Rat followed Sky as she led him through the dark streets of Canterlot, their hoods drawn up to cover their faces to mask their identities. Sky had walked this path so many times in her career that she could likely do it blindfolded if she had to.

The sun had long since set over the horizon, leaving the city bathed in pale white moonlight. Even with all of the lights on, Canterlot couldn’t generate quite enough light pollution to blot out the stars, and the beauty of the cosmos above was obscured by nothing but a few clouds and the occasional aerial patrol.

“Nice place you’ve got here.” Rat commented, keeping close as Sky trotted down a network of alleyways.

“It was nicer when there wasn’t a horde of super-soldier dipshits living here.” Sky grinned. Her tail flicked from side to side as she led Rat down towards a hidden little street that bordered the Middle and Poor Districts of the city. “Still...if we’re lucky, we can fix that soon enough.”

“So these crystals...you reckon they’re what’s turning ponies into these...things?”

“Yeah.” Sky nodded as they made their way out into a little street. “You read Rolling Thunder’s letter, right? There’s some kind of transformation that takes place, and I remember Shield telling me that those crystals have some kind of crazy magical power.”

“Shield?” Rat cocked his head, curious.

“He’s a guard around these parts.” Sky shrugged. “Nice guy, easily flustered, bad temper. He wouldn’t like you.” She looked around at her unicorn companion, narrowing her eyes. “Why do you ask? You don’t mind that I talk to other stallions sometimes, right?”

“Pffft, Sky, please. I don’t get jealous about shit like that.” Rat shook his head. “Just professional curiosity, that’s all.”

“Yahuh.” She grinned, unconvinced.

“So is he friendly?” Rat asked, trying to change the subject.

“Who, Shield? Nah, he’s a guard through and through. All the senior officers hate my guts around here. Can’t imagine why.” Sky giggled.

“Yeah, I’ll try not to act too shocked.” Rat rolled his eyes. “So what’s the plan from here on in?”

“We find a way to get those crystals back, stop those transformations and give the fucking things back to the Museum before somepony gets hurt.” Sky shrugged. “We’re not having too much trouble with whatever Rolling Thunder’s Operatives are, but they’re sure as hell not making it easy for us. If they can’t get at us, it’s only a matter of time before they fuck up the rest of the underworld instead.”

“Yeah, if we can’t resupply and do our jobs, that’d draw us into the open.” Rat nodded. “So what? We’re just gonna waltz into Rolling Thunder’s state-of-the-art facility, steal some heavily guarded crystals and walk on out again?”

“I dunno.” Sky frowned. “I think we’ve got one hell of a job on our hooves, but there’s gotta be some way we can get into that place. Somepony on the inside who can help us, some way to take out the alarms and security crystals...maybe even a distraction.”

“And that’s what we’re here for, is it?”

“Damn right! There’s gotta be something useful we can get out of the ponies here!” Sky stopped in her tracks in front of a big wooden door. It was Screwdriver’s place again, only recently repaired. Though the old pub had been trashed time and again, the patrons never ceased to restore it to its former - well, glory is too strong a word - with surprising industriousness.

“This is like Tommygun’s place.” Sky explained. “Just don’t draw too much attention to yourself, don’t start shit and we should both be pretty much okay. Screwdriver knows everything that goes on in Canterlot.”

“What, so I have to go in, hit on him and then wreck the whole damn place?” Rat rolled his eyes. “You think he’s gonna know much about high-tech military contractor facilities?”

“Probably not, but if he doesn’t know it then he’ll know somepony who will.” Sky grinned. “Just gotta pay him for his trouble, that’s all.”

“And you’ve got the money for that?” Rat asked.

“Sure I do!” Sky nodded. “Just had to dip into the savings, that’s all.” Sky smiled.

“The same savings that you were gonna use to fix your wing?” Rat frowned.

There was a moment of rather unpleasant silence between the two of them. Sky still smiled, but looked away from her companion, suddenly paying very close attention to the door. “Let’s go in, shall we?” She said after a while.

Rat sighed, nodding reluctantly as Sky pushed the door open and trotted in.

The decor within had been fully restored over the last couple of days, giving the impression that the bar had never been wrecked. Tables had been put back together by the same skilled carpenters that produced weapons for thieves and bounty hunters. The windows had been fixed by glaziers paid by ill-gotten funds, and there was even a new accordion player in the corner. Nopony really knew what had happened to the old one. Perhaps he’d just asked the wrong questions.

Sky kept her hood up as she made her way through the busy, noisy tavern, finally taking a seat at the bar and inviting Rat to sit down by her side with a little smile. The unicorn glanced around, knowing better than to make eye contact with anypony in a place like this, before finally obliging her.

“What’ll it b…” Screwdriver began, before catching sight of Rat. He stopped halfway through wiping down a glass, glancing between the two of them with a rather silly wobbly grin on his face. “Sky…” He whispered. “Did you get a coltfriend?”

Sky’s eyes shot wide open. “N...no!” She said quickly. “What, this guy? No, I just fucked him and he followed me home, that’s all!”

Screwdriver chuckled, smiling with relief as Sky and Rat pointedly didn’t look at one another. “Come on, Sky. You can’t lie to me. I knew that you’d left the city for a couple of days, but this is ridiculous! You actually brought a stallion home!”

“He’s just a friend, asshole. Now come on, drop it.” Sky snickered.

“Fine, fine…” Screwdriver waved his hoof, trying to wipe that smile off of his face. “So what do you lovebirds want?”

“We want...oh for fuck’s sake, stop it!” Sky giggled, giving him a shove with her forehoof. “We’re looking for...and you can stop giggling too, matey!” She added, batting Rat upside the head. “I can withhold sex, you know!”

“You know you can’t.” Rat stuck his tongue out.

Sky opened her mouth to tell him off, before reluctantly closing it again. She wasn’t fooling anypony but herself.

“Okay, okay, serious time now.” Screwdriver smiled, as Sky pouted at Rat. “You’re looking for information, right? Let me guess, you wanna find out something about the Operatives, right?”

“Something like that.” Sky nodded as she kicked Rat’s stool out from under him. “I wanna know more about Silver Tongue’s wedding. Where it’s being held, who’s coming, stuff like that.”

“Ooooh, that big to-do up at the palace in a few days?” Screwdriver whistled. “Yeah, it’s gonna be one hell of a soiree. All the bigshots from all over Equestria are gonna be there. What about it?”

“Any chance any part of it’s gonna take place at that big lab complex he’s got in the city centre?” Sky asked.

“You’d be lucky.” Screwdriver frowned. “That building’s just research rooms, so I dunno about the party taking place there. Still, if you wanna use the wedding as a way into those labs, there might be a way…”

Sky leaned across the counter as Rat got to his hooves, muttering. “Yeah?”

“Sorry doll, you know I wanna help you out, but I can’t give this stuff up for free, especially with the Operatives around.” Screwdriver frowned.

“How much?”

“Two hundred.”

“Two hu…!” Sky gasped. That was most of the cash she’d stolen off of Money Bags. If she paid Screwdriver, there was no way she’d be able to fix her wing for a while yet.

Still...I’ve gotta keep Shadow safe. I don’t want her getting between one of those Operatives and me again. We’ve gotta end this quickly or she might get hurt…

“Fine.” She reached into her saddlebag, pulling out a little coinpurse as discreetly as she could and setting it on the table. “Two hundred bits, but this had better be worth it.”

“It’s worth it, all right.” Screwdriver nodded, sweeping the little bag into his apron pocket. “So here’s the deal. Silver wears a little necklace, nice little thing with a tiny pink diamond on it. It keeps him safe and invisible to the security systems in that building. Trouble is, he’s basically resorted to hiding behind those security measures all the time now. His house got busted into the other day.”

“I know that.” Sky nodded. “So we’ve gotta get to him to shut those systems off, but to get to him we have to go through ‘em. He’s gonna leave the building for the wedding, right?”

“Damn right!” Screwdriver beamed. “There’s a big bridal party the night before at the palace. Gonna be taking place during the Grand Galloping Gala. If you can get a ticket to that and hang out with the bridal party, you can probably get at Silver during the wedding itself.”

“Silver’s not gonna be at the Gala?” Sky asked, cocking her head.

“Nah, but his fiancee’s having her hen night there. Might be worth checking out.” Screwdriver shrugged.

Sky crossed her forehooves on the wooden counter, frowning. Screwdriver had given her a few ideas for how she could get into the facility and get those crystals back, but she didn’t like the plan that was forming in her head, not one bit.

“Thanks Screwdriver. Anything else?” She asked quietly.

“Yeah, a warning I got out of my contacts.” The bartender nodded. “I’ve heard from some of my guys in the guard that the whole damn department’s started looking for you. They’ve got undercover agents everywhere, and it sounds like the Captain’s damn near obsessed with tracking you down and bringing you in.”

“Yeah, he would be.” Sky nodded. “Hey, thanks a bunch, sweetie. I really appreciate the warning.”

“Don’t worry about it, Sky.” Screwdriver shook his head. “And hey, one last thing. Is...Shadow still around?”

“Yeah, she’s just at home with a guest.” Sky smiled, hopping off of her barstool and trotting towards the exit. “I didn’t figure you missed her that much.”

Screwdriver cringed, looking a little disappointed. “Well, okay then. Hey, you two take care, all right? Stay safe and keep your heads down.”

“Don’t worry!” Sky beamed, as she and Rat made their way out onto the street. “We will!”

“Well, that was pretty helpful.” Rat chuckled, once they were back out in the network of alleys. “You all right?”

“Sure I am!” Sky grinned. “Why the hell wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, your wing money…”

“Pffft, whatever.” Sky shrugged. “It’s just money. There’s always more of it.”

“Well...wh...what if I helped you earn that money back once all this is over?” Rat asked, scratching the back of his neck with a hoof.

“I’m fine, sweetie. It’s okay.” Sky smiled, rounding on him and nuzzling his cheek. “Hey, stop worrying! We’ll get all of this sorted, take a holiday, have some wild sex and then get the fuck back to work. My wing’s gonna be better before you know it, you’ll see.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll drop it.” Rat sighed, smiling a little as he nuzzled her back. “So...what was that about the Captain of the Guard around here? Sounds like you two have a bit of history.”

“Wow, you’re really reading into stuff tonight, aren’t you?” Sky rolled her eyes. “Yeah, he and I’ve got a bit of history. Hell, every burglar does with the city guards, right?”

“Yeah, but guard commanders don’t often get “obsessed” over burglars.”

“Burglars don’t often steal superweapons.” Sky replied evenly.

“Come on, Sky. You’re bullshitting, I can tell.” Rat picked up some speed as they stepped out onto the street, looping around and standing in her way. “If I’m gonna help you, you’ve gotta be honest with me. What’s gone on between you and the Captain? Not to stick my nose into shit that doesn’t concern me, but it’s kinda gonna end up mattering when we get on the wrong side of the cops again.”

“You’re already on the wrong side of the cops. You’re with the pony with 8 million bits on her head!” Sky rolled her eyes, exasperated. “Fine, you really wanna know what the deal is between the Captain and me?”

Rat nodded urgently.

“Okay.” Sky sighed. “Well, he’s my brother, and…”

“STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM!”

Sky and Rat whirled around at the voice, and the two ponies blanched. Somehow, throughout their little debate, the guards had managed to completely surround them, covering rooftops, both ends of the street and even nearby clouds. There were at least thirty of them, led by an earth pony wearing the armour of an Equestrian Army Lieutenant. Each and every one of them had a crossbow or a horn levelled at the two burglars.

“Really, Lieutenant?” One of the guards sighed, lowering his crossbow just a little and casting a sidelong glance at his commanding officer.

“Sorry! I’ve just always wanted to say that!” The earth pony giggled quietly, before stepping forward and levelling her own repeating crossbow at the two ponies. “Okay, you two are Sky Runner and Rat Racer, right?”

The two looked at each other for a moment before turning their attention back to the earth pony.

“Nope!” Sky shook her head.

“No way!” Rat agreed.

“Who the hell are they?” Sky shrugged. “We’re just...tourists!”

“Yeah! Tourists taking a moonlit stroll! Can you imagine anything more romantic than that?” Rat sighed wistfully.

“Dressed as burglars?” The earth pony raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

“Well duh! I mean, could you imagine if we showed up to the fancy dress party our buddy across town is holding!” Sky rolled her eyes. “We’re going as Bon-Bon and Clyde!”

“Wait, we’re doing wha...ow!” Rat cringed as Sky elbowed him in the ribs. “I mean, yeah! Fancy dress party! Come on guys, lay off!”

The earth pony looked from the unicorn to the crippled little pegasus, before finally pulling a pair of photos out of her saddlebag. “Really, because you seem to be doing a great Sky and Rat! Either you two accidentally dressed as the wrong criminal couple, or you’re bullshitting me, and right now I’m thinking it’s the latter.”

Sky and Rat exchanged another glance.

How the hell are we gonna get out of this one? Sky thought to herself, biting her lip as she looked into the unicorn’s frightened eyes. There had to be something...anything…

Her hoof clanked slightly as the rubber in her boot struck textured metal. With only the tiniest glance downward, Sky spotted it. A manhole. That was all very well and good, but opening a manhole with four-dozen crossbows trained on you was no mean feat, especially for two ponies who weren’t exactly weightlifters themselves.

Sky flashed Rat the tiniest little smirk, glancing down at the manhole cover again. This time his eyes followed hers, and a mutual unspoken understanding was met.

“Well fucking done, Rat! You got us caught!” Sky finally growled, batting the stallion upside the head with her forehoof.

“Ow!” Rat pouted, rubbing his head. “What the fuck are you blaming me for? This is your damn city! I was counting on you to keep us out of the way of the guards!”

“Yahuh, sure!” Sky rolled her eyes. “Blaming the mare right off the bat, you sexist! I thought you were a professional!”

“Of course I’m a professional! I just can’t plan for your slip-ups!” Rat waved his hooves in the air, his horn flaring. “But hey, way to play the gender card to try and get me to back down! Maybe you wouldn’t have to hide behind “ooooh, don’t hurt me, I’m a mare!” if you weren’t so shit at your job!”

Sky looked around at the assembled guards, her mouth hanging open in appalled shock. The guards were lowering their weapons, more than a little perplexed. Even their commanding officer was looking more than a little confused. She must be new.

“Oh really? Did you seriously just call me shit at my job?” Sky’s ears splayed back, blinking a few times as her eyes welled up with tears.

“Well yeah! I mean, say what you like, dollface. I can use magic and you can’t even fly!” Rat growled. He minimised the sound of grating metal against stone as he discreetly levitated the manhole cover out of the hole, winking at his partner.

Sky, however, was inconsolable with tears. “Your words hurt, you know!” She whimpered, backing away in horror and bumping into the mare. She rounded on the surprised officer, sobbing into her mane and wrapping her forehooves around her. “I hate...stallions...so much…” She sobbed, her voice shaking.

“Um...wait, I can’t...oh, sweetheart…” The guard’s ears flopped back, her morale officer instincts overtaking her psyche and driving her to scoop the little white mare into a hug. Arresting her could come later.

“He’s...so...mean…” Sky said weakly, as tears rolled freely down her cheeks. Her hoof crossbow snapped out as she hugged the mare, a sleep dart cycling into it. All it would take was one twist of her hoof and the guards’ commander would be out. They always got so confused if the officer in charge suddenly decided it was naptime.

Angling the weapon so that the dart was pointed at a chink in the mare’s breastplate, Sky sighed and pulled the trigger.

“Thanks, sweetie…” She whispered in the mare’s ear.

There was a snap as the crossbow fired, but to Sky’s surprise the mare didn’t go down. She even counted off thirty seconds, the longest time it had ever taken for one of those darts to affect one of her victims, before pulling away and looking her in the eye.

The mare was staring back with a look of absolute confusion plastered on her face.

Both ponies gave each other the most perfectly blank looks for a time, their mouths held open in a sort of weird mutual half-smile as they each processed what had just happened.

“Um...Rat?” Sky called out, not taking her eyes off of the mare.

“Ye...yeah?”

“She’s one of them!”

“Oh.”

Another moment of silence.

“Did you just shoot me?” the mare asked, hurt.

“Well, yeah…” Sky nodded, backing toward the open manhole. “But you’ve gotta see it from my perspective! We were just...um….run for it!” She cried, pushing Rat into the manhole before leaping in after him.

Daybreak stood there in shocked silence for a time, blinking in the moonlight. It was probably just as well that she’d had those enhancements, or she’d look like a right wally right now.

“AFTER THEM!” She roared, diving into the manhole in pursuit.

“So what’s the plan?” Rat panted, as the two ponies tore through the sewers.

“Well, I don’t wanna sound like an episode of Scooby Hooves, but we might wanna split up.” Sky grunted, as she began to pick up speed. “The noise from two different tunnels will throw them off!”

“Sounds good!” Rat nodded. “Meet back at the tower in a few hours?”

“You’ve got it, sweetie!” Sky nodded as they skidded to a halt at a fork in the road, leading off into two separate tunnels. With a nod and a quick-hoof bump, the two ponies each darted down a different tunnel. Without having to wait up for Rat, Sky started beating her damaged wings again, the foul-smelling air racing through her mane and tail as she sped up. In the half-light, on the slippery wet stone, she found that she couldn’t get up to full speed. It was certainly fast enough to leave all of the heavily armoured guards behind, however.

“Too easy…” Sky grunted to herself, looking over her shoulder.

There were two bright yellow eyes, glowing brightly against the darkness of the sewer, and they were getting closer. That mare was fast.

Shit…she went after me instead of Rat...at least there’s only one of them… Sky thought to herself. As she picked up as much speed as she possibly could without slipping over, she found that her tunnel had carried her to out into a monstrous cylindrical dark hall, some kind of cistern that was draining into the waterfalls that ran off of the mountain. Sky could even see a little light at the bottom of a massive waterfall where the outlet lay. She herself kept galloping across the catwalk that spanned the hall, glancing down at the outlet. The water cascading down through the cistern out of the hole was filtered through a set of steel bars. It was a longshot, but she might just make it.

This is the worst way I’ve ever escaped anything...this is even worse than that land squid… Sky cringed, not even taking a moment to consider whether this was a good idea before making the leap.

However, as she jumped, something caught the bow that was slung across her back, pulling her back onto the catwalk with all the force of a speeding carriage. Sky slammed into the stone with a grunt, scrunching her snout as she looked around to see what had happened.

The Operative had caught Sky’s bow in her mouth, holding onto it as she glared down at the little white pony.

“‘ou’re ‘oming ‘ith ‘e…” the mare growled sternly through the bow in her mouth.

“Sweetie, if I had a bit for every guard who’d said that to me in the past five years, I’d have paid off my bounty by now.” Sky narrowed her eyes. She didn’t want to squeeze out of the bow, since it had a certain sentimental value to her, but there were other ways for her to get away.

Spreading her wings again, Sky took another leap, this time making what could be described as a very clumsy backflip indeed. As she twirled in the air, Sky slipped out of her bow, grabbing onto the string with both hooves and pulling it back as she landed atop the mare.

“Oi! Gerroff!” The Operative growled, looking back at Sky with what could only be described as the bitchiest kind of bitterness.

“Let go of my bow! That’s my sister’s!” Sky drew the bowstring back a little further, pulling the mare’s head back as well.

The mare, being as she was an earth pony, didn’t have a lot of ways to get Sky off of her back, so settled for cantering sideways, launching herself onto her back. As she arced through the air, Sky let go of the bow and dropped to the ground, snapping her crossbow out and letting fly with another sleep dart. This one struck the mare’s neck, but as always, it completely failed to do anything. Her eyes glowed amber as the magic in her system fought the potion in her body.

The Operative got to her hooves, eyes fixed on Sky as she spat out the bow. “Come on, Sky. I’m not here to give you trouble. I’m here to help you.” She said, her voice softening. For the first time since Sky had met her, her demeanour wasn’t that of a big authoritative officer anymore, but of a pony who just wanted to help.

“What the hell kind of help warrants surrounding me with guards?” Sky challenged, coming a little closer. With a few tentative flicks of her forehoof, she pulled her bow back over to her, slinging it back onto her back.

“Well, I was worried that you wouldn’t come with me if just showed up, since I’m a soldier.” The mare shrugged. “Hey, look. We got off on the wrong hoof, but I really want to make things okay. My name’s Daybreak.” She held out a hoof hopefully.

“You’ve stepped in something.” Sky observed.

Daybreak glanced down at her hoof, sticking her tongue out. “Yuk!” With all of the smoothness of a mare who doesn’t want to seem as goofy as she is, she put that hoof down and extended the other one with a little smile on her face.

Sky looked deep into the mare’s eyes, looking for a punchline, an ulterior motive. There had to be something. Ponies didn’t just turn up and say that they wanted to help her. It just didn’t happen. However, as Sky looked, all she saw was earnest care and honesty. In spite of what this mare was physically, she was telling the truth...or at least looked as if she was.

Hesitating only a moment longer, Sky reached out and took her hoof. “Well...hey, Daybreak. I’m Sky.”

“I know.” Daybreak giggled. “I’ve been looking for you for ages! Look, me and a few others, we know that you’re innocent...well, innocent-ish…we know that you didn’t do the thing with the Museum, okay?”

“Okay…” Sky nodded slowly. “And how do you know that?”

“Well, I spoke to one of the other Operatives, and he knows you pretty well.” Daybreak grinned knowingly, with the air of one of those TV hosts who’s about to reunite two estranged relatives. In a sense, of course, she was. “He knows that you couldn’t do a thing like that. He wants to get you safe, Sky.”

“Well, I appreciate his concern, but I am safe.” Sky took a step towards the edge of the catwalk, keeping her eyes on Daybreak. “I can get out of anything, sweetie! Don’t you worry about me!”

“Yeah? You didn’t get away from me.” Daybreak smiled, sticking her tongue out.

“Didn’t I?” Sky giggled, stepping off of the edge of the catwalk.

“Wait!” Daybreak yelped, as Sky plummeted down towards the outlet, spreading her wings again to airbrake herself. The Lieutenant didn’t even hesitate, leaping off after her and landing on the wide half-pipe ramp that led down to the outlet a moment after Sky did.

Sky quickly picked up speed again, carried onward by her own hooves and the torrents of water washing down from above. Her boots slipped on the stone beneath her again and again, and as she looked over her shoulder again she could see Daybreak catching up, her eyes glowing bright amber in the half-light. It was like getting chased by a much larger female version of Fox.

Damn it, now I know how Shadow feels… Sky growled, flapping her soaking wings and kicking up water as she got closer to the bars. They were pretty close together. This was going to be a tight fit, and if anypony knew about tight fits, Sky did.

“Hey! You’re not gonna get through those bars, Sky! You’re too big!” Daybreak yelled over the roar of the water around them.

“Oh, you did not just call me fat!” Sky yelled back, starting to squeeze herself through the bars. Her head, wings and torso got through just fine, but when she tried to get her flanks through, too…

“Told you!” Daybreak laughed, as Sky struggled to squeeze through the bars. She kicked her legs impotently, only a foot away from escaping. She struggled, wiggling her hooves in the air and trying to twist herself through before finally slumping upside-down.

“Little help?” Sky asked weakly, wiggling her hind legs. This was not how she’d wanted to get caught.

Daybreak rolled her eyes, trotting forward. “I did! I told you that you were too big!”

“Oi! My flanks are a great size, missy!” Sky stuck her tongue out, crossing her forelegs sulkily. “Now get me out of here!”

As Daybreak giggled, trotting towards Sky to yank her out of the bars, her hooves slipped on the wet stone as well, sending her tumbling over and crashing into Sky. While Daybreak wasn’t heavy, at least by earth pony standards, it was enough to push Sky out of the bars, leaving the two mares on either side of the grate.

Sky took a moment to assess whether she was still in one piece. Once she was satisfied that she hadn’t been bisected, she turned around and stuck her tongue out at Daybreak.

“See? My flanks are perfect!” She giggled, giving them a slap to drive her point home. Laughing out loud, the little white pony galloped off into the night, losing Daybreak before the mare could come to her senses.

A manhole cover on the other side of town glowed bright blue for a moment before shifting aside, and Rat Racer clambered out onto the street.

“Ugh...I don’t even wanna think about the shit I’ve stepped in today…” He grunted, giving his shaggy mane a shake and getting his bearings.

“That’s why I tend to stick to the streets, myself.” Came the voice of a nearby stallion.

Rat narrowed his eyes, his own hoof crossbow snapping out. It emitted a little whine as he primed the taser dart, charging it up.

“And who the hell are you?” He growled, levelling the weapon at the approaching stallion. He was a big white unicorn with a blond mane and bright blue eyes. Sky’s eyes.

“My name’s Captain Stronghooves of the Royal Guard.” He said, smiling brightly. “I think you and I have a lot to talk about.”