The Black Cello Mafia

Chapters

Act 1: Blood and Family
Chapter 1: A door closes, another opens.
Chapter 2: Family is family, no matter what.
Chapter 3: Lodate, Scold.
Chapter 4: Of Kings and Liars
Act 2: The Mare About Town and The Manehattan P.D.
Chapter 1: A Politicians Dreams.
Chapter 2: The Fine Noise
Chapter 3: Reinstatement
Chapter 4: Requiem
Act 3: Romance and The Fall
Chapter 1: Softened
Chapter 2: A Phoenix's Ashes
Chapter 3: Values
Chapter 4: The Fall: Part 1
Chapter 5: The Fall: Part 2
Chapter 6: The Fall: Part 3
Act 4: The Revolution of the Weak
Chapter 1: Lawful Crime
Anticipation [Intermission]
--1--: Four Strokes
--2--: Recollection
--3--:Submission
Recollection [Intermission]

Act 1: Blood and Family

The Black Cello Mafia
Act 1: Blood and Family
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The somber resonation of a cello rang out in the Grassy Brew pub of Manehattan, giving the solemn drinkers sitting in bar stools, face down in alcohol, a reason to stay awake and keep listening. While happier, celebratory drinkers sat at tables and booths; laughing along to the rhythm and mood of the building. And the cello player, Octavia, just stood with her eyes closed; concentrating and condensing all of her focus on the instrument leaning on her shoulder. With such poise and balance, not even rustling Octavia’s long black cloak, going down her spine and hind legs.

It was late September, a whole month before Nightmare Night, and every mare and stallion that were over the legal drinking age stayed inside of the warm, welcoming pubs. Octavia ran gigs in the dark but bona fide watering holes. It was a simple enjoyable life. She got to play the music she loved, and made a stable profit off of it. Octavia slowly opened her eyes as she finished her last song of the night; and drew the last note on a dark ambiance, fading the noise into silence. Every drinker in the house stopped to clop for her, thoroughly enjoying her performance. And with a quick bow, she stepped off the stage and went into the stock room to await her pay. The main bartender of the pub slowly came in, obviously showing fatigue of serving young, but profitable drinkers coming for drinks one after another.

The bartender pulled out a bag of a substantial amount of bits, and dropped it at Octavia’s hooves. “There you go ‘Tav, your pay for the last two gigs you played.” The manager drew out his words slowly, in a southern Manehattan accent.

Octavia had already situated her saddle bags, picked up the bits in her mouth, and deposited them in her bags. Picking her head up, she asked “So, how is nightmare night going to run?”

The bartender snorted, and said “Whatever the way it does. If you're asking for a gig to play the night, you can’t.”

Octavia frowned and arched her eyebrow. The bartender explained. “Well, for one, I can’t afford to book you at the moment, you have to remember, you're not the only show mare who comes here,” Octavia nodded. “Two, you wouldn't even be heard over the yelling I get here. I swear, these colts and fillies think that this is a club, always coming in here, screaming and doing shots like it’s a party. And three, a personal opinion, I think you should take the night off for that. Just some advice. As a friend, you know?” The bartender finished.

Octavia, still frowning, nodded slowly, and sighed. “Very well, Mugs, I will take nightmare night off.” Agreeing as Mugs the bartender escorted her out.

“Bye ‘Tav, have a nice night.”

Octavia just simply smiled and nodded, trotting down the street to her apartment with her heavy cello tottering on her back. Lamp posts buzzed quietly in the cold night, lighting the wet brick road to the right of the sidewalk. Rain had started to lightly pour, wetting Octavia and her luggage quickly. Octavia turned on the stairs up to her apartment, put the key in and unlocked it. Trotting in quickly to escape the rain, she put her cello down in a corner of her living room, and turned to observe the warm apartment.

Yellow painted drywall covered the entire apartment, and brown hardwood flooring covered the kitchen. A green carpet in the living room, and a red carpet in Octavia’s bedroom. A small leather couch resided to the right wall, with a radio sitting on the wide coffee table, and a large fireplace to the left wall. Octavia strolled into the kitchen, poured herself an apple flavored scotch, and flopped down on the couch to listen to the news broadcast of the radio.

More reports of some crook stallion, stealing people’s possessions in the carriageways underground the city.

The police can be so inadequate and terrible at their jobs sometimes. Octavia thought whilst drinking her scotch. Some news about the nightmare night parade and it’s speculation of floats. “Though I may be going to see that parade, I can’t see the actual priority of news. One second, it’s about some serious crimes, but then it’s about some new, scientific discovery that isn’t very important.” Octavia couldn’t help to speak her thoughts out loud. Then the host of the new cast toasted the night off with a drink of apple cider. Every night, Octavia would raise her almost empty scotch along with him, and finish it before going to bed.

The entire city seemed to revolve around the drinking of alcohol, something that always perplexed Octavia and many alike. Some liked the taste of the drinks that imported from around Equestria and others from foreign lands, but the majority just drank to get drunk. It was a rising problem that the government had realized awhile back; the overwhelming amount of arrests of drunken ponies everywhere in the cities made the police departments tired, and filled them with the speculation of never-ending DUI’s from then to eternity. Even the princess had started to take notice of the epidemic and worked some sort of hours with the government officials for all cities of Equestria, relentlessly banging on her door trying to make order in the matter of chaos. To make matters worse, under age ponies had started to get their hooves on alcohol, making the government even more furious with distributors.

Octavia thought all this as she readied to sleep; looking out her window to the side of her bed, out over the Manehattan skyline. Rain pouring even harder now, Octavia could see ponies fleeing into buildings from the pubs, most so drunk that they were thrown out from the bartenders. Again, Octavia thought of the building tension from the government over the entire industry of alcohol. Drifting off to sleep, Octavia thought of how without drinking, her career would drastically fall through the cracks of the aftermath of such a thing. Rain beat with a rhythm as Octavia’s thoughts got hazier by the second, and finally let go of her conscience, dreaming of nothing.

Author’s Notes: Thanks for reading the first chapter of my very first fiction! I do realize, that this chapter had gone slowly, but such is the pains of simple story development. Also, if it isn't obvious, this story will take place of the prohibition of alcohol, hence the mafia. Things start to escalate in the second chapter though, so stay tuned, second chapter coming tomorrow!

Chapter 1: A door closes, another opens.

The Black Cello Mafia

Chapter 1: A door closes, another opens.

October 1st

Octavia shot up like a bullet from under the covers of her bed. It was the first day of the new month, and that meant waiting a very long time until she could have that Nightmare Night off. I am actually getting used to the idea of have nights off. Octavia thought as she looked out the window onto the slightly cloudy Manehattan sky. Getting out of bed to start the day, the telephone in the kitchen began to ring. Instead of heading to the bathroom first thing of the morning, Octavia trotted to answer whoever was calling. Octavia propped the phone in-between her shoulder and ear, and answered “Hello?”

From the explosion of noises and surly, but subtle insults coming from the receiver to her now deafen ear, Octavia could tell it was her mother’s monthly check. Every month since Octavia moved out of her parent’s house seven months ago, her mother would insist on keeping tabs on her. Literally. Somehow getting information on what she did on certain days, her mother would hold her accountable for them, like she was committing a crime. Octavia sighed away from the phone, already dreading the fact that she was going to have to dodge around her mother’s smothering. “Octavia dear, why do you insist on living in such a small, and let’s be honest, disgusting building? It’s hardly a place for a high class mare to live,” Octavia’s mother questioned on “So why don’t you just take the allowance we are willing to give you to make you proper?” Octavia’s mother finished with more emphasis on the fact that Octavia’s family was rich. Coming from Canterlot, only the high class we’re allowed to live there, as so was Octavia’s family. They were rich off of various amounts of goods, but the main one, was instruments. The perfection sought out by the father of Octavia is what made his wooden instruments rated to be the best of the best out of all instrument production companies in Equestria.

“Because mother, I want to live my own life and make a name for myself, one that wasn’t made FOR me. Build character, experience life you know?” Octavia gave her the reason she stuck with, the reason she always just wanted to drift from her entire family. Being wealthy is like being in a white, boring hell.

Nothing came from the other end for quite some time, Octavia thinking that her mother hung-up in frustration and anger. But then a sigh came from the receiver. “I understand Octavia; rebellion is common in ignorant colts and fillies.” Octavia’s mouth hung open at the blunt insult. Instead of her mother, Octavia slammed the telephone, ending the conversation quickly and as angrily as possible. Octavia did her morning routine, scolding her mother within her own mind while doing so.

October 10th

Octavia was reading to head out for the night, allowing herself to spend the spare bits she had gotten from her last gig. As usual, the streets were occupied by carriages and young ponies heading out to drink. Some ponies just going home from work were seemingly annoyed by the mass of people going in every which way, screaming or doing anything they can to arise a small ruckus. Octavia stepped down the steps she was admiring the view from, and started out towards Central Park. More ponies flowed from every direction, as Octavia too was getting annoyed of the ridiculous number of them. Breaking free from a river of ponies, she stepped up to the main entrance to the park, and trotted inside. Some ponies sat on benches, admiring Luna’s night sky, others, spending romantic moments on the grass and under trees. Street lamps lined the pavement walkway, and each one blazing tenaciously into Octavia’s eyes. Stopping under the light of a lamp, Octavia looked up towards the western side of the park.

A large wooden stage was erected from the ground, and lights were lighting the area around it. Ponies sitting behind desks were handing papers to ponies gathered around the stage. A single unicorn mare with golden hair and a light yellow coat of fur levitated a microphone with a thick cord extending from it to speakers on each side of the wooden stage. Octavia was too far away to decipher what the mare was saying, but trotted quickly to the stage. Soon the words penetrated her ears “…And we are here to cure the city of Manehatten of its vile plague! Too many of the young and innocent are tainted by this…disgusting, awful liquid, not fit for society!”

Octavia reached to stage, and snatched a paper from a stallion with her mouth, and read it on the ground.

ALCOHOL: The drink that brings chaos to disrupt order!

Oh no…Octavia thought as she read the headline. Continuing to read, Octavia frowned at the propaganda she was reading.

This bitter, awful substance known by all as alcohol is destroying the city! Reports from clinics and hospitals tell us that every day, more and more ponies are being killed and affecting the environment around us by this substance! It is time we took action!

The flyer ended with the short passage, and Octavia stated listening to the end of the mare’s speech. “…there is a ridiculous amount of ponies dying from Alcohol, but that is not the only thing! Our economic standpoint is down farther than it’s ever been! Instead of putting money back into our community, Stallions and Mares needlessly spend all their bits on destroying themselves, and end up making the unable to perform their jobs due to illnesses caused by Alcohol, and running businesses into the ground!

“And the crime! Ponies ravaged by the taint of alcohol cause our police departments to run on fumes, a preposterous amount of drinking outside of designated areas, starting fights, robbery, and other disorderly conduct make the generous police ponies desperate and tired from all of the activity!” The mare had finished her speech as more ponies accumulated around the stage. For five more minutes, Octavia listened to the propaganda, hearing the murmurs of approval and seeing ponies being persuaded by her words.
The yellow mare screamed her finishing statement. “It’s time we stood up! It’s time we ban this alcohol from our great city! It’s time, for unity and order!” Ponies all around Octavia were hollering and cheering agreement, stomping the ground with their hooves, showing support as the yellow mare smiled a triumphant smile.

Octavia turned to see a large crowd of ponies all around her, causing her to back up into the stage. Getting looks from the ponies on and off the stage, Octavia broke from the crowd and ran towards the entrance. At the entrance, Octavia turned to see the stage. The mare was once again walking and talking on the stage, while the ponies on the ground were screaming support. Turning back towards the street, Octavia trotted back to her apartment, wanting nothing but sleep.

Worry pulsed off of Octavia in waves, running all that she had heard from the mare in her head. Octavia fairly enjoyed drinking, it helped her relax, and it helped her musical career along its path. The banning of alcohol made Octavia’s skin crawl the more she thought about it. Eventually reaching her bed, she crawled into it, her mind burnt from the day and the event that had occurred in the park, not even bothering to drink a glass of scotch and listen to the news, and fitfully drifted to sleep.

October 12th

Octavia woke up slowly, a headache starting to un-ravel it’s self. “Too much zebra imported scotch.” Octavia slowly slurred.

Rising out of bed to drink her hangover remedy: coffee; she turned on the radio, listening to a local orchestral oriented music station as she prepared her drink. The sun shined lightly, as if Celestia herself granted hung over ponies a truly awesome gift.

Now sitting down on her couch, Octavia listened in complete bliss to the wonderful ensemble of classical instruments. After the song had ended, Octavia tuned the radio to a news station.“…and the burglar that had resided his crime in the carriageways has finally been caught due to a complex plan to stage an intense temptation to the stallion that he could not afford to lose. Basically, putting diamonds inside of a purse, completely visible by all in the area.” The announcement of the stallion being captured surprised Octavia. “Okay, I take my insult to the police back.”

Octavia got up to refill her cup of coffee, turning the radio slightly up before she retreated to the kitchen to continue listening to the news.

“Local Manehattan activist group, Purity of Alcohol, against alcohol and alcohol related products have inspired an uproar from other cities in Equestria, questioning the supreme power of its decision, after months of debates on the subject between the Princess and the Supreme Court. So a decision has been made by the government, and it will be hosted in Times Square by Princess Celestia herself! The Princess and three representatives of the Supreme Court will be there to discuss and let the fate of alcohol be known at 1:00 P.M., so be sure to attend if you are involved in this mess.”

Octavia froze, in mid preparation of her second cup of coffee. The news cast continued on, but Octavia paid no attention to it as she ran into her room to check her clock by the side of her bed. It was 10:00 A.M., and Octavia had no intention of missing the gathering. The fate of her career hung in the balance, so it was of the upmost importance. Octavia relaxed as she realized she had a couple hours before the start of the announcement, returning to her coffee, Octavia turned on the music station she had on earlier, and counted the hours.

Octavia was wearing an ensemble of a light sweater and a scarf, the temperature dropping drastically given the time of year. Even standing at the back of the massive crowd residing at Times square, she could see the gigantic stage at the center. A regal looking desk sat in the middle of the stage with three microphones sitting on top. It was exactly 1:00 according to a clock hanging from the stage, and the people of Manehattan waited eagerly to hear the decision. But as three aging stallions walked on the stage, the crowd quieted down with a deafening silence, awaiting the arrival of the Princess to take her place behind the desk. And then, a shadow passed over the stage as the Princess descended down on to it. Taking her place next to the Supreme Court representatives, she was the one to start the announcement.

“Hello Manehattan residents. This as you know, is the announcement of the decision that I and the Supreme Court have came to.” The Princess boomed, using her royal Canterlot voice.

“And the fate of the distribution and production of all alcohol and alcohol related products is: All alcohol is now banned from Equestria, and is now illegal to have market in said prohibition.”

The crowd was utterly silent, and to some, it seemed as though time had stopped. But it was for their drinking habits. For Octavia, it was for the loss of her only way to earn money. Octavia bent her head down, tears forming in her eyes. Now that I lost my gigs…I’m going to have to return to home, with my parents. Octavia thought with sour emotions tainting her body. One of the representatives of the Supreme Court spoke up.

“As of now, all registered buildings in Equestria that distribute and produce alcohol shall be shut down.” As more ponies bent their heads, due to the loss of many jobs not only in Manehattan, but in all of Equestria. Many ponies, including Octavia, turned away from the stage and the crowd, somberly walking home, all out of jobs, and all at a loss of what to do, neither did any of them want to hear anymore about the prohibition.

Octavia thought of the incoming call she would receive from her mother to return home, all the sour emotions being amplified as she reached her home, and fell asleep on the couch, not caring to take off her clothes.

October 16th

Octavia woke up with her eyes closed, and sloppily positioned on the couch, then opened her eyes to a brightly lit living room. “Who opshen the cursans?” Octavia sleepily slurred as she sat up.

The entire bottle of apple flavored scotch lay on its side on top of the coffee table, and several bottles of beer were strewn about. Octavia looked to the window in the kitchen, and saw Mugs making a pouring coffee into a cup. “So you’re awake now.” Mugs called without looking back at Octavia.

Octavia grunted in response, not very pleased with the intrusion of the bartender. Mugs walked into the living room, levitating the coffee to the table. Octavia picked it up and drank greedily to rid herself of her head ache. Mugs sat and looked around the apartment. “Sweet Celestia ‘Tav, this place is a damn mess.” Mugs said as he kicked a bottle away from his hoof. “Why did you drink all of it?”

“Because Mugs, I lost my dammed job!” Octavia yelled in response, instantly regretting it as she put a hoof to her temple. “And so did you, so it’s hard to not wallow in self pity being sober, y’know? I drank it so I wouldn’t have to sit through it.

Octavia continued. “I drank ‘till I got drunk because it’s hard to deal with problems.”

“You drank because you’re an alcoholic.”

Octavia bent her head down and sighed. “Whatever. Why are you here anyway?”

Mugs looked directly at Octavia “Well, I wanted to see how you were doing. You haven’t turned on your lights since the announcement of the prohibition.”

Octavia nodded. “Yeah well we’re both out of a job, so at least one of us is dealing with it in the correct fashion. So what are going to do know since you can’t bartend.”

Mugs flashed a smile at Octavia, and had a glare in his eyes. Octavia just stared dumbly, arching an eyebrow. “Oh you know same old same old.”

Octavia was confused, because same old just meant bartending. “What’re you talking about? I know you had to sell the pub due to the banning, so why…?” Octavia trailed off.

Mugs kept his smile going. “It’s called a Speakeasy.”

Octavia also kept her confusion going. “What in the name of Discord is a Speakeasy? Sounds weird.”

“I really shouldn’t be telling you this. It can get me killed, but due to the loss of your jobs, I see an opportunity for you. Well, you know the Mafia, right?” Octavia nodded. “Well, the Mafia and other organized crime contributors run these pub-like places called Speakeasy, or Speakeasies for plural,”

“So since its all organized and secret crime, the Mafia brews the drinks, and distributes all over Equestria for bits. They also own the Speakeasies to sell the drinks, or to use as headquarters for the operations. Now, I’m the nephew of an executive of the Earth Mafia. Though I am a Unicorn, I’m still able to bartend for an Earth Speakeasy because of the risk factors,”

“Bartending for a Speakeasy is a hefty prison sentence, so jobs aren’t fulfilled very easily for the Speakeasies. But since I have a fraction of the blood, and I am willing to take the job, I am now the bartender of an Earth Mafia Speakeasy.” Mugs finished with a boastful smile.

Octavia sat with her mouth slightly open. “They sell drinks? I can get a dri…” Octavia stopped mid-sentence from Mugs snort.

Octavia heavily sighed “ALRIGHT, I am an alcoholic. But aside from the promise of booze, where does all of this have to do with the ‘opportunity’ that you say is there?”

Mugs acquired a serious tone to his voice as he spoke. “You’re entire family is just Earth ponies right?” Octavia nodded. “Well, then you’re in luck. Come on, I’ll explain when we get there.”

Octavia stood on all four hooves. “Get where?”

Mugs looked back while opening the door “To the Earth Speakeasy, come on."

Octavia and Mugs sat at a booth in the building Mugs said was a Speakeasy. There was a bar at the south end of the building, and there were two monkeys in a cage in the center of it all. Octavia, now have a permanent feature of confusion on her face, stared at the two animals, running around each other for seemingly no reason. Mugs was speaking to what seemed like a waiter, and turned to Octavia when she was done speaking to Mugs. "And what will you have miss?" The waitress asked.

Octavia glanced at Mugs, who just smiled and gestured his hoof towards the mare. "Umm, a beer?" Octavia asked timidly. Mugs just snorted and shook his head, then spoke up. "She'll have what i'm having." The waitress nodded and walked away.

Octavia was still in a fit of confusion. And looked at Mugs, waiting for him to explain why he ordered for her. Mugs took notice of her glare and hastily answered. "Octavia, this is a place that distributes all kinds of alcohol, you need to be specific for what you want."

"Well, it's confusing. How are they able to sell these drinks and not be under the force of the ban?"

"Oh, they are 'Tav, it's still illegal as in hear as it is to sell it in registered pubs. But these types of places are secret. It's obvious you've noticed the monkeys in the cage. And im sure you wondered why we had to pay five bits each to come inside right?" Octavia nodded along.

"Well, this works in a way that we are paying for a show, not for drinks. We pay to come see the monkeys, but, they also sell us...'refreshments' to go along with the show. Understand?" Octavia nodded some more.

"As for how it stays relativity secret," Mugs continued. "Is that there are no sale records to what drinks ponies buy. It's all just the Mafia selling their own brew, it's direct distribution, so no payments have to be sent far away to factories, and no trace of money is made."

"Oh i see. Yes, that does make sense." Octavia spoke instead of nodding.

"But, that doesn't mean Speaks don't get raided, and the ponies inside are arrested. Thats the main reason so few ponies bar tend for these places." Mugs added as the waitress placed two Mugs of frothing beer on the table. Mugs then gave her four bits.

"Wait Mugs, did you just pay for my drink?" Octavia questioned. Mugs nodded.

"You're out of a job 'Tav, you can't pay for it right now. Plus, since i got a new job, i do have the bits, so i might as well." Mugs countered. "Anyway, we're here on business." Mugs said while turning toward the waitress. "I request Applejack to come meet me at this booth." The waitress nodded and trotted away towards a door. Octavia leaned over to look inside, and saw some stairs going up.

Octavia leaned back into her seat, and raised an eyebrow "Applejack?"

Mugs smiled and explained "Applejack is an apple bucker and athlete from Ponyville. But, she also happens to be the second in command of the Earth Mafia and the ruler of the Earth brewing division."

And from the door came a orange Earth pony in a stetson hat, and a pinstripe suite. She walked right toward Mugs and Octavia's booth, pulled a chair up to the bare side of the table, and sat down.

Octavia looked at Applejack with a sense of intimidation, while Mugs looked at her with respect. Applejack looked at Mugs with a smirk, and the two shook hooves. Then, in a split second, Applejack turned on Octavia, causing her to cringe on the inside, not wanting to show a sign of weakness to the mare in a pinstripe suite.

Applejack looked Octavia up and down, then turned to Mugs and spoke with a strong southern accent. "Are ya positive she's a hundred percent Earth?"

Mugs nodded. "I know her family, and all of them are Earth."

Octavia looked at the two ponies sitting in front of her and gathered the courage to speak. "So, why am i here exactly?"

Applejack redirected her gaze on Octavia, a stern faded into s small grin. "Well, your friend here has told me about you. One-hundred percent Earth pony, young, able bodied and able minded, and fresh out of a job." Octavia nodded as she ended.

"Simply, i am offerin' you the gift in bein' the Earth Mafia, Manhattan division. A job of high risks, high stakes, an' high pay."

Octavia's mouth gaped open as the Earth pony gave her a proposal.

Applejack spoke up again. "But my policy is to be honest. This job means you're going to have to kill ponies if the only solution is to, and you can be going to prison for a long time if you are ever arrested on the job."

Octavia closed her mouth and formed a stern look to her face. An extremely dangerous job was laid out before her. I could DIE. I might have to murder ponies. But...i'm out of money, and my rent is coming up...and mother... Octavia thought back to the fight she had with her mother two nights prior, and it burned fiercely in her mind. I would've never thought my mother would insult me so much in my entire life. She called me names i wouldn't even call a rapist.

Octavia pondered her decision, while both Mugs and Applejack stared at the serious toned pony. In all of what could be said out of desperation for money, desperation for alcohol, and a fierce hatred for her mother is what caused Octavia to say: "My answer is Yes, I will join the Earth Pony Mafia"

Authors Notes: First chapter! So I spent most of the night writing this thing, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I have made grammatical errors. After reading the Prologue earlier, I noticed that I had used an almost borderline retarded amount of commas, so now I am trying to lie off of them. As for my faulty pronoun usage, I have fixed that too (I hope), and now I make sense when I write Nightmare Night, Princess Celestia, and Supreme Court.

But as it has been brought to my attention, I have made many errors, and I acknowledge them with a proposal of an editor. The couple of brony friends I know in real life are too busy at the conventions, so none of them can pre read my story, since my free time is at night, I get tired and lose focus on grammer. But I will take any volunteers. Also to account, I’m in a rut with the weapon design. In the Ask Mafia Octavia tumblr, you see Zedrin’s pictures of Octavia’s Thompson, but you never see the trigger mechanism, so I might need to look into that.

Second chapter will come before monday, I will submit as soon as possible.

Chapter 2: Family is family, no matter what.

The Black Cello Mafia

Chapter 2: Family is family, no matter what.

October 18th

“So, does your hoof hurt?” Applejack addressed the grey pony standing in front of her desk.
Octavia shook her head, showing that being an earth pony made her tougher, more than anyone else. The initiation took place the day prior, passing a burning card around the Manehattan chapter of the Earth Mafia, and then having Octavia hold it without dropping it until the card burned completely away. There were a total of 9 people, including her, at the initiation, and she had to meet and memorize every one.

Afterward, Octavia had Mugs take her to a custom tailor to make her suit residing as a member. A black silk fedora with a violet stripe wrung around the bend of the bill meeting the dome of the hat. A black silk suit, with a buttoned undershirt. And to top it off, a violet tie, allowing a own personal bit of style. Now sitting in the same suit in front of Applejack, she was awaiting the reason she had called Octavia.

“Good, because today, you might need it. I have a job for you.”

Octavia’s eyes grew wide. “Already? I just came in yesterday.”

“Yeah well, that doesn’t excuse you from work.” Applejack retorted. “This job will test you for how well you can work under pressure, if you are good with words, and maybe, if you’re lucky, test if ya know how to use a gun.” Applejack finished with a smirk.

Octavia’s eyes rounded slightly as her boss had mentioned a gun. Octavia had been taken shooting once in her life by her father, and she did as her father said “None less or more than average.”

Applejack stood up from behind the desk, turned around and opened a heavy safe. She reached inside with her mouth, and brought out what to an average person would just be a revolver.

“A .375 revolver, a strong and proud weapon. This is my very own personal gun, a long time ago my gran-pappy gave this to me right before he died. I have cherished it ever since. I am entrusting you with this gun, Octavia.” Apple jack said as she pushed the gun towards Octavia.

“Wait what?!” Octavia said, clumsily taking the gun into her hooves. “Why entrust me with such a valuable thing to you?”

Applejacks smile faded as her face took a serious tone. “Octavia, you need to learn this now, and learn it quick.” Applejack, now sitting, was boring into Octavia’s eyes, making her itch under her skin. “We share the same blood, 100% Earth Pony. And because of that, we are family. Blood is family. I am entrusting this too you because you are a member of my, and all of our, families. Now go, Big Macintosh is waiting outside waiting for you.” Applejack finished while looking out the window to the Manehattan streets.

Octavia backed away, and then trotted quickly out of the room, the horrifying stare of Applejack still burning in her mind.

The sun beat down on Octavia as she sat in the back of an open carriage. The sun, now showing the day about noon, was casting light on the unsteady road between Manehattan and the Apple family barn. Octavia looked down on the large stallion, Big Macintosh, pulling the carriage easily on the trail. Octavia looked back on the trail, wary of the reinforcements behind that Big Macintosh informed her of.
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“So, when we are transporting the goods to a Speakeasy in Manehattan, we will have reinforcements behind us, in case we break out into a fire fight.” Big Macintosh informed Octavia as they were walking to a parked carriage outside of a smelly garage.

“How would you know if we were going to need them?” Octavia questioned, worry arising in her mind. “I mean, it’s not good if we do fight with some ponies right?”

Big Macintosh nodded.”Eyyup. If we do fight, we will need the reinforcements to help fight. You are here for talking our way out of any non-violent situation, as well as defending me as I pull the shipment.”

Alright then. Octavia thought. I might have to kill some pony. I’ve fought before, but I’ve never killed. Octavia’s stomach turned in on its self, have thoughts of having to murder a pony, as she climbed onto the carriage.

Big Macintosh loaded himself on to the pull, and spoke to Octavia, raising his voice and turning his head so she could hear him. “Ready to go?” Octavia nodded to him as Big Macintosh started to walk.
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Octavia’s eyes focused on the large red barn approaching over the horizon, and almost fell out of the carriage Big Mac picked up the pace. Coming even faster to the acre, Octavia looked behind her again, still anticipating the reinforcements to show themselves at anytime. But still, no ponies revealed the selves to her.

Octavia noticed that she was hitting bumps from the gun that Applejack gave her was jumping around inside of the leather holster underneath her legs, and looked up at the entrance they had arrived at. Big Mac released himself, and trotted towards what looked like cellar doors.

Time passed by as Big Mac loaded five barrels onto the carriage, and sifted himself to the reign again. Back on the road towards Manehattan, the sun was now defending from the sky, heating the back of the carriage. Big Mac stopped in his tracks and looked around. Taking precaution as well, Octavia looked behind the carriage to look for ponies coming towards them. After finding nothing, Octavia turned her head to a bullet whizzing past her snout. She immediately dropped down from shock, and looked up. There were three hovering Pegasi, about thirty yards to the left of the shipment carriage. Octavia dodged back as another bullet flew past her, screaming “GO BIG MAC, RUN!” Big Mac broke into a run as Octavia ordered, and the Pegasi gave chase.

Octavia contemplated using the gun in the holster, conflicting herself over murder. If I don’t use it, Big Mac and I will die! And if I still survive, and the reinforcements take care of them, I won’t pass the test… Octavia was crouching down, the bullets still ripping through the cloth of the carriage.

Alright. One has a full-auto; the other two seem to just be carrying pistols. What the full-auto was, Octavia didn’t know. Pulling out the .357 from its holster, she readied herself against the carriage floor and the cloth wall, taking in where the ponies were. There was a brown stallion Pegasus in a faded blue suit, shooting what seemed to be a .45 to Octavia, and sized up to start shooting herself.

BLAM. The shot grazed the ponies’ front leg, making him flutter a little in the air. Octavia fired again, hitting the pony in the neck. Blood spurted out of the hole in an instant, the Pegasus falling fast to the ground.

Octavia stared at the body, growing fuzzy from the distance between her and the moving carriage. “I just killed a pony.”
Octavia whispered under her breath.

Octavia was snapped from her thoughts as bullets ripped away an entire piece of cloth, a hole the size of a watermelon showing. Through the hole, Octavia was looking at the pony with a Thompson machine gun. Quickly taking aim, Octavia fired two shots, one hitting the gun before the Pegasus fired, and the other right through the ear. The pony winced, but regained his balance. Octavia looked ahead, and saw the tallest buildings in Manehattan over the horizon. Looking back through the hole, the Tommy Pegasus had a clear shot, Octavia’s stomach dropping and a well forming in her heart.

RATATAT. Octavia shut her eyes, waiting for the pain to well up. After a second, she looked down, perfectly fine. Looking through the hole, she saw blood gushing from the Pegasus, watching as he fell to the ground. Octavia whipped her head around, and saw two Earth Ponies on the road, one with a machine gun, then other with a pistol. Octavia couldn’t stop the smile growing on her face, and the gratefulness she felt for the two ponies. Running towards the other end of the carriage, she quickly took aim at the last Pegasus, and started to fire as she lined the shot. Blood pumping at a ridiculous pace, she fired the last two bullets in the revolver, both hitting the Pegasus square in the chest.

Not bothering to look as the pony fell, she turned front as Big Mac was slowing down. Panting Big Mac released himself to check the goods, while Octavia stepped down to speak to the two ponies approaching.

“Thanks for saving my flank there.” Octavia full heartedly said with a grin. “I seriously thought I was going to die for a minute there.”

“Well, we got a tip earlier that the Pegasi Mafia was going to make a move on the next shipment, so we were sent for reinforcement.” The blue stallion in a steel grey suit informed Octavia.

“Did Applejack know?” Octavia asked.

“Yes she did, that’s why she made you the main defender of the shipment, for the test.” An aged tan mare in a blue pinstripe chimed in.

“Alright, even though that would’ve been nice to know, I guess I understand.” Octavia sighed out. The three suited ponies headed back to the carriage when Big Mac called them over to get moving, heading back to Manehattan.

“Octavia! Ya did well on the test I hear from my two guards.” Applejack exclaimed as Octavia walked in her office. Back at the Speakeasy, the day was turning to night, the bar warm and comfortable. Octavia nodded. “Thank you ma’am.”

“Very po-lite like.” Applejack smirked. “As you award for a job well done, you may keep the .357, and you are now officially trusted by the family.”

“Really?” Octavia’s mouth agape slightly. “You’re letting me keep the revolver?”

Applejack grinned and nodded. “Yes, you may keep the Apple Bucker. I always called it Buck for short. Now, go, drink! Rest up, you deserve it.” Applejack shooed Octavia away as she was starting to write on a piece of paper.

Octavia lingered a moment longer before dipping out of the room, and down the stairs. She walked up to Mugs to order, giddiness coursing through her. Octavia sat at an empty table, silently drinking her beer, and people watching, the thought and horror of killing ponies far away in the back of her mind.

FINALLY. I FINISHED IT. Sorry for the super delay from the deadline i gave, I've run into a lot of IRL problems, and the heat is killing me. From now on, i am not giving myself deadlines, i'm just gonna miss them.

Anyway, Right after i post this, i am going to write up an intermission to explain things, because myself i am confused over my own writing, and i should clarify things for myself and post it as Intermission 1.

Chapter 3 will have MPD (MHPD?[Manehattan Police Department]) And the blog will be a bit cannon again. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 3: Lodate, Scold.

The Black Cello Mafia

Chapter 3: Lodate, Scold

October 20th; 5:00 P.M.

Octavia sat on a wide, beaten-up green couch in Applejacks office. She had been called in for more work, and had to wait for Applejack to arrive. Octavia really observed the room for the first time.

It was brown. Brown is what seemed to be the entire over-haul of the entire room. Brown door, brown walls, brown desk. The room had a warm light to it, almost completely dark besides the half open shutters on the windows, and the one candle to the right on a dresser. It smelt of felt, apples, and gun powder. As Octavia was looking around, Applejack walked in.

“There ya are. Called in for the new job, hmm?” Applejack started in a dulcet tone. Octavia nodded when Applejack finally sat down.

“Well, to put it simply, there is a Speak down on 43rd and Wing Street. We’ve been having suspicions that the Police will raid that Speak any time soon. You, are to stand guard duty for that Speak.” Octavia nodded as she paused.

“It’s at 8:00 P.M. tonight. Be very alert, the chance of the Manehattan P.D. to show up is very high. Now go, prepare.” Applejack said, digging through her desk.

Octavia hurried out of the room, heading back to her apartment to pack bullets for the Buck, and to ready herself for the job.

8:05 P.M.

Octavia stood as vigilant as the royal guard to protect the Speakeasy, and the ponies inside. The Speak was like her own personal one, warm, full of drinking ponies, and quiet music playing in the background. Octavia looked to the other guard, and saw that he was sitting down. Taking the embarrassment face forward, Octavia sat down.

How the hell are police supposed to be here? There can’t be a way for them to track down the Speaks, so how could they know? Octavia thought behind a stone façade. Pulling out Buck to inspect it, a large group to the left of the bar starting screaming gleefully at something.

Buck had a silver polish over the grey toned barrel. The grip, though leather, was enough to hold onto, as much as to hold onto a stampeding bull. The six-holed chamber had a red tint to it, probably a personal touch from the Apple family. The trigger had a trigger guard big enough to fit her hoof through, and felt comfortable for shooting to Octavia. She had packed 30 bullets, six chambers to fire.

Octavia put the Buck back in the under-leg holster, and stared forward. More ponies drinking and having fun for the night. To the right, there was a large group, with three Unicorns, two Pegasi, and two Earth ponies. The middle had gaggles of ponies sitting at tables, while the right wall had booths. Everything looked just normally a bar to Octavia, but the premonition of the Manehattan police showing up kept her wary at all times.

Octavia looked at the grandfather clock next to the bar, showing it was now 8:30. Octavia was gazing around the room, until something caught her eye. A small glint hit her eye as she gazed over the booths, and made her turn her head from the shine. After shielding her eyes for a moment, she slowly turned her head to the original place. At the third booth in the five set, there was a light violet mare Unicorn, with dark violet hair and a pink stripe running through it. She was wearing a black leather coat, and a black scarf, smiling at the blue haired Unicorn sitting next to her.

Octavia quickly looked to the large group to the left, looking at the three unicorns, two wearing almost the same attire. Octavia briskly walked over to the second guard.

“There is a purple unicorn with a coat and scarf, and two other wear the same exact things. No pony else is wearing the same, keep a lookout.” Octavia informed the Earth pony of her suspicions. The guard nodded, and started to watch the table closely. Octavia trotted back to her place on the other side of the door.

Octavia started to stare at the Unicorn, and fixed a look at her. The purple unicorn was looking around, and spotted the guard staring at the table, instead of Octavia staring at her. The unicorn stood up and waltzed over to left of the bar, keeping about a fifteen foot distance from the guard, staring at him all the way. Octavia staring at her all the way as well.

The pony stopped, and faced the guard. Walking up to him to close the distance, her horn started glowing. Standing roughly 8 feet from the completely oblivious guard, she pulled out a revolver, screaming “MANEHATTAN P.D., GET ON THE GROUND!”

The unicorn fired a warning shot, and the guard turned on her, pulling out his own pistol. The unicorn pistol whipped him in the snout, falling unconscious to the ground. Two of the three unicorns in the large group jumped up, pulling out their own guns. Some ponies in the bar stood still before the bartender screamed “EVACUATE, EVERY PONY RUN!”

All the ponies in the ran for different exits as reinforcements from the Earth Mafia streamed in from a door on the right wall. The unicorns started to fire on the guards, a couple falling down. Octavia took the chance and ran towards the bar.

Jumping over the bar, she pulled out the .357, and blind fired two bullets over her head. She heard a pony scream out as the second shot was fired, and ducked down in time as a river of bullets chased her head. Turning on her haunches to stand up and fire, she pulled Buck all the way in front of her.

Quickly aiming at the now standing blue unicorn mare next to the large table, she fired a shot, hitting the pony in the stomach. The unicorns knees buckled, and she fell on the ground full of broken glass, more blood spilling out. Looking around, Octavia saw the other unicorn, a stallion, on the ground with a bullet hole in his cheek. She snapped her gaze, watching as the last of the reinforcements get wounded and fall to the ground. Octavia’s eyes rounded and she ducked again as a bullet grazed her ear. Wincing in pain, she held her hoof to her ear, blood spilling onto it. Octavia jumped back up, quickly firing her fourth shot at the last cop, ripping the front left hoof of the mare. She screamed out, almost falling to the ground, but regained her balance, firing a counter shot at her. It’s just a stalemate. I need to get out of here. Octavia, laying on the ground behind the bar, heard the mare run to the tables to the right of Octavia.

Looking up, Octavia saw the back entrance door, where the bartender had fled through. Now crouching, Octavia slinked over the door, facing where the mare was. Bullets sprayed and hit the bottles above her, drenching her with various drinks and cocktails.

Octavia jumped up in a second, firing her last two shots blindly at the mare to suppress her, turned, and bucked down the door. Running out into the now raining alleyway of Manehattan, she heard the mare scream out to her.

Octavia ran as fast as she could, hearing the sirens of the police stream on the street adjacent to her. Mane wet, suit drenched, she ran down to the carriageways underground, running into the first bathroom she saw. Stripping down from her suit, she threw it into the trash.

“I’m going to be suspicious if I smell like booze and blood.” Octavia shuddered through her wet fur. Shaking off the wetness, she wiped herself down with the paper towels sitting by the sinks. Now with a proper mane and fur, she picked up her saddlebags to inspect them.

“A little damp from the drinks I guess, but the smell of rain should mask it.” Shoving Buck and the holster into the saddle bag, she trotted out of the bathroom to ride a carriageway to her home, the events of the night still pumping adrenaline through her through the fear of the Manehattan P.D. catching her. But she made it home safe, free and releaved.

October 21st

“Octavia, we lost four members, three to death, and one was takin' into custody of the Manehattan P.D.” Applejack scolded Octavia the day after the raid. Octavia nodded.

“We also lost the Speak, and now a cop knows your face.” Octavia’s head was bent.

“But, it isn’t your fault Octavia.” Octavia’s head snapped back up. “I was actually told from the bartender there that you had noticed that the unicorns were suspicious, and that you took initiative by telling your fellow guard about it. A job well done I say, but the repercussions of losing the Speak and our product is still present.” Applejack praised Octavia.

“All in all, you still deserve your pay, here you go, 200 bits.” Applejack dropped a bag of bits on her desk. Octavia’s jaw practically hit the floor.

“T-t-two hundred?!” Octavia stammered.

Applejack still kept a stren look. “This isn’t just all personal. You need to buy yourself another suit since you trashed the other, so that’s half the pay.” Applejack informed Octavia.

Octavia closed her mouth and nodded. “I understand.”

“Now go,” Applejack ordered. “I have to send a report to the boss now.” Octavia picked up the bag of bits in her mouth, and trotted out of the door, worry crashing like waves over Octavia’s body. Doubts filled her mind and her mouth sour as she galloped home in the downpour.

Octavia climbed the worn out stairs up to apartment, wanting nothing but to sleep. Octavia stood outside her door, alert, hearing sounds from inside the apartment. Face scrunched up in confusion, she threw the door open, to a cloud gray Earth pony with a steel mane, rummaging through the coffee table drawers. The mare looked up in surprise, the emotion on her face turning from surprise to menacing. “Hello, my dear daughter.” She drew slowly.

Well, this was rather quick. I didn't expect myself to just wake up and write, but i did. Not much to say this time, so this will be short.

Twilight will be a reoccurring character, and there will be two more chapters to Act 1; Six in total. And yes, a cliff hangar, i was having a bit of trouble on how to end this chapter, trying to make it different from the previous ones.

Next chapter, action takes a back seat to more plot and character development.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 4: Of Kings and Liars

The Black Cello Mafia

Chapter 4: Of Kings and Liars

October 21st

“What are you doing here mother!” Octavia demanded, now sitting in the doorway of her apartment, staring at her intruding mother.

Octavia’s mother looked around the apartment studiously, trying her best to look innocent and naïve. She snapped her head back to Octavia and fixed a stare. “Octavia, you are to come home at once!”

Octavia sat all the way up and fixed a stare of her own. “No.” Octavia’s mother, Steel Beauty, had her mouth scrunched in anger. “What do you mean no!” She said, raising her voice.

“I have money,” Octavia said throwing her bag of bits to the ground. “I have a home,” Waving her leg around to show emphasis on her apartment. “And I. Have. A. Life.” Octavia finished.

A pause took place as Octavia finished her defense. “Where did you get that?” Octavia’s mother asked in a accusatory tone.

Octavia raised a hoof to her chest, eyes rounding a bit as she was caught off guard by the question, and not wanting to tell the truth.

Steel Beauty gasped slightly. “You got that at that....shady place, didn’t you!”

Octavia shook her head. “No! I got it from doing a gig at a small party!” Octavia said in defense.

Steel had a look of suspicion on her face. She straightened her back and said “Well, if my daughter is a striper, let her str…” Steel Beauty trailed off, sniffing heavily. Steel stood up, and walked over to Octavia.

“

Mother, what are you doing!?” Octavia exclaimed as Steel Beauty sniffed at Octavia’s mane and neck.

Steel Beauty stopped and looked at Octavia affrightedly. “Why…you smell like blood!” Octavia’s mother kept sniffing, Octavia now dead still from her mother’s discovery. “And alcohol! Why do you smell like this Octavia?” Steel Beauty demanded, now frightened. “And your ear! What happened to you?” Octavia shifted her back legs from the pressure of her mother, and froze at the feeling of Buck moving out of its holster and clinking against spare bits inside of the saddlebag.

“What was that?” Steel asked, flipping up the saddlebag with a lightning quick hoof. Octavia shut her eyes and braced herself against the inevitable scream.

“A GUN! COVERED IN BLOOD! OCTAVIA STEEL, WHERE IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS UNDER CELESTIA’S SUN DID YOU GET A GUN!”

Octavia turned on her front legs, and jumped back. “I need this gun mother. For….” Octavia couldn’t think of any reason besides for self defense and killing.

Steel Beauty’s put her head between her hooves. “Octavia….” She muttered. Steel sat for a couple moments longer. “You are coming home, and you are going to get help. For you’re…WHATEVER that gun was used for, and you’re drinking problem.” Steel Beauty ordered.

Steel Beauty started walking towards Octavia, like a doctor at a psychiatric ward. Octavia started to back up, bumping in to the table. “No mother. I’m perfectly fine here. And what goes on in my life is none of you business.” Octavia drew out slowly.

Steel Beauty continued walked towards Octavia slowly, eyes bugged out, and mouth slightly open. By Celestia’s flank! She’s going mad! Octavia hit the wall with her own flank, and slid down to the floor, cowering as her mother staggered towards her.

Octavia thought of only one thing to do. Jumping up, Octavia quick drew Buck, now loose from the holster, and placed the end of the barrel in-between her mother’s eyes. Steel Beauty snapped out of her trance, and crossed her eyes and the cold metal now pressed firmly to her head.

Steel Beauty was stuttering her breath and tearing up. “O-O-Octavia, don’t!” Steel Beauty screeched.

Octavia’s face turned from frightened to deadly, stitching her eyebrows, and clenching her teeth as she made a stance, pressing the barrel harder into her mother’s eye bridge. “Mother…LEAVE.” Octavia spit like venom.

Steel Beauty now had tears streaming rivers down her face, staring right into Octavia’s eyes. “W-w-why? Why are you d-doing this?” Steel Beauty stammered. “Don’t you care? Don’t you have any soul, or feelings?” Octavia’s mother pleaded.

Octavia increased her grip on the handle of Apple Bucker, putting the pressure on full force. “I don’t feel a thing right now.” Octavia coldly retorted.

Steel Beauty’s breath hitched in her throat, and she backed away. Without saying a word, she turned and galloped out of the room. Octavia dropped Buck to the ground, falling on her flank along with it. Collapsing fully on the ground, Octavia quickly passed out, fatigue overtaking her entirety.

October 23rd

“Ah, so you’ve fully recovered!” Mugs called out to Octavia as she walked into her local Speak, now dressed in her new suit and ear hole patched up completely.

“Yeah, I’m feeling pretty good.” No I’m not.

“You weren’t called were you?”

“No, I came for a drink” Yeah, to drown my sorrows.

“Well, then what’ll you have.”

Octavia took no time to think. “Scotch on the rocks, 4th shelf.” Scotch with ice, high value.

“Whoa ‘Tav, trying to drown yourself again?” Mugs asked compassionately.

“Yeah, and keep ‘em comin’.” Octavia spat.

“Okay well, that’ll be 20 bits.” Mugs, in his usual bartender voice told Octavia.

Octavia walked up to the bar and dug out 20 bits, throwing them on the table. A moment later, Mugs came back levitating a scotch glass, filled halfway, and placed it next to the now sitting Octavia. Octavia quickly swiped it and took a quick, but big gulp. Slamming down the glass, she motioned her hoof again.

“Sweet Celestia ‘Tav! Doin’ that shit will destroy your throat!” Mugs scolded Octavia.

“What did I say Mugs? Keep them coming.” Octavia said with her head bent. Mugs poured another glass, and Octavia repeated the same move, gulp, slam, motion.

Mugs snout scrunched up in frustration. “Alright, time to distract you with something. There is a new attraction in this Speak.”

Octavia slowly moved her head up. “What, besides a person giving money to get drunk?”

Mugs flung his hoof to the left of the bar, and Octavia turned her head. She eyed what seemed to be a poker table, six chairs surrounding it, and an open box of new chips and cards placed at the center. “A poker table?” Octavia questioned obviously with an eyebrow arched.

Mugs turned a grin as Octavia turned her head. “Yep, and I’ll send some guy’s to play you.”

Octavia looked back at the table and pondered a moment. She turned her head back to Mugs and nodded. “Alright, but pour me another glass.” Octavia agreed whilst starting towards the poker table.

Octavia sat down on the chair facing the entire bar, and took out chips, adding into 1,000 bits. Shuffling the cards, Octavia saw four other ponies walk up. Two mares, Unicorn and Earth, and two stallions, Pegasus and Earth. All of them sat in the other empty chairs.

“Alright my little ponies,” Octavia said while dealing out the cards. “I’m first deal; goes counter clock, we’re playing hold ‘em,” Octavia paused as she gave the last card. “Chips are 1,000, ante in is five, five chips equals one bit, we play for keeps.” Octavia looked up at the ponies around her, all of them nodded, determined looks on their faces. “Alright, here we go.” Octavia finished as all the ponies picked up their cards, and started to play.

Octavia lit another cigarette, and took a quick swig of her fourth scotch. Toned down from 4th shelf to first, she was hardly tipsy. The late afternoon that started the game of poker, now turned to early night, Luna’s stars showing brightly through the black blanket of space.

One pony had already busted out, and another was going to follow his place. Octavia looked at her hand to the cards on the table. Three of a kind in aces. Octavia thought, suppressing a smile. She raised the pot from 236 chips to 250, and the two ponies folded, except for the pony Octavia was targeting. The mare called her raise, showing the last card, and showing the mare’s grimace.

Octavia raised the bet one more time, from 250 to 270, giddiness rising in her chest. The mare fixed her poker face, and went all in, igniting the bust that was bound to happen.

“Three of a kind, aces.” Octavia declared with a smirk.

The blue mare huffed and showed her cards. “Two pair, fives and sevens.” The mare fetched out her bag of bits, and threw them on the table, walking away with her head down. Octavia took a long drag on her cigarette, pulling the rest of the chips the mare had. Alright, I’m doing well, but this other stallion is catching up.

Octavia looked back to her pile of chips, now at an astounding 1789 count of chips. Octavia lit another cigarette as she put her current out, and took another sip of sin. Octavia was dealing again, but stopped as a chair to the right of her squealed. Octavia looked up in mid drag, at Applejack sitting down, a gin and tonic in her hoof.

“Howdy Octavia, playin’ hold ‘em?” Applejack said, looking at Octavia.

Octavia nodded, cigarette bobbing up and down. Applejack looked at the glowing cancer stick in her mouth. “Since when did you smoke?” Applejack asked, eye brow arched.

Octavia took the cigarette out of her mouth and blew behind her. “I always have.” She shrugged as she answered.

“If you’re playing, 1,000 chips is the start, five chips is one bit, and we’re playing keeps.” Octavia said while balancing the cigarette in her mouth.

Applejack nodded as Octavia pushed the chips toward her. “Alrighty then, let’s play.”

“Starting to get a little drunk there Octavia?” Applejack jeered at Octavia.

Octavia had drank three more glasses of scotch from the pressure of the game of poker, and was now almost black out drunk.

“Oh I’m getting,” Burp. “There.” Octavia replied.

Octavia put out her cigarette and lit another. The pot was now at 1089, with both Octavia and Applejack liable to go all in. The other two ponies that had played them had already busted, thanks due to Applejack. Octavia pondered a moment.

Celestia….Luna….Discord….Ten…

Octavia drunkenly thought of the three face cards residing by her hand and the table. Stitching her eyebrows, Octavia flicked her gaze to and fro the table and her hand. “Any time now sugarcube.” Applejack said nonchalantly to Octavia.

Octavia stared at Applejack. “Alright then.” Octavia said coldly.

Octavia pushed all her chips as a raise, and Applejack put all in as a call. Octavia picked up the last card and laid it on the table. Perfect.

“Check.” Octavia called.

“Check.” Applejack confirmed.

Applejack and Octavia stared at each other, treating the last hand of the game like a Mexican standoff. “Count of three.” Octavia told Applejack as she nodded.

“One.”

“Two.”

Applejack and Octavia were both breaking into sweats as they both called “THREE!”

Octavia flipped her two cards, Celestia; King, And Discord; Jack.

Applejack flipped her two cards, both aces.

“ROYAL FLUSH!” Octavia declared in a now raising voice.

Applejack blew heavily from her snout and sighed. “Three of a kind, aces.”

Octavia couldn’t hold the drunken smile she was now producing. She started to laugh uncontrollably. Applejack stood up and looked at the rolling Octavia with a smile. “Here you go sugarcube, 200 bits.” She said throwing the bag of bits on the table and walking away.

Octavia stood up, a thousand bits richer. She piled all of her money into both saddlebag pouches. Applejack stood outside the door leading to her office. “Mugs, take Octavia back to her house, I’m afraid what she’ll do all that money.” Mugs nodded and trotted towards to Octavia.

“Come on ‘Tav, you’re too drunk to have all that money, time to go home.” Mugs said as he levitated Octavia up into the air and carried her outside.

“B-b-but my drink!” Octavia cried out as she floundered inside of Mugs magic field.

“You can get another drink tomorrow missy, you’re going to bed.”

Mugs carried Octavia all the way up to her bed, and put her under the covers, falling asleep almost instantly.

October 24th

Octavia pulled the covers even farther above her head as the sun passed over the window sill of her bedroom. Her head was pulsing and hurting the most it had in a long time.

Getting up with her eyes closed, she shut the window and closed the blinds, making her bedroom extremely dim. Doing the same with her four other windows in the entire house, she was now able to walk freely without pain striking like air raids on her head. Just as she made coffee, her head started pounding again when the phone began to ring. Sighing, she trotted over to answer it.

“Hello, what do you want?” Octavia asked rudely.

“Is that how ya treat a superior hun?” Applejack retorted on the other end.

Octavia face hoofed at her own stupidity. “No, sorry. My hangover is really bad.”

“Yeah I know, you drank tons last night. Before I tell ya why I called, go check your saddlebags.”

Octavia arched an eyebrow, but didn’t object. She walked back to her room with the phone to find her saddlebags lying on the bed. She opened them up, and gasped as she found the 1,000 bits she had won from the poker match the night prior. “1,000 bits?!” Octavia exclaimed.

“Yep. You are sitting on 1,000, but you’re going to have to spend 500 of it today.”

“Why?”

“Come to my office, and then we’ll explain.” Applejack said before she hung up.

“We’ll? Who’s there besides her?” Octavia asked to herself. Quickly dressing in her new suit, she trotted out of the door with 500 bits jingling in her saddlebags.

Octavia stood outside of Applejacks office, and knocked on the door. “Come in Octavia!” Applejack could be heard behind the door. Octavia opened the door to find Applejack sitting on the floor next to a brown stallion with greasy slicked back hair.

“Octavia, this is Filthy Rich, he is the father of the Earth Pony Mafia.”

Octavia’s eyes rounded as Applejack introduced Filthy Rich. “Hello mister Rich. Nice to meet you.”

Filthy Rich stood up and shook hooves with Octavia. “I like her already; she called me by my right name!”

Octavia sat down next to Applejack when she motioned her over. “Pardon me for asking,” Octavia started. “But why am I here and spending half of the winnings I made?”

“Well, I have recommended you to Mr. Rich here for the work you’ve done so far, already handling yourself well within the first two weeks of a new member. And, since you swindled our customers, and me, out of our bits, you will be spending it to help the mafia.” Applejack responded.

“Helping how? Why would I need to spend 500 bits?” Octavia asked a second time.

Filthy Rich was the one who answered.“Remember the Speak we lost because of the undercover Manehattan P.D. unicorn?” Octavia nodded. “Well, we are using the 500 bits you made to fund all the important requirements for the next one we will be opening.” Filthy finished.

Octavia nodded. “I understand.” She dug out the bag of 500 bits she had in her saddle bag and dropped it at Mr. Rich’s hooves.

“There is a way for you to earn it back though.” Filthy Rich said, bringing Octavia to look at him. “You know how working for Applejack, my second in command is.” Octavia nodded again.

“Well, she has recommended you to be a right hand for me, saying that your operations through pressure are some of the best we have. A good shot and a good thinker. You will also be going under special training to help you with specialized missions. Do you accept to be a right hand for me?”

Right hand? Special missions mean higher pay. I do like working here, but… Octavia kept thinking until she thought to stall a bit.

“How much pay?” Octavia asked.

Filthy rich smiled. “You are a good thinker. Three times what you are paid now.”

“What kind of special missions?”

“Undercover, assassinations, political persuasion, and bulk shipments of products.”

Octavia thought before answering the first question. “Aside from pay, what do I receive as a benefit from this?”

“Well, you get a new apartment, you get to command members in this mafia, send them on missions and such, and you will have a account in the bank that shares ¼ of my personal wages. Only for missions though, you are forbidden to use it for personal needs.” Filthy Rich listed and finished.

Octavia’s jaw dropped from the amount of privileges she was given. All of that! Commanding, a large wage from one of the richest ponies in Equestria, and a new apartment!

Octavia looked to Applejack before answering. “Good ahead sugarcube, I’ll still be around.” Applejack said wistfully while patting Octavia’s shoulder.

“Alright. I’ll take it.” Octavia said standing up to shake Mr. Rich’s hoof.

“Wonderful, come with Applejack to my office tomorrow, I’ll give you the key to your new apartment, and you can get started on your new assignments. Goodbye!” Filthy Rich said as he walked out of Applejacks office.

Octavia turned to Applejack. “Thank you Applejack.”

Applejack nodded back to her. “No problem sugarcube. I’m not you’re superior anymore now that you are a right hand of Mr. Rich, so…do you wanna play some poker?”

Octavia smiled and walked with Applejack down the stairs. “Sure thing.”

I am really cracking these chapters out. Anyway, this is the last chapter of Blood and Family.

Act 2: The Mare About Town and The Manehattan P.D.

Stay tuned for Act 2, Thanks for reading!

Act 2: The Mare About Town and The Manehattan P.D.

The Black Cello Mafia

Act 2: The Mare About Town and the Manehattan P.D.

October 25th

Octavia winced as three bullet holes punched through the wall the right herself.

Octavia threw open the chamber of Buck, wincing in pain as the vibration from the gun hit the bullet wound in her leg. Dumping the bullet casings behind her, she quickly loaded six more bullets into the revolver. Ready on her haunches, Octavia shoved her bleeding shoulder into the wall as she popped over the wall. Octavia saw the Pegasus reloading his pistol, and aimed for his head, hearing the blissful crack of bullet piercing skull. Blood lined the wall to the right in the cinderblock warehouse the deal for import alcohol was supposed to take place, when a team of Pegasi Mafia crashed through the window. All of the zebras dead, one Earth pony besides Octavia, and two more Pegasi.

Octavia crouched back down as bullets flew over her head. The earth pony at the far left of the warehouse was hiding behind wooden crates, reloading a shotgun. Octavia blind fired at the Pegasi, giving the shot gunner some suppressive fire, and hoping that he would take the chance. Octavia looked over the wall when she heard two rapid booms from the left. The mare Octavia was suppressing had been falling down with blood squirting over her cover, two giant holes in her chest. The last Pegasus was in the top right corner, reloading his own shotgun. Octavia holstered Buck, and galloped towards him, wincing every time her right front leg touched the ground.

That fucker shot me in the leg! Octavia thought while running faster through the pain. The other Earth pony was firing a pistol he had picked up from the dead stallion Octavia killed, distracting the Pegasus from the rage filled Octavia. Octavia rounded the bend that lead on a straight away towards the Pegasus, and Octavia looked at him in disgust.

Reaching the small crates that had bordered the other side from the Pegasus, Octavia leaped high in the air, brought back down on to her hooves, and charged the now aware Pegasus. Octavia bared her teeth as she cocked her hoof, and smashed the stallion right in the snout, breaking his nose.

Octavia picked the stallion up from the floor, and shoved him into the wall, punching her mercilessly. Octavia pulled her hoof back to look at the stallions face. Blood was pouring out of booth his mouth and nose, and his snout was showing signs of being twisted.

“Come on Octavia, finish the guy already.” Pulling out Buck, Octavia shoved it in the stallions temple, and pulled the trigger.

Octavia turned her head, staring daggers into the stallion’s eyes. The stallion straightened up in fear, quickly shutting his mouth. Octavia’s eyes looked slugged, eye lids half over them. Turning her gaze from the stallion to the dead zebras, she silently skulked away, and picked up the metal case with her mouth. Putting it away in to her saddlebags, she kept walking. “Come on, Filthy is waiting for us.” She said coldly without stopping or turning her head. The stallion gulped and followed, keeping his distance from the deadly mare out into the sunny outskirts of Manehattan.

“Wonderful Octavia dear, wonderful!” Filthy Rich praised as he walked around his desk. “Bringing back the alcohol, AND the money!” Octavia sat silently beside the stallion that kept darting his gaze to Octavia. Head still filled with anger, Octavia nodded at his approval.

“Well here you go, each of you 500 bits.” Filthy Rich pulled out two bags, dropping one at each of the ponies’ hooves. The stallion picked his up and hurried out of the door. Octavia put hers away, turning her head back to Rich for the business he had promised after the deal.

“Right, now, today was supposed to be your first day for advanced training, but with that wound, you won’t be able to for an entire week. So, on the 30th, we have a course to run for a specialized mission on Nightmare Night. Now I want you to rest until then. Go have a drink and get that wound patched up, see you on Tuesday.” Filthy Rich finished, returning to the chair behind his desk.

Octavia nodded again and walked out of the door into the large hallway of the apartment building. Octavia pushed the button to go down from the 30th floor and lobby. Standing up, Octavia winced as she put too much pressure on her wounded leg, and looked down at the closing hole. “Oh, right.” Octavia said solemnly. That’s why. I really flew into a fit of rage didn’t I?

Octavia put her mind to rest on the way home inside of the carriage outside of the lobby. Arriving at the Speak down the street from her house, she walked up to mugs and ordered a whisky. “Oh, and the nurse please.” Octavia said as Mugs came back with her drink.

“Why?” Mugs asked with worry. Octavia put her leg on the table, showing the red bullet wound. “Sweet Celestia.” Mugs muttered as he walked away.

The nurse came and pulled out the bullet as Octavia drank to pass the time. Now fully patched and slightly drunk, Octavia staggered home as the sun sank, and flopped down on her bed. Fatigue over taking her, she drifted into sleep.

October 26th

“Octavia, I want ya to come see me.” Applejack said over the phone that woke Octavia from deep sleep.

“Alright, I don’t have to do anything ‘till the 30th, see you in a bit.” Octavia hung up the phone, and put on a sweatshirt. Nothing formal like her suit, but still…clothing. Stepping out into the raining streets of Manehattan, she walked into the warm Speak only down the street. A different bartender was at the bar, and Octavia walked up and asked for a whisky.

“Little early for hard alcohol missy?” The masculine bartender asked.

Octavia stared at the bartender. “Do you want me to put a bullet in your kneecap?”

The bartender shut his mouth with a loud snap. He nodded as he walked away, and came back with a glass of scotch. Octavia nodded, putting five bits on the table and walked up to Applejacks office. Octavia opened the door, and found Applejack on the ground. She was sitting down, a circle of papers around, most with text, but some with ponies she could only deem to have some sort of political value. Applejack had her back to Octavia, and still did when she closed the door. Octavia walked to the green couch, and sat down drinking her scotch. Applejack was frantically looking around at the set of papers in front of her, pushing some out of the way to reveal ones behind them.

“Uh…Applejack?” Octavia called her name as she pushed two papers out of the circle.

“SHHHH….” Was Applejack said.

Octavia sat back with a huff, and took buck from the holster. As Octavia studied the gun for about the fiftieth time, Applejack had been pushing papers around. For about twenty minutes it went on, and Applejack stood up. Octavia had long finished her scotch, and had fallen asleep with Buck resting on her chest. Applejack walked over and gave her a sharp poke in the ribs, causing Octavia to act on newly formed instincts, pulling Buck from her chest and aiming it at Applejacks head.

Octavia huffed as she put Buck back in it’s holster. “Don’t do that Applejack, I would’ve blown your head off.”

“Yeah, well ah finished.” Applejack said as she slowly walked back to the centre of the circle. Sitting back down in the circle, Octavia stood up and looked at the three papers that were left on the inner circle.

“What is all this?” Octavia asked with a heightened sense of curiosity.

“Well, it’s simply just organizing some of Filthy Rich’s hit list, but it’s also for my own personal gain.” Applejack told her face front.

“Hit list? Like, people he’s been hired to kill or people he wants to kill himself?”

Applejack nodded. “Yes for both and one more. Many ponies want others dead, and they come to him as well as others for assassinations. The outer circle is people Filthy that had been hired to assassinate, and the ponies in that circle are the ponies that have some connection to him in some way. All are bad. A Mafia boss makes ridiculous amounts of enemies.” Applejack finished.

Octavia nodded. “And the inner circle? What’s that?” Two of the ponies was earth, the other two Unicorn: A yellow mare with green hair and three pastries as a cutie mark; the unicorns were both yellow, both had red hair, one mustache, hats and clothes, and apples for cutie marks; and a similar colored stallion with a Stetson hat over yellow and orange hair, vest, and a single red apple as a cutie mark.

Applejack's expression hardened but was filled with suppressed anger. “Ponies on the hit list who have connections to me. Now these two,” Applejack said pointing to the green mare and the Stetson hat. “Are family. Someone has put hits on them, but I don’t know who. But these two unicorns? They’ve screwed me over in the past. I’m the one who put the hit on them.”

“Why put a hit on them?” Octavia asked sitting down now.

“We just had another deal, this time I had precautions if they went foul. But they had an unexpected weapon among them. They had a Unicorn cop there who was skilled with magic, and they did a sting together. They killed all of my people there, and took the drinks with them. And now I need the hit on them.” Applejack finished.

“Okay. So I get all that. But why am I here?”

“Well, I need you to be the one for the hit.” Applejack revealed.
Octavia stared at Applejack and shook her head. “I can’t! Not only am I wounded with my shooting leg, plus, I can’t walk up to Filthy demanding payment for taking the hit on them!”

“You won’t be the one to tell him. It will be me, but you are going to kill them, drop off something to show recognition to me, I go give it to filthy. I come back, and I pay you for the job.” Applejack explained.
Octavia chuckled. “I’m not really in need of money right now.”

Applejack turned her entire body around. “Octavia please, do this for me if not the money? What they’re doing is all going against the business anyway.” Applejack asked, pleading shown through her eyes.

Octavia looked away for a minute. If I take this job, I might get hurt since I’m not exactly agile on my hooves. Octavia thought on it until she decided that if it was for Applejack at least, she would do it.

“Alright fine. I’ll do it for you.” Octavia agreed with a sigh.

Applejack got up and hugged her. “Thanks hun. Now, they have an apartment on 82nd and Pearl Street, the apartment is 423. Kill them anyway you want.” Applejack told Octavia the location.

Octavia nodded as Applejack followed her down the stairs and gave her good luck. The city was still in a down pour, and Octavia shrugged her hood on as she trotted back home to suit up.

Octavia stood outside of apartment building 432. She walked up now donned in her still bloody suit, and read the names on the list of buzzers until she found ‘Flim and Flam’. Disregarding the buzzer, she walked into the door to the lobby, and took the three flights of stairs to the hallway that held their door. Reaching the door, Octavia could hear distant and in audible arguing in the background. Octavia thought of how she should do this, and went with the first thing to come to her mind. Lining up behind a locker that was next to the door, she loudly knocked, causing both ponies to stop talking. Octavia dashed behind the locker, pulling out Buck and flipping it to hold it by the barrel.

A stallion with a mustache opened the door, first looking in Octavia’s direction, then looking in the other. Quickly taking her chance, Octavia lept from her cover, and pistol whipped the pony in the center of his head, causing him to be knocked out. The other stallion stood there, but yelled “OH SHIT.” As he galloped away. Octavia leaped over the knocked out Unicorn, and dodged quickly when a bullet was fired spastically above her head. Diving behind a couch to the wall, Octavia flipped Buck to its handle, and blind fired two suppressive shots as she ran to the hallway entry. Watching as two shots from the stallion passed by, Octavia ducked down, crawling along the dark hallway wall. He’s in another room.

Two doors on each wall, one was opened. Octavia stood against the siding of the open door. She peaked into the safe side, seeing the shades down on the windows. Octavia spied the light bulb up on the ceiling, and shot at it, causing the room to darken and the stallion to cry out. Octavia quickly darted inside, bracing up against a desk that was to the right of the door. The stallion was still, but Octavia could hear he was panicking from his sporadic breathing. He was standing all the way in front of Octavia, against the wall. He walked slowly towards the door, but broke into a run. Octavia quickly shot him in the leg, making him buckle and hit his head on a coffee table. What an odd layout for a room. A desk that isn’t against a wall, a bed in the middle of the room, and a coffee table jutting from out of nowhere? What the hell.

Octavia walked up to the unconscious pony, taking his pistol and shooting him in the temple. Tracking back to the other stallion, she dragged him into the living room along with the other, and shot him in the same spot with his brother’s gun. Placing the gun at their hooves, Octavia walked out of the house in a hurry, shutting the door behind her. Octavia glanced at a slightly open door on the other end of the hall, but seeing the lights out she shook her head, and trotted down and outside on the streets, hoping to not get noticed. Trotting back into the sea of ponies, Octavia heard the sirens as she got farther and farther away from the dead bodies she had made.

Octavia sat inside of Applejacks office, waiting for her to finish her call with Filthy Rich profaning the death of Flim and Flam, and to take down the job offer.

“Yes, ah sent someone personally to do it. Goodbye.” Applejack hung up the converstation. “Well, I thank ya Octavia. You did me a real favor.” Applejack thanked Octavia as she walked up to her.

Octavia slid off of the chair to stand with Applejack. “Here you go, 300 bits for your job well done.”

Octavia thanked Applejack and put the bag of bits away in her filling saddlebags. “Now I know ya weren’t supposed to be out on your leg, so go rest up, you deserve it.” Applejack said turning Octavia towards the door. Octavia yawned in response, and headed to her house.

Climbing into her cold but comfortable bed, Octavia listened to the rain hitting the window, slowly drifting off into sleep.

Well, here you go, the new act. I realize that this chapter is rather un-satisfying, but it was rushed to make the dead line before the new school year, so i didn't have much time.

Wednesday i start school again, and i will start on the new chapter. Chapter on will be exciting, since i am giving it all i can. It's gonna be great.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1: A Politicians Dreams.

The Black Cello Mafia

Chapter 1: A Politicians Dreams.

October 30th

Octavia was sitting inside of the carriage in her cleaned suit. The windy air from the chilling season coursed through Octavia, making her shiver and pull her collar up. The carriage was headed towards Filthy Rich’s apartment, and Octavia wondered what the special training was. Filthy had explained to her that she would be taught stealth, advanced combat, and some type of weapon management when she had arrived to her new apartment. Her old apartment was still renovated fro another month, so she would crash there if she needed to. Already having moved all her belongings to her new house, she had her old bed kept in her room, while the new apartment had a king sized bed already installed.

The stallion driving the carriage stopped in front of the apartment building, and Octavia got out, paying him the bits. He nodded, and trotted away while Octavia walked up to the lobby. Stepping into the chilled elevator, Octavia saw the Unicorn cop that had raided the Speak walk up to the receptionist, determination lit upon her face.

What is she doing here? Octavia thought as the elevator closed and ascended to the 30th floor. The elevator emitted a chime, and Octavia walked into the warm hallway, the glass door of Filthy Rich’s office staring her in the face. Octavia opened the door to see Filthy Rich on the phone.

“Yes well, I have another appointment right now,” Filthy said waving Octavia to sit down on the blue couch in the far end of the room. “Send her when I call. Thank you.” Filthy Rich said, hanging the phone.

“Well, it looks like I won’t be coming to help you practice.” Octavia nodded, still wondering what the training was and why the purple Unicorn was in the apartment building, but not questioning her boss. “But, you will be going to a firing range that also has a set up for the mission you will be operating tomorrow.”

Octavia stared at Filthy with an arched eye brow. “Firing range? What will I be firing?” Octavia asked.

“A sniper rifle. Specifically a Springfield modified to be better use for sniping, longer barrel, scope attaches, that sort of thing. Now, the range is down on Morton and Henry. It’s a really tall and wide building, can’t miss it. There will be a debriefing there, now go.” Filthy picked up the pone again. “Send her up now.” Was all he said.

Octavia walked to the elevator she took, but it was already in use. Walking to the other elevator, she rode down, now wondering why she needed to use a sniper rifle for a mission. Walking out onto the streets again, she took another carriage to her destination.

Octavia sat while looking up at the gigantic building. Faint sounds of gunfire could be heard coming from inside. Deciding to finally go in, Octavia stood up when a loud clang rang out above her head. Looking up, she saw a metallic glare for a split second but disappear the next. Octavia backed up a few steps, but finding nothing, Octavia flailed her head around, trying to see if any ponies had heard the same noise. No pony seemed to be alerted, so Octavia shrugged and walked into the firing range. The sounds of the guns became louder with every step she took; coming to a large glass both with a wooden desk surrounding the outside and inside, and a muscular stallion in a black shirt was sitting behind it all.

“What’s your place here missy?” The stallion said in a gruff voice.

“Filthy Rich sent me.” Octavia stated her business. The stallion nodded, walking out of the door in the back of the glass booth. “Follow me.” The stallion told Octavia.

Octavia silently followed the stallion up stairs located to the back of the building, traveling what seemed like two flights. Octavia stared in wonder at all of the guns that lined the wall, sparking some sort of wanting to try them all. All metallic and glistening from the shining lights hanging from the ceiling.

“Hey! Over here.” The stallion snapped Octavia from her fantasies. Octavia now noticed she was in a room with a short ceiling. The wall of guns lined the ending of the stairs, and a wooden bar was erected from the hard wood floor with a gun cradle in the middle. The stallion shouldered what looked like the Springfield to Octavia, and carefully lodged it into the gun cradle. Finishing the mount, the stallion motioned for Octavia to come over and look over the bar. Hesitant to come forward, Octavia had sparked the wondering she had before for what all of this was. Reluctantly walking towards the bar, she peered over and observed the set before her. A complete dark room aside from two large lights illuminating 80% of it, a stage was erected along the right wall, a podium facing the opposite wall to the left, a large space between the stage and the wall it was facing, and a array of cardboard plates everywhere.

Octavia eyed the podium suspiciously. A single card board plate stood behind the podium. Octavia turned to the watching stallion. “So…if I would have to guess, I have to assassinate whoever that pony is behind the podium?” Octavia asked, scratching her neck. The stallion nodded.

“This set is to practice for your mission tomorrow. You are eliminating the senator for Manehattan.” The stallion informed.

Octavia dropped the Springfield she was inspecting with a loud bang. “THE SENATOR!? I’m going to be lit up by the time I shoot him!” Octavia exclaimed, shaking her head.

The stallion shook his head instead. “No, you didn’t let me finish. This bar it supposed to represent the cat walk you will be aiming from, the set represents what will be going on. The lights are off because this rally from the senator will take place at night, and you will be in complete darkness. This sniper does not have a silencer, but during the mission, it will. From where you will be, you have a full view of the entire stage, and even have a clear escape way,” The stallion paused for a second, pointing to the stairs. Octavia looked back and saw the stairs against the wall. Octavia nodded.

“The security there will be cops and a personal bodyguard. Now, at this rally, you must kill the senator, escape, discard the Springfield, and report back to Filthy Rich. Got that?” Octavia nodded to the stallions explanation. “Now, practice.”

Octavia lined up the rifle, going back to when her father had taken her shooting. Lean forward, eye close but distant, tucked in tight to the shoulder, and… Octavia waited a moment, letting her aim stable as she took a deep breath. With a quick motion from her hoof, the entire room rang out a boom as the head of the cardboard senator flew to the other side of the room.

The stallion behind her was nodding his head approvingly. “You’re going to do this twenty more times.” Octavia sighed but didn’t object. Should have seen it coming.

Octavia rung her shoulder around, stretching the cramp it was forming out, and waved goodbye to the stallion behind the glass booth. Octavia looked up to the darkening streets of Manehattan. A chilly wind hit her on full force, making her brace up, and run as she called out to a carriage. The wind was broken from the walls and roof of the carriage when Octavia stepped on. Telling the driver where she lived, she payed him five bits.

It was now 9:00 in the afternoon, the light from the sun completely out. Octavia trotted quickly up the steps to her new apartment, swinging the door open. Octavia smiled, looking around at her home. “This place never gets old.”

A large glass over view of the city was all the way at the back of the living room. A fireplace. Much bigger and decorated than her old one, was placed in the center of the left wall. Cotton and silk blended couches were scattered around, and the white dyed manticore pelt lay neatly on the waxed hardwood floor. A bar that had the Mafia’s assorted drinks was on the right wall, and a spiral staircase residing next to it. Walking up to the second floor, her new king bed was jutting out of the wall. Soft downy pillows and cover blankets were worn on the bed, with a traditional wooden bed stand with a simple lamp on top next to the bed. The varying colors of the city stood out to Octavia’s large window as she clambered onto the bed, pulling the covers over her tired and cold body, she listened to the soft crackling of her fireplace.

October 31st
Octavia woke, the sun just barely over the skyline of buildings. The cleanest day for a killing. Blue skies, white doves, and a variety of ponies milling about the streets.

Octavia slowly pushed the covers onto the other side of the bed. Stretching while standing on her hooves at the same time, Octavia saw a red balloon ascend the sky. Watching it slowly fly upwards, Octavia looked down and saw a mass of balloons show the Equestrian flag colors. A giant flock of ponies stood about the stage that was standing tall in the October. Octavia kept watching, finally realizing that the night was Nightmare Night. She sat down with melancholy striking her, remembering her simple life, and that she was supposed to be her day off.

Octavia snapped her head back up, standing as well. “That’s not my life any more; better to do what I need to do.” Octavia dressed in her suit, brushing off the dust that had collected from the firing range’s sniping range. Octavia set out to Filthy Rich to conduct business, and to discuss her post assassination plans.

“There will be the Equestrian Anthem playing, and on the last line of the chorus, you take two shots to his head, to make sure he will die. And so, when you get back here Octavia, you lay low for a couple of days, and then you can go, as long as you don’t get caught.” Filthy Rich explained his exact plans.

For awhile now, Octavia had seemed doubtful on the entire mission. A chance of getting caught was high, and she would have to work faster and harder just to escape from all the cops that would be chasing her.

“There will be a carriage waiting around the corner of the adjacent street that would be left from your escape point. From there to your old apartment, you are on your own.” Filthy Rich added.

Octavia raised her eyebrow at the new information. “Oh? I thought I would’ve had to run for my life.” Filthy Rich shook his head in response. Checking his watch, he called out. “It’s already 8:00, now we’ve spent the entire day scoping out the pep rally, we discussed it all, and went around half of the west section of Manehattan, now go. Do your job.” Filthy Rich ordered coldly.

Octavia made a grunt in her throat from annoyance, getting up to leave the building.

Back down at the lobby, she saw a streamline of carriages on the street in front of the building. It was only six blocks away that the pep rally was taking place, so Octavia had time to stroll. The wind had picked up in the amount of time she had spent in Rich’s office, the coldness amplified against her fur. Lights were shining brightly above the farther buildings, and a loud wave of voices could be heard from the pep rally to the walking Octavia four blocks away. Turning the corner, Octavia finally saw the pep rally.

On the stage were chairs, with seemingly politicians sat. An old mare, some old stallions, and a young stallion with a leather duster on. The vast array of colors from the audience of ponies vexed Octavia’s eyes. To the right of it all, there were several parked police carriages, acting as a wall for the pep rally. Octavia backed up a few steps, and looked up to the stairs that were said to be. Walking up the wooden, damp steps, Octavia thought about how she could easily fall. A simple misplaced step could have her careening to the ground. Octavia forced herself to calmly step the last few steps, fear of actually falling to the ground. Standing on the rooftop of the building, Octavia eyed the set before her.

A single bar had been stuck to the ground, and a similar gun cradle was shaped into the middle. On the side was a long, black case. Octavia walked up to it and opened the heavy case. A polished metal Springfield with a silencer attached to the end of the barrel was rested firmly in place to the felt covering. Octavia pulled out the rifle with the strap attached to the back, and settled it down on the cradle. It made a satisfying thud, and Octavia laid forward to hold the gun in a comfortable position. Octavia took a look into the lens for the layout.

The pep rally was a carbon copy to the set. If not everything was wider, the wind was present, it was darker, and ponies were talking so loud It seemed like there was just one, really over hyped pony with giant muscles. Most likely from compensation syndrome.

So Octavia looked around the pep rally, taking in the ponies faces. Octavia was looking for one pony in particular, the purple Unicorn. Finally, moving the scope to the stage, Octavia saw her walk up the steps and speak to an old stallion. They talked for what seemed like two minutes, before the stallion approached the stage and the Unicorn cop took a seat with the other police. The stallion cleared his throat close to the microphone, making all of the audience calm down.

Looking up from the podium, the stallion began to talk. “Hello, residents of Manehattan. I am your current senator for our fine city, and I am again running for the seat. I have served this city well, working in almost every kind of way I could have. I have worked hard labor, I have seen hard ships, I have even been kicked down to the bottom in my younger life. And so, as I rose to the seat as a senator, I had an over view of what working in a large city is like. It is hard, and I have already proven that under my watch, the city is a much more beautiful and prospering place.”

All of the ponies that have supported the former senator cheered, lifting up signs and giving any kind of support they could. The senator spoke again. “And now, the Equestrian anthem.”

The entire audience calmed their cheer, as the symbolic words of the national anthem began to escape the speakers propped to both side of the stage.

Stomp your hooves to the drum,

For today, the war has come.

Octavia lined her shot to the senators head, preparing her body for the savage recoil the sniper would soon produce.

We now live in peace and harmony,

No more do we suffer in agony.

Octavia Took a sharp breath, scratching the walls of her throat, and readied her hoof on the trigger, anticipation and pressure growing in her chest.

And on this great day we look up high,

And kiss our worries good bye.

PKA PKA. Two rapid cracks shook the air, causing ponies in the audience to scream as they saw the head of the senator explode into gore. Messy bits of brain and blood flung across the stage, landing on mares and stallions standing by the left of the stage, causing them to faint or throw up. Octavia shouldered her gun as fast as she could, hearing ponies scream out and flee in terror. Octavia heard the faintly familiar noise of the purple Unicorn call out to her to halt. Running even faster, Octavia hopped down the stairs with clumsy motions. Hitting the ground with pain shooting through her hooves, Octavia pulled her shirt over her face, to conceal herself from the screaming ponies around her. Bullets flew past her snout, hitting the brick wall above her head and showering her in debris. Some ponies were pointing out the large rifle on her back; others were running away from the gruesome mess. Octavia turned the corner, and eyed a stallion having a cigarette next to a carriage. Octavia turned and ran towards him, hoping that this was the carriage that Filthy Rich had promised her.

“Hey! We gotta go!” Octavia screamed to the now aware stallion. The stallion nodded, flicking his cigarette and fixing the reins into his mouth.

Octavia leaped into the back seat, more pain searing her hooves and back. The stallion quickly sprinted away, leaving the mess behind. The noise of screaming ponies faded into the brisk night, making Octavia relax. Focusing on the rifle, Octavia shrugged it off, and began to disassemble it, piece by piece. The barrel, the stock and trigger, and then the scope all came into a collective pile of metal and death. The stallion pulling the carriage slowed down, and Octavia looked outside the carriage to find her old apartment building. Quickly shoveling the gun parts into her saddlebag, the mare hopped off of the carriage, the stallion immediately leaving in a hurry. Octavia watched him go before turning on her back leg and darting up the stairs to her old apartment. Slamming the door open, Octavia heard distant sirens sound out into the night. Lights from outside of her kitchen window showed the police searching the streets behind Octavia’s street. Octavia flew into her room, opened her closet, and dumped all the metal bits of her weapon on to the floor of the closet. She shut it closed and locked it with a key, sliding down the stairs again to escape to Filthy Rich’s apartment.

Octavia stepped out to more sirens blaring to the west park, and Octavia hurried along the street without a hesitant thought. Octavia trotted quickly down the street, coming up to the Speak of Applejack. The upper stairs office was illuminated, showing the behind of Applejacks desk from Octavia’s point of view. Octavia slowed, looking up into the large window to see Applejack with a disgusted, angry, and determined face. Octavia could see the ponies mouth move, signified her talking. Applejack changed her expression to enraged, and took a step closer to whoever she was talking to, mouth moving a mile a minute. The earth pony finally walked all the way forward, shielding her from Octavia’s curios gaze.

Octavia’s trance was broken by the screech of wheels, and looked behind her. A police carriage was sloppily parked behind her, the Unicorn nemesis Octavia had gained now looking directly at her. The Unicorn took a intimidating step, causing Octavia to take a step back.

Both mares looked at each other, both in a stare off. And in a second, both ponies broke out into a full sprint. The Unicorn had apparently drew her weapon, firing rapid shots at Octavia’s legs. Octavia weaved through them, but slowed her down in the long run. The Unicorn knew advanced magic, pulling Octavia back towards the purple mare. The cop tackled Octavia to the ground. Octavia reacted quickly by turning on her back and launching a quick hoof into the mares snout, and kicking into the ribs. The mare seemed to have a high pain resistance, drawing her own hoof, and giving two quick hooks to Octavia’s cheek. Octavia gasped as the mare stomped her hoof into her diaphragm, making her sputter and become winded.

Octavia fought through the lack of air, kicking of the mare and climbing to her feet. Octavia charged into the Unicorn with her shoulder, smashing her back into the brick wall. Octavia stood up straight and slammed her head into the mare. Both ponies cried out in pain from the attack, and both fell to the ground exhausted. Octavia opened her hurting eyes to see a police carriage and an ambulance pull up to the side walk on the other side of the street. The ponies from the ambulance walked up to Octavia, while the police walked to the unicorn. The paramedics were unicorns, one pulled out a dark syringe, and stuck it into the vein in Octavia’s neck.

Oh fuck me with Celestia’s horn. Octavia thought when darkness consumed her vision, falling into a cold and dark abyss, pain fading from her body, and passing out from all consciousness, feeling the scorn form the purple Unicorn.

Octavia woke slowly to a slugged white room. She was out of her suit, and in a green gown. She parted her painful eyes to see herself lying in a hospital bed, and a machine that tracked her bpm next to her, beeping every second. Octavia shifted her cloudy and pained head to look to the right of her.

A giant stallion with a gruff beard and pistol holster under his legs stood next to her. He had a short black mane with grey stripes running through it, and a equally short tail that was the same. He was a faded dark green color, and after putting her neck in strain, found he was a normal earth pony. The stallion wasn’t facing her though, he was talking to a unicorn doctor next to the in front of the bed. They exchanged a few words Octavia couldn’t hear correctly before the doctor noticed she was awake.

“Oh hello miss.” The doctor looked over the clipboard. “Octavia! Seems like that small fight you had with the commissioners detective last night gave you some injuries.” The doctor cheerfully told her as the commissioner turned around to look at her. He stared at Octavia with sharp green eyes, making Octavia want to punch him for making her uncomfortable.

“Well, lets see what they are,” The doctor continued in the same tone of voice. “Ah. A strained diaphragm, a small fracture to the skull, and minor bruising to you snout.” The doctor listed off her aliments, putting the clipboard back on the hand desk next to her, and bowed out of the room, leaving Octavia with the staring stallion.

It was about ten seconds the commissioner stared at Octavia before he spoke. “So…killed the senator, wounded my detective all in one night. Not to mention being involved with the Mafia, killing other cops, killing two earth pony con men, and resisting arrest on multiple grounds.” The stallion asserted Octavia in an extremely deep and rough voice. “These are the only crimes that records have been made of.”

Octavia slumped her head back to her pillow with dread growing in her chest. Octavia opened her eyes again, and looked over to the commissioner. She stared at the expressionless stallion for a few moments. “Why are you here besides reminding me of my wrong doings? You going to take me away?” Octavia said in a nonchalant tone while raising her hoof up and dropping it.

The commissioner stood up and walked half way out of the door. Octavia watched him walk all the way there, confusion striking her face. The stallion said something while craning his neck to the right of the door. The stallion turned back around and sat next to Octavia again. Octavia stared at the commissioner, raising her eye brow in confusion. The commissioner snapped his head to the door as hoof steps sounded under the door way. Octavia turned her head to see the purple Unicorn with a bandage covering her ribs, and a large bruise on her cheek. Octavia sighed loudly.

The purple Unicorn walked up to the foot of the bed and sat down. “My name is Lt. Twilight Sparkle. You are now incarcerated by the Manehattan police department and now under commissioner Red’s command.” Twilight said in a serious and commanding tone.

Octavia opened her mouth slightly and kept her eyebrow in place. “What?” She asked in baffled tone.
The commissioner cleared his throat, making Octavia and Twilight to turn their heads. “You are now a prisoner of the police department. But you aren’t going to prison.”

Octavia replaced confusion with curiosity. “What do you mean? That doesn’t even make sense.”
The commissioner walked up next to Twilight and explained. “For all of your deeds toward the city of Manehattan, harming it in extreme ways, you were captured more than you are being imprisoned. During the…incident, Lt. Sparkle here tracked you down, and was aiming to turn you in. But when you fought, you both suffered a serious smashing to the head, causing both of you to be semi conscious. After that, we took you here, and it’s been a day since then. As for your result for being a massive criminal, you will be a mole.” Red the commissioner explained.

Octavia lay back in her bed but raised her eye brow again. “A mole? What do you mean? What’s that?”

The commissioner’s facial expression hardened with frustration. “You will be a spy on the Earth pony Mafia. The former senator had a dream of making a better, safer city right? Well, you’re going to do just that.”

Well, that was certainty fast. This was the first planned plot direction i made before i even started writing, and i am seriously proud of myself for getting to it. I said i was going to give it my all, but apparently my all is a lot more than this was put to, but i did have to keep going back to make changes.

I'd like to ask a question of my readers: How is my writing? I feel like sometimes i am not being very thorough with my descriptions, and its more like i am speeding throughout the entire story. Like i am not taking my time to carefully write it out. And how are the action scenes? I'm curious of what you guys think.

I will most likely begin writing again tommorow, but i still have to plan out the chapter so yeah.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 2: The Fine Noise

The Black Cello Mafia
Chapter 2: The Fine Noise

Octavia blinked against the scorching light in her face. Taken from the hospital after the conversation, the commissioner (which she found out his name was Red Dawn) and detective Twilight Sparkle shoved her into a small room that had three chairs, ceiling light and fan, and a small window. Octavia could easily tell it was a two way, just so they could be looking at her as she sat there. She shivered slightly, now having to be without her suit for the time being.

In the position she was now in, Octavia let her eyes burn slowly against the ceiling light, at this point being indefinite about her capture. Sure, it was something like a monkey wrench in her plans, but nothing all too serious. She jolted from the seat as the door slammed, Lt. Sparkle walking from it. She had an expression of determination and a little anger as she stared down the emotionally dulcet Octavia. Sitting down on the seat across from her, the Lieutenant sniffed as she looked at the grey earth pony.

“This is a debriefing, not an interrogation if that’s what you were thinking. As much as I would like to take your face and slam it as hard as I could against the table for shooting me in the leg and breaking my ribs, I have orders to not harm you.” Sparkle spat with the finish, obviously disgusted by Octavia.

Octavia just sat with a hoof on her cheek, looking bored. I could take you in a fight, it was only stupidity that I head butted you from the brick wall.

“How’s the head?” Octavia asked with a rude smirk.

Twilight scrunched her snout and stitched her eye brows at the pony’s remark. Sighing as a response, the Lieutenant magically levitated a file that was inside of her coat pocket, putting flat on the table and sliding it towards the Mafia pony.

Octavia turned it over, inspecting the picture of Filthy Rich, staring at her in the face.

“To be blunt, your mission is to take down Filthy Rich and all his executive heads.” Was all the Lieutenant said in regards to the picture. Octavia flipped it over and saw four pictures of different ponies looking at her. Though, there was a sixth picture, but whoever was on it could not be seen by a shading from a marker.

I’ve never seen these ponies. Caramel, Ace, Aloe, And Berry Punch…wait a minute… Octavia strained her neck to focus on the crossed out picture, seeing a single object untouched by the black marker.

Three Red apples as a cutie mark on an orange flank.

“Wait is this…Applejack?” Octavia said, looking up from the picture to Lt. Sparkle. The detective had suddenly changed her expression from determination and anger to morose and disgruntled. Only for a second did a flash of sadness over take her eyes. Shaking her head, quickly she sighed.

“Yes. Today we got a report from an officer walking the beat, saying that he found a dead body. Some ambulance came, and then the morgue said it was Applejack. Funny thing is, she had no injuries. No cuts, no bullet holes, nothing. She just was a lifeless husk of a warm pony on the street.”

Octavia felt a well grow in her heart. The first friend she made in the mafia was now dead somewhere. But through the mourning, something clicked in the back of her mind.

“Wait, how the hell did you get this info?” Octavia said, now growing anxious. Could there already be a mole besides me?

The detective looked at Octavia, no expression now on her face. “Well, some was my own detective work. But this file itself was just left on my desk. The police department never organized this file, it would be under my jurisdiction to do so. It’s given me and the commissioner the info on the earth mafia.”

Octavia stared back down to the file. The ponies in all the pictures just seemed to do normal everyday things, shopping, talking. Just things that never made you think of them as some criminal. Octavia looked a little closer to the pictures, and noticed a subtle similarity between them all. All of the pictures were shot from an upward angle, someplace like a balcony or a roof top.

Octavia thought for a moment before taking her gaze away. Better not let them know this. I might be a prisoner to them, but I'm no traitor.

Thinking of betrayal, Octavia thought of another question. She looked up to see the purple unicorn watching her, giving her a bored look.

Octavia asked her question. “What if I don’t agree to be your spy, Sparkle?” Octavia closed the file, giving the unicorn a intimidating glare.

The detective kept giving her the same look before she answered. “Well, if you were just some petty criminal, then you would be sentenced with a allotted time in a jail cell.” Twilight paused to look away for a moment, articulating her thoughts.

“But seeing as you are heavily involved in organized crime,” Twilight looked back with a casual slowness. “You will be sentenced to death.”

Octavia felt the fur on her neck rise at the mention of a death sentence. She had only been afraid of death in her early career in the Mafia, the slugging pump of adrenaline that affected her as bullets tore through the tarp of the carriage carrying the Mafia’s precious cargo.

But now, Octavia only was edged on by the mention of it, something that gave her a little bit of rage and strength to push on.

“Why such a dramatic sentence?”

“Well, one would say its treason against the princess and her country. Others would say its because it’s what you deserve for the slaughter of so many ponies.” Twilight leaned back in her chair, pushing her fore hoof against the small metal table that separated the two.

“I say it’s to teach a lesson to the Mafia families.” Twilight finished her grim explanation with a nonchalant tone.

Octavia plainly sniffed at the unicorn’s death lust. So, Octavia began to speak in her mind. It’s a battle of coldness.

Octavia nodded along to it, propping her left shoulder on the head of her chair. “I get that.”

Neither moved a muscle as they stared into each other’s eyes, growing a hate for the color of them. The door creaked a shrill cry when the commissioner walked in.

“Twilight, get out here. We just received word from Fillydelphia. The executive Ace of the earth Mafia has been killed.”

Twilight turned around completely in her seat as the commissioner gave her the info. She nodded, sliding out of her seat and walking out of the door, letting it fall into place with a loud metallic bang. Octavia took the photo that was labeled Ace and tore it in half without another look at it. Tossing the scraps over the side, she threw out a large huff of exhaustion.

“One less to worry about.” Octavia muttered with a hint of a disgruntling tone. Putting her head down, she decided to take a nap on the police. To piss them off, to ignore them if they wanted to order her around. and because she was exceedingly tired.

=-=-=-=-=

Octavia awoke to a sharp and rude beam of light interrupting her closed eyes. Opening her eyes she saw that she had been moved to a small room. Though not a jail cell, it was a room.

She was laying down on a small cot propped up by a wooden frame, not exactly a cloud, but not a rock either. What made it a room, was a small little kitchen in the top left corner of the four walled room. A long L shaped counter, built with a fridge, coffee maker, stove, and cabinets. Octavia looked south of the end of the bed to see a door fitted to the wall. The glossy wood reflected the sunlight coursing through the square frame window across the room.

"Where the hell am I?" Octavia questioned in a deep sleep gruff voice.

Sliding off of the bed, the door to the right opened with barley any noise. Walking in was the commissioner Red Dawn.

"Finally awake. Come on, I'll explain." The commissioner walked over to the kitchen, were the coffee pot was filled with black liquid.

Octavia obeyed without objection, watching the large stallion pull two mugs out of a cabinet above the coffee pot. She sat down, waiting for the commissioner to bring her the coffee he was preparing, and watching the now visible clock above the headboard of the bed. 7:24 Octavia guessed it being in the afternoon, considering that she had woken up at eight in the morning.

The commissioner finally came to the table and placed the two mugs down, taking the seat across from Octavia. Octavia looked over the stallion, taking in his dark green coat. It looked faded, as if it had been through a wash multiple times in one day. His beard had the most hair she ever saw on a ponies face at once, covering his entire jaw, lips, and riding all the way up to his short mane. His piano black hair looked fluffy and soft, while the grey that was running through it made him look rugged and experienced.

"Hey commissioner?" Octavia said in a question starting tone.

The aged stallion was in mid sip of his coffee, popping one of his closed eyes to look at the grey mare, he set his mug back down. "Just Red or Dawn, not commissioner."

Octavia nodded. "If you don't mind me asking, but how old are you?"

Red propped an eyebrow at the mares question. He tilted his head at her. "Why do you ask?"

Octavia shrugged, swooping her hoof into the mugs handle. "Curious."

The commissioner nodded. "I'm fifty-three since last week." Taking another sip before continuing. "I've been the commissioner of the MHPD for twenty years."

Octavia let her eyes widen a bit as a sign of having acknowledged his revelation. She let her mug come to the table with a hollow thud, looking back up to the glossy eyed stallion.

"What is this place? If i had to take a guess, I'd say some luxury cell." Octavia said, arching a leg over the chair head.

The commissioner raised both his eye brows, giving a flick of his head. "Wow, good guess. Really nailed it there." Another sip.

Octavia smiled at her own cleverness. The conversation died for a minute, silence overwhelming her eardrums, the own beating of her heart becoming the loudest noise in the room. The commissioner cleared his throat to signify he was about to speak.

"You know, for a murderous pony who is cold hearted, you have manners. That strikes me odd.". The commissioner said, wiping a hoof across his hair.

Octavia snorted with a wicked grin. "Yeah. I was born in Canterlot and raised there all my life. It wasn't until i had to go to college that i decided to move to Manehattan. I quit really quickly after enrollment though, my cello playing became a full time job." Octavia paused to look out the window.

To the commissioner and any other pony that would've been in the room, it would've looked like the big tough mare, was slowly shrinking to a weak form of herself. She looked out the window to remember her life before drastically changing, even though it was not all too long ago that she went down to her usual spot to show her cello skills.

"But as the prohibition came closer, i lost my job. I'm sure you have one such file with info on me, but i played cello in pubs at night, for those ponies who could use a long throb of sadness, a small effort of comfort in where they had been lonely for a very long time. They clapped, grateful of what some called 'charity to the public'. I didn't see it as charity or anything of the like, i just saw it as a escape from life. My cello now sits still in my apartment, slowly collecting dust. A sad sight for a sad instrument." Octavia finished her speech, looking back to the commissioner.

His face was lighted against the dark wall placed behind him. He had his own little grin carved into his face, and a tiny glimmer in his eye.

"Wow. That was pretty good. You had me actually thinking there." The commissioner kept smiling his friendly smile, leaning back in the small table chair.

Octavia sighed, wiping the thought of her old life from her memory. Time to get to work.

"So Red, why are you here?" Octavia now sat facing the stallion, looking right at him.

The commissioner had gotten up for another cup of coffee, and was now sitting down. "Can i not visit my prisoners?" The commissioner asked innocently.

Octavia simply shook her head.

The commissioner is the one who snorted this time. "Fine. I came here because I needed to explain somethings about this entire deal you're going through."

Oh great, another debriefing. Octavia thought within her mind, struggling not to grimace.

"What this is technically, is were you will be living until you are released from our command. Every night you will come here to check in your weapons and sleep. There is only one exception to this rule. If you are assigned a operation from your current boss, then you will need to contact us immediately" The commissioner explained.

"Oh I see, you wan't me to still be loyal to the family. I understand your game Red, but exactly how am i supposed to kill all these ponies without having the entire family turn on me?" Octavia asked the commissioner doubtfully.

The commissioner gave a non-committal shrug. "Sooner or later, you're going to have to turn on them.But i suggest early on you be discrete." Red finished his second cup of coffee but stood in the seat.

Octavia through her hooves in the air, letting them fall to the table. "Thanks." She said in a huff.

The commissioner smirked at her frustration. "Get some rest, you start tomorrow." The commissioner stood up from the seat and walked out of the room.

Octavia still had her thoughts running a mile a minute by the time she climbed into her bed. Creaks emitted from the cot every time she had shifted her body around, keeping her awake. Some call outs could be heard faintly from her room, some criminal ponies who were bantering the nearby patrol ponies. Octavia sighed, truly feeling like a prisoner now. She had checked under the door, only too see the back hooves of a guard blocking her view. The grief of a dead Applejack rose to her mind as she uneasily fell into a somber sleep.

My god, that took way too long. Now time for some news.

As you can see, i am slightly changing the format, as doing the other thing for a divider was a little tedious. I am also trying to improve the non-action scenes, slowing them down a bit and such. Don't think i really nailed it here, but i'll try harder next time.

OVER 30 FAVORITES. I made a mark, finally! Thank you to my 32 readers, i'm glad you can wade through my almost little to none comprehensible writing. I love you guys for making me feel like writing isn't a chore. I'm going to do some stuff to improve myself, so that's to look forward to.

Here again is the tumblr i made. I'm going to put it up on the description of the story if any of you are interested. (Shameless promotion) http://wolfoblivion.tumblr.com/

Some time during November, i will be having surgery, which means a long time away from the computer, but before then, i'll be working double time to put out more chapters.

Thanks for reading!

P.S.: Edits could not be made. FIMfiction is glitching out on me, sorry.

Chapter 3: Reinstatement

The Black Cello Mafia
Chapter 3: Reinstatement

Octavia sat inside of the uncomfortably warm hallway of Filthy Rich's office building. After being let out of the prison facility, she was given her clean and reassembled suit and shipped off in a carriage to the building. Sighing, she looked around with anxiety coursing her veins.

I wonder whats going to happen. I've been gone for awhile and hadn't reported to Filthy after the job. She thought. It was no use of standing around, so she had gotten up and opened the door. Filthy was there, behind his desk and shoveling some papers into his desk cabinet. At the sound of the door opening he looked up with wide eyes.

"Octavia!" He had sat straight up to correct his messy posture, but he still looked ruffled.

Octavia could see the anger take his eyes. He stood up from his desk, beginning to speak.

"It's been three days Octavia, if you couldn't come back here, you should've called. What happened?"

Octavia stayed seated, staring her boss right in the face. "Well, after i killed the senator, i ran to my apartment to dump the gun. After then i ran to the apartment, and stayed there for two days. The third i spent around Manehattan to view the aftermath of the job. And to get a drink at Applejack's speak." Octavia hadn't planned a lie, cursing her self afterwards for not doing so. Thank you police force for allowing me such great options of death.

Filthy Rich looked at Octavia suspiciously, and Octavia noticed how disgruntled the stallion looked. His hair was in a mess, and his tie was slightly undone.

"This has been a hard week Octavia, I lost two executives and now I have heat from the zebras. After that little stint at the warehouse, they've been questioning me. I've also been losing some of my men, and my patience wears thin." Filthy sighed, shaking his head and walking to a whiskey rack lining the left wall. Octavia hadn't noticed it was there, but now she eye'd it while craving a scotch on the rocks.

Filthy Rich had walked back to his desk, picking up a file to look over. He threw it to Octavia, sliding across the ground to her hooves. She pawed at the flap, opening it to see another picture of Ace.

"The zebra's have killed Ace, and you most likely know already from visiting Applejack's speak that she has too been killed. What I need you to do is hunt the assassin that had killed Ace." A picture of a zebra was notched in a paperclip next to Ace's picture.

Octavia thought it over before coming up with her next question. "And Applejack? Who killed her?"

Filthy Rich shook his head. "Along with the knowledge of HOW she died, we also don't know who." He threw the brown liquid down his throat, giving a harsh gulp as it ran down it.

Octavia looked back, blowing air out of her nostrils. What the hell happened to you Applejack?

Octavia looked down to see the face of a zebra on the next page. "And the assassin is a zebra? Do zebra's go through different training methods than pony assassins?"

Filthy gave a shrug. "Damned if i know. The only time i went to the zebra homeland was to have a meeting with a drug lord, and i never indulged in the culture."

Octavia sighed within herself. She began to feel hollow from the indifference she was experiencing from herself and all the ponies around her. Closing the file and tossing it in her bag, Octavia stood from her sitting position and put her hoof to the door, ready to leave. Just as she was turning the knob, Filthy cleared his throat, causing the bored mare to turn her equally bored face towards the stallion.

"And come back this time Octavia." Filthy said while looking down his glass, as if he were going to find all the answers to his problems there. Most likely than not.

Octavia gave a shrug of her own, smiling devilishly on her way out as Filthy gave a snort of annoyance and frustration.

Now sitting in a cab driving towards her objective, Octavia thought to herself. Am i really equipped to fight a trained assassin? I've only really fought thugs with some small know-how on guns. Aside from Detective Sparkle, who is probably trained in magic and combat. So i guess my chances of winning against an immigrant is rather high.

=-=-=-=

Octavia reloaded her revolver as fast as she could, dodging the stray bullets whizzing past her head as she dived to an overturned desk. Bracing against her haunches, she peeked over the edge and ducked back down in just enough time to watch as three nine millimeters holes were punched into a wall by an automatic thompson. Octavia watched as blood oozed out of the sword gash she had obtained from the zebra on her left leg, then snapped her head and blindly fired twice over the desk. Gritting her teeth, Octavia ran out of her cover and flung herself towards the corner wall of the hallway entrance the zebra was currently hiding in. Clicking the hammer back and readying her shoulders, Octavia concentrated her fire down the iron sights and pulled off two more cracks, causing the zebra to yip and duck back behind the wall. This needs to end soon, the cops are probably on their way right now. And i really don't want to go to bed early.

Octavia broke from cover as the zebra bursted more fire and lighted up the glossy wooden desk. Mane now long and messy, she looked around the small kitchen of the apartment to find something of use. I can't just waltz down the hallway like Flim and Flam's, I need some protection. Octavia thought as she came to her decision.

Angling herself while squatting down, Octavia struck out with her two back legs, bucking the stove door right off of its hinges. She watched as it came down with a barrage of loud metallic bangs, and walked over to it to right the makeshift shield. Checking it to reach up to her breast, she flipped it so that the outside face would be towards her, the stronger metal facing outward. She trotted with the door on her back, quickly putting it to the ground and waiting. Sure enough, bullets struck at the metal like a sledgehammer to a bus, the recoil was present and hard, almost enough to make Octavia stumble behind it. Smiling at her quick genius, Octavia advanced towards the zebra.

Octavia pulled to the right side of the shield, firing once at the baffled zebra. The bullet grazed the snout of the black and grey creature, making her squeal and crash into a unseen door. Octavia shifted her stove door so that when she pushed it went ahead of her, turning the corner to see the zebra toting a twelve gauge in her hooves.

"Oh shit." Octavia murmured as she braced herself to the door. In an instant, Octavia went flying to the wall behind her, bleeding from two pellets scattered throughout her right back leg. But alive nonetheless as she barreled into the drywall, blood painting in little splurges from her sword wound. She watched the zebra move towards her in a fuzzy daze, her head pounding and growing hot from the blood loss. The zebra now stood over her like a colossus, pulling out her katana from her shoulder sheath to execute. Octavia swept her hoof to find the revolver beside her, pulling it up in just enough time to fire her last round into the knee cap of the zebra.

The assassin screamed out in pain and fury as she buckled and fell to the floor, dropping in her growing pool of blood. Octavia felt annoyed as the zebra still clung to the idea of standing, half way up to a full posture. Octavia hunched up and clocked the zebra in the jaw, forcing her to collapse to the ground.

The whole apartment smelt of gunpowder and blood, anger and a small bit of fear. Octavia noted this as she clambered to stand over the painting zebra on the ground. The pool of blood was starting to grow ridiculously fast for a knee cap wound, but Octavia hadn't cared much for that fact.

"You know, i have to thank you on killing the stallion you did." Octavia began to praise the gasping zebra, creating a scowl of disgust down on her pained target. "You saved me a lot of time a explanations by that. But, now i have to end you for these wonderful wounds you've given me. Good fight though, helped me get back in the game." Octavia reached past the whimpering zebra to grasp the sword in her teeth. She propped the sharp edge against the temple of the creature, who was now openly crying.

"Please don't kill me." The zebra whined.

Octavia shrugged. "Under different circumstances, maybe not. But for this? Yeah." Was all she said before shoving the sword through her skull, grimacing from the thick and heavy sound of metal going through brain. Octavia quickly left the warzone of an apartment, not looking back as she pulled her suit off and trotted through the pain down the street.

It was some time and a circumstantial amount of police carriages before she made it to the Applejack's speak. With the moon ascending the sky, and the speak warm and teaming with tipsy ponies, Octavia was now healed and sitting by the bar with her usual scotch on the rocks. Mugs still operated the bar, and shared condolences with Octavia over Applejack.

"Yeah, it was a bit of a shock. It happened the night the speak was closed and the senator was assassinated." Mugs said dutifully as he wiped the bar down. Octavia withdrew her lips from the glass to speak.

"So with Applejack gone, who runs the alcohol branch?"

"Well it's not a lasting thing, but for right now Filthy is the controler of the Manehattan branch for the time being. It would've been Big Mac, but he's a bit daft to run numbers and to organize operations."

Octavia nodded. "Wait, how do you know this?"

Mugs stopped and looked up to Octavia. "I was told because I operate the bar, and with the office not being used, it was within my right apparently to know."

Octavia shrugged, accepting the answer. Time passed and the moon was now on it's descent, yet the population inside of the speak had not dwindled. Octavia had moved on to her third glass and was taking place in a rough poker match. Two had already busted, but two others remained. Octavia was stuck in a folding streak due to bad cards, and decided to opt out a couple turns for a break. Looking around, the speak was warmly lit, as though nothing ever had happened to it. A hearty piano strung out in a harmonic rhythm along the drunken banter and conversations of a variety of ponies. Walking back to the bar, Octavia sat on the stool to wait for her refil.

Her eye's twitched when a dull green color swished for a moment in the corner of her vision. Turning her head, a small figure inside of a long coat was sitting beside Octavia. Could you look any more suspicious?

Who ever the pony was, they were definitely reluctant to be known. The coat covered their cutie mark and tail, along with the collar covering the lower half of the head. Gloves were worn over the hooves along with drawn sleeves, and hat equipped with a black shawl covered the top half of their head. Their mane was completely hidden behind the mess of clothing. How did you even get in? There's no way to even identify you.

Octavia flinched when the pony turned their head to her, giving her an unseen stare. The pony shifted off the seat and kept staring at Octavia. The black maned mare drew a hoof up to her breast, giving the coat clad a menacing stare and a frown.

"What do you want?" Octavia spat.

The pony reached into one of the small front pockets of the coat, bringing out a small weathered piece of paper and placing it on the bar in front of the mare. Octavia took a unconscious sniff, breathing in the small ponies stench. UGH! Smells like the sewer! But wait...something behind that...something feminine.

The coated pony looked at the mare slowly and creepily, making Octavia shiver. Almost like the pony knew Octavia had smelled them. The pony broke off, dashing out the door and down the street. Octavia was completely confused. What the hell was that?

Mugs had apparently set down her new glass during the encounter, and Octavia swiped the glass from the bar, stuffing the small paper in her undershirt pocket. Walking to the table with her glass in her teeth, Octavia told her poker mates she was out of the game. Turning back, Octavia climbed up to the old office of her friend. Opening the door, Octavia looked about the room. It was even cleaner then when Applejack had occupied it. She went to the desk, sitting down behind it. Glass of scotch to her right, Octavia sat looking around.

This could be the perfect time to look through her stuff. If it's all still here. Octavia thought, opening the drawers of the desk. All of the drawers held no items besides reports and papers to the brother and sister branches around Equestria, except the third bottom drawer on the left. Octavia stared in wonder by the item inside. A large necklace, golden and glossy, with a ruby-red apple embedded in the center.

"What is this thing?" Octavia said out loud as she brought the necklace from the drawer to the desk. Octavia set it down, reluctant to break her stare from it to read the note she was given by the mystery pony. Pulling it out and setting it down in the center of items, Octavia was almost scared to read what was inside. Ignoring her anxiety and fearful thoughts, she unfolded the paper.

Dear Octavia,

Do not trust the mare with blue hair. She is deceiving you under false claims. Come to the address on the bottom tomorrow at noon. See you there.

Faust & 30th

Octavia read the note again and again. Who was this mare with blue hair? Who was H? Why the hell were they so anxious to keep hidden?

Octavia couldn't keep her thoughts running in her alcohol addled mind, and decided to go back to the police station to sleep. Out on the street, she halted a cab and sped down to the precinct. The world had grown fuzzy and her balance had left her as she stumbled down the halls of the police station. Finally in what seemed eons of time, Octavia collapsed to the cot of her luxury cell, the alcohol running strong and making her sleepy, shifting off in a dizzy spin of drunken dreams.

=-=-=-=

This chapter was sort of weird to write, I kept doubting credibility and pacing while writing before giving in to my wanting to finish. So if it seems rushed or short, then at least you get progression.

The next two chapters the action takes a backseat to let me pace my dialog and character development, which will lead to the end of the second act. Also, cutting the chapter limit between acts from six to five to make it faster.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 4: Requiem

The Black Cello Mafia
Chapter 4: Requiem

Octavia stood by the corner of Faust, looking around her surroundings. Carriages and ponies moved about the city as they always did, yet there was an odd tint of darkness to Octavia. As though a filer had been placed over her vision, and it bugged her. She didn't understand, yet decided to ignore it. Now looking for the apartment building 30th, she pondered what the mysterious pony wanted with her. She couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation, things were happening to fast for her mind to calm down and think about the approaching matters that had surfaced everyday.

"There it is." Octavia exclaimed aloud as she spotted a unkempt bronze 30 by a door.

The door belonged to a one story building with glossy and cracked windows that shown a firm layer of dust. Most of the metal architecture that took place on the building was rusted and worn out, showing years of neglect. Shrugging, Octavia twisted the door knob on the door, which rustled around inside of its socket. The door creaked slowly open, making Octavia's spine shiver at the shrill noise. Looking back behind her and to her sides one more time, Octavia ducked into the building.

Though the building was only one story, the actual vastness impressed Octavia. It looked like a small garage, appropriate for carriage repairs. But the odd thing was; there was no shutter doors for it. No jacks to raise a carriage, nothing at all to give the building a set in time and occupation. Besides a small desk with a desk lamp besides it. Ignoring the majority of the building, Octavia trotted over to the desk to investigate.

A small leather bound book was among the center with a uncapped feather next to it. A whiskey glass stood out from the desk, a little bit of brown liquid still in place. Octavia took one more wide glance around the room before sitting in the desk chair beside her. Opening the book, Octavia read the first entry.

Whas te day? I'm non sure. This crzay blu maned mar is holing a gun to my hed. I tink im gonna pass-

And that's where it ended. Flipping to the next page, Octavia read the next entry, which was fortunately more coherent.

November 2nd

I woke up on the bed on the wall. A note was left for me by that mare saying that the drug she made me take caused me to lose thought process. Don't really understand, but I guess that's the only reason why the first entry had been so lazy. This mare kidnapped me, threatening to kill the family If i didn't tell her the secrets to Filthy Rich's plans. I didn't even know he had plans aside from running the goods. Should he really be in charge here? He could be putting us in danger. If that mare ever comes back, I'll punch her teeth in until she tells me what the hell is going on!

Next entry. Before reading, Octavia wondered who this pony was. It was obviously a earth Mafia member, but why would they have information?

November 3rd

The mare is letting me go out to do her dirty work. She's allowed me out of the basement and dragged a desk in this rotting place for me to use. She wants me to kill Berry Punch, an executive of our Mafia. She threatened to kill my sister if I didn't follow her orders. I don't want to do it, but I need to. Shouldn't be hard though, I never really liked that drunk, always being rude all the time. Anyway, she set a meeting with me later today to explain what was going on after negotiating some terms before she left. Always climbing through the skylight. Whats odd to me though, is why does she want Berry dead? What purpose does that have?

"What?!" Octavia said a little above an inside voice. "Why do these ponies drop off like flies?" So far two executive's dropped off the face of the earth, and not by her hooves. Something else was at play here, something a little bit bigger than her. She flipped to the next entry, which was the last.

November 3

The mare explained everything to me. I can never go back to my normal life. Every pony thinks I'm dead in a gutter somewhere, my family, the Mafia, even my old friends. She drugged me, making me pass out on the street, she said it stopped my heart for a short period of time. She came back for me in the morgue, pulling me out to take me here just to do her work. I need to tell some pony. The last pony i can trust.

Octavia read the entry again and again, making a connection In her mind.

"Dead in the gutter....Passed out in the street...that means!"

"Hello Octavia." A voice sounded behind the joyful mare. Whipping around and dropping out of the chair in one move, Octavia stood face to face with Applejack.

"Applejack!" Octavia exclaimed. "You're alive!"

Applejack couldn't stop from smiling, walking over to the jaw dropped mare and pulling her into a hug.

=-=-=-=-=

After moving into the basement, the two mares talked.

"So wait," Octavia began. "You didn't really die?"

Applejack nodded, sitting in a chair next to the bed. "She said that the drug she forced on me was made by some of the best scientists in Equestria. Something way past our time."

Octavia looked around the room. Bed strapped to the wall and a single light hung by the ceiling. The walls were glossy and smelt of mold, corroded around with a green film. It was honestly disgusting.

Applejack cleared her throat. "So what happened on Nightmare Night?"

Octavia looked back to Applejack with a guilty look in her eyes, feeling a little bit of shame that she had to explain her failure for the second time. After telling the story and adding her sighting of Applejack on the street, her friend had begun to grow a worried expression.

Applejack sighed. "Something else is going on, I can feel it. Can't you? It's like a strong and choking tension." Octavia nodded. She had felt stressed out and over-alerted for the past couple of days. Something bugged her way too much.

"So who is the mare that drugged you?"

Applejack shrugged. "I don't know. She wears red glasses and holds a muffler scarf over her snout. The only description i have is that she has white fur and blue hair. And as you can tell, this place is lit very well, so it's been hard trying to look at her." Finishing Applejack stood out of her chair and went back to the first floor.

Octavia followed, watching Applejack stand below the skylight.

"I can never go back now. Everypony thinks that I died, and the only way i can really stay alive is to live here. This mare is keeping me prisoner, threatening me with different things each time the subject of letting me go comes out. The only way I made it to the bar yesterday was because I slipped out while she was gone. So now all i can do is wait here until the mare kills me. I know she can do all the things she threatened, the night that we left the morgue she killed a lot of ponies." Applejack turned back to Octavia.

"Thanks for coming Octavia, this has helped me keep sane. So what do you do now?"

Octavia looked from her friend and up to the skylight, pondering what exactly was her plan. Surely kill the executives. Except for Applejack, the police already think she's dead. Aside from that, I need to find what these plans of Filthy are. It can't be good, can it?

"I'm gonna get you out of here Applejack." Octavia said, looking back to the orange mare.

Applejack smiled and nodded a nod of appreciation. "I'll be waitin'."

Octavia stood up. "I better get back to Filthy Rich. He called me earlier, saying that something big was going down and he wants me there."

With some final embraces and goodbyes, Octavia left the building on Faust street and headed down to Filthy Rich's office.

=-=-=-=-=

"The Royal ball?"

Octavia let her jaw sink down. After hearing Filthy Rich's operation, she felt a little out of her league.

"Yes Octavia, the Royal ball. This is where you will meet some of your fellow members and meet the other mafia's. I believe it's imperative you do this." Filthy Rich said, looking plainly at the pouting mare.

"But this isn't without reason. There are two objectives, so listen. Objective one: Acquire intelligence on the pegasi Mafia. They've been provoking us since day one, and our mole in the Mafia tells us that they are planning something. But before we could find out, the mole was snuffed out. So now, I need you to go there in your best dress and eavesdrop. Second objective: Kidnap prince Blueblood."

Octavia became so shocked from the outrageous order, all she could manage was "What?" In a high pitched voice.

Shaking her head, she collected herself. "Now Mr.Rich, I know i'm not supposed to question orders or you, but what the hell does capturing Blueblood have to do with anything!? WE DON'T DO THE ROYAL FAMILY!" Octavia rose her voice. Filthy opened his mouth to speak, but Octavia continued.

"THIS WILL GET US ALL KILLED, DO YOU UNDERSTAND? IT WILL GET ME EXECUTED!" Octavia now cleary had a face of rage. Filthy kept calm though, through the screaming he just looked her in the face.

"Why are you overreacting? The reason for kidnaping Blueblood is simple. Ransom." Filthy explained in a very nonchalant tone. Octavia calmed down, let her hackles rest, but was still thoroughly uneasy by the entire thing.

"I'm not an international spy Rich, It's not like i'm going to climb through vents."

Filthy Rich nodded. "I expect you not to, but if you have to, then you do. The ball is tomorrow, wear your prettiest dress and mingle. When you kidnap Blueblood, bring him out of the back. There will be a garden exit and a extraction carriage waiting for you and will bring you here where we will keep him in the basement. Now go, get ready for tomorrow night."

Octavia left for the police station in a huff, telling Red Dawn in his office that she needed to go for the next night.

"Whatever will keep you trusted Octavia." He gave as a response, turning to a small audio tape laying on his desk.

Octavia climbed into bed, growing doubtful of what should happen tomorrow night. The tension she felt constantly rising was only being amped by Filthy's plans.

"I need to take him down, or he will take all of us down." Octavia said before she violently passed out.

=-=-=-=-=

Alright, end of Act 2. Hope you enjoyed, took me awhile to write due to the hurricane through raping my transformer.

Thanks for reading!

Act 3: Romance and The Fall

The Black Cello Mafia
Act 3: The Romance and The Fall

November 4th; Manehattan Royal Ball.

Octavia stepped out of the carriage and swept her black coat out from under the door. Ahead was a brightly lit ball house, full of chatter and an ensemble playing off in the distance. A garden lay in the front lawn, a beautiful decadence of brightly colored flowers of different shapes and sizes. Ponies all dressed in gallant dresses and suits occupied the promenade and filled the air with varied smells and sights to take in.

Octavia smiled at all of this, feeling her roots of being a noble family take hold. Quickly joining the river of ponies, Octavia was ushered into the main hall. In the back the ensemble was playing Canon in D minor, while the large circle collective of royals and high society ponies danced in key with the music. The lighting was warm and amber, giving the transitional chill of Fall and Winter a break. The smell of gourmet food wafted through the air, and Octavia trailed after it until she reached a room of buffet and rich red wine. Expertly crafted food with rare spices and finely baked desserts populated the table, with ponies crowding around to try the goods.

Octavia walked over to the table and poured herself a glass of wine. Can't believe this is here. This place is for the royals and government, aside from high society, this shouldn't be here, should it? Octavia shrugged, taking a rather large sip of the smooth silk of a drink. Octavia's ears pricked as a hoof rested on her shoulder, turning her head to see a unfamiliar mare. But she knew who she was anyway.

It was the white mare with the blue mane. She was dressed in a sparkling red dress, spanning from her shoulders and opening in a two piece shawl that covered her back legs. She wore violet glasses with black piano polished rims, and storm grey shoes that elegantly reflected the surrounding lights. And her approach was the best of all.

"Man, you are hot." She said with a smirk.

Octavia was caught off guard. All she could do was stare into the violet glasses at the abruptness of her proclaimed hotness.

"Uh...Thanks?" Octavia responded.

Shit, i didn't think she would be here! What do i do?

The white mare nodded her head with a sinister smile arching on her face, showing pearl white teeth that sparkled in the chandelier light. She took her hoof off of Octavia's shoulder.

"Yeah, all the ponies here are so posh and boring, but I when i saw you across the room I couldn't help but want to get to know you." The mare said, turning around Octavia to pour herself a glass of wine and sat down next to her.

Octavia tried to resist the blood rushing to her cheeks at the flattering, turning her head to a loud crash in the room. A guest had pushed a servant to the floor whose drinks castrated all over the floor, while the group of high society near them laughed hysterically. The mare sitting next to Octavia clicked her tongue.

"I hate ponies like that. They piss me off so bad."

Octavia agreed within herself, nodding a little at the mares sentiment. Taking another sip, she looked to her left to see the mare snap her head to the entrance. Slowly, she placed her wine on the table and stood up, looking a little fearful all the way.

"I'm sorry Ms. Hotness, but duty calls." And off the mare went, galloping into the main hall.

Octavia watched her go with curiosity sparking through her. I should follow her. I have enough time to kidnap Blue Blood.

But just as she stepped into the main hall, she heard a voice call her name that sent shivers down her spine and caused her face to twist.

Octavia turned her head to see her mother trotting toward a crowd of ponies, with a mix of surprise and anger on her face. Dressed in a bouncing velvet dressed and rolled up hair that glittered. As she reached her, she slapped Octavia in the face, making her her stagger and rub her cheek.

"What the hell!?" Octavia said, clenching her teeth and looking furiously at her mother who did nothing but purse her lips and pout.

She quickly broke and grew a snarl. "HOW DARE YOU PUT A GUN TO MY HEAD AND THREATEN TO SHOOT ME! I AM YOUR MOTHER! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF!?" She yelled, squaring her front hooves and growling.

Octavia felt a little blood well in her mouth. She collected it in a wad and spit it out on a 5000 bit rug.

"Go fuck yourself mother." Octavia said, walking past her mother and into the ensemble hall.

All she could her was a large squeal of rage and the name of her father being yelled out. Octavia hurried to escape the growing scene after an aforementioned death threat was yelled out for every pony to hear. Climbing up the stairs to the second level balcony, there she saw some identified executives of the pegasi mafia standing by a fountain and conversation. Octavia scanned the scene in front of her, finding a way to become unnoticeable while being able to eavesdrop on the conversation.

Standing by a stationary roller, she poured her self another glass of wine and sat within a close group of rich earth ponies. Flicking her ears, she started to listen on the conversation.

"...and just like that, he fell the the ground with blood spurting out of his throat." A stallion ended a none then less gruesome story.

A couple hardy laughs sounded out.

"Man, I love that story, Hey what did Spit want us to do here again? I've only focused on the hotties and getting drunk." Another said, a chuckle in his voice.

A third coughed. "She wants us to kill a mare."

"And what does she look like Tumble? Were half drunk and the briefing was like 12 hours ago, I don't remember shit from yesterday."

"She has two different hues of blue in her mane, and an 8th note for a mark."

A pause went out for a couple moments before another spoke.

"I think I saw her come in here like ten minutes ago."

Just then, the lights darkened and the music stopped. Octavia stopped eavesdropping and looked around the dim concert hall. Loud murmurs of ponies made the room vibrate, then a crash of cymbals exploded on the stage.

The lights shot in a second, showing an entirely assembled orchestra break out in Death is the Road to Awe, giving the former warm and ambient atmosphere a more darker and louder feel. Octavia glanced around the hall, seeing Prince Blue Blood standing with a disgusted look on his face. He quickly ducked into a door, and Octavia followed after with her head tucked low.

I need to get him out of here, from what the pegasi said this place might go to shit if they screw it up.

Octavia went in through the door, stepping on to a staircase. Presuming that it led to a third floor, she trotted the stairs as fast and quietly as she could, eventually breaking into a long hallway that ended with a stained glass portrait of Celestia all the way at the end. There was no sign of the rude prince, while Octavia uneasily eyed all of the doors in the hallway.

There were 12 doors, six on each side with no indication of any being recently opened or closed. The hallway was eerily quiet, making Octavia begin to grow a fit of anxiety in her chest. Fighting her own inhibitions, she took a step forward as something hard and cold crashed on her head. She fell to the ground, vision blurring and body growing cold all the way down. Time seemed to slow down as she watched her hair fall out of place and the doors turn crazily with the rest of the world. Two hooves jolted her from the shoulders, and a cold and hating voice descended down into her ears.

"Don't worry you little sack of shit, this will be all over soon. I swear, I will rip you limb from limb for what you did to me." The voice spat out, literally spitting into her ear. Then, a hard hoof to the temple, and darkness consumed her vision.

=-=-=-=-=

So I finally finished this chapter/Act after coming back from my hiatus and my drunken stupor of a thanksgiving dinner. Toughed out the hangover to type this.

So, Act 3 is when everything starts to go to shit. The three characters are closer to meeting each other, Applejack is found alive but captive, Filthy is planning something, and Octavia's been knocked out.

So what do you think so far? Interesting enough? I think so.

Thanks for reading and happy belated Thanksgiving!

Chapter 1: Softened

The Black Cello Mafia
Chapter 1: Softened

Steel Beauty sat next to her husband, watching the orchestra play another piece. It had been an hour since her daughter had ran off after she had slapped her, and it did not sit well with her.

"Dear, did I do the right thing?" Steel asked her husband with worry. He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Do I think you did? No. I don't think you handled the situation well at all." He poured himself a shot of whiskey, feeling the spiking liquid course his throat and warm his chest.

Steel huffed in frustration. "She put a gun to my head though. How am I supposed to react after that?" Still feeling the utter depression of having her own daughter put a barrel to her temple was bad enough, but having her tell her to fuck herself deepened to pain.

Her husband shrugged. "You must stop interfering. She's in crime? She's in crime. It matters little to me to be honest, she is who she is. I still love her."

He looked at his wife as she grit her teeth in anger. One of us still has to.

Suddenly, Steel jumped as a thunderclap exploded outside and the hard barrage of rain attacked the roof of the ball house.

"Did the pegasi call for a storm tonight?" She asked.

Her husband shrugged again. "Not that I remember."

Steel shuddered as a shock went through her spine. Nothing seemed to really be right to her anymore.

=-=-=-=-=

The room was dim and pearl white. It smelt of fear, sweat, and cheap soap. Octavia opened her aching eyes to peer around the room she had awoken to. She was tied to a chair and sitting inside of a bath room. The light bulb was dimmed down to the point were it barley reflected off of the tiles and toilet planted next to her. Her head ached, almost like a sledge hammer being mercilessly pounded on the inside of her skull, while her body felt numb and transparent.

Looking to the mirror, she gasped at the picture in front of her. Her eye was swollen and her nose bloody. Her lips contorted a little to the right, and her jaw felt and seemed misplaced. Whoever had knocked her out did a number on her unconscious face, something she wouldn't forget very soon. Looking down, she observed her hooves tied to the back of the chair, her back hooves as well. Her black dress was tainted with a dash of crimson, yet she felt no pain on her body aside from her face.

The door bust open to a charcoal black stallion with brown hair and wings. Immediately rushing, her lunged and hooked Octavia's temple. Pain exploded in a extravagant flash of colors as she moaned loudly. Opening her eyes against the pain, she looked up to the stallion whose face was fully engaged in disgust. Huffing, the pegasus went around her and dragged the chair out into the center of the bedroom. Clothes and a briefcase were flung about the room, and a foul stagnate smell lingered in the air.

The stallion sighed while walking towards the desk. He opened a drawer and pulled something that Octavia could not see out of it. She looked around the room, seeing more signs of something that had happened earlier, and it all led to something either extremely vulgar or personal. The covers that were for the bed were thrown across the room and the bed table had been knocked over. A waiters delivery roller was upside down with the cover sheet castrated about it, Jolting in her seat, the stallion slapped a hoof on the chair shoulder.

He pulled out a picture from his pocket and lifted it to her face.

"Do you know who this is?" He asked in a grumbling voice.

Octavia stared at the picture which showed a brown pegasus with cream colored hair. Although he seemed familiar, she could not draw a conclusion from memory. She solemnly shook her head at the her captor, who smiled and chuckled.

His hoof struck her nose, spurting blood in an arcing trail and landing on the grey carpet under her.

"Of course you don't. OF COURSE YOU DON'T, BECAUSE TO YOU, HE WAS SOME LITTLE SHIT IN YOUR WAY!"

Octavia's eyes dilated but restrained the urge to let them widen. Don't show weakness.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Octavia muttered, shying the left side of her face away.

The stallion turned from his pacing and stared at her with a wild anger in his eyes. Octavia was finally able to see the stallion with detail, observing the blood stained upper lip and a purple eye socket. His right wing was bent at an odd angle while his left was popping out of its socket. He then relaxed his face, giving a cool fatherly look.

"Oh," he calmly said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Nero Wing. My cutie mark is a tornado," He flashed his flank to show his mark. "And this guy? He was my son." The stallion smiled a wicked smile.

"Oh, and I am the Leader of the Pegasi Mafia by the by."

Octavia's eyes shot from resistance, growing wider than ever before.

"Shit."

"Oh yes. Shit right."

Octavia tested her bindings, which were tight but felt sloppily knotted. She might just have a chance to escape.

"And so, my son was on an operation to stop your deal with the zebras, whom you killed mercilessly. Later that day i went to the warehouse to check it out, finding the back of his throat blown out and his face destroyed. So, I've brought you here to do the same to you." Nero chuckled devilishly, making Octavia inwardly shutter.

While he had been talking, Octavia was able to lessen the grip of the rope which was now scratching/sliding down her hoof.

"It's my job, I had to do the deal and protect myself." Octavia innocently offered.

Nero put his whiskey down and stood up, walking over to the captured mare.

"Oh yes, I've seen your police record. Charged with the mass onslaught of ponies, which in reality, isn't a big deal to me. But here's the thing that really pisses me off." Nero placed her leg on the chair head, leaning against the struggling Octavia who was close to getting her right hoof out of the bind.

"You think you're hard. Just because you've killed some ponies in cold blood and splattered some brains without throwing up, you've come to believe that you're a cold hearted killer." The pegasus now adopted a tone of condescension, showing his lack of care for Octavia's doings.

"What do you mean?" The cellist looked up at her captor with a raised eyebrow.

"I mean; that you have no right to think that."

"You've never had to survive. You've never had to kill one of your own in order to get ahead in life. Have you ever had to eat the intestines of another pony just to digest something? No. You've just killed some nobody's, some insignificant little sacks of SHIT THAT DESERVED TO DIE IN THE FIRST PLACE. What have you done? Hmm? Blown some brains? Beaten some faces?"

Octavia now couldn't help herself. Something incredibly intimidating about this stallion shoved her into a state of panic. She'd been too long in this chair, and she had spent wasted breath to halt her coming death. She was never not afraid of death. When it came to a possibility of dying, she had just pushed it out of her mind; with the aid of a gun to keep her protected as well. But now she sat unarmed, sweating and blood rioting in her veins. Her brain had started to go into a nervous shock while her mouth felt full of lead.

Why is he shaking me up so bad!?

"Oh? You're looking a little pale there Octavia. Are my words sinking in? You. Are. Nothing. A rebellious little bitch with a pistol and a child's blood lust." Nero blew air out of his nose and sighed the rest of his excess oxygen.

"I've had enough." Nero walked back to his dresser, pulling out a black toned revolver.

Octavia shriveled in her chair, feeling just how the pegasus had described her.

Once a cold hearted killer, but now a scared young mare with a fronting attitude and a pistol.

"So bad that you can't stay around for the show, the pegasi are going to be great leaders of crime."

What? Nero had shoved the barrel in her mouth, Octavia's eyes shaking and sweat visibly pouring down her fore head and lining her jaw.

"Last words?"

Octavia closed her eyes and gulped, trying and failing to calm her self.

One...last...tug!

In a flash, Octavia hooked the gun from Nero's hoof. The pegasus let his jaw dropped as a frightened looking Octavia swung her left leg, bringing the whole chair down on Nero's head. He collapsed to the ground and moaned.

Octavia let the a moan escape her lips, feeling a building manic depression spread her body. She felt broken and false, as if the last three months had meant nothing at all. All the combat skills she had acquired and the enemies she had faced felt just as Nero said: insignificant.

Why do I feel this way? I should be angry, not scared!

But she was scared. Scared to the bone about what she had done and how close she had come to dying, felt irresponsible for the crimes she had committed. She had no creed, no code to live by to actually enforce her doing so. Just for the money and the power.

A knock sounded at the door, making Octavia jump and despair.

"Nero? Are you alright in there?" Prince Blue Blood of all ponies sounded at the door.

A thud and crack sounded behind the door, then the sound of fleeting hoofsteps. Octavia crawled over towards the door and opened it, showing a knocked out Blue Blood lying on the floor. A floor board was snapped in half, most likely from who ever had knocked the prince out.

Octavia knew what she had to do. Pulling the asleep prince into the room, she worked quickly. Stuffing the pegasi mafia leader into bed and under the covers, she hurried to the prince and wrapped him in a bath towel. Blood from his wound seeped through the towel and ran down her back, staining her dress crimson red. She flipped the delivery tray and shoved the prince inside, jumping at the latest thunderclap striking the sound waves. She neatly spread the sheet over the prince, a large bump showing where his hooves were sticking out. Pushing the tray out of the disheveled room, Octavia froze in fear as she heard a sneeze behind her. Craning her head slowly, she watched as Nero wiped his bloody nose on his suit, and looking around until her found a fearful mare looking down at him.

"Oh you bitch."

Nero flew to Octavia, knocking the tray and the prince at the door and creating a loud thud. Nero had his coal hooves against her neck before Octavia threw him off and stood. Nero coiled like a snake and snarled at her, leaping again. Octavia was ready this time as she struck out a hoof, punching the stallion so hard in the jaw he flipped and fell on his side. Octavia took this chance and righted the tray with Blue Blood still inside and flung the door open. She shoved it out the door and down the hall, but Nero had caught up and tackled her, biting her shoulder in the process.

Octavia screamed out in pain while she watched the blood from her shoulder paint Nero's forehead. She gripped the pegasus' head and slammed it into the adjacent wall twice, making him clench his teeth in agony and shoved himself from the mare. Octavia stood up and bucked the pegasus right in the chest, making him give a soundless gasp and he fell to the ground in spastic beatings to get his lungs to work. Not fatal but enough to give the mare a few minutes to run.

Taking a chance, Octavia gripped the tray and prepared herself, regretting the decision from the second she made it. Running, Octavia guided the tray down the staircase, careful to not let it tip over. Reaching the bottom, the door was still open and Octavia flung herself on the tray. Ponies around her screamed and dove out of the way as a bloody mare flew past them on a large delivery tray and into the main hall. The music of an orchestra steadily played as she raced into a large room of seemingly executive and important ponies, and noticed she was losing speed. Jumping down, she leaned on the tray and gave one hard push, racing to it with all her might before jumping on it again.

A door approached her with the threat of an untimely break, and Octavia sighed as it opened to a screaming waiter carrying a hand tray of drinks. He threw himself out of the way, and Octavia went through a barrage of fruity drinks and into the next room where her heart skipped at least a thousand beats.

Off to the left was Detective Sparkle, standing with a baffled Princess Celesta who was adjacently standing with her mother and father; all sharing the same expression of confusion. Octavia snapped her head to see the side entrance doors open, falling out from the ball hall and onto the streets of Manehattan. She jumped down from the tray and started to push the tray, subsequently running on her two back hooves which proved to be a bit difficult.

Octavia had already ran down two block before she saw a sitting cab driver on the curb.

"Hey! Take me to 30th and Faust!"

The cab driver looked up from his cigarette to stare at the sweating and teeth clenched mare running towards him with a messed up face and a delivery tray. Straightening his carriage for her, Octavia dragged Blue Blood out from the tray bottom and tossed him into the back seat, jumping in herself.

=-=-=-=-=

Why would you look at that, I finished a chapter.

So i'm going to try to publish a new chapter every Saturday or Sunday, as I was going to last week but i was caught up in some stuff. Tell me what you think so far, making this dynamic shift in character made me a bit wary because I wouldn't know how you guys would react.

Thank for reading!

Chapter 2: A Phoenix's Ashes

The Black Cello Mafia
Chapter 2: A Phoenix's Ashes

Rain pounded the old street of Faust and 30th as the slight rainstorm turned extreme and gusts of wind battled the buildings. No pony could be seen on the street, utterly dead of any activity. But inside of the old building were Applejack had been captive in, chaos boiled.

"Hurry! Get him on the desk!" Applejack demanded a seemingly lost Octavia.

She carried him on her strong back and threw him onto the cleared desk, blood seeping further through the bath towel he had been wrapped in. Applejack rushed and started to apply first aid to the prince's wounds, cleaning it with alcohol and bandaging his entire head.

Octavia paced behind Applejack as she worked, thoughts racing at the speed of light in her head. The thought of Celestia seeing her face and the inevitable differences of her nephew scared Octavia to the bone as visions of execution plagued her. Applejack had finished and put away her first aid kit, walking over to her pacing friend to stop her from moving.

"Listen. I've done all I could do for the wound, but there's no telling if anything else can happen to him. He lost consciousness so he might have a concussion. Sit down and tell me what happened."

Octavia obeyed, and after a fluttery three minutes she was sitting in a chair with a glass of scotch in one hoof and a cigarette in her mouth. She stopped shaking from the cold and her fear, beginning to collect her thoughts on the evening. She told the apple pony about Filthy Rich's plans, going to the royal ball and the idea for ransom over the royal prince.

"When I went into the buffet hall to get a glass of wine...I met the blue haired unicorn that stole you."

Applejack tensed her face. "You did?"

Octavia nodded and told her of her experience with the mare, feeling a little flustered at the sexy comment. She recounted the experience of meeting her mother again, of being knocked out only to wake up in a bathroom; bloody and beaten. Dragged into a room of vulgar taste and being yelled at by a maniacally depressed drunk, whom she killed the son of and who was also the head of the pegasi mafia. Her escape, being noticed by her rival fighter, parents, and the highest authority in Equestria.

Applejack sat with a bovine complexion. How could she react to a operation gone so wrong in the span of two or three hours?

"And so... you have'ta bring a kidnapped prince out to a building for a ransom by the government, which Filthy Rich expects you to be able to do?" She asked, her southern drawl starting to warp through her forced Manehattan accent.

"I got him didn't I?" Octavia shrugged.

Applejack stared at her friend, blowing air through her nostrils in frustration.

"Just what is going on?" She asked while putting her head between her hooves.

Octavia shook her head. "I don't know, but it's something big. Nero is planning something, as well as Filthy. Applejack." She called to her distressed friend.

Applejack looked up to her with an open mouth.

"We have to stop Filthy and Nero at all costs."

=-=-=-=-=

Celestia stopped dead in her tracks as a mare in a black dress and a bloody face raced past with a delivery tray, looking straight at her in the face with the most dreadful look. To the left of her, she heard a gasp and a whimper as the mare flew out the door. To the right, she heard her faithful student stomp the ground.

"Twilight?"

Her student looked up to the white princess whose face showed almost no emotion.

"Yes princess?"

"Who was that?"

It was some time before her student could form an answer, but as she began to speak, an old proprietor of the alicorn princess barged in through the open hall, a crimson rag on his head and suit in pieces. It was Nero, who looked to be drinking. He gave a slight scream of grief, sitting down with a thud.

"Nero? What in world is going on?" The princess asked, growing a stern and all businesslike look as she approached the disheveled pegasus.

Nero groaned. "My shot at revenge, whisked away by a kick to the chest and a delivery tray."

The princess looked around as a crowd began to form, no music playing in the background of the ball hall. Only the translucent murmurs of onlookers.

This is not good. She thought. Looking back to Nero, she stood back as he stood. His face twisted with rage and eyes of fire, he ran at the open doors screaming at the top of his lungs, taking to the sky the second his hooves touched the concrete outside. Ponies crowded the outside to look up at the pegasus as he flew away, all but herself and her student who looked back up at her with cynicism.

"This is what happens when the government won't get involved in mass crime." She said with begrudging disrespect, stomping off.

Celestia looked about the brightly lit ball room and sighed. Things could only get worse from then on.

=-=-=-=-=

"So why do you suggest we do this?" Applejack questioned Octavia.

They had moved to the basement and locked the prince in handcuffs and a muffler.The dim lighting was just enough for the two mares to see each other as they spoke.

"Somethings not right. I mean royal ransom? What the hell is that!? He's beginning to be furiously ambitious, and all I see this lead to his our heads rolling."

Applejack looked to the wall, diving into her own thoughts. It was sometime before she responded.

"Alright. I get what you're saying. But what about Nero? Why do we need to stop him aside from being a mob boss?"

"Well, for one he is on a personal vendetta and will stop at nothing just to have me dead. Two, he's also planning something. Along the lines of a siege I suspect; a wide spread upheaval of the mafia's. We'd practicably be slaves at that point."

Applejack agreed with a solemn nod.

"Alright, I'm in. So whats our first move?"

Octavia felt put off edge. She had something brewing in her mind for awhile, but telling this to a fellow member of a mafia might endanger her in someway. She gulped down her doubts and explained.

"Well you know the night I was knocked by that detective? Well...I'm actually captive and working against our mafia to bring it down."

Applejack stared at her for a few moments before jumping from her chair and grabbing Apple Bucker from the bed, whipping the barrel into Octavia's pale and frightened face.

"So you're a traitor!"

Octavia shook her head furiously. "NO! I'M BEING FORCED TO DO THIS!"

Applejack didn't release her killer gaze from the brown mare, the gun still balancing firmly but loosely in one hoof as she towered over her while standing on her back hooves.

Octavia put her hooves up. "Applejack, trust me. I'm being forced to do this by the police force, otherwise I would've already been executed. It wouldn't matter anyway; I'm not backing down from my oath as a member of this mafia. I would rather die than to go back on what I promised to do months ago, and I stand solemnly with that oath. Even if it would mean bringing down the most viscous pony in Equestria; for the greater good of our standing bonds and continuing lives."

Applejack listened to the tendered words from her friend, whom for the first time tonight shown something other than fear or regret. Something other than being anxious or worrying for her fate as things became more chaotic by the day. To which Applejack hadn't seen in years since her first day on the job.

Passion.

She smiled through the gun. Applejack let a grin spread her face as wide as it could as she realized that not only was her friend telling the truth, but she was even willing to save themselves and her family by risking her life to even go up against the bosses of two different powerful mafia's to bring them down from the destructive paths they had led everypony down. Throwing the gun back on the bed, Applejack sat down on the ground and let her eyes relax. Much like her friend whose face was still stuck in a defensive twist, she too felt passion driving her to aid in the justification of a tyrant.

"Okay Octavia," She said with a wicked grin. "We kill Filthy Rich."

=-=-=-=-=

It was two nights after the ball. Prince BlueBlood was being held prisoner in a chamber owned by Filthy Rich and Canterlot was on high alert for the search of the princess' nephew. It was five in the afternoon on a Saturday, and Octavia was sitting inside of her local Speak amongst a couple ponies. Most being fellow mafia members. A scotch sat by her hoof as she spun a Bit on the bar to watch it spin and drop. She had conspired all night of the ball with Applejack for a plan to bring down Filthy Rich. It was simple really; follow her orders from the police to bring down the executives and the boss, then rebuild a whole new mafia the minute Filthy was out of the picture.

Still, Octavia worried over growing tension between her, Filthy, and Detective Sparkle. The night she had returned to her cell in the precinct, the purple unicorn had done nothing but stare at the tired pony as she passed by with her head down.

Octavia glanced at the clock, showing it was half pass five. Time ponies were getting off work and those who were deprived of self control and respect of peace would be filling in the door of the bar soon. Sliding of her seat, Octavia took her scotch and walked up to the office. Since Applejack had 'died', she was being allowed to use the empty office seeing as she was an executive to Filthy rich and organized the alcohol operations. If doing field work wasn't stressful enough, organizing crimes herself was about thirty more pounds of stress on her shoulders.

Time passed while she worked on papers, the clock above the window showing it was seven at night. She decided to take a brake and relax at the bar. She pushed the door of the office to the welcoming warm and rowdy Speak. She walked down, smiling at her fellow members as she ordered a gin and tonic from Mugs.

The central party of the bar escalated as time went on and ponies got drunk. Octavia was just finishing her drink when a white hoof slammed the bar.

"Two shots of your hardest whiskey please!"

Octavia looked with a grimace up to the pony she could only guess was there. The blue haired unicorn smiling down at a visibly disgruntled Octavia. The cheery unicorn sat down next to the earth pony when Mugs placed the shots down on the bar, giving the other to the frustrated mare.

"What's up sexy?" She said, giving Octavia a wry smile.

A groan was a sufficient response. "Please don't call me that."

"What's the matter? Not confident? Disappointed by your figure? Or is it you're just a stuck up prude." The mare still holding her shot between her hooves listed off some insecurities which hit a little close to home.

"No, I just don't you're name and I'm afraid I don't swing that way."

The mare scoffed. "I don't think you know yourself that well." Turning around in her stool.

Octavia snapped her head to look at the mare with a stare of daggers.

Th unicorn snorted. "Take the shot will you? I payed good money for that. Let yourself loose miss prude."

Octavia shook her head. "Why are you here even? I don't thinks It's coincidence that I see you at the ball then see you here." She contemplated on calling the friendly mare out on kidnapping Applejack, but decided to keep it secret in case she needed to obtain something from this mare.

"Oh come on, I decide to get a drink and I see you, a familiar face at the bar, and order shots as an icebreaker. Now come on, down the shot already."

Octavia looked down at the brown liquid, starting to reel in her mind about getting information from the strange mare and seeing the shots as a way to get closer to her. Sighing and swallowing her pride, she took the shot glass and threw it down her throat. She squirmed her lips at the bitter taste and looked at the mare next to her who was in mid shot. Slamming the glass down, she streamlined air out of her pursed lips.

"Barkeep! Two more!"

=-=-=-=-=

"...and then he slipped over the cliff and fell screaming for an entire minute!"

Octavia locked her jaw in place as she horsed her dwindling breath into a hardy laugh, slapping the bar as she jumped excitedly in her seat along with the mare.

"By the gods, that's the best sory I've ever heard!" Octavia said when she regained her oxygen, slurring her sentences by the fifth shot. They were on their eighth pair.

The unicorn who said her name was Vinyl smiled a goofy smile at her new friend while nodding her head.

Both mares downed the next shot, barley feeling the whiskeys sting anymore as their minds started to wade in the suffocating alcohol.

"See? Aren't you happy you took that shot now?" Vinyl asked Octavia, putting her hoof on her shoulder. It was now nine O' clock, and the bar was still teaming with ponies.

Octavia nodded, expecting her shot glass with a critical eye. She sloppily looked up to the clock she glanced at earlier and sighed.

"It's time I got going Vinyl. Stuff to do tomorrow."

Vinyl followed her off the bar and gave a disappointed groan. "Come on, the night just got started!"

Now, In a completely normal state, Octavia would've said no, being the type of pony who was responsible to sleep even if they were plastered. Even the princess couldn't get her to dawdle from a task that seemed even relatively important.

Unfortunately, Octavia was not in a normal state.

"Well, I got some stuff at home, maybe we could go back there?" She asked, almost falling down even while standing still. She could tell she was close to blacking out, but not really there yet.

Vinyl gave a mock scoff of disbelief. "Why Octavia dear, I thought you didn't swing that way?"

Octavia smiled at her mocking. "I don't, but if it's a friend, I'll invite them for some after bar one on one conversation."

Vinyl smiled, agreeing to go back to her house. Soon they were in a cab and headed down to Octavia's home. Time seemed to lapse and they were in front of her door, opening it up to a large and luxurious apartment.

"Wow Octavia, fancy smanshy." Vinyl said, flopping down on the albino couch next to the fire place. Octavia came from the kitchen with a glass of wine and two glasses on her back, balancing them steadily even when drunk.

Pouring two full glasses, she sat down on the opposite couch, looking into the deep purple glasses of Vinyl. Her friend seemed totally at peace, looking about the warm apartment, eyeing the staircase leading past the ceiling.

"Where does that go?" She asked, nodding her head towards the spiral.

Octavia strained over the couch to look. "Oh, that goes up to my room...hey, wanna see something?" Octavia asked with a bit of a silly smile.

Vinyl shrugged, getting off the couch and stumbling on her drunken hooves. Octavia had already taken off her suit and tie, flipping off her forgotten fedora on the couch arm as she passed by it and led up the stairs. Vinyl followed closely after, staring at Octavia's flank ascend the stairs.

Reaching the door, Octavia opened it and entered her room. Vinyl came in and watched Octavia open the patio window the the Manehattan skyline. She joined the brown mare, looking all around the view.

"Wow...It's beautiful." Vinyl said, a grin spanning her face. She looked to Octavia who was nodding, looking at the capital building which towered higher than any other building in the city.

Octavia looked back at Vinyl and smiled back. Walking back to the entrance, she closed the door. Vinyl came back into the room after her in confusion.

"Octavia? What are you doing?" She asked as Octavia locked the door and turned around with a lewd look consuming her expression.

Vinyl let her mouth gape open, which was a mistake as Octavia used her lightning fast fighting skills to smother the unicorns mouth with her own, shoving her onto the bed and rustling the blanket cover with their drunken spasmatic motions.

The thoughts in Octavia's mind raced a mile a minute as she hungrily made out with this strange unicorn, but ultimately lost herself in the passion and blacked from the energy vibrating through the room.

Author's Note

So...yeah. This. You know, I was deciding if I should add a sex scene, and still haven't. If you guys wanna see it, I'll write it. But of right now, story is still continuing.

Also, this is my first time publishing in the new publisher on this site, so i don't know how It'll turn out. Anyway:

Thanks for reading!

Edit: Also, by standard writing rating, this story is now a novella. Can't thank you guys enough to keep me writing this much.

Chapter 3: Values

The Black Cello Mafia
Chapter 3: Values

Octavia awoke to the sound of sizzling from outside of her room, which she then promptly bolted upwards in realization that she had slept at her own house instead of the luxury cell. Octavia was confused as she looked at the patio door open, even more when she scanned the room to she the blanket thrown about the room and the sheets lose. The other pillow she had put on the bed was crooked, a small dent in the area to the right of her. Looking out the door, she saw that the kitchen lights were on, stepped from the bed, donned her discarded shirt, and left the room.

Peering over the spiral staircase, she saw that the entire house's lights were on, obviously containing activity that Octavia was still oblivious to. Cautiously, she stepped down the stairs and onto the carpet to find a white unicorn cooking hay bacon inside of her frying pan. Vinyl's hair was a complete mess, which oddly gave her an essence of beauty, and ruffled fur matted all over her body. Tail twitching as she cooked, she seemed to not notice Octavia approached until she snapped her head and stared into her eyes.

"Well good morning. I'm cooking bacon, so feel free since it's yours." The unicorn offered when she turned the stove of and placed the hay bacon on a plate.

Octavia stared at her as she moved about the kitchen, feeling utterly confounded at her being at her house. Finally, she entered the kitchen and sat at the table, picking a greasy-crispy piece of bacon and placing it in her mouth. Instantly her taste buds lit up in euphoric jubilation when the bacon hit her tongue, mouth watering at the wonderfully and almost fictional taste.

Octavia moaned from the taste, hungrily shoveling another two into her mouth while grease ran down her chin. Vinyl snorted a chuckle as she sat down, shaking her head.

"Save some for me."

Octavia looked up from her fourth bacon at Vinyl, giving her a hard stare of daggers. "Why are you here Vinyl?"

The unicorn pulled her gaze from the newspaper levitating in her magic, looking mockingly crestfallen at Octavia's question.

"I am offended!" Vinyl put a hoof to her chest and gasped, all to the frustration of Octavia whom rolled her eyes. "I had a great time last night, I can not believe you have forgotten it!"

Octavia tilted her head and squinted. "What do you mean? We didn't...."

Just then, all the memories of last night rushed to her conscious. She dropped the half eaten bacon in her hooves, eyes growing wide and mouth sliding open. A guttural draw came from her throat as more of the passionate night raced through her mind.

"We...We...We..."

Vinyl smirked and nodded, chewing on her bacon with loud smacks that snapped at the air. "We did it."

Octavia put her head in her hooves, regretting what she had done. "Oh my gods." She mumbled.

If her mother would know, all she would say is something racist against the unicorns, but Octavia was not her mother. She only thought of the fact that she let herself get sucked into more trouble. Shaking her head once more, Octavia looked up from her hooves to see Vinyl just looking at her with her deep red eyes, swirling with a certain decadence that made her want to submit; And so she did.

"Alright....so my first question is this: Why?"

Vinyl stared at Octavia after hearing her ask this, lowering the newspaper from her face to look up at the ceiling.

"Remember what I said to you the night we met?" Vinyl asked, still looking up towards the ceiling.

Octavia nodded. "You said I was sexy."

Vinyl smirked and snapped her neck, chewing her bacon again. "And I meant it!"

Octavia gaped her mouth again, still not quite understanding what the whole thing meant. Other than her being sexy and Vinyl had some type of affliction towards her. Vinyl looked down at her, putting the paper down again.

Vinyl closed her eyes for a couple minutes and nodded. Putting the paper on the table, she righted her self and opened her eyes to look into Octavia's.

"Alright Octavia, I got a question for you. Why are you in the mafia?"

Octavia whipped her head. "What do you mean? How do you-"

"I know you're in the earth pony mafia Octavia, why else would you be kidnapping Blue Blood, wearing a suit, and drinking in a Speak?"

For her second question, she had no answer. Perhaps she had made it too obvious, but she still had another question to answer.

"I guess I'm in the mafia because at the time of the prohibition I needed a job." Octavia shrugged.

Vinyl gave her a bored look. SLAM, Vinyl brought her hoof down on the table, a piece of bacon flying off of the plate. "NO! WHY ARE YOU THERE!"

Octavia shrunk in her seat, not expecting the sudden anger coming from her, lack of a better term, lover. She shrugged a wide eye'd shrug. "I don't know!"

Vinyl bucked the chair she was sitting on, sending it towards the stove and breaking into pieces. "Octavia. Listen to me. What-the fuck-is your business with the mafia?"

Octavia slowly sat back up in her seat, thinking about Vinyl's question. She had no idea for her being. After her incident with Nero, she had no passion for her life anymore, efficiently becoming a walking nihilist. She looked to Vinyl who was still leaning on the table with her two front hooves and peering into her soul, trying to search her for her secrets. Then Octavia found her answer.

"I owe it to them, to all the members of my family to do my best and do what what is best for the organization." Octavia said, crossing her legs as Vinyl stared back at her.

Vinyl kept still for a moment before breaking into a smile, nodding and dropping down from the table. "Good, good."

Octavia watched as Vinyl picked up the chair pieces and threw them out. After she was done, she walked over to the entrance, willing to leave.

"Vinyl!" Octavia yelled, not sure of what she was doing was what she wanted.

The unicorn stopped and looked over her shoulder to the grey mare.

"Where you going?"

Vinyl chuckled. "I can't stay here, you'll just regret it more. Anyway, you need to go down to the Rich building, I think the filthy pony wants to talk to you. See ya babe, it's Hearts Warming tomorrow, so expect me."

Octavia sat, staring at the door with and odd expression lit on her face. Was it regret? Confusion? Or was it Longing? Octavia turned back to face forward in her seat, thinking about her entire encounter with the mysterious mare.

"Filthy wants to speak with me? How does Vinyl know Filthy?" Thinking about it, Octavia dressed in her suit with her revolver in the holster under her left leg, it wasn't until she stepped out the door until she realized Vinyl had called her babe. Becoming flustered, she hurried her way to the warehouse.

=-=-=-=-=

"It's now phase two of the plan Octavia, and I want you to lead it." Filthy Rich said as Octavia had situated herself in a chair.

It was noon, every pony in Manehattan up in about to commute during the cold day. It was becoming evident to the citizens of Equestria that something big was happening in Manehattan, and the tension in the city was ripe and bountiful.

"And what does phase two involve sir?" Octavia said wryly. Filthy explained.

"So, with the ransom money we will acquire from the prince, we buy artillery."

Octavia felt lagged for a moment, not processing what Filthy had told her.

"Wait... artillery as in...Explosives?"

Filthy nodded, pulling out a file and tossed it to Octavia. She flipped it open to see orders of mortars, grenades, and other assorted exploding equipment. Gulping down the lump forming in her throat, she looked up to Filthy.

"Sir, what is this for?"

Filthy looked around his room before answering, an almost wild twinkle forming in his eyes.

"We are going to take the Pegasi."

Octavia sat confused. "What do you mean? Why are you planning this?"

"Well, I've received reports from our mole in the mafia, and he has told me that they plan to attack us soon. A well organized hit against our head quarters."

Octavia closed her eyes and put her hooves to her head. What the hell is going on lately with all these plans and military like incursions?

Though to not question Filthy, she nodded. "Okay, so we attack them first huh?"

"Yep. And once we acquire the explosives, you go in and destroy them first."

Octavia agreed, stepping from his office. She decided to go down to Applejack to tell her about this for their further plan to take down Filthy.

=-=-=-=-=

"Okay, so now things are really getting complicated." Applejack said when Octavia had told her about Filthy's plan.

Octavia nodded. "So what's our next move?"

Applejack was pacing, thinking through all events that had a possibility to occur. She looked to Octavia and shook her head.

"Go along with it, you might have a chance to kill Nero while you're at it." Applejack kept pacing, stopping with a confused look on her face.

"What's that noise?" She asked slowly walking to the large metal doors of the warehouse and peered outside.

Octavia couldn't hear anything until she stepped closer to the doors, the large alarm of berating police sirens screeched past them in blinding fast speed, carried on a extra boost from magic that propelled them farther than legs could.

The mares burst from the ware house and scanned the road to find the source of the hurry, leading them to the building that situated the earth mafia headquarters. Fires stood out from destroyed windows, and the flashes of gunshots were visible as they crashed through the air waves. An explosion blew five windows on the left side of the building, a collection of screaming following suit.

"Shit!" Octavia cursed out to no one. "Come on Applejack, we need to go!"

Applejack shook her head. "No, go ahead of me. I'll meet you there. Just don't die!"

Octavia nodded galloping down the street, following the route and hiding from the police as they veered by. All the way there, Octavia felt the dread begin to grow within her chest. Nothing about this will end well.

Author's Note

So this chapter is a little lack luster, considering it's just a place holder to usher events further along. And I apologize for no Hearts Warming special, I just got caught up and forgot to plan one. So things are finally coming together in the story in the next chapter as Octavia takes part in a two chapter battle within the building. Get ready for action.

Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas!

Chapter 4: The Fall: Part 1

The Black Cello Mafia
Chapter 4: The Fall: Part 1

Octavia ran through the shattered glass doors of Filthy Rich's building, and stumbled right into a composition of death, blood, and castrated organs everywhere. Bodies mangled by explosions, flack lying about the lobby and a small whimpering from behind the desk.Galloping towards it, Octavia looked behind to find the secretary cowering there. She shoved her legs up at Octavia in a defensive stance, but the mafia pony just ignored it.

"Get out! There's no telling how bad this'll get." Octavia ordered the still frightened mare.

She nodded and burst through the lobby and out onto the street. Octavia looked to the still operating elevator, preparing her self mentally and emotionally to head into the battle taking place. From within the lobby, she could hear the berating gun shots echoing out of the shattered windows, the screaming of ponies being burned or exploded alive. Apple Bucker slid out from it's holster like silk as Octavia pressed the down button on the elevator. Leaning against the front of the desk, she waited until she heard a ding to signify that the elevator had arrived. She sprung from her cover and aimed at a very confused pegasi holding a Thompson with a sling over his shoulder, pulling the trigger and splattering his brains against the ceiling and wall. Octavia ran inside and took the Thompson over her shoulder and punched the up button to Filthy's office. The elevator rose with a sickly groan, shuttering from age old gears and wires pulling the weight of ponies for years. Then it stopped, the lights flickering and a screeching cry emitting from all around. Confused, Octavia kept pushing the button.

When no result came, she pushed the emergency button, opening the doors just slightly. A small crack of an upper floor appeared just big enough for Octavia to slide through. Peeking through the crack, she saw cubicles ruptured from the ground and tables turned over for cover. The strong pounding of a machine gun dominated her hearing. She put both her hooves onto the doors and pushed them with all her might. Finally the doors gave way and Octavia climbed through the crevice, rolling into an open cubicle. Seeing a couple Earth mafia members running past her cubicle, Octavia crawled onto of the desk and looked over the wall to observe the battlefield. Pegasi and Earth mafia fought a three way firefight with the police. Papers were scattered and flame licked at the ceiling from the carpet, sending hot ash around the room. It was evident that the Pegasi had come in with explosives, the Earth ponies were either defending or sent for backup, and the police obviously arrived for the violence. Though none of it seemed to be organized as ponies ran in different section, firing at whatever faction they were not a part of. From all this Octavia saw and began to forge a plan. To clear the way and make it to Filthy's office; find out what had happened. Or find out if he was even alive anymore.

Vaulting over the wall, Octavia threw the machine gun's handle into her right hoof and crawled along the right column of cubicles. Reaching the end, a blue pegasi stallion in a brown suit ran around the corner and stopped to stare at the mare in front of him. Taking a moment to register, Octavia stood on her front hooves and bore the stallion down with hot flying lead, blood spurting out of his wounds in short but frequent bursts. Stepping over the twitching body and blood pool, Octavia found the door leading to the staircase. Dodging and incoming attacks, she hastily dove inside and slammed the door behind her. The sounds of battle kept pursuing Octavia the higher she climbed towards the 30th floor, Filthy's office space. She had started from the 5th floor when the elevator broke down. It was around the 23rd floor when someone blew a hole into the wall and showed Octavia with debris. Luckily not having been knocked too hard due to the staircase's metal guards, she turned to hurriedly escape before she noticed the blockage of cement and what seemed like blood dripping from the cracks.

"Damn it!" Octavia cried. The last two options were to enter the 23rd floor or go back down and look for another way. A single crack sounded out among the others as Octavia's fedora went flying across the steep staircase, a police pony holding a colt in his hooves and standing among the destroyed wall separating the staircase and the room.

"Drop the weapon ma'm!" He ordered, a baffled Octavia looking back at him.

Loosening her tie, Octavia drove her right hoof into her holster, coming back out with Apple Bucker and a quick bullet through the stallions head ended the encounter. She slung the Thompson over her shoulder again and peeked out of the large hole.

Instead of an office, this room was a large waiting room with glass doors at one end of the room. Shattered already of course. The entire room was occupied by only police and Earth mafia as the rage a battle among the seats. The situation seemed to be growing worse by the minute, and the impossibilities perpetually stacked against Octavia's shoulder like ten ton weights.

It's like the entire MHPD is here! This is starting to get unbelievable. A stark Pegasi attack and then a full out war among three factions in one building? I can only imagine what's going on outside.

=-=-=-=-=

Applejack ran back inside of the warehouse, confused of what was going on and the intensity of the situation. Bursting out of the back entrance, Applejack galloped down the alleyway and onto a fire escape. The slanted stairs provided a entry way up the metal tower.

Though Octavia was one of the best fighters Applejack has ever seen, it still probably wouldn't be enough for whatever was happening. Something big enough the the Earth mafia headquarters was waging a war within itself? Not likely one mare could conquer it. Applejack arrived at her destination and threw up the window, climbing through the window sill and promptly jumping to the soft carpet below. The lights were off and the room smelled of booze and shame. Applejack looked back and forth before spotting the familiar shape in a rocking chair in the corner of the room.

"We need your help. Everyone will die unless you do." Applejack pleaded at the shape.

It sat silently, a bottle of whiskey by it's hoof and a somber desperation took over its body expression. It stared out of the window, looking out to the skyline and inevitably the tower of flames that was currently a raging war. No sound came as the shape turned it's neck and looked to a small picture from on top of the mantle piece. Reaching for it, the pony's fur showed a dulling from it's usually vibrant color. The pony grasped it in their hoof, pulling it closer towards their face.

"Why?" The pony asked in a unemotional tone. "Why should I help you?"

Applejack stitched her eyebrows in frustration. "Because I saved your life you ungrateful bitch."

The pony slowly raised it's head when Applejack had said this. Silence proceeded Applejack's ears, so quiet it almost deafened her with the lack of noise. Then; a slow creaking of the rocking chair in front of the fireplace, the pony turned. Though Applejack couldn't see, she could feel the ice cold glare she was being given, a true death stare. A guttural growl emitted from the pony in the rocking chair, growing ever louder. The mane of the pony shifted forward as they jerked the head a little, a sickly and almost greasy curtain of pink hair showed. Compared to the ponies emotion at the moment, it was well suited.

"HOW DARE YOU!" The pink mare darted from her chair, leaping at the apple pony and pinning her to the ground.

Applejack struggled against the pressure, trying to speak out. Except only two words came out.

"Pinkie...please..."

The pink mare rose up from the struggling Applejack, the sunlight from the second window finally illuminating her face. Her eyes were populated by visible blood vessels, running all the way into her pupils. Her mane was slick and kept down, no longer clumped in messy knots. As her leg had shown earlier, her fur had begun to dull out and was matted down. A sore sight against Applejack's eyes and memories.

"No. I will not help you Applejack. Leave."

Pinkie stood off of Applejack, walking back to her chair and taking a swig of her whiskey. Applejack stood up and rubbed at her neck. She stared after Pinkie as she set down to empty bottle and sat at the window.

"Pinkie. I need your help or important people will die, and soon enough, we will all be on the run. If you don't come now, everything will go to shit."

Pinkie ignored Applejack and persistently looked out of the window. Turning, Applejack looked out the window facing the building, watching the fire and the flashing of gun muzzle. Pinkie sighed.

"What do you mean Applejack? For me, everything has been shit ever since we almost died that day, living in this apartment, wallowing in self hate as everypony else went on to bigger and better things. After Twilight left me for dead."

Applejack felt rage flare in her belly, making her mouth twist in a sneer. She rushed towards the pink mare, clamped her hooves on her shoulders and stared deep into her confused eyes as she screamed.

"Fine! You want some fucking redemption? THEN HELP PINKIE!"

Pinkie went limp, sliding out from Applejack's grip. Applejack had no time to react as Pinkie shifted and swept her legs out from under her, falling to the ground with a large thud. Pinkie stood above her with a deadly gaze, studying her expression. Applejack lay on the ground and panted slightly, completely vulnerable to depressed mare. Then, she stood up and walked towards the closet, pulling out a shotgun.

"Come on then, you can explain on the way."

Pinkie pulled a cigarette pack and a lighter from the same closet, lighting one of them while in her mouth. Applejack stood and followed Pinkie out of the door of her small apartment. She didn't know how to feel about working with Pinkie after the things they've been through, but as the situation was bound to worsen, she needed all the help she could afford.

Author's Note

Part one of three.

Chapter 5: The Fall: Part 2

The Black Cello Mafia
Chapter 5: The Fall: Part 2

Octavia ducked behind another line of chairs as more gun fire whizzed past her head. She had taken out four police ponies, got cut by a grazing bullet at her cheek, and her mane was becoming completely messy. The police grew ever closer to controlling the current situation with a massive toll on the mafia's count, with only five members left and at least double that for the police forces. Octavia blindly fired two bullets from her magnum over the chair she slumped behind, one hitting her target she could tell by the sound of a body hitting the floor. All of the windows had been busted by a mafia member with a large pump shotgun, blasting two cops out with the glass, a stray pellet wounding another. He was quickly shot down after his attempt to turn the tides of the battle. Now laying next to his dead body, Octavia seized the shotgun in her hooves and brought it to her chest. The Thompson was running out of bullets and Octavia needed another weapon. Throwing the Thompson's trigger guard around her hoof, she peeked around the corner and spotted a sole mare in uniform, aiming at whoever was behind her. She was crouched behind the opposite side of the cellist's cover, not being able to see she was there.

Octavia brought the machine gun up and shot the last three bullets through her neck and jaw, peels of skin flying off as she went down. Acting fast, she dropped the gun and picked up the shotgun, cocking the pump and blasting away a confused stallion in uniform. Blood splattered the ceiling as Octavia fired and fired again, taking down two more officers. The remaining members of the mafia took this chance and hastily took out the rest of the police. After a moment of looking about the aftermath, Octavia noticed her fellow members staring at her. Three stallions and two mares stood before her, breathing exasperatedly from the raging adrenaline pumping through their veins.

Noticing her self breathing heavily, she sat down for a moment, still looking at the ponies in front of her.

"What?" She asked, peering into the quiet earth ponies.

They all shared a glance before the red furred mare spoke up. "What do we do know, ma'm?"

Growing confused, Octavia looked down at her self and the floor, blood dripping from her suit. She let the empty shotgun fall to the floor with a loud clatter. She couldn't tell if she was shot or if it was the gushed out matter from her former enemies. She understood that these ponies oddly enough, looked up to her as some sort of leader. She did rank above them, but she really never gave orders before. Dust landed on her head as another explosion rocked the floor above her.

Looking to the speechless ponies in front of her, she commanded. "Well? You here the explosion, the gun fire! Go help the battle!"

They all scurried at the order, some running through the hole in the wall and the rest running through the exit. Octavia looked out of the demolished windows as her breath slowed, her body slowing with it. Wind whipped at her clothing and hair, sending the smells of the city up through her nose. She dreamed of being back on the streets, happily walking along after had waking up on a weekday morning, spending her living moments to take in the scenery and appreciate the slow crawl of time. This was not the case and she realized when more explosions sounded out. The battle seemed to escalate to her, and she responded by standing up and leaving the battered room and out of the door. Stepping out into the hallway, she found two elevators staring her in the face. These were not the same as before as she watched the left elevators floor counter rise higher and stopping at thirty.

Someone else is going to Filthy. Realizing, she called the right lift and waited for the doors to open, going over the possibilities of who it was. Punching thirty one she had stepped in, she stopped thinking and pulled the hammer on Apple Bucker, ready for what was about to come.

=-=-=-=-=

Applejack and Pinkie Pie assessed the situation from the lobby of the office building, looking over the destroyed elevators and the mass of bodies.

"No way we can get in through here." Applejack said, poking at a dead cop.

Pinkie kept looking around, the cigarettes smoke trail following her head rotation.

"I've got an idea. Follow me." Pinkie said, walking back out of the lobby. Police carriages cluttered the curb, count quickly by twos Pinkie could tell that they were in the dozens, each carrying at least four per vehicle. Applejack soon came out but stopped behind the pink mare. Looking back at her, she rose an eyebrow.

"Wait...do you hear that?" She asked, looking up at the sky.

Pinkie flexed her ears to find the noise Applejack pointed out, and soon found it. A different siren sounded out around the air, a loud uproar of three different tones, a distinctive tone separate from normal police vehicles.

"Tactical enforcement." Pinkie said, looking back at Applejack who nodded.

Pinkie told Applejack to hurry, turning around the building and moving at a fast trot now. Over the side, she found what she was looking for and begun to climb.

"A fire escape?" The apple pony sounded out from the ground. Pinkie looked down at her.

"Yeah, well you did it to get into my house. Now come on or you'll be lit up by the pigs in armor."

Shrugging, she begun to follow. Pinkie stopped at the seventh floor to see the great metal carriages turn into the parking area of the building, massive amounts of large stallions in black metal wielding militia grade weapons came tunneling out of the back doors of the carriages. She saw machine guns, shotguns, grenades, anything ultra damaging towards flesh.

"Shit, this means it's spiraled out of control." Applejack had reached the pink mare, causing her to turn her head in surprise of a voice. Looking back down to watch, she took the grounds of the situation.

"It's fallen out of the police's hooves and into the government's. We have to hurry." She finished, climbing up the stairs and the orange pony pursuing her.

Applejack grunted behind pinkie as they neared the top. "After the next five floors, climb into the window there. It's Filthy's office window. No doubt we'll want to be there."

The pink mare nodded and resumed her ascension. Reaching the clearing of the 30th floor, the two mares shared a glance before Pinkie threw the window open and filed in. Papers were strewed everywhere in a mess, coupled with a knocked over drink table, split alcohol, and blood trailing around in a pool. From in front of the desk, Pinkie could see the top of a pony's head; or at least what was left of it. Dragging her gaze from the crater of brains, skull fragments and blood, the southern mare and ex-party pony saw the remaining ponies alive. A single mare with a messy black mane with blood spotting her fur and suit, holding up a revolver to the second pony. A charcoal black pegasus stallion with brown hair, looking aloof down the barrel of the gun currently shoved into his face.

=-=-=-=-=

Octavia bucked the door to Filthy's office down, turning back round to come in. Vexing her mind, the room was completely silent among the cascading sounds of war below her. It was almost deafening to not hear anything exploding, shooting, or yelling around her. Though it seemed as though nothing had happened for the past hour to the room, still completely the same as it was when she left. Not even Filthy sat behind the desk, not a single soul.

Walking behind the desk, she picked up the melting scotch on the rocks and gave it a swig, the corroding liquid burning her throat as it washed down the massive calamity she had endured. The mess that filthy had made on his desk was gone as well, cleaned away some where...or shredded that no evidence would be found.

Octavia checked the drawers for confirmation, and the assumption rang true. Nothing was inside of them. Slamming the last drawer closed, she heard hoof steps thunder out in the hall. Ducking inside of the desk she waited until it was time to strike who ever was coming. Confused, a twin set of hooves reached her ears, rising stakes even more. Finally the hoof step stopped as they had reached the broken down door.

"What the hell happened here?" The familiar voice of Nero whispered.

Something had slumped on the desk and pushed Octavia forward, almost butting the revolver held in her hoof. Stroking back the loose strand of mane, she flexed her ears to listen.

"I don't know." A firm but unconvincing voice of Filthy Rich answered.

Small rustling came from one of them, followed by the clattering of metal hitting the floor. A chuckle from Nero made Filthy flinch slightly, jerking the desk.

"Well, Filthy...this is what I came for you know. The end of this SHIT MAFIA! Truly, I knew the consequences of what would come from my rise to power, but..." Nero sighed against the trailed sentence, followed by the cocking of a shotgun pump.

"Who could resist the power of the Unicorns?" Nero finished, pulling the trigger of his shotgun and splattering the blood and brain matter in front of Octavia, blowing out the window in the process. The blood had fallen to the floor, instantly staining the blue carpet under her hooves.

A snort from Nero made Octavia tense up with anticipation.

"Come on out, Octi dear...you're my last task."

Octavia bucked the office chair away from the desk opening, causing the stallion to pump his empty shell and blast the top half of the chair to bits. Openly laughing, he cocked his weapon again.

"I could do this all day."

Octavia stormed her brain for a quick plan out of the situation. A heads on attack would leave me in pieces, but I have nothing to distract him with, nor can I dodge an entire shotgun blast.

Octavia's train of thought was derailed as liquid dripped down on her face, trailing around the brim of the edge of the desk. Looking up, she put up her hoof to catch a drip of it. A large drop splashed her hoof, licking it she found it was the scotch. It had been spilled among the commotion. Soon the glass dropped and bumped her leg and fell perfectly onto the carpet with a decent amount of alcohol still within it. The simple idea came to her, and she readied herself to follow through with it.

The glass twirled in the air, catching the sunbeams in it's transparency and ran a solitary bar around the room, As she had planned, Nero worked on tense and tired nerves to aim up at the distraction and pull his trigger, while Octavia spun around the side of her cover to fire. The stallion's face twisted in pain as the bullet tore through his bottom left leg, but he still blasted the glass. Sharp shards rained down on to the floor like tiny daggers, some innocently fell to the floor, while others found their way into Nero's still pained face.

Octavia saw her chance and leapt over the desk, slamming her hoof down onto Nero's cranium. Dropping to the ground, the mare cautiously looked to the dead body of her former boss, catching the site of the completely dismantled face of a pony she once knew, the top hemisphere still beating and sending blood over the jagged edges of skull over them like a waterfall, and burned it in her memory forever.

In a lighting fast motion, she fired at the sound of a hoof step on the broken door, watching with regret as she watched the Commissioner, Red Dawn, fall to the floor. She had shot him in the chest, no doubt the lungs had either been grazed by her bullet or completely ripped out from the area of impact.

Slowly walking to the coughing stallion in front of her, Octavia strangely feared what would happen in effect to this action. Standing over him, she watched as he painfully turned his head to stare with his deadening eyes at her. His tongue worked around the blood that had accumulated in his mouth to speak.

"The Unicorns...they are in an alliance with the Pegasi..." Each pause gave way to a spurt of blood from his bullet wound, and caused blood to trickle our of his mouth and down his grimy face. His beard began to soak up the crimson liquid, giving the grey streaks an unnatural color.

Octavia shook her head, unable to speak. But Red Dawn continued.

"We have no Idea why...Octavia, find Twilight and take her to Canterlot...I normally wouldn't trust a criminal but...you're the last person I can actually trust now..." Red's voice had deteriorated and began to dwindle to a whisper under the stress of a collapsed lung.

"Ironic, Isn't it?" And with that, he gave one final sputter of blood before his spasming body relaxed and slunk down on the door.

A hoof came into Octavia's vision, kicking away the body of the police Commissioner out into the hall. Jumping up, Octavia backed away to watch a shaky and bloody Nero turn around to stare into Octavia's startled face. She stopped backing up as she felt blood seep around her bottom hooves, not daring to look back at the nightmarish scene of Filthy Rich.

Nero was sporting a wicked smile as he slunk towards Octavia, the ends of his mouth twitching crazily with the intense muscle strain. Octavia pulled up the revolver still placed on her hoof, aiming slightly up at the pegasus to compensate for height. The end of the barrel pressed up against the the narrow section in between his eyes as he continued to look down upon Octavia with a penetrating stare.

Everything was silent and completely lost to Octavia in the situation but the three words Nero spoke to break the sadistic smile warping his face.

"Pull...the...trigger."

Author's Note

Part two of three.

Chapter 6: The Fall: Part 3

The Black Cello Mafia
Chapter 6: The Fall: Part 3

Octavia's fur was caked with blood and sweat, clumped up in prickly spikes and giving her grey hue a darker matter of light. Wind blew through the blasted window into the disastrous office of the late Filthy Rich, sending the papers that Nero had blown out of the desk interior around the room in whirls, whisking across the four ponies that stood within the room. All eyes were fixed on Octavia, who steadily held the barrel of her gun against Nero's face, waiting for her to grant the pegasi's wish.

Pinkie shuddered and ground her teeth from a sudden vibration in the fire escape, looking down to see three police ponies two floors down from them.

"Shit. Applejack, look alive!" Pinkie called, swinging the shotgun that lay on her shoulder around and cocking the pump.

Applejack tore her eyes from the scene in the office to spot the police ponies, and pulled out the colt .45 that pinkie had given her on the walk to the building, following the pink mare down the steps. Soon the reached the police and unloaded on them, the bodies either flying off the fire escape of down the ladders.

"Okay, lets get back to-" Applejack was cut off when bullets came at them from an automatic. The fire was coming from the ground, giving them only one escape back into the building. Pinkie demolished the window with a shotgun shell, jumping in through to the 28th floor and into the fight.

Octavia paid almost no attention to the two mares as they watched her and Nero then descended back into chaos, focused entirely on the still smiling pegasus in front of her. Though all the concentration was broken again by the sound of a broken door. Nero silted his eyes and chuckled, pushing past Octavia and hovered directly outside of the window, excitedly flapping his wings. Octavia's heart sunk when Twilight and two of her police backups stepped into the view of the broken down door, all three looking down at the dead body of the police commissioner with deadened stares.

Twilight's eyes were huge with in their sockets at the scene, showing the lighting speed amount of thoughts and emotions running through her head. Slowly she looked up at the silent Octavia, the anger beginning to shift around her usual expression of steel. She reached Octavia and threw a punch directly into her jaw, shattering a section of the left side.

"You are under arrest for the murder of police Commissioner Red Dawn." Twilight forced Octavia onto the bloody desk to the side of Filthy RIch.

She could not fight back against Twilight, the task that the commissioner had given Octavia was equally burned into her mind as the dead body of her boss was, rifting all the values and goals she had come to desire away in current to do as Red Dawn had asked.

Nero began to openly laugh at the scene, his mane in a disheveled mess. All the ponies looked up at him, Twilight had pulled her handgun and opened fire. The amble pegasus easily dodged the bullet, causing him to laugh even harder.

"You'll see me again soon enough. Nothing can stop me now!" He screamed at them, swaying in the air to turn, blasting of at top speeds away in the Manehattan skyline.

Octavia sighed when she felt the cuffs lock on all four legs, looking down to see them magically sealed so that only a unicorn could unlock them. Feeling completely lost in the situation, Twilight shoved her out into the hall and into the elevator.

=-=-=-=-=

Applejack let the empty magazine of her handgun clatter to the floor to load another. Both her and pinkie were beginning to run out of ammo, though the fight was and the verge of ending. Only two more police were left among the dead bodies of their comrades and the mafia ponies. Blood was a mass on the current floor, seeping into the carpet to stain it more than it already had. The 28th floor was polluted with drawing tables full of incomplete sketches, prints on flat tables sitting next to paint. Applejack clung to the side of her half-destroyed drawing desk, letting out two bullets into the police pony, one completely missing and the other finding passage through the neck. Down the stallion went with blood arching down with him.

Pinkie had equally cleared the mare officer with pellet holes covering her upper half. The pink mare slumped down and fixed her slick mane out of her face, sighing of exhaustion.

"By Celestia's flank, I thought we were going to bite it there for sure. I've been away from this for so long. How much ammo you have left, Applejack?" Pinkie asked, setting her gun down.

"Going from your supply of magazines, this is the last one with thirteen bullets left. You?"

Pinkie reached behind her ear and pulled out a full carton of shells. She slid them out and loaded three into the under chamber. Applejack did not dare question the lack of logic behind it, instead putting the gun under her hat and stood up. The ex-party pony slung the shotgun over her shoulder and followed suit. Leaving the floor into a stair case, they descended in silence.

By the 23rd floor, Applejack broke the deafening lull.

"Did you notice that for almost all levels that we passed, the fighting stopped?" Pinkie nodded in response.

"The battle started two hours ago, if you count the first explosion the beginning." Pinkie sat a moment to light a cigarette in her mouth.

"So what do we do now? I honestly don't want to risk my life over a dying fight."

The apple pony stopped to think a moment, regret striking her expression. "Shit! We forgot about Octavia!"

Her companion looked around to find that they were already on the 23rd floor. "We're already on the twenty-third floor, I'd be damned if her or that crazy bastard pegasus aren't dead. My money's on the pegasus is lying with his head torn wide open." Pinkie said with a grin, moving her hooves to signify tearing something open.

That moment the lights went out and the elevators around them creaked with pain, and causing the two mares to look around in confusion.

"The police force must have shut the power." Applejack claimed, looking down at Pinkie who nodded in response.

The door that lead to the 23rd floor was blasted open, behind it the elevator doors screamed as they were forced open, Octavia and Twilight Sparkle tumbling out of the small crevice between the elevator and the doors. Spotting them, Applejack and Pinkie came out onto the floor to retrieve them from the fallout. Already on her hooves, Twilight drew her handgun with her hoof instead of her magic.

"Get back! I'll be forced to shoot..." Twilight let her voice trail off when she had a better look at the two criminals standing before her, silence over coming the situation.

All three ponies were subjected to a whirlwind of thoughts at the sight of each other, while Octavia sat confused as she watched the three mares stare at themselves.

"Pinkie...Applejack..." The unicorn let her gun descend to the ground, a bewildered expression dominating her face.

Pinkie had recovered from her small shock, locking her jaw in tense anger at the sight over her old friend. The pain of her betrayal coursing through her with raging speed, sending her into a silent rage yet to be unleashed.

Applejack shook her head in a quick fling, regaining thought process. "Okay, we can all yell at each other for the things that we've done in the past, but we have to get out."

Twilight fixed her gaze to the orange farm pony, beginning to shake her head. "No...I'm taking Octavia in for the murder of Red Dawn. I could do the same to you, but... " Again her sentence trailed off when Applejack gasped, the confused unicorn raising an eyebrow before being knocked out cold.

Behind the unconscious body of the detective Sparkle stood a heavy breathing Octavia, blood running down her forehead from the impact of her headbutt. Looking down from the unicorn up at her former boss and her assailant, she cocked her head. "Let's get out of here."

With Twilight on the back of Pinkie in the front, Octavia in the middle and Applejack taking the back, they had reached the lobby at the ground level of the office building. The police force were gathering completely devastated bodies in large piles and carrying them off in trucks, undoubtedly disposing of them before any type of press release was out or any pony coming to view the gruesome scene. The three mares stood in the darkness of the staircase, planning their escape out of the building. The entire perimeter of the lobby was constructed of window panes, all being blown out by a long gone force. Only three armored police ponies were in the lobby, the majority out on the street ahead. The ex-party pony backed up after observing the scene.

"Well, the only was we can get out of here is through the side windows, we can use the piles of bodies for cover, but beyond that, I'm not sure how we'll get out of here." Twilight stirred as she spoke.

Applejack nodded and looked out of the door. "I know a way. They way we went to climb the staircase there was a narrow alley way. Narrow, but we can make it."

Soon, the party had begun their escape, hiding behind two of the piles of bloody bodies while avoiding the watch of the police ponies. Getting out into the side of the building, they passed the armored carriage that was previously parked earlier and were led by Applejack into a crossing corner of the office building and a three story one adjacent to it.

Painfully squeezing through the straight of bricks and concrete, the came out onto the opposite street, no ponies were present but the four mares. Applejack sighed in relief, finally out of the danger.

"Were not free yet though. We need to get out of Manehattan until the heat dies down." Pinkie stated, looking at the two mares nod in response.

Applejack claimed to have land on the outskirts of the city were she had a barn for deals and hiding important materials.All agreeing to go there and rest, they trotted blocks away from the building to a garage where Applejack had rented a carriage in a false name. It was a long drive, but the ponies had gotten to their destination as the sun began to be cut off by the horizon. Twilight was chained to a wooden support beam in the cellar to not run away while the three mares discussed on the polished floor of the barn, illuminated only by a single lantern placed among the center of them.

Pinkie began. "What are we going to do with Twilight when she wakes up?"

Applejack responded almost instantly. "We force her to take Octavia's cuffs off. If she complies, then we plan our next move from there."

Pinkie looked confused, swinging her silky hair in a twirl of her head. "What do you mean next move? The entire Earth pony mafia has been wiped out! The commander of the police force of Manehattan is wasted, we have a cherished student of the almighty princess unconscious and locked up in the basement of a barn on the outskirts of the city, and we are all criminals! The only move I can fathom is a bullet in our brains instead of a heavy blade through our necks." Finishing her tangent, she looked at the two quiet mares in front of her.

Octavia grunted. "When I uh...shot Red Dawn, i went to him and he told me to take Twilight to the princess and begin forming a plan against the Unicorn mafia. Apparently, they've been planing something big and have allied with the Pegasi mafia in order to enforce this opposition. Though they still don't know what that planning is." Reporting the task that the late stallion, she stared at the ground the entire time. She was embarrassed by this sudden sign of weakness for someone who opposed her, but over the last two weeks of being trapped in the luxury cell of his precinct, she bonded with the old pony, talking many times over cups of coffee. She often forgot about these discussions when the intensity of her professional career overwhelmed her, wiping them from her mind and memory completely. The rest of the party was silent when she told them of Red Dawn's last request, but the tension was nonetheless there.

Pinkie gritted her teeth in anger over the ridiculous task. Go right up to one of the most powerful beings on the face of Equestria and present her with a bloody and seething star pupil, who respects her as if she was her daughter? It was suicide! There was no way they would ever survive. The events of the day finally came crashing down on her, blinding despair and rage taking hold again. Shooting up from her seat, she climbed the wooden ladder up onto the loft and slumped down into her already made bed of hay.

Applejack and Octavia were left to stare at the solemn ladder lantern. Octavia sighed in turn, twisting her head to look at her friend.

"Do you think we will ever get out of this nightmare?" She asked grievously, a heavy tone of despair flashing in her voice.

Applejack hadn't answered for quite awhile, but eventually, she did.

"No Octavia...I don't think we will ever escape from the things we've brought on ourselves." And with that, she opened the lantern and blew the flame out of existence, the darkness surrounding Octavia like a reflection for her hopes of a prevalent future of peace.

Author's Note

Part three of three. Act three complete.

Act 4: The Revolution of the Weak

The Black Cello Mafia
Act 4: The Revolution of the Weak

Rain battered the roofs of the long row of buildings, scattering in drops that then splattered on the street, flowing into a massive river casting on the side against the curb. Street lamps illuminated the stray drops that fell underneath it, giving prospect for how hard the rain was falling in comparison to the black dark sky. A sole figure quickly darted down the streets, turning corners without hesitation or halt. Turning one more corner, the figure saw it's destination: A Speakeasy. It raced down three blocks towards the building, pushing open the glass paneled door and into the warm and loud bar. Ponies from all over the building looked up in surprise to the clothing clad figure who barged in and walked slowly towards the bar stools. Sitting down, the pony tapped the wooden surface to bring the bartender forward. The pony flashed a gloved hoof and brought it down, signifying to have the stallion bartender bend down. Then the pony ordered.

"One Appletini."

=-=-=-=-=

In the city of Canterlot, the storm was much of the same as it would be in Manehattan, rain devastatingly pounding the cement roads and the brick buildings. Except for in the apartment of a white Unicorn, two criminals wounded with gun shots lay nearly unconscious on the brown rug that decorated the living room. The blood seeped into the threads of the soft covering and dyed it a crimson hue. Vinyl hurried and dislodged the bullet from Octavia's shoulder, taking the gauze and wrapping the disinfected hole. Doing the same for Pinkie's leg, both mares sat on the couch and were given the bassist's painkillers.

"Way to screw it up, Octavia." Pinkie said in a gruff and rude tone, staring at the wall in front of her.

"Fuck you, Pinkie! It's not my damn fault the Unicorns busted down the door!" Octavia yelled at her assailant with a snarl.

From the hall there was a clatter, then came out was a bed headed Twilight, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She took one look at the duo and scoffed from the back of her throat. She walked to the small chair to the side of the couch and slumped down inside of it.

"I'm guessing it didn't go well, huh?" Twilight asked Vinyl as she walked in from the kitchen.

"Well, they did manage to grab the file and escape alive with all limbs. So I say it wen't pretty well." The unicorn offered, filling the center between the two earth mares.

The file she had mentioned sat idle on the glass coffee table in front of the four ponies, containing secret information on the operation the unicorns and pegasi were enacting. Twilight stared at it.

"Now we take it to Celestia." The purple detective stated with a small nod.

From the corner of her eye she saw Octavia shake her head. Twilight shot daggers at the grey mare. "Why not?"

"Because we are already too close to the government with Vinyl. Any closer we get and we all die from our convictions." Octavia said as she slowly looked at the angry Twilight. "We handle this in secrecy for as long as we can. Until it reaches the breaking point, we collect information from our missions and Applejack back home."

Twilight looked at Octavia awhile longer before falling back into her chair and pouting a bit.

"It's been three months girls...how much longer do we need to keep hiding from everyone?" Twilight asked with a twinge of desperation.

No one answered momentarily until Octavia spoke again. "Hopefully, not much longer."

=-=-=-=-=

Applejack had taken off her hood to sip her Appletini, downing the fruity drink in a matter of seconds. Wait until she comes. She thought to herself, tapping the bar for a refill. Minuets passed until another pony opened the door to the warm Manehattan Speak, this one with a simple blue suit and a grey fedora lining her mane. The cyan tie dangled back and forth between her forelegs as she slowly waltzed to the bar, picking herself up with a small flap of her muscular wings. Sitting next to the orange earth pony, she sighed.

"I can't keep doing this 'Jack. I'll have my head chopped off." She said distressingly.

Applejack set down her drink and cleared her throat. "You stop doing this, and all of our heads will come off. They're doing this to prevent us all coming together, and sooner or later they will try to bring us down. Unless you keep giving me the information, only terrible things will come after." The apple pony explained, keeping her gaze down at her drink.

The suited pegasus looked at her own hooves. "Much like your pupil, I rose through the ranks by my efficiency to get the job done, successfully earning my place among the best. Being outlawed from your life long dream doesn't come easy. You know that. I've had to prove myself after I joined. They all doubted me, as usual. But I proved them wrong," She paused, bringing her attention to the silent mare to the side of her.

"And to risk it all...for an assumption? For some redemption among the ponies that would rather have me die than to live a crime filled life? No wonder 'Shy left us by oursel-"

"DON'T you DARE bring her into this!" Applejack barked at the pegasus, making the ponies around them to stop whatever they were doing and observe the scene. The farm ponies head was violently shaking with rage as she stared into the startled eyes of Rainbow Dash. She quickly shifted her head back into it's forward position, leaving the cyan pegasus to relax her eyes to show her concern.

"You seem to forget that if anything happens to Twilight beyond what has already happened, the princess will stomp you and both the Pegasi and Unicorn families into dust. Along with Octavia, Pinkie and I. It's bad enough that she is on the hunt for us after Octavia killed Red Dawn and we kidnapped Twilight." Applejack closed her stressed eyes to relax, leaving the two in silence.

Rainbow Dash continued to stare at Applejack with a sad expression. Giving up, she sighed and slid off of the bar stool to leave. "Meet me at Central Park tomorrow, we'll talk there. Try not to make a scene." And with that, she left out into the rain, leaving a frustrated Applejack all alone among the bar stools.

It's too late for our redemption Rainbow Dash. All we can do now is save ourselves.

Author's Note

It's been three months since the fall of the earth mafia, and all those involved are now working under the radar.
Give me your opinion on The Fall, I'm interested to know how it was; I would appreciate it!
Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1: Lawful Crime

The Black Cello Mafia
Chapter 1: Lawful Crime

"Are you sure you're alright, Octavia?"

Octavia stared up at the ceiling from her bed, trying to ignore Vinyl's concern. She understood that, on some level, that they had a type of bond not quite like a friends. Though it was complicated and seemed requited, it was strangely passionate, a powerful will bringing them together.

"Yes Vinyl, I'm perfectly fine." Looking down at the unicorn with a bored expression, she saw the genuine worry in her eyes. Sighing, she forced a smile.

"Seriously. I'm alright."

Vinyl huffed. "If you say so." A moment passed and a wry, devilish grin overcame her mouth. With one quick poke at Octavia's bullet wound, she sent her in a writhing mess of pain, squirming in agony.

"You...bitch..." Octavia cursed at the giggling Vinyl through puffed cheeks.

The white unicorn clambered over Octavia and pulled the covers over them.

"Good night, dear." She said evilly, Octavia still clenching her shoulder.

=-=-=-=-=

"Will you turn that light off and go to sleep, Twilight?"

Twilight peered over her book to look at the aggravated Pinkie Pie sitting up in her bed across from her. Looking at the lamp, she sighed.

"Sorry. Books help me sleep." She pulled the lamp switch down, encompassing the room in pitch black.

Pinkie rustled under her covers to go back to sleep, blowing angry air from her snout. Twilight stayed up looking around the darkness, still not sleepy enough to fall asleep.

"Pinkie?" Twilight called out into the quiet blackness.

"What?"

"Do you...ever regret what happened that day?"

Silence responded to her, moments passing with no answer. Growing tired and frustrated, the purple unicorn slid back down in her bed, pulling the covers to lay on her face. She began to feel her eyelids solidify and fall over her eyes, sleeping growing nearer. It wasn't until she was almost out when Pinkie answered.

"Everyday Twilight, everyday."

=-=-=-=-=

Octavia shot her eyes open in a hurry, swinging her head to look around her. She felt relived as the surroundings of Vinyl's room confronted her, light pouring in through the half open blinds. Taking note that Vinyl had already left the bed, Octavia sat up and rubbed her eyes. Everything was quiet and calm, a polar opposite of what had happened just a day before. The events rushed through Octavia's mind in a hurry, making her regret the sloppy job she had done. It would have to work though, information does not come easy.

Out of the bed, the tan earth pony opened the door and yawned into the kitchen. Vinyl was making coffee and Pinkie was sitting at the small table, looking through the file they had taken. Octavia sat down across from her and waited patiently for her coffee. A small mug full of straight black plopped down in front of her. Giving Vinyl a smile, she began.

"So what does the file say about the project Pinkie?"

Pinkie shook her head, brushing her slick hair back. "Not much. They've done some type of security to keep information to a minimum. This file only speaks about the spell they're preforming and it's capabilities."

"So wheres the rest of it?"

"Well there's a note. It says 'The manifest I require to complete my section of the file is in the hooves of Amethyst Star. I have to set up a meeting with her to acquire the defensive instructions to complete the combat.' Apparently we stole this before the meeting could take place, 'cause I don't see any other manifest within the combat chapter." Pinkie reported, closing the file. "We should wait for Twilight to wake up so we can understand the spell better."

Octavia stopped mid-sip of her coffee, intrigued by what the pink pony had said. "The spell is in there?"

Pinkie sighed. "That's the thing, it's incomplete. The combat section explains that the spell in this file is only half of the entire thing."

An idea sparked in Octavia's mind, the only way they could beat the unicorns.

"We have to find Amethyst Star. She has the rest of the spell." Octavia ordered

"What're you getting at?" Vinyl asked, coffee levitating beside her face.

"Well, with the spell we can finally combat the unicorns in a fair game, seeing as magic is an unfair advantage." Octavia explained.

There was a rumbling from the hallway beside the kitchen, which came from Twilight who tumbled out of the opening into the kitchen, groggy and sleep in her eyes. She poured herself a cup of coffee and stared at the three ponies. "What're you all talking about?" Twilight asked while eyeing the closed file on the table.

"We've read over the file and discussed the information inside." Pinkie Pie answered. Twilight rose an eyebrow in curiosity to her.

Pinkie tapped the envelope. "It's half of a combat spell, one that seems like it enhances defense and attack to whoever the spell is being cast on."

"And we want you to cast it for us." Octavia interjected, making Twilight give her a strange but excited look. Octavia looked to Pinkie. "When is their meeting taking place?"

Pinkie ruffled through the notes. "It's taking place at twelve in the castle Park."

Octavia paused, a small sense of anxiety catching her. That means we'll be close to the Royals.

"So...you'll go get the rest of the spell and use it to enhance ourselves?"Twilight questioned.

Octavia nodded, setting your coffee down on the table. "So who's going?"
=-=-=-=-=

Applejack sat with her back pressed upon the bench, waiting for the suited Rainbow Dash to arrive for their meeting. The farm pony had stayed within her cover of clothing she had wore the night before, keeping the coming risky dealing to a safe minimum of being caught, by the Royal Army or the Pegasi mafia. Many minutes had flowed into the full hour that Applejack had sat on the bench before a track suited Rainbow Dash, out of breath and glistening with sweat, sat on the bench next to her.

"Nice disguise, Dash." Applejack complimented.

"Not a disguise, Applejack. I work out every day for an hour in the park." Dash said under her hasty breath.

Applejack nodded. Clever.

"Alright. Let's begin." Applejack Declared.

"Let's." Rainbow agreed.

"The Unicorns. What are the Pegasi and them planning?"

"The Unicorn and the Pegasi are pairing together for a siege on Manehattan. Their goal is to hold the city hostage, build walls and secure the sky in order for a full lock down. Though, I don't know what their plans are for ransom. The two heads of the mafia are the only ones who have their hooves over everything, the only ones who actually plan." Rainbow Dash explained.

"I see...okay. Nero. How much do you know about him?"

"Even when I first met the stallion, I knew he was a damned psychopath. His eyes bugged no matter what state of mood he was in. And this was even before his son died. His mane was always messy and out of order. I met him when I had finally rose up the ranks, and our first meeting was extremely uncomfortable. Damn bastard wouldn't stop laughing at his own jokes. Anyway, I know he's ruthless and won't stop to acquire what he desires...I'm not even sure HE knows what he desires anymore."

"The Unicorn mob boss. Have you met them?" Applejack questioned right after Rainbow's Nero info dump.

Rainbow paused for a moment, birds broke into the silence. "No. I haven't even heard their voice. Only letters sent to me, personally, direct orders. Nero approved it, telling me that was as far I was going to get to meet the head operator. The letters were kept formal, no suspicion of what gender or who it could be."

"Okay. Final question." Applejack stated bluntly.

Rainbow Dash sighed. "Lay it on me."

Applejack was silent for a good while. Slowly, she pulled down her scarf that covered her mouth and took off her old sun hat that shadowed her head. She turned to Rainbow Dash and looked her dead in the eyes and asked.

"Where are they holding Rarity?"

Anticipation [Intermission]

The Black Cello Mafia
Chapter 3: Anticipation

"You're mane is beautiful, Rarity."

"Why thank you, Lock. Surprised you think that of what it looks like now. Back when I lived in the real world, my mane was elegant and full of life. Now it's just a shadow of its former self." 'Rarity craned her neck to look at Lock, her pegasus cellmate.

Lock was brushing Rarity's mane with a worn down brush, recently coming from the showers. Lock was stroking it down, sitting on her cot behind the unicorn.

"Rarity, I wanted to ask you something. If you're a unicorn, why don't you use magic?" Lock questioned.

Rarity rose an eyebrow. "You don't know? Well, the unicorn guards place a constant spell over all unicorn prisoners to bind and magic they could posses. I have a question for you. How old are you, Lock?" Rarity shot back.

Lock stopped brushing her hair, going silent. She began to hum, seemingly having to think about it. "Well, I don't have my cutie mark, but that doesn't make me a filly. I'm thirteen years old."

"Thirteen!? Why are you in here?" Rarity burst in surprise. "What could you have possibly done to be in a high security prison?"

"I'm not sure why I'm here. I just got here from Cloudsdale. They blindfolded me, threw me in a carriage. I suppose it took all night to get wherever this place is, because I got here in daylight." Lock answered somberly.

"You don't sound very distraught, just slightly sad about it." Rarity pointed out.

"Well...I come to terms with things easily. I was only crying really because I was confused at first, but as the day went by and we talked more, I calmed down."

Rarity was vexed at the current situation before her. The thought of a mare being as old as her younger sister in a prison played a ferocious game with her brain, making her question just how fragile the Equestrian law really is. Breaking her thoughts, the PA system came on.

"Recess and Visiting hours are now in affect." The PA cut off, the cell doors all simultaneously opening at once. Lock hopped off the cot. "I'm going to go to Recess, Rarity. Wanna come?"

Rarity stood up and brushed her mane out of her face. "I have no other choice." Rarity followed the pegasus out the door, being instantly stopped by a guard that stood by the stairs.

"Not you," He said. "The warden wants to see you."

Lock was looking at Rarity and the guard, curiosity flashing in her eyes. Rarity gestured her hoof to go with a smile. Lock nodded and continued walking.

Rarity looked back at the guard. "Let's go then."

The warden's door was tall and dark brown, a silver plaque stuck in the center of it's front that said "Warden". The guard that had led her there opened to door, pushing it open with no effort. Inside the door was a large desk, a chair behind it and a window showing the main cell wing behind that. In the chair, a red stallion sat, standard black suit with red tie, and a gelled black mane combed back.

This prison is so ridiculous. Mostly female prisoners, and all male guards. Even the warden. Rarity thought while strutting into the office. Two very generic chairs sat angled toward the Warden, his knees curved on the desk with his hooves pressed together in a pensive looking pose. The door closed behind the unicorn prisoner, giving the room an uncomfortable silence. The walls were painted a stark green, the walls littered with pictures of important looking stallions and mares together. Other bits and baubles covered the walls, some medals, papers framed behind glass to look distinguished. The old Rarity would have been impressed with the accommodations and high-society looking ponies. Now, she only saw them for normal ponies, just a little more snobbish then the average pony. Just like how she was. Though it did strike her with a small pang of sadness as she came to the conclusion. The Warden finally broke the silence.

"Have a seat, #175." The Warden offered her one of the generic seats.

175 looked at the serious looking stallion with a passive sense of annoyance. "I do have a name, you know."

The Warden nodded. Rarity snorted at the rudeness he was pressing, deciding to take the seat and begin whatever the summoning was about.

After a couple moments of another silence, Rarity broke it this time. "What is this about, Warden? I only just got here. I couldn't have done anything wrong."

The warden sat back in his large chair, sniffing curtly.

"How long have you been a prisoner, Ms.Rarity?" The warden question, obviously knowing the answer already.

"Two years." Rarity short answered the stallion.

The Warden began nodding, sitting up in the chair. "Two years you've spent moving to different prisons. Terrible food, no proper cleansing methods, and broken down cots. I can tell from your bored face, it broke you a long time ago. I would say I feel bad, but I don't think you would care."

Rarity did some nodding of her own.

"Thought so." The Warden paused for a couple moments, looking about the unicorns face and frame. "If I asked you, "Do you desire to leave prison?", what would you say?"

Rarity felt confused. She could definitely be daft sometimes, but not always. "What are you getting at?"

"Right, well...let's cut to the chase. You are being bailed out. You will be flown back to your last housing, which it says here...is Manehattan." The stallion pushed a paper toward the edge of the desk toward Rarity.

Rarity's jaw dropped in awe. "Bail? My bail ended a long time ago! How am I being bailed?"

The Warden shrugged. "This is coming from high up, though I'm not sure how high. I have a boss, my boss has a boss, and so on. But you are leaving...hope you enjoy it."

Rarity fell back into her seat, her mind racing a mile a minute, confusion on bewilderment consuming her. A guard walked into the office and stood next to the silent prisoner. "Come on. It's time to collect your things."

Rarity looked up at the guard and back down at the Warden. He nodded to Rarity. Becoming compliant, she slid off the chair and followed the guard out of the door. In the matter of an hour, Rarity had lost her uniform, and was given the only thing she had on her when she was arrested in the streets of Manehattan; a gift that she had bought for Sweetie Belle's birthday. She was placed on a carriage constructed to fly, two large pegasi on the reigns soon flew high above the clouds. Everything was happening so fast that Rarity could not process what had just happened. In the matter of an hour, her entire world had been turned upside down. The memories of her constant torture and awful living were striking at her.

"Two years..." she whispered to herself. "Two years of all of that, not knowing what my own charge was, and being transported to high security prisons. All of it, changed in one hour."

For the rest of the ride to Manehattan, Rarity was quiet and pensive, wondering how Sweetie had gotten along without her, and how far everything went as far as her apartment. She soon began to dread the coming events. And she had every right to.

Author's Note

[Intermission] Is a break from the main plot to explain a couple things in advance before more things begin to happen. It will continue for another chapter.

--1--: Four Strokes

----1----

"Well. Here we are."

"Yeah. Here we are."

"Took awhile, didn't it?"

"A life time almost."

"You could have kept your commitment."

"Yeah, well....I drifted for awhile. New habits became addictions."

"No excuses."

"Not trying to make one. I did wrong by everyone. I fucked all of it up."

"It was purely your fault."

"Not completely.

A voice broke in. "Doesn't matter. We've arrived."

"Well....you first."

"No, I insist. You"

"Still fighting with me? Fine, I'll go."

The sand burned. It was supremely hot. As was the sun, a polar contrast to the pitch black armored van the two voices had their conversation in.

Well, Mares. They were Mares.

Silence.

Dripping.

A voice.

"I don't think you know how bad I want to kill you. And myself."

"Uh-huh. Point taken."

"It's your fault we're stuck here, and she's out there, in the wasted city!"

"Get your memories straight, we both know it was--"

A loud banging resonated from a wooden door.

"Shut up in there! Keep talking and no food!"

Both voices had quit their talking. And then a whisper.

"You know I love you, right?"

"Of course I do. And I hate you."

...

"Just wanted to make sure you remembered..."

The bed was soft. And the book was nice. The material was familiar, like an old smell not smelt in a long expanse of time, but still completely within the confines of remembrance.

A knock came from the large door across from the bed. "You alright in here?"

"Yes. Thank you for the tea. Just like I remembered."

"Of course I remembered. We drank it everyday, I could never forget."

"Mmm...what time will the trial begin?"

"Nine in the morning. So get your rest, you need to be on your guard as the defendant. The Royal High Court are very tricky."

"Okay. Do you think they'll believe me?"

"Yes, I do. And so do I. Now please, get some rest."

The door closed, and the lights went out. The blankets rustled in the darkness, and the cold sheets stung. A lamp sparked on, as a quill touched an ink well to a paper.

Dear Fluttershy,

It was us. It was our fault. I am so sorry we brought you back, only to get you were you are now...where ever you are now. I'm not allowed to know where you are....they wont tell me. I've asked so many times, but they keep telling me that you're fine, that you're safe....I don't believe them. We left Manehattan in ruins. It must be hard for anypony to survive there now. I'm sorry. I promise you, I'll will get you out of there. This letter is getting to you via magic. There is no way for you to respond, or at least, no way I know of.

Sincerely,

Magic.

"Is there a problem with your food? Because you don't have to have any."

"Um...no. I just don't feel all that great."

"Oh...huh. Hope you aren't getting sick."

The crickets chirped and echoed among the rubble, reaching all the way up to the large, blown out high-rise.

"Do you think we'll ever get out?" The fire crackled warmly, shading the blood-stained carpet a thick orange.

...

"I'm not sure. It's been 4 months and the magical barrier is still holding strong. Look, you don't have to eat the beans, a recon team went out earlier today and radioed back that they had found some berries growing out near the outskirts. And some whiskey buried in some rubble."

"I don't drink...you know that."

"I know, I know. Just trying to make light in the situation." The fire was being keenly stoked, a half burnt and torn piece of wood being thrown in the burning barrel afterward.

The city was quiet, all for a small flashing firefight to the west end.

"I wonder what's happening out there. Maybe someone's hurt..."

"Doesn't concern us. That's pegasi territory."

It was quiet for a moment before a question was asked.

"How come we aren't out there? Both of us are pegasi."

"Because. They're violent, most of them are from the old mafia before the barrier had exploded in place."

"We aren't violent?"

"No. Well, yes, but we have order. We have ties with Canterlot. Stingy fucks, They're only using us. They've never planned on letting us out."

More silence, followed by a match strike and the puffing of a cigarette.

"You shouldn't smoke. It interferes with the blood circulation to the wings. I'm not sure what you'd do with out them."

"...I don't care about my wings anymore. They're out of order for the most part anyway. The blast displaced the joints.

...

"I'm going to sleep."

"Are you going to read that letter?"

"I will In the morning."

"Alright. Night."

"Night."

After watching the sleepy pony stalk off back into the dark, the pegasus took a long drag from the cigarette.

"You don't understand. It was all because of you that we're still alive."

The crickets continued and the gun fire had stopped. The city was silent again.

Author's Note

If you're still reading, I applaud you.

It's been awhile.

--2--: Recollection

--2--

Sand whipped around Octavia, the wind buffeting her fur eastward. It was noon by the tell of the sun, and the heat was oppressive. Looking around, she could see the broken, shambling road the armored carriage had rode on. Nothing could live here, it seemed almost impossible. The cacti were sparse and shriveled limply.

"There's no water in there." A stallion called out from behind. Octavia turned her head toward the carriage driver.

The unicorn stallion had a pale toned fur suit, yet wore a faded blue button up. His beard highlighted his dark green eyes, giving him a gruffer, older look.

"I would assume not."

White fur shifted near the stallion as Vinyl shuffled off the carriage and stumbled on the hot sand. Looking lost, she trudged towards Octavia and stopped short, looking at the stallion in confusion.

"So...what now?" Vinyl questioned.

The stallion levitated a cigarette from his shirt pocket, the tip combusted suddenly inside the levitation field. Octavia jerked her leg out, craving the sickly drag of nicotine.

The stallion placed the cigarette in an upturned hoof, blowing out a thick cloud of smoke. "Now," the stallion started, "We wait till night fall. Until then, we set up camp."

Octavia squinted her eyes, look up at the blue sky and noticed a slight purple hint to it. The quiet of the desert did not last long as Vinyl asked a question.

"So where is it?"

The stallion pinched the cigarette in his mouth and closed his eyes in what seemed like deep meditation.

"Near here."

Vinyl seemed perturbed. "And we wait for night fall to go?"

The Stallion nodded. The begrudged spy sighed and turned away, shaking her head while kicking the dirt right and left with each step.

Octavia watched the sun slowly drift down the sky. In an hour, a small camp was set up. three sleeping bags organized like a triangle around a large pile of store bought firewood. The mare's kicked around, drank water or watched the sun descend. The stallion sat silently, eyes closed and a burning cigarette in his mouth every forty minutes or so.

It was beginning to become dusk, the sky turning blue to orange and purple on the horizon. The suns brightness pulled away from them, and standing up, the stallion focused his field onto the pile of wood, setting it aflame. The surrounding area pulsed lightly with a warm dance of orange light.

Rolled up in a sleeping bag, Octavia sat up to face Vinyl.

"So...what do you think they're planning to do with us?"

Vinyl broke her gaze from the gray mare to stare up at the sky. The short night wind briefly brushed past their ear canals, the only outstanding sound in the abandoned desert.

"Not sure...but I think we're the only ones who had gotten out."

"Well there's still the trial, But I assume we wont be around to see it. I hope she does well."

Vinyl snorted. Octavia crooked her neck and observed her companion.

Shaking her head, the Unicorn broke the silence. "Doesn't matter....we're all going down in the end."

"Listen up," The stallion broke the conversation. Both mares looked up to give attention to the gruff stranger.

"Leave your bags here, we're leaving. Once we get there, no questions. Understood?"

Nodding, the couple stood and followed the stallion past the hill they had camped behind, following the rising moon. The night was cold, colder than Vinyl had treated Octavia the past couple hours. Side by side, they had followed the stallion further deep into the desolate wasteland. Some time had passed, the moon had risen higher, and Octavia was beginning to feel anxious.

Watching the stallion, she noticed his head swinging back and forth. She could make the outline of his burning cigarette past his mane, curling in abstract forms highlighted by the moon. A few more minutes passed and the group suddenly stopped in their tracks. The stallions horn began to glow a faint purple, and then the ground began to rumble. Octavia stumbled backward as Vinyl locked her knees in anticipation. Two fat and lengthy cellar doors slowly swung upward from the ground, dragging a load of sand with them as they locked into place vertically, revealing a lit stair case.

The Stallion turned around after finishing the lifting and began.

"Past this point, you are, for the time allocated, no longer Octavia and Vinyl. Instead, you will be given two new names, each related to your marks for your own convenience. As we descend down this staircase, you will be brought to a small underground bunker. From there, you will be briefed as to we you have been brought all this way from Canterlot."

The mares looked at each other in confusion but promptly complied as the stallion made his way down the stairs.

"So...this whole time, Manehattan has been a wasteland?"

"Yes. Thing's escalated that day in Manehattan, the Unicorn family had grown even more powerful than Royal Guard and MHPD combined. And because of you eight mares, the boss of said family had cast a spell."

The stallion paused.

"Nothing short of the fires of tartarus, the booming chaos of Discord or Celestia's powerful will of the sun."

Octavia slumped in her chair, resting a leg on the cold metal table next to her. The bunker was small, no bigger than an apartment bedroom. It was almost barren, only an artificial light hanging low above the table, a few chairs, a large chest in the corner of the room and a door opposite the staircase they had descended.

Vinyl chimed in. "Excuse me but...I was knocked unconscious when the Unicorns came at us, and when I woke up I was in a locked cell in Canterlot."

Octavia knit her eyebrows at the Unicorn. "You mean you didn't make it out?"

Vinyl shook her head. "No. I didn't get to wander the badlands for four months like you did, Octavia. I wasn't told much in prison, but I was told enough. At least the High Court hadn't forgotten my service to them."

The stallion silently observed their short conversation. "So neither of you know what happened?"

Vinyl shook her head while Octavia explained herself.

"Well...Vinyl was knocked unconscious, Pinkie was pinned down, Applejack was already captured, Rainbow Dash ditched us when the fighting broke that white unicorn and pegasus had disappeared before I made it back to the park. Twilight didn't follow my orders and instead decided to go and stop whatever was happening in the sky. As I remember it, we were all meeting before the shit hit the fan..."

Octavia rubbed her head, confused as to what was happening at the moment. The group of ponies from Canterlot rushed back down to Manehattan at Applejack's urgent request. All she had said was there was something breaking in the city and they had to act now. No answers came to aid Octavia's questions as Applejack hung up.

So the entire group rushed back to their former city to meet with Applejack.

"Why in Central Park? Why not somewhere private?" Pinkie asked, a dusky cigarette hanging from her lips.

"Pink, put that out, I can barley breathe." Twilight scolded.

Octavia ignored as the two began to quarrel behind her, instead scanning the park for Applejack. Vinyl sauntered up behind her, boring into her face,

"You know we have to tell her we failed, right? It's been two days since Amethyst was assassinated before we could get the rest of the spell."

Octavia stared straight ahead, finally having found her old friend. "I don't think that's gonna matter, Vinyl. Look."

Vinyl, along with the rest of the group, looked ahead at Applejack, walking toward them. Behind her, Rainbow Dash and an unfamiliar white Unicorn behind her. Both looking anxious and stern.

Finally having reached the other mares, Applejack gave Octavia a quick hug. "You couldn't have come any sooner. There's something going down."

"Well first I have to tell you we failed, Applejack. When we went to intercept the rest of the spell from Amethyst Star, it went bad. Before we could even start to enact our plan, she was killed."

"Killed?"

"Yeah. Something like a magic beam shot clean right through her chest, and another completely destroying the file she was carrying. We had to leave, it was causing too much of a scene and the other half was lost."

Applejack listened closely before answering. "Well it doesn't matter anymore, everything we've been working on for the past three months is all out the window now. First; Nero is missing. We have no idea where he is. Rainbow hasn't heard from him, only her superiors. Second; The entire Unicorn family has gone into hiding. There are no reported crimes involving them, as well as their sanctioned Speakeasy's having been abandoned. I haven't been able to track them."

"It's nothing concrete, but with both gone, there's nothing more we can do. Along with you having lost the rest of the spell, we're at a full halt."

"Why is Rarity here?" A voice rang out from behind Octavia.

Turning around, it was Pinkie who had broken in. She looked...disgusted. Almost like she had smoked her whole pack of cigarettes from the filters. She stepped forward, mane flowing with her, going up to Rarity.

"If I remember correctly, you're the one who fucked up the most out of all of us. Why are you here, and not locked up in prison like you should be?"

Rarity sat up with a hoof to her chest outward towards Pinkie.

"Excuse me? And what had I done?"

"You know what you did, don't play stupid!" Pinkie began to rise her voice. "You're the one that betrayed Fluttershy and-"

"HEY!" Twilight's voice broke the altercation, racing up to the arguing mares.

"Now is not the time to argue over who's to blame. Right now, we need to focus on what's right in front of us: What are the Unicorns up to?"

Pinkie snarled at both of her ex-friends, spitting her still lit cigarette on the grass and stomping behind Octavia.

Everypony was silent, all looking around for the next thing to say, the next course of action to take.

And then, a quiet voice was barely heard, but shattered the silence into a million pieces.

"It's too sunny of a day to be arguing."

The group of mares all turned their heads. Not even more than 6 feet from them, a golden pegasus with a long, flowing pink mane had crept up on them unnoticed.

"Fluttershy....."

In a flash, Rainbow Dash was on her, hugging her tightly. Fluttershy was caught off guard and squirmed in Rainbow's grasp. The entire crowd of mares all stared at the pegasus in awe, confusion and shock.

Vinyl whispered into Octavia's ear. "Who's that?"

Octavia glanced at the spy. "She's one of the Element's I think. They were all friends at one point."

Vinyl rose a brow. "Elements?"

Octavia shook her head quickly. "I'll explain later."

Rainbow dash stepped back, mouth gaped in a wide smile. "I haven't seen you in years, where have you been?"

Fluttershy smiled, blinking as she took a short breath before answering. "I was-"

Light.

Purple light was all Octavia saw. Nothing but purple light. No sound, no feeling. Only purple light suddenly engulfing everything behind her. Bright blinding light cascading her entire vision. In a flash, she witnessed the body of a pony fly past her in the light, a fast blue blur chasing after it.

What? Octavia turned her head but there was no change in the light. What's happening? Why can't I see anything?

...

Am I dead?

"NO, YOU AREN'T DEAD!" A voice bellowed.

I'm not?

"NO OCTAVIA, GET THE FUCK UP, YOU NEED TO GET BACK TO THE PARK!"

Why can't I see anything?

"WHAT?.....SHIT, HOLD ON!"

Octavia couldn't feel, see, hear or anything for what seemed like hours. And then suddenly, rain.

The darkest of clouds blanketed the entire sky Octavia could see. Sitting up, she shook her head and looked around. She was on the roof of a building, high up into the air above the city.

"Can you see now?"

Octavia turned her head to see Twilight standing beside her. Nodding, the gray pony shakily stumbled to her hooves.

"You were stunned by magic. Something was casted, I don't know what, but I know who."

Octavia held her throbbing head. "What're you talking about?"

Twilight roughly grabbed her by the leg and thrust her to the edge of the roof. "Look" She commanded, pointing a hoof out.

The park where they were just standing was no longer green and full of life. Instead, a humongous crater welled deep into the ground, eviscerating any plant life nearby. And any pony life.

The streets we're running rampant with screaming ponies and police officers attempting to control the situation. Scanning the area, Octavia saw the rest of the group hiding behind a large fountain. Half blown away and the other half being riddled with bullets. There was a whole unit of Unicorns toting automatics.

"What...what the fuck happened Twilight?"

Twilight rested a hoof on Octavia's shoulder, pointing up into the sky. Octavia followed her hoof. Buried within the clouds, Octavia saw a thick, almost pulsating field of magic. Tracing it around, Octavia noted that it encompassed the entire city's limits, covering everying out to the outskirts and barren dirt roads.

"That's not it Octavia." With even more confusion, Octavia glanced from Twilight to wherever she was looking.

The magical field and clouds covered most of what Octavia could see. And in the center of it all-

Was a single Unicorn, bursting with blinding light, looking down on all of the helpless ponies of Manehattan.

--3--:Submission

--3

Buildings began to fall, ash and smoke trailing their descent. Large, magical beams shot in an instance tore through them like paper, killing any pony inside as they collapsed. The Unicorn in the sky turned with a deadly precision, taking down any edifice he pleased; ravaging the city before him.

"I have to go up there and stop him."

Octavia broke her stare from the powerful being to look quizzically at Twilight. "What do you mean? How the hell do you plan on stopping him?"

Twilight stood determined, fear had no stance in her look. "I...don't know. I'll try to bind him, it's the only thing I can think of."

"That's crazy! Look at what he's doing! He's shooting down buildings Twilight, you'll be annihilated!"

Shaking her head, Twilight turned to Octavia. "Go back to the park, help our friends. I think I'm the only one who can stop him now."

Octavia started backwards, raising a hoof in the air. Before she could protest, a large cylindrical, purple light began to form around her. Throwing a hoof out at her rival, Octavia dissipated from the roof top.

Twilight sighed. Standing cock-sure, she began to levitate herself into the air, slowly hovering toward the Unicorn in the sky.

Bullets rapidly ricocheted off of the cement fountain, pushing down Octavia even further. Pulling down the hammer on Buck, she swung around lighting fast to the other half of the fountain, letting loose two bullets into the underbelly of one of the three last Unicorns.

Popping off her hooves and rolling on the ground, she narrowly escaped a barrage of automatic bullets,and released one of her own, straight into the eye of her assailant. The last unicorn was showered with blood and brain matter, blinding him for a moment while Pinkie ran up to him and forced her shotgun into his mouth, exploding any facial recognition possible for the Unicorn.

Pausing for a moment, Octavia took a headcount.

Just me, Pinkie and an unconscious Vinyl....

"Pinkie," Octavia called out to the now smiling pony, wiping blood off the barrel of her gun. "Where did the rest go?"

"Applejack was captured as soon as the Unicorns attacked, one of them took her into his magic and must've teleported. Rarity was fighting off one of her own attackers the last I saw of her, Fluttershy....just disappeared. And Rainbow Dash flew away while the fighting broke out."

Octavia glanced around, taking note of her surroundings. All ponies visible were running rampant, some screaming, some watching the sky in terror, the rest laying dead in the street. Octavia looked up into the sky, catching Twilight and the Unicorn amidst their battle. They were locked in a power struggle, great beams of magic pouring out of their horns at each other.

It was obvious Twilight was loosing. She struggled to keep herself levitating, casting her own beam, and trying to not be over-powered by the Unicorns magic. Unlike Twilight however, the Unicorn was simply hovering in the air. No visible field of magic around him to levitate himself.

"...and from there, Twilight lost. She fell, landing on a far away rooftop, probably bloody and beaten."

The stallion nodded, Vinyl watching Octavia with curiosity as she told her story.

"Right. Well, after that had happened, Celestia arrived. She was able to break through the barrier and attempt to stop the Unicorn. But he proved too powerful, while she was able to knock him unconscious, she was ripped from the sky and out of the field."

"How did you get out, Octavia?"

Octavia looked over to the questioning mare, eyes ripe with curiosity.

"Well...I was in the city for the rest of the night, and chaos was still raining down on all the ponies. We stayed close to the park, waiting for you to wake up. The Unicorn left the sky for the rest of the rampage, but he still had a presence else where. Police came down on us, tearing us away from our hiding. They took us to their precinct, questioning the only ponies that stood in the park near the initial blast to question us if we knew anything. We didn't, but as the building shook and threatened to collapse, the took us into the basement. There was a tunnel in there, conveniently enough. We were able to escape the city from the underground and out of the barrier.We were being taken away when were shot by those beams. I was able to escape but..."

"You left us behind.." Vinyl said. She looked betrayed, scorned by her mate's lack of loyalty.

Octavia felt heartbroken, as she had for four months. She left her friends for dead while she made her escape, never even looking back to see what happened.

Silence prevailed the room between the three ponies until the stallion broke it.

"Well...we should begin."

"You two are going back into the city. There were three of those tunnels you had mentioned. The one under the police precinct collapsed after you made it out, the second was captured by the unicorns and they've held it well. The last, leading from the desert, is the last one. And so far, they don't know about it. Canterlot's forces have been using it for some time to infiltrate the city, but haven't been able to properly launch an attack. We have no idea were the Unicorn is, but we have a group of ponies aided by us to try and keep a foothold in the city."

"The two families left in the city, the Unicorns and the Pegasi, have broken from organized crime to full on factions, each holding a section of the city. Our group is located in the old Earth families headquarters, operating as a base of operations."

"Your mission is to find the Unicorn, figure out what power he had acquired, and come back to this bunker to report to me."

Octavia stood from her chair, her face screwed in confusion. "Find the Unicorn? How are we supposed to do that? And why us?"

"Earn the respect of the Unicorns. It's not just one race of ponies in the sections, all ponies are able to be a part of the faction they choose. The Unicorns reign supreme, while the Pegasi act as some resistance of sorts. They battle over the city, trying to gain power over each other. Our insurgence group keeps a low profile, staying to their small portion of the city. Two of your friends are there?"

"Who?" Octavia ask in a flurry of curiosity, stepping closer to the stallion.

"Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy." The stallion drew slowly. "They're the leaders. We established contact in the first month of the barrier's life, but they haven't made much progress. They only struggle to survive, and there's not much we can do to help them. The Royal Guard hold little interest in our operation, while the government only focuses on the politics of the situation. Putting the act to a face to blame."

Octavia sat down, deep in thought. Before she could put any reason to her mind, the stallion continued.

"Well, now that you're caught up, follow me."

The three ponies walked past the sole door in the bunker, coming into the large tunnel. This one, compared to the one under the precinct, was far more developed. There were faint storm lights lined by five, spotting the tunnel down as far as Octavia could see, illuminating the tunnel only enough to see your hooves and the long, expansive railroad track down the cement barrel. It was a simple automated railroad, with a small cart only big enough to hold three ponies.

The stallion turned to face the mares. "Octavia, Your new name is simply Bassnote. Vinyl, our new name Grain Pitch.Try not explaining your name's and mark's, keep it as simple as possible. You'll be arriving into our insurgencies small section of the city, establish contact with them and begin your infiltration into the Unicorns. Best of luck."

The stallion finished and walked to a control panel in the corner of the platform. Octavia shared a glance with Vinyl before they stepped onto the cart, closing the left wall of it behind them. The stallion forced a large lever down, starting a loud hum in the tracks beneath them; and the cart began with a start.

Soon, the two mares were chugging steadily along on the lone railroad down the dark and dingy tunnel. Sitting on opposite ends of the cart, both mares stared into the dark space before them, silence prevailing the two.

Octavia craned her neck around to look at vinyl, Vinyl met her gaze and turned her head back. Sighing, Octavia looked around the tunnel in deep thought, Standing up and walking over to the other side of the cart, she approached Vinyl.

"Hey," Octavia said, nearly a yell above the noisy railroad. "I never asked; What happened to your glasses?"

Vinyl looked to the mare behind her, staring with a bored expression. "When I was captured by the Royal Guards after the cop car was totaled, they confiscated them. They were pretty much the only possession I have."

"They can't just keep your belongings. I've been thinking," Octavia paused, walking over to the corner next to the Unicorn pony, Vinyl moving over a bit to make room. Sitting down, she continued. "I think if we succeed? Find out who this Unicorn is and bring him down, they'll pardon us. They have all of our friends, maybe this is just a test for us to fix the damage we've done over this last year."

Vinyl stared at the grey mare, raising an eyebrow in comprehension. "Well...the damage you've done this year. You started in the fall, yeah?"

Octavia nodded. "Back in the fall. I remember playing sweet and sad lullaby's in the dark but charming pubs. The chilled fall air, the falling leaves and crisp drinks."

Vinyl looked down at her hooves. "Seems like you had a good life before all this shit started. The prohibition, then the explosive crime. It got to a point where a simple law spiraled everything out of control."

"Yeah. But to be honest...I don't regret becoming a member of the mafia."

Snapping her head up, the white Unicorn bored into the Earth pony. "But...you're so close to death all the time. And we're on the brink of being locked up. You don't miss that perfect life at all?"

Octavia closed her eyes before shaking her head. "Of course I miss it. I loved it everyday, on my own, doing what I wanted and doing what I loved. But..." She paused for a moment, opening her eyelids half way. "Living crimefull really set me up to be more than I was, a more motivated and determined pony. And to be honest-I feel happier this way. It got bad once I encountered Nero though...I was so cock-sure and arrogant before him, but one meeting and he shut me down harder than any amount of blood showers or bullet wounds. And I was stunned, but It was wrong doing the things I was made to do by Filthy. Sure, I got to feel the same, but It was some thuggish ignorance,

"When I was able to find a better foot hold-a virtue almost-I became more viligant. Like I was to stop evil happening, all those secret missions to gather intelligence on the unicorns, the hiding from the government. It was like a feeling of justice."

Vinyl shook her head. "So you feel like a hero? Saving the day, right? That's what it sounds like."

"Well...I fucked it up, and we disbanded because of the Manehattan incident. We all got separated and persecuted in the aftermath. I was the only one to escape it, so I wandered the badlands. Zebra territory, encountering Griffons. It was almost a survival, being an outlaw."

"So now you're a cowboy." Vinyl said, chuckling a little under her breath.

Octavia giggled a bit herself, looking out into the deep abyss. "But this time," Octavia began, looking at Vinyl. The Unicorn returns her gaze, looking at the cellist with sudden curiosity and attention.

"I'm going to take the Unicorns down. Like we originally planned. I will not fuck it up this time."

Vinyl straightened, taken aback. She shifted her hooves, mulling over the mares deceleration. Sighing, she looked down at the passing rail, everything around them turning into a blur.

"I don't know why you became the leader but for some reason...I just trusted you. I think we all did. You probably took charge during the Pegasi Attack on the Earth mafia's headquarters, knocking out Twilight and just escorting us from the danger. We just started following you. Seemed like you knew just what to do."

Octavia looked back at Vinyl, drooping her ears a bit through her praise.

"I'm willing to trust you again. To follow you." Vinyl knocked on the steel cart's platform below her. "I just hope for our sake you know what you're doing."

Octavia nodded, smiling at the Unicorn. "Thank you."

Vinyl sat back, relaxing as if a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders, resting her face back into a bored expression. Octavia smirked, scooting over a little closer to the Unicorn.

Vinyl jumped for a moment in surprise, looking at the grey mare before relaxing again, letting Octavia brush up against her flank. Octavia continued to smile, chucking a bit. Vinyl shook her head a bit in compliance. Laying her head on the Unicorns shoulder, Octavia and Vinyl stared out into charging darkness, awaiting their arrival. Both prepared for the wasteland of Manehattan.

Recollection [Intermission]

The Black Cello Mafia
Chapter 2: Recollection
=-=-=-=

"By Celestia's plot do these cuffs chafe."

"Hush. You'll keep yourself quiet until we get to the destination." A gruff stallion answered back.

The mare that had complained was blindfolded and chained betwixt her hooves. She slumped against the back of the carriage that she was currently being transported in, sighing in exhaustion.

It's been two years...how much longer will I be pulled along like this? She thought to herself. Two whole years of almost constant blindness, broken occasionally to view the bleak, greenish-grey mold covered walls of a cell. Disgusting food being shoved in her face, and the rusted, dusty old cot that would serve as her bed. Some of her cells didn't even have cots. Those were definitely the worst of times. What used to be a beautiful mane, was now a disheveled mess, full of muck and dirt from being thrown to the ground so much. Her stomach had permanent bruising over the years of beatings. They really like to focus there...not sure why.

She was pretty much indifferent to most of her torture and terrible living conditions now. She used to bawl, scream and feel like dying, but after two long years of seeing the broken, lifeless faces of her fellow inmates, coupled with a complete detachment from emotion and the material things that she used to cherish, she had practically become insane with a sense of humor for everything. Even then she huffed a passing giggle.

"Must be how Pinkie feels." She said under her breath.

The carriage drew hard on the ground as it came to a halt, lifting slightly and coming down with a thud. The steel locked door that lined the back of the carriage swung open, an armored stallion standing slightly away.

"Come on out. We're here."

The mare slid off of the bench and onto her hooves, shuffling out of the carriage and unto the blaring hot sun that instantly charred her stiff body. Her blindfold protected her from the shine until the stallion pulled it off, making her flinch in surprise. The guard shoved her in the ribs, causing her to stumble slightly, giving the stallion a disgusted look. Looking to her left, she saw the grand prison that was planted among the rolling desert hills that surrounded it. Dust kicked up around her feet as she shambled away from the front gate and toward the processing station. An already present line was prominent, the same old look of beaten ponies who had suffered as much as her populating the small space in between two tall black, barb wired fences. The mare came unto the post were another armored stallion sat behind blue tinted glass, staring intensely at whatever was in front of him. Under the small slit of glass, the guard pushed a wrinkle covered paper toward the mare, along with a circular pot of ink. Pressing her dirty, dove white hoof into the pot, she repressed it over an already stamped hoof print. She couldn't remember how many times she had stamped that paper, but still, every time she had been forced to move, the familiar old paper greeted her with typed print giving description and charge. Her old blood still stained the top-right tip when a guard had punched her in the snout, bleeding profusely onto the desk and the paper itself. The guard took the paper back and gestured a hoof to keep moving.

The line moved silently and somberly into the prison itself, the all too familiar stench of terrible food and dingy ponies wafted about her nostrils. Sniffing curtly, she moved along with the line into a main cell wing. She was guided up the stairs and to the first cell after them, a recently shaved and fairly young golden mare on the bottom cot, shivering and broken to tears. Walking into the cell, the still chained mare felt her mind reel as she noticed this small framed mare had wings and golden fur. She slowly walked up to the cot and looked down at the mare with sore eyes, mouth parted in awe. A whisper escaped her shocked lips.

"Flu...Fluttershy?" She asked out to the crying mare.

She sobbed once more and stopped, looking up at the white mare above her, her eyes a dull hazel. Her bottom jaw stuttered about while trying to hold the sob. The standing pony shook her head and sighed. I'm disappointed but...it's better off if I never see her anywhere near me.

"W-what did you s-say?" The pegasus stuttered, sniffing back snot produced from crying.

Shaking her head, she answered. "Nothing."

The pegasus seemingly had began to pull herself together, sitting up and wiping away the tears with her legs.

"I guess we're cellmates." The still shaky pegasus stated. "What's your name?"

The mare looked up and pushed a large lock of her hair behind her ear. "Huh?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"Your name. Don't you have one?" The mare asked.

Wow. She must be younger than she looks. "Oh, uh...yes, I do. I just haven't heard...or even said it in a very long time."

"Then...could you tell me what it is, please?"

The standing mare finally sat beside the cot, the cell door having been closed awhile now.

"Rarity. My name is Rarity."
=-=-=-=

Tossing and turning on her stiff cot, Rarity slept uneasily. Her sub-consciousness raced in a blur of different events that had taken place in her life, taking the cruel pleasure to stop and force her to relive some of the worst that had plagued her psychosis for years, and many of years to soon come. For what seemed hours that she had to come to these moments, she began to course the recent weeks, The weeks ran to days, and the days rode into the current, ending with her climbing into bed that night. Suddenly, darkness consumed her vision, brightening to the small golden pegasus sobbing in the cot, but instead of daylight coming through the bars, it was moonlight that drilled past the iron baring into the cell, barley illuminating the sorrowful mare in front of her. After a couple of slow moments, the mare stopped crying and shifted around. Her neck craned up and toward Rarity, stuck in place in the corner of the cell. Slowly, her face came into the faint light, showing the bruised and damp face of Fluttershy, her blue eyes breaking the grey and black surroundings. She broke into a sob, this time visible, but her eyes and muscles did not move, only her mouth. The cries echoed in the dark cell, berating Rarity's ears.

"RARITY. PLEASE....HELP ME!" The frozen face of a shaven Fluttershy vibrated violently, intensifying the agony of her cries ten-fold, soon turning into a shrill shriek of pain. Rarity felt as if she was screaming. but couldn't tell. Her whole body was frozen and numb. Her perception shifted, moving downward. She realized she was sinking into the ground, a pool of violet swirls consuming her body until her open and loud mouth was swallowed under the ground.

In that instance, Rarity shot up in her cot, sweat dripping at an alarming rate down her face. Breathing hard and taking huge gulps of air, she quickly looked beneath her bedding at the pegasus under her. A mare was there, yes, but not Fluttershy. This mare was younger, curled up in a ball with her wings curved around her body as if to protect her. Rarity fell back into her cot, still huffing in panic. The sweat was cooling under her prison uniform, clinging to her fur. Becoming so exhausted from the day's events and her recent nightmare, she was too tired to think about anything. Instead, falling into a gentle sleep. She had no more dreams that night.

Author's Note

Summer has arrived, and I can finally get back into the groove of writing more. Expect more chapters to come. Thanks for reading!