The guard glanced through the car window, recognizing the mare inside. “Good evening, Countess.”
The well-dressed pony nodded. “Sorry to visit so late, but I wanted to catch Princess Luna in a good mood.”
The guard chuckled politely, although he would never dream of making such a joke. The visitor was clearly somepony important, even though he didn’t really know much about her. She visited often, and seemed to be very close to the Princesses, especially Luna.
Procedures still had to be followed, no matter who it was. He checked her ID thoroughly before waving Countess de la Cheer through the gate.
The security ponies inside the castle were not as lenient. Cheerilee had just begun to think of some ways to convince the guards that she wouldn’t need to be sent through the metal detectors when Princess Luna appeared and escorted her guest away from the scanning area.
Out of earshot, Luna murmured, “I was surprised when I heard what you had done.”
“I’m just doing what you asked, Princess,” said Cheerilee. “That is, everything I can to inspire fear.”
Luna was a little put off but the schoolteacher’s bluntness. Still, if it was merely concerning to the Princess who was well aware of the situation then it would be terrifying to anypony who had never met Cheerilee before. Even so, this course of action, any course of action, was better than doing nothing.
“I have a target,” said the Princess. The other mare’s ears perked up. The two of them entered Luna’s office. The decor was familiar to Cheerilee; she had been there often enough. Despite matching Luna’s coloration and general nighttime atmosphere, it was not unattractive. Of course, enhanced vision in the darkness might make Cheerilee’s impression a little different.
The Princess spread out a few photographs on her desk. They depicted a house in western Canterlot. Cheerilee memorized the address. The place looked rather unassuming, not like it was involved with HOOF. That was the biggest problem with ferreting out the terrorists-they could be anyone.
“This is one of their staging sites, where supplies and personnel pass through to other places,” explained Luna. “It’s a relatively minor location to them, but a fine place to start.”
Cheerilee nodded. “What can I expect inside?”
“There will probably be a few recently arrived zebra and buffalo with some ponies mixed in,” explained Luna. “Bomb making supplies are almost a certainty, and there may be other weapons as well.”
“Guards?” asked Cheerilee.
“They will probably have a watch, but so far HOOF has not been seriously threatened and they might not be prepared for attack. I stress might.”
Cheerilee nodded. “All right, Princess. I can take care of it tonight.”
Luna studied her for a moment. “Cheerilee, I understand that an attack on your school is very personal to you.”
The lavender mare ducked her head. “Yes, Princess. I...I’ve been trying not to think about it.”
“I understand how difficult it can be,” acknowledged Luna. “It can be hard to care about something when you know you’ll outlive it.”
Such was the plight of the immortal. Cheerilee sighed. “I try not to get attached to things, Princess.”
“‘Better to have loved and lost than never loved at all.’ Sometimes the old idioms are true, Cheerilee. I just don’t like to see you missing out on anything.”
“You don’t want me to miss out on the deaths of all those ponies?” demanded Cheerilee, in a tone of voice she very rarely used with the Princess.
“That isn’t what I meant and you know it,” admonished Luna. “It’s just that you’ve gotten so good at wearing a mask that sometimes I wonder if there is a pony left underneath.”
Cheerilee dropped her gaze, regretting what she had said. Luna reached across the desk, touching her hoof. “Cheerilee, I know that nothing will bring back those who were killed. Taking revenge on those responsible is a petty form of justice, but it is satisfying. I remember that from when Nightmare Moon was a part of me. If you still want to do this, if you think it’s necessary, then I will support you.”
Seconds passed before Cheerilee nodded. “I agree that running our own terror campaign is an imperfect solution, but I do think that it will be effective.”
“I know what you’re capable of, and I trust you to do what is needed,” said Luna. She didn’t say it but was sure Cheerilee had caught the implied “only what is needed.”
The Princess stood. “If you’re going to the target tonight, I have something to show you.”
The two of them exited the room and went towards the dungeons. There hadn’t been prisoners held there for millennia, but the stone chambers remained as a grim reminder of what had once been. Luna unlocked a door and led Cheerilee into a small room, lighting a torch with a small spark of magic.
Various weapons were mounted on the walls or in cases in the center of the floor. All of them were ancient, with no firearms or space-age materials to be found. Luna indicated a gleaming sword that rested in its own display. It appeared to be well taken care of, despite its age. Beside it was a sheath that appeared to be a patchwork of different materials. Looking closer, Cheerilee spotted thick buffalo hide and striped zebra pelt. The fringe held dragon scales, griffon talons, and pegasus feathers.
The sword itself was highly polished and bore no battle scars or traces of rust. It was a rather thin blade, appearing almost fragile. Cheerilee realized the grip was made of unicorn horn.
“This belonged to a stallion named Crucible,” said Luna, her tone low. “Back before Equestria became civilized, he was a warrior under Princess Platinum. All ponies back then were unkind to other species and races, but the unicorn tribe was worse than most. With this sword, he ended many, many lives, even some unicorns. It was forged with enchantments to be sharp, strong, and resistant to magic other than Crucible’s.”
Luna’s horn glowed and the sword rose a few inches from where it lay. It looked like the Princess was exerting herself to even manage that. She nodded to Cheerilee and the schoolteacher moved forward to take the weapon.
For a sword, it was very light. She turned it over in her hooves, inspecting the blade. Now that she knew its history, the shine of the metal seemed almost sinister.
“It’s an evil weapon,” said Luna, “but I hope it can be of use to you. Even if killing members of HOOF is somewhat justified, I would prefer it to be the fault of the weapon, rather than the wielder.”
Cheerilee blinked. “I suppose such a blade would be a powerful influence, difficult to resist if it happened to come to blows. It would be entirely understandable if one in such a situation were to, say... go a little too far. Thank you, Princess.”
She picked up the sheath and slid the sword into it. The macabre decorations of hide and other totems were surprisingly fitting for the task that lay ahead of her. Strapped to her back, the sword managed to fit under her dress.
Luna escorted her back through security. The Princess looked rather stoic, and Cheerilee was sure her own face held the same expression. Death was about to come to some unsuspecting terrorists; but even despite who they were, any killing was unpleasantly serious business.
Cheerilee left the castle, slowly beginning to get into character. At her home, she replaced her fancy attire with an old jacket long enough to cover her cutie mark. After taking a moment to utterly ruin her styled mane, she studied the effect in the mirror. The look she was shooting for was not the deadly, sexy monster that resembled a pony, which was sometimes portrayed in the movies. That could be scary, but didn’t have the same potential. Instead, she was throwing away anything attractive about her appearance. If she resembled a thing rather than a mare, so much the better. Cheerilee was counting on fear of the unknown, and she was sure that HOOF had never seen anything like her before. She wished for some dye to change her coat and mane to less pleasant colors than lavender and pink, but remembered that summer school would start soon and she still had to be able to look like Cheerilee the schoolteacher.
The meeting with Luna had taken place well after sunset. It was into the wee hours of the morning when Cheerilee set out. Darting from building to building, usually over the rooftops, she made her way in the direction of her target. She had a rough plan of how the encounter would go, but most of it would be improvised when she arrived.
Her strategic plan was to start small and work up to bigger, more impressive attacks. A perception of increasing hostility might give the terrorists something to think about and fear further escalation.
The house was situated just as she had seen in the photos. There were occupied residences on either side. Cheerilee vowed to keep things as quiet as possible.
With a quick trip around the yard, she determined there were two creatures still awake near a dim light in the kitchen. Several others were sleeping peacefully. Well, time to end that.
Slipping on a pair of sunglasses, Cheerilee strode up to the front door and knocked. There were a few seconds of surprised silence before heavy hooves sounded from the kitchen. Probably a buffalo, Cheerilee thought.
The bull stopped in front of the door. “Who is it?”
“Just who do you think would walk up to a house full of HOOF members and knock on the door?” answered Cheerilee.
“What’s the password?”
“I don’t have one.”
The voice paused for a moment. “If you were supposed to be here, you would know it.”
“I’m not supposed to be here. Were you expecting somepony? No you weren’t, because this is an unscheduled visit. Open the door.”
Cheerilee was unsure if she had convinced the buffalo or merely antagonized him enough to give her a piece of his mind. He unlocked the door to face her, but before he could swing it open, Cheerilee stabbed the sword through the mail slot. She worked it in a quick circle and withdrew, finding fresh blood on the blade.
She pushed the door open, spotting the surprised buffalo on the floor with his abdomen sliced open and intestines poking out. He opened his mouth but Cheerilee dropped the point of the sword through his eye socket and straight through to the brain. He stopped moving.
The mare stepped forward. An earth pony exited the kitchen, coming to check the relatively quiet commotion that had just occurred. Cheerilee swung the sword in a quick slash, lopping the stallion’s head off in one go. The loudest part of the whole episode was when his severed skull hit the floor.
Cheerilee just barely suppressed a whistle of astonishment. The blade was really sharp.
Finding the stairs, she climbed them. Treading carefully, Cheerilee made a sweep through the upper floors as the occupants continued to doze. There were three zebras, one buffalo, and two ponies. After taking an inventory of them all, she began cutting throats.
It was almost too easy. Flip the target over and press them to their pillow to suppress noise and blood splatter, then one careful slice. Cheerilee killed them all save for one, a zebra stallion who looked just barely out of his teens. She hadn’t picked him to save because he was young, the order had just worked out that way. That gave Cheerilee a moment of pause, but she forced herself to disregard it.
Stuffing a hoof in the zebra’s mouth, Cheerilee gave him a rude awakening. She leaned towards the bed, menacing his neck with the crimson blade. “Listen to me very carefully. All your friends are dead. I murdered them in their sleep.”
She ground her hoof against his teeth. The stallion’s eyes began to water in pain. Getting close to his ear, Cheerilee whispered, “I want to show you what I did.”
The zebra squirmed as she used his coat to wipe the blood off the sword. After sheathing it, Cheerilee dragged him down the hall as if he were a ragdoll, his struggling ineffective against her strength. They toured the other bedrooms, Cheerilee forcing the stallion to look upon her work.
The mare dragged the unwilling zebra down the stairs, his body thumping on each step. She picked up the telephone with the hoof that wasn’t between his teeth and dialed the emergency number.
“Hello, Canterlot police,” said a faint voice from the receiver.
Cheerilee stomped on one of the zebra’s legs and let go of his mouth. His shriek of agony was surely heard by the police operator. She put the phone down and broke the stallion’s other legs, with three sickening cracks.
“My work here is done,” she said in his ear, too quietly for the phone to pick up.
“Wh-what do you want?” stuttered the suffering zebra.
“I want HOOF to disband, that’s all,” said Cheerilee. “No more attacking innocent ponies.”
She turned to go. The stallion managed to croak, “Who are you?”
Cheerilee thought for a moment. “Call me Smiley.”
I had just woken in the early morning from my rest when I received a call on my enchanted mirror. I hastened over to its resting spot on one of my side tables and picked it up. The familiar face of Princess Luna appeared in the glass.
“Princess?” I said, more a question than a statement.
“Golden, Cheerilee is en route to her first target as we speak. In the meantime, I want you to find and locate the next one.” I could tell that Luna’s voice was a little terse. Hopefully nothing bad was going on with my teacher.
“What do I have to go on?”
“All we know is that several suspicious crates have been spotted entering and exiting the Blueblood district in downtown Canterlot, and most of them seem to have been ferried there by the same pony. He’s a light green unicorn with a brownish mane, of average build, estimated at somewhere between the ages of twenty two and thirty. Can you do it?”
I nodded. “Of course, Princess. How much time do I have?” It never hurt to check; nothing worse than being halfway into a mission and realizing you were supposed to be done thirty minutes ago.
“It needs to be done by the weekend; we want the news of it to be able to spread a bit before the next attack. However, we want to make sure our campaign is consistent enough in its attacks to warrant fear, so the sooner you locate it, the better.”
I spared a glance at the calendar hanging on my fridge; today was Friday. I had about two days to find a hidden HOOF base. Fun.
“It will be done by then, I assure you, Princess.”
“Excellent. Oh, one last thing, Golden- I know it goes without saying, but for these missions it is critical that the Crown have plausible deniability, seeing as HOOF’s main goal is to oust my sister and I. If ponies who want me out of office start dying, of course there will be suspicion directed my way. If you happen to be exposed, I cannot guarantee you will be getting inside help. Keep that in mind.”
“Alright,” I said. The Princess’ visage vanished from the mirror, and I set it back in its resting place.
I suppose I should’ve seen this coming, although I can’t exactly fault Luna for looking out for her own interests. She has to make sure that the Crown survives and is in excellent public opinion, as well as protect and guide her subjects. Having a secret vampire agent exposed could seriously damage her reputation, especially if that vampire was committing horrible murders and torturing ponies.
I began running through several options on how I might go about this business. Disguises always helped in recon ops; the question was what style I wanted. I could just lie low and blend in, using my vampire senses to listen in on conversations. Alternatively, I could be a little more proactive and try to attract attention in the hopes of luring out my quarry like a moth to a flame.
Considering the fact that the Blueblood district was known for being a pretty hard slum area, I’d almost definitely stick out no matter how well I disguised myself, being a stranger and all. I might as well just go as over-the-top as I could and bait out HOOF, or at least ponies that knew about them.
An out-of-towner would probably be the best cover, since they’d be the easiest prey for ponies looking to steal a few bits. Once I turned the tables on the muggers, I could hopefully get some information. HOOF had to get supplies from somepony, so if I could find that green stallion with the crates I’d hopefully find a trail leading to them.
I trotted over to my closet and opened the false back, behind which lay most of my more interesting gear- disguise kits, lockpicks, a glass cutter, and all manner of exotic semi-legal equipment. I selected some of the more eye-catching dye colors for my coat and mane, as well as a bit of clothing to wear. I even went so far as to select a fresh-cut flower to put in my mane when I went out.
Back in my living room I pulled out one of the tarps I kept so that when I dyed myself I wouldn’t have to worry about the carpet getting stained. Tarps are so useful for so many things. I always make sure I have a few around.
Once I’d finished setting up, I stopped breathing and ceased my heartbeat. It kept my hooves steadier for the course of the procedure. A dye job was not something I wanted to mess up. I settled on a nice lime green color for my coat, since that would definitely be a huge eye-grabber. For my mane, I eventually decided that I didn’t really need to change its hue after all, since gold was already a complementary color.
After a few short minutes of applying the dye to my coat, I picked out a pair of colored contacts to hide my true irises. They were a pleasing shade of magenta for contrast. A nice blue blouse covered my shoulders and an accompanying skirt completed the guise. I fluttered over to my mirror and almost didn’t recognize myself when I saw the unfamiliar beauty looking back at me. I flashed a toothy grin and laughed. Those terrorists wouldn’t know what hit them.
I cleaned up all the supplies from my disguise, making sure the secret part of my closet was secure. As I was heading out the door I instinctively reached for my scarf, which only left me a little miffed when I remembered that I hadn’t gotten it back yet. I left my apartment in a slightly less cheery mood. The trip to the Blueblood district took a decent chunk of time. It was all the way on the other side of Canterlot from where I lived, and the city itself was enormous. It didn’t help, of course, that the early morning sky was congested with pegasi and rush-hour traffic.
I arrived in the Blueblood district about half an hour later. By now, most shops had opened or were in the process of opening. Considering the area of town I was in, such a sight didn’t necessarily mean things were business as usual. As I touched down on a fairly empty street, the lack of hoof traffic was jarring compared to the bustle of the airways above. Looking around, I didn’t need to think twice as to why the streets were empty; a few unsavory types swaggered down the avenue on either side, eyeing up the others and her like potential meals.
I suppose that when you consider that they were likely thinking about robbing me, I probably was a particularly succulent morsel in their eyes. All the better for me, though. I certainly did attract an inordinate amount of attention; I could tell that every single pony in the street had looked me up and down at least once, most of them multiple times. I could practically see their mouths watering, but I wasn’t bothered too much. My bite was a lot fiercer than my bark.
One of them glanced at the others as if claiming me for his own and began to move in. I made sure to keep my gaze on the dilapidated shops around me, like the good little out-of-towner I was supposed to be. As he closed the last bit of distance, I finally allowed my gaze to settle on him, and I flashed him a nice smile, as though I had no idea what was about to go down.
“Morning, Princess,” the stallion said. His voice was a little rough, but otherwise unremarkable, with a hint of smugness beneath. I pretended to giggle a bit at his obvious flattery. “What brings you to town this fine day?” All the while, he was very casually and inconspicuously using his physical presence to slowly direct me towards a conveniently placed dark alley not far ahead.
“Oh, I’m just in town visiting some of my relatives. I was supposed to meet them somewhere around here, but I can’t seem to find my way. Could you perhaps point me in the right direction?”
I saw his neutral expression flicker to one reminiscent a spider that has caught a fly in its web. I could tell he was pleased as if I was playing right into his plan.
“You got it, Princess. Just follow me and I’ll get you a nice set of directions. Where did you say your relatives lived?” He made his presence a bit more forceful in steering me towards the alley. I kept my expression grateful and naive.
“I’m pretty sure they said it was West Canterlot,” I replied. I wanted to entice him into lowering his guard, so I let him think that my ‘relatives’ lived in the wealthy suburbs on the west side of town.
Just as I’d hoped, he bought it. We were only a few steps from the alley, and he’d almost pressed me completely against the wall as we trotted. As we stepped in front of it he very sharply veered us into its narrow confines.
“Alright, Princess, I’m afraid I can only take you this far.” From his tone of voice I could tell he was just enjoying himself now.
“Whatever do you mean?” I said. I figured it was better to keep up the charade as long as I could, just in case he had any buddies lying around who might get the word out.
The stallion just laughed.
“I’m honestly surprised you haven’t caught on already. This is probably the easiest job I’ve ever pulled.”
“Job? You mean-” I took a few steps back as though I were finally catching on, and I let my eyes widen in ‘fright’.
“You really are dense,” he said. “But don’t worry about it, Princess. As far as ponies around these parts go, I’m the one you’d want to get mugged by. All the others tend to go a little overboard, if you catch my drift.” He added a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows to make sure I understood what he was saying.
I turned around and made as though to run for it, only to bump into the unicorn stallion who had been creeping up behind me. Now all I had to do was get that pegasus who thought he was hiding so well on the roof to come down, and the gang would be all here.
“Oh yeah? Well, you’re the dense one!” I said as I lifted off the ground. “You can’t catch a pegasus in the air!”
On cue, the last of the three muggers leapt from his hiding place and dived onto me before I could get very far. I gave him what seemed like a good fight before allowing myself to be dragged back down to the ground. The other two approached with a greedy eagerness in their eyes.
“Would you look at that? We seem to have caught a pegasus in the air. Better make sure she can’t fly away again.” The second mugger, a unicorn, began yanking my feathers out. I gasped in pain, not having to fake it.
It was time to end this.
I grabbed the pegasus pinning me to the ground and rolled over, slamming him hard on the ground and reversing our positions. Continuing my momentum, I swung my hind legs into a powerful buck that sent the unicorn sprawling. I used the kick to push myself towards the first mugger who barely had time to register shock in his face before I wrapped him in a headlock, immobilizing him.
I tried to keep my voice level as I spoke, considering these mules had just yanked a few feathers.
“This conversation has become a little messy, don’t you think? Why don’t you answer a few of my questions to make up for it?” I let up on his throat so he could speak.
“What was that?” sputtered the mugger, still reeling from my sudden turnabout.
“You don’t need to know. I’m looking for a suspicious pony- a green unicorn with a brown mane who’s in his twenties. What do you know?”
“I’ve seen plenty of stallions that match that description-” I cut him off with a sharp constriction of my grip on his neck.
“That’s not what I want to hear. I want to hear you tell me about a stallion who’s been moving around illegal supplies in the area.”
“Alright, alright,” the pony choked. “He comes through here twice a week, always with his little pull-cart. When he first came into town, some ponies tried mugging him and got their plots handed to them. Nopony’s bothered him since. He always passes through the Sixth Street market when he comes by.”
“When does he bring the crates?”
“Tuesdays and Fridays, around lunchtime.”
“Thank you. That’s all I need to know.” I released him, and he stumbled a few steps away. He shot me a curious and surprised look. “I’ve got bigger things to take care of,” I said. He apparently wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and since I wasn’t arresting him or beating him up he scrambled towards his buddies and led them away.
I flew up out of the alley, slightly off balance because of the missing feathers. Stopping on a rooftop, I took a moment to regrow them. Forced molting sucks, but this cute outfit wouldn’t look good with scruffy wings.
I started searching around for Sixth Street. If my mystery stallion was going to show up around lunchtime, I would be ready for him.