//------------------------------// // Shadow // Story: Sweetie Belle: Blackjack Dealer. Yay! // by RaylanKrios //------------------------------// On Friday, Sweetie Belle woke up, had breakfast, and was happily skipping off to school before her shift at the casino when her routine was interrupted by a familiar voice saying very unfamiliar words. “Hi Sweetie Belle. Wow, you look really nice today,” Diamond Tiara said without any of her usual scorn adorning her voice. To say that Sweetie was taken aback was an understatement. Convinced that this was some kind of trick by her nemesis, Sweetie Belle reacted cautiously. “Umm, why are you saying hi to me?” she asked, still wary of Diamond’s intentions. Diamond Tiara let out laugh that was a little too enthusiastic to be real; it was a disturbing sound. “Because we’re such good friends, silly. Here, you should have my lunch money,” she said as she reached into her saddle bag and took out a small bag of bits, tossing it over to Sweetie Belle. “Thanks?” Sweetie said, catching the bits with her magic and lowering it into her own saddle bags. “No problem, I don’t mind because we’re such great friends,” Diamond said, letting out another round of overly enthusiastic laughter. “Yep, that’s us, two peas is a pod. So, friend, why didn’t you tell me you knew Mugsy and Nunzio?” “Oh yeah, we met at the casino. Nice guys, they’re even sending more of their friends to visit me.” Diamond Tiara swallowed a lump of fear, “More of them?” “Uh huh. It’s always great to make new friends. I should invite Mugsy and Nunzio to the next crusaders meeting, and then they could be Appleblooms and Scootaloo’s friends too.” “Blank Flank and Los-I mean oh goody, I’m sure the five of you will have lots of fun,” Diamond said with forced cheer. “Did Mugsy and Nunzio say anything about Daddy’s shipment? He’s been waiting for it.” “No, they didn’t say anything about that. Do they do safety inspections for your Dad too?” “Safety-? Uh, yeah, that’s what they do. They go around making sure the store is safe and that all of Daddy’s competitors are safe too, like that one that burned down last month. They were definitely unsafe,” Diamond said, deciding to play along with the ridiculous cover story Sweetie Belle insisted on. When she rose to the rank of Don, the first thing she would do would be to order Sweetie Belle dead! Her family dead! Her house burned to the ground! Then she’d go there in the middle of the night- “I like Mugsy and Nunzio. Well, there’s Applebloom and Scootaloo. I guess I’ll see you later,” Sweetie Belle interrupted before Diamond could finish her thought process and ran off to join her friends. Later that evening, after school had let out and Sweetie was again working her table, a stallion in a low brimmed fedora walked into the casino. Unbeknownst to the patrons, he didn’t wear the hat because of style; he wore it to conceal one of the most dangerous unicorn horns in Equestria. Magic in Equestria was primarily used for benign purposes; teleporting short distances, levitating objects, lighting candles and other minor chores for example. However the same energy that lit a wick or made a plate appear on the table could very easily be turned toward more sinister purposes. In a world where dragons, manticores and living gods of chaos were very real, it took a lot to scare most ponies; therefore, it was a mark of pride to the stallion that ponies only spoke about him in hushed whispers even though very few ponies knew he existed. His given name was Shadow, which was ominous enough, but to many he was simply the boogiemare; a threat envoked to frighten those who would cross the mob. “Do what you’re told or the boogiemare will come for you.” was a line uttered more than once, and it was almost always effective. The royal guards had been searching for him for years with no luck. He never left a body or a witness. Ponies on his list, simply vanished, never to be heard from again. Since he arrived in Ponyville, Shadow was very mindful of treading lightly. There were rumors that the Equestrian Intelligence Agency’s (EIA) most notorious assassin had retired here, and that she took intrusions on her turf very seriously. He simply wanted to find his target, eliminate him, and then get the heck out of dodge before attracting any unwanted attention. As he walked into the casino, the ambient noise dropped a few decibels; even though most of the patrons didn’t know who he was, he radiated an aura about him that could only be interpreted as “stay out of my way” His eyes darted back and forth, scanning the room, as was second nature. First he looked for anyone who was a potential threat. That scan left him with two possibilities: the white, overly muscled stallion in the back, and a lithe looking mare who moved a little too gracefully not to have some form of training in something. Surprisingly, he didn’t see anyone who fit the description of his target. No worries, maybe the dealer changes his appearance. It’s what I would do. Checkcheck. Next he identified the exits; there were three he could reasonably get to, one front, one back and one side door, and a forth through the kitchen that he could try if it became necessary. Finally, he identified all the potential cover and distractions available to him, fifteen total. I’ve always liked casinos. Lots of options. Situation assessed, he began to make his way toward the blackjack tables. At first glance, he could tell the dealer looked smaller than he would have imagined. Can’t get overconfident; deadly things can come in small packages. As he got closer, it became obvious that the dealer was a female unicorn. Still, he kept his guard up. Mares are just as deadly as stallions; a magic bolt kills just the same. Finally, he was close enough for a solid visual inspection. Clearly his foe was well trained in the art of disguise, because if he didn’t know any better, he would swear that the blackjack dealer, who had thoroughly beat up two mob enforcers, was, in fact, a filly. It’s a shame I have to kill you. In another life, we could have been great friends, he thought as he approached the table. Aware that it was possible this wasn’t the same dealer- in fact, it was likely not the same dealer- he decided to investigate before pulling the proverbial trigger. No sense in killing someopony who he wasn’t being paid for. “Maybe you could help me? I’m looking for the blackjack dealer at this establishment,” he said with a drawl that Sweetie couldn’t quite recognize. “You found her. Hi, I’m Sweetie Belle!” Sweetie said, flashing her heart melting “new customer smile”. Shadow was taken aback by the openness that this mare had addressed him with. Even ponies he didn’t know tended to speak quietly to him. This boisterousness was new to him. Undeterred, he answered in an affected drawl, “That’s nice, but my friends were in here a few days ago. Who was the blackjack dealer then?” “Still me. Are you Mugsy’s and Nunzio’s friend? They said you might be coming. You know, you should really be nicer to ponies.” Sweetie Belle felt bad about admonishing a customer, but Mugsy and Nunzio had apparently helped with her bully problems so maybe she could do the same. For the first time since he was a colt, Shadow was unsure how to respond. He was used to ponies threatening him, and of course some tried to bargain with him- more than a few outright begged for mercy- but no pony had ever simply told him what to do, much less in such plain language. “I should be nicer?” he parroted. It was a rhetorical thought more than a question. “Uh huh, it’s like Applejack, she’s my friend’s big sister, says, ‘You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar,” Sweetie said, trying to imitate Applejacks drawl and giggling at her attempt. Standing there, Shadow had the epiphany he needed to make sense of what was happening. His opponent wasn’t some ex-Special Forces, highly trained assassin who had beaten up his co-workers. The filly standing across from him really was a filly who probably couldn’t hurt a breezy even if she tried. Contrary to popular belief, there was no creed among assassins. He was paid to kill his target and he did it well, end of story. If he hadn’t killed a filly before, it was only because anypony who could afford his exorbitant fees had more powerful enemies than little girls. But looking down at Sweetie Bell, still smiling in her vest, he realized that he had just retired from the assassin game. “You’re friend sounds really smart. So you know Musgy and Nunzio?” he asked. “Uh huh, I met them when they came in to conduct the safety inspection. We had a bit of a miscommunication, but now we’re all on the same page.” “Do you know where I might find them?” “Um, I think they rented a room for the weekend. You could ask the front desk,” Sweetie offered, trying to be helpful. Shadow flipped the young dealer a bit and went off to find his two ex-coworkers for his exit interview.