//------------------------------// // A Night Attempt // Story: To Fear A Predator // by Evowizard25 //------------------------------// Normally, Apple Bloom and her friends would be playing during Recess. Usually it was tag, but Rumble could fly and now that he was their friend, that was a bit unfair for her and Diamond. So they instead did a few other things like hopscotch and whatnot. This time however they had something else to focus on. A human boy who was just leaning against the schoolhouse, watching everyone intently. Apple Bloom was doing her best to spy on him, while not looking like she was spying on him. She kept peeking out from the tree as she kept thinking about what he could do. Diamond Tiara sighed, “How long are we going to sit behind this tree?” “We’ve gotta keep an eye on him,” Apple Bloom said. “In case he tries somethin’.” “But he doesn’t have a gun anymore,” Diamond huffed and crossed her forelegs. “He’s harmless and this is boring.” “And it was kind of awesome how he stood up to Scootaloo and Silver Spoon like that,” Rumble spoke up. Hikaru nodded. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes, “There’s a difference between standin’ up and threatenin’ a pony with a gun.” “Well when you put it like that…” Rumble backed off the subject. “Maybe he is kind of dangerous.” Apple Bloom threw a hoof to him, “See, Diamond? He’s dangerous. What if he tries somethin’ on Cheerilee?” “What if we get in trouble for spying on him?” Diamond shot back. “We could get in a lot of trouble. My daddy says that the Inquisition are nothing but bad news for ponies. We should just steer clear of him and be done with it.” “But Diamond,” Apple Bloom said. “What if we get our cutie marks in spying? Oooh, what if he does try somethin’ and we get our cutie mark in defending ponies?” Diamond Tiara huffed, “You do have a point. We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” “Yeah,” Apple Bloom smiled. “When’s the next time we’re gonna have an oppurtunity like this?” “What about that griffon? He’s sort of suspicious.” “What’s he done?” “Be suspicious,” Diamond shrugged. “I mean, he lives far away from ponies, buys a lot of meat for himself, and just so happens to come into town when a lot of bad things happen? Suspicious to me.” “Yeah,” Rumble piped up. “Griffons are a lot of trouble. That’s what my big brother tells me and remember Cheerilee’s history lesson last week?” Apple Bloom nodded, “Yeah, they are a rowdy bunch. So, what if we spy on Cato now and spy on the griffon later?” The other two ponies nodded. “Alright! Cutie Mark Crusaders have a plan.” She looked around. “Ummm, where’s Hikaru?” ________________________________________________________________________ Cato was irritated at… well, everything at the moment. He had a right to use that gun, even though Trixie hadn’t given him any bullets. She told him just to use it to scare the other children. He’d done that and now he was in hot water with the teacher. She seemed nice. A good teacher, but he was still miffed that he couldn’t have his gun anymore. He couldn’t help but tap his hip where the gun holster should have been. Trixie had kept it with her, though she had muttered something about possibly using it on Cheerilee. He knew she wouldn’t she threatened basically everyone like that but never followed through with it. Well, unless they tried to kill her first. ‘And I sort of like Cheerilee.’ She had been nice to him when she had taken him aside to talk to him. She seemed like a loyal Equestrian mare. Still, he felt naked without his gun, bullets or no bullets. He didn’t exactly need it anyways. He was a magician. He had magic, something not a lot of humans had. He idly let out a little circle sigil in the air. Trixie had made sure to teach him how to properly use his magic and hone it to better use. For that, he basically trained every day. He wasn’t as good as Trixie, but he’d get there someday. “Hello,” a boyish voice spoke up. Cato wheeled around, his fingers splayed out as he prepared to fire a spell. He blinked in confusion as he looked down to see a black fox, “Did you just talk?” The fox tilted his head, “Yeah, why are you surprised?” Cato scratched the back of his head, “Just… it’s nothing. You just surprised me is all.” The fox smiled, “That’s what I aim to do. My name’s Aki Hikaru. What’s yours?” Cato mulled over the thought of telling him. ‘Mother does say that I’m not supposed to tell a stranger my name.’ However, this was just a young fox. It wouldn’t hurt, “Cato Schmendrick.” “That’s a funny name,” Hikaru chuckled. Cato huffed and crossed his arms, “Is not. You're the one with a funny name.” Hikaru shrugged, “Maybe, but I can still laugh at yours.” He giggled at Cato’s glare. “So why are you all alone out here?” “I’m observing my surroundings,” Cato rolled his eyes. “Duh.” “So when are you going to join in?” Hikaru asked. “There’s a lot that you could do and it's all pretty fun. Trust me.” “I’m not here to have fun,” Cato huffed and straightened himself up to look taller. “I’m here to observe and report back to my superiors. Those were my orders.” “Who gave you those orders?” Hikaru tilted his head. “My Master.” “And who’s your master?” Cato paused for a moment. The kids already knew that, so it was okay to tell him. “My mom.” Hikaru’s eyes widened, “She’s your mom?” Cato nodded, “Yeah, is that a problem?” He was sort of used to some ponies or other races being uneasy with the whole ‘cross-species’ adoption thing. He thought they were all idiots, but he kept that to himself. Hikaru shook his head, “No, it’s just…” He looked down at the ground. “Why do you think of her as a mommy?” Cato frowned, “What sort of question is that?” “...Miss Pizzelle is a pony,” Hikaru spoke. “I’m not and… after losing my mommy, I don’t know if I can call her mom. I want to, but… it’s just hard.” Cato pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘This is not what I wanted to do today.’ He sighed, “Look, I never knew my blood mother. She died when I was a baby and I was given to Trixie to raise, so we aren’t alike there. That doesn’t matter. She took care of me when no one would. She loves me unconditionally. She’s weird but she always takes time for me. Take my advice and just call her what she is.” “Just like that?” Cato nodded, “She cares about you a lot, right?” Hikaru nodded. “Then she’s your mom. Doesn’t matter about what species she is.” Hikaru seemed to lose himself in his thoughts. Before Cato could say anything else, a trio of ponies ran up to him. “Hikaru,” a little yellow, red maned filly spoke up. “Are ya alright?” Hikaru nodded, “I’m fine, Apple Bloom. I’m just talking to my new friend.” Cato’s eyes widened, “Wait, we aren’t-” “Friend?” Apple Bloom blinked in surprise. Then a large grin appeared on her face. “That’s perfect.” “Perfect?” Both Cato and the pink filly asked at the same time. Apple Bloom nodded, “Yeah, just think of all the cutie marks we could get with his help.” The gray colt gasped, “No way, you’re right.” “But I-” Cato tried to speak but was cut off again. “Well,” the pink filly rubbed her chin. “You’ve got a point. He could be very useful and who knows what sort of tricks and ideas he has up his sleeves.” She stomped a hoof, “That settles it. Human, you’re our new friend and there’s no backing out of it.” Cato sighed and his shoulders sagged, “Great,” he grumbled. ____________________________________________________________________ Caramel loved his sister. He really did, but he often found himself in troubling situations because of her. It was always one get rich scheme after another with very little in between. He understood why Apple Cobbler wanted to get rich. She didn’t want to be a lowkey farmer the rest of her life, but it was just agitating that he was always dragged into it. Still, she was his sister. He couldn’t very well say no to her. He really wanted to right this moment. Caramel gulped, “Okay, could you explain this to me again? I’m so scared that I think I might have forgotten something.” Apple Cobbler sighed, “Fine, one more time. Tonight, we’re going to capture this bandit or whatever they are. When you do, Princess Sunset will finally see how magnificent you are. She’ll be putty in your hooves.” Her eyes twinkled, “And we’ll be swimming in bits in no time for the rest of our lives.” “You seem to have missed a few steps,” ‘Like how I’m supposed to woo in after I capture this bandit,’ Caramel thought but kept that part to himself. “How am I supposed to catch-” “The bandit?” Apple Cobbler rolled her eyes and pulled out a blowgun. “Cheap but effective. Just use the darts in your bag, put them inside, and blow. Hit your target and they’ll be out for several hours. Short and simple. Now don’t let me down.” Caramel took the blowgun and the little bag that housed the darts, “And why aren’t you coming?” Apple Cobbler snorted, “I’m the lookout. I’ll make sure the bandit doesn’t escape or at the very least, I’ll make sure you look brave in defeat.” Caramel sighed. He knew this wasn’t going to go down well, but he could never say no to his sister. Besides, being rich didn’t sound so bad and Sunset was a looker. He’d try his best. _____________________________________________________________________ Inquisitor Time Turner was smiling. This wasn’t a new occurrence, he lived in Ponyville after all. You’d have to be a complete sourpuss to not smile once or twice a day there. However, ever since Inquisitor Trixie had arrived, it had vanished. If it wasn’t Trixie putting her nose into his business, he was having to clean up the mess left by Twilight Sparkle. She seemed nice enough but apparently didn’t know when enough was enough. At least, until Trixie got her ear. Even then, that wasn’t a guaranteed thing. No, he had finally found something to smile about. He had placed a ward around another ammo depo. He knew that the perpetrators wouldn’t strike the same place twice. As well, the barracks wasn’t all that used these days since the guard were stretched thin in order to protect the town. Time Turner knew this was the night he would catch this vandal. Once he did, he’d be able to get The Council off his back and Trixie out of his town. At his side was Shade. Once a loyal minion to Nightmare Moon, now he was a somewhat loyal Equestrian. Time Turner had kept a close eye on him and so far, he seemed trustworthy. He had brought him in to test the barrier and make sure it would work. The tests went expertly, aside from Shade getting hurt in the process. “So,” Shade spoke up. “Do you think they’ll really attack here tonight?” “Most assuredly,” Time Turner spoke. “Most of our ammunition is inside. At least, that’s what I’ve told everyone. In case of failure, it only houses a portion of our supplies. If the perpetrators are really your former brethren, then they’ll think we’ll be a pushover.” “And they’ll be in for one buck of a surprise,” Shade chuckled. “So, why are you trusting me with this information.” “Because I trust you,” Time Turner said. “You could have easily killed the Element bearers when they were going after Nightmare Moon. You didn’t. You’ve shown your want to help others. Also, with your luck, you’d be dead before you could accomplish anything.” Shade gulped and nervously chuckled, “Yeah… you’ve got me there.” As they patrolled the area, they caught Officer Pokey Pierce tapping one of the gems. The devices looked like black triangles, about the height of a pony’s knees. Circular dark blue gems were emplaced on each side and they pulsed every few seconds. He looked up and gave out a salute. Time Turner returned it, “At ease. Can I ask you what’re you doing?” Pokey stood at ease, “I was just curious, sir. I wanted to make sure they were working properly. I’ve never dealt with objects like these.” Time Turner nodded, “True, but trust me. These are working perfectly. I tested them out myself before they were put into use. The culprit won’t be able to make it inside. I mean, they’ve worked thus far. Now, the traps are in place?” Pokey nodded, “All in order and ready to be employed. They won’t know what hit them.” Time chuckled, “Good, very good. By this time tomorrow, this will all be behind us.” Suddenly, the gem’s color turned red and shone brightly. He grinned, “And that’s our cue. Officer Pierce, you stay here with a few officers to stand guard. I’ll take the militia with me to apprehend this perpetrator.” Pokey nodded. Time grinned as he made his way to the site. He had programmed the crystals to glow the brightest when the trap closest went off. Given how bright it was, it was close at hoof. He saw a number of other militia running to the scene as well. His grin grew. ‘This is it. I’ve got this little terrorist in the bag.’ “Dunno about you,” Shade spoke up. “But that Pokey guy always gives me the creeps.” Time Turner just rolled his eyes. He didn’t really need Shade’s input right now. When they got to the site, they didn’t find some evil dark sorcerer or soldier like he thought he would. No, it was none other than Caramel. He was dressed in a black turtleneck and had a little pouch with him. He spied a blow dart in his hooves. The trap had created a see through square of magic, outlined by the light blue edges, “Caramel? What in the pits of Tartarus are you doing here?” Caramel sheepishly smiled, “Umm… hello Inquisitor. Nice night we’re having.” Time deadpanned, “Yes, it is.” He sighed. “Get him out of there.” One of the militia tried to speak up, “But what if-” “If he’s an undercover agent, then I’m an albatross.” Time Turner snorted. “I’ve lived long enough to know the difference between a clutzy oaf and an agent that is pretending to be a clutzy oaf. He’s the former. Not the latter, so get him out.” The militia ponies sighed and moved to turn off the trap. The magic dissipated and Caramel stood up, “I’m so glad that you arrived. I didn’t- OW!” He rubbed his cheek after Time Turner had slapped him. “You idiot!” Time Turner growled. “I told everyone to stay inside tonight, but you just had to come out anyway. It was that gold digging sister of yours that put you up to this, wasn’t it?” Caramel didn’t answer. He just looked to the ground. Time sighed, “Look, I know you’re a nice guy, but this is important. We need to catch this perpetrator before they do somepony some serious harm. Stunts like this aren’t going to help anypony. It’s just going to tip off the vile criminals of our plans.” Caramel nodded, “I know and I’m sorry.” Time Turner couldn’t help but pity the stallion. Before he could speak anymore, a loud and short cry broke the air. His ears perked, “It’s coming from the ammo depo!” He shouted and the militia ran on back. Smoke started to trail up to the sky, causing them to quicken their pace. The group finally made it back to the depot, just to find it burning. He found the fire unusual for it wasn’t the usually bright sort of fire. It was dark blue and barely illuminated the area. The officers were strewn about, obviously knocked out as they were still twitching and heaving. The gems were destroyed as was their light. The only reason they could see anything in the area was because of the low, flickering flames. A vague shape stood a distance away. A vague, griffonish shape. A low sound touched his ear. He saw the figure parry the blow with a sword, sending what was apparently a dart into Time Turner’s chest. Caramel gasped and rushed to him, “Sorry, I thought I had him.” “That’s alright,” Time Turner smirked and pulled out the dart. “I’ve got two hearts. It will take more than this to take me-” A much larger dart hit his chest. “Hmmm, that will do it.” With that said, he fell forward. The last thing he saw was the figure racing into the dark alleys with the militia rushing after him.