Vinyl Scratch - Napalm Nanokiller

Chapter 6

Border of Life

"Vinyl, I think I love you right now." Strike said, reviewing the fight with Octavia. "I mean, shit, I'd have waited until nightfall to attack her in her sleep, but you just blasted the fucking hotel to pieces!"

"Yeah..." Vinyl said.

"And you have the entire city on a high terror alert! They thought a bomb went off in there!" Strike said, a grin as wide as a hyena's.

"So you approve?"

"Five stars, Vinnie." Strike said.

"So, what now?"

"Well, over today, Canterlot is going to be a fucking mess. Prince Blueblood is to make a speech, representing his National Security Council. Imagine the uproar the country would be in-"

"-If I killed a prince during a speech on how his department is keeping ponies safe. Got it."

"Wait, you're just gonna do it?" Strike said. "I thought it would take more convincing!"

"Eh. I didn't vote for Blueblood, and fuck anypony who did because from what I heard, he's a terrible politician."

"Wow...you're about to commit regicide, and you're being really calm over it."  Strike said, standing up from her desk.

"Well, if I don't, you'd only make my lungs rot away or something." Vinyl said, defeated.

"Is that...is that defeat in your voice, Vinnie?" Strike said, absolutely delighted. "Yes! Yes! Now I have you in my pocket! I can take you out, pull your strings and make you dance for my amusement!"

"Uh huh." Vinyl grunted. "But don't think I won't tire of your bullshit."

"I'll treat you like my princess, Vinnie." Strike joked. "You're my pretty pony princess, Vinnie."

"Shut up, Strike." Vinyl said, annoyed. She was getting real tired of Surgical Strike.

Blueblood held his head in his hooves. His department had failed yet again to stop terror attacks on Equestrian soil. He heard the reporter's baying cries in his mind. He could see Celestia turning on him, and recalling her favors and his position as the Minister for National Defense. He could see his career ending before him.

"Fuck..." Blueblood muttered, picking up a phone. "I need a drink."

"Maid Corps." the bored voice answered. "What do you need?"

"It's Blueblood. Bring me two...make it three bottles of scotch, a notepad, quill and ink..." Blueblood said. "And a self-targeting lethal spell card for if my speech goes bad tomorrow."

"Of course, your highness. We will arrive shortly."

Blueblood hung up the phone, before sighing and walking to his bedroom window. He looked up in the sky. It must've been at least late afternoon by now, and he was already drinking.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Blueblood said, loudly. A maid, dressed in a traditional uniform dyed a brilliant royal blue, with various insignias on the sleeve, opened the door, carrying Blueblood's requests.

"Your order, your highness." the maid said, before placing the tray of items she held in telekinesis onto Blueblood's desk.

Blueblood watched the maid leave, smiling at her petite figure. She was a recent recruit to Blueblood's personal Maid Corps, and like all of her comrades, she was trained in knife wielding, throwing, stabbing, slashing and playing with their victims like a cat watching a mouse die. He had never wished for sexual relations among his own corps, if only because of the potential scandal of such affairs and the fact it could damage his maids' trust in him.

The maid closed the door to Blueblood's quarters. Blueblood sighed. He could technically order one of his maids into sex, but he knew that meant being an utter bastard who didn't care about the mares he entrusted his life to, and almost dared to call his friends. Blueblood cared about them. They were his Maid Corps, all one hundred of them, and nopony else's. Blueblood thought about how every royal in Equestria had a personal Maid Corps; Celestia's nuclear weapons defense force, Luna's black ops teams, Cadence's Crystal Revolutionary Guard and even that new princess, Twilight Sparkle had a personal all-unicorn maid division dedicated to spell cards and their devastating effects.

Blueblood opened the first bottle and drank the contents in one move. Throwing the bottle aside, he picked up the quill with his telekinesis.

"I would like to...address the recent attack on the Manehattan Empire Hotel..." Blueblood said to himself, writing his speech.

It had seemed like hours had passed when Blueblood set his quill down again. The speech was easily an hour long, and Blueblood had ran out of alcohol. Picking up the phone again, he dialled his commander.

"Yeah, I need this speech ran down to the Public Affairs office ASAP." Blueblood told the maid-commander down the line. "And...bring another bottle of scotch up..."

Vinyl moved through the streets of Canterlot. Barging past the noble ponies, she headed for the designated position Surgical Strike had given her - a closed office building overlooking Canterlot Gardens, where the prince's speech was due to take place.

Vinyl reached the building, and looking around quickly, she entered when nopony was looking.

"Tenth floor...room zero nine..." Vinyl told herself as she ascended the staircase. Eventually, she reached her destination. Inside the small room, a large military-styled box rested on the desk. Vinyl used her magic to open the box, and found a strange machine inside.

"Vinnie, that's a sniper rifle." Strike said, from inside Vinyl's head. "I had somepony make it for me. Now, you need to watch the flag behind the stage, and you need to account for your height versus his height. You know what I mean?"

Vinyl set up the rifle using her magic. "I got you."

Vinyl looked down the sights and at the ponies in the garden. Some were reporters, waiting for Blueblood to arrive. Some were soldiers on duty there anyways, but some were...maids.

"Dammit, why do maids haunt my every step?" Vinyl whispered to herself. She watched the maids, dressed sharply in royal blue, secure the area. Vinyl's eyes widened as she realised who they were.

They were the Blueblood Maid Corps. His personal army of knife throwing maniacs, selected according to their fierce loyalty to the throne, not for their morals. Their spell cards were designed with only knives in mind. And if they were there, then Blueblood wasn't far behind. Vinyl worriedly looked around for more of Blueblood's maids.

Vinyl knew one thing though. Once she took the shot, she would have to get out of Canterlot, kill or no kill. The Maid Corps would cut her to pieces if she didn't.

"The rifle is using a .338 round, so it should have maximum impact. Issue is, it's loud as fuck." Strike said. "There should be a pair of earplugs in the case."

"Alright." Vinyl replied, rooting through the case. Eventually, she found the orange earplugs, and she plugged her ears.

"Second issue is that the rifle has a timer bomb in it. So once you take the shot, drop the rifle and get out of the room."

"Why is there a bomb in it?!" Vinyl asked, slightly loud due to the earplugs.

"So that when they try and see if you're there, the bomb will go off. More chaos." Strike explained. "And finally, the Blueblood Maid Corps are down there in force today. About...seventy five, I think."

"Shit." Vinyl said. "You think I have a chance if it goes bad?"

"Against those throat-slashers? Not a chance. You might be good Vinnie, but those girls are the best."

"Hmph." Vinyl grunted. "We'll see."

"No, seriously. Don't fuck with the maids."

Vinyl settled down and waited for her target.

"By the Goddess, sniping is boring." Vinyl said, after waiting five minutes.

Vinyl was close to falling asleep when she heard the crowds of reporters forming at Canterlot Garden. She aimed her rifle, hoof in the trigger loop, at the podium.

"You got one shot...one opportunity...don't fucking miss." Vinyl said to herself. "Wait until he makes it to the podium..."

Eventually, Blueblood appeared from behind the background of the stage. The flag behind him was at a complete rest. Vinyl smirked as she watched the prince walk slowly towards the podium, reporters silent and waiting for his speech to the worried citizens of Equestria.

"Mares and gentlecolts..." he began. Vinyl focused her reticle on his head. "Certain...pressing events have led to this press conference today. I would like to address the attack on the Manehattan Empire Hotel where four police officers and Octavia Melody were found dead. This is a cowardly attack on our nation."

The reporters remained silent, waiting the speech to continue.

"We have intel, leaked to us by an anonymous source-"

"Heh, nice job Surge..." Vinyl laughed to herself.

"-that the attack was perpetrated by terrorist forces operating out of Saddle Arabia."

The crowd muttered among themselves.

"This attack will not go unpunished. We will find those responsible! They will be prosecuted under the full extent of the law! We will destroy them by land, sea and air!" Blueblood coughed and then continued. "The day that these terrorist cells attacked, they signed their own death warrants!"

A maid walked over while the reporters talked amongst themselves and whispered in Blueblood's ear. His expression fell considerably.

"I...have just received word that a second attack may be due today. Do not panic! It will not happen here! My Maid Corps are keeping the event safe-"

Vinyl inhaled, and pulled the trigger and heard the rifle even through her plugs. Vinyl watched the prince's head practically explode. The bullet entered his right eye, causing fatal penetration trauma. The bullet continued to travel through Blueblood's head, while the force of the impact caused structural failure in the skull and head tissue. The bullet continued into the stage background, while Blueblood's corpse stood, decapitated before the shell-shocked reporters. It stood for a few seconds, before falling to the ground.

Vinyl exhaled, and continued watching the event.

Her blood ran cold when a maid pointed directly at her and shouted for her comrades.

"Oh...shit..." Vinyl said, panicked. She dropped her rifle as it started making a humming sound.

The Blueblood Maid Corps were after her.