//------------------------------// // --3--:Submission // Story: The Black Cello Mafia // by WolfOblivion //------------------------------// --3 Buildings began to fall, ash and smoke trailing their descent. Large, magical beams shot in an instance tore through them like paper, killing any pony inside as they collapsed. The Unicorn in the sky turned with a deadly precision, taking down any edifice he pleased; ravaging the city before him. "I have to go up there and stop him." Octavia broke her stare from the powerful being to look quizzically at Twilight. "What do you mean? How the hell do you plan on stopping him?" Twilight stood determined, fear had no stance in her look. "I...don't know. I'll try to bind him, it's the only thing I can think of." "That's crazy! Look at what he's doing! He's shooting down buildings Twilight, you'll be annihilated!" Shaking her head, Twilight turned to Octavia. "Go back to the park, help our friends. I think I'm the only one who can stop him now." Octavia started backwards, raising a hoof in the air. Before she could protest, a large cylindrical, purple light began to form around her. Throwing a hoof out at her rival, Octavia dissipated from the roof top. Twilight sighed. Standing cock-sure, she began to levitate herself into the air, slowly hovering toward the Unicorn in the sky. --- Bullets rapidly ricocheted off of the cement fountain, pushing down Octavia even further. Pulling down the hammer on Buck, she swung around lighting fast to the other half of the fountain, letting loose two bullets into the underbelly of one of the three last Unicorns. Popping off her hooves and rolling on the ground, she narrowly escaped a barrage of automatic bullets,and released one of her own, straight into the eye of her assailant. The last unicorn was showered with blood and brain matter, blinding him for a moment while Pinkie ran up to him and forced her shotgun into his mouth, exploding any facial recognition possible for the Unicorn. Pausing for a moment, Octavia took a headcount. Just me, Pinkie and an unconscious Vinyl.... "Pinkie," Octavia called out to the now smiling pony, wiping blood off the barrel of her gun. "Where did the rest go?" "Applejack was captured as soon as the Unicorns attacked, one of them took her into his magic and must've teleported. Rarity was fighting off one of her own attackers the last I saw of her, Fluttershy....just disappeared. And Rainbow Dash flew away while the fighting broke out." Octavia glanced around, taking note of her surroundings. All ponies visible were running rampant, some screaming, some watching the sky in terror, the rest laying dead in the street. Octavia looked up into the sky, catching Twilight and the Unicorn amidst their battle. They were locked in a power struggle, great beams of magic pouring out of their horns at each other. It was obvious Twilight was loosing. She struggled to keep herself levitating, casting her own beam, and trying to not be over-powered by the Unicorns magic. Unlike Twilight however, the Unicorn was simply hovering in the air. No visible field of magic around him to levitate himself. --- "...and from there, Twilight lost. She fell, landing on a far away rooftop, probably bloody and beaten." The stallion nodded, Vinyl watching Octavia with curiosity as she told her story. "Right. Well, after that had happened, Celestia arrived. She was able to break through the barrier and attempt to stop the Unicorn. But he proved too powerful, while she was able to knock him unconscious, she was ripped from the sky and out of the field." "How did you get out, Octavia?" Octavia looked over to the questioning mare, eyes ripe with curiosity. "Well...I was in the city for the rest of the night, and chaos was still raining down on all the ponies. We stayed close to the park, waiting for you to wake up. The Unicorn left the sky for the rest of the rampage, but he still had a presence else where. Police came down on us, tearing us away from our hiding. They took us to their precinct, questioning the only ponies that stood in the park near the initial blast to question us if we knew anything. We didn't, but as the building shook and threatened to collapse, the took us into the basement. There was a tunnel in there, conveniently enough. We were able to escape the city from the underground and out of the barrier.We were being taken away when were shot by those beams. I was able to escape but..." "You left us behind.." Vinyl said. She looked betrayed, scorned by her mate's lack of loyalty. Octavia felt heartbroken, as she had for four months. She left her friends for dead while she made her escape, never even looking back to see what happened. Silence prevailed the room between the three ponies until the stallion broke it. "Well...we should begin." "You two are going back into the city. There were three of those tunnels you had mentioned. The one under the police precinct collapsed after you made it out, the second was captured by the unicorns and they've held it well. The last, leading from the desert, is the last one. And so far, they don't know about it. Canterlot's forces have been using it for some time to infiltrate the city, but haven't been able to properly launch an attack. We have no idea were the Unicorn is, but we have a group of ponies aided by us to try and keep a foothold in the city." "The two families left in the city, the Unicorns and the Pegasi, have broken from organized crime to full on factions, each holding a section of the city. Our group is located in the old Earth families headquarters, operating as a base of operations." "Your mission is to find the Unicorn, figure out what power he had acquired, and come back to this bunker to report to me." Octavia stood from her chair, her face screwed in confusion. "Find the Unicorn? How are we supposed to do that? And why us?" "Earn the respect of the Unicorns. It's not just one race of ponies in the sections, all ponies are able to be a part of the faction they choose. The Unicorns reign supreme, while the Pegasi act as some resistance of sorts. They battle over the city, trying to gain power over each other. Our insurgence group keeps a low profile, staying to their small portion of the city. Two of your friends are there?" "Who?" Octavia ask in a flurry of curiosity, stepping closer to the stallion. "Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy." The stallion drew slowly. "They're the leaders. We established contact in the first month of the barrier's life, but they haven't made much progress. They only struggle to survive, and there's not much we can do to help them. The Royal Guard hold little interest in our operation, while the government only focuses on the politics of the situation. Putting the act to a face to blame." Octavia sat down, deep in thought. Before she could put any reason to her mind, the stallion continued. "Well, now that you're caught up, follow me." The three ponies walked past the sole door in the bunker, coming into the large tunnel. This one, compared to the one under the precinct, was far more developed. There were faint storm lights lined by five, spotting the tunnel down as far as Octavia could see, illuminating the tunnel only enough to see your hooves and the long, expansive railroad track down the cement barrel. It was a simple automated railroad, with a small cart only big enough to hold three ponies. The stallion turned to face the mares. "Octavia, Your new name is simply Bassnote. Vinyl, our new name Grain Pitch.Try not explaining your name's and mark's, keep it as simple as possible. You'll be arriving into our insurgencies small section of the city, establish contact with them and begin your infiltration into the Unicorns. Best of luck." The stallion finished and walked to a control panel in the corner of the platform. Octavia shared a glance with Vinyl before they stepped onto the cart, closing the left wall of it behind them. The stallion forced a large lever down, starting a loud hum in the tracks beneath them; and the cart began with a start. Soon, the two mares were chugging steadily along on the lone railroad down the dark and dingy tunnel. Sitting on opposite ends of the cart, both mares stared into the dark space before them, silence prevailing the two. Octavia craned her neck around to look at vinyl, Vinyl met her gaze and turned her head back. Sighing, Octavia looked around the tunnel in deep thought, Standing up and walking over to the other side of the cart, she approached Vinyl. "Hey," Octavia said, nearly a yell above the noisy railroad. "I never asked; What happened to your glasses?" Vinyl looked to the mare behind her, staring with a bored expression. "When I was captured by the Royal Guards after the cop car was totaled, they confiscated them. They were pretty much the only possession I have." "They can't just keep your belongings. I've been thinking," Octavia paused, walking over to the corner next to the Unicorn pony, Vinyl moving over a bit to make room. Sitting down, she continued. "I think if we succeed? Find out who this Unicorn is and bring him down, they'll pardon us. They have all of our friends, maybe this is just a test for us to fix the damage we've done over this last year." Vinyl stared at the grey mare, raising an eyebrow in comprehension. "Well...the damage you've done this year. You started in the fall, yeah?" Octavia nodded. "Back in the fall. I remember playing sweet and sad lullaby's in the dark but charming pubs. The chilled fall air, the falling leaves and crisp drinks." Vinyl looked down at her hooves. "Seems like you had a good life before all this shit started. The prohibition, then the explosive crime. It got to a point where a simple law spiraled everything out of control." "Yeah. But to be honest...I don't regret becoming a member of the mafia." Snapping her head up, the white Unicorn bored into the Earth pony. "But...you're so close to death all the time. And we're on the brink of being locked up. You don't miss that perfect life at all?" Octavia closed her eyes before shaking her head. "Of course I miss it. I loved it everyday, on my own, doing what I wanted and doing what I loved. But..." She paused for a moment, opening her eyelids half way. "Living crimefull really set me up to be more than I was, a more motivated and determined pony. And to be honest-I feel happier this way. It got bad once I encountered Nero though...I was so cock-sure and arrogant before him, but one meeting and he shut me down harder than any amount of blood showers or bullet wounds. And I was stunned, but It was wrong doing the things I was made to do by Filthy. Sure, I got to feel the same, but It was some thuggish ignorance, "When I was able to find a better foot hold-a virtue almost-I became more viligant. Like I was to stop evil happening, all those secret missions to gather intelligence on the unicorns, the hiding from the government. It was like a feeling of justice." Vinyl shook her head. "So you feel like a hero? Saving the day, right? That's what it sounds like." "Well...I fucked it up, and we disbanded because of the Manehattan incident. We all got separated and persecuted in the aftermath. I was the only one to escape it, so I wandered the badlands. Zebra territory, encountering Griffons. It was almost a survival, being an outlaw." "So now you're a cowboy." Vinyl said, chuckling a little under her breath. Octavia giggled a bit herself, looking out into the deep abyss. "But this time," Octavia began, looking at Vinyl. The Unicorn returns her gaze, looking at the cellist with sudden curiosity and attention. "I'm going to take the Unicorns down. Like we originally planned. I will not fuck it up this time." Vinyl straightened, taken aback. She shifted her hooves, mulling over the mares deceleration. Sighing, she looked down at the passing rail, everything around them turning into a blur. "I don't know why you became the leader but for some reason...I just trusted you. I think we all did. You probably took charge during the Pegasi Attack on the Earth mafia's headquarters, knocking out Twilight and just escorting us from the danger. We just started following you. Seemed like you knew just what to do." Octavia looked back at Vinyl, drooping her ears a bit through her praise. "I'm willing to trust you again. To follow you." Vinyl knocked on the steel cart's platform below her. "I just hope for our sake you know what you're doing." Octavia nodded, smiling at the Unicorn. "Thank you." Vinyl sat back, relaxing as if a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders, resting her face back into a bored expression. Octavia smirked, scooting over a little closer to the Unicorn. Vinyl jumped for a moment in surprise, looking at the grey mare before relaxing again, letting Octavia brush up against her flank. Octavia continued to smile, chucking a bit. Vinyl shook her head a bit in compliance. Laying her head on the Unicorns shoulder, Octavia and Vinyl stared out into charging darkness, awaiting their arrival. Both prepared for the wasteland of Manehattan.