Ah, you're finally awake... Good. No no, don't get up. Just stay there... Now then... Let's see how much you remember.
Do you know where you are? What time it is...? Who you are...? None of these things? Well... Maybe that's for the best. Because while you most likely do not know me, I know a lot about you... Where you're from, and what you do... And why you're here, now.
If you want to know who you really are, you'd best be prepared. Because looking at your track record, I'd say that you most certainly are not a pleasant pony... Not one many other ponies would like to know.
Let's start with a date. The third of the Fourth. See if that date makes you remember anything... Ah, yes... Now you're starting to remember...
The date was the third of the Fourth, 5 NCC. Manehattan's nightlife was just beginning to come alive, the beautiful neon lights in the street just starting to bloom. Most ponies would have found it beautiful. But there was one pony who just could not care less... Said one pony, a Unicorn, merely sat in his apartment in downtown Manehattan, staring grumpily at the floor, surrounded by rubbish, random articles and boxes, only vaguely recognising the flickering and buzzing of the lights around him.
He was waiting for a letter. A very particular letter from a particular pony whom he'd never met, and never would meet. He wasn't a very social pony - in his line of work, being social was a detriment.
At that moment, the embers in the fireplace began sizzling anew. Almost instinctively, the pony looked up at the flickering flames, which just a few seconds ago had been all but dead. The flames sparked a few more times, beginning to glow a bright green colour, until finally a sealed envelope ejected itself from the emerald embers, which in a matter of seconds died out once more. The unicorn caught the letter with his magic, pulling it slowly towards him, breaking the seal and carefully reading it.
"Dear Sir,
We are writing to inform you that your order of ten (10) customised cupcakes is now ready for collection. In case you need reminding, you can pick up your order from 18b, Crescent Moon Avenue, 7th Street. We wish you many happy returns.
- Buckwheat Baking Company."
The unicorn read the letter several times before throwing it back into the fire, letting the embers claim it. It was time to go and pick up a cake...
Grabbing a rubber mask from the side, leaving his apartment and walking down a small flight of stairs, the pony kept repeating the address to himself in his head - 18b, Crescent Moon Avenue. 18b, Crescent Moon Avenue. 18b, Crescent Moon Avenue. The last thing he needed was to burst into the wrong building and get berated for killing an innocent. As he made his way along the busy streets of Manehattan, he perused the buildings he passed, and pondered who might live in them. How they lived their lives... And how many lives they lived.
It wasn't very long before the unicorn reached his destination - but he did not take the entrance. You see, this may have been the correct address, but it most certainly was not the Buckwheat Baking Company. As a matter of fact, there was no "Buckwheat Baking Company". This was the hideout of a particularly notorious group of smugglers. Scoundrels and thieves, the lot of them - and this was precisely the reason why the unicorn was here. Slipping the mask over his face, the unicorn was transformed from a plain and simple pony into an instrument of fear. The rubber face of a timberwolf clung to the unicorn's skin as he approached the door, which he opened without knocking or waiting, and slowly but surely entered the building...
As the Unicorn pushed open the door to the building, he looked around carefully to see if he could spy any guards immediately upon entering... None were to be found, but there was a carelessly-mislaid iron bar lying on the floor nearby... The unicorn promptly picked the bar up in his magic, ready to swing it as soon as he needed to. In this line of work it was most definitely much better to have a weapon and not need it than to need a weapon and not have one... Following that, the Unicorn crept over to the nearest door, peering into the room beyond it through a small crack... And smiled as he saw exactly what he'd come for within. Two ponies dressed in white patrolled the room, brandishing long wooden bats as they did so. Their eyes flicked from left to right, ready to take out any pony that crossed them...
The Unicorn held his breath. He'd have to play this tactically to avoid raising too much alarm. At this moment, the element of surprise was still very much on his side - so as soon as neither guard was looking, he kicked the door open, throwing the iron bar at the further pony and punching the closer one in the face, knocking him over. Without delay, the Unicorn stepped over to the pony now slumped against the wall, turning around and bucking with his back legs as hard as he could - a loud crunching noise indicated that the pony's skull was now in several pieces, and its owner thus dead. Picking up the now-dead pony's baseball bat, the Unicorn swung the large block of heavy wood at the other guard's head before he could stand up - This caused the hapless pony to jar before slumping to the floor in a heap, blood seeping into the carpet from a large gash on his forehead. Allowing himself a smile, the Unicorn left the room, taking the bat with him as he resumed his search for the rest of the gang...
It didn't take him long. Just around the corner was another Earther dressed in white, patrolling the corridor, his eyes darting from left to right, ready to pounce at the slightest sign of trouble - a crack to the head with the bat quickly dispatched that one. Wiping the blood off on the Earther's white suit, the unicorn continued through the building, eyes peeled for more heads to be bashed in. Three down... Seven to go.
Through another door and down a flight of stairs the Unicorn went, taking down another unaware guard as he went - six to go - and entered another doorway which in turn led into another hall, with two doors to the left and right, and another hallway down the middle. The Unicorn considered himself lucky that this corridor wasn't guarded... Creeping over to the door on the right, he once again peered through the keyhole... To see nothing on the other side. Pushing the door open slowly confirmed that the room was indeed empty... save for a nasty-looking knife which the Unicorn picked up in his magic, leaving the bat behind - Too many weapons would leave him vulnerable, and more easy to detect. A peek through the second room's keyhole, however, revealed yet another guard pony. This one was facing away from the door, but was brandishing a double-barrelled shotgun in his hooves.
This complicated matters somewhat... If this pony were to detect him and make a shot, the whole building would be alerted. Every single gang member within a few metres would rush in and most likely dismember the Unicorn - and that was an end he most certainly wanted to avoid meeting, to say the least. But still, the element of surprise was still on the Unicorn's side - and if he wanted to remain undetected he'd need it. So, no sooner than he'd opened the door, he charged at the pony and run him through with the knife, slitting his throat for good measure and catching the shotgun in his magic before it could fall to the floor, placing it down slowly and carefully - In earlier jobs he'd been caught out by more accidental discharges than by ponies actually firing at him... Sweeping the room for useful items but finding none, the Unicorn slowly stepped out of the room and stuck his head around the corner. Five to go... And still no major trouble. It was always easier when the victims didn't put up a fight... But unfortunately for our not-quite-hero, his luck was about to turn...
He made his way down the corridor, paying very close attention to his surroundings. To the right, there was yet another pony on patrol, also armed with a shotgun. Like the other kills, the Unicorn attempted to make this kill quick, and swiftly made his way towards the pony as he raised the knife again... But fate, the cruel mistress that she was, had decided not to play ball this time. At that very moment, the Unicorn's target turned - and before he'd managed to run him through, the pony had aimed his shotgun in a panic and pulled the trigger - luckily it wasn't well-aimed enough to actually hit the Unicorn, but the resulting BANG reverberated throughout the entire building... This was by no means good. The Unicorn could already hear the frantic hoofbeats of the other guards hurrying in his direction in response to the gunshot... Thinking quickly, he dived into a side room, leaving the knife embedded in his prey's head.
The Unicorn braced himself for a difficult fight as he heard the loud hoofbeats on the floor outside. His element of surprise was now very much gone - this was exactly the sort of situation he didn't like ending up in. In situations like this there was a distinct chance that he might just end up dead... But he had little time to dwell on this thought, as soon enough all four of the remaining gang members burst into the room, waving their weapons like an angry mob, swinging and shooting frantically at the Unicorn, who only just managed to dodge most of their hits as he searched for an opening... After what seemed like an age of darting around the room to evade the shotgunner's pellets and the swinng of crowbars and baseball bats, he saw his chance as one of the ponies stumbled. Without a second's delay he launched himself at the four, kicking their weapons out of their hooves in an almost dance-like rhythmic motion before giving each pony a good crack in the face with his hooves. All four down... But by no means out.
The Unicorn picked up the remaining shotgun in his magic, walking to each of the unconscious and dazed ponies in turn, and emptying a shell into their brains, sending them to whatever horrible afterlife awaited them amidst a shower of pellets. He turned to the final pony... but in the time he'd taken to send all the gang members to their graves, this one remaining pony had regained consciousness, taken one of the bats from the floor and was now making a desperate final swing at the Unicorn with his bat. The Unicorn, however, was prepared, and effortlessly dodged this last-ditch effort to bring him down as he swung his hoof in the momentarily-hapless pony's face and grabbed the baseball bat from out of his hooves. One to go... And he was going to enjoy this very much. Slowly, the Unicorn drew the bat up over the top of his head... And brought it crashing down upon the head of his unconscious prey.
The result was a spectacular light-show of gore. Upon being struck by the bat the guard's head practically exploded, the wall and floor behind and below him being soaked and spattered with blood, bone and brain matter, the body going rigid for but a seconds before falling limp again...
With that, the Unicorn dropped the bat and stepped out of the room, wiping some blood from his mask. Ten out of ten down... The job was finished.
A few minutes later, the Unicorn entered a small establishment selling baked goods, causing a small bell on the door to ring. This alerted the pony behind the counter, who looked up from the till and turned to look at the pony who'd just entered. "Hey, buddy! 'Sup?" The baker, who had a long, auburn mane and a large amount of facial hair, gave the unicorn a toothy smile as he entered. The Unicorn, on the other hand, merely gave a non-committal grunt in response, ambling up to the counter and not making any sort of eye contact. This did not go unnoticed by the baker, whose toothy smile faded just a little. "Tough night, huh...? Just can't get a good one these days, right?" Again, the Unicorn merely grunted in response, standing at the counter almost expectantly... "Tell you what buddy. Gimme a sec..." With that, the baker trotted into the Bakery's kitchen, returning a few minutes later carrying a small, white, sealed box which he placed on the counter-top. "Here y'are, dude. No need to pay for it - it's on the house." He pushed the small box towards the Unicorn, who picked it up with his magic and immediately turned to leave the establishment. "Enjoy the rest of your night, buddy!" The baker replied as the Unicorn stepped through the door and out onto the streets.
As soon as he was clear of the doors, the Unicorn picked up his pace back to his flat, a small smirk creeping onto his face. Contrary to what the baker had suggested, today had been very, very good... One more gang down, and he'd got his pay... As per the usual arrangement...
Around him, the street lights of Manehattan slowly began switching off as the great city slowly began falling asleep...
