Hitmares: Accidents Happen

They were expecting me. I thought they just heard the explosion, but he was armed and ready.

Ether pushed through the door of her hotel, grabbing for a chair as she limped in. A bolt from a crossbow was lodged into her side with a bloodstained shirt to cover the wound. A trail of blood droplets led from the backdoor three floors below to where she was currently standing. Ether had long ago decided to forget about how much blood she was losing- it was not a comforting thought.

"The bolt has to come out though..." Ether moved from the chair into the bathroom, pulling back her shirt and coat with the claws on her leathery bat wings. Grasping the bolt on two sides with her hooves, Ether pulled forward, letting loose a scream not unlike the one that a security mare had made earlier.

A true storm had started to boil up as Ether approached the Museum of Dangerous Objects and Really Sharp Things. It was unfortunate that the pegasus ponies had picked tonight to let the storm happen, as it was going to prevent the police investigation until the next morning.

Ether stepped out of the shower in her grimy hotel room, tossing aside a towel that she had been drying herself off with. She was a mare of slightly taller stature than others, but nothing fiendish that made her stick out like a sore hoof. Indeed, when her mane was pulled back and she kept her wings tucked in, it was hard for anypony to notice anything about her without taking a second glance. On the surface she was a perfectly normal mare going about her perfectly normal business. Of course, if any of those perfectly normal ponies ever found out about her perfectly normal business, well, accidents were recorded as the leading cause of death in Equestria for the last two years, who was she to change that?

Ether began to apply a comb to her hair, brushing it gently as she stared out the window at the storm. As much as she hated to be wearing her hair in a bun on such a lovely night, it was simply a requirement of her job. Twirling her snow white hair behind her, Ether wrapped her mane quickly around itself before pulling out a single clear coloured hair band. It wasn't a tight bun, but it would keep her hair out of her face and eliminate the chance of leaving behind part of her mane as evidence.

Turning from the cold tile of the bathroom, Ether stared down at her open briefcase. Most of these tools were not things she would need for tonight, but it never hurt to be prepared. Pulling on her white shirt, Ether wasted no time in attaching cowhide straps around her body. The holsters on her side concealed easily under her black suit, allowing for her to be fashionable and prepared at the same time. Once her tools were locked into place, Ether quickly  pulled on her tie, crossing the fabric and measuring the lengths so she could produce a flawless double windsor. Taking a moment to button her coat, Ether shut the suitcase and made sure the lock clicked before she turned away from her unkempt hotel room.

The rain outside greeted her coldly as she took a turn down the winding streets, heading straight for the museum. the street had become eerily dead without it's pony or animal inhabitants. The sounds of life that usually kept the street from being totally sleepy at night were drowned out by the pelting of rain as it slammed angrily onto shingles and metal walls.  This was not a place like the pony towns in the south of Ponyville or great stone cities like Canterlot. In the north metal had become the king of infrastructure, ruling over the bodies and minds of ponies. Of course some ponies marked the colder weather that drifted in from the oceans as reasons for this metal imprisonment, but Ether had always seen that as an excuse. While Pegasus ponies could do little to alter the winds that governed the deep ocean or other countries without Pegasus ponies, that did not stop them from dealing with the weather when it arrived. The ability to keep monsoons at bay was enough proof for her that something could be done about this freezing rain currently attacking the city.

The idle contemplation of weather quickly washed itself away from Ether's mind as she stopped outside of the gate to the museum. This mission promised to be quick and easy, and it was surely something that she could accomplish without drawing much attention. Ether's leathery wings yearned for a chance to fly even in this freezing rain, but Ether held herself back as she pushed on the gate. Ginseng had left the gate open for her, just as was promised. Everything had been proceeding exactly as planned, just the way Ether liked it.

Pushing inside, Ether stopped at the door as a wave of heat rushed over her body. Many buildings in the northern parts of Equestria with maddening amounts of rain had adapted such comforts of life, as having ponies shake themselves all over the place was not exactly practical for homes or museums. Ether spent only a moment checking on her tools to ensure they were not wet before she slipped into the shadows of the museum.

The front of the museum was a large open area with marble pillars, floors, and a reception desk that was currently unmanned. All the intelligence that the insider had provided had proved correct so far- Nopony would be assigned front desk duty and nopony would lock the front gate.

I'm on my own now though... I need to locate the head and deputy of security. Ether pulled out a little pocketbook and flipped it open. Two pictures had been attached to the inside of a page by paperclips with a name under each. The first one was of a black coated pegasus with cherry eyes- a Miss Heartmend. The other pony was a mare with a red and black dyed hair that harshly offset her brilliant whitegold coat- A Miss Omaha. Two security mares doing security jobs. The head, Miss Heartmend, was known to be fickle and unable to ever come to a decision about anything, including whether or not to turn a blind eye to the arms smuggling that her deputy was conducting. The deputy- Miss Omaha, was the more vicious of the pair. Her bipolar disorder caused high days where she was everypony's best friend and low days where she would prone to ripping apart ponies limb from limb. Indeed, it had been such a case that had brought this job to Ether's eyes. Miss Omaha had been accused, but not convicted of, several geldings and terrible murders. Despite the ongoing- and futile- investigations, she had been able to continue working- and continue her arms smuggling- at the museum due to her manipulation of the current security head.

Ether closed the book and stuffed it inside of her jacket. Somepony wronged by these two wanted them both out of the way. They gave money, The Night Guard gave secrecy, and Ether sold her services.

The marble around the room resonated with each hoofclick as Ether approached the front desk. Two sets of double doors lead into the museum floors, while a single door lead to an area that was marked "Staff" in black on gold lettering. Steeping swiftly toward the door, Ether leaned against the wall before trying the handle on the door. Unlocked.

Ponies don't expect something like this though. Ether pushed inside the room, carefully looking around for anypony that might notice her. The room was filled with a couple couches and a small kitchen area, as well as a room marked "security". Ether peeked inside quickly to make sure that the room was empty before doubling back to the museum atrium. If nopony was in the break room then they were probably all on the museum floor.

There cannot be more than one or two other guards on site tonight. Security in museums is low. Ether glanced back into the room, stopping. If arms were being smuggled through this museum, they must be held somewhere. She hadn't noticed anything out of the usual in the staff area, so that must mean that the arms were kept elsewhere.

Carefully pushing on the door to the museum floor, Ether kept her body low as she trotted into the room. There were three lights on in here, each one carefully shifting around. Two were horns, and the other one was a flashlight. The flashlight is Heartmend. As for the horns... one is my target, and the other is a bystander. I guess it's their unlucky night to be here.

" 'ey! IT! Get over here!" Ether's ears perked up as the harsh tone of Miss Omaha cut the air. The two unicorn lights were approaching her direction quickly. Glancing around, Ether finally decided to take a dive. rolling along the ground, she pulled herself underneath a raised stage that was presenting some old Pegasus battle with griffons.

"I'm a stallion, not an it." Said a calm voice. Omaha gave a laugh as some light from her horn fell across Ether's face. Ether winced at the bright light, trying to breathe as shallowly as possible and keep her profile to a minimum.

"Not anymore ya ain't!" Miss Omaha growled. "I'm going to go take my break, and when I get back here, not one thing better be outta place. I'm running out of parts to remove from you." There was a sound like meat hitting a wall followed by a surprised whinny from the 'stallion'. His horn went out and the room was suddenly much darker. Omaha had slammed the door to the museum floor shut, plunging the poor soul into darkness.

Sorry about this. Ether rolled out from under the stage, keeping her eyes on the unicorn. Trotting slowly around him, Ether took only a moment to prepare her pounce. The stallion had almost got enough magic together to light his horn when her hoof smacked into painfully into the tip. Her leathery wings wrapped around his midsection, pinning his forelegs against his chest. Ether slid her other hoof around the stallion's neck, forcing him to the ground as her second hoof slide from his horn into his mouth. For a moment the two quietly struggled before finally the stallion began to go limp, losing consciousness.  Ether pulled herself off the stallion, dragging him along with her hooves until he was parallel to the stage. with a little bit of a push, she rolled the stallion under the stage before gathering herself up, staring around the museum once more.

The flashlight was still bobbing along, carefully watching over anything that might suddenly decide to come alive. Ether didn't really have time for such foolishness- this was going to be quick and simple, whether the security mares liked it or not. Glancing around the room, Ether trotted close to a set of pre-Night Mare moon artifacts. The stage was close as by, and Ether took a moment to assess what was holding it up. Three pegs kept the stage up- two in the back and one in the front. Pulling a coin from her coat, Ether chucked it at the stage, letting it smack the hardwood stage loudly before vanishing into the shadows.

"Eh," Miss Heartmend said, her flashlight flittering over to the stage. "Who's there?"  Ether said nothing, waiting for the mare to approach. Heartmend carefully got up on the stage, flashing around the room with her flashlight.

Even if she had seen something, it would not have mattered. Ether had already positioned herself behind the mare. With  a circle of rope in hoof, Ether quickly slid it over the security head's mane, bringing it down and tightening the noose around her neck. A surprised gurgle escaped Heartmend's throat as she tried to buck whoever was behind her. Ether had already ducked away, landing hard on the floor. With one much better placed buck, Ether knocked away one of the pegs under the stage. The stage gave way, all the pegs collapsing and taking away Miss Heartmend's footing.

Ether did not look back as the sounds of the choking mare filled the room. Ether had learned that ponies tended to die in the way they had lived, and this was more proof to her theory. Heartmend would die in the same way she'd lived- like a coward.

"Those weapons have to be in here somewhere." Ether said to herself, glancing around the room. She had no time to search however, as at that moment the doors to the museum floor were flung open. Miss Omaha stood there now, her horn dimly illuminating all features of the museum floor, Ether included. For a moment the two of them stared at each other, both equally surprised to see the other there. Omaha's eyes glanced over Ether's shoulder, taking in the view of the hanging Heartmend.

Unfortunately, that momentary lapse of concentration was all that Ether needed from Omaha. Pulling open her jacket, Ether closed her eyes. She knew she'd hit her mark and that these weapons were her best asset, but that did not mean that she liked using them. Using  technology that only rich ponies could dream of did make her weapons unfair, but never impractical.

I don't have to fight fair. A loud bang rang out across the room. Ether opened her eyes and blew on the tip of her gun before putting it back under her coat. Omaha now lay on the ground, a stream of blood gushing from her cranium and forming a pleasant pool of crimson around her body. While it wasn't quite the way Ether had planned on dealing with the mare, it was a fitting death for an arms dealer- killed by an illegal weapon, even if it wasn't one of her own illegal weapons.

The Night Guard wanted for the weapons to be destroyed too. I should take care of that before I leave. Ether quickly rounded on the room, sighing as she set about the task of searching the floor. The weapons had been hidden under the gunpowder display, which was fitting for the kinds of weapons that lay there. Ether's eyes practically popped as she beheld the weapons before her. While there were plenty of crossbows, knives, and claymore swords, there were also plenty of more exotic weapons. Repeating crossbows from the south and matchlock pistols and rifles were scattered among the weapons. Ether took a moment to open up a wood box, checking inside. Another pistol lay here, but it was not like the other matchlock pistols. She did not know the design, but that did not surprise her. Many foreign gunmakers had developed guns in less efficient ways. Ether just shook her head, picking up the weapon and hiding it within her suit.

It's at least worth looking at. Lower efficiency does not equate to lower effectiveness. Ether quickly pulled the gun out of its case and put it inside her jacket. Stepping away from the display, Ether lit a match when she was safely away from the gunpowder display. Chucking the match towards the display, Ether threw herself behind another stage, covering her ears. A terrible explosion filled the air as a ball of fire consumed the weapons, burning away the sin of Miss Omaha. Ether did not take the time to check any of her handywork- if nopony had heard the gunshot, they HAD heard that noise.

Somepony had heard that gunshot though. That wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't raining tonight though. No... wet powder is why this happened to me. I was overconfident and I- payed the price- Ether felt her attention slipping as she watched blood drip over the sink. She had been doing her best to rip apart her shirt to make a bandage, but with her view beginning to darken it was difficult to keep her hooves still. Her world suddenly shook, and then she felt her head slam into the floor, the tile of the wall, ceiling and floor spinning around her in a soft tornado of sleep.