Chapter Twenty Three:

Breaking the Bank Part One

It was crowded. Much more crowded than anticipated. Mares. Stallions. Foals. Every type of pony imagineable. Perhaps it was stupid of them to have assumed otherwise, being that this was quite possibly the largest bank building they had ever seen, that also happened to be located in the largest and most heavily populated city in Equestria. But still, the difficulty level of their task seemed to steadily grow at the sight of the assemblage of ponies that had turned out today.

There had to be no less than a couple hundred ponies spread out across the bank interior, all of them going about their business, blissfully unaware of the coming storm. No less than thirty tellers lined the right side of the building, another ten or so areas were left unoccupied. Hash scanned the long line of tellers, knowing full well there was no way she'd have been able to stop all of them from hitting the silent alarm. Daylight really knew what she was talking about when she opted to cut the power before getting the robbery underway.

The five mares were spread out amongst the bank, occasionally making eye-contact with each other, but for the most part doing absolutely nothing to imply that they knew each other. For the most part, they used what time they had before the it went dark to survey the area and make sure everything was where it should be according to the blueprints. Fortunately, everything seemed to be where it should be, and that was one less thing to panic over.

For now, all they could do was wait and hope nothing would happen that would give them away. It hardly seemed necessary to act so inconspicuous, however, since everypony in that bank was so preoccupied with their own business that they probably could've gone in with their weapons drawn and masks on and nopony would've gave them a second look.

Along with being uncomfortably crowded, it was rather noisy in there, to the point it felt more like a stock exchange than a bank. There was a lot of loud talking going on, most likely as a result of trying to hear each other over the loud talking of others, resulting in a clusterfuck of voices steadily growing louder and louder... and more and more obnoxious.

It was torture. Moment's ago the five mares were dreading the moment the lights would go down, but now they were practically longing for a chance to shut this crowd up.

Still, they managed to suck it up and deal with the task at hoof, which mostly involved getting a general feel of the place, making mental notes of the exact locations of certain areas, such as the door leading down to the vault, and where security guards were posted. There were at least three of them spread out amongst the crowd, attempting to look as intimidating and in control as possible, which didn't amount to much considering they were unarmed and wearing the most ridiculously unintimidating uniforms a pony could possibly wear. Commodity couldn't even manage to suppress a gag when she first laid eyes on those horrendous crimes against fashion.

The tension was mounting with every passing second. At any moment the whole place was going to go dark, signifying the raising of Tartarus. That fact along with the obnoxiously loud voices ringing throughout the bank was resulting in the tension reaching near unbearable levels. It was going to be a real chore trying to get their masks on and weapons ready with how badly their hooves were shaking. Had everypony in that bank not been so caught up in their own affairs they would've easily noticed what total nervous wrecks those five mares looked like.

All they could do at that point was calmly tell themselves over and over to just stay calm and let the situation play out the way it should. Make it look like they were noting out of the ordinary, and nopony should give them any trouble.

Hash nonchalantly shuffled around, trying to look as if she were there on some kind of standard boring business that nopony would think twice to ask her what it was. OJ casually trotted through the maze-like tables and chairs that were scattered around the bank, occupied by ponies caught up in discussing various financial plans and whatnot. Candy was doing a surprisingly good job of really blending in with the crowd; several times the others lost track of her for a few seconds, and when they located her again it would only be for a few seconds before she would slip away again. More of that insane Pinkie 'Candy' Pie magic, most likely.

Commodity found herself standing in one of the longer lines leading to the tellers. She hoped the plan would be set in motion before she got up there for her turn, though she felt her concern for that rather unneccessary at how slow the lines were moving. The one time she had been there before it hadn't been quite as bad as this, though she was sure it was a different day of the week when she went in last time.

What day is it today? Saturday perhaps? Feels like it. My word, this whole experience as made me forget the current date! What month is it for that matter?

Then there was Butterfly, who was busy eyeing the upper area ringing the bank interior. As expected, it was mostly offices up there, as well as only official looking ponies going about their business. None of them looked to be a challenge to deal with, thankfully, making her and Hash's task of taking control of that part of the bank seem a little less daunting.

It was at that moment, however, due to her distraction, that she winded up bumping into the last type of pony she wanted to come across at that moment.

"Oof! Oh, pardon me, mist-" Butterfly froze and began to stutter wordlessly at the security guard standing before her.

"All right, miss?" The guard asked politely.

"Oh, y-yes, everything's fine, sir. No problems here," Butterfly squeaked nervously.

The guard cocked a curious eyebrow at her. "You know, I saw you come in a while ago, and you've kind of just been moseying around the bank, doing nothing in particular."

Butterfly's face began to go red. The shaking of her forelegs became noticeably worse. "Oh, w-well I- I'm just... just... um..." Oh, I'm gonna blow it!"

"You're not loitering, are you, miss?" The guard asked patiently. "If you are, then I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave. This is a financial institution, not a public hangout."

"Oh, I-I know that, sir, I'm just..." Keep it together, Butterfly! "I'm trying to..." Easy, girl. Keep your cool... "Um... um..."

The others watched the scene unfold from nearby. Hash just face-hoofed and shook her head. "Why her?" She muttered into her hoof. "Why always her?"

OJ's heart was racing faster than it would after a full-force apple buck. She tried to continue shuffling through the desks and customers, pretending as though she had nothing to do with the scene. But she just couldn't tear her eyes away from them. She kept waiting for the moment when the guard forcefully escort her to the door.

Commodity, meanwhile, had to fight with every ounce of her strength to keep from going over and give that young buck a piece of her mind for treating her best friend so rudely. She only managed to restrain herself with the knowledge that once the lights went down, that brute was all hers...

And then there was Candy, living in her own little world, totally oblivious to the scene unfolding across the crowded room from her. She was already internally picturing the beautiful moment when she got her hooves on those bits down in that vault, then bringing them home to Mr. and Mrs. Cake with the excuse that she had performed regular dance routines on a street corner in some big city somewhere (obviously she wouldn't refer to Manehattan) and that she drew in large crowds with her incredible dance skills who were so impressed with her that they were tossing their money to her left and right. She would tell them she made so much money that they had earned back even more than what they had lost in the lawsuit. They'd be so proud of her...

Meanwhile, Butterfly was on the verge of losing it. This guard was clearly losing patience with her, and was already starting to make gestures towards the exit.

"Wait, Let me just... I need to..." Butterfly stammered. Oh, I can't keep this up any longer.

"Miss, I think you should leave now," the guard said with slightly forceful tone. "And perhaps you should find a place to sit down and take breather; you don't look too good."

Butterfly was about ready to scream in rage and terror now. DAYLIGHT, HURRY THE FUCK UP!

BZZZZT!

The sound of electronics dying filled the room. Then came the darkness, accompanied by a few gasps, screams and confused mutterings...

Go time.

Before the guard could even wrap his head around what had just happened, he felt the sharp, painful jab of a fore hoof right across his cheek. The blow was so powerful it knocked him right down to the floor instantly. The guard moaned in pain as he tried to regain his bearings. But the sudden darkness combined with the dizziness of being dealt such a brutal punch made him as vulnerable as a newborn.

Butterfly shook her sore hoof and whimpered a small apology to the disoriented guard. Fighting through the pain in her hoof, she pulled off her saddlebag and began rummaging through it for her appropriate gear.

All throughout the confused crowd, the other mares got set up as well. Hash was, as would be expected of her, extremely quick at getting her mask on and drawing her gun. She was a bit surprised at just how dark it ended up being when she got her mask on. The dark fabric mixed with the darkened building was making it near impossible to make out anything more than a few feet in front of her.

In one of her rare moments of clever thinking, Hash pulled and stretched at the fabric covering her face until it got a little thinner. Eventually, she got it thin enough to a point were she felt she could see well enough. It would still be pretty tricky, but she would adapt; she was good at adapting. She then yanked out her rifle and began hovering in the air, her wing still hurting like mad, but the adrenaline pumping through her systems was acting as something of a morphine for that pain. Truth be told, she had never felt more ready to kick some flank than she did right at that moment.

OJ, Candy and Commodity had little difficulty as well, though Commodity was a little too careful with putting her mask as so not to further damage her already disheveled mane. Once all their weapons were drawn, and they had pinpointed the locations of the others, they were ready to go into intimidation mode...

Naturally, Hash was the one to get things going. She pointed her AK up to the ceiling and let loose a couple quick bursts of fire. Immediately, the screaming and crying began as the crowd fell into panic. The entire area became a disaster zone of ponies colliding and tripping over each other in the dark, all trying to make their ways to the faint source of light that was the exit.

Before they could get too close, however, OJ and Commodity were there to block the way, their guns aimed right at thick wall of ponies stumbling towards them. When they noticed the two armed ponies blocking the way, they attempted to back up, tripping over each other constantly as they did so. OJ and Commodity began to advance on the retreating crowd, the former looking a little awkward walking on her hind legs, but the ferocious looking twelve-gage in her hooves was keeping any wisecracks that could be made at bay.

"EVERYPONY DOWN NOW!" The rasp voice of Hash roared over the screaming of the crowd.

"ON THE FLOOR NOW, ALL O' YA!" OJ shouted, sending a shotgun blast into the ceiling to punctuate her statement.

"YOU'VE NO CHANCE OF GETTING OUT OF HERE! DO WHAT WE SAY AND NOPONY GETS HURT!" Commodity added viciously.

Candy, meanwhile, was managing to move on her hind legs a lot more effectively than OJ, as she was literally sprinting through the crowd, knocking ponies down and forcing them up against the nearest walls. "THIS IS A HOLD UP, FUCKY WUCKY'S!" She screamed at them. "ANYPONY WHO DOES ANYTHING STUPID GETS A LEAD CRUPCA- I MEAN CUPCAKE... AW DAMMIT, I SCREWED UP THE LINE!"

"JUST DO YOUR FUCKING JOB, CANDY!" Hash screamed as she took off to the upper level, with Butterfly following close behind.

The two pegasi reached the significantly less crowded upper ring and went about forcing anypony they came across down to the bottom level, Hash in particular having no qualms with firing a few shots at the floor around their hooves. Butterfly, managed to at least make herself look intimidating, but with a voice as soft as hers, screaming out threats probably wasn't going to help her much. Her presence seemed to be getting it done well enough, though, and Hash was moving so quickly and effectively that Butterfly was starting to feel she needn't have bothered going up there to help in the first place.

Hash and Butterfly guided the upper level ponies down to the bottom level in a manner similar to herding cows. Anytime one of them went even a tiny bit astray, Hash was there to knock back in line with the butt of her rifle, as well as a threat of more grievous bodily harm if further attempts to get away were made. In their efforts to get the top level cleared as quickly as possible, however, the two pegasi failed to check one of the offices. This one in particular held a rather well-dressed, older stallion who looked like he'd fit in perfectly with Canterlot's elite. He remained well hidden behind his large, mahogany wood desk as Hash and Butterfly passed him. He waited a few moments, and when he was sure the coast was clear, he quickly and quietly slipped out of the office and made for the roof access stairs.

On the lower lever, OJ, Commodity and Candy were making a real show of frightening the customers, just like Daylight would want them to.

"NOPONY DO ANYTHIN' STUPID OR AH SWEAR AH'LL FEED YA YER OWN GUTS!"

"PONIES WHO FUCK WITH CANDY GET FUCKED RIGHT BACK! AND I WON'T BE GENTLE!"

"ALL OF YOU SHALL REMAIN ON THE FLOOR AND DO EXACTLY AS WE SAY, LEST THEY WISH TO RECIEVE AN ASSULT RIFLE SUPPOSITORY!"

The ponies from the upper level soon mixed in with the lower level crowd, and by that point everypony was pretty much where should be; cowering on the floor with their hooves fully visible. The screaming had subsided by this point, replaced only by loud sobbing and whimpering. Hash hoped to keep it that way. "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR A FUCKING WORD OUT OF ANY OF YOU. NOT ONE FUCKING WORD. JUST STAY ON THE FLOOR AND KEEP YOUR TRAPS SHUT 'TILL WE TELL YOU WHAT TO DO NEXT!" The cyan pegasus roared in a tone that made her sound borderline insane.

There were a few nods of understanding from the crowd, while most just remained cowering and whimpering with fear. Somewhere in the thick crowd, a mare's voice cried out, "Just please don't kill us! Please!"

Candy fired a long burst into the ceiling, and the crowd screamed in terror. "SHE SAID NO... FUCKING... TALKING!" She screamed, and nopony dared to beg for mercy again.

Hash hovered her way over to OJ, who was finally starting to get used to balancing on her rear legs. "This everypony, OJ?" She asked. "You managed to get them all under control?"

"Pretty sure, Hash," OJ answered. "We made sure ta block the doors once you got things started."

"Nopony got through us, I'm certain," Commodity added confidently, her rifle hovering menacingly at her side.

"Um, girls?" Butterfly's soft voice sounded off, muffled slightly by her mask. Her friends all looked to her and saw that she was pointing at one of the teller windows. On the other side of it was a terrified looking young buck, vigorously messing with something under his desk. He apparently thought he was more well hidden than he really was.

The mares just exchanged glances for a moment before Hash finally sighed in frustration. "Fine, I'll get him," she groaned.

The terror of the crowd was more prevalent now as they realized what was about to happen next could be very ugly. Several mares hid their eyes and plugged their ears while some pulled their foals close.

Hash got to the window just stared down at the young buck for a moment. He was sweating profusely and muttering curses under his breath as he vigorously pressed at a small red button under his desk; the silent alarm, no doubt. The damn thing was supposed to glow as a sign that it had been activated, but it remained totally dark no matter how hard he pressed.

The buck was so preoccupied with the button that it took him nearly a minute to notice the armed pegasus hovering over him. He gasped when he saw her and quickly assumed the position of a hostage; on the floor with his hooves behind his head.

Hash made no move to subdue him. "Sup, bro?" She said casually, drawing an odd look from him. "Alarm not working? Tsk, that sucks."

"I-I'm sorry," the teller tried to say calmly. "I-I'll go quietly."

"You know what I think the problem is?" Hash asked in a light-hearted tone. "I don't think you were pushing it hard enough. How about I help you out with that?" She moved forward quickly and grabbed him with her fore hooves, her rifle set aside next to her.

"N-No! Please don't! I'll-" the teller stuttered out before Hash yanked his head under the desk and began brutally slamming it into the button repeatedly with every ounce of her strength.

"THERE! IS IT WORKING NOW?! HUH?! IS IT WORKING NOW, MOTHERFUCKER?!" Hash roared right in his ear.

The sobbing from the crowd became louder now. Though they couldn't see what was happening to him, the loud banging and sickening cracking sounds they were hearing created more than enough nightmarish imagination at what had to be going on behind that desk.

Hash kept it up for almost a full minute. The stallion pleaded and begged for her to stop, blood and teeth flying from his mouth, rendering him incoherent. Hash made sure to slam every last inch of his face into that button at least twice before she finally stopped. The minute she released him, he collapsed to the ground like he was a puppet whose strings were cut. His face was damaged beyond repair; both eyes swollen shut, cheeks puffed out and scarred all over, snout smashed in and jutting in awkward angles, blood oozing like mad from both nostrils, and a blood filled mouth that was almost completely toothless. All he could do was moan and breath raspily. He barely managed to get his head turned to the side to let the blood drain out of his mouth so he wouldn't choke on it.

It was the kind of damage that could be permanent without enough of an income to pay for some kind of facial reconstructive surgery, and Hash knew it. She had a feeling he knew it too. And in her momentary teeth grinding rage, she was proud of what she did. Served him right for trying to thwart their operation. So enraged she was at him for his stupid little attempted at "being a hero" that she wished with all her heart that every waking moment of his life from that moment onward would be full of nothing but the excruciating pain and misery he must've been feeling at that moment.

Hash looked down at him and smile sadistically through her mask. "Hoo boy, do I feel sorry for your wife!" She taunted. "Knowing she's gonna have to kiss that face from now on? Yeech! But then again, I guess there's nothing to stop her from leaving you if she wanted." Hash tweaked his gruesomely injured snout playfully a few times with her hoof, eliciting gasps of pain from him.

Eventually she viscously grabbed him under his fore legs and lifted herself about fifteen feet in the air. She held the wounded stallion out in front of her and pressed her masked face right up to his. She could practically smell the blood dripping from his orifices. She was loving this.

"I already hate you with a passion," she hissed quietly yet venomously. "So I suggest you not do one thing, not one damn thing other than breath for the rest of our time together. And I swear, if you do even the smallest, tiniest tyniest thing to annoy me again, I'll find out where you live, drag you to your home, and do the same fucking thing to your wife and kids and any other family you have that I did to you, and you get to just sit there and listen! Then you can be a whole family of freaks! You won't be so lonely anymore! Aren't I the sweetest little filly ya ever did meet?"

Without bothering to wait for a response, Hash dropped him from where she hovered. She watched with sadistic satisfaction as he landed hard backside down on the marble floor. He made no movement after that other than some twitching and shaking.

"He's not gonna move on his own! One of you girls get him over to the hostages!" Hash ordered.

OJ went over and slid him over to the cowering crowd of ponies. She was a little more gentle with him than Hash had been, but not so much so that she appeared to be the softie of the group to the hostages. She set him up so he was leaning against an older gentlecolt, who, along with his fellow hostages, stared at his disfigured face with an expression of pure horror.

"Keep 'im supported!" OJ snapped at the old stallion as she backed up.

"My word, Hash. What did you do to him?" Commodity asked in a tone that was either horror on intrigue.

"Gave him a makeover," Hash answered bluntly, her rifle in hoof once again. Commodity chose not to press for further information; she was sure she didn't want to know any more than that.

"So is this it?!" Candy shouted to her friends. "Is the building all secure whatnot?! No more stupid toopid wannabe heroes?!"

"Looks like it, sugarcube!" OJ shouted back to her. "Looks like the banks ours, Girls!"

"So now what?" Butterfly asked, trying to retain her horror at seeing what had become of the young teller.

"Now we just wait for Daylight to get down here and we can really get this party started!" Candy cheered.

As the group went about keeping their weapons trained on the terrified crowd, they failed to notice a door on the upper lever opening and closing softly...

The well dressed old stallion who had managed to evade the two pegasi attackers ascended the roof access stairs as fast as his old legs would manage. Cursing himself for not being the young buck he once was, he breathed and rasped heavily, his heart pounding wildly and aching fiercely.

"Why today?" He muttered to himself. "Why today of all days? Right before my vacation to the Bahaymas, which I had been planning for years! Years! The scum of Manehattan just have to go out of their way to ruin my life, don't they? Celestia bless this city!"

Truth be told, he had no idea what he was going to do once he got to the roof. There was no way down from there, and there was no way a pony his age was going to make any kind of jump to one of the other buildings next to the bank. All he could think of doing was calling down below to the passing civillians for help, and knowing what most ponies of this city were like, there was a good chance none of them would even give him a second look as they passed.

"This is absolutely ridiculous!" He panted heavily as he continued upwards, his annoyance at the situation making him totally oblivious to the sound of somepony elses hoofsteps coming down to him. "And the weapons they were carrying? That's the kind of equipment you usually see in the claws of Griffon mercs or something! How the hay does firepower like that make it into Equestria? I thought Celestia had some new laws in the works about the firearms issue! When is she gonna get off her flank and-"

WHACK!

Right as he turned to ascend the next flight of stairs, the hard steel butt of an asssult rifle came smashing into his jaw from around the corner, knocking him straight to the ground. He tumbled down a few steps before managing to stop himself. He rubbed his bloody split lip with his hoof, his eyes watering with the stinging pain in his mouth. As laid there disoriented, an unfamilliar mares voice spoke up.

"I wouldn't count on Celestia getting off her flank to do anything these days... unless it's for a cake eating contest or something along those lines."

The old stallion wiped his eyes clear and gazed up ahead of him. A lavender mare wearing a black ski mask with a horn protruding through it stood imposingly a few steps above him, an assault rifle hovered next to her, aimed directly at his head, and a saddle bag at her flank.

"How did you..." The old buck stuttered. "There's no way onto the roof aside from this stair-well. How could you have gotten up there without-"

Daylight cocked her weapon once, and the imposing click was enough to shut him up. "Can't say I was expecting to run into anypony in here," she said casually. "Guess the girls didn't do as good a job rounding everypony up as I would've hoped. Gonna have to chew em' out about that, I guess, but for now, I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you back down; can't have anypony trying to escape, you know? We've waited too long for this."

Her calm tone annoyed the stallion greatly. He was willing to bet she had done this so many times it had become nothing more than a daily chore for her. Wonder if she thinks those civilians down there feel the same way... sick cunt.

"Get up and start moving," Daylight ordered sternly, levitating her gun closer to him as an act of intimidation.

The stallion sighed slowly. "Alright, look," he began. "I'll do whatever you say, and I won't try anything stupid. This isn't the first robbery I've been involved in. I know the drill by now because I've just about seen it all. I've been President of this bank for forty-five years, and I-"

"Oh, you're the President?" Daylight interruppted. "Just the pony I was hoping to see! I've got a few questions for you, and if you value your life and the lives of all the others down there, you will answer me the first time I ask, and you answer me truthfully. If I have to repeat myself more than once, or if I think you're bullshitting me, I'll do some irrepirable damage to your face, arms, legs, and maybe even to little junior down there. If you were planning on passing this bank down to a son or something, you'll wish you'd concived before today. Not start moving... nice and slow... no stupid shit."

Slowly, the elder pony rose to his hooves and started down the stairs at a slow, shambling pace. Daylight stayed closely behind him, her rifle now hovering over him and aimed right at the back of his head. "Now," Daylight began. "The vault is downstairs from the main floor through some kind of security door, right?"

"H-how did you know where-"

"And that's strike one!" Daylight slammed the butt of her rifle into the back of his head, causing him to give a whimpering groan. "You make me repeat myself one more time, I'll force feed you your fucking eyeball! Now, am I right about where the vault is?"

"Y-yes," the stallion said. He couldn't hide his fear anymore. No matter how many robberies he'd been through, being threatened like this was never something he took easily. It didn't help that being forced eat his own eye was one of the more stomach churning threats he'd received. These punks were getting more and more sadistic every day...

"Now I'm guessing that security door won't just open if we go up to it and push?" Daylight continued.

Of course not. You have to pull, you ugly bitch. He had to really fight the urge to say that. "It's kept locked by an electronic keycode. The code is-"

"Hold up a minute," Daylight cut him off. "You said it's electronic. You realize we cut the power for the building right? Nothing electronic in this building is going to work."

"...True..." was all the stallion could say. Didn't think that one through, did ya, whore slut?

The two continued on downstairs in silence for a moment before Daylight finally spoke up again. "How big is the door?"

"The security door?"

"No, the door to Sapphire Shores' secret crack house... YES THE FUCKING SECURITY DOOR! WHAT ELSE?!" She slammed him on the back of the head again, this knocking him down. "One more 'duh' moment from you and Ill cut you in half with the edge og a bit!"

The Bank President shakily got up again and continued forward. "It's... um... I'd say about the size of any regular door," he answered, sounding close to breaking down. This mare was scaring him more than past robbers for some reason. Maybe it was because of how serious and calm she sounded. Most robbers sounded just as afraid, if not more afraid than the one's they were terrorizing, most likely due to the fear of getting caught. But this unicorn mare sounded so confident... even when she screamed at him.

"How thick is it?" Daylight asked.

"Um... uh... no thicker than your average door, I guess."

There was a brief pause. Then, "You're not bullshitting me, are you? 'Cause it sounds to me that for a door made to keep ponies out, it seems a little too shabby! Am I gonna have to start disemboweling you with a plastic spoon now?!"

"L-Look here, miss," The President whimpered. "That door isn't exactly the last line of defense. It's the vault that has all the heavy security measures. The vault is going to be your biggest challenge."

Daylight pondered that for a moment. "So... it shouldn't take more than a blast of magic from a unicorns horn to get through the security door?"

"Well you'd have to know some pretty powerful spells, but that does sound like a definite possibility."

"Alright then. That's one less thing for us to worry about," Daylight said cheerily. "So what about the vault? Anything we need to be worried about down there?"

The President actually managed a small laugh. "What? You mean aside from the fact that the vault door weighs at least twenty tons and can withstand a blast from Princess's Celestia and Luna's magic combined?"

"We already have the means to deal with that," Daylight said matter-of-factly. "I'm talking about what's inside the vault. Traps? Alarms? Poison gas? A troll that makes you answer a riddle before letting you pass?"

"With the power out like it is, there's nothing in there to hinder you." The Bank President sounded utterly defeated by that point.

"I hope for your sake, as well as the sake of everypony down there that you're telling the truth," Daylight threatened. "And if it turns out you're lying... actually, I won't even say what I'll do to you. It'll be a surprise!"

"You have my word. I... I promise."

The two didn't speak again until they reached the bottom of the stairs and reentered the main lobby. "Alright, that's all I needed to know," Daylight said. "Hard part's over for you. Let's get you down there with the others and we don't ever have to talk to each other again."

"Thank Celestia," The President mumbled bitterly.

"Here's a bit of a reality check for you, pal," Daylight hissed meanacingly. "Celestia doesn't give a flying fuck about you... or any of us for that matter. I learned that lesson the hard way."

Daylight guided the elder pony down to ground level, where her friends maintained an imposing perimeter around the hostages. It was Hash who first noticed the approaching ponies, and she immediately felt a twinge of embarrasment. "Uh, where'd ya find him, Daylight?" She asked with a nervous chuckle.

"Caught him trying to head up to the roof," Daylight answered, giving her hostage a rough nudge to the floor with her rifle. "Can't say I was expecting him."

"Uh, heh heh, I guess Butterfly and I must've missed him when we were clearing the upper level... heh heh... whoops."

"We-We're sorry, Daylight," Butterfly apologized.

"Well, as it turns out, I'm rather glad I bumped into him," Daylight said happily. "He filled me in on a few important details of this place, and I'm starting to feel a lot better about this whole thing. I really think we're gonna pull this off girls."

Even with their masks on, Daylight could tell that all her friends seemed visibly relieved at hearing this. Daylight looked over the cowering crowd of ponies before her. Aside from missing the old buck, they had done a very efficient job of getting everypony where they needed to be. On top of that, she had to admit they did look very frightening with their masks and weapons. They managed to nail the intimidation part of their jobs due to the look of them alone.

"So how'd it go up there, Daylight?" OJ asked. "No problems?"

"Nope, everything's going along smoothly," Daylight answered proudly. "In fact, I think we're moving a bit quicker than I originally anticipated. At a rough estimate, I'd say it's been about seven minutes."

"So that leaves us about twenty-three minutes to pull this off?" Candy asked as she joined the others.

"Good math, Candy," Daylight praised her friend. "And seeing as I already got enough info from the old coot right there, who just happened to be the Bank President, we may not have to bother with separating employees and customers anymore."

"Wonderful," Commodity said with a sigh. "The sooner I can get this damning mask off my lovely face, the better."

Daylight then turned her attention to their captives. It certainly was a much larger crowd than she had anticipated, and she figured her friends must've felt the same way when they first entered the building. OJ, Hash and Candy were going to have their work cut out for them keeping such a large crowd under control, but then again, Hash was fast, OJ was strong, and Candy was... something unheard of. She had full confidence in them.

"Alright, everypony face me now!" Daylight shouted at the crowd. She waited 'till all eyes were on her and her friends, then began a little speech she had been working in her mind for the past few days. This time, she spoke in a much calmer voice. "Good morning, everypony. I take it by now you all know what's going on here, so I won't waste your time explaining the situation." She began slowly pacing around them, making sure they all had a chance to see her. "We're here for the banks money, and nothing more. We're not here to take your lives, and we're not here to torture you; we just want to make off with some bits and you'll never have to deal with us again.

"But don't think for a second that just because we don't want to kill any of you doesn't mean we won't if it comes to that." There was some sobbing and whimpering emanating from the crowd. Daylight ignored it and continued. "Now listen carefully, because I will only go over this once...

"Rule number one: If any of you is heard talking or mumbling at any time during this robbery, one of you -we don't care who, it'll be completely random- gets a broken leg. Are we all clear on rule number one?" There was some nodding and murmured "yes"'s from the crowd.

"Rule number two: Everypony keeps their hooves where we can see them at all times. If at any time we notice one of you messing around in your bags or making any kind of movements that make us feel uneasy... both you and the pony next to you gets a bullet in every one of his or limbs. Got that?" The crying was becoming much more pronounced. Parents began hugging their foals close to them.

"And rule number three: If anypony... at any time... tries to be a hero... does anything to try and stop us... we kill... all of you..."

To punctuate that statement, Candy fired a long burst from her rifle into the ground close to the edge of the crowd, causing them all to scream and cry hysterically. Daylight thought about scolding Candy for that, seeing as these ponies were teriffied enough. But then again, she did tell them to go all out in making themselves seem psychotic. And judging by the horribly damaged face of one of the young bucks in the middle of the cowering crowd, they were taking her suggestion very seriously.

"Alright then," Daylight said when everypony seemed set to go. "Butterfly? Commodity? Follow me; I'm gonna take down the security door with my magic, then we'll head down to the vault."

"Right darling."

"Um, okay."

As the three took off, Hash, OJ and Candy began their duty of Crowd Control, circling the crowd with their weapons trained on them.

"Quiet time starts now, ya hear?!" OJ shouted at them.

"Don't you assholes fuck with us or we'll fuckin' kill you so slowly it'll feel like years have gone by before you're finally dead!" Hash spat, hovering over the hostages.

"We seriously don't care either! You all mean nothing to us! We're Insaaaaaaaaane!" Candy concluded dementedly.

Meanwhile, Daylight located the security door exactly where she expected it to be. "Commodity, those blueprints you got for us are already proving to be invaluable. We can't thank you enough for getting them. Whatever you had to do in that building, it was totally worth it."

Commodity just sighed and gave a nod. I think there are two ponies who would very much disagree with you there, dear.

"So, it's just a keycode?" Butterfly asked as she examined the door. "I would've thought it would be something more complicated."

"Well, it's an older building; maybe they haven't gotten around to upgrading yet," Daylight said casually, lowering her M16 to the floor. "Not like it matters, though. The keypad's useless with the power out. Luckily Mr. President over there filled me in on what a flimsy piece of manure this thing is. Shouldn't take more than a couple of these..."

Without so much as a word of warning, Daylight sent a loud blast of magic right into the center of the metal door. There were some loud screams from behind her, as well as a forceful "Shut up!" from Hash. All it took was that one blast and the door was already severely dented at the center. Daylight sent two more blasts right in the same spot, and with a loud, clanging crash the door went flying off its hinges and tumbling down the stairs on the other side of it.

Daylight smiled proudly. "Not even ten minutes and we're already almost to the vault."

"I do hope nopony outside has heard this commotion," Commodity deadpanned.

"I sound-proofed the area before coming down," Daylight explained. "Do you really think I'd forget to take something like that into consideration?"

"Oh, why no, of course not. Is suppose I should've known you were smarter than that. I apologize," Commodity said, sounding sincere.

Daylight chose to just let it go and turned to the three working the crowd. "We're heading down now! You girls gonna be alright without us for a moment?"

"We've got this under control, Day! Nothing to worry about!" Hash shouted back to her.

"Great," Daylight said, levitating her rifle again. "We'll be back up once the charges are set. After the vault's open we'll have you three hand over your bags so we can fill 'em for you."

"Sounds sweet, sugarcube!" OJ said.

"Have fun!" Candy shouted awkwardly.

Well, I guess they know who the "crazy" member of the group is now. Daylight couldn't help but smile a bit at that. Thankfully her mask covered it. She started off down the stairs with her two friends flanking her. They only got a few steps down before realizing one of the major setbacks of cutting the power; it was pitch black in that room.

"Oh my. Daylight, I can't see a thing!" Butterfly whimpered. "I... I don't like this! It's too dark! I wanna go back!"

"Shh. It's okay, darling, we're right here with you," Commodity calmed her gently. "I have to agree though, it is quite impossible to make out anything down here, and these masks certainly aren't making it any easier."

Daylight sighed in annoyance, not at her friends, but at the situation. They were right; there was no way they'd get anything done like this. They were gonna have to try something a tad risky...

"Take your masks off, girls," Daylight commanded them as she lifted a hoof to her face and pulled off the most important part of keeping her from being identified.

"Wh-What?" Commodity sounded surprised. "Are you quite sure it's worth the risk?"

Butterfly, on the other hoof, was only too happy to comply, and quickly yanked her cover off with both fore hooves, carelessly letting her rifle fall a down a few steps. She was quick to hover over to it and scoop it up again before Daylight could scold her for being so careless with such a dangerous weapon.

"As long as we remember to put them back on when we come back up," Daylight explained. "There shouldn't be any reason to wear them down there. Besides, I'll need as much vision as possible when I'm handling the C4. You can make light with your horn, right, Commodity?"

"Yes, I can. That is a rather standard spell for unicorns, after all."

"Great, I'll need you by my side while I'm setting it, then. The more light, the better."

"I... very well, dear. I'll... I'll be with you." Commodity really did not want to be anywhere near those horrid explosives at any time. They fact that they had been sleeping in the same room as them for the past couple nights had almost been enough to keep her from getting any sleep at all. Even if Daylight had made it clear just how stable they were, they still frightened her greatly.

Once Daylight had her mask off, she felt a significant weight lift off her shoulders as it became not only easier to see, but easier to breath as well, which was very much a welcome feeling considering how strenuous this task was, both physically and mentally.

With the dull glowing from their horns due to the levitation spells providing at least a manageable source of light, the two unicorns and pegasus descended the stairs, which went on much longer than originally anticipated. When they finally reached the bottom, making sure to watch their steps over the destroyed security door lying in a crumpled heap, they stared in wide-eyed awe at the massive, solid steel, circular vault door before them. Even in the darkness, it was easy to make out just how daunting it was...

"Um, are you sure you have enough of that explosive stuff to get through?" Butterfly asked shakily.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Daylight said ominously. She let her saddlebags slide off her flank and opened one of them up. Hash had obviously made sure to grab as much as that C4 as she could; the girl definitely knew her shit when it came to this almost action movie style crime stuff, and for that Daylight would be eternally grateful. She turned to her two freinds. "Butterfly, watch our backs for us. You see anything at the top of the stairs that doesn't look like one of the girls, you shoot. Don't ask any questions. Just shoot. You don't have to aim to kill, as long as you scare them off you'll have done enough. Are you prepared to do that?"

"I... I guess..." Butterfly muttered.

That wasn't good enough. "Butterfly, dear," Commodity said sternly. "No more of this 'I guess' nonsense. We're all just as nervous and on edge as you are, but we're not going to let it get the best of us. We all have loved ones back home who are counting on us right now. For their sakes we must perservere no matter how ugly and barbaric this gets. We've all said and done things these past few days that we will regret for the rest of our lives, but if this succeeds, and all those who are counting on us go on to benefit from our actions..." she paused and gave a shuddering exhale, "then, at least for me personally... I will learn to live with myself for everything I've done. In the end... I will consider it a neccessary evil. And we all must think like that if we ever hope to move on..."

Butterfly listened intently to her friend the whole time, and for the first time since she had been the third one to agree to go through with this, she finally believed with all her heart and soul that this truly was neccessary. All it took were the inspiring words of her closest friend to help her finally see that.

Even in the darkness, the two unicorns could see the renewed confidence in Butterfly's features. It was the kind of look of determination that genuinely made them feel safer whenever the group had gone on many of their past quests. They really wished they had told her more often how much they valued her bravery.

Butterfly lifted her rifle proudly and gave it a powerful 'ch-chink!' "I'll defend you both with my life."

With warm smiles, the two unicorns gave their friend a quick but meaningful nuzzle. "Kick ass, darling!" Commodity whispered in her ear as she pulled away.

As the yellow pegasus turned away to due her job, Daylight looked to Commodity and gave her a confident nod. "Let's go to work..."

I'll start by saying I decided to split the robbery into two parts. First, because like with many of the chapters, it's turned out much longer than anticipated. Had it been one chapter, this thing would probably be close to 20,000 words... feels like a little too much to read in one sitting.

Second, this chapter took me forever to write due to school work keeping me busy as well as personal issues, and I really don't like keeping you guys waiting for so long, especially after a cliffhanger.

Anyway, I won't take so long with the next part, though I feel I should warn you the next couple chapters are gonna be cliffhanger after cliffhanger. Hopefully you won't hold me responsible for any stress related health issues you might suffer at the end of the next few chapters.

Thanks for reading! More soon!

By the way, can you believe it's almost been a year since I started writing this? I heard it took Kkat something like 8 or 9 months to write Fallout Equestria, and that thing is like 600,000 words! Seriously, she must be a machine or something...

UPDATE: Part two is coming soon. Two things slowed me down: a rewrite and personal issues. I'm just not able to work on this as often as I want to, so updates may be pretty far in between from now on. It's gonna get done, I promise you that. I just hope you have other stories to keep you occupied until the next chapter comes up.

Sorry for the wait and thanks for your patience.