Stronghooves yanked the door to the armoury off of its hinges, casting it aside with a clatter.

“The enhancements worked, then.” Daybreak giggled a little.

“Um, yeah, that...wasn’t supposed to happen.” Stronghooves chuckled awkwardly, stepping into the armoury and pulling his damaged barding off of arack. “So, we need to get in touch with a friend of mine in the guard. He’s probably wondering where I am by now.”

“Oooh! Is he cute?” Daybreak fluttered her eyelashes at him.

“Um...no. He’s really ugly. You...you wouldn’t like him one bit.” Stronghooves jammed his helmet on his head, trying to hide his bright red cheeks. He didn’t quite know why he’d just said that, but something about Daybreak’s question had made him feel...jealous.

“Sure, I believe you.” She nodded, unconvinced. “So do you think he’s gonna be any use for this mission? I mean, we’re super-soldiers and he’s...well...not exactly gonna be super-strong as he is.”

“I plan to give him the enhancements too, with his consent.” Stronghooves shrugged, pulling out his sword and checking its balance before returning it to his sheath. “We’re going to need all the help we can get if we’re going to stop this conspiracy and save Sky.”

“Wait, Sky’s your sister?” Daybreak cocked her head. “Like, the pony wanted for terrorism, face on damn near every poster in town, That Sky?”

“The same.” Stronghooves nodded. “She didn’t do it, though...well, not the terrorism, anyway.”

“That explains why you’re not exactly up-front about who your sister is.” Daybreak whistled. “Damn, she has made some mistakes in her life, huh?”

“Tell me about it.” Stronghooves bowed his head. “She used to be such a good filly, but there’s a lot of history there, things that neither she or I could control, and she was...well, she was pretty much fated to turn out this way.”

“You still love her, though?” Daybreak put a hoof on his shoulder gently.

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Stronghooves looked up at her, meeting her gaze. “Being a good brother means loving your sister, no matter what happens. I still care about her, even if I don’t exactly...see eye to eye with her anymore.”

“I get that.” Daybreak chuckled. “My sister and I used to get up to all sorts of stuff together when we were kids. Sometimes we ended up fighting over the silliest shit, but we always made up in the end.”

“Precisely. I’m just not at the “make up at the end” part, yet.” He sighed. “She really doesn’t like me.”

“Because you’re a guard?”

“Something like that.” Stronghooves nodded. “Well, that and she kind of...found a replacement for me.”

“A...replacement?” Daybreak cocked her head, confused. “Okay, my ‘there’s a story here’ alarm’s going off, so why don’t you tell your good buddy Daybreak what happened?”

“Well, look.” Stronghooves sat down. “The short version is that my parents kicked Sky out of our house when she was very little and let me believe she was dead.”

“How little are we talking?”

“Five.” Stronghooves shrugged, remembering Shield’s reaction.

“Scumbags.” Daybreak shook her head with disgust. “How the hell did they justify that?”

“She was born the wrong species. We’re a family of unicorns, and...well...she had wings.” He sighed. “Stupid, I know.”

“Oh, they’re gonna get old-fashioned about their own kid, are they?” Daybreak growled. “Listen here, matey. My sister’s a pegasus and she’s the most special, wonderful, sweet little pony in the whole wide world. That has nothing to do with the wings on her back, just the head she’s got on her shoulders. That’s all.”

“You ought to tell my parents that if we run into them.” He chuckled. “I’m not arguing with you. Sky’s a pain in the neck sometimes, but she’s got the potential to be such a wonderful little pony. Heck, she always used to be.”

“Exactly. So who’d she replace you with?”

“Well, I didn’t see her again until she was about fourteen, and by then...she had this really young filly with her.” He frowned. “And she was taking care of her like a mother. I asked Sky if she wanted to be my little sister again, and she asked me where I’d been all these years. She didn’t believe me when I told her I thought she’d been dead all that time.”

“I guess she needed some time to work things out for herself.” Daybreak patted his shoulder. “She’ll probably forgive you someday.”

“I don’t know if she ever will...and that filly...she made me so…jealous, like she was taking my sister away from me…”

“I know, Stronghooves. You lost your little sister and she went out and found somepony to care for herself. I get that that must’ve hurt.” Daybreak said soothingly. “Hey, I had a coltfriend in high school dump me and hook up with some complete bimbo from the cheerleading team. I mean, I know that’s not the same, but…”

Stronghooves smiled, chuckling a little. “Now that I can’t believe. Why the hell would anypony break up with you?”

“He was a douchebag.” Daybreak giggled. “He was on the hoofball team. Only went out with that bitch because he thought he was supposed to date cheerleaders cause that’s what it said in all those teen magazines.” She gave Stronghooves a nudge on the shoulder. “Still, it’s not all bad. Means I’m available, right?”

“Yeah, that’s a good way of looking at it.” Stronghooves chuckled, biting his lip and looking away quickly.

Daybreak snickered, tapping his helmet with a forehoof. “Hey, earth to Stronghooves? Have I gone and broken you again?”

“Mmmph…” He muttered, hiding behind his forehooves timidly.

“You adorable little bugger.” She smiled, bumping her flank against his. She got up, trotting around the armoury in search of a weapon she could use herself. “So what is the plan, now?”

“The plan...uh...oh, yeah! The plan!” Stronghooves cleared his throat, trying to put on that respectable veneer again. “Well, the plan is this. We tear apart this whole conspiracy, leaving only a few ponies with the super-soldier enhancements, then we use those abilities to chase Sky down and get her out of harm’s way.”

“You think she’s still going to be in harm’s way after this?”

“I’m afraid so. She’s still the eternally hated burglar, remember? Every guard’s meal ticket?” Stronghooves chuckled. “We need to get her out of there and rehabilitate her before the guards do.”

“Aren’t you the captain of the guard, though?” Daybreak asked incredulously. “I mean, you can get the charges dropped, right?”

“No.” Stronghooves sighed. “The Princesses can, but I’ve only got the power to enforce the law, not change it. Sky’s on her own, and she will eventually run out of tricks and get captured for good unless we help her.”

“So your plan is to hide her from the guards, and then what?” Daybreak asked curiously, finally selecting a repeating crossbow from the rack and testing the loading mechanism.

“Well, then I’ve got a plan that’ll make everything better.” Stronghooves smiled. “I can even make our parents love Sky again. That way, we can all be one big family and she doesn’t have to be on her own anymore.”

Daybreak regarded Stronghooves with a quiet curiosity. There was something so hopeful, so sweet and sincere about him and the way he spoke. He seemed to honestly believe everything he was saying.

“You really want her back that badly, huh?” Daybreak smiled.

“You said you had a sister.” Stronghooves shrugged. “If she went away, you’d want her back, too.”

“I’d probably just enjoy the peace and quiet for a while.” Daybreak giggled, nuzzling him sympathetically. “Still...yeah, I’d do anything to get her back. I’m with you on this, Hoovesie.”

“Thanks Daybreak, I...wait, Hoovesie?” Stronghooves looked up at the mare with an expression of pure confusion and horror plastered over his face.

“Well, yeah! Come on, a pony as cute as you needs a cute nickname too, right?” Daybreak beamed, squeezing his shoulders with a friendly little squeak.

“I...well, yeah, I guess...but…” Stronghooves went red, hiding his head behind his hoof. “You’re not going to call me that in front of Shield, are you?”

“Maaaaybe.” Daybreak grinned cheekily, ruffling his mane through his helmet. “What do I get if I keep my mouth shut around your little friend?”

“You drive one hell of a hard bargain, lady.” Stronghooves smiled up at her, peeking out from behind his heavy hoof. “Um...well, I mean, we could always...er…”

“Yeeeeeees?” Daybreak leaned in, fluttering her eyelashes.

“Well...I suppose I could see my way to...um...taking you on...on a date or something...only if you’re interested, that is.” Stronghooves gave an uncharacteristically high-pitched squeak, retreating behind his hoof again.

“That sounds wonderful.” Daybreak chuckled. “Besides, you really need to unwind once in a while. I know basically bugger all about you besides that you’re a sweet little stallion who loves his sister. I kinda wanna get to know the real you, off the clock.”

Stronghooves visibly settled down, relaxing a little and smiling wider. “I’d...I’d like that. I...I don’t really know much about you, either. Maybe...maybe we can take a break from the whole ‘saving the world’ thing once Rolling Thunder’s out of the picture.”

“There we go!” Daybreak nuzzled him, bumping her flank against his. “Now, let’s go and meet this totally-not-hot friend of yours before he starts wondering where you’ve gone.”

Stronghooves shook his head to get his senses back, slinging his sword over his back and trotting out of the armoury. Once Daybreak was clear as well, he carefully placed the slightly bent steel door back in its frame, stepping back with his hooves held up diplomatically. He had an air about him of a stallion who was playing Jenga, or balancing a variety of very fragile objects on a shelf that he wasn’t certain was going to stay up.

“Looks good enough.” Daybreak shrugged. “Come on, exit’s this way.”

“Right.” Stronghooves nodded, turning tail and following the mare as she led him to the express elevator. Pressing her hoof against another pad on the wall, she called it to their floor, doing a little nervous dance on the spot as she waited.

“What happens if we get stopped by more Operatives?” She asked tentatively.

“We’ve sent the others out to spread the word.” Stronghooves frowned. “Hopefully everypony in the building will be with us. If not, then I guess we’re going to have to defend ourselves. Are you okay to fight, Daybreak?”

“Well, actually, it’s Lieutenant Daybreak from the Equestrian Royal Army.” She drew herself up to her full height, sticking her tongue out. “Hopefully that answers your question.”

“Depends. Were you a desk officer?”

“Do I look like the kind of pony who can sit behind a desk all day? No way, mate. I’m a soldier through and through.”

“Good. I mean, I’m hoping that we don’t have to hurt anypony to get out of here, but if we run out of options, it’s good to know we’ll be able to hold our own.”

“Well, I’ll be able to hold my own.” Daybreak teased, giggling. “I don’t exactly know about you, Mister I-let-myself-get-captured.”

“Hey, that wasn’t even my fault!” Stronghooves said defensively, stepping into the elevator. “I mean, he came up behind me! There was nothing I could’ve done!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure there wasn’t.” Daybreak rolled her eyes, stepping in after him. “You know, it’s okay to have flaws. I don’t mind if you got your own ass caught.”

“Yeah, but I’m the Captain of the Guard. I’m not supposed to have flaws.” Stronghooves shrugged. “If I mess up, ponies get hurt.”

“You’ve done a good job so far, and you’re pretty charming.” Daybreak kissed him on the cheek. She wasn’t even trying to be affectionate for the sake of affection anymore. All she wanted to do was see just how adorably Stronghooves would react to her advances.

The stallion, easily a head taller than her, gave a timid little squeak and went bright pink. “Um...oh look, it’s our floor!” He said, a little louder than was perhaps necessary.

With that, he stepped out onto the ground floor, pushing through a group of surprised ponies in the lobby and out onto the street.

“Silly horse.” Daybreak shook her head, snickering as she trotted merrily after him.

Shield was waiting on the balcony just outside Stronghooves’s office, smoking a cigarette and watching the dark street below. There were a lot of late-night partygoers, drunks, students and other things that gave Shield a bloody headache. There were even a couple of the buggers spray-painting “CANTERLOT U RULEZ” onto the side of a building in plain view of the guard barracks. Shield didn’t even know how to react to this sort of thing. Either those ponies were blind drunk or had the biggest balls in Equestrian history. Either way, he eventually decided that that sort of behaviour was outside of his jurisdiction.

“Inspector?” A guard inquired, knocking on the door sheepishly.

“This had better be coffee, booze or amazing news.” Shield grunted, turning to the door and peering over his glass of bourbon at the younger guard.

“Well sir, we’ve just got news that one of those Operatives was just spotted in Manehattan.” The guard shrugged. “Sky Runner was also seen running from him. I mean, that’s a lead. That’s kind of good news, right?”

Shield gave him a very long look. “Close enough. Do we still have a lead on her?”

“No, sir. She disappeared soon after the Operative did.”

“Wait, the Manehattan City Watch managed to lose Sky and a bloody great horse?” Shield asked, slumping back into a chair, wide-eyed.

“Yes, sir. She’s even managed to evade the aerial patrols.” The guard nodded. “We think she might be working with a contact in the city to move unseen. I could try and cross-reference possible accomplices if you’d like.”

“Wow, look at you, all raring to go.” Shield said dully. “Yeah, go and do that. Tell me if you get anything that might be useful...and for the love of Celestia’s sweet sunny ass, can I get another glass of something with caffeine and alcohol in it?”

“I’ll have somepony head across the road and get you an Irish coffee or something.” The guard nodded, ducking out of the room.

“Make it as Irish as you can!” Shield called after him. “If there aren’t leprechauns jumping out at me when it shows up, it’ll be your badge, buddy!” He chuckled weakly, laying back in the big official armchair and downing the last of his whiskey.

Stronghooves was supposed to be back ages ago. I hope he hasn’t gone all the way to Manehattan and not told me. That’d definitely earn him a sock on the nose… Shield rolled his eyes. Still, all the same...that stuff he told me about him and Sky...it’s kind of a sad story, but I’ve got questions. Why the hell doesn’t she like him? It’s not just because he’s a guard. There’s gotta be more to it than that…

Shield sighed. Perhaps the answers would come with time, or when Stronghooves felt that he trusted Shield enough to share them with him.

There came another knock at the office door, jolting Shield from his ruminations.

“How Irish is it?” He asked automatically.

“Not very Irish at all, actually.” Stronghooves chuckled as he pushed the office door open, trotting inside with Daybreak.

“Well look who the cat dragged in.” Shield chuckled, getting to his hooves. “What took you so long? Don’t tell me you ran all the way to and from Manehattan with those superpowers of yours.”

“You’ve been reading too many Power Ponies comics, Shield.” Stronghooves patted his friend on the shoulder. “I was indisposed for a little while, but I’ve got good news. We’re on the edge of busting the whole conspiracy around those crystals wide open.”

“Well then, it sounds like you’re doing fine without me. I’ll probably head to bed if that’s all right by you.” Shield’s eyes fell on Daybreak, who gave him a friendly wave and a smile. “I don’t remember you having a marefriend when you left earlier.” He added curiously.

“I didn’t.” Stronghooves scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Um...this is Daybreak. She used to work for the ponies running this conspiracy.”

“Yep!” Daybreak nodded. “I was his cell guard, but he fucked me and now he can’t get rid of me!”

Shield grinned. “Damn, you’ve had a busy day. You got captured, fucked your cell guard and now you’re on the run from the most powerful ponies in Equestria? Damn, you are Sky’s brother.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Daybreak asked innocently.

“Oh, Sky broke out from her cell a few days ago by giving the jailer a blowjob.” Shield shrugged. “I dunno why he got so much shit for it. That poor guy probably hadn’t seen any action in months.”

“Now, you’re not suggesting that Hoovesie here went and fucked me just so he could get out of prison, are you?” Daybreak cast a sidelong glance at Stronghooves, who pointedly looked away. “After all, he was a fresh-faced little virgin this morning, right Hoovesie?”

“Uh...I...I thought we’d talked about calling me that…” Stronghooves whimpered pathetically.

“I’m sorry, Hoovesie?” Shield was doing his best to suppress his laughter now, but it wasn’t working very well at all. “You’ve known her for six hours and you’ve already earned a pet name? You lucky bastard!” He turned to Daybreak, chuckling with a little more energy than before. “I like you already, miss. My name’s Shield. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh, thank Celestia, you’re alive.” Daybreak giggled, taking his hoof and shaking it. “I was worried you were just talking in your sleep all this time. It’s nice to meet you too, Shield. Hoovesie here was telling me that you two are best friends.”

“That’s a bit of a stretch. I mean, I like the guy, but I’ve only really talked to him properly for the first time today.” Shield shrugged.

Both ponies glanced across at Stronghooves, who was trying to hide his face.

“Weird…” Daybreak muttered, her smile fading a little. “It’s almost like...you’ve never had a friend before…”

“Well, I don’t know about never...” Stronghooves said quietly, sitting back in his chair and pulling his helmet off. He looked awfully tired all of a sudden, still blushing like mad. “But...I don’t exactly make friends easily.”

“You’re approachable enough when you’re behind bars.” Daybreak smiled. “Though according to your buddy here, that was just so you could get some cheap action! Fancy that!”

Stronghooves looked at her incredulously. She didn’t really seem that mad, or even remotely upset.

Wow, either she’s pulling my leg or she likes me a hell of a lot more than I thought…

Shield snickered, nudging Daybreak in the ribs. “Come on miss, if you keep this up all the blood’s gonna rush to his head. So what’s the plan, Hoovesie?”

“The plan is to stop calling me that right fucking now.” Stronghooves rolled his eyes. “But let’s face it, that’s not happening. I don’t suppose you’ve got anything on Sky?”

“Last I heard she was still in Manehattan. Looks like one of Silver Tongue’s Operatives slipped through our safety net and followed her there. Both of them disappeared a few hours ago.” He shrugged.

“She’s okay. She’s been able to outrun them so far.” Stronghooves put his hooves together, relieved.

“That’s only because you’ve been interfering with the Operatives.” Shield frowned. “I dunno how she’s going to manage on her own, but we reckon she might have help from somepony in Manehattan. Fucked if I know who, mind you.”

“That one’s easy.” Daybreak put in. “You just have to find the pony with the highest bounty in the city. They’re the only ones who’d work with Sky instead of turning her in, since they’d be putting themselves at risk by trying to hand her over to the guards.”

“That’s...pretty insightful.” Stronghooves cocked his head. “How do you know so much about how criminals’ minds work, then?”

“I like studying my targets.” Daybreak shrugged. “That, and...well, I told you my sister and I used to get into a lot of trouble when we were younger. We kinda learned when not to tell on one another. I mean, there were a couple of times when I couldn’t rat her out to mum and dad without getting my own ass in trouble too, so I kept my mouth shut.”

“Makes sense.” Stronghooves nodded. “So you reckon the pony with the highest bounty in Manehattan is going to be her accomplice?”

“I’m pretty sure, yeah.” Daybreak nodded. “Now all we have to do is find out who that is.”

There came a knock at the door.

“How Irish?” Shield called out automatically. Daybreak and Stronghooves exchanged a confused glance before looking back at him.

“Well, we couldn’t find a leprechaun, but a few ponies in the office just passed out from the alcohol fumes.” The guard called back from behind the door.

Shield pulled it open, took the mug of exceedingly Irish coffee, and was about to close it again when a thought struck him. “Hey, how about the bounty lists from Manehattan? Do you have those yet?”

“Yes sir!” The guard nodded enthusiastically, holding up a dossier.

“Well, whose bounty’s highest out of all of the ponies there?” He asked, taking a good swig from his mug.

“Um…” The guard frowned, looking through the dossier. “It’s either Meteor with a ton of speeding fines, or it’s a pony named Rat Racer.”

“And what does he do, then?”

“Well, he’s a burglar, and…”

“Thank you!” Shield beamed, taking the dossier and slamming the door shut.

“There we go, then!” He beamed triumphantly, dropping the folder onto Stronghooves’s desk. “It’s that Rat Racer pony we want!”

“Good! I guess we’ve got a plan of attack.” Stronghooves smiled. “Daybreak, do you think you could get Shield into the facility to give him the same enhancements as the rest of us?”

“We can probably manage that tomorrow morning, no problem.” Daybreak nodded. “I wanna make sure the word spreads to everypony in that building so we don’t run into unexpected trouble.”

“Right.” Stronghooves pulled the file closer to him. “Shield, put the word out to the Manehattan City Watch. Sky Runner’s suspected of travelling with a unicorn named Rat Racer. If we find one, we should find the other.”

“Sure thing, Hoovesie.” Shield chuckled, trotting out of the room. “I’ll get right on it.”

Stronghooves cringed as the Inspector spoke, only settling down again once he was certain that Shield was gone.

“You know he’s going to be calling me that forever now?” He glared accusingly at Daybreak.

“Oh no! I’m sorry, Hoovesie!” She giggled with the air of a pony who was most certainly not sorry. “How could I ever make it up to you?” She thought for a moment, before a very sly smirk appeared on her face. “You know...my accommodation was based in that facility, and I can’t go back there tonight. What if I made it up to you by...I dunno...spending the night with you?”

“What, like, sleeping together?” Stronghooves asked.

“Mhmm...and cuddling.” Daybreak nodded with a certain finality.

“Well, I...I guess we could...” Stronghooves flustered.

Jeez...today’s been one hell of a weird day.