Radish Root descended slowly on a cable from the skylight of a Downtown City penthouse office. He adjusted his infrared goggles and scanned the room. Just as planned, no security guards were active on this floor during this brief window he had charted. He checked a device on his wrist to confirm that the motion detectors were still disabled, and that the security cameras were still looping old footage of an empty office.
He dropped to the floor silently. He made his way to the wall behind the desk, which had the Wagoner family crest laser-etched into its marble surface. He smirked at the Latin motto.
‘The Stars Favor the Bold’, Worthy? The only danger you’ve ever faced was running out of hors d'oeuvres.
He held a square device up to the crest. An LED on the top of the device blinked from red to green. The wall split apart, revealing a polished chrome vault door. He slid a thick card into its reader slot, and the vault opened silently.
Inside was a pedestal. On the pedestal was a black hardshell carrying case. He shimmed open its combination lock.
Carefully foam-packed inside the case was a circular lens, about four inches in diameter, carved from an unknown pastel orange crystal. Radish held it up and examined it.
He shrugged, then slipped his prize into a small container on his belt. He closed the case, the vault, and the wall. He ascended the rope through the skylight and pulled it up after him.
He took a moment for himself on the skyscraper’s roof, gazing around the nighttime cityscape.
One down, five to go.
A loud buzz, like the sound of an angry swarm of bees, filled the air. A spindly security drone, matte black and carried aloft by six propellers, rose into view.
Damn it. It’s early.
He rolled and dove for the parachute he had left at the roof’s edge just as the drone dropped an aluminum canister behind him. A cloud of tear gas burst over the rooftop as Radish leapt off the building.
Radish slumped into a chair in his safehouse, heart racing and eyes stinging. He pulled off his balaclava, then his gloves, then his black, long-sleeved shirt. He steadied his breathing.
That was too close. And it’s only going to get worse from here on out.
He looked at his left shoulder and ran his fingers across the tattoo on his upper arm. He frowned.
I can’t get caught with this. I have to protect her at all costs.
A Canterlot City dermatologist inspected Radish’s tattoo, typing up notes about its color and dimensions.
“This should take just a few sessions to remove.”
“That’s fine,” said Radish.
“But you should know, the removal process will hurt, even more than getting the tattoo did in the first place.”
“It’s worth it.”
The doctor took a photo of the tattoo. It depicted a red heart, circumscribed by a white banner bearing the name “Celestia” in a flowing script.
“That’s a pretty name. Ex-girlfriend?”
“Yes. But she doesn’t know it yet.”
Hmmm. Interesting instead of nice
i wonder if both are synced up or they ryme with eachother across the dimentions? It would be interesting if both radish roots got new marks afterwards. on the pony side it could indicate that radish destiny was not what he thought and his mark is something else. on the human side maby radish gets part way through then gets told the rest wont be able to come off without damaging him so he gets a new ones that incorperates the aspects he canot remove (in parralel to pony radish still having the skills he has gotten through his mark) into a new mark that he agrees with
Interesting chapter.
VERY Interesting implications if it sticks around ... but then I notice the date, and some of y'all are a few hours of the US.
This roller coaster just did a loop.
Why do you keep changing the cover art?
11865244
I was thinking the same thing.
Happy April fools
11865253
He changes the cover art for every major arc or shift in the story
It’s all true…
hmm' looks at date' I'll see how this plays out
Shit
I'm the man, come 'round
Nuh-nuh-nothin' could break, nuh-nothin' could break me down.
It's already started and it isn't even midnight here on the east coast of the US. I fucking hate april fool's.
11862980
Truly a Patrick not accepting the wallet is his moment.
11865290
I think you might have replied to the wrong comment. Somehow.
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/970153245341253752/1223023042289074276/544474.png?ex=661857f7&is=6605e2f7&hm=fa5e8de8b345b6bf6b2605009f69b1e9fb8161ac7351b9cf02a0551f7f89e215&
11865587
Nah, Harmony's autistic on its own xD I say autism is basically a consciousness run on a different operating system.
Or if there's a higher power like maybe Balance.
Twilight was socially awkward, not autistic. Maud's autistic though, and we all lover her for it xD
11865475
Whoops ya I meant to reply to the comment of the person who was confused why the cover art kept changing
11865616
Not not 'you say'. Autism is operating with a different set of mental processes and prioriies.
I agree on Twilight as her stereotype personality stems from isolated upbringing and hyperfixations but I don't get whats so autisic about maud besides no smiling.
11865679
I was making a joke since the way she views the world is very different from others. I'm on my phone, at work, I can't type eloquently or gets my thoughts out well. I didn't want to bring autism into the discussion in the first place, since I'm not autistic, and my friends/partner who are are very varied on their opinions of even neurodivergents discussing autism in an analytical sense.
Harmony's a consciousness, but not a pony nor a human, nor any other sentient, so autism isn't able to apply, technically.
11865679
I can't convey my tone when typing super slow on my phone, so apologies if I came off rude. I am very tired xD
not sure if this is canon or not being April 1st, but let hope our radish never finds out human version actually dated celestia
Are we heading to human territory for a hot minute or this a sketch for a moment?
11866287
And dumped her to boot
11868475
Lol. Lmao
Watch us think that this is unrelated but it turns out that it's the dream that gave him his cutie mark.