//------------------------------// // Vampire Weekend Part 1: Change of Scenery // Story: The Bon Identity // by DashEight //------------------------------// Midtown, 5th and Saddle Manehattan, Equestria 996 C. E. Operation Daybreak "Team One, this is Candymare. Comm check." "This is Washout, have you five by five Candymare." "Copy, five by five." "Candymare, this is Ground Two, five by five." "Say again callsign?" "Dammit guys, can't I just be Ground Two?" "Negative. Say again callsign." "Ugh. Waifu Stealer five by five." "Copy. All units stay alert." ... "Good evening, Doctor. Please take a seat." "Yes, Director." "Everypony here has met, yes? Good, we have little time to waste. Let's begin." "Yes, Director." "Yes, Director." "Let the record show we have Doctor Treble Clef of Canterlot and Doctor Spangled Banner of Manehattan in attendance. Absent are Doctor Scroll Piles and Doctor Rainbow Blaze, currently assisting in cleanup and damage control of the Sunnysaddle Field Safehouse and the Applewood Offsite Staging Facility. Doctor Clef, the report please?" *Ahem* "28 April 996, 2330 local time. Sunnysaddle Field Safehouse was assaulted by paranatural organization known as Children of the Night. Hostile force consisted of approximately thirty baseline threstals and fifteen to twenty hemovores. Onsite security engaged, but was overwhelmed and fell back inside the facility itself. Site commander broadcast a systemwide alarm at 2335. At 2340, senior surviving officer on site, Special Agent Summer Beauty, ordered evacuation of facility and destruction of classified materiel onsite. Tactical Response Team arrived at 2355. No survivors found at site, thirty-four dead, including threstal cultists. Command and research staff of twelve, nine security ponies, two teams of four field agents each. Eleven security and twelve agents MIA. Five hostiles dead, possibly more. Hemovores don't leave a corpse." "Go on, Doctor." "Well, erm, our findings are still preliminary at this point, sir." "I understand Doctor, please continue." "It's possible the site was not sterile when it was overrun. Explosives failed to detonate, and while the file skiffs were found incinerated it's possible that the Children did so themselves to cover their tracks." "That is... unfortunate. Any word from our missing agents?" "No sir, Special Agent Beauty, her team, and several other OCS personnel are still unaccounted for." "I see. And the Applewood property?" "Similar. Distress call recieved 01 May 996, 0100 local. force of seventy-five threstals and ten hemovores assaulted and overran within twenty minutes. Sixty-two dead, thirty-five of ours and twenty-seven hostiles. Remaining twenty of our ponies also missing, likely have gone underground. Site ordered sterilized and abandoned at 0115 by civilian contractor Angel Eyes, who assumed a leadership role during the chaos." "I see. Why the disparity between casualties?" "Our best guess is element of surprise. Ponies at the Applewood facility were on high alert following news of Sunnysaddle." "It's a possibility. Site was clean when it fell?" "Yes sir." "A weak ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark week, I'm afraid. Where did these ponies come from? From what I understood, the Children of the Night were a minor annoyance at best. Their M. O. used to be simple foalnappings?" "We... don't know. Nothing we have on them indicates this kind of horsepower or organization. Dr. Piles has every available agent from the central Las Pegasus facility hunting them, and Dr. Blaze has ordered the Cloudsdale TRTs to assist." "Not enough. One attack is an abberation. A careless agent, or perhaps a crime of opprotunity. Two is a message. These ponies have bucked down our doors and tried to burn our house to the ground. They have spilled the blood of our brothers in arms. I want to know who the are, how they know of our existence, and what they aim to achieve. Doctor Clef, Doctor Banner, this is now our top priority. Every pony you have on this." "Yes sir." "Yes sir." "And Doctors?" "Yes?" "Capture or kill orders, to extend to as far as you deem necessary. These monsters must be reminded why they once feared us. Chase them to the ends of Equestria, find where they hide their coffins, and introduce them to the sun." "Yes sir." ... "Targets sighted! Three hoof-mobiles, corner of Fifth and Saddle moving north." "Copy. Stay on them, Washout. Waifu Stealer and I will intercept." Sweetie took off down Mare-de-Sun Avenue at a fast trot, her traveller's cloak whipping about as the wind roared through the steel-glass canyons of midtown Manehattan. She ducked and weaved through the pedestrian traffic. Flash was doing the same two blocks over, travelling north on Sixth. Night Glider orbited their quarry from above, circling the city in lazy circles and relaying directions to her teammates. No matter which way the prey turned, there was no escape. "Turning west at the Celestia Building. Waifu Stealer, they're headed right for you." "I'm on them!" Flash replied. "Negative, continue west and stay out of visual contact," Sweetie directed him. "Target may still rabbit, we don't want to spook them." She hooked a left onto 34th, picking up the pace as she spotted the towering Celestia Building a block ahead. "Targets continuing west. Looks like they're headed for the train station." Sweetie swore at Night Glider's report. Their targets were masters of disguise. As soon as they entered the train terminal underneath Mare-de-Sun Square Garden, Night Glider would lose sight of them and they'd disappear. She pulled her cloak's hood over her head and quickened her pace. "Waifu Stealer, get to the station and be ready to intercept." "Comms won't reach streetside down there, Candymare." "I know," Sweetie replied tersely. One more block to go. She could see Mare-de-Sun Square above the throngs of pedestrians. She frantically searched for any sign of Flash or their targets, but they were lost among the crowd. "I'll be there to back you up, don't worry. I'm not losing these plotholes." "...Wilco. Shadowing contacts, entering the station now." Sweetie finally reached the station after what felt like an eternity. She rushed down the sweeping staircase, moving as fast as she could through the throngs of commuters without drawing attention to herself. A quick flash of a fake police badge and some nonsense about 'official business' impressed the ticket booth pony into waving her through. She frantically looked around, seeing no signs of Flash or their quarry. "Candymare to Waifu Stealer, say position," she held her hoof to her ear, praying to Celestia that Flash would pick up the call. *ksssssss* "--heading to the platform--" *ksht* "Uh, say again? Which platform, the maneway?" *fsssss* Buck. Sweetie had hoped she'd be quick enough to spot Flash as he tailed their targets, but her luck had run out. The bright orange guard was nowhere to be seen. Okay, think. Flash isn't very good at blending in, maybe somepony remembered seeing him? ... "Hello again!" The ticket pony looked up from his ledger at the smiling face of the mare who'd pressed a police badge against his booth not a minute earlier. "H-hello?" "Did a pegasus stallion with a bright blue mane come through here not too long ago? I was supposed to meet him but the fool forgot to tell me which train he was getting on! You'd remember him, he kind of looks like a goofy traffic cone?" "I don't... wait, yes, I remember him!" He exclaimed, quickly flipping back a page to look up his recent sales. "He said he was meeting with friends too, asked me to look up their tickets. Wow, you really got your wires crossed, huh officer?" "Oh, yeah sure," Sweetie waved off the concern. "Crazy day at the precinct! Anyway, where are they going?" "They bought tickets on the Neigh Jersey Transit line. Departs for Baltimare in five minutes, you can catch them if you hurry!" Sweetie rushed through the winding underground station, bowling several ponies out of the way as she bolted for the platform. She reached the platform just as the conductor called his final all-aboard. Sweetie hopped onto the train just as the doors slid shut. "Waifu Stealer? It's Candymare. I'm onboard, barely. Where are you?" *ksssht* "--ar the back, second car from the end. Moving on the targets." "No!" Sweetie hissed as loudly as she could, startling the commuters around her. "Do not engage, not without backup!" *fss* --cornered, I've got the drop on them and--oh, buck--" *THWAK* *THWAK* *kssssst* Sweetie stumbled as the train started moving, then took off, fear twisting her stomach into knots. She bolted to the end of the train, reaching the second car from the rear and peeking through the window the last one. It was thankfully empty except for Flash and the three ponies they'd been pursuing. As Sweetie opened the carriage door and pushed her way onto the platform between cars, she heard a high-pitched shriek not unlike a little filly startled by a spider. She crouched low below the last car's window, pulling a compact crossbow from her bag and slapping the strap around her hoof. Two stallions advanced on Flash Sentry, who slowly backed toward's the carriage's rear door. A third blocked off his escape. They grinned as he lowered his own empty crossbow, he had no chance of reloading before they could stop him. "Listen guys, can't we talk about this?" "What's there to talk about?" The stallions' leader raised an eyebrow. "You tried to follow us, we got the drop on you. You don't exactly have anything to bargain with." "Hehe, yeah. Game over, pony!" another chuckled. "Ponies will come looking for you if anything happens to me," Flash warned them. "You don't want that. Your disguises aren't going to hold up against any scrutiny." The three laughed. "So?" The leader motioned to his Cutie Mark, which read 'PLACEHOLDER.' "Do you think that matters to us? We'll be out of the country before sunset. I don't care if somepony finds your shriveled carcass a week from now." "Oh? Okay... well then... look behind you!!!" Flash shouted suddenly, pointing past the group with a hoof. The leader snorted in amusement. "Really? The 'look, a distraction' gambit? Has that ever worked for-" *click* "Damn." "Hello, Kevin." The leader froze at the new voice. He slowly turned his head, spotting a figure in a hooded cloak holding his compatriot in a headlock. She held a foreleg extended past her equine shield, her foldout weapon leveled at the leader's head. Sunlight glinted off the metal bolt tip as the train emerged from underground and climbed up the incline to the rail bridge over the Hoofston River. "Smiles. Always lovely to see you. Still using that stick shooter instead of a proper clawgun?" Sweetie shook the cloak's hood loose from her head. "What are you doing in Equestria, Kevin? We talked about this." "Had to come back for a visit." He gave her a toothy grin. "What can I say? I love the food." "Bastard." Sweetie pushed the crossbow against Kevin's head. Her grip tightened on he pony she held hostage, who gasped for air. Flash took the opportunity to reload his own crossbow and point it at Kevin. "Relax. We're not harvesting. Just keeping tabs on our neighbors to the north is all." Kevin chuckled. "Mandible, could you please--" The pony he addressed was no longer cornering Flash. Mandible had quietly retreated to the carriage's rear door, seeing that Kevin had lost the advantage. He bucked open the door, exposing the car to the warm summer wind. Green flames flared up, the magic disguising him as a bland-looking stallion dropping away and revealing the chitinous insectoid creature beneath. "Sorry boss, but everypony in this stupid country is crazy! I didn't sign up for this!" He snapped a quick salute to Kevin and jumped out the back of the train, buzzing through the steel skeleton of the bridge's trusses. "Coward," Kevin sighed, looking at the two ponies who held him at bowpoint. "Would you mind terribly? And please ease up on Thorax, I don't think he's turning blue as part of his cloak." Sweetie nodded, releasing the pony she was strangling. He fell to the carriage floor, gasping for air. Sweetie muttered a few words into her radio, then lowered her crossbow. "Your bug, was it Mandible? He won't get far, my mare's on him." She turned to Flash. "Stealer, you can holster your weapon." "He's a changeling!" Flash protested. "He's a professional. We don't kill our own, that's Lesson One." Sweetie admonished him. "If we kill every bug we know, Chrysalis just sends some we don't. Besides, if we ever get captured in the Badlands I'd want the same courtesy." "Lady has a point," Kevin remarked. "To be honest, we probably would hold you at the hive for a few months first. Drain some love, have a few drones impersonate you and raid your little shadow organization's headquarters. Some secret facility under Canterlot, I'm guessing?" "I told you, I'm just an arms dealer," Sweetie deadpanned. The CIA agent wasn't bad, as far as changelings went, but he was a little too sharp. Sweetie knew anything she mentioned, even in passing, could end up in a Changeling Intelligence Agency file vault somewhere. She considered herself lucky he hadn't figured out her real name. "Sure you are, Gumdrop." The changeling grinned. "The queen sends her regards. Says that when she rules Canterlot with an iron hoof, you'll be the last pony sent into the goo." "I'm sure she does," Sweetie scoffed. "Back to the point, Kevin. Why are you running? Nopony was onto you until you sent a distress call to the Badlands. In fact, why are you even in Manehattan? Shopping on Camel St? Do you bugs need fake handbags to go with your fake pony disguises?" "Just taking in the sights, Miss Smiles," Kevin lied. "Can't a few innocent tourists take in the sights of the Big Apple without being accosted by the ponies in black? I apologize, by arms dealers? Poor Thorax may never be the same." Thorax wheezed and held up a black, holey hoof for help, his disguise long since forgotten. Kevin brushed him away casually. "If you were visiting a foreign country and found yourself pursued by mysterious stalkers, wouldn't you do the same?" "This guy's full of roadapples, Candymare!" Flash growled. "Are you sure we can't cap him?" "No, Waifu!" "He already tried." Kevin dropped his pony disguise in a flash of fire. He raised his foreleg, showing the ponies the crossbow bolt stuck through one of his leg holes. "Waifu Stealer, was it? Some range time would do you some good. Perhaps a new codename too." "...Again, Waifu? Really?" "Give me a break, Candymare!" Flash protested. "They ambushed me!" "I get it, I do... but right through the hole? Really?" "It seems you two have plenty to discuss. If you don't mind, Thorax and I will take our leave..." Kevin edged toward the train car's open door, dragging a still-dazed Thorax with him. He was only a few feet away when he was bowled over by a dark blur that crashed violently through the doorframe. It tumbled to a stop in front of Sweetie and Flash. They blinked, seeing it was actually two figures struggling with each other, Night Glider and the changeling that ran earlier. The bug snapped at Night Glider and fired a green burst from his horn as she pinned him against the metal floor of the carriage. The blast went wide, and Night Glider drove her hoof into the side of his face. Mandible whimpered as she connected with his jaw. Night Glider picked herself up from the limp changeling and dusted herself off. "Lose something?" She asked Sweetie. "Thanks, Washout." Sweetie turned to Kevin, who had already collected himself and was taking stock of the new situation. "Ready to talk?" Night Glider's dynamic entry had put him at a three-to-one disadvantage. Worse, Night Glider was armed to the teeth for aerial combat. Kevin did not like his odds. "I don't appear to have a choice, do I? Anything specific you want to discuss, Smiles? You can't possibly think I'll spill all the hive's secrets simply because you have the upper hoof." Sweetie pulled a picture from underneath her cloak and passed it to Kevin. "This pony. Heads an Applewood-based vamp gang and a cult of Nightmare Moon worshippers. Know him?" Kevin examined the photograph. An albino unicorn with piercing red eyes and an expression of haughty disdain glared coldly back at him. "Can't say I do. Never was fond of the west coast." "Funny, because rumor has it he left for Manehattan right about the same time you dropped everything and started packing for home." "Fine," Kevin spat. "That's Harvest Moon, as he likes to call himself. Good luck finding out his given name, he's older than the city of Canterlot. He's a demagogue, he sees himself as a savior to those who call darkness their home. He inspires them with the old legends of your Princess's fallen partner, raises her up as a beacon of hope for those who the Sun has forsaken. Aspires to lead them to rule Equestria under the banner of Nightmare Moon. He's also a violent, shortsighted thug with delusions of grandeur and a vision that far outstrips his reach." "Touching," Sweetie replied sarcastically. "Seen him lately?" The changeling's expression tightened. "Only know him by reputation." "Oh? Well, let me fill in some blanks for you. You're right, he was small time. Was. Three months ago, his vamps attacked my colleauges' safehouse in Sunnysaddle and burned it to the ground. A few days later, they hit another one in Applewood. Ponies are dead, Kevin. Others are missing, either off the grid or... worse." "I'm sorry for your loss Smiles, but these things happen. This isn't a changeling problem." "Then why are you running?" "Harvest's one of those 'with us or against us' types. From what I've heard, you don't want him to declare you an enemy of the cause. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the local vampony syndicate are on the same train we are." He sighed as Sweetie glared at him. "Very well, I do owe you one for that death worm. Word in the hive is that the Children of the Night have a new sponsor. Somepony with money, connections, and a mind for mayhem. Take a charismatic maniac like Harvest Moon, give him organization, funding, and goals, and you've gone from small-time cult leader to terrorist mastermind with an axe to grind. But I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, right Smiles?" He grinned wickedly. "After all, you're only an arms dealer." "Right..." Sweetie muttered. "Who's this sponsor? What pony with that kind of money would want to bring about everlasting night?" "That's the real question, isn't it?" The four of them turned at the sound of shouting from the next carriage. They hurried over to the front of the car to investigate as Mandible and Thorax unsteadily pulled themselves back up on their hooves. Flash peeked through the door's porthole. "Uh, guys? I think our time's up." Sweetie took a look. Policeponies were ushering ponies towards the front of the train while others stood guard, preparing to rush through the door. She quickly ducked out of sight. "Good point. Ookay, time to leave. Anypony have any ideas?" "I may have a solution," Kevin said as he trotted back over to his two flunkies. "Gentlecolts?" The changelings burst into green fire. Their magic subsided, revealing three pegasi in the uniforms of transit police officers. "We've got them! They're in here!" They shouted loudly to the police in the next car over. "Oh, fuck you Kevin!" Sweetie cursed her occasional foe as she rushed to the open rear door with Flash and Night Glider. Manehattan was slowly fading into the distance as the train journeyed into the Neigh Jersey countryside. "What do you think?" She turned to Flash. "Can you talk to them?" "They're cops, not Guard," Flash shook his head. "Maybe we fly out?" "Maybe. We'll have to lose them first though," Night Glider pointed out two police pegasi shadowing the car from above. "They weren't there before. Why are cops even after us?" "MANEHATTAN TRANSIT POLICE!" One pegasus shouted through a megaphone. "WE HAVE A WARRANT FOR YOUR ARREST! VIOLATION OF THE TURNSTYLE JUMPING ACT OF 745!" "...what?" "Waifu Stealer and I didn't pay for our tickets. Public transportation is serious business in Manehattan." Night Glider shook her head. "Let's just go." She flapped over to Sweetie and wrapped her in a bear hug. "Up you go, groundwalker. If I can't outrun a few cops while hauling one--moonsakes Candymare, what are you made of? Anvils?" "Har har," Sweetie rolled her eyes as Night Glider hefted her into the air. "Kevin! Give me somewhere to start with the Children! If you don't I swear to Faust I will hunt you down and drag you to them myself!" "Sure you will," Kevin waved off the threat. "Keep an eye on Manehattan's native vamps. LIke I said, he's a very 'join or die' type of pony. Good luck to you, Gumdrop Smiles." He tipped his policepony's cap to her, then turned and shouted to the real police in the next car over. "HURRY! THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!" Policeponies rushed into the carriage, shouting and brandishing their weapons. Flash leapt out of the train as they advanced on the spies. Night Glider and Sweetie took a running leap behind him, Night Glider's wings barely catching the air before they pancaked onto the tracks. They darted across the treetops, police pursuing them. "Ughh," Sweetie moaned as her stomach did flip-flops. "As soon as we lose them, we need to get back to the city!" "Hang on for a second! WAIFU!" Night Glider shouted to Flash ahead. He looked back and nodded, and Night Glider started to climb. "So how'd you come up with Waifu Stealer anyway?" "Eueaagh uh he hit on Princess Cadance once, right after he broke up with his ex." Sweetie could barely think. "Didn't realize she was his commander's girlfriend. What are we doing!?" The ground was getting very far away. "The Princess?? Hah! I can't wait to give him grief about that!" Night Glider laughed to herself as they climbed. "Oh, and I need both forelegs to lose these jokers!" "What? Nonononowaitdon'tAAAAAAAUUUUGH!!!" Sweetie screamed as Night Glider dropped her, plummeting towards the forest below. As the trees reached up to impale her, everything suddenly jerked sideways. "Gotcha!" Flash cried. Above them, Night Glider twisted in midair, letting loose a rocket from the rail strapped to her foreleg. The two cops pursuing them scattered in the wake of a brilliant blue firework blast, spiraling away dazed by the explosion. "While I've got you up here, I've been meaning to talk about the 'Waifu Stealer' thing!" Flash shouted over the wind to Sweetie. "I had no idea who she was at the time, I thought she was just a tall unicorn! So maybe we could--oh okay, maybe later! You just go ahead and keep throwing up!" The two of them flew back towards the city, Night Glider joining them. "Ugh," Sweetie groaned, weak from the freefall and not looking foward to hunting a vicious vampony. "Seriously guys, fuck Kevin."