4 - The Task
Celestia was awakened by the sound of the front door opening. She groggily opened her eyes, hoping for a second that she would find herself waking up in her own home, in her own bed.
No such luck.
While the feather mattress that the other Celestia had provided was extremely comfortable, it was still a far cry from her bed at home.
“I’m back!” the false Celestia greeted as she tossed down another bag of groceries on the table, before puffing up her spectral hair. “How was sleep?”
“Decent enough, I suppose...” Celestia scratched at her hair. “Do I get to shower or anything like that? I kind of smell…”
“Certainly you can take a shower. I even cut a hole in the bathroom door so that the chain would fit through. Aaaand…” The other Celestia fished out a bottle of shampoo from the grocery bag. “I got you this too. I know just how hard it is to maintain hair like this, so I think this will work out just fine.”
“Thanks for the thought.” Canterlot High’s principal took the bottle and placed it down beside her. “Another question, will I ever get to leave this place?”
“Well now that depends of several things, most of all Pierce. If he follows through on his part of the deal, then we’ll see.”
“Then we’ll see?” Celestia echoed.
“Look, just take your shower, and I’ll cook breakfast. How do you feel about waffles? I like waffles.”
Grabbing the shampoo, Celestia got up and walked to the bathroom. “Waffles are fine.”
The bathroom was just a small and simple white space, taken up with a single sink over a cabinet, along with a toilet bowl and shower stall. The principal shut the door and quickly undressed, stepping into the shower and turning on the water. Almost as soon as the water hit her pale skin, she screamed and jumped back, standing a good distance away from the falling water.
“The water's cold!” she yelled as loudly as she could, hoping her captor could hear her. “Don’t you have a heater in this place?”
“The red button next to the sink,” the other Celestia called.
The spectral haired principal got out of the shower and found the button by the sink, flipping it down before returning back to the shower. True to her word, the water was now warm. Celestia spent a good long time in the shower, but was unable to truly enjoy herself due to the feeling of the shackle around her ankle. Eventually she emerged, letting steam out into the bathroom. After getting dressed, the principal walked back out into the dining room, where her doppelganger had just finished placing two plates of waffles and fresh fruit.
“You sure took your time in there,” the other Celestia said. “Till I get my funds back, maybe cut down a little on the heater, hmm?”
“What, worried I’ll raise the electric bill?” the principal sat down on the chair.
“A little,” the other Celestia said flatly. She gestured to Celestia’s bedside cabinet, where Pierce Network’s records were strewn. “Doing a little late night reading?”
Celestia nodded. “I wanted to confirm it all for myself. I needed to know if one of my staff members is really what you say he is.”
“Well, you’ll find that everything I’ve told you is true. I don’t lie, Celestia.”
Celestia didn’t know whether to laugh or get angry. “Yes, you do.”
“Well, not about that anyway. My kind lives based on deception and subterfuge; it’s only natural that we be good at lying as well.”
“Right…” Celestia folded her arms, not impressed. “So, what are you? Ready to explain that to me?”
The other Celestia frowned slightly. “Oh. You’re still hung up on that, are you?”
“Not like I really have anything else to do here, do I?” Celestia waved a hand. “So are you telling me or not?”
The other Celestia sighed, rubbing her temples before spearing one of her waffles with a fork. “Fine. Let me tell you a story. Once, there was a great and powerful queen, who had many servants. Eventually, all of her servants died or turned away from her, until there was only one servant remaining. This queen and her loyal servant ruled over many different kingdoms and domains until one day, the queen made a mistake,” Celestia watched as her doppelganger clenched her fist around her fork, as if she was about to stab someone with it. “A mistake so huge that it caused her one loyal servant to leave her. And now-”
“Let me guess,” Celestia said, taking a bite of her fruit. “You were that queen?”
“No, actually,” the other Celestia said, putting down her fork and taking a drink of water to calm herself. “I’m the servant.”
“Servant, huh?” Celestia stabbed her waffle with her fork. “So what now, since you’re no longer serving this queen. What does Pierce have to do with this again?”
“All right, I’ll tell you,” the other Celestia said. “Think back to the winter holidays. You may recall someone called Mirror Match, who fell off her balcony in Manehattan and died. Remember?”
“Mirror Match?” Celestia asked. “Yeah, of course I know her. She used to sponsor plenty of parties for the Board of Education. What about her? Was she this queen you’re talking about? Did you have something to do with her death?”
“Hardly. You want to know the truth, Celestia? Well, here it is. The same Mirror Match who was thrown off her balcony is the same person who’s sitting across from you right now.”
The room seemed to darken, and a sinister little smile grew on the other Celestia’s face. The principal’s own was twisted into one of confusion and shock. None of it seemed to make sense, but a part of her believed every word.
“B-But that’s impossible! You’re dead!”
The other Celestia shrugged, popping a strawberry into her mouth. “I was dead for about a day. Then I got better.”
“You what?” Celestia drew back, like touching her doppelganger would poison her or something. “What are you really? You’re not human, that’s for sure.”
“Another time, perhaps. Right now, I’ve got to get to school. By the way, your lunch is over by your bed, next to those documents you’ve been reading. I hope you like chicken and swiss cheese,” the other Celestia stood up and put her finished breakfast dish away. “Feel free to take your time with breakfast. I’ll be back in the evening to cook and wash up.” Finished with putting her dish away, Celestia’s doppelganger gave her a cheery wave and left out the front door, locking it from the outside.
Pierce Network slowly inched out of his car, careful not to bump his knee against anything as he slammed his car door shut. Trixie, who had been walking close to the parking lot, jumped when he did so, but quickly moved along after she saw the computer teacher’s grumpy face.
Pierce had patched up his knee to the best of his knowledge, using what he remembered from his time with the Assassins. Patch had been of great help when he was there, whether he wanted to admit it or not. He applied what he learned from her and got the dart out of his knee before applying disinfectant and stitches, before bandaging it all up. It still hurt when he walked, but at least he didn’t have to go to a hospital.
“Morning, Mr. Pierce!” a boy with a brown ponytail, Jetstream, wished as he walked past him on the school’s main steps.
“Morning,” Pierce said in a low monotonous voice, struggling to get his right leg up the stairs.
The boy observed his movement and placed a hand to his chin. “What happened to your leg, Mr. Pierce? Need a hand?”
“No,” the computer teacher answered immediately. “Don’t you have homeroom to get to? You kids always enjoy hanging out till the last bell, don’t you? My advice, get to class and stay there. That way, we teachers don’t have to worry if any of you are late.”
“Sure, Mr. Pierce, I’ll get going.” The boy headed into the building, passing Pierce quickly as he didn’t have a leg injury. “If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask Jetstream!”
The brown haired man eventually arrived at his classroom, using his phone to take his attention away from the pain in his leg. As he pushed the door open, he let out a sigh of relief as he saw his computer sitting on his desk, as clean as he had left it the previous day. If it was anything that made him cool down, it was his tech.
He pulled out his chair and sat down, stretching his right leg out to reduce the pain. Unpacking his backpack, the teacher pulled out a stack of worksheets and a cheese sandwich in a paper bag, which was to be his breakfast.
Booting up his computer, Pierce took a bite out of his sandwich and entered his password when the prompt came up, then took another bite soon after.
Pierce brought up his lesson plans and his programs, quickly syncing his phone with his computer before licking his fingers clean after finishing up his breakfast.
The teacher watched as his homeroom class entered, his finger flicking across his mobile device’s screen as he marked each kid off as they found their seats.
If it was anything good that had come out of him hitting the two boys a few months ago, it was that there hadn’t been a student that was late for his classes since. Fear was a crude tactic, but Pierce had no problems with using it.
“M-Morning, Mr. Pierce,” Lyra Heartstrings greeted as she found her seat beside Sweetie Drops.
“Morning,” he replied flatly as he brought the projector screen down, activating the projector itself with his phone.
“Everyone’s here? Good. Welcome back to another day of school, I suppose. We’re starting on a new project today, which is to model a 3D character. I’ll be handing these papers out with what you have to do. The faster you get into it, the faster you can get this assignment done.”
Pierce got up to hand out their worksheets, but he forgot about his knee, almost falling flat on his face if he hadn’t caught onto his desk.
“Mr. Pierce?” Watermelody asked from the first row. “Are you alright? Do you need help with that?”
“I’m fine,” he grumbled, standing upright and straightening his shirt. “But here. Do hand these out for me. It’ll be more efficient if each of you take one and pass on to the next. Saves me the hassle too.”
Pierce sat back down after explaining the details to the students, watching as each of them got to work behind their laptop screens. The computer teacher himself got on his phone, flipping through their previous assignments, which they had turned in before class.
Eventually, the first bell rung, releasing the students from his class. Pierce watched them all leave before the next set of students entered, warily finding their seats.
Pierce got up and tried stretching his leg out as he took a few steps around his desk, trying to find the best possible way to walk with this injury, at the same time, explaining the modeling assignment to the second class.
If he was anything, he was time efficient.
Soon, he returned to his seat as the class began their work, using his phone to look over their previous assignments again. Some of the students were rather creative with their material, but some were just really bad at it. Two of his students had made baseball bats. It was like they weren’t even trying at all.
His grading was disturbed when Flash Sentry walked up to his desk, rubbing the back of his head.
“Yes, what can I do for you, Flash? Make it quick.”
“You okay there, Mr. Pierce? You seem… hurt. Do you need any help around the class?”
Pierce frowned and slapped his baton on the desk, making the blue haired boy jump. “It’s not important, Flash.”
The computer teacher sighed as Flash quickly retreated back to his seat. He knew the boy only wanted to help out, but Pierce didn’t like anyone doing so. Deciding he needed to take his mind off all this, he got up and dragged himself to the projector screen, slapping his baton against one of the program’s tools in the toolbar.
“As I was saying class, this program is the one I want you to open. Inside, you’ll find the tools you need to craft your very own 3D model. The instructions are straightforward. If you kids don’t understand it, you really should ask… Principal Celestia to swap you to another class of your liking.”
“I wish.”
Pierce turned his head, his eyes honing in on the student who said it, Dense Bush, a boy with green skin and brown hair. “What was that, Mr. Bush?”
The student slunk back in his chair and put on a big smile, shaking at the same time. “N-Nothing… Mr. P-Pierce.”
“That’s what I thought,” Pierce snorted, turning to get back to his chair. “Get to work, class.”
He continued to mark their homework and answer any questions the students had on their assignment, all the while, grumbling in his head. He had all these students to deal with all the time and now, Mirror Match had returned, threatening to end his career and his life. What else could possibly go wrong now?
The school bell brought Pierce’s attention back to the classroom as students began powering off their laptops and shoving them into their backpacks.
“You know your work, kids,” Pierce said as some already began leaving the room. “Get as much as you can done, I’ll see what you’ve all got tomorrow. There better be a decent amount of progress, or you might find yourself getting more work tomorrow. I don’t know why you kids work so slowly, but since I don’t know what goes through your heads, I’ll give you more time, just don’t take advantage of my kindness. I might be reasonable, but I won’t play nice. Good day, kids.”
When the last of the students disappeared out the door, the computer teacher leaned back in his seat and sighed, closing his eyes. He didn’t have class for the next two periods, meaning he would be able to plan his next move. He still didn’t know what that witch had in plan for him, but he doubted she was going to let him go after it was over. He had to think of something and he had to do it as soon as he could. Principal Celestia’s life was also on the line.
He had about fifteen minutes of quiet before there was a knock on his door. He didn’t have time to answer as Principal Celestia pushed it open, gently closing it behind her.
“Well now,” she said slyly, locking the door. “How are we doing today?”
“Bad, thanks to you,” he maintained eye contact as she walked up to him, leaning on his desk. “You’ve made life miserable for me right now. I can’t drive with my right leg, I can’t walk nearly as fast as I want to-”
“Aw, boo hoo hoo,” Celestia said sarcastically. “As long as your hands work, I couldn’t care less about how your leg is feeling. Now, about what I want done.”
Pierce groaned and pulled his cap lower. “So what do you want me to do…”
“What I want, is for you to return the ownership of my funds and my penthouse to me. You can do that, can’t you?” Celestia eyed Pierce critically. “Otherwise we’re going to have a serious problem.”
“That’s it?” Pierce lifted an eyebrow. “That’s all you want done? I could normally do it, yes, but after what you’ve done to my knee… How do you expect me to get around and stay hidden like this? If you want me help, fix my leg. I know you can do it. We’ve seen the reports of your healing skills. Don’t say you can’t do it, because I’ve seen them with my own eyes. Some kind of elixir you use can heal us, yourself included. Now if you really need my help, I suggest fixing my knee first, because I won’t be able to do anything like this. You should’ve thought about that before shooting me in the knee in the first place.”
“Can’t you just do it from here? I thought that’s what hackers do, cause trouble from the comfort of their own home, and all that.”
“You don’t know a thing about hacking, do you? In order to get access to databases, I first need to install a program on their antennas at the top of their buildings. That’s how I’ve always done it. That allows me to do as I please after that. I have to climb to the top using my skills, but after what you’ve done… What do you expect me to do? You’ve got to do something about this before I can do something for you.”
Celestia stared long and hard at Pierce, her gaze pinning him to the chair he was in. Then she broke eye contact and turned away.
“Then I suggest you find someone to do it for you, because I’m not wasting any of my healing power on you. I scarcely have enough for myself. So maybe you should find someone to do all that climbing, and soon, because every moment you spend idling is another moment Celestia is rotting in her cell. Good day.”
Celestia unlocked the door and left, slamming it on the way out.
Pierce wore an unamused face, but at the same time, his mind was racing as to how he was going to complete this task. Mirror Match had powers. Every Assassin had known that, but she wasn’t even willing to even get up on the building to plant the bug for him?
“Really, does she even need my help or is she just finding ways to torment me further?” Pierce said aloud for himself to hear. “She could easily scale the building that holds her funds and property, but she won’t even do that for herself? What does she think she’s doing? Where am I going to find someone to help me with this?”
Pierce Network thought back to his old associates in Chicoltgo. There had been plenty of them who knew the basics of hacking, but would they be willing to come back into the shady world? He doubted that himself. The only contact worth contacting was an old hacker who went by B-Tone, who had been one of his friends back then. Pierce hadn’t kept track of him, but perhaps he was still out there fighting against injustice.
Pierce scrolled down his phone, looking for B-Tone’s name in his contacts. Putting it to his ear, he was eventually dismayed to learn that no one was picking up on the other end. He tried it four more times before giving up, slumping back in his chair in defeat.
“Who else can I find that would be willing to help?” he mumbled. “I need someone who knows their way around some hacking and someone who can climb. Where can I find anyone like that besides my old contacts in Chicoltgo? This stinks. To think that getting something like this done would be so hard. What is this world coming to?”
His mind wandered to his other associates, the Assassins. He wasn’t sure if they were still around, as he’d heard about their bureau being raided, but if any of them were still alive, maybe they could help. Nobody could climb like an Assassin, after all. The question was, would they be willing to help him after he had left them? He couldn’t think of anything, but he had no choice. There wasn’t anyone else to turn to. If he wanted to live, he was going to have to take a leap of faith with this plan.
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Mirror is smart, I'll give her that. But Celestia's not really 'rotting' in her cell. She's more of a permanent resident in Mirror's hotel. I wonder how Pierce will be using the (former?) Assassins to help his case.
So Mirror Match shot Pierce in the leg... then wants him to climb a building... and doesn't want to heal him... well, I don't know what she wants really. So we'll be expecting to see some Assassins then?
awesome.
The sirens are main characters...they'll be back...somehow.
prayhaps sunset could be of assistance? oH, B Tone, T Bone, duh. What's next? Deathd Secks in place of Ded Sec?
Rule 1 never say what else could go wrong
Rule 2 keep making great stories
Really getting Silence of the Lamb vibes with Mirror and Celestia.
As for Pierce, while he does not come off as evil so far. We do get to see that he is cold towards others and seems to prefer solitude after all he's done.
Something tells me that this'll come back and bite him later.
You said the thing
I wonder if that mistake will be in Age of Kings, is the mistake trying to get Psithyra to kill her own son?
Fuck, now I'm intrigued. What must've happened to make her abandon Chrysalis?