"In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?"
- Saint Augustine

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
- Nelson Mandela

"Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway."
- John Wayne

Sleepy Hollow, Upstate New York: Sewers

Michael gripped his modified AR-15 tightly, waiting for the Diamond Dogs to finish their tunneling. To say that he was nervous was like claiming the beach on a hot summer’s day was slightly warm.

Michael activated his comms to call in. “Lester, it’s Michael. Anything new to report?”

“No Michael. There isn’t anything to report, just like the other five times you asked in the past ten minutes,” Lester’s annoyed voice replied, causing Michael to grimace slightly.

“Sorry Lester.” Despite Michael’s apology, Lester’s sigh could be heard over the comm.

“Trust me, Michael. I know how you’re feeling,” Lester said, the clicking of a keyboard coming over the line as he talked. “This is very different from what we’re used to. I mean, who would’ve guessed that we would be infiltrating a small magical version of Fort Knox and Hitler’s Chancellery combined. I definitely didn’t, and this is me we’re talking about.”

“Got that right, dawg.” Franklin’s voice came from behind Michael, startling the elderly man. “I mean, shit, I woke up this morning to find two ponies and a human asking for my help in my bedroom.”

“Fuck that,” Trevor growled as he walked out of the tunnel that trailed underneath the Conversion Bureau. “I had a fucking minotaur and his birdbrain girlfriend in my trailer. Fucking cunts had my weapons too! I should have blasted those fuckers right then and there!” He took a deep breath before continuing on with his rant. “And another thing! When I thought of the end of the world, I imagined big ass fucking meteors, or the Earth deciding that she had had enough of our shit and would just blow the fuck up. Never thought the apocalypse would come in the form of pastel ponies!”

“Oh, shut up you old dweeb!” A voice called out from behind him, causing Trevor’s face to burn bright red with anger as he whirled around.

“YOU FUCKING BIRD-CAT SHIT CUNT! STOP CALLING ME THAT!”

“Make me, dweeb!”

“ARGH! I’M GOING TO FUCKING MURDER YOU!” Trevor roared, running back into the tunnel. Michael groaned in annoyance at the sound of fighting and Trevor’s harsh insults.

Franklin smirked as he leaned against the sewer wall. “What’re you thinking about, Michael?”

“What else? My family,” Michael muttered as he leaned on the wall as well, next to Franklin. “I hope what I’m doing makes them proud. I’m doing something great and beneficial for the world, for Christ’s sake!”

Franklin nodded his head. After all, he liked Michael’s family a lot. Hell, Michael practically forced him to come to the family get-togethers, essentially adopting Franklin into the family. They were an odd bunch—no, they were a completely fucked-up family. Michael blamed himself for that, moving to L.A. and either drinking himself into a stupor or ignoring his family altogether.

That was years ago, however, and his family had gotten a lot better ever since Jimmy followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a successful director, with Tracy following her dreams of becoming an actress of great renown. Michael couldn’t help but be proud of his kids, along with being thankful for Trevor and Franklin being there to support them.

This made the De Santa name powerful in Hollywood, marking them for success in the coming years as the movies they made had earned them several Oscars and Golden Globes.

Then along came Celestia and her perfect little ponies, and the world started burning.

“Frank, tell me. Why are you doing this?” Michael couldn’t help but ask the man beside him.

“Because you asked me to join you when they showed up at your house too,” Franklin said, almost to himself. “I didn’t go against a corrupted FBI, the Triads, mercenaries, and Weston to save you and Trevor’s sorry old asses because I thought you were just okay fuck-ups like Lamar. You guys are my homies, my dawgs, my fucked-up family who taught me in the most fucked-up way possible how to make it big. That includes your family too.”

“So…” Michael stepped away, giving him a long look. “It has nothing to do with Tracey or Jimmy asking you to look after me either?”

Franklin blinked several times, rubbing his head nervously at the accusation. “Well…”

“Hey, it’s alright.” Michael couldn’t help but grin at him. “Besides, we all cleaned up our act these past few years, right? I mean, you’re a big shot trader now, aren’t you? No need to go around shooting stuff up and making things explode.”

“Unless Trevor asks,” Franklin muttered quietly, causing Michael to laugh.

“True. T just needs to find his own center before he gets killed off by his own crazy plans,” Michael said as he checked the now silent tunnel, only to see Trevor struggling in the grip of a large minotaur carrying him out by his shirt collar.

“LET ME GO, FUCKER! THAT BITCH NEEDS TO LEARN HER PLACE! NO ONE FUCKS WITH TREVOR PHILLIPS!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Gilda taunted as she stood beside the minotaur. “How about you go work on that speech impediment, eh?”

Michael facepalmed while Franklin covered his ears, both realizing that Gilda was antagonizing Trevor on purpose. Trevor froze at the comment, before his struggles began anew and far more viciously. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU! I WILL SKULL FUCK YOUR CORPSE IS WHAT I AM GOING—!”

Trevor found himself slammed into the ceiling once, twice, three times before the minotaur set him down on his ass. Trevor held his head in agony, giving a groan as he glared at the minotaur. “AND FUCK YOU TOO!”

“Iron Will asks you to keep your trap shut or Iron Will will shut it for you,” the bipedal bull pronounced, glaring at Trevor before giving Gilda a long look too. “You too, Gilda. Stop picking a fight with him.”

“He makes it too easy,” Gilda replied, waving her claw at Trevor, who was now getting back on his feet. “No wonder Marcus likes to go on gun runs. He’s stuck with this old dweeb as a joke!”

Trevor scowled, looking away in embarrassment at being manhandled. Michael couldn't help but give Trevor a little ribbing.

"So, what have we learned?" Michael asked with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Fuck you, Michael," Trevor grumbled, dusting himself off. "Fucking degrading is what I learned. Being lifted by Cowman here and getting my head slammed repeatedly into the ceiling made me feel like a kicked dog."

"Man, you brought that on yourself." Franklin laughed. "Fuck, we've been telling you for years you have to calm down. Right, Trevor?”

Michael laughed. “I don't think so. Trevor is just fucking crazy, there’s no curing that." He slapped a hand on Trevor's back. Trevor was far from happy with that assessment.

"Fuck you guys," Trevor groaned, trudging back into the tunnel, followed by an amused Franklin and Michael. The trio walked into the dog-made tunnel, the sounds of claws scraping away at rocks echoing inside the cramped space. Michael's eyes trained on the leaders of this odd group.

Iron Will, the last living minotaur in existence, and Gilda Stormwing, the current queen of the Griffon Kingdom. Standing near them was ten of the elite squad of the griffon’s armed forces, the Tsumerai Guards, heavily armed and armored soldiers that took on rogue dragons on a weekly basis.

"How are the dogs doing?" Michael asked as he walked by. Iron Will followed, pulling out a small pair of glasses and beginning to read from a notepad.

"Alpha said that they just found shallow foundations and are working their way up towards the storeroom." Will nodded, confirming his thoughts. Michael bobbed his head as he listened, looking to the ponies pulling a cart filled with stones and dirt out of the tunnel. "Iron Will knows we are getting the unicorns prepped to melt their way through now."

"So there’s no magic in it?" Franklin asked as he hefted his AA-12 in his arm. "It's not impenetrable?"

"Franky boy! How can you say that! Nothing is impenetrable if we are on the case! You need something, we can get it! Fuck the consequences." Trevor exclaimed, a vicious smile on his face.

“Hardly the same from breaking old metal and stone, Trevor.” Lester chastising Trevor over the radio, “Magic is a true game changer, something that our old tricks would never really work against. We can’t go blowing it up or infiltrating and hope for the best. These runes make breaching doors and walls almost impossible without a truck load of missiles on hand. The other remaining Conversion Bureaus have held out for days, right up until the order came in to demolish them, not capture, and just knocking them flat took some effort as well. And as for covert infiltrating, well, we don’t exactly blend in.”

“Lester’s right.” Michael said as he passed a unicorn placing enchantments on the tunnel wall to keep it from collapsing. “We got lucky with this. The foundations are at best enchanted, and even then, it’s under the ground with no viable entrance, so there’s little chance for a group to come through a locked storeroom.”

“So, we go over the plan again?” Franklin asked as they came to the end of the tunnel. It came to a slight incline until it hit the foundation itself. Michael nodded his head before looking to the Iron Will.

“Got the floor plans?”

“Right here.” Iron pulled out a single crystal and gave it a light squeeze before tossing it to the floor. The crystal burst into light, rendering a 3-D model of the building above them.

“Alright everyone, gather around.” Michael called out, causing everyone to shift to gain a better angle at the floating map. “Lester, we’re ready.”

“Right, first joint species heist. Possibly the most important one we’ve ever taken, so listen up.” Lester’s voice was all business and this caused whatever talking going on to fall silent. “Our objective is to get a hold of the portal station and its power source and shut it down without taking damage, so it can be studied and reverse-engineered if possible. Michael and his team will lead their way to the portal station itself and hold it until the building is cleared. We need this if we are to stand a chance in the coming year when Boston falls.”

“Secondary objective is to turn this soul ripping building into a death house.” Trevor said with bloodlust filled anger. “Every New Foal is on the shit list and that is a no no. Every normal pony that is not with us is to be taken in for a bit of… persuasive chat with our resident psycho. Namely me.”

“Any info will be good for everyone, since CBs are the center of information coming out from Equestria, so let Trevor handle it.” Lester calmly stated, ignoring the seething anger coming from Trevor. “We are going to do this quietly, this means we are leaving the infiltrating to Michael, Franklin, and Trevor since they have silencers on some of their weapons. If it turns loud, then this gets a lot harder since this is a portal station and you can be overrun in New Foals within mere minutes of an alarm being sounded.”

“Question.” Gilda glared at the image, raising a sharpened talon. “Can some of my guards have weapons as well? They’re well trained, since we already had crossbows back home, and simple firearms being developed for our troops.”

Michael’s eyes slightly narrowed in thought before pulling out his OTs-33 and looking back at Gilda’s entourage. “Who’s the best shot out of the group?”

Four claws raised from the ranks, and Michael took note of the crossbows on their backs or flintlock pistols on their waists. “T, Frank, give them your spare pistols. The more guns we have, the quicker we can go through this.”

Trevor and Franklin confirmed with gestures, nodding and shrugging at each other respectfully before passing their spare pistols and ammo to the now more than deadly armed griffins. Once packed they walked them through the steps into loading and shooting. Michael motioned to the unicorns to begin the melting through the floor.

“Operation is starting, Lester.” Michael said as he held out his OTs to a griffon, showing him how to handle the weapon safely and unjam the breech in the event of a misfire.

“Right...wait. Something’s going on here back at base.” Lester reported back, the sounds of feet and hooves running in the background.

“Lester?” Franklin looked at Michael with concern. Lester wasn’t the fastest walker, what with his weakened leg, and had to use a cane to get around. Michael gave a look back to Franklin and Trevor as he handed his pistol to the griffon. “Whats going on? Is the base under attack?”

“I don’t know, hold on.” Trevor paced, hearing Lester quickly typing on his computer.

“Not again...Not another.” Trevor growled as listen in, waiting for the sounds of screams and fighting to erupt over the radio. “I'm not losing another friend. Lester!”

“I’m here, Trevor. Not going anywhere. I’m tapping into the comm systems to see what's happening. There!” Lester finished and the radio exploded into garbled shouts for orders. “Damn, let me...there we go.”

“-PHL capture a Portal Station without telling anyone?” Michael frowned as he listened in to the incoming report.

“Negative Colonel,” a new, and feminine, voice replied. “We are still working out a means of getting one ourselves. Doctor, who is it?” Franklin snapped his fingers as he pointed his finger to Gilda.

“That’s the purple mare, what’s her name. Cherry?” Franklin asked as he looked to Gilda for the answer.

“Cheerilee.” Gilda corrected, but was shushed by Michael as the radio continued on.

“I’m working on it… Wait, that can’t be right?” Whatever was happening, it was enough for the radio to stop transmitting. Lester could be heard cursing as he began to type furiously on his keyboard.

“Lester, what's going on?” Michael spared a glance to the glowing foundation, the unicorns heaving as they began to power up their horns, the heat in the tunnel spiking in response.

“I’m not sure. Whatever it is, they changed channels. It’s highly encrypted and I don’t feel like taking a stab at what I am looking at. It might fry my CPUs just by grazing it.” Lester's voice was filled with nervous tension.

“Should we ask to see what’s happening topside?” Franklin looked over to Michael, who focused himself a bit before calling Lester.

"Lester, try to find out what's going on. If it’s another attack, then that will make the heist a lot harder." Michael gazed at the melting hole, puddles of glowing stone dripping from it.

"Will do, Michael." Lester answered, the sound of him grunting as he got up from his chair. "And Michael? Take care of yourself and the guys. Okay? I... Don't know what I'll do if you guys don't come back."

"Argh, don't get sappy on us!" Trevor butted in, his face full with confidence and pride. "We'll come through like always!"

"Right. I'm going to get more information, but I'll be listening in."

"We're through!" Michael turned to see the unicorns stepping away from glowing hole with pride.

"Perfect! Now Barbera and I, we will be having some good Ol' bonding time." Trevor said as he brandished his weapon, a custom M249, and bellowed into the newly formed hole. "Leeroy JENKI-"

Trevor was silenced before he attracted attention by Iron Will, who grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt once more. Trevor gave an angry shout before his mouth was covered by Will's hand, his muffled yells falling to deaf ears as he was met by the angry glares of griffons, humans, ponies, and a minotaur.

"Just what in God's name are you doing, Trevor!" Michael growled angrily in a hushed tone at the ignorant Canadian. Trevor gave a snort before pulling the furry hand off his mouth.

"What? The guns a'blazing routine always worked for us and also in cartoons. You cannot deny my logic that we are fighting cartoon-like horses with a superiority complex. We can totally take 'em out. Just like the Republican Space Rangers, or Impotent Rage!" Trevor explained his 'foolproof' plan with a shit-eating grin and was about to charge again if hadn’t been manhandled by a certain minotaur.

"Trevor, I cannot explain in words right now how stupid your plan is." Michael said with a furious glare to Trevor, pacing angrily as his raging friend continued to try to free himself from the hands of the minotaur.

"It’s not stupid!"

"You're right." Gilda answered, gaining a smile from Trevor. "Its completely retarded, just what I expected from the old dweeb."

"Now what can we do..." Michael mused to himself, pacing in place and trying to think of a plan that wouldn’t get them all killed, ignoring Trevor's furious growling and the small smirk from Gilda. "We have an unknown number of combatants. We definitely don't have enough ammo for a frontal assault, and we can't exactly go in stealthy without someone noticing us." Michael said as he looked at the large group of creatures.

"So what's the plan Michael?" Franklin said, but Michael continued his pacing. "Michael!" Franklin reached over to knock Michael out of his mental loop, only to see his mentor shake his head.

"Sorry, we just have so little info to go on. We have to do this on the fly." Michael ran his hand through his hair in annoyance.

"Iron Will thinks he may have one idea. It's a long shot but it just might work if done right," said Iron Will, his voice growing even more serious than it already seemed to be. "We send out the unicorns to check things out, once we got all the info, we strike hard and fast. Have the unicorns to cast spells to silence the entire floor while we go in and clean up."

"How's that any different from my plan?!" Trevor exclaimed in irritation.

"Not that much." Michael conceded, "But it’s the only one I can see that’s even viable right now."

"Are you kidding me?" Trevor laughed, shaking his head, "How about we take an old trick that's been around for long time?"

Trevor turned to look at the single unicorn mare of the group, causing her to swallow nervously as Trevor gave her a lustful look.

"Show us some flank, pretty pony."

-

Shimmering Sigil, Shimmer for short, swallowed nervously as she lead the two guardsponies into the Bureau’s storeroom. "It’s in here."

"Really! Are you sure?" The one on her right exclaimed, and she suppressed the urge to shudder and bolt away from the grown stallion with the vacant eyes.

"Dart, really? Calm down," the bored one on her left said quietly.

"But Well Springs! They finally made a game room! Its been soooo boring here!" Dart’s excited nature was only offset by the extremely unnerving lack of emotion in his eyes. She couldn't help but lean closer to the native on her left.

The pegasus smiled as he wrapped a wing around in comfort. "Ignore him, he was changed three weeks ago in Africa and was sent here. PETN has been trying their best to make them better. I should know, I'm his case worker."

"I see." Shimmer trotted up to the door before she raised a hoof, only to stop when Well placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"After this, we should head back and get some drinks at Stalliongrad, heard the salt drinks rival those in Dodge Junction." Well said, his eyes slowly trailing her body, mainly her flanks and cutie mark. "Might be good to loosen up."

"Yeah." Shimmer forced herself to answer. She knocked once on the right side of the door, then twice on the left. The door opened and she took a step back. "Go on in."

"Yay!" Dart cheered as he jumped inside, quickly followed by Well. Well had only seconds to react before Dart froze up in front of a human waiting inside, a human who pushed a gun to Dart's temple and pulled the trigger, sending brain matter flying. Well opened his mouth to scream only for a bag to be forced over his head, silencing his cry for help, and then a stun gun was stabbed into the back of his neck.

Well was a pegasus however; they dealt with lighting on a regular basis and had a naturally strong resistance to electricity. As he struggled in the clutches of the human invaders, he was screaming his head off to gain the attention of the Royal Guards in the lobby.

It was all in vain. The dark skinned human wrapped his arm around Well’s throat and began to squeeze it shut, blocking off the pegasus’s airway. His kicks and struggles began to weaken more and more, until he fell still.

“Good job, Franklin.” Michael said as he helped the other man off his feet, as the unconscious pegasus was floated off the ground courtesy of Shimmer, and was tossed into the hole for the waiting Diamond Dogs to catch.

“And that makes 13 dead New Foals, and 6 regular ponies captured! Took only 20 God forsaken minutes, but hey, who's counting?” Trevor said as he kicked the corpse to the side. “Alright hot stuff, how many more?”

Shimmer flushed with embarrassment at the callous remark, but stood up straight, as if in defiance of Trevor’s many social failings. “There are four Royal Guards in the lobby, two by the entrance and another two by the reception desk. Four more ponies are in a meeting in one of the offices, but I’m not sure when they’re getting out of there so I can bring them in.”

“Queen Gilda, if I might propose a plan.” One of the guards, an elder griffon if his cracked and chipped beak was anything to go by, came forward, taking a kneel to a flushing Gilda, embarrassed by this decorum that she wasn’t prepared for.

“Uh...Sure, Gustav, go ahead.” Gilda waved her claw forward, motioning him forward. Gustav nodded his head before he walked to the door, motioning Michael to follow.

“What you got?”

“Look to the ceiling.” Gustav asked, looking up to the rafters above. “See how open and spacious it is?”

“Huh? Yeah I do. Strange building construction.” Michael observed, causing Gustav to chuckle at the statement.

“Indeed, for humans it may seem strange, but for those of us that have the power of flight, it is simply another dimension in which to travel. It allows us to fly rapidly indoors without risking any injuries to those confined to the ground.” Gustav explained, before looking to his griffons. “I propose that three others and myself take to the rafters and bring down the Royal Guards in one single strike. It will leave a mess, but it will be quick and silent.”

“Hmm...Alright, better than guns blazing. I’ll cover you in case things go nasty.” Michael said, nodding to the griffon, and trying to ignore Trevor’s murmers of ‘it was still faster’ under his breath.

Gustav nodded his head and waved three of his warriors to his side. He turned to Gilda before bowing to her. "My Queen."

Gilda rolled her eyes but nodded her head. "Go."

The warriors flared their wings before jumping up to the rafters, quickly moving to encircle the lobby.

"Franklin, Trevor, the rest of you guys follow, but hang back until I give the all clear." Michael said, bringing his AR-15 to his shoulder and moving out.

Michael quietly moved down the hall, the odd construction not making any more sense to him than when he had first seen it. The storeroom was one of two, the rest of the wing being clinics and consultation rooms provided for humans applying to ponies. The rooms themselves were arranged in a U-shape, with the lobby itself sitting in the centre. Michael turned the corner, checking up to see the griffon warriors leaping from beam to beam. Michael couldn't help but be impressed on how silent they were in their bulky armor.

Coming up to the lobby, he placed himself against the wall and leaned out slightly, establishing the positions of the four Royal Guards. Each of them was staring blankly at the front lobby doors, fully focused on attempting to breach them. Michael glanced up to see the Tsumerai warriors position themselves over their targets and draw their swords without a sound. Then Gustav held up his claws and performed the good old-fashioned silent countdown.

3...

2...

1…

*click*

Michael froze as he heard the door behind him open, at the same time the Tsumerai dropped from the rafters, their swords held out high as they fell.

Time seemed to slowed to a crawl for Michael, the descending griffons appearing to move through syrup. Michael turned around, bringing up his silenced AR-15 to bear as the double doors opened with the speed of a snail to reveal four ponies walking out.

'Four ponies, easy enough, four rounds? No, not young as I used to be...fuck it, let’s just tear them apart.' Michael thought as he flicked the weapon setting from single shot to Full Auto. Pulling the trigger, he watched emotionlessly as his weapon performed its prescribed function.

The lead pony, a unicorn stallion with a light green coat, stared wide eyed at him and the descending griffons. His mouth was opening to shout, only for his left eye to burst from a round that tore through his brain and out the back of his skull.

The round, now shattered into fragments of its former self, continued on through to the pony behind him, a pegasus who had barely able to open her mouth before her head was driven back by the expanding cloud of fragmented metal and skull, turning her face into something similar to processed meat.

The two remaining Equestrians, both earth ponies, had just started to call out in warning when a couple of rounds punched through their throats and silenced them forevermore. Their bodies were then promptly flayed by the following thirty rounds, sending limbs, guts, and blood flying. Michael couldn't help but hold down the trigger, seeing only enemies that had threatened his family, no, his entire world.

And sometimes Trevor’s attitude to life was refreshingly welcome: there’s no kill like overkill.

Finally Michael released the trigger, just as the last of the bullet-riddled corpses fell. Superheated casings tinkled as they cooled. A severed unicorn’s horn rolled across floor in a elegant arc, finally coming to rest against his foot. A pearlescent trickle of alicornal tissue trailed behind it.

"Impressive." Gustav’s voice drifted into Michael's ears, shaking him from the mini-daymare as the griffon finished wiping his sword with a rag. Michael grimaced, kicking the horn aside.

"Shit, it was sloppy. Ten years ago I could have placed a single bullet in each of their skulls without waste." Michael waved his hand, letting the others to take the lobby.

"Time is an enemy we all face." Gustav sighed, sheathing his sword. "I'm long past the prime of life myself. But it doesn't mean my skills have gone away as well. The fact you reacted as quick as you did shows you still have some fight in you."

"I got lucky." Michael’s eyes drifted to what remained of the Royal Guards, all four on the ground and lacking any kind of connection between their heads and their bodies.The warriors were pushing the corpses aside, leaving a bloody smear behind.

Trevor walked up, smiling as he saw a head on the ground. Trevor lined himself up and looked up to Franklin. "Hey, Frank! Play soccer much?"

Franklin gave him a disgusted look as Trevor kicked the decapitated head, barely managing to avoid the skull. "Man, leave the dead alone. It’s not like these guards have much of a choice to do this shit."

"They don't care anymore. Given that they’re dead." Trevor grinned, only to hiss in pain as Michael slapped him upside the head as he walked by.

"Shut it Trevor. You two, with OTs pistols, keep an eye on the elevators. Any pony that comes alongn here, take them down." Michael said, pointing to the Tsumerai warriors, then turned to two of the unicorns. "You two stay with them, cast the silencing spell so nothing can be heard. The rest of us will go up the stairs and take the Portal Station."

Everyone gave a nod and proceed to follow their respective orders. Michael himself had just started up the steps when the ding of elevator rang out and the doors opened. He moved on, not pausing as the muffled sound of a machine pistol dealt death to the unlucky sod trapped inside. Franklin gently grasped Michael's shoulder, giving him a small confident smirk before taking the lead, and the older man chuckled before following.

Franklin had just gotten halfway to the second floor when his radio crackled to life.

"Guys?"

"Well, hello once again, Lester. What took you so long, lost your third leg again?" Trevor quipped to him, only to grunt when Michael rammed his elbow into his gut.

"Very funny. Anyways, I managed to gather some info, but its rather odd. Tell me, Will, Gilda. Do the names Luna and Discord mean anything to you two?"

Gilda and Iron Will looked to one another in confusion before Gilda waved her claw to Will.

Iron Will coughed a bit before answering. "Luna would be Princess Luna, not many ponies carry such a name. As for Discord, well, only one being is named that, the Lord of Chaos.”

“Okay. Well, they’re in Boston as we speak. Discussing some matters with our esteemed colleagues-”

“What?!” Shimmer hissed, coming up close to Franklin. “That's impossible!”

“Uh...For those of us that don’t follow Equestria Daily News, mind filling us in on why that is?” Trevor asked, frowning as the otherworldly companions began to whisper to one another quickly.

“One, because Princess Luna is supposed to be a stone statue,” Gilda answered, brushing her feathers nervously. “No one, not even an Alicorn, can free themselves from such a spell cast upon them.”

“The second is that Lord Discord is dead.” Iron Will rubbed his snout in annoyance. “Believe us, if he was alive, he would have sided with you humans well before the war started. The Tyrant herself declared him dead at the end of the war with King Sombra. Said it was the start of a new beginning for all.”

“Couldn’t she have, oh I don’t know, lied?” Trevor snarked at the group, shaking his head. “Perhaps the guy was just clinging to life and got better. Hell, I done it more than a few times myself.”

“Impossible. Discord is as close to a god as a being of his stature can get.” Iron Will stated, gripping his hammer tightly. “Much like Luna and her sister, even the most grievous of injuries can be healed within hours. He would have stopped her before this war even kicked off.”

Franklin frown at this information before Lester continued on. “Well, that’s the information running around the base here. And there is talk of Commander Renee being mentioned as well. But everyone is keeping it below the radar. How are things going over there, just cleared the first floor correct?”

“Yeah man, working our way to the second floor--shit!” Franklin almost turned the corner when he saw a long hall with a single unicorn Royal Guard at the end of it, luckily staring bored in another direction. Franklin shoved himself back around the corner, nearly causing everyone behind him to tumble down the stairs. Franklin held up his shotgun, waiting for the alarm to sound, but none came. Franklin gave a small sigh of relief before looking to the unicorn mare, giving her a short whistle to gain her attention.

“Hey girl, think you can sway the blinging guard over here?” Franklin whispered. Shimmer blinked, then carefully looked around the corner, then back to Franklin and gave him a single nod. Franklin grinned as he placed the AA-12 on his back and pulled out his personal 18 inch Bowie Knife. “Alright, bring him here and hit him with that silent spell of yours once he sees us.”

Shimmer smiled and saluted him before trotting down the hall. Franklin waved the others back as he gripped his weapon tightly in.

“Frank?”

“I got it Trevor. Shut up and let me do this.” Franklin closed his eyes as he listened to the approaching hoofsteps. He was able to hear the light clanging of armor approach first, and Shimmer’s soft cooing and flirts to the guard coming up behind the guard.

“Please Ma’am, as if the Royal Guards would ever abandon their posts.”

“But nopony is down there and I feel so lonely!”

“Ha! We will- Wait, Hu--!” The Royal Guard turned the corner to see Franklin standing there with his knife in hand. Shimmer’s horn glowed and hit him with the silence spell, one of the only few scant spells able to bypass the enchanted armor, before she bucked him from behind. It didn’t do much to move the armored pony, but it was enough for him to lose his balance from the surprise attack.

Franklin reached out and grabbed the horn, pulling the head up and exposing the Royal Guard’s neck to his blade. He slammed the blade under the Guard’s jaw, pushing the blade all the way to the skull, before violently twisting the blade to ensure a quick death. Franklin held the guard, shoving the blade in a little further before he dropped the guard and wiped the blade with the guard’s fur coat.

“Nice kill. I give it an eight out of ten.” Trevor commented.

“Man shut up.” Franklin rolled eyes, the slight tugging of his arm grabbed his attention as he looked down to see Shimmer trying to say something to him. “What is it?”

“The second floor...It’s… Different.” Shimmer whispered to him. “Keep low, follow me.”

Franklin, Michael, and Trevor look to one another in confusion. They were not alone; the rest of the group had heard Shimmer and were puzzled as well. Franklin shrugged and moved on, grabbing his AA-12 and shouldering the weapon before following.

Franklin nearly stumbled as the hall turn out be side entrance for the entire second floor.

“Shit, well, there goes the sneaking in part.” Michael muttered as he stay behind the low wall, the glass above separating them from the rest of the building. “Lester, we have a problem. The entire second floor has been renovated, they knocked down all the walls, we’re going to have to go loud if we want to do this.”

“Alright, do you see the Portal Station itself?”

“Hard to miss, Lester,” Trevor grumbled, staring into the strangest and most obvious macguffin around. “It looks like curved metal beams with crystals fused on it. Looks like some sort of fucked up dildo.”

“*sigh* Yes, that's it. The control panel to it should be close by. It should have a large crystal next to it. Thats an experimental engine that they have been fielding for all their ships. Capturing that is also a top priority. It should be glowing.”

“The machine or crystal?” Michael asked. “'Cause everything on there is glowing.”

“Wait...What?!” Lester cried out in alarm, all that listened shifted nervously. Shimmer looked up from her spot, face frozen in fear.

“Oh no! The portal is activating. Hide!”

“We are hiding!” Trevor grumbled, holding his M249 tightly as he pushed himself against the short wall. Franklin gently pushed Shimmer out of the way of the entrance, giving her a tight smile before setting himself and leaned out to see what was happening.

In the entire room, all the ponies inside turned as one and set themselves before the portal, which set alarms racing in Franklin’s mind. The portal flared to life, filled with brilliant colors before it swirled in a hue of pink, the same as the barrier. Franklin felt Shimmer set herself next him, watching with morbid curiosity as well. “Hey, why are they like that?”

“I don’t kn--” Shimmer froze up, cold sweat pouring from her body, feeling overwhelming magical power wash over her. The other unicorns also froze up, one even whimpered and covered his eyes with his hooves. The Tsumerai warriors, those with latent magical talents or simply had so much years of experience under their belts, gripped their swords tightly in response to pulsing magical aura.

Franklin, Trevor, and Michael were far from unaffected, as they felt danger closing in on them. It was if Death himself was coming to claim them. Franklin grimaced and held his weapons tightly, Trevor was grumbling under his breath, cursing up a storm in the process, and Michael pulled out a photo of his family, giving it a small kiss before putting it away again.

Franklin glanced back to the rest, seeing if they were alright, but Shimmer’s horrified whisper gain his attention. “She’s here.”

Franklin whipped back around, looking at the traumatized unicorn sitting next to him. He looked out to see a single white leg with golden horseshoes sticking out of the Portal Station. Mind going blank with terror as he realized who was coming out. Swallowing hard he watched the supposed Queen of Equestria, the ‘Leader’ of Harmony, and the ‘Savior’ of the human race stepped inside the room. Franklin slowly reached over to Shimmer, his eyes never leaving the insane tyrant, and hugged her close to his body.

Franklin wasn’t sure if it was for his own benefit or hers, and frankly, he didn’t care anymore.

“Lester…” Franklin whispered, watching as the Tyrant smiled to the ponies bowing to her. His eyes widened when he saw the Elements of Harmony come through the portal as well. “The Tyrant is here.”

The was nothing but silence before the sound of shouting and screaming came over the radio, “WHAT!? Shit, hold on! Let me get someone here! Help! The Tyrant is in Sleepy Hollow Bureau!--” Franklin didn’t have to do much movement to turn down his radio’s volume, it didn’t make it less stressful when the tyrants ears twitched, but gave it no mind.

Franklin watched as the Tyrant cleared her throat before speaking. “Hello, my little ponies.”

“Our Savior is here! Queen Celestia! Rejoice!” A rather loud New Foal exclaimed happily. Franklin felt Shimmer shudder at this, a muffled sob as she cried into his vest to try and silent her cries.

“While I appreciate this gathering, I must attend to something far from here.” Franklin listen in, frowning as he heard the Tyrant speak. “It appears that somepony is going about as my dear sister. For this, I have come to deal with it myself. And it appears they also changed a being into a late enemy of ours as well. To do such a thing… Shame is their dessert, and I shall feed it to them.”

Franklin heard Michael hiss in surprise. “Lester! Call whoever is in charge and tell them that the Tyrant is heading to Boston!” Michael whispered quickly, the entire group was tense and all Franklin could do was hold the pony in his arms tighter. They had nothing on hand that could possible take the Tyrant down.

“I will personally take care of this issue, as well as show the humans and the dreaded PHL the error of their ways. However, I will only allow the might of Equestria and Harmony to descend upon them once the time is right. Those that are enlightened will lead the final assault on the City of Boston and lead a new wave of conversion.” The Tyrant gave them all a warm smile before she flared her wings. Shimmer whimpered, holding onto Franklin in a death grip, whispering under her breath.

“Please... Please go away… Make her go away,” Shimmer’s voice cracked as she looked up to Franklin who held her, feeling powerless. Seeing her like this was all Franklin needed to know he wanted to do something, anything to make the emotion on her face go away.

“It is time, my little ponies.” The Tyrant’s horn glowed with power. “It is time to show the humans and their foolish allies that they are going against a goddess. And when they beg for salvation, it will be at the hooves of those that already been granted the gift of change.”

All the ponies cheered as the Tyrant and the Elements vanished from sight, the rearing happy ponies began to chat animatedly with one another, certain the war would be coming to a close soon.

They were dead wrong, but in a moment it would be literal.

Franklin’s eyes panned to Michael and Trevor, giving them a speck of the spark of determination and fierceness all over his features. “Let’s do this.”

“Fuck yeah. Loud and stupid. Come on boys.” Trevor cocked his M249, grinning malevolently at the others.

“T, Frank. We clean house. The rest of you, guard the Portal Station and make sure that no one activates it. Lester! Did you relay the news?” Michael’s breathing had become deeper, as he gave a confirmation to the others. He knew what was going to happen.

“Yeah, they’re scrambling as fast as they can as we speak.”

“Good, send the team up to the Bureau to secure the Portal Station. Will, open the doors.” Michael ordered, Iron Will nodding his head before he crawled away back to the lobby. “Alright boys. Guns?”

“Check.”

“Ammo?”

“Oh-ho-ho, big check!”

“Bunch of old farts with nothing to lose and anger problems?”

“Fuck you and check!”

“What are you waiting for then? Mow them down!”

Trevor roared in the soon to come pain as he stood up and jumped through the glass, his M249 firing and ripping the closest ponies apart. Franklin quickly picked himself up, and let loose a burst from his AA-12, killing two unicorns as they were about to bring up a shield by instinct. Michael also wanted a nice relocation but only to the edge of the broken window to snipe ponies across the building with his AR-15 as they tried to regroup from the surprise attack.

The Tsumerai warriors gave a screeching call as they rushed to the Portal Station, cutting down any pony that got in their way. Gilda gave a cry as she rose above the others and caught wind for flight, slicing the wings off a pegasus New Foal as she passed by him and slammed her claw into another’s eye.

Trevor hollered like a madman, his M249 gave death to the foolish standing in the line of fire and kept the others in cover. Then, as expected, he heard a familiar clicking noise, making him groan in frustration. Trevor didn’t waste time to reload his weapon, barely avoiding a spell aimed at his head only to be caught in the way of another two spells that were strategically aimed towards him.

Only for a magical shield to appear before him. The two unicorns stepped up to his side, their horns flared brightly before they belted out dozens of impact spells a second. They gave Trevor a nice impression they broke chunks of plaster off the wall and sent enemy ponies on their backs.

“Holy shit, you guys are magical gatling guns!” Trevor exclaimed as he finished reloading his weapon and gave a big smile. “Lets rip these fuckers apart!”

Michael felt adrenaline coursing his veins, making him feel just like he did in his younger years. The world moved as if it was in jello; watching Franklin’s weapon bark out once and the pony he was aiming at exploded into paste. He lined up a shot on a Royal Guard that was aiming at Trevor and the unicorns, pulling the trigger.

He saw a small shield flare to life around him, bullets bouncing off before finally failing as the fifth round slammed through it into his chest. The Royal Guard tumbled over but not before letting a spell loose at Michael. He attempted to move but knew it was far too late to move out of the way before a sword appeared in its path and blocked the spell. Michael took cover as a dozen spells and spears follow suit, looking to see Gustav giving him a small smile.

“You’re still here?” Michael asked in surprise.

“Too old to move that quickly; besides, those young hawks can handle it without me. Their queen is there to protect them.” Gustav pointed up to the sight of Gilda swerving through spell fire and pegasi guards, her sword slashing through their unprotected wings. She slammed her sword into the gut of one the guards, then proceed to use him as a shield from the various spells.

“Good point.” Michael agreed, before getting up and sniping an earth pony rushing Franklin.

“Thanks Michael!” Franklin called out as ducked into cover to reload his weapon. That finished, he got up only to get tackled to the ground by another earth pony. “FUCK!”

“Why don’t you just join us?!” The Earth pony cried out as he held the potion in his hoof, only to be rocketed off by a flying desk and crushing him against the wall.

“No, he, won’t!” Shimmer growled standing protectively before Franklin, surprising him greatly at her determination. She levitated several desks and sent them flying, crushing several New Foals as they rushed them. Franklin got back to his feet and stood next to her, firing away at several pegasi that attempted to tackle them, before being distracted by Shimmer’s cry of pain. He turned, seeing the same Earth pony that had been tossed off him screaming at her while he stomped on her barrel.

“TRAITOR! THEY DESERVE ENLIGHTENMENT! YOU DON’T DESERVE CELESTIA’S LIGHT--”

“Fuck off!” Franklin punted the Earth pony off, leveling his shotgun and letting loose several rounds. Franklin turned around and took a knee next to her. “You okay?”

“Ow… No.” Shimmer grimaced as she slowly got back on her hooves. “I think he broke my ribs.”

“Well, I shot the fucker up, so he shouldn't be getting up in this lifetime.” Franklin smiled as he looked up to see the room empty of enemies. Trevor walked up to them with a smile on his face, holding his M249 like some old action movie star.

“Done wooing your marefriend?” Trevor laughed as he walked by, Shimmer blushing furiously while Franklin only shook his head.

“Lester, its Michael. Building is clear, team almost here for pick up?” Michael called in.

“They’re going up to the building as we speak, but we have bigger problems now.”

“Shit, let me guess. That bitch is in Boston now causing havoc.” Franklin groaned in annoyance, carrying a blushing Shimmer in his arms.

“Right, and let me tell you something, you remember that Man of Steel movie in 2013? Well, its just like that...But...uh…”

“But…?” Trevor prodded, annoyed by Lester’s hesitation.

“Well, its like watching those old Loony Tunes shows.”

“The fuck?”

“Sorry, that’s the closest comparison I can make for the fighting style this Discord uses against her.”

The sound of footsteps and hooves making their way up the stairs gained their attention. The group stood by as dozens of humans and ponies rushed into the room, weapons to bared for enemy threats.

“Alright everyone.” A light purple unicorn came through the throng of people and ponies. “Lets get this thing dismantled and shipped off to Headquarters! We have to leave before the Tyrant comes back and sees us messing around in here.”

“Yes Ms. Star!” As the group rushed forward and began their work. The light purple unicorn turned and walked to the group before giving them a cheerful smile.

“Guess my dad was right about you guys. World’s best bank robbers indeed.” She said, giving the blushing Shimmer in Franklin’s arms a look of concern before whistling a nearby medic. “Amethyst Star, or Sparkler if you want. Good work guys!”

“Hey, whatever it takes to survive.” Michael said quietly. “Just trying to protect my family.”

“Yeah girl, no need to thank us for doing what is necessary.” Franklin handed over Shimmer to the medic, but not before receiving a kiss on his cheek from her. Trevor gave a laugh at this before going back to Sparkler.

“Hey, as long as you need our… Or at least my services, we’re always glad to help.” Trevor leaned in close, giving her an appraising look. “I can perform… Other services if you require me to do so.”

Sparkler only raised an eyebrow at this, while Michael and Franklin groaned in unison at Trevor. Sparkler snorted once as she turned to leave, whipping Trevor in the face with her tail. “No need. Don’t want my father to go back and erase you from history.”

Trevor laughed at this, but seeing the serious look on Sparkler’s face caused him to peter off. Trevor began to follow in confusion, with Michael and Franklin in tow. “You’re not...serious are you? No one can- Hey!”

“Leave it man, with these ponies, anything is possible.” Franklin said as the trio walked down the stairs and out the lobby doors. “Shit...Fresh air, doesn’t it smell great.”

Michael however walked on before looking to the northeast, a frown on his face. “We’re not done yet, guys. I bet by the time we are done, we might find ourselves right in the middle of this conflict.”

Franklin and Trevor looked at each other before looking back to Michael. Both men put their hands on his shoulder. Michael turned to look at them, worry for their future etched on his face.

“Mike, I know we haven’t had the best of history with one another. But we’re friends, and that has to count for something here. Fuck, even these ponies cherish friendship like its fucking gold, so I am going to prove that friendship right here and now. Wherever you go, I go.” Trevor grinned as he looked at his friend.

“Michael. You gave me a way out of the hood. Not the best way out, but a way out. You gave me something that no one else would give. It may have been filled with fuck ups and corrupted government shit, but in the end, it was that fucked up friendship I had with you and Trevor that gave me the strength to choose a death wish deal. I got your back, dawg.” Franklin gave him a single nod.

“Alright…” Michael looking back in the direction of Boston. “Through thick and thin, we got each others’ back.”

“Right.”

“Fuck yeah.”

“Lets go. The base is where all the info about this battle between the Tyrant and this Discord character is.” Michael walked to the humvee standing idle. “And the next target as well. No doubt there’s another job coming up, so let’s get our heads in the games.”

“What is the next target?” Franklin asked.

“If I had to take a stab at it?” Michael said as he got in. “Canterlot Castle.”

“Shit.” Franklin muttered as Michael gunned the engine and drove back to PHL headquarters.

Author's Notes:

Warning: do not go crazy, this is actually, Kizuna Tallis, posting Red's newest chapter for him. He still doesn't have a computer on him right now, and thus required my assistance. Until he gets a new computer, why don't you guys check out the Asia Side Story?

So yep, more GTA V guys, this time battling it out on the front lines! And Xenolestia has appeared, upping the stakes! Got the action here, and what's next to come will include Canon Luna and Discord vs Xenolestia, more action and some crazy revelations about the TCB world. Stay tuned!