Chapter 130

Standing in the dingiest of hallways, Sunset reached out and knocked on the old wooden door, tagged with an oval-shaped faux gold plate that read: ‘3B.’

She sighed, bringing her hands to her sides to pat her fluffy, red sweater flat—her leather jacket again lost on a mission. No matter, it would undoubtedly have been cursed forever with the scent of fish if she’d still been wearing it while captured.

I stood next to her, staring at the door with a dubious frown. “You sure this is the guy?”

Sunset let her hands fall to the side. “Yeah,” she replied shortly. “I told you, that was him in a picture with the killer on his Instagram page.”

“And you’re sure that’s who it was?”

“I searched by name, didn’t I?” she huffed.

“Don’t get snippy, Sunny.”

A sigh was followed by silence as we listened to someone moving around inside the apartment.

“I cannot believe you,” I said.

“Ugh.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Enough!”

I turned and jabbed a finger at her. “I specifically said in that text: ‘if you find the killer, do NOT engage! You figure out a time and place where we can all pay a visit.’”

She turned to me, lip curled. “I told you, I couldn’t help it! It wasn’t my—“

Click!

We went silent and faced the door, watching as whoever was on the other side unlocked it to see who was calling.

Finally, the door slowly opened until it was stopped by the security chain, which was pulled tight after only a few inches of the apartment was revealed. The mopey, gray face of an early thirties man peered out at us, his eyes lidded as he gave us the condescending look to end all condescending looks, his head topped by a stupid-looking brown bowl cut. He was slightly taller than us, but his build was gangly and frail, his cheap-looking striped sweater wrapped tightly around his frame.

“Mmmyes?” he said, his voice laced with insufferable smugness.

“Hi,” Sunset greeted. “Maybe you can helps us; we’re looking for someone by the name of Gage—who we know happens to be a friend of yours.”

“I know.”

Sunset stared at him for a moment. “Y— … Wait, you know that we know Gage is your friend, or you know that Gage is your friend?”

“Mmm… Before, I only knew the latter; but now I know both.”

After staring at him for a moment, Sunset turned to me with a cocked brow.

I returned the look, adding a clenched jaw. This guy was not my style.

Sighing, the red-head faced him again. “Alright, look: do you mind if we come in? We just have a few questions about your friend. It won’t take long.”

“As a matter of fact, I do mind.”

Sunset’s lips tightened. “Why?”

“Because you two are strangers. Letting you into my home would be a potentially unsafe course of action. Survival 101.”

Sunset sighed and shook her head.

“What do you want with Gage?” he inquired.

“It’s important,” she replied, licking the inside of her cheek. “We have a little… bone to pick with—”

“You know…” he cut in, “an answer like that is not going to help your case much. I am now even more reluctant to let you in after you’ve uttered such threatening language.”

After a deep breath, Sunset hardened her stare and leaned closer. “Listen, you’d better let us in right now, or your name’s gonna be Mud.”

He raised a brow. “Technically? It already is. So your threat means nothing.”

I’d had enough by then.

“Alright, that’s it,” I grumbled as I wound up and drove my fist through the door. With my arm through the hole, I grabbed a handful of sweater and pulled, slamming his head against the other side of the door. A ragged squawk sounded from him as I let go, after which Sunset and I heard a muffled thump inside the apartment.

I placed my hand on the door and pushed it open, snapping the chain and stepping inside. Before following me in, Sunset took a moment to watch me move ahead, eyes wide.

“Hot,” she muttered aloud, before entering the suite and closing the door behind her.

The smug little man looked up at me as I approached. Rubbing his brow —which already sported a growing, purple welt— and with hardly any expression, he pointed past me to the entrance. “You’re going to have to repair that door; such a lovely grain of dark mahogany should never, ever be treated so poorly.”

“Yeah, sure, I can fix that,” I said as I reached down, grabbed his shoulder with my left hand and hoisted him into the air. “But who’s gonna fix you?”

His eyes finally widened, staring back at me as he dangled helplessly from my grip.

Sunset, in the meantime, was making a circle around the apartment, scanning for anything of interest as she wrung her hands together. Then she faced us. “So… are you willing to answer some questions now?”

He turned to face her. “That would depend on the question.”

“You know,” Sunset said as she approached him. “We’re aware that you’ve been an accomplice of Gage’s for some time. That means you can be implicated in any wrongdoing that may have been committed; you know that, right?”

He stuck his nose up. “I know nothing of any wrongdoing. Gage is a fine person.”

Sunset, feigning anger, scrunched her nose and reached out to cup her hand over his chin. “Listen! You’re gonna tell us what we wanna know, got it!?”

“Mmm,” he mumbled back, unable to open his mouth.

I watched Sunset’s eyes closely, wondering what she was learning from him.

After a few seconds had passed, she released him suddenly. “Forget it,” she huffed. “This loser isn’t gonna talk. I don’t think he knows anything anyway.”

The skinny man’s brow furrowed at this, clearly confused by her sudden yielding.

Without a second thought, Sunset glanced at me. “Put him down. Let’s go,” she ordered before turning and marching toward the door.

I looked over at him, only to find a smug look on his face.

“You heard her. Put me down, thug.”

I shrugged. “OK.”

I raised my arm suddenly, thrusting him to the ceiling where he hit head-first, leaving a cranium-shaped divot in the plaster. He fell and landed at my feet in an unconscious heap, his hair sprinkled with bits of ceiling while a cloud of dust drifted down from above.

Hearing the commotion, Sunset spun around to find me standing there with the unconscious man on the floor next to me. She looked up at the hole above us, and then back at me, eyes narrowed. “What happened?”

I looked down at the heap of bony limbs, then at the red-head. “He fell.”

She folded her arms and gave me a scowl.

I let my head droop, putting my hands in my pockets. “OK, I threw him at the ceiling,” I admitted, scuffing my foot on the carpet. “And I called him a dickhead.”

Clicking her tongue, Sunset stepped aside and pointed to the door. “Go. Now. And shame on you, you bad boy.”

I shuffled past her, trying not to smile. As I did, she swung her other arm down behind me and slapped my ass, squeezing it. She leaned in close next, whispering, “you’re such a cutie.”

*****

“OK, ladies,” I announced, bringing my hands together to rub them firmly. “That’s the plan. Any questions? Everybody understand?”

The girls were gathered in the kitchen of the Apple farmhouse, seated around the table. Sunset and I were standing at the counter, reporting our findings.

Rainbow Dash raised her hand. “I have a question.”

I gave her the nod to go ahead.

“What am I doing again?”

I pointed at her, brows raised. “Nothing. You’re not going.”

“GAH!” She brought her heel back to kick the leg of her chair. “Why the hell not!?”

“Because you’re not ready,” I replied, to which she folded her arms and huffed.

“This is bullshit,” she complained. “I can fight just as good as the rest of you; I took martial arts all through grade school!”

I shook my head. “It’s not just about fighting, Dashie. You need to work on your teamwork. You seem to think you’re a one-man-army, and that’s not how wars are won. For a unit to be infallible, all of its members have to be on the same page; everyone has to be in agreement on the mission, and your reaction just now tells me that you’re not there yet.”

Applejack was nodding in agreement. “He’s right, sugarcube,” she said. “Yer still impulsive as hay.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Shut-up.”

I put my hands up to stifle the fight that was about to brew. “Look, you just need more time, OK? We need you to learn some patience, how to co-operate with others, but most of all, you need to learn some stealth. Just cuz you can’t be killed doesn’t mean others can’t; you can’t just bust in, guns-a-blazin’ every time.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and slouched down in her chair. “This sucks,” she pouted, prompting Fluttershy to reach over and rub her shoulder.

AJ, unable to resist the temptation to tease her friend, tipped her hat back and chuckled. “Well, maybe if ya wanted ta be on Golds’ good side, ya shoulda got his rocks off ta get turnt like the rest a’ us.”

Sunset snorted and rubbed her brow.

“Oh, fuck you!” Dash fired back.

“Well it’s true! Besides, I don’t mind sayin, ya missed out on some dang good action,” Applejack continued, nodding my way. “That’s one hell of a pecker standin over there, ain’t that right?”

“OK...” I rubbed my forehead, feeling my cheeks heat up.

“Ugh!” Dash’s head fell back. “D’you think you guys could stop rubbing it in? Don’t you think it’s kind of unfair? Like, how you all got to have great sex and I got cancer?”

Rarity interjected. “Well… not to sound cold, but that was your choice, darling.”

“Yeah! Ya could jumped his bone whenever ya wanted!” AJ added.

Dash glared angrily at Applejack with her mouth open like she was going to rebut, but she ended up just folding her arms and turning away, prompting Fluttershy to pat her shoulder again.

“Oh, Dashie, if it bothers you that much, you can have a freebie with him whenever you want,” she offered.

Grimacing, Dash glanced at Fluttershy and then me. She stared tentatively for a moment, then she shook her head and turned away. “Nah, I… I don’t think so.”

AJ gasped and shook a finger at Rainbow Dash. “She was thinkin ‘bout it!”

“OK!” I raised a hand to stop them. “Let’s leave Dashie alone; she had her reasons for doing what she did, OK? Let’s move on.” I brought my eyes back to Dash. “Look, it’s not that you’re not doing well with your training, Dashie —cuz you’re doing great— but it’s just too soon. You’re not ready for a real mission yet.”

I gestured to Applejack, who, again, was nodding in agreement.

“Even AJ here; she’s been training for months now, and she’s just gonna have a minimal role in this job. She’s not expected to see any live combat—unless things happen to go south on us.”

AJ sat back and raised her hands. “And I’m OK with that. No need ta jump straight inta the big stuff.”

I put my hands on my hips and nodded. Then I looked at Twilight. “Twi has been coming along very nicely as well, and even she has a job that shouldn’t see much action—although it’s still essential to the mission. I’ve selected her for that role because of her technical expertise; without her, the plan doesn’t work.”

Twilight’s shoulders tensed. “Heh heh heh… ehh, no pressure!” she chuckled nervously while playing with her hair.

I gave her a smile. “You’ll do fine, Twi. I’ll be in verbal contact with you the whole time, so don’t worry. I’ll walk you through it.”

She nodded and sighed. “I know. It’s just…” She lowered her head to rub her temple. “I dunno.”

Rarity reached across the table to pat the lavender girl’s arm. “Not to worry, darling. I know you’ll do fine.”

I pointed at the fashionista. “Rare’s right. Your job is simple: sneak into the server room and install the transmitter into the building’s surveillance system. Then we’ll have eyes on the entire place, and more importantly, the ability to manipulate the feed to the security station. They won’t even know we’re there.”

Applejack raised a finger, brows furrowed. “One thing I don’t get: why the hotel again?”

Sunset and I glanced at each other.

“Well, as you know, our suspect is going to be at a banquet,” I replied, facing the group again.

“What sort of banquet is this?” Rarity asked dubiously. “What sort of murderer frequents hotel banquets like some kind of celebrity?”

I looked over at Sunset, scratching my chin with my thumb.

She looked back at me, then down at the floor, sighing. “OK. Here’s the scoop: our suspect, who we now know as ‘Gage,’ is due to attend a formal meeting at the Bronze Hoof Hotel, located in the north end of the big city; lots of big businesses up there, lots of rich people…” Sunset brought her eyes up to meet the group. “And lots of crime… and corruption.”

Twilight rubbed her chin. “I know the area. It feels well-off, but it lacks that certain air of… basic security. It’s an oddly frightening place.” She looked at Sunset. “I take it this ‘banquet’ is not quite on the level, and that some of its attendees are not what we would call model citizens?”

Sunset folded her arms and sighed. “You could say that.”

“And what exactly do we know about this… Gage?” Rarity asked with a sneer.

“Just the main stuff,” Sunset replied. “Abusive parents—both dead; high school dropout, in and out of juvie until joining the military, dishonorably discharged a few years in, now frequently unemployed with a tendency to commit crime—especially now.”

“Psh… you don’t say?” Dash rolled her eyes. “Is that what they call murdering an innocent family now? Having a tendency to commit crime?”

Sunset scratched her ear. “That’s not really what I was talking about.”

Dash raised a brow while Rarity leaned on the table with her elbows.

“I beg your pardon, darling; this may seem like an obvious question, but… why? Why target a family like the Pies? What was to be gained?”

Sunset drew a breath and reached behind her head to scratch between her shoulder blades, looking at me somewhat uneasily.

I gave her a nod. The girls needed to hear it.

Exhaling, Sunset faced the table again. “Are you sure you wanna hear this, Pinkie?”

All eyes went to the party girl, who sat at the center of the table, her still-flat hair covering all but the center of her forehead, nose and mouth. Her head rose slightly, indicating that she was looking up in response, peering through that flimsy, pink curtain.

“There are some things I’m about to say that… you may not like,” Sunset explained.

Pinkie didn’t move, prompting Rarity to lean closer.

“Darling… we don’t want you to be upset any more that you need—“

“It’s OK,” Pinkie replied flatly, barely loud enough to stop Rarity from speaking. “I wanna hear it.”

After watching her for a moment, Rarity nodded hesitantly. “Very well,” she said, facing Sunset. “Please, darling. Continue.”

Sunset laced her fingers together and paced a small circle in front of me, thinking about where to start. “Um… OK well, long story short, Gage has recently decided to join a drug ring.”

The girls glanced at each other, brows creased.

“A drug ring?” Applejack sneered. “What does that have ta do with the Pies?”

“Well, nothing really, except…” Sunset began, but trailed off.

“Exceeeeeept…” Rarity said as she waved her hand in a circle, coaxing the red-head along.

Sunset rubbed her forehead and sighed. “Look, you guys have to understand: this isn’t some little gang. This is a big organization. How big? I don’t really know, and I don’t know who is at the top of it all, but what I do know is that it basically has a monopoly over this part of the country. BC and Alberta are both major playing zones for this group; if you’ve ever bought drugs in this area, chances are you got it from them.” She gave her head a half-shake, looking down at the floor. “And if you didn’t, then whoever you did buy them from is gonna be tough to find the next time around, if you catch my drift.”

Rarity sat back and sighed. “Sounds serious. Tell me, darling, have you contacted our friends at the CIA about this? It is possible they may know more about it than we do—like who is at the top of it all.”

Sunset shook her head. “I’ve already been in contact with Special Agent Shadow. She said that’s not really CIA jurisdiction; the DEA handles that kind of thing. She said she could contact someone over there about it, but it’ll take time, and she doubts they’ll know much. Most of their time is spent on the southern border—not too many ‘El Chapos’ up here in Canada, if you know what I mean.”

Nonplussed, Applejack closed her eyes, hand raised. “Alright, so… again, what does all this have ta do with the Pies?”

Sunset paused to study the farm girl, squeezing her fists together in front of her chest. Then her eyes went to the party-girl. “Uhh, well…” She paused to chew her lip. “When Golds and I had a look around the house the day after the murders, I remember noticing the smell of smoke. I followed it to the back of the property, and I found the remnants of a fire at the edge of the farmer’s field. I didn’t think much of it at the time —basically me and Golds just chalked it up to the farmer burning some brush— but now…”

Sunset kept her eyes on Pinkie, who had yet to move.

“Pinkie…” she continued, “is there anything significant about that spot? Was there something back there that you’d like to tell us about?”

All eyes fell on Pinkie. We watched silently as she brought a finger up to sweep her hair back and hook it behind her ear, revealing one half of her pudgy, make-up free face.

“Back by the ditch,” she said softly, to which Sunset nodded. She then looked down at the table. “Marble was growing back there.”

All were silent.

“Growing what?” Dash asked, brows furrowed.

“Whaddaya think, Dash!?” Applejack shouted. “Weed!”

“What, in the middle of winter?” Dash sneered, facing Pinkie. “How does that even work?”

“They don’t really produce in the winter; she keeps them under little boxes with glass tops to keep the frost off of them so they can survive—like little greenhouses,” Pinkie explained quietly.

“Well, they didn’t survive,” Sunset added, folding her arms. “They were destroyed by the fire—on the same night the family was murdered. And now we know the killer is involved in a drug ring. Coincidence?”

Applejack turned in her chair to rest an arm on the table, index finger raised. “Hold up, you mean ta tell me that they did this ta the Pies cuz Marble was growin her own dope?”

Sunset shook her head. “Not quite; there’s more to it than that,” she replied, before looking at Pinkie and hesitating. “This… organisation —if you could call it that— learned of some ‘unsanctioned’ marijuana at a party in Canterlot a while back... from a member that attended said party. Can anyone guess who that member was?”

Twilight sighed. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it was Gage.”

Sunset nodded. “And, as usual, Twi, you are right,” she replied, prompting the others to glance around at one another. “And Canterlot is, of course, deep inside their territory, so they took exception to this and went after the source. Eventually, they tracked it to the Pie house and the little grow-op out back.”

Everyone at the table turned to Pinkie, whose face had completely drained of its colour.

Knowing the party-girl had connected the dots to a horrifying truth, Rarity reached out to place her hand on her friend’s forearm. “Oh, darling… n—“

“I remember that party,” Pinkie said, her voice cracking. “The guy I threw it for said he was looking for some weed, and I offered to supply some of Marble’s and just include it into the cost for the whole thing…” She looked up at Sunset, covering her mouth as her bottom lip began to tremble.

“Now, Pinkie—“ Sunset began, raising her hands when she saw her friends eyes fill with moisture.

“Is my family dead because of me?” Pinkie sobbed, moving her hand to speak.

Sunset raised an index finger. “No.”

“B-but you just said—“

“I know,” Sunset countered, standing firm. “But that didn’t give them reason to do what they did. You didn’t do this, Pinkie; it was them. OK?”

“Well, if anything, it was Marble’s fault,” Dash said, slinging her arm over the back of her chair to face the others.

“DASH!” AJ scolded.

“Sunset’s right, sweetheart,” Rarity agreed, wrapping Pinkie’s shoulders with her arm to give her a squeeze. “You mustn’t bear the responsibility for this.”

Applejack shook her head. “I can’t… I mean, who in the hell goes around killin folks over a little bit a’ doggone weed?”

Sunset faced AJ and sighed. “Like I said, they have the monopoly around here, and there’s a reason for that.”

Dash shook her head, sneering. “So… what are these guys, like Tartarus’ Angels or something?”

I shook my head. “No. The Angels at least have rules; a code... that they follow. They have honour. These people…” —I shook my head— “these people are ruthless. The idea that they’d be willing to destroy an innocent family just to avoid what they perceive as ‘competition’ is beyond chaotic; it’s utterly fucking tribal.”

Sunset nodded. “Exactly. It’s insane. But what they don’t realise is that they’ve made a fatal mistake by fucking with us, and now their days are numbered—especially Gage’s.”

Rarity slapped the table, startling Pinkie, whose eyes were red, her cheeks wet. “Hear! Live by the sword, die by the sword—quite literally, if I can help it!”

Applejack waved Rarity down. “Alright, alright, don’t get all wound up just yet.“ She turned back to Sunset. “So what’s the deal with this hotel hootenanny?”

“Believe it or not, they actually hold these ‘business meetings’ on a semi-regular basis,” Sunset explained. “They talk about sales figures, client and territory growth, achievements, things like that, like it’s a fucking legit business. And our friend Gage is going to be there, accepting some nonsensical recognition of a job well done; new recruits are generally sent on jobs like this to test their ‘commitment,’ how far they’re willing to go to serve the company.”

Twilight scowled. “So… what happened to Pinkie’s family was just a… test?”

The red-head pursed her lips and nodded. “In a way, yeah.”

“That is completely disgusting,” the lavender girl chided.

“Yeah, well,” I interjected, “tomorrow night, you’re gonna tap into their security system so the others can get in, and we’re gonna crash their little party in a big way.”

“OHHH!” Rainbow Dash pulled her hair and paddled her feet against the floor in frustration. “This is gonna be so awesome! I so wish I was going!”

Fluttershy patted Dash’s shoulder. “It’s OK, Dashie. You can hang out with me instead.”

“Ugh!” Dash glared at the shy girl. “I can’t believe you’re not going even though you totally could!”

Fluttershy recoiled slightly. “I… I don’t want to. I’ve been involved in enough violence. Besides, they don’t need me. They’ll be fine on their own, especially if Rare’s going.”

The rainbow-haired girl huffed. “Oh my god, Flutters.” She shook her head hopelessly. “Fine. We can hang out at your place, I guess.”

Sunset pointed at them. “Sonata, too. You guys have to make sure she doesn’t know about any of this.”

Dash nodded, but then looked at Sunset again. “Hey, where is she, anyway?”

“I sent her into town to get some groceries,” I replied. “Can’t have her here, being part of this conversation. She doesn’t know about the immortality or the suits, and we’d rather keep it that way.”

Dash scratched her head. “Ah. Fair enough.”

“Alright then,” Sunset concluded after a short pause. “You guys know what’s happening then?”

The girls nodded, except Pinkie, who was still sobbing quietly.

“Good. I’m gonna rent the van tomorrow morning, and we’ll all meet at my place at seven. Sound good?”

“Yep,” AJ said as she stood up. The others nodded and poised themselves to disperse.

I raised a hand to stop them once more. “Hold on, ladies,” I said, prompting them to freeze. “Sit,” I said to Applejack, pointing at her chair. After giving a befuddled look, she sat once again while I swung my finger over to Sunset. “You have to tell them about the bar.”

“Ugh!” Sunset rolled her eyes and let her head fall back. “I don’t… Don’t make me do this, Golds.”

“It’s important,” I said as I made my way to the table to find a seat of my own. “Your friends deserve to know what happened.”

Running her tongue along the inside of her lip, Sunset brought her eyes down to find a group of inquisitive faces staring back at her.

Rarity raised a brow and cocked her head. “What bar? What is he talking about?”

Sunset sighed. “Well... I suppose you guys should probably know what happened while I was away.”