Author's Note

Guest chapter, submitted by Scorch215. Enjoy

12 - Retaliation (guest entry)

Lord Bell sat in his study, idly sipping Zebrican brandy as one of his favorite pieces of music played from a classic phonograph, the sound of a cello being played expertly filling the room as he looked over various papers on his desk.

Things had been a mess since the bombing a week ago had thrown things into a bit of chaos, but they had recovered and salvaged things as they always had.

Still, the High Houses were very interested in learning who was bold enough to make such an overt move as to attempt a very public assassination of not just a new player to The Game, but an alicorn no less. Yes, whoever did it either had significant power behind them, an ace in the hole, or were the dumbest ponies in Equestria because they had made a move on such a high ranking player. They now had the entirety of The Council’s vested interest in who the new player was on the board.

Till they receive info though, The Council was biding its time, shoring up their defenses, checking possible loose ends, and clearing weakness that could be exploited by this unknown player.

Preparing to make their own move once they had a target for such an action would not go unmet. It was the equivalent of smacking them with a handkerchief and challenging them to a duel. The Council will gladly meet this challenge with all their skills.

As Lord Bell was looking over reports of some moves Celestia was making when a soft knock of talons on wood echoed faintly over the music of the cello.

“Enter.” The Lord said.

Swiftclaw did just that. he bowed once inside and spoke formally. “My lord.”

“From your behavior, I take it you have something important.” Lord Bell said, not looking up from his reports.

“We have a lead on the bombing of Princess Dawn, my lord.” Swiftclaw said, not rising from his bow.

This got the head of the Council's attention. He looked up from the papers. “Do go on, Swiftclaw.”

With that prompt, the griffin stood to his full height and pulled a file from within his suit, placing it gently upon the Lord’s desk. Without a word Lord Bell picked it up and began to read, saying nothing as his eyes scanned over it.

“Interesting… from mild annoyance to a thorn in one fell swoop.” Lord Bell said to himself before turning to the computer that sat on the corner of his desk, seemingly the only bit of technology in the entire room that appeared to be a snapshot of the past.

Within a few keystrokes and clicks, he was now within a very special chat room.

LB: A meeting is being called concerning The Incident.

He entered the chatroom’s video call room and waited.

Slowly, one by one the others began coming online. Others indicated the message was read and gave approximate arrival times. Despite events, the Council had work and were all over Equestria. A few were even on a couple cases outside the country. Still, to get a message from this chatroom meant the meeting was important, and regardless of what they were doing, they would make time.

Sure enough, within the next half-hour, the others joined the call. Some were from hotel rooms, some from personal studies, one from a private yacht somewhere in the sea, but here they all were.

“What do you have Lord Bell?” Lord Gallant asked, always one to get to the point when not in a social setting, much like he was now.

“We have identified the group responsible for The Incident, though not who exactly was involved.” Lord Bell said. “And I fear this may be partly our fault for overlooking them for so long as they were a minor annoyance till this point.”

“Well do not keep us in suspense, who was behind this heinous act?” Lady Vortex asked, the unicorn mare was known to have taken an interest in the young Princess. Dawn herself would have guessed she was quite possibly was fond of her naive or youthful and optomistic behavior, but no one but Lady Vortex herself really knew.

“I was getting to that Lady Vortex … Those responsible have been traced back to The Purist movement.” Lord Bell informed them.

Several of the faces upon the screen showed the barest hints of displeasure. Despite behaviors in the past, the Council had actually been rather accepting of the Changelings. They were quite useful, if difficult and it was better to have them as an ally than an enemy. Groups that opposed changelings made things difficult or downright distasteful when it comes to such opposition, especially for such petty reasons as The Purists used.

“Well then, it seems we will need to deal with them if they think they can carry out such an event.” Lady Sparkler said.

“Yes, we know the chapter house involved, though not exactly who was, but I do not doubt the head of the chapter will be aware.” Lord Bell said.

“We trust you already have someone to deal with this?” Lord Swiftwing said.

“Yes. I have asked them to join us.” Lord Bell said as he closed his phone.

Almost as if on cue, an account joined the room with a gibberish name. An audio blip indicated they joined the call, but it only showed a default logo. They would be audio only, no video.

“yoU HaVE A joB FoR ME?” Came the distorted voice of the newcomer.

“Yes, I am sending you a location. I need you to retrieve the pony in the photo. All others present around them are collateral and this is not to trace back to us.” Lord Bell said as the information was sent.

“VeRy WEll, PayMENt wilL be HAnDLED in ThE uSuAL MaNnER.”

“Of course. The drop point is in the file.”

With that, the blank account disconnected from the room.

“We look forward to hearing the success of this.” Lord Hem said.

Without any further notice, the call ended. All that was left to do now was wait and plan how to show The Purists just who it was they decided to attack.

<<>>

In the woods several miles outside of Manehatten, a large building stood that looked like any meeting hall one would find in the countryside if it weren’t for the large banner of the bright yellow P. The empty section of the letter was formed by a pony hoofprint, marking it as a chapter house of The Purists.

There were several ponies around the grounds. All of them wore yellow armbands, seeming to show they were members at the meeting, though it must not be important to have so few from the area.

Unnoticed by those arriving, a figure clad fully in black watched from the growing shadows of the woods as the sun slowly set. The figure knew that this would only make their job easier, and watched.

Ponies entered the building, and the shadowy figure identified their target as one of the first in. There were only eight present, and from what was seen, only a couple were armed with pistols only. It showed how little they felt danger while among their like-minded kin.

The Figure would show them why that was foolish. Once the doors closed, they waited several minutes to ensure the meeting had started before moving from the trees, quiet as a field mouse.

First, they approached the powerbox on the side of the building and after a quick work with some picks and a somewhat loud click, the lights in the building went out.

The Figure retreated a ways back into the shadows, then waited. The trap had been laid.

Sure enough, a unicorn carrying a flashlight came out and began to approach the powerbox.

Just as they were about to inspect it, their ears swiveled towards the faintest of noises. That was all the reaction they had time to make before a blow collided with the side of their head and they dropped, being caught by The Figure and gently lowered down to ensure as little noise as possible.

The Figure started to move back the way the pony had come from, knowing there was an entrance and found the back door unlocked.

Entering the darkness, The Figure saw an office, some bathrooms, and a storage area before seeing some stairs leading to parts unknown.

The office was checked, just in case the target was there, but they were not. This meant they were still in the main hall, where there were a few lights indicating more flashlights or light spells. There was not enough light to lead the figure to think everyone had a light.

Hoofsteps started to approach the hall and The Figure moved into the shadows of the stairs as an earth pony with a flashlight started coming up the hall.

“Brin! What’s taking you so damn long!” He called.

As he passed the stairs, The Figure made their move, seizing the pony around the neck and yanking them toward it. Their head made a very soft thud as it impacted the corner of the wall. As the flashlight dropped, the Figure caught it and turned it off, placing it beside the downed pony.

Six left, including their target. Checking this one indicated the two armed ponies were still in the main room and were the biggest threat.

The Figure would need to neutralize them first.

The Figure moved to the exit from the hall and took several deep breaths, calming everything, entering a very relaxed state as everything around them seemed to slow to a crawl.

The Figure was moving, entering the room as quiet as a ghost. The Target was still near the small raised platform, the mare talking to one of the armed ponies as the three remained sitting and the last was at the window.

The Figure moved fast. The pony beside the window was the first to notice them and try to react. They opened their mouth to speak when The Figure was on them, arm going forward as they rapidly circled, spinning the pony and slamming their head into the wall with a loud thud that got the other’s attention. The Figure grabbed the flashlight from the downed pony.

The three that were sitting moved to stand. The Figure reached them, grabbing two of them and slamming their heads together hard before the third could finish drawing their pistol. A swift movement and the heavy-duty flashlight collided with their face, sending them sprawling.

That left one armed still, and The Target.

“It’s those fucking changelings!” The remaining collateral said, bringing up their revolver.

The Target was the one holding the flashlight as The Figure dove to the side. The first shot rang out, passing through where The Figure had been standing.

As The Target moved the flashlight to try and find The Figure, the heavy-duty flashlight The Figure still had came sailing from the darkness and struck the armed pony hard in the chest, making them stumble back with a gasp of pain.

Before they could recover, The Figure was before them and slammed their head into the podium, dropping them.

The Target went for the dropped gun, but The Figure was faster, raining down two blows onto her head and she went limp.

The Figure breathed and time seemed to return to normal for them once more.They moved and picked up The Target, beginning to head for the main door.

The Target was bound once moved outside and placed within their own vehicle, The Figure returned to the building. With careful attention, The Figure moved all of the ponies back into the main hall where the target was holding the meeting. On the platform, he brought the second highest pony listed in the files he received, implicating them as the meeting leader.

The front door was propped open to allow airflow. It was a summer night after all. Flashlights were returned to proper places. Now to cover The Figure’s actions, a tranquilized Manticore was placed within the room between the door and the group as the backdoor was deadbolted.

Manticores were known to be extremely aggressive when waking, so it would handle the attack to come well enough.

With the power turned back on and locks replaced, The Figure retreated up the road and watched the meeting hall.

Within the hour, the first of the screams of panic echoed from the hall and the angered roars were mixed with several frantic gunshots from weapons far too underpowered to stop an enraged manticore.

With a nod, The Figure entered The Target’s vehicle, the owner struggling in the back. The Figure drove off into the night, leaving The Purist Meeting to come to a rather abrupt end.

The news reported of the manticore attack on The Purist meeting, noting how while it was rare to see manticores in the area, it was not unheard of. Five of the seven members at the meeting had been mauled to death with the two survivors in critical condition at the local hospital.

The manticore had escaped and residents were being advised to lock their doors and windows and keep pets indoors and to not travel alone at night until further notice.

There was no mention of The Figure.