A dark figure flew high above the trees of the Fillydelphian forest. To those on the ground below, assuming that any would be making a venture through the forest so early in the morning, the figure knew he would appear to be a black bird. However, one up close could easily see that he was by no means a bird. He was built like an equine but had no fur. His eyes were glazed over with a blue, reflective covering that displayed no iris or pupil. His forehead boasted a black, twisted horn and the holed wings bearing him in the air were transparent with a green tint. If those below could see him, they would usually shrink in fear, for he was a changeling.
However, there was something about him now that didn’t completely equate him with the ones that had attacked Canterlot, nor was he completely black all over. He was wearing clothes, and in fact, these clothes would cause most ponies to fall over and bawl in laughter. He was most certainly a male, but his attire screamed the opposite. He was dressed as a Canterlot maid and had on the laciest, frilliest black and white uniform imaginable.
The uniform’s base was a black dress that extended only to the middle of his upper forelegs. The arms had lacy, white cuffs. The dress ended in a short, pleated skirt that covered less than half of the upper part of his forelegs. Just above the end of the skirt there was a white line going around, and just below, one could see the edge of a transparent, white slip. Over the black dress there was a frilly white apron tied in the back by a large bow. It covered his front and draped down to a few inches below his skirt. Above the ruffles at its bottom there was a matching black line going around.
He wore white, satin socks on all four legs that ended in lace cuffs just below his haunches and had black ribbons tied in bows just above them. Around his neck, there was a black choker, though that was obscured by a blue ribbon. The only thing that was missing in this ridiculous outfit was a headdress, which he had tucked away in his pocket for lack of a mane. Other than that though, he appeared anything but intimidating.
His face was scrunched up in concern, and every so often, he would slip down a corner of his left sock and peer into it to gaze over the screen of a slim PDA hidden underneath the fabric. As the seconds went by, the only thing he could hear was the sound of the wind rushing past, perhaps occasionally punctuated by his fluttering wings. Otherwise, he kept his gaze below, scanning for anypony who might actually suspect his presence. The tension was almost maddening.
Then he heard a brush of static in his right ear and a voice come through his practically invisible earpiece. “Shadow, are you there?”
Finally! He thought angrily. Speaking into the hidden receiver with a surprisingly Equestrian accent, he said, “Witch, it’s half past four. That’s two hours later now than when you said you’d contact me. What happened?”
The response came through the earpiece with only minor distortion. Witch’s voice was confident. “It took us longer than we thought it would to secure the intel that you requested.”
Shadow deadpanned. Goddess, it wouldn’t have taken a good AI two weeks to get that, and it’s been two months for this rookie. All he had to do was interpret what was being spoon-fed to him. “Alright,” he conceded. “Well, you cut it very close but at least you weren’t too late. I’m approaching the AO now. You’re going to be my intelligence agent then?”
“That’ll be me. Punisher is occupied at the time.”
The changeling thought again, annoyed. I guess asking why won’t really help the matter. “Fine. Let’s just get this over with. How far is the extraction team behind me?”
“They’re en route to the AO. ETA: twenty minutes.”
“Good,” the changeling said. “Tell them to wait outside the area until they get the signal to move.” He used his right hoof to push up his left sock again, and tightened the black ribbon so that it didn’t cover up the PDA. “All right, go ahead and bring up the target building on display.”
A colored, skeletal image of the chateau appeared on his leg-mounted display. Three floors stood above ground; the remaining were below. “Good,” Shadow said. “Now switch to an aerial view at forty-five degrees and show me the defenses as of 6 pm today.” The orientation of the virtual building shifted, and then several blips appeared over around it. He tapped these one by one. Successively, the OLED screen zoomed in on particular areas and displayed text, which he read over.
Steel gate with magical signature detector, height at 100 meters meeting at dome top … Heat sensing, three-dimensional laser grid operating when authorized entity not entering premises, 9,000 volt floor rejection measure along grounds exterior to edifice … 34 security cameras surveying area interior to fence … level 1 barrier affixed to all entrances tempered with level 5 detection and rejection enchantments, dual-layer trap.
“Good, so nothing’s changed,” he said.
“The damn place looks impenetrable,” Witch replied. “If Canterlot was halfway as secure, we’d have had your lot found before that whole fiasco even happened. There’s not a snowball’s chance in Tartarus that you’re going to get through all that without trouble.”
The changeling snorted in amusement. “I’ve heard that one before. Display the interior defenses.” His screen moved inside the building and corresponding blips appeared.
Magical energy pervading area interior, full spectrum … camouflaged security camera at entrances and exits … ponies at arms on premises interior: 101, summary rating: 5, summary experience: 1st division, 10+ years in REA/ paramilitary groups … Sensory agent: name- Claire Sight; age- 40; race- unicorn; experience- 8 years at Royal Academy for Gifted Unicorns, GPA 4.5; 8 years at Equestrian Academy of Magical Defense, GPA 4.0; 10 years in REG, successful missions: 50?, average mission classification: B-rank …
Commander of guard: NOT ON PREMESES, SECOND IN COMMAND PRESENT: name-Strong Heart; age- 37; race- pegasus; experience- 1.5 years at Wonderbolts Academy for Gifted Fliers, recommended for action by three members of Wonderbolts; 4 years at Academy of Aerial Defense, GPA- 3.9; 10 years in Royal Equestrian Air Force, rank- 2nd Lieutenant, engagements: 25, average mission classification: C-rank
“And we’re good there,” Shadow affirmed. “Nice work, Witch,” he said satisfied. “If this is solid, things might go as planned.” Just as he said this, his display zoomed out and shifted to a complete bird’s eye view. A flashing white circle appeared around the target area leaving a radius from the gates according to the scale legend. A solid blue dot was steadily approaching the perimeter of the circle, and text appeared in the gap between the dot and circle.
Approaching Killzone, anti-winking barrier 20 meters; radial distance from perimeter to target building: 200 meters.
“They set up a killzone?” he asked Witch. “For the queens’ sake, you told me they had money, not the kingdom’s treasury.”
Witch’s voice answered, “The Machivelli Clan is one of the most powerful and wealthy noble groups related to the crown. They alone provide seven percent of Equestria’s tax revenue.”
The changeling scoffed. “Well, I guess they’ll just be all the more humiliated when I bypass all their expensive hardware. Anyway, bring up the live feed on your monitor.” The unicorn’s face appeared on the PDA. “How do I look?” he asked with smirk.
The unicorn’s face was stricken with confusion and disbelief. “What in Luna’s bloody name are you wearing?”
“Camouflage. Didn’t you get a look at the staff on the inside during your research?”
“You look like a whore. How do you plan to get in like that?”
Still smirking, he replied “Well, lucky for us, your intel shows that the safe house is known for lewd-dressing servants. I'll change form when I touch down, and they’ll just assume I’m one of them. All I have to do is knock on the front door.”
“Couldn’t you just make yourself look like a guard then?”
“You underestimate the stupidity of ponies with a sex drive, Witch. If I show up as a solider, they start asking why I was outside. I show up as a Canterlot maid, and they invite me in whether I work there or not.”
Witch scoffed, “What happens then when one of these guards wants to collect on that?”
The changeling simply answered, “I’ll be done before they have the time.”
“Still a crazy thing to do: a grown male in a mare’s dress.”
“It’s called practicality. Care more about success than your image and you’ll succeed in everything you do.” The PDA screen changed back to the map of the area of operations. He loosened the ribbon around his leg and re-covered the device. Next he drew the headdress out of his pocket and ran it through his new long, chestnut hair, flipping the ribbons to make a knot. Just as he finished, he felt a tingle rush over his fur. “Witch,” he said, “I just passed into the Killzone. Are the connections still good inside this anti-winking field?”
“I still read you loud and clear.”
“Good, check their comms for any serious chatter. There’s a slight chance they may have detected my signature passing through.”
After a short pause, he said “The central command center doesn’t seem to have noticed your presence.”
The changeling in disguise smiled. “At least we know this hasn’t ended before it began.” Over the forest of trees the changeling saw the safehouse looming. Knowing he had a limited amount of time before he had to start playing the part, he said, “All right. I’m about to enter the AO. When I touch down I’ll assume the identity of Love Struck. She’s out of town on some errands, but you sent a forged letter ahead claiming the opposite, right?
“Yeah, I sent it,” the unicorn responded.
“Good. When I take on her form, you’ll get no more contact from me until I’m deep inside. Just monitor the guards and give me the heads up if anything unexpected happens.”
“Yeah, we’ve been over this.”
When he neared the safehouse, the pegasus came just above the clearing of trees that was the chateau’s grounds. Suddenly he folded his wings over himself and pulled into a sharp dive, dropping at breakneck speed. His face was hard with concentration as he plummeted towards the moonlight ground with the howling wind rushing past. Then just as it might have appeared that he waited too long and was falling to his death, he spread his wings and sped forward like lightning parallel to the ground. He touched down, slowing his canter to a trot and then stopping altogether.
There was another green flash that enveloped his body, and a unicorn took the place of the changeling that was once there. He didn’t move, but waited in silence for twenty seconds. No alerts, Shadow thought. Cover’s still solid, I guess. He looked up and saw the steel bars of the fence. Quickly locating the gate, he strode over to it casually. He located the intercom, touched the button and waited.
A voice quickly came through the speaker. “Love, you’re back early.”
“Yes, Lucian’s business went much more smoothly than I thought,” he answered happily in a voice that wasn't his.
“Alright, I’ll get the door then.” The gates opened, and he waited. When he was sure that the defense systems had switched off, he stepped through. Slowly, as though coming from a more tiring journey than he had just had, he made his way across the pavement to the mansion ahead, careful not to admire the architecture as if he had never seen the place. Stepping onto the spacious porch, he waited patiently at the entrance, staring at the double doors, uninterested.
The left door opened after a short moment. A brown earth pony stallion, dressed in black combat gear, greeted him. “Good to see you again, Love. We missed you.”
“I was gone for less than a week,” he said. And no, that’s okay, he said silently to the pony. Don’t ask how I got here safely at this hour, apparently alone, looking like a prostitute. You don’t actually have to do your job or anything.
“A day’s bad enough by itself,” the stallion replied. He stepped aside to let the apparent unicorn in. The changeling did so, immediately turning left. As the unicorn did so, he felt a hoof lightly smack his rear. He turned around and grinned slyly at the earth pony, playing the part of his cover calmly. “I’ll see you soon. Don’t go too far,” the stallion said.
He didn’t reply but maintained his grin until he turned around. Siri must feel right at home here. Infiltration must have been a breeze, he thought. Good thing, otherwise Witch might have never got all that intel. I’ll have to buy her a drink when we get back to the kingdom. He rolled his eyes and came to a door that blended in with the wall. His horn lit up, and he walked into the servants’ entrance.
Directions and blueprints could and did tell him which way he was supposed to go. That was good planning; however, he was surprised for the first time at this hallway that led through the servants’ quarters. It was brightly lit, very spacious and decorated with an elaborate painting of the classical heroic age. Well, I guess they better get a nice walkway for what they have to put up with here.
The changeling counted the doors as he passed them in case the rooms weren’t labeled properly. Yet, sure enough, he found a door conveniently marked “Kitchen,” and stepped inside to a warm and humid room. A number of unicorns both male, dressed in white aprons were at work, standing at stoves and countertops, preparing the morning’s meals. They greeted her casually as she casually walked in.
He spotted his first target, the head chef, another tan earth pony, who was watching his subordinates diligently work. The changeling greeted him personally. “Good morning, Noodles.”
“Morning, Love Struck,” he replied. “Canterlot nice this time of year?”
“It’s as nice as Lucian allows it to be,” he replied. “Have you seen Crush? I have to meet with her before I get some sleep.”
The stallion suddenly yelled to an earth pony preparing a large bowl of eggs. “Is that enough milk, son?”
The surprised pony looked up, and said, “I just thought they might like ’em a little fluffy today.”
“You thought?” The stallion asked. “Well, how’s that working out for you?”
“Poorly, sir. I’ll just cook them for a little longer.”
Noodles scoffed and looked back to him. “Hard to get good help nowadays, Love.”
You don’t say.
“Anyway,” the pony said sighing, “Crush is in the West Wing. She knows you’re coming.”
“Thank you, Noodles,” the apparent unicorn said with a smile. He turned around and made his way back into the well-lit hallway with his eyes glazed over. He quickly recalled what the map looked like and located the west wing. Blinking, he opened a door on his right and found himself in one of the main corridors. Knowing that each door lining this walkway would lead to a different part of the mansion, he opened the fifth white door on his right.
A closed-in staircase ending with another door and another hallway greeted him. It was another identical path like the last one. This place is a maze, he thought. I guess even the architects had security in mind. Still, it’s not going to stop a good operative. Seems like just a waste of everypony’s time.
Despite the drawn-out winding and turning through the very elaborate but tiresome system if hallways and more hallways, he found a blue unicorn dressed in an outfit much like his. “Crush,” he called in Love Struck’s feminine voice. “How are things?”
The unicorn saw him from the other end of the hallway as her friend and co-worker and approached. “Quite well, Love.” She said when she got close enough “How was your visit to Canterlot?”
“Lucian had me working hard. I suppose there must be a correlation between the amount of expensive parties he throws and the amount of nobles whose minds he controls.”
Crush smirked. “How long do you think until his subjects finally give him the boot? There’s no way he can justify those expenses.”
“He will find some way around it. He can probably pay a good accountant to launder them.”
The blue pony shrugged. “Anyway, Vinyl and Octavia went to bed just after midnight, and my shift is running smoothly. Are you going to get some sleep?”
He slowly feigned a yawn. “Yes, I’m going to do just that. Could you tell me where they are staying so I can clean up after them later?”
“Vinyl is in 242 and Octavia is in 253.”
“Not sleeping together again?” he asked with a chuckle.
“They will be soon enough.”
“Maybe so,” he answered. Then after a short pause he said, “Well, I will see you later.”
“See you then,” Crush answered.
He turned around, heading in the direction of the stairwell he had ascended before. He turned around the corner and stopped. After looking down the corridor again and finding nopony in the vicinity, he lightly put his hoof on the door adjacent to him and pushed lightly. The intruder held his breath as he quietly stepped inside. The interior was dark, so he lit his horn to shine some light. The magic shined a dim light all around the empty bedroom. The bed at the center rear was clearly visible, and there was nopony in it. He exhaled in relief and rolled up his sock again. A touch of magic brought the PDA to life again.
The screen displayed the building plans and a flashing blue blip showed his position. Another touch zoomed in on the second floor where he was. Then he spoke quietly into his receiver. “Witch, display the AO’s blueprints.” The screen turned blue and displayed the numbering for the rooms on each floor. He quickly located bedrooms 242 and 253 and made a mental note on their locations. Re-covering the screen once more and tightening the ribbon, he spoke quietly into his hidden microphone, “Do you remember what I asked for when I was in?”
“Yeah.”
“Do it.”
“Standby.”
Twenty seconds passed while he waited. Then he snorted. He’s taking his sweet time. “Look, if you—”
“Cameras on that floor are frozen. You’re a ghost.”
“Good.” The changeling sighed again. “All right. This infiltration’s running more smoothly than expected, but the hard part’s coming now.”
“Yeah, and I suppose you’re just going to waltz in and do the job as a Canterlot maid?” Witch asked.
“No, you never know when you need to reuse a cover, so we’re going to keep deniability. I’ll burn these clothes with a time bomb and then take another identity.”
There was a snort of amusement. “Well, good luck with that running smoothly. What happens when they wonder how you got in?”
“Let me worry about that. For now, I’m just going to recheck to see if I’m ready to go.” Shadow’s horn lit up again and he pulled down the socks on his rear legs. There were two black straps, which held tools of some sort on their right sides. Taking note of both of these that definitely should have been there, he smiled and said “We’re good then.”
Shadow quietly turned around and reopened the door, peering out to check for bypassing servants who would expect Love Struck to be asleep now. Seeing nopony, he turned left and fixed his eyes on a door on the right side about fifty feet down. That’s the one, he thought smiling. The changeling turned completely around and counted ten doors down on the opposite half of the hallway. Spotting that one, he made his way as quickly but casually as possible. Finally he reached the door, on the other side of which, he knew Vinyl Scratch slept. First, he looked left and right and checked his rear. Then he touched the golden doorknob and pushed gently on the door, cracking it open just enough to squeeze himself inside.
He quickly and quietly shut the door behind him, letting in as little light as possible. Within seconds, his eyes fully adjusted to the dim lighting in the room, carefully avoiding the silver moonlight peeping through a window to the left side. In the bed, he spotted the faint figure of a sleeping pony. He crept closer and saw its white fur and dark mane. Probability told him it was her. Good, the intruder thought. Let’s start the party.
Quickly and silently, he stood on the left side of the bed and removed his apron and headdress, letting them fall to the floor. Then he untightened the ribbons on his socks and removed those. Out of his front right one fell a folded piece of paper. He brushed it to the side. Then, pulling his legs in, he slipped off the dress. The clothes were balled into a pile.
Now completely undressed, he pulled out a small, circular metallic disk with the numbers 00:00:00 displayed digitally like a clock, which was strapped to his left, rear leg. He touched his horn to it. The zeroes changed to 00:15:00 and started counting down with the seconds. This should wake Vinyl right up and destroy the evidence of me using Love Struck as a cover, he thought. If everything goes as planned, she’ll be back before she’s missed, and Siri will make sure it doesn’t look like she came in twice.
The changeling picked up the folded piece of paper and left it lying against the wall, a few feet from the clothes and device. And that note, he thought, will bring her right to me. He breathed inaudibly and looked to his PDA again. Now time to fake an entry point. He magically tapped an exterior button a few times to lower the brightness and then switched it on. His horn changed the screen from the blueprints to the regular view and guided the display back to the defense summary. He selected a blip and the text redisplayed.
Level 1 barrier affixed to all entrances tempered with level 5 detection and rejection enchantments, dual-layer trap.
He touched the blip just adjacent to a digital window.
Disenchantment code contained in magical signature … pending
He waited for just a moment.
Touch horn to device now to record magical signature.
He touched his horn to the PDA and felt a small spark at the tip of his horn. Then the changeling loosened the interior lock on the window and pushed it up. A warm breeze wafted through. He enjoyed it for a short second and then sighed. Here we go. His horn silently shot a green blast at the window. There was a small burst of electricity. He fired a second one followed by a small pop. He yanked his head over and checked the bed. The white pony appeared to be still fast asleep. Good, intel was solid about her being a heavy sleeper. He crept quickly to the door and started counting the seconds as he did so.
1 … 2 … 3 … 4 He placed his hoof on the knob. 5 ... 6 … 7… 8 … There was a green flash that surrounded the pink unicorn and a blue pegasus appeared in her place. Witch’s voice came over his earpiece. “Shadow, they’re on to you. There’s traffic about an unauthorized disenchantment on the second floor and they’ve got guys on the way from the floor below. They’re already halfway up the staircase now.”
Cracking the open the door, stepping out and shutting it behind him, he quickly made his way towards Octavia’s room. “I’ve got everything set up in Vinyl’s room and I’m proceeding to the target,” he said. Just then he heard the sound of a door opening and two sets of hoofsteps heading in his direction.
They rounded the corner and spotted him. The one on the left was a tan unicorn with a chestnut mane and the other was a white earth pony with a blue mane. They were both dressed in body armor. Didn’t see them on the way up. They’re pretty good. The unicorn had a conic device over his horn that Shadow knew would amplify any spells, and the earth pony, like the rest of the staff, was particularly large.
However, he had positioned himself just close enough. They were only six feet away when the earth pony lowered his horn after seeing him. “What are you doing here?” the unicorn asked loudly.
Spreading his wings, he stood up on his hind legs and walked towards them deliberately. “Guys, guys, calm down for a second,” he said colloquially.
The guard didn’t attack but said sternly “You are una—”
Too late, buddy. I already closed the gap. Now in close quarters, the changeling flapped his wings, shooting himself forward and around the unicorn’s left side. The guard had too little time to react before the intruder’s hoof met his lowered jaw hard, knocking him out.
Shadow landed and rolled immediately. It was just in time to hear the earth pony yell and feel the air from his missed buck just out of range. Even though he was turned around, the changeling as a pegasus was so quick as to fan a swift wing to flip and twist around to meet the other stallion as he was about to strike again.
With the remaining guard on his right taking the time to turn to buck him, the changeling flapped his wings again and hit him hard in the side with his front hooves. This threw this stallion off balance and he tumbled back. Shadow, on the other hoof, needed no time to recover. He lunged forward and tackled the pony against the left wall, slamming his left foreleg into his throat. The stallion choked but tried to take purchase against the ground and throw his assailant off. As soon as his rear hooves touched the floor though, the pegasus head-butted him with all force and he fell limp against the wall.
Shadow immediately jumped back and found the unicorn behind him. He reached out and felt around the guard’s ear for an earpiece. Sure enough, there was a small ear bud with a very thin wire reaching to the stallion’s mouth. He immediately took the unicorn guard’s form with another green flash and switched the device with his own. Another pony was calling sternly into it with his voice raised. “Team six, Team six, are you still there? Respond!”
The changeling grunted as though in pain and answered in the unicorn’s voice. “The intruder got away. Suspect is a blue pegasus. He went back up the west staircase to the third floor. Recommend sending another team there immediately.”
“Roger,” the voice replied. “What’s your status?”
He feigned a cough. “The guy’s a fast one. Knocked the wind out of both of us and ran out. We’ll pursue as soon as we catch it.”
“Copy. Get up there as fast as you can.”
The changeling threw the microphone back onto the downed unicorn and popped back in his own. Then he resumed the pegasus form. Speaking into his mic, he said, “I bought myself some time but I need you to tell me if any personnel look like they’re about to enter the west wing, second floor. Vinyl needs to get here before they do.”
His partner answered, “I will.”
“Also, tell the boss to answer my call and give me a few seconds.” Quickly reorienting himself, the changeling relocated the door of his target’s bedroom. He cracked it open and hurried in, shutting it quickly and quietly. Then inside, he looked up to make sure he was in the right room. “The moonlight shone through the window, revealing a gray earth pony with a black mane. It was definitely her. Next, he tapped his PDA with his hoof and it turned on. Another couple taps and there was the faint sound of a phone ringing. He reached his head down to his right, rear leg under him and bent to bite the knife strapped to it. Flipping on the lights, he sprang forward at the sleeping figure in the bed.
He landed on top of Octavia and quickly pinned her to the bed, waking her up rudely. Shadow drew the blade across her throat and said through the handle in his mouth, “Move, and I will end you.” His hooves were pressing down on the bed sheets, and she was on her back, so she was virtually immobilized.
Paralyzed also with fear and with her eyes wide open, she asked, “What do you want?”
He noticed the phone on his device had stopped ringing. “Phone’s for you,” he answered. He picked up his right forehoof and put it closer to her ear.
An accented voice came over the phone, “Octavia, always lovely to meet one of Vinyl’s friends. How are ye, lass?” The horrified mare only answered with a gasp. Ignoring that, he said asked Shadow, “How much time do we have on the clock?”
“Maybe ten minutes, but they could get here faster,” he answered.
“Well, I guess we’d better hurry ourselves up then. Let’s have a nice chat Octavia, dear.”
♫ ♫ ♫
Not much could wake Vinyl up, but even asleep, she knew that where there was smoke, there was fire. If that wasn’t enough to get her going; however, a dancing light beat against her eyelids. The white pony jumped up in bed and looked to her right. To her alarm, there was a small green fire on the floor not too far from her bed. She threw her covers off in panic and sprang out. Immediately, she magically grabbed her thick comforter and threw it on top of the flames.
After a few seconds, when the blaze did not appear to spread, Vinyl lifted the duvet and found that the fire had died out. She tossed it aside with a heavy but relived sigh and sank to her haunches. She was breathing heavily, but soon her beating heart slowed down. Her head was drooping and her eyes were tired. It’s way too early for this kind of thing, she thought. For once she had some dreamless sleep, a rare luxury, though it looked like she was now paying for that with sleeplessness.
She might have at least tried to crawl back into bed and deal with anything else the next morning, but then she examined the floor where the flames had burned. In the bright light of moon, there barely seemed to be any damage to the floor, just a few black marks. Did I put out the fire that quick? She asked herself.
The mare looked up and saw that her window was open. That’s odd, she thought again. Shouldn’t it have spread faster with all that fresh air in the room? She stared through the window at the clear sky and then returned her gaze to the pane. Come to think of it, did I even leave my window open? She stood back up and took a few steps. Then she noticed that there was a folded piece up paper leaning against the wall. I don’t remember leaving that there either. The unicorn levitated and unfolded it. There was a message in neat, slanted, black letters.
You know what they say my filly, “Keep your enemies close, but keep your enemies’ friends closer.”
Vinyl gasped and her heart leapt up her throat. Suddenly the open window made a whole lot of sense. She whirled around and rushed to her door. She threw it open with a surge of magic and galloped into the hallway, straight for Octavia’s bedroom. The bright light of the hallway nearly blinded her, but she forced her eyes to remain open. She looked down the rows of doors and her already racing heart jumped again. There were two fully armored guardponies lying on the ground unconscious. Her voice came out quick, panicked and involuntary, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” She bolted in a second burst of speed to the room where Octavia had gone to sleep, which was horrifyingly close to where the guards had fallen. She threw its door open and nearly dove inside.
As much as she tried, she could not prepare herself for the sight within. The lights were on inside, and she could clearly see her friend bound on the floor beside her bed with an assailant holding a knife to her throat. “NO!” she screamed.
Her horn lit up to attack the pegasus who was holding her friend, but an all too familiar voice stopped her. “I wouldn’t do that, Vinyl. One wrong move and that blade might slip.”
Her horn’s glow died down immediately when she realized that one wrong move on her part could kill her friend, so she examined the situation more closely. The cellist’s front legs were tied together behind her back and her rear legs were clamped together in a sitting position. She was blindfolded and there was a cloth gag stuffed in her mouth. Tears were streaming down her face, and she was sobbing. The pegasus pony standing over her body length was a dark blue stallion holding a bowie knife between his teeth. His eyes could barely focus on her but they still were. His rear hooves were anchored behind her. One forehoof held the earth pony’s body down and the other was extended with a PDA displaying the face of none other than McCullen himself.
“Let her go!” she yelled, not daring to take another step forward.
“I don’t think yer in a position to demand anything,” McCullen calmly said through the device.
The white mare yelled back, “She’s not the one you want. Your thug had to have passed right by me breaking in here! Why didn’t he just take me then?”
The screen of the device was small but it was big enough for Vinyl to see her antagonist grin. “Now now, me filly, that’s how ye would do things. I don’t work that way and ye know it.”
The unicorn could hardly control herself. She didn’t know if she was about to cry or scream or lose herself and try to kill the stallion, but she did know she was more angry and scared than she had ever been. “She doesn’t have your Luna-damned money! What good is she to you?”
The face of the earth pony laughed, “Are ye still on about that bygone debt? I thought we were pas’ that. This is about you, Vinyl.”
Vinyl was shaking like a leaf with an emotion she couldn’t place. “If you hurt her, I swear I will—” she paused, unable to finish the sentence.
“I don’t intend to hurt a hair on this filly’s tail if ye just calm down and talk to me like a good girl,” he said. Octavia sniffed particularly loudly at this.
“What do you want then?” Vinyl screamed again at the top of her lungs.
“Is it really that hard to figure out? I barely needed to spy on ye at all to figure out that this little pony is the best, if not the only real friend you’ve ever had. We both know that you aren’t a bad girl, and good girls don’t sell out their friends, right?” Vinyl didn’t answer so he continued. “So, I’m offering you a chance to trade places with her. I’ve got some boys headed right to ye, and all ye have to do is say the word. Octavia will stay right here with Midnight, and I’ll never bother her again.”
“Why the buck would I ever trust you?” The white mare shouted.
“Well, ye just said she wasn’t any good to me. Why would I keep her and you too?”
“You want to sell me into the trade! Why wouldn’t you do the same to her?”
“There’s not a demand for fillies like her right now, Vinyl. I’m telling ye she can go free.”
Vinyl paused. She wasn’t going to get anywhere like this. “How about I just wait then? The guards are going to realize your thug is here pretty soon? If I can’t do anything about this, they will.”
McCullen sighed in reply. “Shadow,” he said.
Vinyl saw the stallion’s head move upwards ever so slightly. Octavia screamed and started whimpering louder, pulling at her restraints.
“STOP IT!” Vinyl yelled again.
The earth pony answered calmly again, “Yer making this harder than it needs to be, lass. It’s just you or her. Make the choice. And don’t ye worry about those guards that’ll be comin’. Shadow here isn’t gonna take his hooves off your friend until yer with his friends.”
The blue-maned mare stood shivering in anger, fear, and confusion. Her best friend’s life was at stake and she couldn’t think of anything that could save her without giving herself up. The guards would come soon, but the odds were that none of them had any magic or abilities that could stop the intruder without hurting Octavia. There was one thing she knew for sure, though: she would do anything to help Octavia, no matter what.