//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Plan B // Story: Into Oblivion // by ChaosZero460 //------------------------------// Faceless targets. That's what the old pegasus told me, that's what I needed to see them as. Just a mission objective, a target dummy, nothing more. Do not see them as ponies. Do not empathize. Do not talk to them. And above all else, do not develop any form of emotional attachment to them. If that old war-torn pony was here, he'd slap me upside the head. I wish somepony would have. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Onyx straightened his suit sleeves in the long gold-trimmed mirror spanning from the floor to the ceiling. He adjusted the gold cuff links, giving himself a look over. The suit was exquisite, easily worth more money than he had ever been in possession of. He had acquired it the easiest way he knew how. Bruiser faked a bout of sudden, severe appendicitis in the middle of the boutique. While everypony's eyes were on him, Onyx simply exited out the back with the suit he had been trying on. He had done the same thing with his little brother in the middle of a store to get mom a new coffee pot for Mother's Day, it worked just as well here as it did then. "I just want you to know this is the worst idea I've ever heard" Angel Fire says flatly. He looks into the mirror to see her standing behind him. "I'm not exactly thrilled about it either, but it's all I got" he replies. "You're going in, alone, and just asking her for help?" He turns around. "Look, it's not ideal, but it's something. They're looking for three ponies, I go in alone I stand a better chance. And if I do get caught, that leaves you two free." "-to clean up your mess" Bruiser adds. He wasn't sold on this plan either. "...yeah, basically." The mare and the stallion sigh with a shake of their heads. "Onyx, I can't let you do this." she says. Onyx's gaze steels. "Not to overstep my boundaries here, but this is my mission. I'm doing this my way. Now I'm asking you two as a friend, just to trust me on this. We've got two days. Either we stick to the plan and Equestria goes to hell in a handbasket, or we don't and innocent ponies die. We need a way out, and I think I have one." They look to the ground, not wanting to admit he had a point. Angel Fire takes a step, drawing close. She adjusts the rose in his lapel. "Alright. Just promise that if it doesn't feel right, you get out of there." "Deal." He walks to the door, swinging it open. "Don't wait up for me" he says as he exits. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ The sharply-dressed stallion passes by the several ornate and very, very expensive carriages queuing in the castle's circle. He hated to admit it, at the fear of sounding narcissistic, but he looked rather good in the suit. He was already sporting the red-on-black color scheme, the black tux with the rose went well with it. And of course, he was back in the fucking eyepatch. He strolls past the two armored pegasi standing at the main gate without a hitch. Maybe it was the suit, or perhaps they didn't think he was stupid enough to walk into the castle alone. Either way, he enters the castle grounds unabated. Lamps hung from wires strung across the castle walls shone soft light down onto the lush gardens as he walks through. A few moths swarm around them. Dozens of well-dressed ponies socialize with each other as he walks past, discussing fascinating things like the state of the housing market, the new tax law Celestia had just signed into effect, and the age and character of the wine they were sipping. Onyx tried to silence a groan. A huge ice sculpture sat in the center of the garden, depicting Twilight Sparkle taking flight. He supposed there was a spell in place to keep it from melting in the balmy summer evening air. Onyx steps closer, looking the carving over more closely. It was done with magic, it was far too smooth to be the work of a chisel. It would have been more impressive had it been made by hoof rather than magic, unicorns probably didn't see it that way though. Some of the detail would be lost, there would be imperfections. Onyx blinks hard, that sounded an awful lot like Blackout talking. He hated the thought of sharing any aspect with the pony. However, they were related after all. Perhaps some things transferred over through genetics that he had no control over. He shivered at the thought. "Hello there!" he hears to his side. Onyx turns to see a pale blue unicorn mare with a white and darker blue striped mane standing there. "I don't think I've seen you before, are you new in Canterlot?" she says warmly. "Yes, I just moved here from Manehatten" he replies, attempting to give his voice a little extra sophistication. "Oh really! I used to live there myself! Which part?" Shit. "Uh, lower east side." "What a coincidence! I had an apartment on 33rd Street! Were you anywhere near the Theatre?" How the hell should he know? "I was a block down the street." Hopefully that was the right combination of specific and vague to not warrant any more questions he didn't know the answer to. "How lucky! Oh I'm jealous, I loved the shows there! Tell me you went to see 'Clopper On The Roof!'" The mental image he had in his head was hopefully nothing like what the play actually was. "Didn't take in many shows, my job didn't leave me much free time." "Oh, that's too bad. What line of work were you in?" she asks. Dammit lady, enough with the questions. Any other time he'd be pouring on the charm, he was dressed to the nines and the blue mare looked rather cute by his own admission, but this was neither the time or the place. "Stocks" he answers. That was believable enough to eat up his free time and allow the finances to move to Canterlot, as well as excruciatingly boring to a normal pony. "Oh..." she responds, interest quickly waning. Good, good. Now just run her off. "Y'know I'm glad I met you. You seem like the kind of pony that knows a smart move when you see it." He leans in close. "What if I told you, I could get you a twenty percent return every quarter." Her eyes dart to the side, looking for an escape. "Oh, I... think I hear Twinkleshine calling! It was nice to meet you!" she politely says before running for her life. Yes, run along. Nothing to see here. Just an average, slightly boring exceptionally well-dressed unicorn. He was blending in flawlessly. He promptly stumps his hoof, the one remaining hoof made of flesh and not metal, on a marble column. Why was it even there?! It wasn't holding up anything! It was just sitting there! Also, at that exact moment, the band of ponies playing classical music stops. "OW! SON OF A FUCKIN' BITCH!!!" Every pony in attendance turns to look at him. Flawlessly. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ He mills around the party, killing time and waiting for Twilight to show. That was the only reason he was still here, he hated high-society gatherings. Upper class unicorns and pegasi always seemed to give him strange looks, an earth pony with a wrench cutie mark probably seemed beneath them. However, with his new horn and suit, he seemed like he fit right in. Was Blackout onto something? He had hardly seen any earth ponies in attendance. The few he did see were serving drinks and ridiculously tiny sandwiches cut into little triangles. The lights illuminating the party suddenly go dark and the entrance to the gardens is lit up by a lone spotlight. The ponies turn to the entryway to see the purple alicorn standing there, waving nervously. It seemed like she wasn't thrilled about being the center of everypony's attention. Onyx took note that she was prettier than her picture suggested as well. He sees a tall, white pony walk up next to Twilight. Oh shit. It was her, Princess Celestia. In hindsight, he probably should have anticipated her presence. It was her castle after all. He tried to remain calm, but found himself panicking slightly anyway. Did she know who he was? He was the one who killed Heart Throb, he was the one who slayed her dragon. He was Blackout's nephew for fuck's sake. Could she see through his disguise? Do alicorns have x-ray vision?! Oh hell, she knew. She had to. She knew everything. She had come here to personally execute him. They'd probably parade his severed head around on a spike. He takes a deep breath. "Just calm down you idiot. You're not covered in guards, nopony knows" he thinks to himself. He feels his robotic heart begin to slow it's pace. It shoots back up to a frantic speed as she starts walking directly towards him. Fuuuuuuuck. "Ladies and Gentlecolts, Princess Twilight Sparkle!" she announces. The ponies in attendance stamp their hooves and cheer, Onyx follows suit if only to blend in. The small alicorn blushes slightly, somewhat embarrassed at all the attention. Celestia leads her over to a dark brown pony that was almost as tall as she was. "Twilight, this is Prince Oil Shores of Saddle Arabia." The prince takes her hoof and kisses it, rather slowly. She didn't seem to enjoy it very much. The next half hour was spent introducing her to various foreign dignitaries and important ponies, Onyx hung back, waiting for his chance to approach her without the big scary princess looming over her. He tried to stay patient, but was slowly becoming more agitated. Seriously, how many ponies did she have to get introduced to? He could tell she was quickly growing tired the introductions as well. "...and this is Silk Star, Assistant Regional Minister of Germaneigh's Department of Sanitation" Celestia says. Twilight wearily nods, giving a tired smile. "So nice to meet you!" the glorified janitor says through his thick accent. "Ve're all looking fvorwards to your speech, I'm sure it vill be just vunderbar!" A light tan pony with a brown up-do, a scroll cutie mark and narrow-rimmed glasses approaches Celestia. She quietly says something to the princess, who seems to react to the news with surprise. "Is everything alright?" Twilight inquires. "Everything's fine, I just have to tend to something. I'll leave you to get to know everypony better" she replies before leaving, following the secretary pony. Onyx and Twilight both watch as she exits, breathing a sigh of relief as she does. The purple alicorn walks over to the bar, dozens of different colored bottles adorned the shelf behind the counter. "Appletini. Dry." The bartender, a slate gray unicorn stallion with a greasy slicked-back mane gets to work on the cocktail. The black unicorn runs a hoof across his head, matting down his crimson hair. It popped right back up of course, his cowlick defied gravity, logic, and all natural law of the universe. He struts over to the bar, if there was ever a time to pour on the charm, this was it. Lives were at stake. Specifically, hers. A lavender pegasus mare wobbles in front of him, reeking of booze. "Well hey there handsome" she slurs. "Ya sure got a long horn. Y'know what they say about unicorns with long horns." She weaves a step closer, eyes floating around in her head. "Y'wanna party?" Before he can decline her offer, a large pegasus stallion comes storming over. Of course, compared to Onyx, most stallions were large. "Hey! That's my wife!" he angrily shouts. "I wasn't-" "Yyyou can't tell me what to do, you're not my dad!" the mare yells to the stallion, words blurring together. She drapes a leg over the unsuspecting obsidian-black pony and falls onto him. "We're in love!" "I don't even know who you are!" "Well whaddya say we get to know each other, big boy?" she purrs, running a hoof down his chest, breath saturated with alcohol. The pegasus pries her off Onyx. "This is why I don't let you drink..." he groans. "And you!" Onyx jumps as the hoof is prodded in his direction. "You stay the hell away from my wife, cyclops!" With that, he storms off, wife screaming in protest the whole way. "You never let me have any fun!" He straightens his tuxedo, turning back to the bar. He starts towards the purple alicorn one more time but a familar voice stops him in his tracks. "Twilight! There you are!" Both of them whirl around, seeing the same unicorn and pegasus from the train and hotel trotting towards the princess. "Girls! You're here!" Twilight cheers. "Oh for fuck's sake, WHY?!" he growls quietly. He veers off his path, turning 90 degrees. He couldn't get away from those two mares. He was in the middle of the castle grounds, if they pointed him out... he had heard stories of ponies in the guillotine getting beheaded, and the eyes continuing to look around for several minutes. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ The three mares talked and laughed for an excruciatingly long time. Onyx watches from a distance, waiting until she was alone for an opportunity to pounce. Hmm. That sounded a little... rapey. An opportunity to talk. There, better. He observed their habits for afar, trying to gauge their personalities. From what he could gather, Fluttershy was obsessed with animals, and Rarity was borderline narcissistic and placed high value on fashion and sophistication. His mind raced, he needed to get rid of them. They'd point him out as the cyborg griffon killer as soon as he approached their friend. Onyx gets an idea. He slinks off into the garden, his devious plan coming together. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ The two squirrels chatter and squeak, tumbling and scrambling in all directions. They scamper into center of the party, their tails tied together and rolling as they bite and chirp. The ponies stare in confusion and mild disgust. Fluttershy sees them and immediately flies over. "Oh my! What happened? You poor dears, let me-" the squirrels dart off into the bushes, the pegasus gives chase. Onyx melts back into the crowd, she'd be chasing those tree rats all night. Now for the second part of his plan. "Well, there she goes" Twilight sighs. Rarity takes a sip of her champagne. "Honestly, I wish she would quit running off like that. Yesterday morning she thought she recognized a unicorn in the elevator from the train and chased him halfway across the hotel." "About that... how's she handling it?" The white unicorn swirls the drink in her glass. "She... hasn't said much. I suppose when she's ready to talk about it, she will." Twilight nods. Onyx circles behind them, spotting another pony heading his way. The dark orange unicorn was weaving and fumbling, drunk out of his gourd. His eyes were bobbing around in his head like gumballs in a dispenser. The black stallion waits until he's directly between himself and Rarity, before giving a sudden shove. The orange pony throws out his legs to catch himself, hooves grabbing her rear. She shrieks and whirls around, slapping him with enough force to knock him to the dirt. She looks down at her soaked elaborate, frilly dress. "Ugh! That drunken pervert made me spill my drink!" She storms off into the castle. "I'm going to go dry myself off" the unicorn groans. Twilight's left standing there, Onyx walks over to the bar. "Martini, stirred." Wait, no, it was supposed to be shaken. Dammit, should he reorder? Oh well, it probably didn't matter. "Well, I was waiting for the party to liven up. Not exactly what I had in mind" his voice coming as smooth as possible, looking over to Twilight as he takes his drink. "Psh. You should have seen the Grand Galloping Gala two years ago" she replies. "We're lucky the whole east wing didn't collapse." He tried to think about what he knew about her. It wasn't much, just what he'd skimmed in a newspaper article detailing her coronation. He remembered she was a librarian, so she was probably a bookworm. He could use that. "That's nothing, last August I was on Earnest Hemmingneigh's yacht, old guy got so plastered he steered it right into a sandbar. We were stuck there all night until the tide came back in." Twilight's eyes open wide. "You've... you've met Hemmingneigh?!" "Oh yeah, me and Ernie go way back. Used to mow his grass when I was a colt" he replies. "He threw some pretty wild parties for an old stallion." She stands there, speechless. "I've read every one of his books! I can't believe you know him!" Well he had her interest. It was a start. Now he just had to go from friendly acquaintance to co-conspirator. "I'm relatively new to Canterlot, thought I'd swing by and see how these world-famous royal galas were. Gotta say, I'm a little disappointed. The stories made them sound like a nonstop drunken orgy, but so far it's pretty..." "Boring?" she answers. He takes a sip of the drink, nearly spitting it back out. Good lord, that was awful. He struggles to keep his face from contorting and twisting into a grimace. "Your words, not mine." She chuckles to herself. The princess points at her eye. "So what happened to, uh..." "Spent a few years on a pirate ship" he replies, completely serious. "Horseapples." "Alright fine, you got me. 'Tripped and fell onto a nail sticking out a floorboard' doesn't quite have the same ring to it, now does it?" the black stallion says. She gives a smile. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a large group of guards moving in the background. They eye him suspiciously but keep their distance. Onyx knew though, it was only a matter of time. "Listen, I'm gonna have to leave here shortly, but I need to talk to you about something. Something important" he says quietly. She raises a brow. "Oh? What is it?" Onyx sees the guards start towards him. "I can't say here. Meet me at the observatory in two hours, I'll explain everything." His eyes dart to the approaching guards then back to her. "Lives are at stake." "I, uh... ok then...?" He quickly but casually walks towards the gates, having to fight the urge to run. "Wait! You never gave me your name!" she yells. He stops for a moment, turning to look back at her. "You're right, I didn't."