couldn’t she see that I needed her?

“C’mon, at least listen to the job.” She didn't protest, so I went straight into it. “A gang leader wants us to rob and destroy three buildings at the same time. We can’t do it without you. Plus, this is the one time we'd be able to kick the door in and rush it. How could you pass on the only loud job we get?”

“Sorry, Twi. I'm done,” said Dash firmly. “Now, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, can I please have my money?”

“That’s really disappointing,” I sighed. “It’s a shame, really. Such a waste. Now, you know too much. Now, we have to kill you.” Dash froze, preparing to run for the door. “Kidding, kidding. Spike, get the girl her cash.”

As she nervously laughed, I turned away, trying to figure out how to convince Dash to help me out. I walked over to the couch and took a seat, racking my brain. My duffel bag was to my right, and it held my mask. The Gorgon always helped me think, so I pulled it out to hold in my hands. As I took the mask, my hand nudged something else in the bag, which should have been empty. I spread open the bag, and looked down at the framed photo within.

Instantly, I had an idea. I pulled out my burner and sent Silver a text message.

We're in. But first, I need to ask you a favor.

“A favor? What sort of favor?”

“Has anyone ever told you that you are very, very rude?”

“I beg your pardon?”

Twilight was officially annoyed. The prosecutor was getting under her skin, no doubt in an attempt to get her to confess everything. What he didn't realize is that Twilight was done with her deception and concealment. To her, this wasn’t a trial. It was a highlight reel.

“There are few things more rude than interrupting a story, especially one as exciting and interesting as mine,” said Twilight. “If you were to shut up and let me speak, I may be able to answer your questions.”

“All I want is to do is make sure I understand the situation as best as I can. But, please, do go on.”

“I'm telling my story this way for a very particular reason. I am building up suspense, details, everything you need in order to experience these events that you couldn't otherwise,” said Twilight. “You’ve already decided my fate. I may as well be dramatic with the story.”

“Very well, Ms. Sparkle. Now, the favor?”

“I didn’t have any choice. My hands were tied,” sighed Twilight. “This was the only way out. We had to do the job, and we needed Dash’s help to do it.”

“And how did you convince her to rejoin your crew?” asked the prosecutor. Twilight smiled darkly, laughing almost uncomfortably.

“I gave her a bit of motivation, is all.”