Mafia Octavia Act 4: Preparations

Lyra and her guide flashed into existence in the foyer of a large, seemingly abandoned house. Blinking her eyes in a daze as the side effects of rapid teleportation magic wore off, Lyra turned and nodded to the guide, who then teleported to parts unknown.

Usually, having members of the Flim-Flam mafia carry other members to unknown locations would be seen as unorthodox at best, but right now they faced an unorthodox opponent, and therefore nopony could know where the brothers actually were except for a select few hidden guides who always wore suicide vests should their enemy find them. Damn that motherbucking Windigo! Lyra ranted in her head, the worst part was: Lyra was responsible for her adversary’s creation.

Lyra traversed the empty foyer, coming to a large set of double oak doors. Lyra knocked on the one on the right, the left one had an explosive triggered by vibrations in the doorframe.

“Password?” said a magically disguised voice from the other side of the door.

“Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000.” Lyra deadpanned in response, why they had picked that ridiculously hard tongue twister as a password, she would never know.

The large door swung inwards, revealing a large, dimly lit ballroom with a long table at the center, a set of four BAR machine guns trained toward the door, ready to spray any intruder with a hail 0f .30-.06 cartridges. And behind these guns were the twin Dons of the Flim-Flam mafia, Flim and Flam, their fore hooves wrapped around the triggers of their respective guns, the twins seemed a lot more twitchy than the last time Lyra saw them, almost to the point of being trigger happy.

Lyra heaved a sigh, she definitely wasn’t being paid enough to deal with these oversized foals. “Boss, I’ve got good news and bad news.” Lyra said forcefully, “The good news is, we know who the Windigo is,”

“Really? Who? Where does he live? How quickly can you take him out?” came the inevitable rapid-fire questions from the suddenly overly excited stallions. “I was getting to that boss,” Lyra sighed, “that’s the bad news, the Windigo is a literal ghost, she’s supposed to be dead already.”

“Meaning?”

“Her name is Octavia Melody, one of Applejack’s former lieutenants, and now she’s Jack’s pet assassin.” Lyra stated quickly, “four months ago she was tossed into Manehattan harbor after we pulled some info from her. Well, she survived the experience and now she’s killing us off.”

“So? What’s the problem then?” Flam asked.

“The problem, boss, is that we don’t know where she is, she’s ‘dead’ after all. I doubt even the Apples know where she is.”

“So the question is, how do we get to her?” Flim mused, “If she’s as smart as we’ve been led to believe, then our only real option would be to use bait, but what do we use?”

“What would a dead mare want anyway?” Flam asked, running a pensive hoof over his mustache.

“We’ll use me,” Lyra said, much to the shock of the twins, “Why would she come after you?” Flam asked.

“Simple, I am the one who used her friend to get to her, after all. She’s probably pieced that together by now after running into Vinyl a few days ago. She’ll definitely be gunning for me next.”

Flim and Flam shared a look, and nodded. “You do what you have to, just make sure she’s buried for good this time.” both twins said at the same time.

“Understood, boss.”

************************************************Meanwhile*************************************************

A thick fog obscured the pier, pierced only by the lonely light of a single lantern in the clutches of a single pegasus stallion wearing a long, hooded rain poncho. His companion, a similarly dressed earth pony shivered and readjusted his hood to better cover his ears.

“When do you think Ms. Trixie will get here?” The earth pony said, “I’m sick of waiting”

“Quit your whining, it’s not like we have a choice. We need to escort her to the guide anyways, otherwise she’ll get caught up in the boss’ ‘surprise’ back at the old HQ,” said the pegasus.

The earth pony only grunted in response. “So when is she gonna get here? She sure is taking her own sweet time.”

The pegasus sighed at his friend’s impatience, “Look Dozer, she isn’t gonna get here any faster with all your complaining, so just grin and bear it. Once this is over, the first round of cider’s on me, OK?”

“Fine, but I want an extra large-“

Dozer’s voice was instantly cut short and replaced with a wet gurgle.

“Dozer?” the pegasus said, a small tremor going through his voice. Turning to see what had become of his friend, the pegasus’ eyes went wide as he beheld the horrific scene before him.

The cause of his friend’s silence was instantly apparent when he saw the large, red blade plunged through the unfortunate earth pony’s throat, pinning him to the boards making up the pier, his eyes wide with shock as he stared at the cold, red metal that passed through his larynx and out through his Adam’s apple.

Dozer gave one last pleading gurgle as the blade was yanked out the way it came in, trailing an arc of blood from the wound.

“Question:” said a quiet, almost ethereal voice as Dozer’s lifeless body hit the floorboards, “How many pegasi does it take to send a message to Lyra Heartstrings?” said Dozer’s killer, “Wha - who- what the buck!?” squealed a clearly terrified pegasus as the Windigo stepped forward into the dim lantern light.

She was an image of death itself, dark trench coat drifting in the slow sea breeze, a scarlet blade at her side, crackling with some form of magic or bloody glee, the pegasus couldn’t tell, but what really terrified him was her mask. Perched on the mare’s muzzle under the pink-banded fedora, was a plain white mask that obscured her features, its eyes glowing with an eldritch blue fire that gave him the impression that she was looking deeper than just the stallion who had just soiled himself, it was as if her gaze pierced his very soul.

Almost as if she were silently judging how best to reap it.

“I asked a question, didn’t I?” said the masked mare, “Or did someone else already slip a blade into your vocal chords?” her voice was as cold as ice.

“Y-y-y-you’re….” The terrified stallion squeaked out.

“I’m what?” she replied, “Y-y-you’re W-w-w-windigo.” his voice was just above a whisper.

“How very astute of you, mister I-just-pissed-myself,” Windigo said, face hoofing at the response she was getting.

She knew he would be scared, anypony who was sane definitely would be, but this was getting her nowhere. Slamming her hoof into the protesting floorboards of the pier she asked again, “How many pegasi does it take to get a message to Lyra Heartstrings?” Her tone was more forceful this time, snapping the terrified stallion out of his shocked stupor, “O-o-o-one,” he stammered, shakily getting to his hooves and slinking towards the shore.

He stopped when he reached the still corpse of his companion. Through the clairvoyance enchantment in her mask, Octavia could see the pegasus’ heart rate increase at the sight of his dead friend, please… don't make me do it! Don’t you dare make me do it! she silently begged the pony to continue walking and just find Lyra.

But he didn’t heed her silent pleas.

The foolish pony was dead before he hit the ground, cut down by three bullets squeezed off by Octavia’s Mauser 9mm, which was held in one outstretched hoof.

The fool’s revolver fell from his grasp.

Octavia knew the smallest hint of gunfire would draw the local police force like a cloud of flies to rotting meat. Count to four… inhale, count to four… exhale. Octavia repeated the calming technique as she staggered off towards the warehouses on the other side of the pier, dropping one of her calling cards next to the bodies.

Sheathing the crimson blade and slinging her gun into its holster in her new tactical harness, Octavia made for the nearest sewer entrance, desperately repeating the mantra to shove aside the voices who had ceaselessly tormented her since the beginning of this mad farce that her life had become, and the guilt of her unnecessarily higher body count.

Count to four… inhale.

They never needed to die Octavia, they said almost in unison.

Count to four… exhale.

Didn’t you hear what Senshi told you? Hiding behind a mask is pointless now that your actions have come back to haunt you, Octavia.

Count to four… inhale.

All that needed to happen was for you to threaten them passively, your reputation as a merciless assassin is enough to make anypony piss themselves in fear, Octavia.

Count to four… exhale.

Or maybe… you’ve begun to enjoy it, haven't you, Octavia?

“Shut UP!!!” Octavia screeched, slamming her fore hoof into the brick wall.

Count to four… inhale.

That’s just it isn’t it, Octavia?

Count to four… exhale.

You’ve come to relish the feeling of their bodies on your blade, the recoil of your gun, and the feeling of being knee-deep in corpses, haven't you, Octavia?

“Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT. UP!!!” Octavia wailed as she punctuated each syllable by smashing her hooves into the brick wall, tears welling up under her mask.

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, INHALE. EXHALE.

At this moment, Octavia ripped off her mask and ‘exhaled’ the contents of her stomach all over the brick wall in front of her.

Coughing and sputtering, Octavia staggered away from the mess she had made, leaning against the opposite wall of the alleyway. Octavia glared at the mess of stomach acid and half-digested foodstuffs splattered over the brick wall, it looked like some grotesque painting by an insane artist.

Wiping the bile from her mouth with a shaking hoof and putting her mask back on, Octavia began to stagger towards the sewer entrance in this section of back alley when she heard a sort of… crackle?

Octavia’s eyes widened as she recognized the noise, and what kind of object made it.

Reacting as quickly as her weakened state would allow, Octavia ducked down, spinning in place to face the attacker as a light pink dagger narrowly missed her neck, impaling itself in the brick wall next to Octavia’s hat.

“Where did you get that sword?” a voice asked, unmistakably female.

“You know,” Octavia remarked, “this kind of greeting is very unbecoming of a lady, especially to somepony who you’ve only just met.”

“I will ask you again, where. did. you. get. that. sword?”

“Forgive me if I don’t feel very inclined to answer the question of somepony who hasn't even bothered to introduce herself.” Octavia snapped back, growing tired of the unknown voice’s ceaseless questioning.

The young unicorn mare stepped out of the shadows, she was barely out of fillyhood, with a light beige coat and straight, dark mane that was tied back in a single braid draped over her right shoulder. She wore a light pink garb that looked similar to a bathrobe with a sash, a crest of three red blades emblazoned on the lapel. “I would ask you again,” the young mare said, anger flaring in her brown eyes as she used her magic to withdraw her dagger from the brick wall behind Octavia and level it at her again.

“Where did you get my big brother’s sword?”

Vinyl coughed as the burning liquor slid down her throat for the umpteenth time that night. She slammed her mug down on the bar.

“Another round, Tap.” She groaned out, her head slumped over. She had been like this since she found out who exactly Windigo was.

Octavia… Vinyl's mind burned with rage and confusion over what had transpired between her and her now former marefriend in that warehouse, it seemed like years away now.

She didn’t send that letter? HA! What a load… Vinyl thought darkly, the alcohol finally starting to affect her thoughts Who else would send that letter after disappearing like that!?

“Stupid Tavi… Stupid high alcohol tolerance…” Vinyl mumbled, reaching for her mug, only to find it still empty.

“Hey Tap! Where the buck is my drink!?” Vinyl half moaned, half shouted down the bar to her acquaintance, Leaky Tap, the owner of the highly-illegal establishment Vinyl was currently a patron of.

“Vinyl! Keep it down! Do you want tae have those bloody cops find my bar!?” Tap hissed in his Irish accent.

“You’re getting enough protection from Flim and Flam aren’t you?” Vinyl whined drunkenly, “just get me my drink before I have to come back there and kick your green-coated flank to the keg!”

“I dunno why I bother with you sometimes Vinyl,” Leaky Tap grumbled, running his hoof through his brown mane.

“Its cause you love me soooooo much, right?” Vinyl said in a mocking, sing-song voice.

Tap just rolled his eyes and slammed a fresh mug of hard cider down on the bar, “here’s your Celestia damn drink, that’ll be another five bits ye drunk filly. Don't you think ye’ve had enough yet? At the rate you’re goin’ you’ll put me grandpappy to shame! May his soul rest in peace.” Vinyl just slammed another five coins on the table, making a grand total of forty bits spent on cheap booze in one night without passing out, a new record, the ivory mare noted drunkenly.

“I’ll tell you when the *hic* I’ve had enough, *hic* Tap.” Vinyl replied, slurring her words as she stumbled along her own sentence. Tap just shrugged and trotted over to another customer, striking up a conversation with the weary-looking stallion.

Vinyl’s thoughts then turned back to a few nights ago, when she finally met her quarry for the first time in about a year. What had struck Vinyl the most was the dead, almost dull look Tavi had on her face at that moment. The mare that she had seen that night was completely unlike the beautiful cellist Vinyl had fallen for all those years ago, the same mare who had left the Canterlot Conservatory just so she could be with Vinyl more often.

What happened to you, Tavi? Vinyl thought, rubbing the handle of the short sword she had pulled from Senshi’s corpse, shuddering as she felt it crackle in response to her touch. She hadn’t known him for very long, literally only about ten minutes, but he had grown on her faster than she ever could have realized. It was strange, she had only met him for mere moments, yet she felt as if they had spent years as friends.

“This one’s for you, Senshi.” Vinyl muttered as she chugged the cider, draining half the mug in one go.

“Well, well, what do we have here? My subordinate is racing to the bottom of the keg, again. What’s the damage this time Tap?” Lyra said, sliding into the bar stool next to Vinyl, “nine mugs and counting,” Leaky Tap replied, holding the substantial bag of bits in one hoof, “Can you tell her tae take it easy? She’s liable to drink me out of house and home!” Tap rubbed between his eyes, drawing a chuckle from Lyra, “Open a tab for me too, Tap. I need this as much as Vinyl does.”

Tap shot her a mortified look before sighing and trotting over to the nearly empty keg behind the bar, “Ye both are crazy, you know that?” Tap said over his shoulder, “We know.” Both mares replied in unison.

Tap just rolled his eyes and slammed another mug of hard cider down in front of Lyra, “five bits, ye cheap con artist!” Tap said with a huge grin, Lyra slammed the bits on the table, “Here ya’ go, you crappy bartender!” Lyra said, returning the grin. Vinyl could swear she could see sparks flash between the burly earth pony and her mentor, but then again, she was thoroughly buzzed.

Lyra raised her mug, “To alcoholism! Without which we wouldn’t be able to do illegal things right under Head Detective Sparklebutt’s nose!”

“Hear! Hear!” Vinyl and Tap said, Vinyl raising her own mug shakily, “Hey Tap, do you think I could borrow Vinyl for a minute?” Lyra asked sweetly. Tap only frowned and nodded, busying himself with cleaning dirty mugs further down the bar.

Lyra turned away from the bartender, her expression suddenly growing serious, “You’ve heard about what’s about to go down, haven’t you?” Lyra asked with a knowing look.

“Yeah, and I want in.”

“Not gonna happen, Scratch.” Lyra said, shaking her head.

“Why the hell not!?” Vinyl hissed, slamming her free hoof on the bar, “I finally have a shot at going one-on-one with that bitch, and you’re telling me to stay back!? Are you gonna tell me that all your training-”

“I’m telling you to stay alive, kid.” Lyra snapped, interrupting Vinyl mid-rant. “The twins want this one played close to the chest, the only one who knows the specifics behind the Windigo’s identity other than me and the twins is you, and you’re too much of a loose cannon to be allowed anywhere close.”

“I’m not a loose cannon!” Vinyl growled.

“Says the mare who can usually be found piss drunk in this bar just because she saw a little blood and had a run-in with an old marefriend.” Lyra countered, silencing the ivory mare.

“She is not my marefriend, Lyra.” Vinyl huffed, taking another long pull from her mug, “and if anyone has a right to take her down, it’s me. You trained me to fight her right? Well I have a chance to get her to pay for what she did, and you still won’t let me go? What the hay, Lyra!?” A vein began to pulse in Lyra’s head, her horn flared, magically slamming Vinyl’s mouth shut with an audible click.

“Look kid, I didn’t go through the trouble of training you just so you could throw your life away in some stupid personal crusade. This isn’t some romanticized fairy tale, and you aren’t some heroic knight in shining armor, off to kill off some villainous monster. In this story, we’re all villains, every last bucking one of us is gonna end up in Tartarus when we finally kick the bucket, and I’m not sending you or anypony else there sooner than they need to unless they’re on the business end of my gun. So help me, I’ll stick Bon Bon on you so you won’t even be able to clop until this op is over. Am. I. clear!?”

Lyra released her hold on Vinyl’s muzzle, allowing the mare to offer a muttered affirmative, before draining her mug and calling Tap over for another refill.

Octavia sidestepped as the pink dagger buried itself in the brick wall for a second time that night.

“You are taking too long to answer my question: Where did you get that disgrace of a stallion’s sword?”

“You’re not very nice to your brother it seems.” Octavia remarked as she ducked under a wild swipe aimed at her neck. “I am not concerned with what that disgrace is doing, merely what has become of him for his sword to end up in the hands of a masked murderer.” Octavia remained silent, the young mare leveled her dagger at her again, “He may have been a disgraceful idiot, but there’s no way he would make a blade for a common killer. So how did you come by his sword?” The mare asked again, punctuating her words with a wild slash from her blade. “You know,” Octavia began, “He also would have liked the name of the person trying to kill him, just as a courtesy.”

“I have no name to give to the likes of you,” the mare hissed between clenched teeth as she missed again.

“You’re not very good at this, are you?” Octavia deadpanned.

“Shut up!” the mare grunted through gritted teeth.

Octavia sighed, “This is embarrassing, you’re nothing like him at all.”

“Of course not,” the mare snorted, “I’m far greater than that stupid, disgraceful blemish on our family’s name!” She said, turning her nose up in what had to be the biggest show of haughtiness Octavia had ever seen since she moved from Canterlot.

“That’s not what I meant, kid,” Octavia replied, turning to leave, “You have absolutely no talent for what you’re trying to do. Senshi had talent, and therefore my respect. So if you value your life, you won’t follow me.”

“How dare you!” The mare exclaimed, her face puffing up with barely repressed rage, “I happen to be one of the most talented fighters in my clan!”

Octavia stopped, “Can you make more than that sad excuse for a toothpick then?” she asked over her shoulder.

“Yes I can!” the mare said, screwing her eyes shut in concentration, only to have her dagger grow only a few more inches before shattering.

“That’s what I thought.” Octavia said smugly, continuing on her way.

The young mare simply snorted and continued to follow Octavia.

Celestia damn it, Octavia thought to herself, I’m going to have to use that place again, aren’t I?

Spike yawned, he always hated these briefings that Twilight seemed to constantly be holding every time that damn Windigo showed up again. He loved helping Twilight, he was an honorable young dragon after all, but sometimes his surrogate sister/boss could be well… eccentric.

Presently, Head Detective Sparkle of Ponyville Police Department was busying herself with jotting down all the relevant information on the Windigo case that all of the police department’s investigations team had gathered… which barely filled up half the chalkboard that took center stage in the repurposed interrogation room. “Alright everypony, its time to start the briefing.” Twilight said, lowering the stick of chalk she had levitated in her magic. The assembled anti-Windigo task force under Twilight’s command quickly took their seats. Twilight took another look around the room to confirm that all the attendees were present before beginning.

Twilight cleared her throat, “Approximately a month ago an illegal bar was found forcibly entered via military-grade explosives. There were signs that someone had been detained there, most likely someone who crossed one of the two mafia families vying for control of the Ponyville underworld, but I digress."

"This was also where the Windigo announced his presence to us through a calling card left with the corpse of his first victim: an earth pony who was most likely serving as a guard for the prisoner. We can therefore assume that the Windigo’s objective was to free said prisoner, whether or not it was under orders from somepony else is still uncertain.” Spike yawned again, he already knew this! He had spent the last few days helping Twilight put together this case brief and-

Spike’s thoughts were rudely interrupted by a small, white missile that impacted his forehead directly between his large emerald eyes, causing his head to snap back from here it was resting on his claws, leaving a small white dot where it landed. “Lose focus like that again Spike, and I’ll have you reorganize the library. Twice.” Twilight said with a faint smile as she levitated a new piece of chalk to continue her lecture.

“From what we know, we can safely assume that the Windigo has some sort of military background, evidenced by the few pieces of used equipment we find scattered around the scenes of his killings, mostly spent smoke canisters or breaching charges. Other than that, the only other pattern we know of is that he has a personal grudge against the Flim-Flam mafia, evidenced by another calling card of his: the word ‘guilty’ etched directly into each of his violently murdered victims, all of which were high-ranking members of the Flim-Flam mafia or their subordinates.”

To illustrate her point, Twilight placed some pictures of some of the more… gruesome crime scenes, particularly those with the newly added body carvings added postmortem front and center.

“This was his pattern until very recently,” Twilight continued after letting the grotesque images sink into the seasoned team of detectives, clerks, and officers. “The most recent victim was a unicorn stallion by the name of Senshi, a now former member of a high-ranking military noble family from the Eastern Isles. We were able to ID him thanks to a special liaison from this family, although where she currently is: I have no idea,” Twilight said, rubbing between her eyes with a forehoof, “She managed to give her escorts the slip and they’re currently searching high and low for her as we speak.”

A stallion in the back raised his hoof.

“Yes Silver Star?” Twilight asked, “You said he was a ‘former’ member, why is that?” Silver Star asked. “Excellent question,” Twilight began, “Apparently, Senshi was stripped of his social standing and membership of that family due to some transgression in the past. His name and lineage has been stricken from all family records and it took some political leverage from Princess Luna in order to even obtain his name, they’ve withheld all other information on him though.”

“I guess being the Princess Celestia's own student has its perks then,” remarked Silver Star, whistling softly.

“Yes well, that isn’t the main focus of this briefing, what matters is that during this killing, Windigo broke his pattern, and there were also signs a witness was involved.” Twilight paused to jot down a few things on the chalkboard. “From what we gathered, it seems Senshi challenged Windigo to a duel and lost, committing a ritualized suicide when he lost.”

Silver Star raised his hoof again, “How could you tell that?” he asked.

“A spell check revealed a very… specific enchantment placed over the area.”

“Specific how?” Silver Star continued.

“The enchantment dissipated when a winner was decided, but there were a few additional stipulations that were pretty interesting. For one, all gunpowder and explosive or flammable substances became inert while the enchantment was active, effectively restricting both fighters to hoof-to-hoof combat.” Twilight began to pace back and forth in front of her subordinates, “the second was much more interesting however: all visual-based advantages either combatant had equipped would instead deceive them.” Twilight said, pausing in her attempt to wear a groove in the floor, “at best this only gives us a clue as to one piece of equipment the Windigo uses, good for future planning, but not so much when we still don’t know who he is. However, we do know that there is someone who can point us in the right direction."

“Which brings us to the final condition to the locked warehouse enchantment, no one was allowed to enter or leave that warehouse until the winner was decided. Of course that meant that the enchantments would only have been dropped postmortem, so our witness is still out there somewhere. I want any news regarding this witness sent to me immediately, he or she is likely the Windigo's next target.”

The head detective of Ponyville P.D. fixed the room with a hard look to emphasize her order. “And now for the last point of this briefing,” she continued after an awkward silence, “Our informant inside the Flim-Flam mafia has bought up something of great importance, Flim and Flam will be conducting a sting op on the Windigo soon, I don’t know how they’re going to bait him into their trap, but we’ll make sure we’re there to crash the party and apprehend all of them. I want everypony who isn’t searching for the witness to keep close tabs on the Flim-Flam mafia’s movements and bring in reports of how they’re going about their sting. Dismissed!” And with that, Ponyville’s finest filed out of the room, having been given their marching orders.

“How long do you intend to follow me?”

“Until you answer my question, obviously.” The mare huffed, “also, where are we going?”

“Someplace the cops won’t dare to follow, unless they want to anger some very influential ponies.” Octavia replied, rummaging through the pouches in her tactical harness.

“Wait here a moment, alright?”

The mare nodded as Octavia ducked into a nearby alley and pulled out a set of battered-looking saddlebags. Coincidence or not, the situation was beginning to play out in her favor.

She stowed her equipment in the enchanted saddlebags, slipping her three foot long blade in with ease. She wasn’t exactly sure how it worked, something to do with creating a pocket space tethered to the opening of the bag, but Octavia stopped trying to bother with the intricacies of magic a long time ago.

Her mask went in last, the blue glow fading from the eyeholes as she removed it. Pulling out a hairband with a small gem on it, Octavia did her mane up in a sort of tail-like arrangement, tapping the gem with her hoof to activate the disguise. It wasn’t nearly as complete as a changeling’s transformation, her eye color and cutie mark stayed the same as always, but that hardly mattered as she covered her legs with fishnet stockings and a set of tight spandex shorts that hugged her flank snugly.

Her coat was now a light pink with a red mane streaked with a slightly darker shade of pink.

“Come with me,” Octavia said as she stepped out of the alley, “Is this what you truly look like?” the mare said, cocking her head while fixing Octavia’s scandalous outfit with a disapproving look.

“No.” Octavia said simply, her scowl instantly transforming into a sultry look as they approached a group of stallions near the corner.

“Hey Sonata! You looking for a good time?” One of them said, “Who’s your friend?” said another.

“Sorry boys~” Octavia said, adopting a sing-song tone as she strutted past the stallions, swaying her hips slightly, “I’m off duty for now, and my friend doesn’t share my occupation. Some other time, I promise~”

Octavia dragged the mare along, “tch, stallions,” Octavia spat, dropping the act once they were out of earshot, “Listen, you’re going to have to give me your name, otherwise I won’t be able to hold up my ‘innocent friend’ act.”

The mare scowled, “Yuki, my name is Yuki. I assume I would call you Sonata?”

“That would be nice, yes.”

The mare only nodded, “very well, Sonata. I will follow your lead then, where are we going?”

“We’re already here,” Octavia said, gesturing to the general area, Yuki only just noticed the flashing neon and shady bars and clubs that surrounded them on all sides. “Welcome to Ponyville’s Red Light District, keep your head down and don’t look at anypony too long unless you want trouble.”

Detective Twilight Sparkle sighed, rubbing her temples at the incompetence of the two deputies that had been assigned to escort the liaison from the Eastern Isles. “Run this by me again,” Twilight said, her annoyance clear in her voice, “She asked you,” She pointed to Deputy Snips, “To get her some tea.”

“Y-yes ma’m.” Snips said, visibly shaking in fear from the head detective’s suppressed fury.

“And you,” She gestured to Deputy Snails this time, “were asked to get her something to eat, is that right?”

“Y-yes ma’m” Snails said, a small bead of sweat slipping down the side of his face.

“And when you both returned to the secure location that Ponyville P.D. set up specifically for her so she could be kept safe, she was nowhere to be seen?”

“Y-yes ma’m” Snips and Snails whimpered in unison.

“Good, now I get to write to the Princess on HOW MUCH OF A PAIR OF BUCKING IMBECILES YOU TWO ARE.” Twilight yelled, dropping her calm façade, causing the cowering pair to wince.

“Do you two dolts have the slightest, just the slightest, inkling of what this situation is called? An international incident! You morons caused a fucking INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT by letting a foreign liaison loose in a crime ridden city filled with rapists, bootleggers, drug pushers, and a highly trained serial killer who RECENTLY KILLED ONE OF HER RELATIVES.”

The pair flinched as her words pummeled them, “Do you realize what it took to even get those damn nobles to let her come here?” Twilight fumed, “I had to personally write a letter to the Princess to ask them, physically travel there and ask them, to send a liaison to verify his corpse. AND SAID LIASON IS NOW ROAMING THE CRIME-RIDDEN STREETS BECAUSE YOU TWO HAVE THE GALL TO COME BACK HERE EMPTY HOOVED!? GET OUT THERE AND DON’T COME BACK UNTIL YOU FIND HER!”

Without warning, Twilight’s mane and tail burst into flames as she entered full rage mode, causing the two incompetent deputies to flee her office at full speed, squealing like terrified foals on Nightmare Night.

Twilight hunched over her desk, taking deep breaths through clenched teeth to calm herself… before sputtering as the fire-retardant foam covered her face, forcibly extinguishing the flames from her mane.

“Spike!” Twilight spluttered, trying to wipe the foam from her muzzle.

“Sorry Twilight,” Spike said, setting down the fire extinguisher and tossing Twilight a towel.

Twilight sighed, taking the towel in her magic, she began to clean up the foam. “Damn stuff gets everywhere,” she muttered, cleaning the last of the foam out of her ears, “thanks, Spike”

“Of course, I am your number one assistant after all.” Spike said, snapping off a quick salute to her. Twilight shot him a small smile before hanging her head and slumping over her desk in exhaustion, “What happened, Spike?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean, where did we go wrong?” Twilight asked, “Everything was perfectly fine before that war, and then afterwards… Ponyville was never this bad! Even the element bearers began to drift apart, and when the prohibition was declared…”

Twilight sighed, “I don’t have proof yet, but I know Applejack’s bootlegging her cider, Rarity went to Manehattan to expand her business, Rainbow Dash is rumored to be a pirate, Pinkie’s lost her energy, and I have no clue where Fluttershy is! All of us were once the best of friends, but…”

Twilight opened the locket she kept around her neck, it showed her and her fellow Elements of Harmony posing for a picture shortly after her brother’s wedding, and right before Celestia had ordered a suppressing counterattack on the Changeling swarm that had invaded Canterlot.

She still remembered the expressionless look her mentor and second mother had when she began to lay out battle plans to bring the brunt of Equestria’s military might to bear against the changeling swarm, with the Elements of Harmony dealing the final blow against Queen Chrysalis.

In hindsight, that was likely what started the fracture of their friendship. Ever since then, the elements had become dull, lifeless lumps of metal.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack had been all for sticking it to Chrysalis and her children, Fluttershy and Rarity had been openly opposed to such a brutal military strategy on other sentient beings, Pinkie had deflated and hadn’t said much.

Twilight had pressured them into joining the attack with what she had assumed was a rational argument at the time, but she now saw that there was nothing but revenge motivating her back then. Chrysalis had crossed the line when she attacked Twilight’s friends and family, she had to pay for her actions.

So she forced her friends to follow her mentor’s plans, not knowing that she had begun to drive a wedge between the friendship that she had held so sacred for so long.

She should have seen the signs, the harmonic blast that ended Chrysalis had been shaky at best, and she should have known her dying screams would have that effect on Pinkie and Fluttershy! What had she been thinking, forcing her friends to join in a true war!?

They had fought similar threats in the past, but those had been exorcisms of dark magic or the resealing of some ancient evil, they had used the Elements of Harmony to kill somepony! Of course, the effects of the war had a huge fallout on society, ponies became more guarded, less trusting, the values that had formed the cornerstone of Equestria began to fade.

The sudden prohibition had been the final nail in the coffin for her friendships: Fluttershy was the first to leave, it was almost as if she knew what would happen next. Applejack lost her main source of income, and Rainbow Dash had lost the only thing she could use to cope with all the horrible things they had done, what they had to do for the sake of all of Equestria.

“No, that’s all just an excuse now, and excuses won’t help here.” Twilight said, verbally punishing herself of going down that road again.

Twilight slowly moved over to the wall safe in her office, inserting her horn into the magic scanner beside it and opened the safe, Inside was her old tiara with the Element of Magic gemstone standing proudly at the apex of the dull, lifeless metal that was once humming with its own magical force. As long as this doesn’t disappear, I’ll be able to see the girls again. At least, that’s what Twilight had begun to tell herself.

“Hey pretty lady, you looking for work?” A sleazy stallion with a slicked back mane and a salmon pink shirt said, getting uncomfortably deep within Yuki’s personal space.

Octavia rolled her eyes as she saw the sorry exchange over her shoulder, “I’m sorry sir, but who are you?” Yuki asked, visibly uncomfortable with the stallion's intrusion.

“You can call me Slim Shady miss, I’m a… promoter of sorts. I specialize in helping young mares like yourself realize their full potential!” He said with a toothy grin, apparently satisfied with his sales pitch.

“Sorry Slim, this one’s with me~” Octavia chimed in, her voice taking on the tone of a girl who had drank a little too much.

“Really? I think I would’ve known if you had a friend as pretty as this, Sonata.”

Octavia was growing tired of this farce, she dropped the act and glared at Slim, murderous intent in her eyes. Her knife was pressing into his side faster than he could blink, but to someone looking in from the outside, it looked as if she had pinned her lover to the side of a building.

“I said, she’s with me Shady. Or do you want Jack to know that the Shady group is muscling in on her turf? Now scram before I serve your balls to you on a platter.” Slim just snorted and backed away, desperately trying to conceal the shaking in his legs.

“F-fine, but the boss will hear about this!” Octavia shot him another death glare and he bolted down a nearby alley with an undignified squeal.

“Who was that?” Yuki asked, clearly confused by the exchange.

“He calls himself Slim Shady, but he’s not him.” Octavia said, turning back to continue on their way, “There’s about fifty of them running around this district, but only one of them is the real deal.”

She turned to look Yuki in the eyes, “Should you ever meet the real Slim Shady, don’t take your eyes off him for a second. The others are pretty harmless, but the real one is pretty dangerous.”

“Ah, what did he mean by: realizing a mare’s full potential?” Yuki asked as Octavia turned to continue on her way.

“They’re pimps,” Octavia said over her shoulder, “Had I not been here, and things continued the way they were going, you likely would’ve been violently raped before sunrise.”

Octavia almost burst out laughing at the incredibly adorable display of innocent blushing as the young mare sputtered in a flustered manner, she had worn a similar face when Vinyl had done the same for her around the time they first met.

“Come on,” Octavia said to the still spluttering Yuki, “we’re almost there.”

The pair made their way down a few more twisting alleys until they reached a tenement that was somewhat worse for wear.

“You live here?” Yuki asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust, “Nope,” Octavia replied simply.

“Then why are we-”

“safehouse,” came another simple reply.

Octavia opened the door to the tenement and stepped inside, beckoning to Yuki to follow.

“Heeeeeey what’s good, Sonata!” said a somewhat overly happy voice.

Octavia winced inwardly, why oh why in Equestria does she always pick times like these to be less frugal with her stash?

“Hi Tree Hugger!” Octavia said, seamlessly slipping back into Sonata’s overly perky voice.

“Haven’t seen you in like, a few days maaaan. You get another big client again?”

“Yeah, in more ways than one actually!” Octavia replied, causing the green earth pony to fall into a fit of hysterics.

“Man, you’ve really gotta start taking me on your dates maaaan,” Tree Hugger said between gasps as she failed at picking herself up from the floor.

“Actually Tree, I’ve been wondering about that word you keep using, ‘man’? What’s up with that?”

The heavily stoned earth pony put a hoof to her chin, as if deep in thought. “I don’t really know, actually.” She said with a shrug, “Maybe it has something to do with a past life maybe?”

Tree Hugger continued to scratch at her chin, as if trying to decipher the secrets of the universe, when the rough sound of a cleared throat interrupted her.

“As… enlightening as this exchange has been, we should really be going,” said an irritated Yuki.

The clearly stoned pony blinked owlishly, as if noticing Yuki for the first time that night, “Whoa, who’s the ice princess? I’m getting a really weird vibe from her.”

“E-excuse me?” Yuki sputtered, growing flustered again, “I’ll have you know that I-”

“She’s just another client, Tree. Foreigner, wanted to have something more… exotic than what she’s used to.” Realization dawned on Tree Hugger’s face, and with a soft “have fun!” she stepped through a beaded curtain leading to her office, a cloud of foul-smelling smoke coming out to greet her, most likely a mix of incense and the strange scent of Tree Hugger’s ‘stash’.

“I apologize for my landlady’s… addiction, and her subsequent behavior.” Octavia said, sighing heavily. Yuki only huffed indignantly and followed behind Octavia as they began to ascend a flight of stairs to the apartments.

The thin walls of the tenement did little to muffle the various moans, drunken ramblings, and grunts that emanated from within the confines of the tenant’s rooms, only adding to Yuki’s growing unease at her surroundings. They had reached the third floor when a door in front of them burst open and a purple mare with a bunch of grapes and a cherry as her cutie mark was unceremoniously thrown into the hallway.

“Aw come on, Colgate!” The mare whined to the blue unicorn standing in the doorway.

“No Berry, I’ve told you time and time again that you can come home sober, or not at all!”

“But-” Berry Punch stammered, powerless against the angry glare she received from Colgate at her paltry resistance, “You reek of cider and you always scare Ruby when you’re like this!” Colgate continued, gesturing to the terrified light purple filly cowering behind Colgate’s tail, shaking in sheer terror.

“But Colgate!” Berry Punch whined as the door to her room was slammed in her face, causing the currently drunk pony to slump to the floor in utter despair.

Octavia and Yuki skirted around the living obstacle as they made their way to the next flight of stairs.

“Who was that? She seemed somewhat familiar.” Yuki said, scrunching up her face in contemplation.

“Her name’s Berry Punch, she’s just another casualty of the prohibition. The reason you’ve probably heard her name before is that she was once the greatest wine maker in Equestria, until that became an illegal practice. Since then, all she’s been good at is getting drunk and rowdy.”

“How sad for her, and her daughter.” Yuki remarked, her ears splaying back with genuine sadness at the spectacle that was behind them. “We’re here,” Octavia said suddenly as they reached the apartment on the fourth floor.

“Tea?” Octavia asked her new safehouse-guest, “please” came the simple reply from the cold unicorn making herself at home at the table. The safehouse was far less spartan than the Crypt where Octavia had been staying up until a few nights ago, when she’d been outed by Vinyl as the Windigo, Octavia had asked that a civilian identity be made for herself so that she could remain hidden from her would-be aggressors.

Jack had raised an eyebrow at the unexpected request but had acquiesced when Octavia pressed forward with an argument she had prepared for just such a contingency, it was easier to hide in a crowd in an unassuming civilian identity than caught by surprise in a secret bunker that anypony could easily stumble upon and instantly know who lived there. Octavia had everything she owned transferred to her new accommodations.

A low thrum echoed through the apartment, a sound that was so beautiful to Octavia that she was surprised she had ever forgotten it.

Octavia turned to see her houseguest standing next to her cello, the bow levitating in her magic as she began to draw it across the strings again, producing the nostalgic sound that Octavia hadn’t heard since… well, since her last performance as a simple cellist.

“Its out of tune,” Octavia deadpanned, leaning against the counter of her kitchenette, a kettle of fresh water sitting on the stove, “How can you tell?” Yuki asked, a small blush touching her ears knowing she was caught red-hoofed.

“I can tell because its mine.” Octavia replied, walking over to the young mare and taking her bow from Yuki’s magic.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve played, but this thing was once my bread and butter.” Octavia continued, placing the bow next to the cello reverently.

“And now it’s killing?” Yuki asked, arching an eyebrow.

“My story isn’t all that uncommon, you saw what Berry Punch was like, right? A lot of ponies lost their jobs when the prohibition hit, mostly musicians like me, and makers of alcoholic beverages like Berry.” Octavia sighed, “A lot of us were forced to take jobs most ponies consider… unsavory, for obvious reasons.”

“I would think the two fresh corpses down by the pier would agree with that sentiment.” Yuki said, frowning at her host. “That does not, however, explain how you came to posses one of my brother’s swords. I’d like an answer while I’m here, outside of Detective Sparkle’s jurisdiction.” Yuki continued, sitting back down at the table once more. Octavia took the chair opposite her.

“Why don’t we start with you first, after all, you did just try to stab me.”

“I’m not apologizing.” Yuki huffed.

“I don’t expect you to, I just want information. You tell me what I want to know, and I’ll be more forthcoming than I have been so far. Seem fair?”

Yuki only grumbled an affirmative, which Octavia capitalized on, “first question: what do you mean by ‘a disgrace to the family’?”

“Exactly that,” Yuki sniffed, “He abandoned his duty and was banished from our family as a result, never to set hoof in his homeland again. A fitting end for a traitor of his calibre.”

“What exactly did he do?” Octavia asked, confused by the extremely vague answer she had received from her guest.

Yuki’s body language closed off, “he murdered her…” her voice was hardly above a whisper, had Octavia not been focusing on her the whole time, she might have missed it.

“Who did he kill?”

The reaction was wholly unexpected. Yuki’s eyes glazed over with cold fury, a look Octavia knew well, she had worn in the mirror over the past few days now. “He murdered his lady and mistress right in front of me! Our cousin was impaled by the very same blade you now wield to leave a trail of corpses! He was sworn to protect her and he ran her through without a second thought, without hesitation!”

Yuki’s eyes began to leak tears, but her gaze never wavered from Octavia’s, “that is why he is a traitorous, disgraceful stain on our family’s name,” Yuki continued, regaining her composure, “I assume I have filled my end of our bargain, now you will tell me everything you know, harlot.”

Octavia was unfazed by her guest’s icy words, opting instead to give her the ‘go ahead’ signal. Yuki took a few breaths to calm herself, “Firstly, what relation do you with that filth?”

As if on cue, the kettle on the stove whistled and Octavia got up, grimacing as the half-healed gash in her side flared up with the motion, and poured the scalding water into the waiting teacups, the herbal mix already present within of the shallow vessels. “It’s quite simple, really.” Octavia said handing her guest her drink and taking a sip of her own.

“I first met him a few days ago. We talked, mostly he did all the talking though.” Yuki took a sip of her tea, savoring the taste of the flavorful herbs at the bottom of her cup.

“This tea is quite good,” Yuki remarked, moving the conversation to lighter topics in the hope that her host would let something slip, “what blend is it?”

“It’s actually my mentor’s own blend, I believe he called it Death’s Embrace number 5.”

If the young mare was unnerved by the revelation, she didn’t show it.

At this moment, the sound of knocking echoed through the small apartment, Octavia cantered over to the door and looked through the small peephole before opening the door, revealing a grey pegasus mare with a blond mane carrying a messenger bag.

“Oh, hi Ditzy!” Octavia chirped, slipping back into Sonata’s perky persona.

“Message for a miss Sonata Score?” Ditzy said, squinting to get both eyes to focus on the letter she had in her hoof, before handing it over with a smile. “Thanks Ditzy!” Octavia said, returning the mailmare’s smile, Ditzy smiled and snapped a salute before trotting down the hall toward the staircase.

Octavia glanced down at the envelope, in place of a return address there was a postage stamp marked with an apple tree, meaning this message could have only come from one mare. Sighing, Octavia opened the letter and skimmed its contents before burning the message on the stove. She needed to move a bit more quickly.

Yuki sipped at her tea once more as Octavia sat back down across from her, “Something has just occurred to me, Miss Sonata.” Octavia perked up a bit at the sound of her cover name.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Why go through all this trouble? I’m sure you’ve surmised that I know you’re that traitor’s killer, and therefore the elusive Windigo I was asked to assist in capturing.” Yuki took another measured sip from her teacup, “Why even go through the effort of bringing me here under false pretenses, leading me all the way to your ‘safehouse’ without any sort of precautions whatsoever, only to share a cup of tea and to exchange information? Personally, I find that hard to believe.”

Octavia couldn’t help but grin at her guest, “You’re sharper than I gave you credit for,” she remarked, “I’ve found myself in a situation where I believe I’ll need the police department's assistance in a personal vendetta of mine and so, Lady Yuki, special liaison to Detective Sparkle,” Octavia pulled a file from her saddlebags, one marked with Yuki’s picture on the cover.

“I’ll need your unique position to deliver a message.”

“And what makes you so sure that I’ll do such a thing?” Yuki asked, draining the last of her tea while raising an eyebrow.

“Because,” Octavia began, “The hypnotic drug you just naïvely drank will make sure you have no choice in the matter,” Octavia said with a small smile as Yuki’s eyes began to glaze over, “Now the first thing I’ll need you to do is…”

Author's Note

BOOM! epic cliffhanger, now you have no choice but to wait for the next chapter! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

but seriously FUCK. THIS. CHAPTER. not really my best work so far, but it does set up a few things rather nicely, so I’ll let it slide for now. Until then, this has been The Villain in Glasses, signing off.