Guernica

My Little Pony: Guernica

Part One

Chapter 2: Oldboy

I had mentioned previously the dangers of Ponyville at night, one needs to look no more further for proof then the cold dead body of a young filly laying in this alleyway. Her flank slashed, throat cut, the moist blood ruining her fine white coat.

The police are already on the scene when I arrive, spying on them from roof top. The girl is name Diamond Tiara, an air to the Filthy Rich family fortune. It doesn't really shock me. Filthy himself was new money, a self made business man out of the countryside, his kind would be looked down upon by the old money elite. No doubt his meteoric rise ruffled a few feathers, maybe one or two of them organized this hit as a way of getting revenge.

Or maybe, as the police no doubt suspect, fatherhood was to demanding for the self-made millionaire. He lashed out her or accidentally killed her. A real Equestrian psycho.

I disregard both theories and stick to the one I developed myself the past few weeks when the bodies of young fillys started turning up in my city: There's a serial killer on the loose. And I'm just the one track him. I take off into the night, with the aim to head back to my headquarters to add this latest victim to the map, with hope I can triangulate his home from all this killing.

I barely make a minute into my journey before I hear a blood curdling scream, and my heart sinks, and I'm suddenly very aware that despite my own bullshit I'm no where near ready to take on a legit murderer one on one or have the balls to stop the act in progress… But I suck it up. Someone's in trouble and needs my help, I have to try.

Arrival at the source of the scream isn't what I expect, much to my relief and disappointment. The scream is coming from a young mare, probably in her twenties. She's refusing to be dragged via hoof onto a small rinky dink boat by what I assume is her navy sailor boyfriend.

"Cheerilee, you don't understand! We need to escape now! The Red Mist…" The sailor pauses, "It's coming."

"No! I refuse! I can't just abandoned my responsibilities to my students!" Cheerilee protests.

Just a domestic disturbance, I smile, I know I can handle these. I swoop down silently behind the sailor, then announce my presence "Why don't you let the young lady with hydrophobia go?" I command with the voice.

"Why don't you mind your own business!" The sailor hollers in response, trying to strike me on impulse as he turns to face me. I grab his hoof and break it at the joint, he falls to the ground in pain.

"That hurt?" I ask, I don't wait for a response "Good. Unfortunately for you those screams were heard within miles of a murder investigation, if you don't tell me what's going on right now I'll be forced to report you to the proper authorities… and I'm sure Celestia's elite guard won't look kindly amongst a deserter in her royal navy, let alone stealing one of her boats."

"Go ahead!" Says the sailor. "It doesn't matter anyway, we're all as good as dead." He mutters.

"Please sir!" Begs Cheerilee, "Don't report him! He's just gone a little sick in the head with all this end of the world madness!"

"Shut up matches!" He snaps.

"But you were the one that was going off about the Red Mist a-comin!" She protests

"I said SHUT UP!" He goes to strike her with his good hoof, but I kick him hard in the chest and he settles down.

I grab him by the throat "Tell me everything you know, or for the next couple months everything you eat will be via straw."

"All right, All right!" He gives up. "I don't know much. Just that this "Red Mist" is coming and it's supposedly the end of the world. It's a huge uproar in the royal military, apparently Celestia herself has been working on a solution but as it stands now when that red mist rolls over Equestria we're all done for."

"Is it a poison? An acid? Who's the source of it? Terrorist?" I demand.

"I don't know. No one does." He starts crying "We were trying to escape before it hit, maybe if we were on water it wouldn't effect us…" He sobs "The only one that knows anything for sure is Celestia."

It was an odd story to say the least, but members of Celestia's military don't spook easy. After a brief pause I stated, "You have 48 hours to either leave town or return to your unit before I report this to the proper authorities." I add "If what you say is true, I don't blame you for trying to run."

And I take off into the night.

Over the course of the next week I stopped a couple thugs, saved a hooker from getting beaten on by her pimp, and stopped an arsonist from burning down the local library. It was an active time, recorded well in the media. Ponyville was now well aware a masked pyschopath was fighting crime in their neighborhood… That's why I was shocked when two weeks from the date, I saw her again, standing in the same spot she had been when the thugs had caught her the last time.

I landed beside her. She jumped, initially. "Oh it's you… thank goodness…" She said, catching her breath.

"Yes and it's you, the exact person I told you not to be out this late." I tilted my head "What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked, anger marking keywords as I spoke.

"I'm sorry." She blushed. "You don't understand. I…" she paused as if searching for the words. "I wanted to invite you to dinner, but this is the only way I knew to contact you."

I stared at her, perplexed, "I'm a masked vigilante and you want to invite me to dinner?" It was less of a question really, more of a statement on the queerness of the situation.

"Please." She said, looking at me with innocent eyes "If it wasn't for you, horrible horrible things could of happened to me. Please let me make it up to you." Her eyes went wide, eager to please.

I turn away. "Any decent pony should of did the same…" I state. Then noting the crest fallen look on her face I change my tune, "Fine. I'll be there. 9 sharp, right before I start my shift." I didn't want to, she was innocent and attractive, I felt almost… dirty accepting the offer, like I was one of the scum bags looking to raping her, and just like them I couldn't help myself.

"Yay!" She beamed. "I can't wait for you to meet my friends!"

I take out my grappling hook, but before I leave I hesitate. I turn and ask her "What's your name?"

"Fluttershy." She blushes "My…. My name is… Fluttershy." As she says it, she cowered again as if shy, but then gulped hard and said it loud and clearly and seemed almost proud of that.

I take off into the night, for the first time my heart filled with expectation, I didn't like it. Expectation always leaves one precariously on the edge of failure.