Well, this certainly wasn’t how I had expected my day to go.
I was standing in a Shop ‘n’ Drop, a bloodstained shotgun in my mouth with both barrels pointed at the back of a masked robber. He didn’t know I was here, but had his own gun pointed at an innocent mare, and his buddy was lying in a puddle of his own fluids not far behind me with a pair of scissors in his neck.
In all honesty, I would have been perfectly happy to sleep through this entire day, but instead Fate had made other plans, and here I was.
I could end this right now, I had this guy dead to rights and he didn’t even know it.
I’d be lying to myself if I denied that there was a tiny sliver of morbid curiosity that had risen within me; some neglected recess of my mind that wanted me to hit both tabs of the split-button trigger in my mouth to see just how much carnage two barrels full of buckshot could cause.
Fuck, I was going to have to sit down and have a long talk with myself after this. I’m no expert on these things but I’m pretty certain that’s not a healthy thought to have.
No, I couldn’t just take this guy down, at least not from here. I could clearly see the mare’s head bobbing in and out of view on the other side of the masked pony, and a mistimed or badly aimed shot could obliterate both of them.
I was going to have to find a better spot, and then decide from there if I would get this guy to put down the revolver, or just drop him then and there.
Slowly, I started to creep my way towards the armed robber, taking care not to accidentally kick any of the occasional tins of food scattered around the floor.
It was only a few strides worth of distance, but it felt like the longest mile I’d ever walked as flicked my vision between checking to see if I wasn’t going to kick something by accident, and focusing on the back of the pony himself to make sure he hadn’t spotted me anyway.
Finally I had reached the end of the aisle and now that I had some space to move around in, I carefully started to side-step to my left, all the while keeping both barrels pointed at the centre mass of the robber in front of me. I wanted to get a clear shot that I was certain wouldn’t harm the mare, as I had no idea how wide the spread of pellets would be if I fired this thing, and needed to be sure that if I did use the weapon in my mouth that the bad guy was going to be the only thing it took down.
I was now stood at the masked pony’s eight o’clock, in full view of the mare who was still shovelling as many bits as she could into the oversized rucksack.
Great, I was half convinced that I wouldn’t hit the mare by accident from this position, but what the fuck did I do now?? I didn’t want to kill this guy, hell I hadn’t wanted to kill his buddy either but his blood was on my hooves all the same. If I spoke up and demanded that he drop his gun, would he just turn and fire on instinct? I was practically breathing down the guy’s neck; surely he’d notice if I got any closer.
In the brief moment that I was contemplating the weight of ending the life of another pony, the mare stuffing bits into the bag looked up.
I must have made quite the sight; just appearing from nowhere with shotgun readied and blood all over my face, as her eyes went wide in shock and the hoof full of bits she held tumbled to the floor. The flash of movement not only distracted my eye, but also caught those of the robber as his body instantly went stiff and he glanced over in my direction.
For a heartbeat my blue eyes locked into his magenta, and in that impossibly long instant, we both realised that we’d let our guard slip.
It was absurd, we both knew that we were armed and that we should act while we could, but for that tiniest fraction of a second as we stared at each other we stood frozen, shit scared for our lives and wondering who would make the first move.
As it turned out, he was apparently more used to this kind of situation than I was, and his face was lost in the bright flash of the weapon held in his teeth as he snap-fired over my shoulder.
The bark of the revolver and the feeling of displaced air rushing past the side of my head was a more than sufficient wake up call, and as I pushed down with my left hooves to dive back into the aisle I responded in kind by pressing the left button on the trigger in my mouth.
The shotgun roared as it spat flame and a volley of lead shot out of the left barrel; the recoil twisting my head to the side as I was mid-dive and causing me to land awkwardly on my side when I hit the deck.
I sprang back to my hooves and bolted down the aisle to the far end of the store. I didn’t know if I’d hit anything or not, and until I got myself behind something solid I couldn’t really give a flying fuck.
Apparently I’d missed the only bloody target I had been aiming at though, as a shot whizzed past me to strike a row of lemonade bottles on my right side, the crack of sound from the weapon ringing clear in my ears as the destroyed bottles fizzed up and sprayed both me and half the building in citrus flavoured soda.
Knowing full well that I was going to slip whatever I tried to do, I dropped down onto my stomach and slid across the remainder of the floor to the end of the isle, which turned out to be a great call as a second shot punched through the mist caused by the fizzing bottles and buried itself in the line of fridges in front of me.
I kicked off the fridges to change my direction as I reached the end of the aisle, and the sudden friction burn on my stomach told me that I was good to get back up on my hooves again.
My back finally against something solid, I shook my head out of the ‘flee for my life’ setting to try and think up of something clever to get myself out of this Celestia-damned building without having several holes drilled through my chest.
Not wanting to risk my head, I poked the right barrel of my shotgun around the corner and was rewarded by a face full of glass fragments and sweet and sour sauce as another shot destroyed some of the jars lined up on the shelf I was hiding behind.
Ok then, poking round the corner was a no-go, the guy clearly knew exactly where my head was and would gladly remove it from my shoulders before I could line up a shot.
Same thing would happen if I waited for him to come to me, he’d just have his eyes trained on this shelf the whole time and would pump some rounds into me the instant I tried anything.
All things considered then, this was a shitty place to be. Time to move.
I ran to my left, straight towards the nearest corner of the store, and took a left turn up the aisle at the end of the row. A quick dash to the next corner and I was now pretty much on the opposite side of the building than where I had just been, and was within hoof-reach of the main entrance.
A brief peek around the corner showed me that the other pony had changed position as well, but also that the mare was intact and hiding behind the tills.
That was great as far as I was concerned, I don’t think I’d have been able to live with myself if I had missed the only bad guy in the room and took her out instead.
My more immediate concern however, was that there was an armed pony in the building who wanted to splatter my brains over the nearest wall.
I had only one shot left in my shotgun, and I didn’t have the faintest idea where this guy could be.
Time to get clever then; I quickly ran over what I knew already to try and figure out a way to get myself, Nightshade, and the other mare out of here intact.
I could just bail right now; the way out of the store was right next to me. But that would meaning leaving the other two in the good graces of a pissed off gunpony, so that was not an option.
I had one shot left in the right barrel of my shotgun, so I wasn’t going to win a straight up fight as I was. But what if I could find some more ammo? This was a grocery store so I doubted they’d have any shells just lying around, but what about the pony I took down earlier? He’d have to be insane to rob a place and only bring two shells with him.
Actually, I knew for a fact he must have more ammo; he’d shot the pony stacking shelves earlier but when I’d picked up his gun both chambers were loaded, which told me that he must have some more loose shells on him.
Right, I had a basic objective now, which was something at least. I’d figure out what to do from there once I’d actually scavenged some more ammo.
I poked my head around the corner again just to see if it was still clear.
Yup, still no sign of the other pony. I could hear the crunching of glass under horseshoes so I figured that he had to be where I had been hiding earlier next to the fridges.
I started to move along the edges of the aisles, stopping at each end to carefully check that the coast was clear.
I spotted a bright red tail swish past the opposite end of the third aisle as I poked my head around the corner; he was definitely hunting me now, but at least I’d got the chance to see him before he saw me.
I picked up the pace as I neared my destination, feeling particularly vulnerable with having just one round in a weapon I really didn’t know how to use properly.
Not forgetting that it was a weapon that I’d only fired once at almost point-blanc range and yet had still managed to miss the only target in the room with.
Yeah, I really wasn’t confident in my ability to use this thing.
Scooting round the corner I spotted the shotgun’s previous owner, and trying really hard to not look into the wide open eyes of the pony I had killed only a few minutes before, I rummaged through every pocket that I could find in his black outfit.
I found a hoof full of red shells, but the majority of them were slick with the blood of their previous owner. I had absolutely no idea if that meant they would still work or not, but there was no way I was going to take that risk.
I took the lot, placing the bloody shells in one pocket and two of the decent shells in another, and broke open the shotgun’s left barrel to shove a clean shell inside.
So, I had a couple more shots now, but I still had to find a way to deal with the other pony in the building.
I did have one idea. It was dumb, it was risky, and it relied entirely upon the other guy being smart, but not so clever as to figure out what I was doing.
If I’d have had more time to really think it through I probably would have realised that it was a terrible plan actually, but I had nothing better to go with at the moment, so fuck it.
I poked my head around the corner of the aisle and had a clear view of the entrance to the building. If he had been following me round the corners like I suspected he had been, he should be in that corner right next to the door, and I promised myself that I would let him go if he ran.
As far as I was concerned this was the other pony’s unofficial chance to walk away.
If he didn’t run, well... I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.
I was expecting the other pony to round the corner right next to the main door and had both shotgun barrels ready and pointing right at it, but unfortunately this guy had come up with other ideas.
He must have double-backed at some point; perhaps expecting me to try and charge him from behind, and his head poked out of the second closest aisle from me instead of from the other side of the room.
I’d like to say that I kept a calm head and adapted to the situation, but what I actually did was get the jump-scare of my life and fired my right barrel at his head in a panic.
He ducked back into cover just in time, as the shotgun belched flame and the cereal boxes just behind where his masked face had been exploded into a shower of shredded wheat flakes.
I frantically kept pressing the right trigger button, each time the hammer fell onto the spent shell with a loud ‘click’.
“Ah, fuck!” I shouted, the actual panic from my previous scare adding to the strain into my voice.
I abandoned my position on the corner of the shelf, and after a brief sprint, slid hind legs first into the still open storeroom door.
I twisted onto my stomach and got my shotgun barrels levied at the corner I had been hidden behind just as the masked pony rounded the bend, firing his revolver even before he’d gotten around the entire turn, hitting absolutely nothing both times.
He’d expected to find me out of ammo and either cowering behind the corner or running away to the other side of the building. It was when it registered that not only had his shots hit thin air but also that I was nowhere in obvious sight did surprise creep into his eyes as he realised his mistake.
I meanwhile, had a clean shot at a pony out in the open, and one shell still loaded in my left barrel.
Gotcha
A quick flick of my tongue and it was all over.
Once more the shotgun roared and spat lead shot, but this time some of the pellets found their mark.
Half a dozen holes spurted blood from the gunpony’s midsection, and he hit the floor with a cry.
The original hit of euphoria I got when my plan worked was intoxicating, but quickly faded into nothingness as I witnessed what happened next.
In the movies I’d seen back home on my light caster, when a bad guy got hit by a shotgun he just went down and instantly died; often with a spray of blood but usually with minimal fuss or drama.
In reality however, bleeding out was a relatively drawn-out process. It was slow, it was painful, and it was messy as hell.
If he had the strength, I was sure the pony would have been howling to the four corners of Equis, but all he could manage was a pitiful whimper as he tried in vain to get his hooves back underneath him. If I had been counting, I would have guessed that he had crawled about three feet in twenty seconds before giving up, eventually curling up into a foetal ball as though it would help numb the pain, and just lay there before letting out one final shuddering sigh. Only then did his body become lifeless.
And I watched the whole thing.
Frozen.
Scared.
Horrified.
I could clearly see the ruined bodies of the ponies that had entered this store tonight looking to make a quick bit, the slowly expanding pools of blood from the two was already starting to mix together.
I had done this. I had stolen the lives of two sentient beings, who with just a small twist of circumstance could have easily been me.
I didn’t exactly lead the life of a saint, who was to say that in a few weeks I might not be doing the exact same thing they had?
I didn’t know their motivations, their situation, or even their names.
But they had threatened me. So I had judged, acted, and killed them outright.
Who the hell was I to decide that? Who could possibly ever have the right to decide that?
I didn’t know how long I stayed there for, half my body hanging outside the storeroom, lying in the slowly drying blood stains of the shop attendant who’s limp form was still just on the other side of the door. I’d let the shotgun clatter to the floor long ago, I hadn’t even realised I’d dropped it until I noticed how much lighter my head had become.
I felt wretched.
I probably would have lain there on the floor lost in my own misery for a lot longer, had a face not poked around the corner of the shelves to look at me.
It was a lilac face of the mare who had been forced to stuff bits into the black rucksack, green irises small with a mix of caution and fear and her body highlighted by the red spotlights coming from outside the opaque glass of the store’s front windows.
She cast her eyes over the scene; the three bodies scattered around, the discarded shotgun, and the look on my bloodstained face.
She skipped the first questions that most people would have asked, mainly because the answers were right there in front of her.
Yes, it was over.
Yes, they were dead.
No, I was not ok.
And instead of doing what any normal and sane person would have done in that situation; bolt for the door, scream in terror, or break down in tears, she did something that I didn’t expect.
She tentatively walked over and offered a hoof to help me up.
I just looked at it for a moment, since part of my brain had completely shut down and I was trying to understand the meaning of the gesture.
“...Thank you” She said with a hushed voice “My names Foxglove, and I don’t want to think what could have happened to me if you didn’t do what you did. So, thank you.”
Maybe one day I’ll be able to forget what happened this day, maybe I’ll even learn to forgive myself for it; but I figured that I might have many more days in my life for self-pity, there was no need to waste any extra time right now.
With more effort than I thought I would have needed, I accepted her outstretched hoof and pulled myself up off the floor.
I checked back over my shoulder as I rose to see if Nightshade was in one piece. The package we’d originally come to collect was still lying on the floor where we’d dropped it when this mess kicked off, but my friend was nowhere in sight. She hadn’t left me here to deal with this all by myself had she?
I grabbed the package and started to check for Nightshade, but my attention was diverted when I heard a heavy ‘thunk’ from the main room. Someone from outside had tossed a glowing emerald through an open window, where it had bounced off a till and rolled across the floor to stop near where we were standing.
The light emanating from the face of the gem that was pointing directly upwards pulsed and the projection of a pony began to materialise in the light.
As the image became more focused, I recognised the bulky lines of a pony wearing a dark tactical vest, outfitted with smooth grey ballistic plates, and the trademark black cap of a Sentinel.
The gaze of the Sentinel swept the room, his eyes lingering on the three still forms scattered around the floor, before coming to a stop over Foxglove and myself.
Although the mouth of the Sentinel never moved, an echoing voice of a pony began to radiate from the gemstone, the glowing light of the emerald itself fluctuating in intensity as it spoke.
“Citizen, do not move. The building is surrounded by multiple units of sentinels, including the aerial brigade. There is no escape. Release your hostage and surrender yourself into our custody, or face the consequences.”
...
The holographic Sentinel continued to stare at me as I realised that my already shitty situation had just made another turn for the worse.
...
... Well fuck me sideways.
“You have exactly five minutes to provide your complete support or we shall employ any means deemed necessary to both bring the hostage to safety and to detain you. This is your first and only warning.”
“She’s not a hostage!”
“I’m not a hostage!”
We both shouted at the projection in near unison.
There was no way that I was going to let myself be taken down by the Sentinels for actually doing the right thing for once.
Any other night and I certainly wouldn’t have been able to claim innocence, but I was certainly going to milk it for all it was worth while I could.
“I just did your jobs for you and stopped these guys! They were sticking up the place and I defended myself, they would have killed us otherwise! They did kill him!” I pointed at the body of the stallion who had worked here, just the tip of his muzzle and am outstretched hoof visible from behind the door.
“Then if you are innocent as you claim, you will have no reason to not release the hostage immediately.” The voice replied in a reasonable tone, the features of the Sentinel still completely motionless whilst it spoke.
Sounded like a great idea to me, especially presented in a rational light, except that years of rumours and first hand experience had eroded any trust I had in the word of Canterlot’s authority.
Chances were the only reason I wasn’t currently catching a dozen bullets in my teeth was because the innocent mare who worked here was stood right next to me.
The mare in question looked sickly at being reminded of her dead colleague, and was obviously wanting to get away from here as soon as she could, but she seemed to have come to the same conclusion that I had.
Although I’d love to get Foxglove as far away as possible from this shitty situation, I needed some kind of reassurance that I wouldn’t be blown away the instant she stepped out the front door.
“As much as I like your logic, I’m sure the ponies in the neighbourhood could think of a few good reasons why it wouldn’t go well for me. You guys aren’t exactly famed for your sense of community spirit around these parts. How the hell do I know that your buddies aren’t going to shoot me the instant she walks?”
The image of the Sentinel glanced over his shoulder, as though he were listening to someone else speaking in the background.
The voice from the crystal resumed speaking just before the Sentinel’s head turned back to face me; a more natural appearance on his face as opposed to the ‘I am the law’ look fixed upon his features during his initial speech. Perhaps he was starting to find my story more plausible.
“Aside from my word as a Sentinel of the Celestial Union that you will be unharmed if you co-operate, there isn’t much more in the way of verbal reassurance that I can give to you. I can guarantee however, that you will be brought in with force if the civilian stood next to you is harmed in any way.”
Well that didn’t help much.
Hearing some of the stories that were circulating The Hound about the Sentinel’s conduct during their quelling of protest groups at the start of the year, the sincere word of a Sentinel didn’t carry much weight these days.
“I don’t want reassurance, what I’d like is honesty. And since I can’t put my faith in the word of a Black Hat just because he says I should, I’d like you to level with me. What’s actually going on out there?”
The holographic form of the Sentinel pondered this for a moment before breaking eye contact and gazed off in several different directions. Although it looked to me like he was looking at random points in the room – the hologram even clipped through some of the items on the shelves as it moved its head – I knew that the pony the crystal was showing us must be actually looking at the assembled teams around the building.
“... Well the pegasi and unicorn strike teams are raring to go; their pride took a bump recently because the fliers got outfoxed and a spell slinger ate a dustbin lid last night...”
Whoops.
“... But the guys running the show don’t have anything to prove, so they’re keeping everyone in line for now. If I were you I wouldn’t wait too long before making a call though, they’re looking pretty pissed and will only get more so the longer you delay.”
That certainly didn’t bode well for me. I supposed I’d just have to hope that none of the Sentinels would recognise me from the raid last night, or I might be on the receiving end of some ‘excessive force’.
To my surprise Foxglove spoke up for me.
“So say you were him, how would you handle this? As much as I’d like to I can’t say that I put much trust in those guys outside either, we’d just like you to help us both.”
The sentinel was silent for a moment. The fact that Foxglove was speaking for me had shattered any remaining conception that she was being held against her will; but he was obviously deciding whether helping me would get Foxglove out safely, or just give me a better awareness of where the strike teams would attack from and put up a stronger fight.
“... Ok, how about this; you let her walk out of the building, but I won’t tell my guys until she’s nearly out the door anyway. If you do that, I can talk you through what’s the best position to be in when they enter the building, so you’ll not be giving them any reason to be overzealous.”
Urgh... That still left me entirely hanging upon the good word of a Sentinel and his buddies. I didn’t like it. Not one bit. But what else could I do?
“Hold on.” The hologram shifted its weight as though someone had just bumped into him, the pony moving back into full view with a slightly irritated edge to his voice “A camera crew has just shown up. You wanted reassurance; there it is. There’s no way in Tartarus that the guys are going to try anything excessive whilst they’re being filmed.”
The Sentinel’s words were punctuated by raised voices coming from outside the building, what sounded to me like a mix of shouted questions as well as orders for ponies to stay back.
I might as well make use of that while it was there, I didn’t want the incredibly irritating distraction that the press wagon gave me to be told to shove off. As much as I hated to admit it, the Sentinel was right in that this was the best time to act, his colleagues would be less inclined to bash my face in if they thought a film of it would be shown live on the evening news.
“Right, fine, ok then lets just get this thing over and done with please?” I exasperated.
I really, really just wanted to be back home in bed right about now.
“Foxglove, are you alright with this?”
She shot a glance over her shoulder, head slightly dropped but with a half-hearted smile for confidence on her face as she made her way to the front door.
“You’ll be fine, I know it. Just um... good luck, ok?”
“Yeah, luck. Some of that would be handy.” I muttered to myself as she slowly starting walking to the exit and I turned my attentions back to the holographic Sentinel. “Right come on then, talk to me. What should I be doing?”
“Flyers are going to come in from the skylights, and the unicorns will be punching some new doors through the main window. I suggest you stay in the open but don’t stand near or underneath any windows.” The Sentinel appeared to relax a little as I moved to a good spot in the building, which happened to be almost the mid-point between all three bodies still on the ground. This was certainly one fucked up place to be standing in, but I had to trust that this guy was actually trying to help me.
“Good, now you don’t want to look like a threat of any kind so take off your saddlebags and toss them into the corner, then lie on your back; hooves in the air.”
You’ve got to be shitting me. “Should I add to the effect and put an apple in my mouth? Tie myself up? I’m sure there’s a silver platter or at least a tea-tray or something in here I could lie on too.”
“The floor will do just fine.” At least I’d gotten a slight smirk from the hologram. “Oh, but you might want to cover your eyes with at least a hoof or something; these guys aren’t going to be playing around and it might get a little... intense.”
I really hoped this guy was trying to pull my leg, I already felt ridiculous lying on my back with my legs just dangling about in the air.
“This isn’t helping ease the stress you know!”
“You’ll be fine, I’d like to say that they’ll go easy on you, but I’m not too sure about that, they’re pretty tightly strung at the moment.” The Sentinel glanced over to the main entrance to make sure that Foxglove was nearly out.
“You’ll be fine though. Try to keep calm, do as they say, and don’t look like you might attack them.” Before I could get another word in however the Sentinel shouted over his shoulder, his mouth actually moving when he said the words this time. “Alright boys, hostage is coming out!”
Even before he’d finished speaking several small objects were hurled through the skylights, and the front windows of the store shattered as multiple shockwaves bent the glass inwards and turned it into razor sharp fragments.
I quickly threw a hoof over myself, not wanting to get any extreme close ups of flying glass shards in my face as the Sentinels employed some good old fashioned shock and awe.
You know what? Some days, my life could go fuck itself. Seriously.
I felt more than heard the detonations going off around me, mainly because my ears were already ringing with painfully loud static, and even with my eyes shielded and practically welded shut my vision was filled by a piercing white flash as the objects that had been thrown into the building exploded with concussive force.
I’d been so disorientated by the assault that I hadn’t even realised it when the pegasi came smashing through the skylights to land on the floor around me, when my vision started to return it was filled with the face of a female pegasus wearing a partially enclosed black helmet, the narrow slits for the glowing blue eyes of the helmet and her yellow mouth shouting in my ear being the only things I could see.
“GETDOWNGETDOWNGETDOWNGETDOWN!!!”
Bloody hell lady, can’t you see that I’m already down?? Chill the fuck out!
“STAYDOWNSTAYDOWNSTAYDOWNSTAYDOWN!!!”
Oh, apparently she could. She still didn’t have to be such an arsehole about it though. – I thought dimly to myself as her team mate slapped a set of hoof clamps onto my outstretched legs, the powerful magnetic forces in the clamps snapping all four of my legs together and rolling me onto my side.
“Everyone sound off!”
“Clear!” came multiple calls throughout the building, and whilst the majority of the ponies kept a watch around the perimeter, A white earth pony stallion with a trimmed dark blue mane wearing the standard sentinel gear climbed through the shattered front window, and was joined by a unicorn and the pegasus who yelled in my face as he approached me.
“Citizen, you are under arrest for suspected equicide and attempted robbery. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court.”
“In other words; your nicked.” The yellow pegasus chipped in, an upleasant smirk across her face
The stallion, who I presumed to be the pony I had communicated with through the gemstone earlier merely rolled his eyes at her remark.
“...Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand these rights?”
“I would have done if you guys hadn’t chucked a crate full of flash bangs at me” Is what I wanted to say, But I just nodded a confirmation as I really didn’t want to piss these guys off; the pegasus looked like she’d happily claim I was resisting arrest and take a few more chunks out of me for good measure.
I’ll say this about the way the Sentinels get suspects into their locomoted carriages; it’s undeniably effective, but undignified as hell.
I was held aloft in a unicorns magic field by the clamps on my legs, hooves in the air and my body swinging around as I was carried out of the building like some kind of rabid animal, the Sentinels around me not wanting to get any closer to me than they absolutely had to.
Then again, I supposed if I had to look after a pony I’d found surrounded by bodies and covered in blood, I might have had some reservations about getting too friendly with them as well.
Unfortunately for me the camera crew didn’t seem to share those same reservations.
I squinted as an incredibly bright light from the imbedded opal fixed to the news crew’s recording eye was shoved as close to my face as they could get it, all the while reporters and random bystanders bombarded both me and the Sentinels with questions.
“Who are you, why have you done this??”
“Did he put up much of a fight?”
“Why are you covered in blood, what did you do in there??”
“Hey look at me! Tell me why you killed those ponies!”
The yellow pegasus mare pushed her way forward and eagerly positioned herself between me and the recording eye, raring to jump into the proverbial and literal spotlight.
“Everyone please, I led the strike teams which brought down the suspect, you may direct all of your questions to me.”
The media team quickly shifted focus to the pegasus, the mare herself basking in the attention as I was carted away and thrown into the cramped and dark confines in the back of a Sentinel carriage.
Celestia damn it, why couldn’t we have left this job for just one more night? I had no idea what was going to happen to me now. I had killed two ponies but I should be able to get away with self-defence if I had to, what was truly concerning was if they thought I had started the whole thing and took out the worker as well.
And on top if all that I had to worry about Grapevine’s package. It was still in my saddlebags that I had taken off in the building before the Sentinels stormed in. If they recognised Grapevines symbol or if there was anything incriminating inside of it I was well and truly buggered.
We travelled in silence to the Sentinel’s main station in Canterlot. I had guessed that it would be our destination, but I didn’t know for sure until we arrived and I was dragged out of the back of the carriage and carried into the building.
I think I’d have much rather ended up back at the Altruist’s Refuge then here. I’d always considered the possibility that I’d get caught on a job - it would have been incredibly arrogant of me not to believe that there was a chance it could happen - but I never thought much about what I’d do if I was ever brought in.
The media wagon must have called up all its friends, as a massive contingent of reporters from various organisations were waiting around the main stairs into the building, there to point bright lights at me and shout more questions or just general abuse in an attempt to get me to look into their recording eyes.
I’d seen packs of feral diamond dogs in the city slums that acted less like vultures than these ponies.
I spent the rest of that night in a cell (or was it the morning? There were no clocks on the walls to tell me the time), the only things in the room being a sapphire powered water fountain, toilet, and a hard mattress that had been enchanted to stick to the floor and couldn’t be moved no matter how hard I tried.
There really wasn’t much of the room for me to explore, it had everything in it to make sure I wouldn’t die of thirst or shit myself overnight and that was it. White walls, a solid steel door with a viewing slot, and a blue floor with a tacky pattern on it that looked like it would be really easy to clean up any mess that might be spilled on it.
As I took in my surroundings I noticed that I was being watched by the soft red glow from the building’s security matrix. I took some comfort knowing that it was a semi-sentient gemstone in the top corner of the ceiling that was constantly watching me and not another pony, although I couldn’t say for sure if someone was using the matrix eye to keep tabs on me, which was a little discomforting when you were debating on whether to use the bathroom or not.
No dignity for the accused it seems.
I settled down on the bunk and decided to call it a night, I’d already taken the time to try and wash as much of the blood off myself as I could– there was no mirror next to the fountain so I was sure I had missed patches; I could still feel some knots and clumps in my fur that were too stubborn to remove with just water.
Tomorrow I would find out what the hell would happen to me, but right now the only thing I could care about was getting some shut-eye and getting this particularly shitty evening over with.
_____________________________________________
“Get up, scum!”
Ah, it’s going to be one of those days then.
I raised my head to be greeted by the open cell door with the yellow pegasus mare from last night stood in the doorway in the standard black cap and ballistic vest of the Sentinels.
“Someone’s been told that they need to see you, and I’ll very happily kick your arse out that cell and down the hallway if you keep me waiting.”
She’d have been quite attractive I thought, if it weren’t for the fact her face looked like it was constantly sneering; her pupils slightly smaller than normal as if she was hoping that I’d put up a fight.
I figured that rising to the bait wouldn’t do my long-term survival any favours, and I tried to resist running my mouth as I fell in line behind her as she lead me through the building.
I’ve just never played well with ponies who take advantage of their power, and a lot of stupid things tend to come out of my mouth when I’m in the presence of someone I thoroughly despised.
I noticed that there was a large amount of full cells as we walked through the block, a lit ruby above all the closed doors indicated which held occupants and which did not. The whole block felt eerily quiet as we walked through it however, and I assumed that each cell must have a sound-deadening spell placed upon them or something, there was no way that a building housing this many incarcerated ponies could be so peaceful.
I turned my eyes forward again to find the mare looking back at me, open contempt in her voice and features.
“I don’t know who you think you are but you’ve kicked up a hell of a lot of attention after last night. And as much as I’d like to see you getting mauled by all the press at the front desk, we won’t be taking the lifts at the entrance.”
What a fine exemplar of Sentinel authority. I might have to send this mare a bouquet of flowers, and perhaps a parasprite or two.
Despite the pegasus's abrasiveness, I followed her out the cell block and into the main building.
As we passed through multiple rooms showing many different scenes of daily life in the station, I got to see the inner workings of the Sentinel’s main centre of operations.
A mare with tattered and greasy hair in the process of being restrained was shouting so many expletives at the Sentinels trying to get her under control, I actually learned a few new curses that up to this point I had never known existed.
I had to give her points for creativity at the very least, as she was bodily dragged kicking, biting, and screaming to the cells.
We took a path through an office not too dissimilar to the one I observed from the skylights of the Aerodrome; ponies hard at work hidden behind obscenely high dividers so that there would be no distractions from the task at hand, many of whom were tapping away at interactive holograms or communicating with Sentinel patrols.
Where the hell were we actually going? I was being lead up the floors of the building but my guide hadn’t spoken for most of the time, the exceptions being when she would turn to fire a venomous stare or snide comment in my direction whenever I voiced a question.
Did I mention that I didn’t like this mare much? I really, really didn’t like this mare.
We must have been just a floor away from the roof when we finally stopped just outside the entrance to an office larger than my entire apartment, the words ‘Chief Constable Raffica’ imbedded in the frosted glass window of the door.
“I’m meeting the Chief? Well that seems highly irregular” I remarked upon reading the name, and was rewarded for my observation by being shoved against the opposite wall by the pegasus, one of her hooves pressing the side of my head into the painted cinderblocks.
“Your fucking right it is, I have no idea what strings you pulled to get up here you fuck but you listen close when I tell you that I’ll gladly break every bone in your body when I get called to bring you in again. Are we fucking clear?”
Who knew you could put so much anger into a whisper? I certainly didn’t until today. All I had to do was just keep quiet until the crazy mare calmed the hell down and then...
“Sweet Celestia lady that’s a lot of pent-up anger, did daddy not love you enough as a kid or something?”
Brain to Mouth, Brain to Mouth come in please – The hell did you just go and say that for?
Her hoof grinded against my head as she put more pressure on and leaned in closer.
“Keep talking you disrespectful fucker, I’ll gladly crush your face into paste.”
I need to realise when to shut the hell up sometimes, really I do.
The sound of approaching hoof steps caused her to finally take her hooves of the side of my face and stalk off into the building, not wanting to even risk the slimmest chance being caught getting physical with a suspect.
Bloody hell; nasty and not completely thick, I hoped that I wouldn’t have to tangle with that one again anytime soon.
The pair of ponies who rounded the corner carried on walking down the hallway oblivious to what had occurred, leaving me alone and standing in front of the door of the station’s Chief Constable.
Something was definitely off about this; it was time for me to get some answers.
Chief Raffica was a unicorn who appeared to have reached his own personal peak a few years back. A unicorn with a receding cyan hairline and orange fur made pale by the occasional grey strands, the slightly longer and more defined jaw line hinted that he came from a family which was not native to the Union. His physique suggested that once he had been a powerhouse, although accepting a job behind a desk had softened the edges slightly.
He was engaged with his own holographic projection as I entered the room, but swiftly shut it down when he saw who it was that had entered his office.
He nodded over to the empty chair resting against the wall to his right, but did not say anything at first as I sat down, likely trying to come up with his own measurement of me.
He just stared at me for the longest time, hardened bright yellow eyes scanning me for some quality to give him a better idea of exactly what kind of pony he was dealing with.
“... Do you know why you are here?”
Was I back in middle school or something? This felt like I’d been sent to the headmaster for misbehaving again.
No Sir, I hadn’t called Breadstick a fuck-ugly mule again Sir.
Why was I here though? The obvious answer was the shit-storm that went on last night, but they wouldn’t bring someone up to meet with the Chief Constable just for that.
Could it be for something I’d done in the past? As a general rule I tried to keep as far away from the Sentinels when I operated as possible, and often left a very light footprint behind me. If they had something on me they would have tracked me down and brought me in a long time ago.
“Honestly? I really don’t have a clue in the world.” I answered truthfully. I got the feeling that there was a bigger picture hidden somewhere, and I was only just being shown the tiniest corner.
Chief Raffica seemed satisfied with that answer, as though I’d passed some unspoken test.
“That massive fan club of jackals wearing Canterlot Network tags at the front door is waiting for you by the way. How they caught on so quickly or why they think this is a story at all is beyond me; ponies die all the time in the capital. And they’re surprisingly good at it too, so it’s rarely newsworthy.”
Raffica leaned forwards to place his hooves on the desk, his chair creaking slightly as he shifted his weight.
“You might understand what’s going on better if we start at the very beginning I think. What do you know of the Sentinels?”
“As in like, the whole thing?”
The Chief nodded a confirmation.
“Ok, that’s a big question then. Um, well you guys used to be the Royal Guard until everything hit the fan with the fall of the Gods, and when Celestia took off she left you lot behind to keep the whole country in order and enforcing the law. But since you weren't actually guarding any royalty anymore the nobles re-organised the whole structure to serve the Union instead. That about sum it up?”
Raffica stood up from his desk and turned to look out the large window behind him, an impressive view of the sprawling city of Canterlot in the morning daylight.
“... The ponies of the Union despise us.”
“Well no shit.” Is what I wanted to say, but turns out I might have just learned something from my run in earlier and kept my mouth clamped shut.
“The Sentinels are a paramilitary more than a law enforcement group, one that nobody asked for at the time, but ever since Celestia left in self-exile Canterlot has had nothing better.”
“Regardless of the performance of this organisation, the fundamental principle that the Sentinels were founded upon is that we’re merely keeping the seat warm for Celestia. And as long as we exist, ponies know it is because she still hasn’t returned to us. For that reason we can never truly be respected, only feared.”
“I reckon it’s more because of your blunt application of the law, violence, and scare tactics if you ask me.”
Well I might not have learned as much as I thought, so it seems.
Surprisingly for me it turns out that ramming someone’s head into a brick wall isn’t the base instinct of every Sentinel when they get spoken back to. I did get a disapproving look however.
“We enforce the letter of the law and keep the peace above all else. But it seems that merely doing our jobs isn’t enough for some ponies.”
The chief sighed and sat back at his desk.
“If I had any say in it you would be cast back out onto the street since the store’s security matrix proved that you acted in self-defence, but the matter has been taken out of my hands.”
“After your stunt last night it seems that you have caught the attentions of powerful figures, people that seem to think that you are what the public need to restore their faith in the chosen authority of the Celestial Union.”
Uhhh, what?
“Someone much further up the chain than I has decided that the Union needs a figurehead; a relatable public face for the Sentinels to improve our image in the eyes of the public.”
“... And out of everyone in the Union you guys picked me?”
A slight tone of disgust crept into Raffica’s voice.
“As I stated, I did not have any say in it. I think the whole idea is madness, the fact that the Sentinels maintain order alone should show the public that we are on their side, but apparently the common pony feels like they are entitled to more than that.”
“Right, hold on a second, can I just make sure that we are both on the same page here?”
I asked, trying to decipher if this was a massive joke with an insane amount of setup. If it were then the punch line had better knock it out of the park.
“You, the Sentinels, want me to work for you as your poster boy?”
Gritting his teeth slightly, Raffica nodded.
“Would you be offended if I told you guys where to shove that idea?”
The Chief snorted.
“Believe me the feeling is mutual. Whilst your file is clean you are listed as a known associate to a multitude of undesirable people. Although that in itself is not a crime, it raises suspicions as to how you became to known to so many of Canterlot’s criminality.”
I had a file? That can’t be good.
“Yeah, I think it’s pretty clear then that we know this is a dumb idea for both of us, I’m not working as a Black Hat.”
Raffica reached under his desk and pulled out something rather familiar. Although I knew these things were manufactured in huge numbers, seeing the unmistakable lilac and blue hue of a holo-crystal did make my heart skip a beat like I’d been caught with my hoof in the cookie jar.
“I was given this to present to you. I was ordered not to view it as it is set to shatter after what it contains has been seen, so I don’t know what it holds. However, I have been told that you are to view it, and that you would change your mind once you had.”
This definitely wasn’t good. I wanted to just lob the thing out the window and get the hell out of here before I was roped into more insanity, but the rational side of me knew that I didn’t have a choice.
I had to see what was on this thing, I didn’t know what the consequences could be if I ignored it, and I needed to find out who was trying to play me and how.
With some trepidation I reached forward and picked up the crystal, feeling the soft heat radiating from the construct.
I knew that this was going to suck, but I brought the crystal to my head all the same.
_____________________________________________
I looked out from the view of a recording eye into an almost pitch black room, the only visible thing in sight being the backlit form of a pony, his face and body was shrouded in darkness but his outline was defined by an aura of soft light.
Well isn’t this nice and melodramatic?
“Pathfinder” The figure spoke with a voice that had been altered with magic to hide the true sound of the pony talking, the pitch of the sounds fluctuating through each sentence but maintaining a generally deep tone. “You will be watching this in Raffica’s office and so he is likely present with you. This recording is for your eyes only and so should not be discussed with the Chief Constable under any conditions.”
“In the event that he has not made you his offer before you were told to watch this, I shall state what I want from you.”
“After your demonstration last night I saw an opportunity to increase the standing of the Sentinels in the eye of the public. The media will portray you as a hero for acting above and beyond the call of a normal citizen of the union, and will make it so that the public expects you to join the Sentinels to make them more favourable and relatable.”
That much had been made clear to me already, except that this guy must have some serious ties to the press if he thought he knew exactly how they would act. But if this pony knew who I was he must also know some of my background, and so would have some card to play to make me even consider becoming a Black Hat.
“You will do everything in your power to fill this role that I have assigned to you. If you refuse to co-operate, the following footage will be sent with top priority to the Sentinels and the Canterlot News Network.”
My viewpoint snapped to a scene overlooking Canterlot city in the dead of night, the purple crystalline tint from the streetlights highlighting the building faces.
A cold chill ran down my back as I took in the large open area complete with landing pads, floodlights, and runway as I realised exactly what I was looking at.
Canterlot Aerodrome.
The blood froze in my veins as I spotted a lone shadow sprinting across the landing pads. The matrix eye which was providing the perspective spotted it shortly after, the crystalline lens zooming in and changing the spectrum of light it was recording with, until clear as day I could see myself running for all I was worth.
Sticking to the shadows had been smart but had done me no good, the matrix was able to see me clearly enough to identify both myself and the light signature of the holo-crystal I was carrying in the left pocket of my saddle bag.
Whoever this guy was, he knew that it was me who had stolen state secrets.
Was it possible for your heart to stop whilst you were viewing one of these things? It certainly felt to me like mine had decided to give it a go and was trying to find out.
I was still stunned by this revelation as the feed from the matrix eye cut out and I was sent back to the view of the hidden pony again.
“You now understand the implications of refusing to collaborate. You will accept Chief Constable Raffica’s proposal, and you will endeavour with every fibre of your being to fill the role that I require of you.”
Oh fuck me, this isn’t happening!
“Do this until I believe that your usefulness has run its course, and I will ensure that the recording is destroyed and you will be rewarded with a position of power within the Celestial Union.
Fail and you will be hunted for the rest of your days, until you are inevitably cornered and shot for treason against the state.”
Celestia, I know I’ve not always been a good pony, but I could really use some help here old girl!
“This message shall destroy itself upon a complete playback. Do not disappoint me, Pathfinder...”
_____________________________________________
I came back around in Raffica’s office, still sat upright and with sweat running off my brow into my eyes.
I felt the pulverised dust that used to be the holo-crystal filter between my shaking hooves.
I must have looked a sight, as Raffica himself had the most peculiar look upon his face as he watched me.
Do you know what the funny thing about freedom is? You never notice it. You can’t see it or measure it because it’s always just there. It’s one thing to know when something is taken for granted but only will you truly know what that means when it is suddenly yanked away from you.
Any plans you made for your life? Gone.
Any achievements you had accomplished? Out the window.
Imagine that all of your hopes and dreams have been taken away from you, and are now suspended above your head like a carrot on a stick.
I hadn’t even noticed or cared about how awkward the silence must have become until Raffica spoke.
“So, do we have an agreement?”
“...Agreement isn’t the word I’d use.” I said with a tremor in my voice. I hadn’t realised how dry my throat had become. “But we have an understanding.”
I can’t believe I’m going to say this…
“I’ll do it.”
Raffica nodded his acknowledgement and got up to leave.
“Then I suggest that you stay here a while and collect yourself. An officer will be along in a few minutes to take you to speak to the press.”
I really didn’t have anything else to say at this point. I was completely focusing on my breathing so that I wouldn’t chuck my guts up all over the carpet.
Halfway out the door, Raffica turned towards me.
“Although I’ve never been more reluctant to say this; welcome to the Force.”
In, Out,
In, Out.
Don’t think about how messed up this whole thing was, just breathe.
In, Out.
In...
“Excuse me? I’m to take you downstairs to the conference.”
Oh come on, you said I’d get a few minutes to think! That was a few seconds at best!
Perhaps it was a bit foalish of me to kick the chair across the room when I got up, but after everything that had happened yesterday and everything that was still going on today I really wasn’t in the best of moods.
I wasn’t even looking where the Sentinel was going as I got up and followed him; frankly I had more pressing things to be thinking about, namely how the hell I was going to be able to get out of this mess. So it came as a bit of a surprise when he led me into an empty office on the other side of the building and shut the door behind us.
Oh joy, I couldn’t wait to add more complications to my already massive pile of problems.
“Right we don’t have long so just listen to me. Grapevine knows what went down last night and has a good idea of what you’ve been asked to do.”
Of course Grapevine had a Sentinel or two in his pocket. Combine this with the way that they had just signed me up to the cause, it’s no wonder that the organisation was getting a load of flak from bad public opinion.
“He wants you to know that whilst he doesn’t blame you for what went on, you are not to attempt to contact him or anybody else in his organisation until this plays out, got that?”
Great, my employer had blacklisted me. It was to be expected really but I’d have thought he would at least wait until the day after to get in touch.
I guess that meant that Nightshade had reported back to him, and also that I couldn’t go looking for her myself. Maybe he was worried what I’d say when I found her.
Right now, I honestly didn’t know what to think about her. We’d been friends for a long time, partners for longer, and it didn’t seem right for her to just take off and leave whilst I was fighting for my life.
“Also, the buyer for the package you were sent to collect has pulled out since there was so much heat around the job. Grapevine says it’s yours to do with as you will, but if you want to get rid of it leave it taped to the lid of one of the dumpsters outside the Altruist’s place. Have you got all that?”
Oh goody, a mystery prize. I was hesitant to call it a silver lining in all this since I might have just received the box with half a bit in it. I’ll decide what to do with it later.
“Yeah, I was listening.”
“Good, let’s get moving then, I don’t want people wondering where you’ve got to. Have you thought about what your going to say to them all? It’s a pretty big mob of ponies out there.”
I’d certainly had a few ideas.
First and foremost was to give a massive ‘fuck you’ to the pony who thought he could shove me under his thumb. I was still seething that so much bullshit had been piled onto me over the last few days and I was in half a mind to kick off just for the sake of venting.
He wanted a public face for the Sentinels? I’ll give him a public face the people would believe. The idiot had the balls to do me over and then ask to play nice whilst I had the nation watching me? All I had to do was call his bluff and the whole thing might fix itself – Everyone still thought that it had been Blueblood who stole that crystal and I was willing to bet that even with evidence to the contrary they would still want to believe that he did it. After all, it was only myself and the Shadow Pony who knew the recording was the real deal.
I stomped through the hallways behind my escort, thinking of the best way to stick it to this guy. Maybe I could even spin it to make it look like I hadn’t understood his message. Maybe…
I took a second to mull things over properly.
...Maybe I really should take this guy seriously, after all he had enough strings in his hoofs to prevent the information leaking that it wasn’t Blueblood who was the thief.
No, no, Sensible Me shut the hell up! I’m trying to get mad here, not listening to you!
Seriously though, this guy must have some heavy weight to throw around. He knew my name, what I’d done, how to shape the whole thing so that he had the perfect card to play. For Celestia’s sake I would be standing right on the steps of the Sentinel’s building – it’s not like they’d have far to throw me if they wanted me off stage.
And then what? Shot for treason?? There was no way in hell I was letting myself go down like that. If I was going to play this guys game I was going to learn all the tricks, I was going to beat him at it, and then I would change the rules to work for me.
But when did this all become about me? There were three ponies that had died last night. What about them? They hadn’t asked for any of this just as I hadn’t. Granted two of them caused the whole thing but who was to say that they weren’t in a situation as shitty as mine was right now? I felt for the poor son of a mule working the store more than anything, he was just minding his business. The victims, That’s who this whole thing should be about.
It might be best for everyone if I tried to focus on the positive. Mark my words, I would get the arsehole who’s trying to play me but perhaps the best thing to do today would be to let him win this time.
Give him this first battle, pretend that I was naive and incompetent, and then fight the war on my terms.
I could hear them now. The ponies outside the front doors with their recording eyes and bright lights and questions. I could feel the vibrations in the floor as they clamoured around to get the best position to see what I had to say.
Ahhh adrenaline my old friend, at least I can always count on you to have my back.
As I walked to the doors I was flanked by a pony on either side. To my left, the white and blue earth pony who had spoke to me through the gemstone in the store. To my right, the yellow pegasus who was shaking in anticipation – either from getting the chance to restrain me again or soak up some more glory, who could say.
The two stallions on the door looked to the white stallion who nodded towards them, giving the unspoken command to open the doors and start the performance.
Showtime.