Once again, all of my thanks go to Pacific Penguin, for his tireless efforts to rectify my abominable grammar.
And spelling...
Author's note:
It seems like I'm always apologizing for something or another…more often than not it is for taking so damn long to update the next chapter. Several things have unexpectedly popped up this week, necessarily delaying the process of writing. As if things ever expectedly pop up. Anywho, I meant for this to be a different scene, but I ended up having Waaaayyyyyyy too much fun writing the office scene. Oh well. *Pinkieshrug* I hope you enjoy it, and as always, Constructive Comments are ALWAYS welcome.
The mayor of Ponyville was pacing rapidly back and forth in her office. With each passing moment her agitation visibly worsened, as two guards from the Ponyville clinic recounted their harrowing experience in gruesome detail. Though her agitation was mostly due to the unprecedented nature of the events they described, the way the two kept trying to talk over the other and interrupt with their own details was quickly wearing her nerves down to the wire. Also not helping their case was the way, Celestia help them, they seemed to be bragging about the slaughter at the clinic. When they began arguing amongst themselves as to who had the closer brush with death, Miss Mayor lost her composure.
"Yeah right! I totally almost got bit by that one in the hall! I've got the bald spot to prove it!" bragged Coconut.
"Whatever, manure-for-brains, that bald spot has been there since the academy." Retorted Cosmic.
"How would you know? You been staring at my flank, have you? I always knew-"
"ENOUGH!" Miss Mayor shouted, cutting the insult off mid-sentence and shocking both of the colts into silence.
"I swear that if serving in the Civil Guard wasn't required of everypony in this town, I would make sure that neither of you EVER got near a uniform again."
On her first night in Ponyville, Twilight was awoken by a loud commotion in the street outside. As she peered over the balcony, she could clearly see the outline of a manticore digging through her garbage bin. For the rest of the night she couldn't find rest, as every breeze that stirred the branches of her home also conjured visions of a large creature perched in the boughs above her bed, waiting to pounce. As her restless mind raced, she began to contemplate a possible solution. When Celestia's sun heralded the new day and brought the promise of safety, she made her way to the Town Hall to pitch her solution to Miss Mayor.
Twilight's suggestion to conscript every able-bodied pony to serve a term as a guard pony had not only nearly eradicated unwanted visits from creatures of the Everfree, but had also helped to build an even tighter sense of community amongst the citizens. All in all it had been a rousing success, and had even earned Twilight a spot on the Ponyville Committee as an adviser. Unfortunately it also bound Miss Mayor's hooves, as she could not "fire" a member of the guard for merely being annoying. Much to her chagrin, she had to find another way to deal with these two.
Miss Mayor spoke up again, after more than a brief moment of favoring the two in her office with an arctic glare.
"If what you tell me is true, and not some horrendous exaggeration, then we have a serious problem on our hooves."
Sobered as they were by the Mayor's outburst, the colts merely nodded solemnly. A thought made itself known in the back of Miss Mayor's mind. It seems like all that bragging was their way of coping with this…a moment ago, they were full of piss and vinegar, and now they look like the scared colts they are. Softening her tone whilst maintaining her air of authority, she regarded the Guards before her with a more motherly disposition.
"Now listen closely you two. You two were the only ones that saw this all happen that weren't…consumed by it, correct?"
The two nodded in unison, neither having seen the orange Pegasus filly that was also a witness to the carnage. Miss Mayor continued.
"I don't have to tell you that this kind of news would cause an outright panic if it got out. Innocent ponies could die in the mayhem that ensued. However, we cannot allow life to go on as if nothing had happened; we would have no way to control the situation. If another incident were to occur, word would spread like wildfire and this town would descend into the flames of madness."
In her younger days, Miss Mayor was an avid reader and lover of poetry. Due to the sedate pace of life in Ponyville, she rarely had use for her colorful vocabulary and capable wordsmithing. Though she masked it under a look of concern, she felt a warm sensation of pride flow through her as she demonstrated that she hadn't lost her touch. In fact, judging by the way the Guardcolts in front of her were trembling, she felt she might have overdone it. Just a tad, though.
"Now you see what we are dealing with, and how serious the situation could become if not handled properly. I need you two to promise me that you will not breathe a word of this to anypony. Not friends, not family, not even each other. I need more than your word; for this most dire of pacts I require an oath of blood."
She struggled to hold a stern look and not beam at her own masterful crafting of syntax. Her smug satisfaction was short lived however; the blank stares she received from the Guardcolts indicated a lack of understanding as the meaning of her artful wordsmithing was lost on the pair. Miraculously, she abstained from facehoofing. She tried again as she walked away from the two, towards her desk.
"What I was trying to say is that this is a very serious matter. And I do apologize, but I require something more binding than just your word. "
As she reached her desk, she reached underneath and pressed a concealed button. The resulting click was so soft that it was all but inaudible to the colts a mere five paces away. Miss Mayor reached up and turned the lever that now protruded from the underside of the desk, causing a slender door to open in one of the legs of the desk. Delicately, she removed the scroll inside and unfurled it on the desk. Cosmic and Coconut watched silently and winced as Miss Mayor took a letter opener and nicked her hoof with it. Slowly, a drop of blood formed and fell onto the parchment, when something unexpected happened. The parchment flashed a dim blue color as the blood struck its surface, and shadowy runes spread out from the point of impact, leaving archaic writing in their stead.
Perhaps neither of them were particularly bright, but Cosmic and Coconut weren’t dumb, either. Both knew that they had just seen this earth pony use magic, and were nothing short of awestruck. Despite appearances, Miss Mayor had not actually used magic. Seeing the shock on the Guardcolts faces, she explained what they had just seen.
"I know what it looks like, but I have not actually used magic. This parchment is an enchanted relic, created by a unicorn for a very specific purpose. This is a Blood Seal, an arcane enchantment applied to an object that turns it into a powerful talisman. In this case, the Blood Seal is a special variety known as a Blood Oath. The Blood Oath has two parts; the first part is the initiation, which you have just seen. The originator of the contract first summons up an impression or idea of what they want. Then, they spill their blood onto the relic, causing their will to manifest in the form of these runes you now see."
As the colts step forward to inspect the script on the parchment, their eyes lock on the strange symbols. Despite the fact that they had no idea what the symbols meant, it somehow conveyed exactly what the mayor had already explained to them. It was as if a mental snapshot of Miss Mayor's thought had been captured on the page and burned itself into their respective psyches as they looked at it. Seeing the reaction of the ponies in front of her, she continued her explanation.
"And now for the second part. Now that my will is made known to you, all that is required of you is your blood. A drop will do. Once your blood touches this parchment, you will be UNABLE to break your oath. Should you try, you will first begin to notice that your throat has become dry and scratchy. Should you persist, it only gets worse until one of two things happens. Best case scenario is that you decide you didn’t want to break your oath that badly."
Both colts shared a look, but Coconut spoke up first.
"And the worst case…?"
A moment of silence passed as Miss Mayor considered how to word her reply.
"You die."
The two guard ponies gulped in unison. After a brief hesitation, Cosmic grabbed the letter opener and nicked his hoof in one swift motion, slamming his hoof onto the desk a bit more forcefully than was necessary. After all, he had to make up for Coconut speaking up first. The parchment flashed blue under his hoof. Coconut followed suit. As his hoof touched the parchment, it flared a bright green and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Nothing else needed to be said, as all the details of the plan had been imprinted on the Guardcolts when they viewed the parchment. With naught but a nod, the Guards headed off to implement the plan.
Once they had left, Miss Mayor sat down and began to write furiously, composing a letter to Twilight Sparkle at her suite in Canterlot, where she was on some Princess' errand or another. Without going into too much detail, she recounted the events of the last two days, omitting much about the events in the clinic so as not to alarm the lavender unicorn. Once Miss Mayor re-read the letter to make sure she covered all the salient details, she headed downstairs and was met by a certain wall-eyed mail mare. After explaining to Ditzy that this was a rush letter to Canterlot and that it was critical that it get there as soon as possible, she promised a muffin basket as payment for the rush delivery. Ditzy snapped a crisp salute, and took off with a speed that would make Rainbow Dash proud. Elsewhere, the Civil Guard ponies were preparing to set the plan in motion.
The plan was quite simple, and only comprised of three parts: The Summoning, the Dispatch, and The secret mission. First, they had to sound the bell in the bell tower, signaling a Meeting of the Guards. Construction had only recently been finished on the bell tower, and its once plain mortared stone walls had their thickness doubled with the addition of great timber supports in order to cope with the weight of the newly re-cast bell. The cornerstone of the tower held a small plaque as a memorial to Braeburn. Within half an hour, the Civil Guard had assembled outside the tower, idly chatting and speculating as to what the sudden meeting was about, and why it couldn’t have waited until after lunch. Thus assembled, phase two began with a speech from Coconut.
"Okay everypony, listen up. Cosmic and I just came from a meeting with the Mayor, and that is why we've called this meeting. There is a slight emergency going on in Ponyville, and we have been called upon to help keep everypony safe."
At this, a few gasps rose from the crowd, and all of the side conversations ground to an immediate halt.
"There were reports of a strange illness in Ponyville, it seems to be some form of rabies. Until we know more about it, Ponyville will be under quarantine. Don't worry, this is just a precaution. There is no evidence that there is any danger to the citizens, but better to be safe than sorry."
Coconut cast a glance towards Cosmic, who looked like he was trying to swallow a mouthful of dry crackers. In the back of his own throat, he felt an itch. He cleared his throat, and began again.
"At this time, we need to separate into groups. Squad leaders take charge of your sections and begin to send ponies home. Once that is complete, set up roaming guards to make sure they stay in their homes. Lyra, Pokie: you two are with us."
With discipline and organization that was far better than anypony could have dared to hope for, they broke down into teams and set about sending ponies home. Lyra and Pokie approached, curious as to why they weren't going with everypony else to help out. With all the authority he could muster and more than a little apprehension that he couldn't hide, Coconut addressed the two unicorns.
"Lyra, Pokie; you two have been selected to help us carry out a dangerous mission. This mission will be super-duper secret, so you have to agree to it before we can tell you what it is. Once you agree, there will be no turning back, and you can't speak a word to anypony else about it. Deal?"
Both unicorns agreed after only a moment's hesitation. Seeing their enthusiasm, Coconut felt a little better. At least they had numbers on their side. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come down to that. With a steel edge to his voice that he didn't know he possessed, Coconut spoke.
"Filly and gentlecolts, we are after a Zebra."
Thus began stage three: The Hunt.