Sky skidded to a halt at the edge of a rooftop, looking down over the shipwrights’ facility.
“Hurry up, Shadow!” She groaned, beckoning her little sister along.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Shadow grunted back, wiggling her hind legs as she struggled to clamber up onto the roof. “You know, this’d be way easier if you let me use my wings.”
“And I’d let you use your wings if you hadn’t filled up on coffee!” Sky stuck her tongue out. “Looks like there’s a hole in the fence down there. What do you reckon?”
“I reckon that’s the most cliched thing ever.” Shadow stretched her legs, trotting up to join Sky. Her padded hooves made a very quiet clattering noise against the tiles as she drew her little hood up.
“Yeah, you’re right. Still, looks like it’d be a pretty easy entry point.” Sky frowned. The big yard in front of the factory itself was littered with large piles of timber strapped together with rope. Some of them were covered over to protect them from the elements. No doubt those were the raw materials from which the ships inside were built.
“I still say we ought to wait until nightfall before we do this. We could get in a lot of shit if we’re caught in there.”
“Yeah, but with the factory running, we’ve probably got a fair chance of nopony hearing us.” Sky shrugged. “Now come on, are you with me or what?”
Shadow looked down at the shipyard apprehensively, before nodding up at her big sister. “Course I am. Not like they’re going to have another guard golem, right?”
“I don’t know about that.” Sky grinned, pulling Shadow up onto her back and spreading her wings.
“What, you mean they do?” Shadow squeaked, wrapping her forelegs around her sister’s neck and holding on tight.
“Hell if I know.” Sky laughed, jumping off the roof and plummeting down towards the ground. “But I can’t think of a better time to find out, can you?”
“Sure we couldn’t find out before we break into a place like this in broad fucking daylight?” The filly yelped as Sky spread her wings, using them as air brakes and gliding surfaces to carry them safely down to the ground.
“Aw, come on. Where’s the fun in that?” Sky nuzzled Shadow, helping the younger pony off of her back.
The two of them pulled up their face masks, lowering themselves closer to the ground as they approached the hole in the chain-link fence.
“No guards...are you sure about this, sis?” Shadow whispered, as the two of them darted through the aperture, taking cover behind a pile of timber.
“Not as sure as I was about five minutes ago…” Sky murmured back. “Maybe we’ll see more security inside the factory itself?”
“Something about this still seems off…” Shadow trailed off doubtfully.
“Yeah, I’m starting to agree with you.” Sky sighed, as the two of them began winding their way between piles of wood, keeping out of sight of the various ponies prowling around near the factory front door.
“Everything about this just stinks of a trap.”
“I know kid, but we’ve probably sprung worse traps than whatever this is, right?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we should keep blundering into them!” Shadow hissed. “I mean, what if it’s like...ten guard golems? Think about that sis! Ten!”
“It’s just the coffee messing with your nerves. Don’t worry about it.” Sky looked around at her encouragingly, ruffling Shadow’s mane through her hood. “You and I can do anything, right?
Shadow’s expression softened behind her mask, and she took Sky’s hoof in hers. “Yeah, we can.” She smiled, still vibrating a little.
“Ready to do something stupid?”
“I followed you all the way down here, didn’t I?”
Sky beamed down at her little sister, looping a foreleg around her and pulling her close. She kept Shadow there for a time, listening as the filly’s heart rate went down. Shadow closed her eyes, settling into the hug and squeezing Sky as tightly as she could.
“You’re still vibrating.”
“I know.”
The two of them broke apart after a time, weaving their way from cover to cover while keeping themselves as low to the ground as they could manage. Sky spread her wings, gritting her teeth as her bad wing twinged, refusing to extend all the way. Her hoof-steps fell completely silent.
“Factory’s not far from here now.” Sky whispered, peering around the corner at the looming building. “Something tells me that they’re not gonna let us go in through the front door.”
“Sure about that, sis?” Shadow grinned, pointing.
Sky followed her little sister’s hoof and groaned. There was a set of hooks outside the factory, upon which hung several bright blue jumpsuits and yellow helmets.
“Come on, this isn’t the worst disguise you’ve ever put on!” Shadow nudged.
“Well yeah, but…” Sky admitted that the jumpsuit would probably be more comfortable than the last disguise she’d put on, although the fishnets had been nice.
“Come on, then!” Shadow giggled, shoving her out from behind cover. Sky stood shivering in the open for a while before cautiously approaching the hooks, pulling her hood, burglar’s mask and face wrap off as she went. Grabbing one of the suits, she wriggled into it and zipped it up, concealing her cloak and padded armour completely. Finally, she slapped the helmet on her head, posing for Shadow. “How do I look?”
“I don’t know how you did it, but you’ve managed to make a jumpsuit look slutty.” Shadow deadpanned, struggling into her own suit and sighing. “Damn it, they never make these in my size…”
Sky looked at herself in the window, cocking her head. Shadow was right. Somehow, she’d managed to make the suit look form-fitting. She didn’t look so much like a ship builder as she did a ship builder-themed stripper. “This thing doesn’t even have wing holes!”
“Not like you’re using them.” Shadow shrugged, finally zipping the suit up. It was far too big for her. The sleeves extended a good foot beyond her hooves, and the helmet was far too big for her head.
“Awwww! Look at you!” Sky squeaked, hopping up and down and grinning. “You look adorable!”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up…”
Sky had just completely give up listening, grabbing Shadow and squeezing her tight. The little filly’s helmet was in some danger of falling off of her head.
“No! Let me go! I’m...not...adorable!” Shadow yelped, trying to squirm free of her sister’s death-cuddle. “Don’t we have a job to do or something?”
“Well yeah, but come on, how often do I get to see you in a suit that makes you look so sweet?” Sky beamed, snuggling the fluffy little pony mercilessly.
“Piss off, piss off, piss off!” Shadow wriggled, finally coming free of Sky’s grip and panting to get her breath back. She pouted up at her sister, her cheeks pink from embarrassment. “Seriously, in the middle of a job?”
“Yep!” Sky smiled shamelessly, booping Shadow on the nose. “Now come on, let’s get moving. Sooner we find out how Red Herring’s tied up in all of this, the sooner I can go and start taking pictures of you to put up all over town.”
“Yaaaaay.” Shadow smiled weakly, trotting into the factory with Sky.

“This thing’s bloody uncomfortable. Whose idea was this, anyway?”
“Yours.”
“Oh.”
The two of them stepped out onto the factory floor, gazing up at a network of catwalks overhead. Ponies trotted back and forth, working on a monstrous ship that was suspended from the ceiling by chains.
“That shit doesn’t look safe.” Shadow commented.
“Yeah, those chains are too thin. They’re gonna snap any moment. Who works in a place like this?” Sky whistled, clip-clopping up the metal stairs with the filly in tow.
“I dunno, but they need a union.” Shadow chuckled nervously.
The two of them stopped at the top of the stairs. Here, the sound of construction was much louder, but it was a hell of a lot better than staying downstairs on ground zero. Up close, that ship looked like it was at least good quality, but a lot of safety equipment was missing. Some of the ponies working on it looked timid, trying not to make any sudden movements for fear of causing the chains to snap. The vessel groaned in its moorings.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here…” Sky shuddered, trotting off down the catwalk. She deliberately bumped flanks with a few ponies as she passed, grinning back at them when they looked around.
“For fuck’s sake, sis…”
“Okay, okay, not doing that anymore. Sorry.”
“You just did it again!”
“That time was for good luck.”
The two of them crossed to the far side of the factory, coming to a stairwell that led up to an upper floor.
“She’ll be up here. That’s how executives work, right?” Sky ventured, starting to climb the stairs.
“Biggest ego, highest office.” Shadow nodded, following behind her. As soon as they were out of sight of the staff, she shed her unintentionally adorable jumpsuit, pulling her hood back up. She wasn’t going to appear cute for any longer than absolutely necessary.
The two ponies stopped outside a very official-looking door, upon which was embossed Red Herring’s name. Sky peered through the keyhole. The beige unicorn beyond was scribbling away at her desk.
“She’s in there, all right.” She whispered. “Wow, she’s really not bad-looking…” Two bulges appeared in the back of Sky’s jumpsuit.
“Well if you need to bang her to get out of trouble, can you please make sure that I’m out of the way first?” Shadow huffed, nudging her sister’s flank.
“Sure. Besides, I don’t want you learning any of my moves.” Sky giggled.
Shadow sighed. “Good. So how are we gonna do this?”
“Follow my lead.”

Red Herring’s ears perked at the sound of the door opening, and she looked up.
“Can I help you?”
Sky confidently trotted up to Red Herring’s desk, beaming as non-threateningly as possible. “Hi there! I’m an undercover safety inspector! I just gave your factory a look-over and it’s complete shit!”
“I...wait, what?” Red started. Sky knew that she had the mare’s full attention now, and did her best to suppress a grin as she carried on.
“Now, there’s two ways that this can go. Either I can take this information to the guards, who I’m sure would be really interested in how many safety standards you’ve been ignoring to try and cut costs…”
“Please, no!” Red’s ears flattened against her head as she got to her hooves.
“Or…” Sky continued calmly. “You can give me some information, and I’ll leave you alone.” She kept smiling at Red as she flicked her tail, signalling for Shadow to come in.
“What...what kind of information?”
“I know you got a package from Money Bags’s vault on Tuesday. I wanna know what you did with it.” Sky placed a hoof on Red’s cheek tenderly. “You know, if you tell me, I can make it worth your while. You won’t be in trouble, I promise…”
“I...erm...I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Red squeaked nervously, blushing deeply at Sky’s touch. The pegasus bit her lip cheekily as she kept grinning.
“Oh, but I think you do, sweetie.” Sky whispered, coming closer so that their muzzles were almost touching. “I’ve seen the letters myself. I know you were there. Now...stop playing around, sweetie. Tell me what you did with that package, and I’ll forget all about the state of your factory and do things to you that you’ve probably only ever imagined…”
“I...I...gave them to...a...to a pony called...Silver...Tongue…” Red whimpered, her horn sparking a little as she looked into Sky’s half-lidded sapphire eyes. “He’s...got a...facility...in...the city centre…”
Sky leaned in, bumping her muzzle to Red Herring’s. “I’m as good as my word. The guards won’t find out about what you’ve been doing here. Now, how would you like a reward?”
Red gave a very small smile, her horn flaring as she took Sky’s helmet off. Her short crimson mane tumbled down from under it.
“Oopsie.” Sky squeaked, ears splaying back.
“I guess you’re right, Miss Runner.” Red smirked, eyes flashing. “The guards really aren’t gonna find out about what I’ve been doing here.”
“Did anypony ever tell you that you’re cute when you look all...murder-ey?” Sky ventured hopefully, backing up. Shadow glanced up at her sister, reaching for her bow.
“What’s the plan?” The filly whispered.
“Working on it.” Sky muttered back, keeping eye contact with Red as the unicorn advanced on her.
“Your bounty’s sitting at eight million bits, Miss Runner, and I think I’d still earn about half of that if I brought you in dead. Maybe if you’d just stayed in prison like you were supposed to, we wouldn’t be in this unfortunate position…”
“Oh, you’re right! How silly of me!” Sky slapped her forehead. “You know what? You’re a busy mare, so I’ll just go and turn myself in to the guards right now! I’ll leave you to do whatever it is you’re doing…”
“I don’t think so.” Red shook her head, horn flaring bright red. “I can’t risk anypony finding out what I’m up to. Do you have any idea how big this operation is?”
“I don’t suppose you wanna tell me?” Sky smiled hopefully. “I’m gonna die anyway, so you might as well tell me your whole evil plan.”
Red Herring deadpanned at Sky. “Has that ever worked?”
“One day it might!” She replied confidently.
The unicorn rolled her eyes, horn charging up as she levelled it at Sky. “Goodbye, Miss Runner.”
“Sky...any moment now…” Shadow hissed.
Sky’s mind raced. She looked around, desperately looking for something to distract Red, to throw off her aim, anything. There was nothing she could use, except…
“Shadow, please don’t hate me for this.” Sky sighed, grabbing her little sister and unbuckling the belt.
“No! No, wait! What are you doing?” Shadow wriggled, her wings spreading and starting to vibrate. “FUCK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!” She screamed, as Sky let her go, sending her rocketing off down the stairs.
Red seemed momentarily distracted by Sky doing that to her own sister, cocking her head just a little. Sky took the opportunity to smack her in the horn with her forehoof. Padded and softened as it was, she knew that a smack by one of her weak little hooves wasn’t going to do anything more than buy her a little time. but it did just that. Red accidentally fired off the spell, blasting a hole in the office wall.

Shadow shot down the stairs, bouncing off the walls and rocketing out onto the catwalk. Her wings were flapping faster than they’d ever done before, and she had absolutely no control over where she was going.
“I hate you...OW...I hate you...ARGH...I hate you…” She grunted as she rebounded off of hoofrails and walls, before finally smacking headlong into the side of the ship.
The whole factory shuddered, and the ponies within fell deathly silent. The only noise for the longest time was the groaning and creaking of the ship in its harness, growing ever louder as it built up towards its inevitable crescendo.
“Oh fuck this, I’m out.” Shadow shook her head, vaulting back onto the catwalk and galloping off down the stairs.

Red slapped Sky in the face, taking her to the floor and pinning her there with a hoof. Her horn flared once again, scorching Sky’s fringe as she charged a new spell.
“Stop with the tricks, kid. They’re not going to get you anywhere.” Red spat.
“They get me out of a lot of places.” Sky smiled weakly.
The entire factory shook as the chains finally gave way, sending the ship careening to the floor below. It exploded into splintered wood, all 100 tons of it, shaking the very foundations of the building.
Red was unbalanced, stumbling off of Sky and giving the pegasus the opportunity to kick her in the ribs.
“Told you!” Sky stuck her tongue out, getting up and socking Red’s horn again. It sparked and died, leaving the poor unicorn experiencing something akin to orgasm denial.
“You don’t know what you’re getting into.” Red snarled, as Sky knocked her over onto her back. “We’re trying to save Equestria, and we’re not going to let you get in the way!”
“Hey, I’m not trying to blow up Equestria! I’m just trying to clear my name, lady!” Sky shrugged before galloping off. Nonetheless, her mind was buzzing with Red’s last words. What the hell could they be doing to save Equestria, and why was it that she was getting tied up in all of this shit anyway? What did it have to do with her?
Sky’s thoughts were interrupted as she reached ground level, finding Shadow waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.
“Well you made a bloody mess of this place!” Sky commented, looking around at the twisted remains of the vessel on the factory floor.
“What can I say? I hate shipping.” Shadow grinned, pulling her face wrap back up. “Now come on! Let’s get out of here before the guards show.”

Stronghooves sat down at the conference table, looking around at the other assembled officers.
“Talk to me.” He requested calmly.
“Sky’s proving elusive.” One of the officers piped up. “She hit a high-value target a few days ago, the First Canterlot National Bank Building. She didn’t take anything from the building itself, but did cause some significant property damage and detonated explosives on the top floor.”
“It’s possible that she’s an anarchist. She hasn’t really talked about any cause, not even during the interview.” Another officer put in. “It’s possible her only loyalty is to herself.”
“She could be with the griffons.” The first officer suggested. “She hasn’t got a bounty with the griffon warlords. Maybe she’s trading her services for amnesty.”
“Her dossier.” Another guard said, pushing Sky’s voluminous file towards Stronghooves. He found himself unable to do anything but smile as he leafed through it.
“Captain, I suggest that we increase her bounty and announce her to be kill-on-sight.” The officer finished.
Stronghooves took off his purple officer’s helmet, setting it down on the table next to him as he pored over her list of crimes. He seemed lost in them, particularly in the few mugshots the guard had of her. She could apparently not be persuaded to stop making silly faces at the camera.
“Captain?”
“No.” Stronghooves said finally, shaking his head. “I’m not going to allow her to be killed.”
“Then what are we going to do?” The officers regarded the Captain of the Royal Guard with confusion.
“I’m taking over this investigation personally.” Stronghooves replied, looking up at them sternly. “Make sure that everypony is equipped with a taser spear or something else non-lethal. I want her taken in alive, and then you’ll bring her to me. Understood?”
“Yes sir.” The guards nodded in unison.
“Captain!”
Stronghooves looked up as another pony burst into the room. He was a pegasus runner, one of the lighter, faster guards who ran recon for the others.
“What is it?”
“Red Herring’s shipwright factory just got attacked. A battleship that was under construction there’s been destroyed, and witnesses say that they saw Sky Runner running from the scene.”
Stronghooves regarded the pony in silence for a while, before nodding. “Very well private. Thank you.” He turned to the others. “I’ll look into this matter myself. Keep combing the streets and inform me if you find anything.”
And with that, Stronghooves put his helmet back on and trotted out of the conference room.
As the Captain made his way out into the street, he found himself frowning. Money Bags and Red Herring were two of the project’s biggest financiers. If this was somehow tied into Sky’s imprisonment, then perhaps he needed to have a few words with the Count.
At any rate, he had no intention of killing Sky as the other guards seemed to want him to do.
On the contrary, he wanted to help her.