Chapters The unicorn known as Lucky Seven walked through the dusty halls of Stable 7. As a compulsive gambler, the mare was desperately seeking her fix by looking for a game at which she could double her cash. A loose ban had been set on gambling within the vault, which had driven card games underground. Approaching a door at the end of a dark hallway, the unicorn took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. A small bag of cash hid in her saddle bag, next to a pair of identical decks of playing cards. The only difference between the two was that one of the decks had a set of invisible ink marks on the backs of each face card in the deck. The glasses on the top of Lucky Seven’s head had lenses capable of highlighting these individual marks, making it possible for her to consistently draw exactly the card she needed. It was this ‘good luck’ that had gotten her cutie mark, three identical sevens, symbolizing the mare’s gambling skill.
Raising a hoof, the unicorn rapped three times on the door, paused, then knocked two more times. At the sound of the signal, a metal window slid open in the door, and a pair of eyes looked out at her. Lucky Seven had strategically buried her glasses under her mane to avoid having them spotted by the guard.
“What do you want?” He asked in a deep voice. The unicorn didn’t respond, instead reaching into her bag and producing the fake deck of cards. The metal window slid shut, two locks disengaged, and the door swung open with a faint squeak. Inside the room, smoke filled the air in a thick haze. Tables were scattered across the room, each one with a designated dealer. Lucky Seven looked around, making eye contact with three of the dealers at the tables, before crossing the room and sitting down at the table numbered seven. Setting her bag down underneath the table, she locked eyes with the dealer and nodded silently. The dealer didn’t respond. Instead, she picked up a blue chip from the stack and set it in front of her. Lucky Seven knew that this was a sign that the dealer would switch the decks for her in exchange for half of the unicorn’s winnings.
“Chips in.” The dealer said, shuffling the marked deck with her magic. “If there are any ponies who wish to put on glasses, now is the time to do so. Lucky took her cue and put on her tinted glasses. The markings on the cards immediately lit up due to the special lenses. When the dealer finished passing out the cards, the unicorn could see that the top card of the deck was a face card. Without picking up the hand she had been dealt, she could tell that one of the cards was a face card. Picking it up, she immediately noticed that the second card in her hand was a nine. A grin slowly spread across the mare’s face as she realized that taking the face card on the top would set her over her goal. However, since the dealer had sided with her, Lucky Seven knew that she wouldn’t be taking the first, the second, or even the third card. The pegasus at the end of the table tossed three blue chips, the equivalent of $300, into the center of the table
“Blast!” The pegasus cursed as she set down her cards face up on the table in front of her.
“Tough luck.” The dealer said, winking at Lucky, then turning towards Lucky Seven. “Hit or stay?” She asked.
“Hit.” Lucky ordered. A face down card skidded across the table towards her. She put a hoof down on top of it, then looked at the card. It was a two. Lucky Seven had to force herself to grin and act as though she won the money through luck, rather than knowing that the game had been rigged.
“Twenty one.” Lucky said as she flipped her cards face up on the table. Each pony at the table pushed three blue chips over to the unicorn’s chip stacks.
“Congratulations.” The dealer said, smiling at Lucky Seven, who had just won $900. “Would you care to keep playing?” She asked. Lucky Seven shook her head. She knew that in between games all of the decks would be switched, and she had only brought one marked set. The dealer watched Lucky Seven as she picked up her chips and walked over to a desk to have them cashed. What the dealer did not notice, was when a second pony stood up from a table across the room, and followed Lucky out of the room. The guard opened the door to let Lucky Seven and her shadow out, then closed it behind them. Lucky’s hoof steps echoed in the hall, but right away she could tell something was off. Generally, she wouldn’t think twice about a pony coming out of the room at the same time as her, but today was different. Today, she had won three times what she usually brought home with her.
“I know you’re following me.” Lucky said slowly, using her magic to reach for the file that hid in her saddle bag.
“You were really lucky tonight. Is that normal for you?” The stallion asked. The unicorn immediately knew that he was threatening her, but she was prepared for this kind of thing.
“Well, Lucky is my name…” She replied, pulling the file out of her bag and sliding it under her mane to conceal it, continuing to walk down the hallway. She heard the hoof steps behind her begin to speed up. Lucky Seven took a step forward, then began to run. Her body was no match for the stallion’s, who immediately overtook her. Rolling onto her back, she put up her hooves to block the first attack. His hoof slammed down right next to her head. She took the file from under her mane, and swung it at her attacker. The weapon hit its mark, burying itself deep into the stallion’s throat. He took a step back, blood dripping all over Lucky Seven, staining her sand coloured coat. The stallion fell against a wall, breathing his last breath. The unicorn stood up, brushing dust off of her coat, and went to work on the body, specifically looking for coins and food.
“You there!” A voice echoed through the hallway. Lucky Seven turned to see a mare, dressed in Stable Security barding with a pistol pointed directly at her. “You’re under arrest for murder.” Lucky Seven swallowed hard, and slowly raised her hooves.
Chapter 2: ‘Officer’ Seven
The unicorn’s mind raced as she processed how she was going to get out of the situation at hoof. An idea struck the mare as her eyes ran over the file still lodged in the body. Without changing her expression, the mare moved her hooves closer together over her head, effectively blocking her horn from sight. Noticing the apparent surrender, the officer lowered her gun slightly, but kept it perfectly trained on her captive. Lucky took advantage of the situation, activating her magic behind the shield that her hooves had created over her horn. As a result, the blood stained silver file came lose, and began to levitate at head height. The officer lowered her head, speaking into her radio.
“I need backup in hall twelve,” She started. Lucky took advantage of the situation, using her magic to propel the file forward. It flew at exactly the right level to sail underneath her helmet, and into her throat. She choked, dropping to her hooves with blood pouring from her neck. Lucky realized that she would only have a couple of minutes to react before backup arrived. Thinking quickly, she raced to her new victim’s body, and began to strip it. She started by untying the boots that the mare wore over her hooves, then moved to the helmet. Since it was built to universally fit any type of pony, there was a hole in the top to accommodate a unicorn’s horn, even though this particular officer was not one. Lucky Seven put the helmet on, and moved to the mare’s shirt. Unbuttoning it, she pulled the sleeves off of the mare’s front legs, and moved to her pants. After she swiftly unbuckled the belt, moved behind the mare and pulled off the mare’s leggings, pausing for a moment to admire the mare’s exposed cutie mark: a sniper rifle.
“I told you, if you would have just given me a chance to explain myself, all of this could have been avoided.” Lucky explained as she stripped off her shirt, then pulled her pants down. “Look at this, we barely even know each other, and you already get to see me taking off my clothes. I may be in to mares, but necrophilia is admittedly taking things a bit far.” She chuckled to herself, contemplating the comedy of talking to a dead pony as she dressed. Looking at her watch, Lucky Seven realized that she was going to have to hurry to dress the other pony in her clothing. She had just finished buttoning her shirt on the officer’s chest when backup arrived.
“What’s going on here?” Asked the first responding officer, as he analyzed the scene.
“Looks to me like this guy here tried to take advantage of this mare here, and he lost his life because of it.” Lucky said casually, as if discussing the weather.
“Then explain why she’s dead too.” A younger, higher pitched voice inquired. A young filly, who’s hat barely fit on her head, and who’s barding hung limply from her hooves. Lucky smiled at her, but she didn’t smile back.
“Simple. She was overwhelmed with guilt, and decided to put her weapon into her own throat rather than live with what she had just done. Self defense or not, killing a pony is never easy.” The second she said it, Lucky regretted it.
“Would you know, about killing ponies?” The filly asked, pausing for a moment to raise her hat back above her eyes.
‘This mare seems to know just the right questions to ask to find the information she needs…I’ll have to keep an eye on her.’
“I appreciate your taking an interest in the case, but I need you to keep quiet and just observe.” The leader said. The filly nodded, and her helmet once more drifted down over her eyes. “As for you, officer, we need an official case report filed and on my desk within the hour. You can find the official reports at the dispatch office. As soon as you get it filled out, come find me.” Lucky Seven panicked. She had no idea where the so called ‘dispatch’ office was….or how to fill out a case report.
“Is there a problem, Ossifer Seven?” The filly asked, raising an eyebrow.
“We’ve been over this, Zig Zag. It’s Officer. Not Ossifer.” The captain explained, trying to stay calm.
“That’s what I said. Ossifer.” Zig Zag repeated. The captain shook his head slowly, but gave up on correcting her.
“Officer Seven, take Zig Zag with you. What do we always say, Ziggy?” He asked.
“No ossifer should ever travel alone.” She recited. The captain nodded.
“Alright officer Seven. Head out. I want that report on my desk within the hour.” Lucky Seven nodded before walking away. Zig Zag tried her best to keep up with Lucky Seven, but her sleeves extended too far over her front hooves, causing her to trip every couple of steps.
“This way ossifer.” She said, leading Lucky Seven through a series of hallways. The unicorn would never admit it, but Zig Zag’s pronunciation of the word ‘officer’ always made her heart melt.
“Thank you, Zig Zag.” Lucky said, absent mindedly watching the filly trip over her sleeves. “Call me Ziggy. All of my friends call me that.” She replied. The unicorn processed the information carefully. Had this filly just called her a…friend?
“Alright…Ziggy…” Lucky Seven said. “Can you fetch me a report, so I can fill it out and return it to the captain?” She asked. Zig Zag smiled, then nodded several times.
“I know you didn’t kill those ponies.” Zig Zag said quietly. Lucky Seven’s heart sank.
“How do you know that?” Lucky Seven asked.
“Because, you’re an ossifer. Why would you kill another pony, instead of protecting her? I mean, my mom was protecting herself. She was a good ossifer, and she’s the reason I became one myself.” Lucky Seven froze. She had killed this filly’s…mother? The unicorn felt her heart break.
“That was your…mother?” She asked, holding back tears. Zig Zag nodded slowly.
“You were assisting another ossifer. I mean, it’s really sad that my mom died, but since she was an ossifer, I wasn’t able to see her very often. We weren’t close, at all. So even though I’ll miss her, I’m not gonna cry about it. I have to be a tough little filly, so I can make her proud.” Lucky Seven had to bite her tongue to keep from crying.
“Look. Ziggy. No ossifer should ever travel alone.” She said, as she ruffled the mare’s mane, pushing Zig Zag’s hat down over her eyes. The filly smiled, then looked up at Lucky.
“What are you saying?” She asked, looking up from under her hat, hope in her eyes.
“Why don’t you come stay with me. Since your mother is…” Lucky Seven couldn’t get herself to say the word ‘dead’, especially since she had killed the filly’s mother, in cold blood at that.
“Do you really mean that, ossifer Seven?” Zig Zag asked. The unicorn smiled.
“Call me Lucky. All my friends do it.” Hearing this, tears filled the young pony’s eyes. She wrapped her hooves around Lucky’s neck, her sleeves flopping down over the mare’s shoulders. Lucky smiled, and embraced the mare, in an attempt to keep up the façade.
Chapter 3: Reporting For Duty
Lucky Seven groaned, and rolled over in her bed. Since she had become an ‘officer’, she was expected to report for duty at six o’clock in the morning. She did not enjoy waking up at any point before noon. However, if she wanted to maintain her cover, and her fake innocence, she had to look the part. It had been three weeks since she had been caught, and by now, she had figured out that she could use her officer job as a way to earn her living within the stable. On this particular morning, she had been assigned to a robbery on a lower level. Her partner, the filly named Zig Zag, had been ordered to work alongside her, making her new mark a little harder to hit.
Lucky Seven had recently learned that just because the mark was harder to hit, didn’t mean it wasn’t worth going after. Her particular target had been robbed of his underground gambling profits. As an officer, it was the unicorn’s job to track down whoever had robbed the stallion, and return the money to him. However, that wasn’t Lucky Seven’s plan. In fact, the thought of returning the money hadn’t crossed her mind even once.
“Come on, Ziggy.” She called to her partner. The filly had already woke up, eaten breakfast, gotten dressed and was ready for work before Lucky Seven had gotten out of bed.
“I’m ready ossifer!” She said cheerfully. Lucky Seven rubbed her temples.
“Ziggy, you are way to chipper.” She groaned.
“Mama used to say I was ‘easily excitable’ and ‘over energetic’.” Ziggy explained. “I just really like my job as an ossifer!”
“I’m glad to hear that, Ziggy.” The unicorn moaned. “I have a very special job for you today. I need you to talk to witnesses and fill out the case report.” Zig Zag’s eyes grew very wide at her assignment. “Think you can handle that?”
“Oh golly, can I!” Zig Zag said happily. She was excited about being assigned the case report.
“Good. I’m going to go handle the victim, and the perpetrator. We’ll meet back here tonight, for some drinks.”
“Yippee!” Zig Zag cheered. “I love it when you take me out for chocolate milk!” The filly clasped her hooves together, her sleeves flopping around, and closed her eyes. She licked her lips as she daydreamed about the tall glass of cold chocolate milk that would be given to her as a reward for a job well done. Lucy Seven rolled her eyes, but smiled on the inside.
“Go on, you. We have work that needs to be done.” Lucky ordered. Zig Zag saluted, accidentally slapping herself in the face with her shirt sleeves as she did so, then raced out the door. The unicorn grinned, and closed the door behind the filly. “Time to go to work.” She said to herself. She paced the length of the room for a couple of minutes before walking back to the door and opening it. After making sure the hallway was clear, she stepped out and put on her hat.
After walking a short distance, Lucky Seven arrived at the door of the pony who had been robbed. She raised her hoof, and gently knocked three times. The door opened slowly, and a worried looking stallion stepped out.
“Good. I’ve been waiting for you.” He said. “I was robbed of a good amount of money. I want it back.” Lucky Seven rested her hoof on the gun holster on her hip. The stallion’s eyes darted from her badge to her gun.
“Sounds like a pretty open and shut case to me” She said casually. “Can you tell me how much was taken?”
“Almost 1,500.” Lucky Seven had to make a conscious effort to not gasp at the amount. In all of her years of gambling, the most she had ever won was a flat one thousand.
“Do you have any pony that you suspect may have taken it?” She asked. The stallion nodded, then produced a photograph from his saddle bag. Lucky Seven took the picture and analyzed it. She knew this pony well. She was one of the dealers that had refused Lucky’s offer to split her dirty profit in exchange for assisting her in cheating. The unicorn grinned from ear to ear as she considered what she could do to this particular mare. Her mind raced as she calculated the possibilities, each scenario ending in the death of the dealer, and money being deposited into her pocket. Lucky Seven grinned, and slid her baton out of its holder.
Once she found the particular door she was looking for, she knocked three times, then pulled her hat down over her eyes to disguise herself from being recognized. The mare opened the door cautiously.
“Good afternoon,” Lucky said, trying to disguise her voice. “We’ve received a complaint from this particular location. Mind if I come in and take a look?” The pegasus shrugged, so Lucky Seven stepped in.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the mare said over her shoulder. The sound of a hammer clicking into place caused her to turn around. The sight of Lucky Seven with her gun drawn and pointed at her made her blood run cold.
“Look, officer…I don’t know what this is about…” The mare pleaded.
“You stole a significant amount of money from my client.” Lucky Seven growled. “I’m here to get it back.
“Look…I had to use the money to settle a debt. I get my paycheck tomorrow, so I can get you the money then, if you can wait.” She stammered, fearing for her life. Lucky Seven lowered her gun, acting like she was considering the offer.
“I’m sure the original owner of the badge would have taken the deal.” She replied calmly. The other mare’s eyes widened.”
“Original…owner?” She asked. “If you’re not the original owner…who are you?”
“I’m the mare who shot her and took it.” Lucky Seven replied with a savage grin, before raising her gun and firing two shots into the mare’s head and chest.
Smoking Barrel
Chapter 4: Smoking Barrel
“Officer Seven, come in please.” Lucky Seven’s radio crackled to life.
“This is Lucky, go ahead.” The mare said.
“Officer Seven, we’ve received shots fired reports from your current location, are you in need of backup?”
“If I needed backup, would I have responded to the radio?” She snapped.
“Look, Lucky. Not every officer only calls for backup if she’s almost dead.” Although the radio had a layer of static over the voice it was broadcasting, Lucky Seven could sense a certain annoyance with it.
“Sorry boss.” Lucky Seven said. “I’ll try to follow protocol next time.” The unicorn rolled her eyes.
“I understand your frustration, Officer. But rules are in place for a reason. With that being stated, are you in need of assistance?”
“No sir.” Lucky Seven said. “I’ve got it taken care of.” The unicorn switched the channel on her radio. “Officer Foxtrot, please respond, over.”
“Tango this is Foxtrot, over.” The radio replied. “Go ahead Ossifer.”
“Are you ready to file the case report?”
“Consider it done Ossifer. Foxtrot out.” Lucky Seven had assigned Zig Zag the nickname Foxtrot because of her odd looking walk, a result of her sleeves being to long for her childlike legs.
“Now, what am I going to do with you…” Lucky Seven asked, looking at the body that was rapidly losing blood. She scratched her head, looking back and forth for a good place to hide her. She picked up the mare’s limp front leg, revealing a firearm strapped underneath her chest, in a holster attached to her saddle bag. “You little…” Lucky said.
A thought suddenly occurred to her, and she picked up the gun, and looked it over. She used her magic in order to avoid getting any of her DNA on the weapon. She then looked around for a heavy object that would suppress the sound of a gunshot. Her eyes landed on a large textbook that was laying on top of a desk. The mare must have been studying when she made the unfortunate mistake of opening the door.
“That’ll be perfect.” She said to herself. Lucky Seven set down the gun and picked up the book. Pinning it to the wall, she picked up the pistol with her magic, and pressed the barrel against the door before firing it. The bullet ripped through the pages and buried itself into the wall silently. The unicorn nodded happily, then dropped the book, and put the firearm into the Pegasus’s mouth, making it appear that she had shot first and Lucky had fired back in self defense. Now all she could do was leave the scene and hope her trap worked.
Lucky Seven exited the room with a pouch of cash in her bag. She had two stops to make before heading back to her room, and one of them was the Officer’s Armoury. Ever since she had gotten the job, she had realized that she had access to this room, which was full of sniper rifles and ammunition. The unicorn had a special fondness for this particular model of gun, admiring it for it’s range and silence. With a gun like that, she could really do some damage outside the Stable.
The next stop she had to make was the underground casino. With over 1,000 bits in her possession, she was planning on making herself even richer. When she reached the door, she paused for a second, and then knocked in a special pattern that alerted the door guard that she was a gambler, and not a Stable security. The door slid open, and Lucky Seven could immediately tell something was off. Tables had been turned sideways, cards and chips everywhere. Loose change had been scattered around the room. She took two steps inside, and was immediately ambushed by a pony wearing a mask. She barely had time to get her hooves up before a crowbar came crashing down on her. Lucky Seven rolled to her side, narrowly avoiding another blow. She had no weapons on her, so this fight was not going to be evenly matched. No matter, Lucky Seven had been looking for a way to get exercise, and beating up her partner Zig Zag just wasn’t a good option.
The mare had just gotten to her hooves when something struck her attacker from behind. Lucky Seven looked up just in time to see Zig Zag sailing through the air towards her. She instinctively put out her hooves to protect herself, or the filly, whichever hit the floor first.
“Hiya Ossifer!” Zig Zag said with a massive grin. “I figured you’d need help.” Lucky Seven shook her head slowly.
“Foxtrot, you’re going to get yourself killed.” She groaned. “But I have an idea, since you’re here.” Zig Zag’s eyes opened wide at the notion that she could be useful to Lucky Seven!
“Anything you need Ossifer Tango!”
“Go distract the big guy. I have a plan. I think these cards are just sharp enough that if they were propelled fast enough…combined with the fact that I have a cutie mark depicting luck…” Zig Zag had heard enough to be able to piece together the plan from this point. She nodded at her friend, then charged headfirst at her attacker. Lucky seven seized the opportunity to pick up two cards at random from the table. Ironically, they were an ace of spades and a king of clubs. The second her adversary looked away, she used her magic to send the cards flying straight for the stallion’s throat. Both cards hit their mark, nearly severing his head from his body. She looked up and smirked.
“Blackjack.” She said in a teasing voice. Zig Zag chuckled, but she didn’t know why.
An hour later, two officers appeared in at her door, announcing their presence by knocking loudly on the door. Lucky Seven looked up from the bag she was packing with freshly stolen sniper rifles from the armory, and walked over to the door.
“What’s going on officers?” She asked.
“Where’s the money Lucky?” One of the officers asked.
“What money?” Lucky asked, playing innocent.
“We know you were assigned to the money theft case. Your partner Zig Zag reported that the money had not been relocated, but we know you took it. You were spotted heading to a dark room at the end of one of the halls. Our source mentions that you came back with more money than you left with, which earned you an illegal gambling charge. So I will ask you again. Where is the money.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She replied firmly.
“Take her in.” The officer ordered his partner, who took a step towards the unicorn.