The wind blew through the open window in her apartment. Scarlet was sitting on her water couch, with a bottle of a strange, orange liqueur called “Applejack Daniel’s”. Whatever her trouble was, two bottles of the strong concoction would throw them all into oblivion by the time she was awake again. The headache in the morning never mattered. It was just a cruel reminder of what needed to be done.
The Hooftail were finally gone. Without their master, the upstarts would scatter, making them an easy prey for her traps and games spread throughout Fair-feather. But that didn’t matter either, Scarlet thought in between tears. Just reminiscing the last night she had with her only friends was too much to bear. And somehow, she didn’t exactly know how, or why, that damned mare brought it all back.
~The caravan was due to arrive in less than 12 hours. The final preparations were being made. Spark Dust, one of my friends, had been assigned to mount up a CIV detonator. The explosion would not only clear the surface, it also pierced the ground below, leveling everything on a radius of two hundred meters. It was everything we needed to stop that damned Hooftail caravan.~
Scarlet took another swig of the bitter liquid. She hated remembering, but it was the best thing she could do. In the end, the past haunts us forever. How could she bring this back? I’ve been kissed before, even after the incident. Why is she so special? The question remained unanswered. She wanted to go back to that rooftop, wait for the brown mare to come back and apologize for everything. But that wouldn’t have served any purpose. She would never come back, she lost her forever.
Downing the last sip of her first bottle, the techie lazily stretched for the other one, opening it in one hoofswing. You’re an idiot, Scar. But I guess you already knew that. Taking another drink from her bottle, all there was to do now was add an assassin without a name to her list of dear and dreaded memories.
~A magic trigger, typical. That’s what they use unicorns for. Arming requires finesse, especially when talking about heavy ordinance equipment like the Class IV. We all knew that Spark was the only one in the group capable of that. So he just stood there, the whole night, mounting that damned bomb. Shrapnel was lazier. Even if he had finished his work, he never double checked. That was always mine to do.~ Scarlet smiled a bit to herself, before bursting into tears again. Taking another drink, she could finally feel the effects of the first bottle doing its magic.
~And then, when we were done, he offered to play a game of Hooflocker. I was undefeated… Heh, I never suspected him to be the smart type, but he enjoyed this specific game.~ Taking a glance at her drawers, Scarlet could see the dusty box containing her once favorite game. ~And… Yeah, he beat me. For once, someone immune to my bluffs, it was nice to lose, even if it meant giving away a bit of my pride. Then, we spent the night talking and…~
Her stream of thoughts was cut loose by an annoying beeping sound. Conflux sure take their time. It’s not like they have anything better to do. Her send-receive terminal was bleeping, waiting to be accessed. The mare took one final drink from her bottle, feeling the dizziness amplify with each passing minute. Gathering all of her clear thoughts she had left, the techie sat at her terminal and typed in.
SORA DIVISION 501. AUTHENTIFICATION: SCARLET BLAST. LOCATION: FAIR-FEATHER OUTPOST 035. SECURITY CODE: THETA LIMA 095.
Silence for the next five minutes. Typical. They went ringing, then went dead until one decided to read the input on their damn screen.
WELCOME BACK. MISSION REPORT COMPILED SUCCESSFULLY. ADDENDUMS?
Yes, you know, there was this renegade mare assassin, that I basically found very attractive. I never admitted it to myself, yet when she kissed me I broke down like a kindergarten filly. Other than that, the master is dead and the Hooftail are soon to collapse order.
NO ADDENDUMS REQUIRED.
REPORTS INDICATE HOOFTAIL MASTER STILL ALIVE. CONFIRM.
That was not possible. She had shot him with her own rifle, then saw him cut up by that damned brown mare she adored so much. This only left room for one answer. Conflux hardly ever got their information wrong, mostly bought for big money from the Trade Guild. But how could’ve they found out the termination had failed so soon, if it did?
NEGATIVE. TARGET WAS SHOT DOWN USING TWO NEUROTOXIN DARTS. ENTIRE ESCORT WAS KILLED, INCLUDING THE THREE SPECIALISTS.
NEGATIVE. MASTER OF SHADOWS SPOTTED EARLIER THIS EVENING BY OGON SCOUTING SQUAD 9. PLEASE CONFIRM STATUS OF HOOFTAIL MASTER.
Damned idiots! They sent squad 9 to compete with her? She’ll show them all who they were messing with. Now she was no longer in a posture of superiority. Even though she had taken out an entire patrol, it counted for nothing now. The main targets weren’t dead, at least not all of them. There was no use in trying to hide behind a hoof now.
UNABLE TO CONFIRM STATUS OF HOOFTAIL MASTER YET. CARRYING ON MISSION UNTIL ALL DEATHS ARE ACCOUNTED FOR.
NEW DIRECTIVE CONFIRMED. ELIMINATE ALL HOOFTAIL AND SHADOWBRAND IN THE TOWN. OGON 9 WILL BE SUPPORTING THIS MISSION SEPARATELY.
No. There was no way in hell Scarlet would let Ogon 9 take her glory for this victory. Yet she was certain of one thing. To finish her job properly, she needed help. The assassin had been a great help in her previous assignment, and wanted to have her around as a friend rather than a rival. It was time for her to forget the past and focus on the present.
REQUESTING DENIAL OF HELP FROM OGON 9.
REQUEST DENIED.
REQUEST LACK OF INTERFERENCE WITH OGON 9. IF THEY ARE TO WORK ON THE SAME MISSION WITH ME, I RESIGN FROM CURRENT MISSION DIRECTIVES.
Two minute silence.
REQUEST APPROVED.
TRANSMISSION TERMINATED. SORA 501 SIGNING OUT.
Good. At least we have that. Now, to focus on other matters. Ugh… Maybe in the morning. The headache started getting to her. Alcohol was both friend or foe, and now it was turning hostile. Nothing a little sleep won’t fix. In the morning, she would go find the mare. Or let herself be found by her, either way.