996 CE

(Twilight Sparkle)

This was bad. Things were not going as planned. The war criminal Gosef Mengele couldn't be here, it was impossible. The boat he was supposed to be on was still in the middle of the ocean. His already being in Equestria, none the less Ponyville, was absurd. But if what Fluttershy said was correct, then he was already here. But that was impossible! There is no way S.M.I.L.E. intelligence would be that wrong! If they were, that would mean either somepony needs to get fire, there is a mole in S.M.I.L.E., or he is a lot more dangerous than anypony expected.

In any case, that didn't change the facts; there was a sociopathic mass murderer in Ponyville and there were only six combat-ready ponies in the town. My brother, me, Agent Tight lips, the undercover S.M.I.L.E. agent, and the two town Royal Guards. And considering the mad grif was known to force parents to watch him torture their foals to death, I doubt me or the local cops will be much help. And there is no guarantee the S.M.I.L.E. agent will be able to help either well maintaining her cover. That just left Shining and Tight to find and apprehend a single griffin in a town of thousands without anypony else getting hurt!

Oh, sweet Celestia! I almost forgot about the foals! I brought Spike here thinking it would be safe! Fluttershy was always saying how she wanted to meet him, and I, being the stupid idiot I am, thought this would be a good time for them to meet. He is waiting by himself in the library, completely defenseless, at this very moment! That is not even considering the townsfolk and their foals! While I am sitting here thinking this over, Ponyville could be running red with blood!

Okay, calm down. Somepony is calling me, but I need to get my priorities together first. This calls for a list;

1. Ensure the safety of myself, Shining, Spike Fluttershy, Gwen, and Agent Tight lips.
2. Protect the undercover S.M.I.L.E. agent and ensure their cover is not blown.
3. Minimize casualties among the citizens of Ponyville.
4. Minimize psychological and physiological trauma suffered by the citizens of Ponyville.
5. Eliminate Gosef Mengele, preferably by live capture so he can face justice.
6. Minimize property damage done to Ponyville.

That is a sufficient start. Now I need a plan that will accomplish these objectives as effectively as possible. Hum, somepony is waving their arms in front of my face. How rude. Moving on. While, on the positive side, there should only be one adult male griffin in Ponyville, so it shouldn't be that hard to spot him. That said, as soon as he is aware he has been found out he is likely to attempt to escape or harm civilians. A slow, methodical approach is not an option. I think this calls for another list.

1. Try to evacuate Ponyville. No good, that would create so much chaos that there is no way we could keep him from noticing, and it would likely escalate into violence or allow him to escape.
2. Just evacuate VIPs. Better, but still potentially noticeable. We know he is targeting Fluttershy and Gwen, he would probably react if they suddenly took a trip to Canterlot.
3. Search and destroy. Worse yet. I would guess only Shining and Tight could match him in one on one. Splitting up to search for him would only give him a chance to take us out one at a time.
4. Turtle. Not viable. He could just flee or force our hooves by attacking the town.
5. Call in the cavalry. Safe, but not practical. It will take too long for reinforcements from Canterlot. Even with dragon fire. Speaking of...
6. Call the Princess. She could arrive much quicker than Guards or S.M.I.L.E. agents. But it might be a little bit of overkill. And she said I needed to stop relying on her so much. What did she say right before I left? 'I am sure you will have a wonderful new experience in Ponyville with your friend Fluttershy.' Was that code!? Did she feed me false information on purpose to see how I would handle it? Is this a test!? Oh Celestia I need to...

"TWILIGHT"

Is this what being turned to stone by a cockatrice feels like? One moment I was very calmly and thoroughly formulating a plan, the next my world was consumed by cyan. I could hardly feel the hooves on either side of my face, or smell the fruity tea and animal sweat, or hear the concerned voice of my brother. All I could see, hear, smell, taste, feel or think was that infinite darkness surrounded by a thin ring of sky blue. It was like looking into the darkness between space, at the voids that existed before the rocks that formed Equestria were forged in the hearts of dying stars, at distances that would take light a thousand times longer than Celestia's life span to cross. It is incredible, incalculable, indescribable, madd...

What was I thinking about? Fluttershy moved her eyes away and suddenly I was back in her humble cottage; Shining, Agent Tight Lips, and several animals looking at me worriedly. I had a headache and I vaguely felt like I was forgetting something. Something about the significance of the universe? I don't know, and thinking about it makes my head hurt. We have more important issues anyways.

"Are you back with us Twily?" A concerned Shining asked me as he stole worried glances at an innocent Fluttershy.

"Yes. Right. Sorry." I mumbled, giving myself a few seconds to clear the cobwebs that had recently taken up residence in my head. "We need to make a plan. If Gosef Mengele is really in Ponyville, we need to do everything we can to capture him."

Shining and Tight Lips, and weirdly Gwen, all nodded with grim determination. Fluttershy, meanwhile, looked like she was about to have a panic attack. Civilian, right. I forget most ponies haven't taken self-defense courses.

"I think we should split up," Shing opened, "I could protect the non-combatants with my shields while the pair you search the town together. I am sure the two of you could hold a single griffin off long enough for reinforcements to arrive."

I nod, that seemed like a decent plan. A quick discussion later and we decided that Shining would escort Fluttershy and Gwen to the library to pick up Spike while Tight and I started searching the town. From there, Shining's group would head to the local schoolhouse. Class should still be in session, so Shining could protect Ponyville's most valuable citizens without throwing the town into chaos. It wasn't perfect, but at least we could maintain the element of surprise.

(Gosef Mengele )

This was bad. Things were not going as planned. Somehow, one of my gracious volunteers has escaped. I can only assume that the little rat I was chasing earlier was larger than I had thought. But how it happened is ultimately immaterial, the important thing is that my time here has run out. The unwashed masses of griffins tended to be unable to see the necessity of my work, I can't imagine the dumb, soft, and cowardly pony would react any better.

I have to keep my priorities straight. While losing my chance to further my experiments is undoubtedly a tragedy and loss to science, securing my magnum opus must come first. It is a shame I will not be able to give the worms of Ponyville purpose, but sacrifices must be made. They will simply have to live with the fact that they are doomed to live the rest of their meaningless lives in mundane misery.

The thief likely took my volunteer to either the hospital or the guard, staying in this quaint bakery is no longer an option. Abandoning my temporary laboratory should give me some time, but I will have a day or two at most until a more substantial force is sent by the sun witch. Any chance for subtlety is gone, I need to secure Gwen and escape as soon as possible.

Fortunately, I had prepared for such a scenario. A quick mixture of a few chemicals and a trip to the local well that the pink pony oh so helpfully pointed out, and the town will be too overwhelmed by sick to mount an effective search. Alas, the poison will not be strong enough for a proper culling, but there is no time for a more optimal solution.

My plan decided, I quickly gathered up my things. Still no hooves pounding at the door, so I should still have time. Exiting to the street, I saw no panicked looks or rushing guards. The idiotically trusting ponies wouldn't know something was amiss until they were vomiting in the dirt and I was flying back to Griffinstone with a rescued chick over a yellow corpse.

The drinking well served to highlight the weakness of the ponies. Completely unguarded, in an open, public space, stood the lifeblood of a community of thousands. The only one of those pathetic creatures around the well was an exhausted-looking pegasus mare. She was a truly ugly specimen, her cyan fur contrasting grotesquely with her flamboyantly rainbow hair. She was well muscled, the meat robbing her of any grace of femininity while only serving as a parody of masculinity. Truly, it was incomprehensible that some considered her kind the rules of the skies over griffins.

"Good morning." I greeted with a pleasant smile as I approached the well. Being able to suppress one's disgust was an important talent in biology, it helps in social situations as well.

"Sup," The rainbow-haired freak replied. A quick double-take showed that I had gotten her attention. Unfortunate. "Hey, your that griffin that is house-sitting for the Cakes. I've been meaning to talk to you. You any good with those wings of yours?"

Ah, I had meat this type before. Young grifs would often venture into the slums of Griffinstone searching for another youth to challenge. To think ponies would produce the same meatheads. Of course, the griffins could aspire to become noble knights, the best this pony could hope for was joining the disgraceful Wonderbolts.

"Oh, I did a bit of flying when I was younger, but it has been a long time since then," I say passively. I took the flask of poison from my uniform, now it was just a matter of finding an opportunity.

"Don't say that old-timer! It is all about spirit! I am sure you could pick it back up if you tried! We could do a race! It isn't every day that I get to fly against a griffin. I used to race this griffin named Gilda, but I haven't seen her much since she decided to move to Canterlot instead of going back to Griffinstone. Come on, it would be fun!"

There it is. And she knows a race traitor too. I couldn't be less enthused. And her persistence is stopping me from completing my task. I guess I have to be a little proactive.

"I am going to have to decline. I don't have the time today. Although seeing as you are so athletic, perhaps I have something you would be interested in," I make a show of searching my uniform, before pulling out the same poison that the yellow one failed to drink yesterday. "This has been proven to enhance muscle growth and improve performance. I am sure that a bright young flyer like you could find some use for it."

Conflicting emotions flashed across the flying pig's face before settling on a mixture of disgust and anger. A prude then. Oh well, she will survive another day, but I will still hopefully scare her off. The mission comes before pest control.

"No way. I don't do that type of thing. You know what, I just thought of some... clouds I have to clear, ya. See ya!"

Just like that, there was nothing between me and Ponyville's water supply.

(Doughnut Break)

Being the second (of two) most important guard in a small town like Ponyville had its perks. I got to spend most days relaxing in the office, snaking on some sugary, fried, goodness that my cousin Joe in Canterlot sent me. And when I did have to work, it was mostly minor disputes or complaints. I didn't even have to bother keeping up with the mandatory exercise, everypony knew there was no way I would even need it in a place like this. But the best part is that eveypony had to treat me with the respect I deserved. With the thousand-plus-year-old Equestrian legal system, there was always something I could charge somepony with if I looked. Plus I looked good in my uniform.

Today was a completely average day. Only paperwork and a few complaints about a low-flying, high-speed pegasus disturbing sleep. I really needed to reprimand that Rainbow Dash again. She was kinda cute, a ticket would be a great way to get her attention.

My daydreams of Rainbow in a slightly-too-small Wonderbolts uniform were interrupted by urgent knocking. Buck, what was it now? Did Pipsqueak get stuck in a tree again, or maybe it was Spoiled complaining about the feather duster.

At the door was an unexpected, but not unwelcome mare. Nurse Red Heart was standing, exhausted, outside my door. A little old for my tastes, but I wouldn't say no. Sadly, it didn't seem like she was here because she suddenly realized how attractive I was. Rather, she was mumbling something about the Cakes being foalnapped. Which was obviously ridiculous, because they were out of town for some cooking thing.

None that less, it would be un-stallionly for me to ignore the orders of a mare in distress, so I went with to Sugercube Corner with her. The front door was locked and there was no response to my yelling, but I had probable cause, so I decided to go in anyway. It was always fun when I got to break down a door, even if it hurt a little and took a few tries.

The lobby was deserted, but I drew my blade anyways. No reason to let my guard down. And it would look cool in front of a mare. With my weapon ahead of me, I begin to explore the ground floor. Still no response to any of my calls, nor any signs of a struggle. That is, until we reached the kitchen. It looked like the room had been stripped, with many utensils that characterized the kitchen missing. The disturbing thing, however, was the trail of red leading to the basement. It is probably just the mare's story and the quiet, dark atmosphere, but that almost looked like blood. I did not sign up for this Hoovecraft stuff.

Well, I can't back down now. I was regretting skipping on those exercises, but I could do this. I had a sword, and even if it was shaking a little, I could use it. I pushed the basement door open, and begin descending. The only thing at the bottom was a dark room. It did not take me long to find the light switch.

I also found the Cakes

I suddenly got the opportunity to taste my cousin's fried confections for a second time.

Author's Note

Hi, sorry for the late post. I had a big test recently and that through off my rhythm. Anyways, now it is a race against time for both parties, and Rainbow unknowingly narrowly avoids death!