Chapter Nine:

Stage One: Layouts

"FUCK!" A loud roar snapped Twilight awake.

The unicorns vision swam into focus, and as the unfamiliar surroundings became clearer to her, she began to panic a bit. It took her a moment to remember what she was doing here in the derelict warehouse in the middle of a city she barely knew. It all came rushing back to her shortly, though, and her spirits sank a bit. She had hope everything, especially the night before had just been some horrible nightmare. Not just the night before, but the past few days. She wanted so badly to wake up in her library again, to know that her sanctuary was standing proudly. But reality set it real fast: she was in filthy abandoned warehouse on a dock in Manehatten with her friends, they were in the process of planning out what was sure to be an elaborate bank heist, and, worst of all, the night before she and her friends had brutally murdered a group of punk colts.

Twilight Sparkle would never feel like the same pony after what she had done last night. She had never for a second expected that at some point in her life she would be forced to take the life of another. Whether it was self-defense or not, she had never wanted that kind mark on her soul. It was too late now, though. What was done was done, and she was going to have to live with it 'til the day she died. She wondered if her friends felt the same way.

"FUCK THIS PLACE!" Another loud cry of rage.

Twilight was snapped out of her thoughts, and her attention was turned to the cyan pegasus on the far end of the sleeping pad. Rainbow Dash was on all fours, wiping her self off vigorously and cursing under breath. Twilight soon realized that she was the only one lying down now; the others were all standing wide awake around her, staring at Dash in confusion.

"What's wrong, Dashie?" Pinkie Pie asked with worry.

"Sometime during the night I fell off the damn pad and rolled through the pile of that asshole's piss!" The pegasus shouted angrily. "Plegh! Aw fuckin' A, I think I got some in my mouth!"

Pinkie Pie tried to stifle a giggle, but Dash heard it clearly enough.

"Oh fuck you, Pinkie! Maybe you should've tried sleeping on the edge of this thing at some point! Why did I always have to sleep there, huh? Rarity's supposed to represent generosity, why didn't she give us the middle part or something?"

Rarity, who was looking more groggy and disheveled than she had ever looked before, scoffed indignantly. The fashion unicorn had been bearing crosses for her friends since this whole journey started... heck, since the day they all met. She wasn't going to put up with this now.

"How dare you impugn my kindness?" She spat. "Perhaps you would've been better suited to sleeping in the dirt during our nights on the road! I was mere seconds away from pushing you as far away from the rest of us as possible, what with the way you were snoring!"

"Wanna hug, Rare?" Dash said with an evil grin.

She then proceeded to fly after the ivory unicorn, holding her forelegs wide apart, exposing her urine soaked skin to her. Rarity shrieked and galloped away from enraged pegasus.

"Urhg! Enough of this foalishness, Rainbow Dash! I demand that you stop this instant!" She cried.

"What, you don't want a hug? How 'bout a kiss then?" Dash said, puckering her lips and making kissy sounds.

"Away from me, you brute!" Rarity screamed.

Dash laughed like a nut and continued to give chase.

"Oh, I'm a brute, am I?" She said nastily. "You and Twilight really did a number on that colt last night! Poor bastard was crying for damn mommy! Didn't you hear him?"

"DASH, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Twilight yelled, finally finding her voice. The last thing she needed was a reminder of last night.

Dash's laughing abruptly halted. She suddenly grimaced and tumbled to the ground. Her wing, which had felt a little better that morning, was suddenly struck with pain again. She rubbed the base of it and groaned with annoyance.

"Dammit. What the fuck is wrong with my wing?" She murmured to herself.

Twilight took a few breaths to calm herself down. She noticed Fluttershy was sitting on her haunches next to her. Her face was blank and pale, no doubt she was still thinking of last night.

"Hey, you alright, Shy?" Twilight asked, gently patting her friend on the back.

"Not really," Fluttershy shook her head. "I just want to get this whole thing over with and go home."

"So do I, hon," Twilight gave her friend a squeeze. "We're gonna start getting this thing planned out today. That book I read gave me quite a bit of useful insight into the process of robbing a bank. It's not going to be easy, but it's also not going to be impossible. We have information on our side, we can do this."

The shy pegasus nodded.

"I'll try to be as helpful as I can," she said.

Twilight gave her friend a loving nuzzle.

"Believe me, Fluttershy, none of this would be possible without you," she said sincerely.

Fluttershy returned the nuzzle with one of her own.

"You're so good to me, Twilight. You really are one of the best friends a pony could ask for."

Twilights heart melted at those words, but at the same time she couldn't believe them. After all, would a good friend get such a sweet young mare caught up in a mess like this? Force her to do something that no pony with at least half a conscience would even consider doing? Still, she reminded herself that Fluttershy had agreed to do this of her own volition. As for the events of last night, she'd had full control of what she was doing. Twilight really couldn't blame herself for what Fluttershy had done to that bloody eyeball punk. It made her wonder, though: maybe Fluttershy had some issues aside from the neglectful parents that she hadn't brought to light with the others yet. She was sure that all her friends hadn't shared everything about their pasts just yet. Maybe they would open up more as time went on. Though, she had to admit: she was not particularly looking forward to Pinkie Pie's story. If it was enough to upset the crazy party pony to the point of not wanting to talk about it, then it had to be something pretty horrible. And the way she had ripped that guys throat apart last night... sweet Celestia, Twilight didn't even want to think about it.

After a while the lavender unicorn pulled away from her pegasus friend and surveyed the area for her friends, wanting to gather them up to get the planning process started. Her hear skipped a beat when she realized that a certain orange earth pony was nowhere in sight.

"Guys, where's Applejack?" Twilight asked nervously.

"She went to the fast-food place up the street to get breakfast for us," Pinkie said. "She left about ten minutes before you woke up."

This answer didnt satisfy Twilight. If anything, it made her more nervous.

"Did she... look nervous at all when she left?" She asked worriedly. "Did she seem in a hurry?"

"No, why?" Pinkie said curiously.

Rainbow Dash understood what Twilight was implying, though, and she instantly rounded on her friend.

"Look, Twi, AJ and I give each other a lot of crap, and she's definitely a lot of things to me, but one thing she's not is a snitch! She's not a coward either for that matter! I would trust her with my life! She wouldn't sell her friends out like that! She's true to us, like the Element of Honesty should be!"

"Alright! Alright! Take it easy, Dash!" Twilight said. "I trust her too! I just... can't be too careful, you know?"

Dash exhaled sharply and stepped away from the lavender unicorn.

"She didn't turn herself in, she wouldn't ever do that," she muttered, more to herself than to Twilight.

Applejack trotted down the street, on her back she carried a bag filled with the standerd fast-food for ponies: hay fries, veggie burgers, oats, the usual. The marking on the bag: McDerpy's. Who'd have thunk that an overworked, underpaid mailmare would one day come to own the most successful fast-food chain in all of Equestria? And Rainbow Dash had never thought Derpy Hooves would amount to much. Now she was a multi-billionaire with summer homes in Las Pegasus and Canterlot.

At least she's makin' out well, Applejack thought to herself as she trotted along.

It was fairly cool out, the sun was partially blocked by some overcast clouds, typical Manehatten weather. Cars sped past her, blaring their horns, occasionally making her jump and almost drop her bag. This city had certainly changed.

As she neared the dock again, she saw a rather straight-faced stallion walking in the opposite direction towards her.

"Mornin'!" Applejack greeted cheerily, just hoping for some sense of hospitality in this cold cold city.

The stallion said nothing, he didn't even make eye-contact. He just brushed past the farm pony without a sign of acknowledgement. Applejack frowned bitterly.

"Yeah, same ta you, ya twat," she muttered under her breath. Now she remembered why she left this city so long ago: it was full of upscale snobs and downright unfriendly folk... well, it was that and homesickness.

The farm pony turned onto the dock and headed to the warehouse. She pushed through the door and found four fairly nervous looking ponies waiting inside for her. The four were joined by Rainbow Dash, who was just coming out of the bathroom, her cyan fur dripping wet, as if she had just rinsed herself off.

"Uh... howdy, ya'll," she said with a sheepish smile. "Got some grub fer us."

AJ grabbed the top of the bag with her teeth and set it down in front of her. The others slowly approached her.

"Thanks, Applejack, that was really nice of you," Twilight said with a small smile.

"Ain't nothin' Twi," AJ replied. "It ain't exactly breakfast, they stopped serving that at 10:30, but it should do well enough fer us."

"Wow, we really slept in, didn't we?" Pinkie Pie said.

"Well, after a night like last night I'd say we earned it," Rainbow Dash remarked.

One by one the mares reached into the bag and grabbed whatever they could get their hooves around and thanking Applejack in turn. They ate in silence for a while, the only noises being the wooden dock creaking and groaning under them and the occasional blaring of a cargo ships horn out on the river. Applejack glanced over her friends as she gulped down some hay fries. They all still appeared to be a bit uneasy about something, and at first AJ assumed they were still worried about the whole ordeal last night and what it would mean for them. It was true that they would probably never feel like the same ponies again; it was going to be a terrible little secret that they would have to keep hidden from the world forever. Could they really manage to do something like that? Because it seemed like there could be a very real possiblity that one of them could break down from the stress of all that guilt and turn herself in, ratting out the others to get a better deal. AJ had read about that kind of thing, and she had to admit it seemed like a pretty low and cowardly thing to do, even if the crime was as horrible as could be imagined. She could never even begin to imagine selling out her friends like that, but at the same time she wondered if her friends felt the same way.

"Ya'll okay?" She asked them after a while. "Ya seemed a little antsy when Ah got back."

"Oh, yeah I'm fine, AJ," Twilight was the only one who answered. "It's just I didn't know where you were when I woke up, and... I just thought that... maybe you..."

"That Ah what?" Applejack asked, sounding suddenly offended. "That Ah'd cut an' run 'r somethin'?"

"Well, I mean, we all kinda freaked out last night and... I just..."

"Fer Celestia's sake, Twi!" Applejack snapped. "Ah wouldn't do that to ya'll! Ah do have a considerable sense of honor, ya know?"

"I know, AJ," Twilight assured her. "Rainbow Dash vouched for you. I trust you, we all do."

"Oh, she did huh?" Applejack said, gazing over at the rainbow maned pegasus, who gave her a confident smile and nod. "Well shoot, ya ain't so bad sometimes, sugarcube."

"Yeah, sometimes," Dash muttered.

"But honestly," AJ continued. "Ah love you guys, Ah'd never do anythin' ta put ya in danger."

"It's okay, Applejack, we believe you," Fluttershy said as she munched on some of her veggie burger, a bit of it falling from her mouth. "Oh dear, the one time I speak and it has to be with my mouth full. I'm so rude."

"Shy, it's no big deal," Dash said. "You really need to stop being so hard on yourself all the time, especially now. We're all on edge as it is; we just need to stay positive."

"I-I'm sorry," Fluttershy murmured, hanging her head low and allowing her pink mane to hide it.

Dash sighed in annoyance. If Fluttershy was going to be of any help during this robbery, she was going to have to step up and start being more assertive. Dash decided right then and there that she was going to make it her personal goal to get the shy pegasus to toughen up before the heist was initiated. It wasn't going to be easy, she was really gonna have to get under Fluttershy's skin in order to provoke some kind of heavy emotional response. But it wouldn't be impossible, she had seen first hand what this pony was capable of with the right motivation. It was just a matter of striking the right nerve, hitting her with something she didn't want to have brought up, and Dash had a few good ideas about what that might be.

"Alright," Twilight began once they were all fed. They sat in a small half-circle facing Twilight. "Before we get this thing under way, I just want to say one more thing about last night," she waited for the groans and moans of the others, but they didn't come, much to Twilights relief. Perhaps they had come to terms with it much quicker than expected. "I know it was a really terrible thing, and I'm sure you all are having a lot of trouble coping with it. The truth is... the more I think about it, the more I'm starting to think that maybe I shouldn't have promised we wouldn't have to kill anypony. I mean, I knew what we were getting into, it's a violent and ugly business, and it was more than a little likely that things would get ugly at some point.

"For the past couple days we've been so full of rage and sadness, we've been the victims of fate, so when we finally had a chance to let that rage run wild, when we had a chance to make somepony else the victim... we just... kinda lost it, I guess. At least that's how I felt."

"Amen," Rainbow Dash remarked. The others nodded as well.

"Well anyway, what's done is done," Twilight continued. "We can't change the past. We just have to accept what happened, push on and go through with this. I'm sure that in time we'll be able to go back to leading rich fulfilling lives, and this whole thing will just be a bad memory. Can we all do that?"

There was a significantly longer delay this time before the others were able to nod.

"Maybe if worst comes to worst we can all change our names and identities, maybe get face-lifts or something, move to separate cities, just start over fresh," Dash mused.

"Maybe that would work for you, dear, but in case you've forgotten, the rest of us have families and loved ones that simply cannot just up and abandon," Rarity said.

"Oh... right," Dash muttered, she suddenly looked a little down. "Lucky you."

"Besides," Pinkie Pie chirped. "I love the life I have now. I wouldn't give it up for anything in all of Equestria!"

"Alright, alright, it was just a suggestion," Dash groaned.

"Alright then," Twilight started up again. "So from this point forward we never speak of what happened last night ever again, and I mean ever again, to the day we're on our death beds. Agreed?"

"Agreed," they all replied in unison.

"Good," Twilight said with a deep breath. "So, before we get into the aspects of how we're going to pull this off, there are some things we're gonna need: weapons, masks, something to cover our cutie marks, and... what I think would really help us out tremendously: some kind of layout of the building."

"A layout?" Fluttershy inquired.

"Yeah, we need to know every inch of that building: where the emergency exits are, where the tellers are lined up, where security measures are located, and most importantly... where the vault is." Twilight turned to look at Rarity. "Have you been in the bank here by any chance?"

"Once," Rarity answered. "I had make a bit of an emergency withdrawal. But that was a while back, and I'm afraid I really have not even the vaguest memory of the place... aside from the fact that it's quite massive."

"Well then why don't we all just go over there and scope it out for ourselves," Dash suggested. "Where exactly is it?"

"Over on Bronco Ave." Rarity said. "It quite a walk from here to there, though."

"Well, um, if may please say something," Fluttershy spoke up.

"Certainly, Fluttershy, everypony's input is welcome here," Twilight said courteously.

"Well, I don't really think it would be very wise for all of us to go over there and just examine the surroundings without actually doing any business. It might arouse some suspicion... I think."

Twilight thought about that for a moment.

"That's a good a point, Fluttershy," she said after a while.

The pegasus managed a small look of pride at being able to help.

"Yeah," Pinkie Pie came in. "I mean, how obvious would it look for a bunch of mares to just be trotting around the bank eye-ballin' everything? They would totally know we were up to something."

"Right," Applejack added. "'Sides, Ah reckon there are areas of that bank that'r off limits ta customers. We wouldn't be able ta see it all."

"Exactly," Twilight said. "And we need to know every inch of that building. We need to know it better than the security ponies, the tellers, even bank president, himself. The first rule of warfare is know thy enemy, I imagine the same thing could apply to bank robbery."

"That's deep, Twi," Rainbow Dash remarked. "Did you make that up off the top of your head or something?"

"Nah, I read it somewhere. I couldn't come up with something that profound if my life depended on it," Twilight said with a small chuckle. "Anyway, like I said: I think our first task should be acquiring some kind of blueprint of the building. The question is where are we going to find one?"

"I would imagine the City Planning Department over on Celestia Blvd." Rarity said.

Dash scoffed.

"Celestia Blvd? You're telling me she has a street named after her?"

"Every city in Equestria has a street named after her," Twilight explained.

"Pfft, ego much?" Dash sneered.

"Well for the record, she didn't ask for it, everypony just kind of assumed it would please her. She tried to object to it, said it could get confusing if one pony was referring to a street in one city, but another pony thinks of a street in another. But they insisted, said it was only proper that every city in Equestria have some sort of representation of the sun goddess. She pretty much caved after that. She wasn't forcing it on us or anything, don't get the idea that she's that full of herself."

"Still defending her, huh, Twi?" Dash said bitterly.

"Okay, we're getting off topic here!" Twilight snapped. "Let's stick to the subject at hoof. Now, Rarity, you seem to know this city better than any of us, right?"

"I suppose," Rarity said.

"Well then, sounds like you just volunteered to go get those plans for us," Twilight said.

"What, you mean by myself?" Rarity sounded aghast. "Why just me? Why can't we all go?"

"'Cause it'll look too suspicious, dumbass," Rainbow Dash sneered.

"Really!" Rarity shrieked. "That name calling is hardly necessary... Rainbow Crash!"

"That's it," Dash grumbled as she stormed towards Rarity. "I'm gonna rip your damn mane off!"

Rarity, who had until this point tried to avoid using her magic on the crazed pegasus, hit her with a burst from her horn. Dash went flying backwards across the warehouse and skidded across the floor, luckily avoiding any crates or other objects. She looked dazed and shaken when she finally slid to a stop. When she looked up she saw the ivory unicorn standing above her, aiming her horn downwards. She had it fully charged and ready to fire again.

"You'll not lay a hoof on my mane!" Rarity screamed at the dizzy pegasus. "It's messy enough as it is!"

A loud series of cracking noises filled the building, causing both ponies to snap their attention to its direction. Twilight had fired a series of firecracker-like magic bursts from her horn. She looked more enraged than she had ever looked before.

"BOTH OF YOU OVER HERE, NOW!" She roared.

The two ponies shakily cantered over to the enraged unicorn. Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie all looked deeply uncomfortable being in such close proximity to the ticking time bomb that was Twilight Sparkle.

"Fuckin' psycho," Dash murmured to Rarity.

The fashionista wasn't sure if Dash was referring to Twilight or herself. Ether would've made sense; when it came to defending her mane, Rarity could indeed be quite psychotic. They retook their positions in front of Twilight, who was glaring angrily at both of them. neither could meet her gaze.

"Do you guys want to do this or not?" Twilight yelled at them. "Because I'm starting to think that maybe you'd rather fight like little school fillies!"

"I certainly want to do this!" Rarity cried, sounding somewhat offended. She tilted her head towards Rainbow Dash. "Unlike her, I have somepony I care about and am doing this for!"

"I thought I made it clear that I was doing this for all those foals out there who look up to me!" Dash shouted at her. "Seriously, nopony is taking this more seriously than me! I'm just not gonna put up with any shit from 'miss prim 'n proper' over there!"

"I beg your pardon, dear, but it was you who insulted me first!" Rarity shot back at her. "You've been a thorn in my flank all morning, and I simply will not stand for it anymore!"

Another loud crack sounded off. The two mares were snapped back to the hardened glare of Twilight. The lavender unicorn was gritting her teeth and shaking violently.

"Both of you..." she began in a quiet yet rage filled and shaking voice, "will shut... the fuck... up... now... or else..."

Rarity was definitely intimidated by Twilights words; she stepped back and looked away nervously. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, glared right back into the violet irises of the angry unicorn. She was never one to back down in the face of meaningless threats.

"Or else... what," Dash said through gritted teeth.

Twilight didn't hesitate for a second to respond.

"I'll do to you what I did to that fucker last night."

"Hey now, Ah thought weren't talkin' about that no more!" Applejack came in.

Twilight silenced the farm pony with a threatening glare before turning back to the two ponies in front of her.

Rarity wanted to interject that Twilight had only been able to rip that colt apart last night because she was aided by herself, but felt it would be unwise to provoke any more anger from the unicorn. For one brief second, though, Dash's eyes seemed to glaze over with fear. Twilight definitely got to her with that statement. The fear was only there for a fraction of a second though, instantly replaced by anger again

"You sick fuck..." Dash muttered quietly.

"I'm a sick fuck?" Twilight asked. "There's blood on your hooves too, Dash. On all of our hooves."

At that moment a quiet, high-pitched sobbing could be heard; it was instantly recognizable. The mares all looked to see sweet little Fluttershy burying her face into the wooden floor, her forehooves over her head as if she were shielding herself. Her shoulders jerked up and down with each sob.

"Oh, honey..." Rarity said, trotting towards the crying pegasus.

Twilight felt the anger melt away from her heart, replaced by sadness... and shame. Rainbow Dash showed the same feeling in her expression. She knew she had made it her personal goal to get Fluttershy to assert herself during this adventure, but this was something that had to be handled very delicately. Of all the ponies in this group, Fluttershy was the one who had to be the most affected by the events of last night. Being such a peaceful and gentle soul who literally wouldn't hurt a fly, Fluttershy had to be crushed by the fact that she had taken a life; it was a fact that she would probably never come to terms with. She had been so brave the past few days, not wanting to give up on the robbery no matter how ugly things got. But she needed the love and support of her friends now more than ever, she needed them to show that in spite of everything... they would continue to struggle through this together.

Everypony trotted up to her to offer their comfort. Applejack gently hushed and shushed her, Rarity and Pinkie Pie nuzzled their faces against her back and wings, Twilight took her foreleg and stroked it tenderly, and Rainbow Dash lowered her own head down to hers and nuzzled the top of her head, inhaling the sweet smell of her mane.

"I'm sorry, Shy," Dash whispered.

"I am too, dear," Rarity crooned.

"So am I," Twilight finished.

Fluttershy sobbed a few more times before managing to speak.

"I... I just don't want anymore fighting," she whimpered.

"You're right, Fluttershy," Pinkie Pie said. "We need to stop being so mean to each other; it's not what true friends do."

"We can't afford ta turn on each other now," Applejack came in. "We've still got one hay of a job ahead of us."

"Indeed we do," Rarity added. "Our petty squabbles must cease at once if we are to be successful at this endeavor."

"We're all friends here," Twilight said. "We just have to remember that fact and not give into anger anymore; it would be our ultimate undoing."

"Besides," Rainbow Dash started. "We wouldn't want Discord to sense all this rage and chaos between us and... I don't know... get a rock boner or something."

The room went silent for a moment. Fluttershy slowly looked up from her hooves. Soon the sound of light sniggering began to fill the air, which shortly gave way to hearty chuckling.

"That... that'd be kinda awkward, huh?" Pinkie said, barely able to contain her laughter.

"P-poor guy wouldn't be able ta do anythin' about it," Applejack snorted.

The chuckling grew louder, more pronounced.

"I-imagine anypony walking by his statue and noticing his... his... 'member' now protruding from it," Rarity snickered before bursting out into full-blown laughter.

"They... they'd be like... 'That wasn't there yesterday!" Fluttershy said, a bit meekly, yet full of comical joy.

And with that line, the Mane Six burst out roaring with laughter. They fell onto their backs and rolled around holding their sides, they pounded their hooves into the ground wildly, they wiped away the tears that rolled profusely down their cheeks, they held each other and buried their faces into each others necks in an effort to stifle their yowls. It was unbelievable how badly they needed this laughter. Anything that could lift their spirits, even if only for a short while, was more than welcome for them.

Ten minutes had passed before the laughter finally began to die down. Slowly the Mane Six rose to their hooves, still wiping the excess tears from their faces.

"So," Twilight began, still breathing heavily. "No... no more fighting, alright, girls?"

They all nodded heartily.

"What about friendly ribbing?" Pinkie asked. "Is that still okay?"

Twilight thought about it for a moment.

"As long as it doesn't get taken too far, alright?" She said.

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie chirped.

The six mares settled themselves down in front of Twilight again. It was good to see them all smiling again.

"So where were we?" She began.

"I believe you had entrusted me with the task of obtaining the blueprints for the Bank of Equestria," Rarity said. "Though I have to admit I'm quite stumped as to how I am to do this. I've passed the City Planning Department from time to time during my visits here, but I've never been inside it. I wouldn't know what to say."

"Just tell them that you want to see the architectural plans for the Bank of Equestria," Rainbow Dash said.

"Is that... legal?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah," Dash replied. "There's nothing wrong with looking at the plans. They just don't want ponies reproducing them or taking photos."

"Um, there might be a problem there, Dash," Twilight said. "We definitely won't be able to steal them, they'd notice if they were missing. We're probably going to have take a photo of them some how. Did anypony bring a camera by any chance?"

"As it so happens, I did," Rarity said. "I was hoping to do some sight-seeing while we were here, but seeing as we're going to be so busy over the next few days... and seeing how this city has become quite bland to me with how many times I've been here, I was starting to consider it dead weight. Rather fortunate that I didn't toss it while we were on the road, eh?"

"I'll say," Twilight said with relief. "Maybe this won't be so hard after all."

'Well, hold on a minute now," Applejack came in. "Ain't security in those there civic buildin's pretty extreme? Ah reckon they'd have security ponies and cameras and maybe even one o' them fancy pants metal detectors."

"Ooooh, I like going through those things!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly. "Especially when they beep! It soooo fun when they do that when other ponies pass through them! Then they get hauled off and they act all confused! Ha ha! That's so funny! Except for one time when it happened to me. Mr. and Mrs. Cake wanted me to deliver a cake personally to Mayor Mare for her birthday, and I had forgotten that I was using a big butcher knife to chop up some hard candies that for the cake. I must've accidentally put it in the pack along with it because when I went through the buzzy thingy it was all BEPBEEPEPEPEPBEP, and then some ponies came and searched me and when they found the knife in the bag they tackled me to the ground and accused me of trying to assassinate the mayor! Can you imagine? Me? Assassinate the mayor? Hahahahahahahaha-"

Yeah, awesome story, Pinkie," Dash cut in. "So anyway, like I said: they don't want any of their plans being reproduced, which would mean-"

"Cameras are a no-no in that building," Twilight finished for her.

"Right, so what are we gonna do about security?" Dash asked.

"Well," Twilight thought for a moment. "I don't know for sure if there would be any surveillance cameras there; security ponies are a definite possibility; and as for metal detectors... would a camera be picked up by one of those?"

"Well, don't look at me," Rarity said. "I'm no expert in materials science. I thought you would know, dear Twilight."

"Well actually, I think I might be able to do something better. Get your camera, please," Twilight instructed.

Rarity's horn glowed and a rather old-fashioned camera came hovering our of her bag and over in front of her. Twilight concentrated on the camera and hit it with a light burst of magic from her horn. The camera appeared to be completely unscathed by whatever Twilight had done to it. Rarity stared at her in confusion.

"That should keep it shielded from any metal detectors you pass through. I suspect it'll last the whole day, but that's just a guess," Twilight said.

"What did you do?" Rarity asked.

"Believe me, Rare, if I tried to explain it... it would go way over your head. All I can say is that it's a spell that confuses electronic devices. I know quite a few of 'em, and belive me, it won't be the first one I cast during this whole crazy thing."

Rarity smiled at her unicorn friend.

"Goodness, Twilight Sparkle, is there anything you can't do with that horn of yours?" She asked with admiration.

"Oh, there's plenty," Twilight said. "I haven't even scratched the surface of magical ability yet. But we can talk more about that later. For now, here's what you need to do: go to the City Planning Department, tell them you want to see the blueprints for the Bank of Equestria. They shouldn't ask questions, but if for some weird reason they want to know why, just tell them you're studying architecture and that you're just looking for some references. That should be good enough for them. Now, if the plans are surrounded by security ponies or something, just try to think of a way to distract them. Maybe pull the fire alarm, get the whole building cleared out."

"Tell them you'll let them each have five minutes alone with you if they take a hike for a few minutes," Rainbow Dash suggested.

Rarity huffed in offense.

"Not helping, Dash," Twilight remarked. "But seriously, just use your head, Rarity. You're more clever than you think; just use your head and you'll do fine."

"But what if there are in fact, security cameras?" Rarity asked. "How would I deal with them?"

Twilight sighed.

"Just improvise, Rarity," she said. "Maybe take a picture of the area and place the photo in front of the camera or something."

"That won't work, my camera's not a Polaroid," Rarity said grimly. "I'll have to get this to a one-hour photo shop once I've finished at the Planning Department. Perhaps I should have the images enlarged as well?"

"Sounds good," Twilight said. "And listen: if you get there and everything just seems too overwhelming, then... maybe you should just come back here and tell us what you saw. I guess we can try to think of something else."

Rarity considered this for a moment. She truly was starting to feel like quite the heroine of this group. It seemed to her like she was doing much more than the others. But in the end, it was her love for her sister and her willingness to give her a happy foalhood that finally urged her to take up this task.

"Very well then, I shall do my best not to disappoint you," she said as proudly as she could muster.

Twilight smiled gratefully at her; Applejack gave her a friendly tip of her stetson; Fluttershy managed a meek smile; Rainbow Dash gave her a good luck nod.

"You can do it, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie cheered.

"And what of the rest of you?" Rarity asked the group.

"Well, one of us needs to go out and find some disguises for us," Twilight said. "Maybe just some ski-masks or something, and perhaps some black tape to cover our cutie marks."

"Ah'll do it," Applejack offered instantly.

"You sure, AJ?" Twilight asked with concern. "You went and got breakfast for us."

"Yeah, Ah don' mind," Applejack replied. 'Ah'm a farm pony. It does me a world of good ta keep on movin' outdoors. 'Sides, Ah know a place here that might suit our needs jus' dandily. It was here when Ah was a young 'un, Ah reckon it's still in b'ness."

"Alright then, if you're sure," Twilight said, still sounding a bit concerned.

"So, does this mean the rest of us just get to kick it 'till they get back?" Dash asked hopefully.

"'Fraid not, Dashie," Twilight said. "We need to get this place cleaned up. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't feel like planning a bank heist while being surrounded by piles of blood, vomit and urine."

Twilight gestured at the all the dried blood and entrails that encrusted the warehouse floors and walls. Dash grimaced noticeably, and Fluttershy just frowned a bit. Pinkie pie remained disturbingly jovial, though, like this was no big deal to her.

Rarity smirked a bit to herself. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that she was picked for this task after all.

"Well, I suppose I'd best be off," she announced after a while. "The sooner we get those plans, the better."

"Ah'll be off too, Ah s'pose," Applejack added.

The two made for the door when Fluttershy's meek voice sounded behind them.

"Good luck, you two."

The two ponies turned around and smiled at the sweet young pegasus.

"Thank you, dear. That means a lot coming from you," Rarity said sincerely.

"Chin up, hon, alright?" Applejack said kindly.

Fluttershy nodded and smiled back. She had such a heart melting smile.

Rarity and Applejack waved one last time to the others and headed out the door. They walked with each other towards the now bustling street, not saying a word to each other until they got to the sidewalk at the end of the dock.

"Take care, sugarcube," Applejack said as she headed to the right.

"You too, dear," Rarity replied as she trotted to the left.

She was scared, there was no denying it. She had never expected this much to be asked of her. But she had to do it; Sweetie Belles adorable face pushed her forwards. She tosses her once beautiful indigo mane as she trotted down the street. It had gotten bushy and unkept in the past few days, and it was really starting to bother her. She decided that while she was waiting for the film to develop (if she got that far) she could swing by the nearest shop and pick up a bottle of conditioner. She smiled a bit at that thought; at least now she had something to look forward to.

Well that was an interesting chapter to write. Once again it took me a little longer than I thought it would, but no worries, it got done, that's all that matters. Keep reviewing guys! Your kind words are making me dance like a happy prospector! Thanks for reading! Next chapter coming soon!