The Black Cello Mafia
Chapter 2: A Phoenix's Ashes
Rain pounded the old street of Faust and 30th as the slight rainstorm turned extreme and gusts of wind battled the buildings. No pony could be seen on the street, utterly dead of any activity. But inside of the old building were Applejack had been captive in, chaos boiled.
"Hurry! Get him on the desk!" Applejack demanded a seemingly lost Octavia.
She carried him on her strong back and threw him onto the cleared desk, blood seeping further through the bath towel he had been wrapped in. Applejack rushed and started to apply first aid to the prince's wounds, cleaning it with alcohol and bandaging his entire head.
Octavia paced behind Applejack as she worked, thoughts racing at the speed of light in her head. The thought of Celestia seeing her face and the inevitable differences of her nephew scared Octavia to the bone as visions of execution plagued her. Applejack had finished and put away her first aid kit, walking over to her pacing friend to stop her from moving.
"Listen. I've done all I could do for the wound, but there's no telling if anything else can happen to him. He lost consciousness so he might have a concussion. Sit down and tell me what happened."
Octavia obeyed, and after a fluttery three minutes she was sitting in a chair with a glass of scotch in one hoof and a cigarette in her mouth. She stopped shaking from the cold and her fear, beginning to collect her thoughts on the evening. She told the apple pony about Filthy Rich's plans, going to the royal ball and the idea for ransom over the royal prince.
"When I went into the buffet hall to get a glass of wine...I met the blue haired unicorn that stole you."
Applejack tensed her face. "You did?"
Octavia nodded and told her of her experience with the mare, feeling a little flustered at the sexy comment. She recounted the experience of meeting her mother again, of being knocked out only to wake up in a bathroom; bloody and beaten. Dragged into a room of vulgar taste and being yelled at by a maniacally depressed drunk, whom she killed the son of and who was also the head of the pegasi mafia. Her escape, being noticed by her rival fighter, parents, and the highest authority in Equestria.
Applejack sat with a bovine complexion. How could she react to a operation gone so wrong in the span of two or three hours?
"And so... you have'ta bring a kidnapped prince out to a building for a ransom by the government, which Filthy Rich expects you to be able to do?" She asked, her southern drawl starting to warp through her forced Manehattan accent.
"I got him didn't I?" Octavia shrugged.
Applejack stared at her friend, blowing air through her nostrils in frustration.
"Just what is going on?" She asked while putting her head between her hooves.
Octavia shook her head. "I don't know, but it's something big. Nero is planning something, as well as Filthy. Applejack." She called to her distressed friend.
Applejack looked up to her with an open mouth.
"We have to stop Filthy and Nero at all costs."
=-=-=-=-=
Celestia stopped dead in her tracks as a mare in a black dress and a bloody face raced past with a delivery tray, looking straight at her in the face with the most dreadful look. To the left of her, she heard a gasp and a whimper as the mare flew out the door. To the right, she heard her faithful student stomp the ground.
"Twilight?"
Her student looked up to the white princess whose face showed almost no emotion.
"Yes princess?"
"Who was that?"
It was some time before her student could form an answer, but as she began to speak, an old proprietor of the alicorn princess barged in through the open hall, a crimson rag on his head and suit in pieces. It was Nero, who looked to be drinking. He gave a slight scream of grief, sitting down with a thud.
"Nero? What in world is going on?" The princess asked, growing a stern and all businesslike look as she approached the disheveled pegasus.
Nero groaned. "My shot at revenge, whisked away by a kick to the chest and a delivery tray."
The princess looked around as a crowd began to form, no music playing in the background of the ball hall. Only the translucent murmurs of onlookers.
This is not good. She thought. Looking back to Nero, she stood back as he stood. His face twisted with rage and eyes of fire, he ran at the open doors screaming at the top of his lungs, taking to the sky the second his hooves touched the concrete outside. Ponies crowded the outside to look up at the pegasus as he flew away, all but herself and her student who looked back up at her with cynicism.
"This is what happens when the government won't get involved in mass crime." She said with begrudging disrespect, stomping off.
Celestia looked about the brightly lit ball room and sighed. Things could only get worse from then on.
=-=-=-=-=
"So why do you suggest we do this?" Applejack questioned Octavia.
They had moved to the basement and locked the prince in handcuffs and a muffler.The dim lighting was just enough for the two mares to see each other as they spoke.
"Somethings not right. I mean royal ransom? What the hell is that!? He's beginning to be furiously ambitious, and all I see this lead to his our heads rolling."
Applejack looked to the wall, diving into her own thoughts. It was sometime before she responded.
"Alright. I get what you're saying. But what about Nero? Why do we need to stop him aside from being a mob boss?"
"Well, for one he is on a personal vendetta and will stop at nothing just to have me dead. Two, he's also planning something. Along the lines of a siege I suspect; a wide spread upheaval of the mafia's. We'd practicably be slaves at that point."
Applejack agreed with a solemn nod.
"Alright, I'm in. So whats our first move?"
Octavia felt put off edge. She had something brewing in her mind for awhile, but telling this to a fellow member of a mafia might endanger her in someway. She gulped down her doubts and explained.
"Well you know the night I was knocked by that detective? Well...I'm actually captive and working against our mafia to bring it down."
Applejack stared at her for a few moments before jumping from her chair and grabbing Apple Bucker from the bed, whipping the barrel into Octavia's pale and frightened face.
"So you're a traitor!"
Octavia shook her head furiously. "NO! I'M BEING FORCED TO DO THIS!"
Applejack didn't release her killer gaze from the brown mare, the gun still balancing firmly but loosely in one hoof as she towered over her while standing on her back hooves.
Octavia put her hooves up. "Applejack, trust me. I'm being forced to do this by the police force, otherwise I would've already been executed. It wouldn't matter anyway; I'm not backing down from my oath as a member of this mafia. I would rather die than to go back on what I promised to do months ago, and I stand solemnly with that oath. Even if it would mean bringing down the most viscous pony in Equestria; for the greater good of our standing bonds and continuing lives."
Applejack listened to the tendered words from her friend, whom for the first time tonight shown something other than fear or regret. Something other than being anxious or worrying for her fate as things became more chaotic by the day. To which Applejack hadn't seen in years since her first day on the job.
Passion.
She smiled through the gun. Applejack let a grin spread her face as wide as it could as she realized that not only was her friend telling the truth, but she was even willing to save themselves and her family by risking her life to even go up against the bosses of two different powerful mafia's to bring them down from the destructive paths they had led everypony down. Throwing the gun back on the bed, Applejack sat down on the ground and let her eyes relax. Much like her friend whose face was still stuck in a defensive twist, she too felt passion driving her to aid in the justification of a tyrant.
"Okay Octavia," She said with a wicked grin. "We kill Filthy Rich."
=-=-=-=-=
It was two nights after the ball. Prince BlueBlood was being held prisoner in a chamber owned by Filthy Rich and Canterlot was on high alert for the search of the princess' nephew. It was five in the afternoon on a Saturday, and Octavia was sitting inside of her local Speak amongst a couple ponies. Most being fellow mafia members. A scotch sat by her hoof as she spun a Bit on the bar to watch it spin and drop. She had conspired all night of the ball with Applejack for a plan to bring down Filthy Rich. It was simple really; follow her orders from the police to bring down the executives and the boss, then rebuild a whole new mafia the minute Filthy was out of the picture.
Still, Octavia worried over growing tension between her, Filthy, and Detective Sparkle. The night she had returned to her cell in the precinct, the purple unicorn had done nothing but stare at the tired pony as she passed by with her head down.
Octavia glanced at the clock, showing it was half pass five. Time ponies were getting off work and those who were deprived of self control and respect of peace would be filling in the door of the bar soon. Sliding of her seat, Octavia took her scotch and walked up to the office. Since Applejack had 'died', she was being allowed to use the empty office seeing as she was an executive to Filthy rich and organized the alcohol operations. If doing field work wasn't stressful enough, organizing crimes herself was about thirty more pounds of stress on her shoulders.
Time passed while she worked on papers, the clock above the window showing it was seven at night. She decided to take a brake and relax at the bar. She pushed the door of the office to the welcoming warm and rowdy Speak. She walked down, smiling at her fellow members as she ordered a gin and tonic from Mugs.
The central party of the bar escalated as time went on and ponies got drunk. Octavia was just finishing her drink when a white hoof slammed the bar.
"Two shots of your hardest whiskey please!"
Octavia looked with a grimace up to the pony she could only guess was there. The blue haired unicorn smiling down at a visibly disgruntled Octavia. The cheery unicorn sat down next to the earth pony when Mugs placed the shots down on the bar, giving the other to the frustrated mare.
"What's up sexy?" She said, giving Octavia a wry smile.
A groan was a sufficient response. "Please don't call me that."
"What's the matter? Not confident? Disappointed by your figure? Or is it you're just a stuck up prude." The mare still holding her shot between her hooves listed off some insecurities which hit a little close to home.
"No, I just don't you're name and I'm afraid I don't swing that way."
The mare scoffed. "I don't think you know yourself that well." Turning around in her stool.
Octavia snapped her head to look at the mare with a stare of daggers.
Th unicorn snorted. "Take the shot will you? I payed good money for that. Let yourself loose miss prude."
Octavia shook her head. "Why are you here even? I don't thinks It's coincidence that I see you at the ball then see you here." She contemplated on calling the friendly mare out on kidnapping Applejack, but decided to keep it secret in case she needed to obtain something from this mare.
"Oh come on, I decide to get a drink and I see you, a familiar face at the bar, and order shots as an icebreaker. Now come on, down the shot already."
Octavia looked down at the brown liquid, starting to reel in her mind about getting information from the strange mare and seeing the shots as a way to get closer to her. Sighing and swallowing her pride, she took the shot glass and threw it down her throat. She squirmed her lips at the bitter taste and looked at the mare next to her who was in mid shot. Slamming the glass down, she streamlined air out of her pursed lips.
"Barkeep! Two more!"
=-=-=-=-=
"...and then he slipped over the cliff and fell screaming for an entire minute!"
Octavia locked her jaw in place as she horsed her dwindling breath into a hardy laugh, slapping the bar as she jumped excitedly in her seat along with the mare.
"By the gods, that's the best sory I've ever heard!" Octavia said when she regained her oxygen, slurring her sentences by the fifth shot. They were on their eighth pair.
The unicorn who said her name was Vinyl smiled a goofy smile at her new friend while nodding her head.
Both mares downed the next shot, barley feeling the whiskeys sting anymore as their minds started to wade in the suffocating alcohol.
"See? Aren't you happy you took that shot now?" Vinyl asked Octavia, putting her hoof on her shoulder. It was now nine O' clock, and the bar was still teaming with ponies.
Octavia nodded, expecting her shot glass with a critical eye. She sloppily looked up to the clock she glanced at earlier and sighed.
"It's time I got going Vinyl. Stuff to do tomorrow."
Vinyl followed her off the bar and gave a disappointed groan. "Come on, the night just got started!"
Now, In a completely normal state, Octavia would've said no, being the type of pony who was responsible to sleep even if they were plastered. Even the princess couldn't get her to dawdle from a task that seemed even relatively important.
Unfortunately, Octavia was not in a normal state.
"Well, I got some stuff at home, maybe we could go back there?" She asked, almost falling down even while standing still. She could tell she was close to blacking out, but not really there yet.
Vinyl gave a mock scoff of disbelief. "Why Octavia dear, I thought you didn't swing that way?"
Octavia smiled at her mocking. "I don't, but if it's a friend, I'll invite them for some after bar one on one conversation."
Vinyl smiled, agreeing to go back to her house. Soon they were in a cab and headed down to Octavia's home. Time seemed to lapse and they were in front of her door, opening it up to a large and luxurious apartment.
"Wow Octavia, fancy smanshy." Vinyl said, flopping down on the albino couch next to the fire place. Octavia came from the kitchen with a glass of wine and two glasses on her back, balancing them steadily even when drunk.
Pouring two full glasses, she sat down on the opposite couch, looking into the deep purple glasses of Vinyl. Her friend seemed totally at peace, looking about the warm apartment, eyeing the staircase leading past the ceiling.
"Where does that go?" She asked, nodding her head towards the spiral.
Octavia strained over the couch to look. "Oh, that goes up to my room...hey, wanna see something?" Octavia asked with a bit of a silly smile.
Vinyl shrugged, getting off the couch and stumbling on her drunken hooves. Octavia had already taken off her suit and tie, flipping off her forgotten fedora on the couch arm as she passed by it and led up the stairs. Vinyl followed closely after, staring at Octavia's flank ascend the stairs.
Reaching the door, Octavia opened it and entered her room. Vinyl came in and watched Octavia open the patio window the the Manehattan skyline. She joined the brown mare, looking all around the view.
"Wow...It's beautiful." Vinyl said, a grin spanning her face. She looked to Octavia who was nodding, looking at the capital building which towered higher than any other building in the city.
Octavia looked back at Vinyl and smiled back. Walking back to the entrance, she closed the door. Vinyl came back into the room after her in confusion.
"Octavia? What are you doing?" She asked as Octavia locked the door and turned around with a lewd look consuming her expression.
Vinyl let her mouth gape open, which was a mistake as Octavia used her lightning fast fighting skills to smother the unicorns mouth with her own, shoving her onto the bed and rustling the blanket cover with their drunken spasmatic motions.
The thoughts in Octavia's mind raced a mile a minute as she hungrily made out with this strange unicorn, but ultimately lost herself in the passion and blacked from the energy vibrating through the room.