Shade hears them before seeing them. Four black attack helicopters hover on the horizon. She picks up the binoculars to get a better picture of them. A convoy of black vehicles linger behind the helicopters. Twenty more LAV’s surround the convoy.

“Fun.”

Shade drops the binoculars to let them dangle from her neck as she walks over to the doors that lead to the staircase off the rooftop. She travels down two flights of stairs before pushing open a black door with the number “22” on it. She makes her way to a dark gray door that has “employees only” on it in gray letters.

Inside the room, dozens of screens line the walls, along with rows of long desks with monitors on them. The “Vanhoover Daily News” traffic monitoring center provides Shade with live video footage of the outside world.

She shakes her head. What kind of military neglects media centers? This one apparently. Outside interference does prevent data from leaving or entering the city so maybe that is why the military had not secured the news station?

A few button presses on a keyboard later and the camera for the main road shows the black convoy entering the city. She highlights the area with the mouse and all the cameras in that area show up on the wall of screens. The convoy stops in front of city hall.

Half the screens in the control room flash while the letters “EPAWS” stay in the center of the screens. A message scrolls along the bottom of the screens.

“Equestria Public Alert and Warning System. This message is for Nightshade Toxin. President Harmony wishes to talk with you about a Presidential Pardon concerning your recent actions. Nightshade Toxin, if you do not show up at the City Hall by 1600 hours today, you will be dealt with as a terrorist. If you do not comply peacefully then you shall be shot on sight.”

Shade checks the watch on her right wrist. About two hours until the deadline. She holds out her left hand. “Presidential Pardon.” She holds out her right hand. “Wanton destruction.” She moves them up and down like a scale for a moment before throwing her right hand back over her right shoulder. “Pardon. What are they going to do—kill me?”

“Madam President? Are you sure this is a good idea?”

A tall woman with purple skin, long ice blue hair, and diamond like eyes watches as her aide shifts uncomfortably across from her. A warm smile comforts the black and white haired woman. “This is the best idea, Maggie. She has done a great service to Equestria.”

“She is a terrorist!” Magpie “Maggie” Scroll exclaims.

President Harmony casts her attention to her lap where a folder and documents lay. “By all accounts, the only ones that are dead are the ones that committed the crimes and associated with them. She is more a vigilante. A very... destructive vigilante.”

“Two billion in damages. In three days!”

“No need to yell, Maggie.” The stern look from the President makes the gray skin woman shrink in her seat. “The liquidated property of the accused will be more than enough to pay for the damages and repairs. What concerns me most is why this went on for as long as it did. This young woman uncovered everything and dealt with it in three days.” She holds a picture of the young woman in her hands. “Would you honestly want to be her enemy?”

Maggie shakes her head.

“Having her as an ally benefits her as well as my people. There is corruption under my nose that I can smell but can not see. She was trying to get attention, displaying her prowess and abilities. With her working with us I am sure she will be able to keep a low profile.”

Maggie touches her right ear. “The translator has arrived.”

“Send her in.”

“Send her in.” Maggie repeats into the headset.

The door to the left of Maggie opens up and a blue haired woman enters the limousine cautiously.

“Madam President!” The woman bows. “An honor to meet you, ma’am!”

Harmony giggles softly behind her hand. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Please sit down.”

Cobalt Blossom sits down. She greets the gray skin woman next to her. “Hello!”

“Greetings,” Maggie offers a stiff reply.

“Agent Sapphire, tell me about your assignment.”

Cobalt Blossom’s nervous demeanor quickly fades away. She sits up and salutes the President. “Yes, sir, ma’am. At first, Nightshade Toxin was treated like any other missing person. Things soon got more complicated as more questions began popping up about her. The EBI stepped in when Nightshade Toxin didn’t have any fingerprints on her finger tips. She also had unknown bacteria on her skin and inside her mouth. Her blood work came back normal. Then when a second test was done with a new sample the DNA was completely different from the first like she was a totally different person. More blood samples yielded the same results.”

“How is that possible?” Maggie asks the question in Harmony’s mind.

“I can’t tell you. I was brought in as a translator but when I saw her scar, my major in Ancient History and Mythology kicked in. Multiple legends have been written about people with her scar; cursed to walk the world for eternity and never dying. The earliest gods were said to have those scars.

“Each scarred had different, um, quirks? Like one couldn’t touch silver, one couldn’t stop growing hair, one was so grotesque that who ever saw them would turn to stone. I was the perfect agent for the job so I was assigned to her.”

“Do you know her ‘quirk’?” Maggie inquires.

Cobalt Blossom chuckles. “Um, well, I only was able to spend ten hours with her and most of that time was at school. The only odd thing about her is her complete color blindness. There are twenty other cases of that around today so while rare not unheard of.”

Before President Harmony can make a query, Maggie blurts out, “Vehicle fast approaching! It shows no signs of slowing down!”

“Fire warning shots.”

“Fire warning shots,” Maggie echoes into the headset.

The shot of a forty millimeter cannon shakes the windows. Barely audible music plays outside.

“The vehicle has stopped and is now playing...polka music?” Maggie informs the others.

The door President Harmony rests her right elbow on opens up. She jumps away from the door. Shade slinks into the cab and sits beside the President. She waves to Cobalt Blossom.

Maggie pulls out her side arm and levels it at the naked teenager. “Why are you naked?!”

“‘Just climbed out of a sewer.’” Cobalt translates.

“How did you get past the soldiers?” Maggie questions.

“‘It is nap time.’”

Maggie pulls the hammer back on her pistol.

Shade grins.

“Maggie, put the gun away.”

“Madam President!”

“If she wanted us dead, I am sure we would not be basking in her delightful presence.”

Shade nods and winks at the President.

Harmony takes off her black suit jacket and presents it to Nightshade. “It is not proper for any lady to walk around nude.”

Shade puts on the jacket. “‘Thank you.’”

“You are welcome.” She extends her right hand to the teen. “I am President Harmony of Equestria. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Shade shakes the hand.

“‘Shade, Vengeance Incarnate. A pleasure.’”

The three women exchange looks with one another.

“Is that what you did here? Enact vengeance?“

Shade nods her head.

“I wanted to be the first to thank you for what you did. The citizens of Vanhoover can all sleep peacefully from now on knowing that such evil has been extinguished.” President Harmony says and gives a shallow bow. “As a reward, I will give you a full Presidential Pardon. Which means that you will start off with a clean slate from now on.”

“‘And?’”

President Harmony smiles. “And, while I can not officially hire you to work for a certain law enforcement agency, you can have high security clearance for such facilities. When you turn eighteen years of age, you can work for the law enforcement agency and earn a salary.”

“‘And?’”

“You are working on ground breaking technology, correct? I can provide the resources you need to complete the technology as well as any other projects you might have in the future.”

“‘I want someone to take my place until my eighteen birthday. Her name is Apple Walker.’”

“The position will be open to her should she choose to accept it. Anything else?”

Shade hesitates for a moment.

“‘I want my friends to come with me.’”

“I am sure we can come up with an arrangement for them to accompany you to Canterlot.”

White brows knit together.

“You will come with us to Canterlot and live there.”

Shade shrugs then nods her head. She holds out her hand to the President. President Harmony shakes her hand.

President Harmony looks at Maggie. “Tell the troops to stand down. We are going to the Vanhoover Youth Foundation.”

“Take off your pants, Maggie.”

“Madame President?! Harmony?!” A blush exploding on her face.

“Or would you rather the President of Equestria walk around with no pants?” Harmony asks with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Cobalt—“

Harmony cuts her off. “Miss Blossom will be accompanying Miss Toxin into the mansion to start the paperwork to become a foster parent for Miss Toxin and her friends. Unless, you wish to fill that roll?”

Maggie looks across at Shade. Shade wields big, puppy eyes and a small pout with just enough quiver in her lower lip. “How can a demon make such a face?!” She thinks to herself as she uses all her willpower to tear her eyes away from such an innocent looking creature. Maggie frowns. With the biggest sigh of her life emptying her lungs, Maggie starts to take off her pants.