//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Found // Story: Equestria Delivery // by JLB //------------------------------// --- - --- May 25th, 1013 AN - 4:33 PM Carol City, Equestria 15 Minuano Ave Two mares lay under a blanked on a couch, spooned together, the rising wind blowing through their manes from the half-open window. A wide videodrome screen was flashing pictures and making noise in front of them, but neither pony paid attention. One of them, a yellow-coated grey-maned earth mare, was asleep, while the other, a thin, pale, purple unicorn with a messy stroke of blonde hair on top of her head and sunken in cheeks, lay with eyes half closed, staring at a shelf full of gilded and silvery cups and statuettes. The palm trees shook outside the windows, rustling in the wind, some tapping rhythmically against the walls and windows of the second floor. They cast shadows into the room, obscuring the small amount of sunlight coming from the sun that hid behind a cover of clouds. The unicorn mare blinked and shook her head, then reached for the remote and fell short of grasping it, as it was on a short glass table some distance in front of the couch. She draped her foreleg over the other mare’s side, sighing, and closed her eyes with a yawn. Two rapid, heavy knocks on the door sent her jolting upright, eyes wide. Her head turned to look at the earth pony, who only shuddered a little in her slumber, flicking an ear, noticeably lighter tinted than the rest of her coat. The unicorn held her hoof against the base of her horn, exhaling with a gurgle. She removed herself from under the blanket and folded it up to cover the other mare entirely, nuzzling her side before waddling over to the door, narrowly avoiding a coat rack and a drawer along the way. Her slouched posture straightened up, and her eyes moved into focus when she saw the figure behind the door through the compass-shaped ornate glass on the front door. It was a tall, lean, bipedal minotaur, whose pair of sharp, stunty horns were just a bit out of view. She wore a buttoned-up black suit, tie and skirt, as well as a white shirt. Despite the color-shifting enchanted tint of the glass, the unicorn saw the minotaur’s glasses glinting in the sun, while the eyes behind them stared right at her. “Fuck me,” the mare said. The minotaur raised a hand to knock on the door again, but the unicorn gripped the handle with a forehoof and pulled it open, rubbing the base of her horn with the other. “Uhhh… Hello? There a problem?..” “I am coming in,” said the minotaur, She was a light bronze-coated female with a narrow snout and a short braid of blonde hair. She wore a buttoned-up black suit, tie and skirt, as well as a white shirt. In her right hand was a small metal briefcase. She stepped in, not making much noise despite her having to bend and side-step to bypass the short door and the mare, who continued to stand in the hallway, her mouth slightly ajar. “O… kay. So… is there a problem?” the mare asked again, quietly, voice shaking. “Is your fiancée asleep?” the minotaur asked, straightening her suit and tie. She blinked and glanced down, watching a fat orange cat brush past her legs and waddle down the corridor, disappearing around a corner. “How the fuck do you know that’s my fiancée?” the pony whispered out loud, lifting a forehoof in the air. “She is. Go to the reading room, let us not wake her up.” The minotaur pointed at the door of the room behind the couch. By the time the purple unicorn entered, she had taken a seat in a big yellow armchair, just narrowly fitting in. “Close the door.” The unicorn glared at the tall bovine and groaned, quickly peeking out of the room and lighting her horn up, clicking the front door shut. She closed the reading room as well and stood in front of the minotaur, a redwood table with several books on them separating the two. “Okay, so, what the fuck, Lock?” she asked, hissing slightly. “I’m on leave, I’m not ready to do anything yet. The hell does the Boss want from me? I thought we were settled.”   “He wants you in on the operation Blacktop had been preparing for since the start of the year,” the minotaur replied. “The business summit, when they should all be there. He is moving ahead with it, and he wants everyone there. I think you have already figured out why it has to be now. The rest are weak right now, so he expects to take over and leave a lasting impression. It appears this has been our endgame in Carol City for quite some time, not that investors such as myself were informed.”  She picked up one of the books and immediately put it back down. “I am also not ‘Lock’. It is Lockvara to you, Nexus.” The mare swung her head back and grit her teeth. With a sharp exhale, she lit up her horn, and in a dim flash, changed shape into a lanky skull-faced synaptic with a mop of seaweed green on top of his head. “Right, whatever. So what? Do I have to do, uh, everything? Like always? And what, how does he think is Blacktop going to have enough to cap the business summit - with sticks and harsh language? I thought that… thing was just prattling when he talked about this.” Nexus walked in circles, his eyes shifting around the many bookshelves and pictures in the room, ending up in front of an enchanted fireplace wall piece. ”Like, I don’t… Fuck this... I don't want my synapse going into his maw when I kill myself trying to win him this shitty pony town. I don’t know... I don’t want to.” “You are not going,” Lockvara said flatly. “Um?..” “You are going with me. You are my new bodyguard.” She picked up another book, then put it back as well. "We are leaving tomorrow at 6 PM." “...” “You have been trying to get out of Blacktop for months. You do not want this anymore. You wanted to marry your girlfriend half a year ago, but to this day you have not, ecause you are afraid that thing would have a problem with it.” She kept listing things while looking over the paintings. “You have not cared about his motivation at any point. You joined to keep a promise you made to Synth. You have never looked into your organization's activities. You have also been embezzling Blacktop funds and taking heavy euphorium from our stashes for over a year.” “What.” “Blacktop is over. The climate has changed. This operation has no chance of succeeding. The magpie knows it too, but he has played all his cards. There are forces at play he does not want to acknowledge. I did not sign up to fund, network and bind by identity the scheme of an overgrown monstrosity with delusions of grandeur.” Lockvara stopped for a few moments to wipe her glasses, while Nexus stood in place, jerking his head, jaw hanging. “Everyone else is either on board with that creature, or does not have an alibi like yours. You have potential, however, and your history suggests I can use your aid moving on. Either you come with me, or you die.” The changeling placed his forehooves against the table, lowering his head and giving a loud, sharp hiss. His messy hair obscured his face. “Your fiancée comes as well. I have booked the tickets at the North-West Air Harbor. Tomorrow, we’re leaving for the Griffon Empire, where we will stay for several weeks, planning the next move. Be there by 4 PM with your essentials. You’ll be signed as my bodyguard, so they’ll let you in on an employment permit.” “Great… the cow’s got my life figured out, huh. Well, what about Synth then? I don't get to leave him behind, fuck. He’s got me out of shit worse than this right here! I owe him.” As he spoke, the minotaur rose and walked to his side, standing tall over him. Straightening her tie, she said: “Synth cannot come. Your Boss already has him involved. He will be tracked, whereas you are on leave.” With a quick move of her free hand, she grabbed the changeling by the throat and hoisted him in the air. Her arm was long enough so that he couldn’t buck her in the face, despite trying to. Lockvara placed her suitcase on the floor and raised her right hand, putting her index finger and thumb together. “I can crush your little cranial cortex by pressing two fingers against your forehead. That will kill you fast. I can strengthen my grip and crack your neck right now. That will kill you slightly slower. Your body will partially melt, before your synapse leaves for the creature you currently obey. I can tear your hind legs off in two seconds and leave you to disintegrate. Wanderlust will wake up and find a molten puddle of chitinous sludge, your Boss will consume your synaptic remnant, whereas she will be incarcerated for her old charges. If you call me another name, I am saving the money for the air yacht tickets. This endeavor has been enough of a disaster for my finances, Nexus.” Nexus nodded rapidly, as much as he could in the grip of an arm that rivaled the size of his torso. Slowly, he was put down on the table and left to sit, regaining breath with an echoing gurgle. “There is more,” she said quietly. “Yours is not the only business I have invested into in this city, and you are not the only ones that failed.” She looked up at a picture painted in warm tones, showing a tall purple alicorn with her hoof stretched out, her forehoof pointing one massive group of ponies at an identical one. The minotaur touched the frame for a moment, angling it so the slightly tilted picture hung completely straight. “We are coming to collect what is ours. In three hours, the office building at 66th Sun Hearth Road.” “What do I do?” he asked, getting off the table and wincing. Lockvara turned her head, her glasses flashing in the faint sunlight. “What you always do.” “Look like shit and act like a prick?” the changeling muttered under his breath. He shrugged, blowing a piece of his mane out of his eyes. The minotaur reached into her suit and pulled out a small vial of green with a needle at one of its ends. She passed it to him and he formed a green aura around it, keeping it in the air. “Yes.” Without another word, the minotaur left the house, opening the doors by herself. Once she was gone, Nexus groaned and fell to the floor, pressing his hooves into his face. The vial still floated above him. He looked up at it and whispered to himself: “Sorry, Synth… Guess it’s the easy road for me.” Putting the vial on a shelf, he got to his hooves and walked up to the earth mare on the couch. Flashing his horn for a moment, he switched his visage to that of the pale purple mare. Her hoof nudged the sleeping pony, who opened her eyes slowly, yawning. “Wander… I’ve got good news and bad news.” 66th Sun Hearth Road - 6:42 PM Nexus followed his new employer through the rotating doors of a small one-story office building covered in old notice papers and graffiti. A pair of guards in white suits let them through, one of them turning his head to mumble into the black bead by his mouth. Nexus looked around upon entering, noticing how the aging interior was devoid of any office work going on. Instead, the halls and some of the cubicles were filled with other guards in white and blue. Farther in the distance, on the other side of the maze of cubicles and walls, there was an active videodrome on the wall. Seeing the minotaur disappear around the corner within seconds of having entered the building, he cantered after her, black tie loosening from the vest and swinging in the air. He caught up when she reached the other side of the offices, where four guards in sat on an untidy couch. A towering, muscular, bluish grey minotaur in a white suit leaned against a wall by their side, yawning as he stared at the screen. An assortment of rings covered his fingers, making them look roughly half a regular pony’s size. “So we’re here for him?” Nexus asked, scratching a hoof behind his neck. “This is a changeling,” Lockvara replied. She touched a part of the wall with her free fist. “I am not the only one who made the mistake of binding contract by identity. Gaur will be digging himself out of this situation on his own.” The wall glimmered and disappeared, revealing a flight of stairs. “You are meant to be able to tell. You are synapse potent.” The changeling took a deep breath and remained silent, following the female minotaur down the stairs, barely catching up despite her having to bend and watch her step. At the end of the flight, they found themselves inside a drafty underground space. A narrow stone corridor led past several pairs of empty rooms filled with boxes of firearms and barrels of liquid to the side, and it ended in a big room filled with filing cabinets. Inside was a Major leader, sitting behind a desk in the middle of the room. It was a white unicorn in a dark blue suit, whose electric-blue mane was slicked back, revealing several greenish spots and scars on his forehead. He sat with his hooves against his face, shuddering briefly once he saw Lockvara and Nexus approach. His eyes shifted to a pair of doors to his side, behind which another flight of stairs was visible. The unicorn sighed and raised a hoof, but was interrupted by the minotaur: “Article eight of our contract. Hazard pay for two individuals plus eight imposters. The notice was sent yesterday, and I expect the sum to be here now.” Nexus blinked a few times, then shrugged and leaned against the wall, drilling his eyes into the unicorn. He still had his hoof in the air and began to speak, but was again interrupted by the sound of hoofsteps up the stairs to his side, and the doors opened moments later. Four Major guards walked in first, followed by a slender crane griffon in blue, who tilted her head to the side at the sight of the minotaur, almost hanging off her elongated neck. “This… is kind of not really the most optimal time, Miss—” the unicorn began. Lockvara’s eyes narrowed slightly. “No, it is. I arranged for the meeting here and now, and I am taking my money. Your scheduling conflicts are your own fault.” While she spoke, Nexus looked at the entering thugs, who headed straight to the corners, giving the ones in the middle their space. The griffon had a curved grin on her beak, and she leaned against the wall opposite his. The Major gulped. “What I mean to say is—” Another swing of the doors saw yet another group enter the room. The changeling cocked his head and stared at them - they were a group of Los Caballeros in dark pink suits, followed by a bulky raven griffon in a matte black jacket. The raven squinted at the sight of the minotaur and passed a talon across his beak, tracing his thin moustache. “This is awkward,” the raven said, turning his head. The ponies that came in with him joined the ones in white and blue, still leaving space in the room. A bright pink mare with a long, thick, pitch black mane nudged Nexus, who returned the motion. The two stared at each other, and the mare mumbled under her breath in her language, joining another of the thugs off to the side, leaving Nexus’ corner free. “Our business comes first,” Lockvara said. “This will not take long. We take our pay and go, while you continue use the same credentials to issue Gaur—” She looked first at the white unicorn, then at the raven. “—and Torero their monthly pay. I am departing the initiative, so my contribution percentage can be added to their joint. That should be fair.” Nexus rubbed his temple and shook his head, grimacing and baring a fang, which he quickly hid back under his lip. He sighed as the exchange continued and kept his eyes firmly on the newcomers. “Under… stood,” the raven mumbled. “Leaving. I see.”  He narrowed his eyes at the changeling in the mostly empty corner. “And your follower?” “Not in active duty as part of any relevant organization, as of this work day.” The griffon tilted his head, scowling as Nexus scowled at him. The conversation was broken up as the unicorn at the desk lifted his forehooves and cleared his throat. The two non-equines turned to look at him, while the crane was occupied twirling a stiletto around with her talons. “Okay, so!..” he said. “I think I can, ahm, interject with an, uh, relevant statement. That is, as to why we are finding some difficulty with ensuring the transaction for you, Miss.” He looked at Lockvara, then turned to the raven. “And with the exact details of our agreement, Monsieur. Also, I’m pretty sure that we have an NDA on what we’re… going to talk about. Miss, are you sure this changeling—” “Yes, he is my bodyguard.” “Good. So… To be brief.” The unicorn got off his chair and walked over to the door on his right. He opened it and lit up his horn. “This is the state of things... which is, uh…. terrible.” Levitating in his telekinetic grip was a bloodstained postal uniform and a rubber mask in the shape of a penguin’s head. The Majors guards who were closest to the door cringed and drew their eyes away. Nexus arched his neck and saw the corpse of a large earth pony, bent and twisted on his side within the small tool cabinet. The sharp, bland smell of odor debilitation magic filled the air. “We’re kind of under attack,” he said. “All of us. Especially us, Majority Solutions. Nobody is getting it easy, though, even if you’re trying to hide it.” He clenched his teeth at the end and nodded at one of the gangsters in dark pink. “This is a really big, bad fight that’s going on right now. Our fellow ponies have kinda decided to lose their damn minds en masse, and they unanimously decided they do not like... entrepreneurs... the likes of us. What we’ve got in this tool closet got ten drones, five actual, trained fucking Majors, and two syns. One of those was bound to Gaur, and if any of you have seen him…” The unicorn sighed, the side of his mouth twitching, while everyone else stayed silent. “Finally, we managed to knock him out,” he went on. “Brought him here… Trust me, we tried, he said nothing. We tried, but this fat fuck spat in our faces. He’s not the only one either, I’m sure our Los Caballeros friends can attest to that.” The addressed party of gangsters all glared at him. “I saw one of them myself. It’s like they got a cutie mark in murder or something. This is fucking insanity! I don’t get how ponies can do this, and I mean physically! I’m pretty sure if there weren’t two dozens of street trash in that bar, I’d not be talking to you either. That freak was a pigeon - and they took out a legit minotaur, too. Road Rage, he ran the Tunnel Snakes, you may have heard?” A slight murmur went through the room. Nexus yawned and looked at his wrist, rolling his eyes once he saw the time. A sharp, high-pitched, voice spoke up with an accent: “Nah, the pigeon didn’t. I did.” The crane griffon twirled her stiletto in her talons, and she stretched an arm out to show it off. “Bull wasn’t going to live after this. Though… he’s not bullshitting any of you. This is bad. I don’t want to have to see one of those pricks coming for me.” She tilted her head and the stiletto inside a sleeve. “I like living. I like making money, too. I’m pretty sure everyone else does. Especially when their job isn’t to be stuck in the body of a freaking crane for weeks on end, ugh,,.” “Should have read your contract, drone-bud,” Nexus said. His remark earned him a momentary glare from his employer, after which he straightened up and kept silent. “Fuck you,” the crane replied in a low-pitched, distorted, echoing voice. “Well, I think you all see what’s going on here,” the Major unicorn said. “This is not a time to be off our guard, and least of all is it the time to pull out. We want to be extra sure about the terms of our… alliance, Monsieur Corvine, and we can’t really be very liberal with our money right now, Miss Lockvara.” He paused, placing the evidence back and closing the door, the guards next to him inhaling audibly. “And honestly, we can’t be taking these psychopaths lightly. I could, perhaps, arrange a meeting with Mister Flam for you, Miss? Your body certainly looks like you’d be more than a bit of help in a fight. We could spare the exact money you want for an identity bind contract.” The minotaur was quiet, and she took a few steps toward the desk. Nexus cringed, baring a fang, when he saw her fingers tighten around the handle of her briefcase, the first motion of hers he had noticed in some time. “I did not expect Majority Solutions Limited, or Inter-Continental Solutions Limited, or, in fact, any of the organizations I financed and networked for, to fail as massively as they have,” Lockvara narrated in a monotone. “The data you gave me indicated that all of you were reliable in the jobs you were given. You were not.” She straightened her suit and tie, while Nexus shook his head, wincing, his eyes shifting. “There was no option for me to predict what would happen. I had, and continue to have, my own plans and ventures. And unlike ponies, I cannot make my work easier through magic… yet I’d argue I’ve still done a better job.” The raven had stepped closer to the door on the left by then, standing there on his hind legs, leaning against a black tube. The unicorn, in the meantime, shuffled in place, gritting his teeth. Nexus’ employer moved to stand right in front of his desk, nearly obscuring the light from the crystal lamps on the ceiling. “I’m sure this is negotiable, we just need to—” Lockvara interrupted again, though she did not raise her voice. “I am taking the money today, now, as we discussed.” The unicorn’s blue suit crinkled loudly as he contorted, his forehoof lifting in the air, a high-pitched groan forming in his throat. With a long, languid sigh, he moaned out: “Would you open your eyes? We’re being shat on at all fronts, we’re folding operations, moving offices, we’re getting lectured for the summit! Just a few Sun and Moon-damn days ago, I was sitting in a cushy office at our bank, and now it's a massacre site! That fat fuck and his friends are slaughtering - SLAUGHTERING! - everyone they don’t like! Ass stamps in grade-A murder! We have to band the hell up and take back our city!” He walked in circles behind the desk. “But no, just because you threw some cash our way, kick-started some other lowlives and hooked us up with these horned pricks, you get to come in like a fucking bulldozer?! Or is it cow-dozer in your case, huh?” The unicorn glared at her, banging his hooves on the desk. The shaking turned over a framed, signed picture of a toothpaste-maned white stallion with a grin that nearly reached from ear to ear. The two griffons smacked their faces with their taloned hands. Nexus covered his up as well, turning around and walking a little off, closer to the entrance to the room. A high-pitched scream erupted in the room, then shortly devolved into gurgling and quiet sizzling. Nexus rolled his eyes with a smirk. Sighing, he wheeled around and looked into the entry corridor, to where the flight of stairs was. He turned his head around just as there was a soft thud. The unicorn fell on the floor, mouth agape, hooves grasping near his forehead, which was rabidly frothing with weak sparks. Lockvara opened her previously fisted hand and let a pile of jagged fragments fall to the floor. “If you claim neither of us can do magic, I do not see what need you have for this appendage,” the minotaur said. “Let Mister Flam know.” With that, she turned away and headed off to the corridor. Nexus followed silently. They left behind the room, which suddenly turned much noisier, and they ascended the stairs, where the four chopped up bodies of the guards they had seen before lay in a pile. 7:20 PM Nexus barely grunted in time when a pony figure leaped out from behind a corner. It was a pegasus wearing a blue postal uniform and a rubber seagull mask. The pegasus looked at him, then at the minotaur, and they swiftly bent a foreleg at a peculiar angle before releasing it, springing it forward. The changeling rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a large cleaver. Lockvara stayed in place, lifting her briefcase arm just enough so the knife hit the metal. The next second, she was right up against the seagull-masked pale pink pegasus and bashed his head with the same briefcase, driving the handle of his knife through his skull. The changeling got back on his hooves, while the minotaur finished wiping her briefcase and flicked the knife away. She turned around to face him, ignoring the sounds of windows breaking, doors being bashed in, gunfire and screams. “Deal with this,” Lockvara said. “Get the money. Do not get followed. Tomorrow, air harbor.” Moments later, she disappeared around the corner, Nexus barely catching a glimpse of her behind the window, already about to cross the street. “Well, don’t I get the best fucking bosses…” he murmured to himself and looked at the dead killer under his hooves. He then glanced back to the stairs that led to the underground meeting room, the noise from there getting closer, and he turned back to the cubicle maze, full of the sounds of slaughter. The synaptic took a deep breath, retrieved the bright green vial, and jabbed it into his foreleg. His pupils widened and gained a temporary glint of greenish teal, after which he gave a low groan, shuddering all over. His hoof rested against his horn he while stared at the dead pony underneath him. A few seconds later, Nexus assumed the form of the seagull killer, complete with three knife holsters strapped to his left foreleg, and a similar blade attached to his right. Only one of the holsters was fit with a knife, the blood on which he did not replicate. He cracked his neck and took off, advancing through a transparent door and leaving the dead guards behind. “Fucking hell,” he muttered along the way. “How do you even breathe in this thing?” Behind that door was a group of guards wearing blue and white rushing in. They did not raise their weapons when he entered through the door, instead pointing hooves at him. “Okay, dude, great!” the frontmost one said. “Sneak up and kill the fuckers, we’re off to see the meeting through!” Moments later, he got a large knife halfway through his throat. The other two did not get to react, as Nexus swung the seagull’s cleaver into the chest of one and tried a knife throw at another. The blade missed, but the guard was dead within a moment, the cleaver slicing his snout in half. Nexus looked at the knife in the wall and shook his head, after which he lit his nonexistent horn up and materialized a replacement in the previously empty slot. He repeated the procedure for the other two, creating synaptic copies that filled his arsenal. His next throw was more successful - he caught a copy of the currently de-horned unicorn on the run much farther down the corridor. The changeling dropped, clutching the blade with his hooves. Another postal pony brought a hind leg on his abdomen, crushing through it. The earth pony eagle looked at the pegasus seagull and nodded, continuing on his way, his hooves clanging due to sharp metal having been attached at the sides. Nexus was in pursuit, almost a blur as he moved past a series of cubicles that appeared empty. The changeling caught up to the eagle while he bashed two desperately hollering guards’ heads together, one bleeding red, another green. When two loud cracks finally rang out, the seagull’s cleaver went right into his neck, tearing through rubber and flesh equally well. The corridor the changeling crossed was the middle of the maze, splitting it in two halves. From where he stood, he heard sounds of violence and various screams from both sides. Looking both ways, he headed forward, stepping over the other postal pony’s body. Out of a cubicle, a gun-wielding guard emerged, growling as he pulled his foreleg back to fire at Nexus. The changeling dashed toward him, swinging the cleaver as he went. A guttural yell and a light thud saw one half of the stallion’s gun leg fly off against the wall, covering the desk in blood. Nexus finished him off with a stomp on the face, as the dark blue pony had fallen over, squirting blood all over his white suit. He continued through the cubicles, orientating by sound. Several empty office spaces in, he walked in on an ambush - two guards armed with heavy batons stood to each side of the door. The seagull mask’s beak barely brushed one of the guard’s suits as Nexus turned his head upon stepping in, so the changeling had time to roll forward, escaping two heavy blows. He turned around in time to send the cleaver into the chest of one guard, and to quickly chop open the abdomen of another, after sending him off his hooves with a headbutt. Breathing heavily through the mask, he lit the space above his forehead up again, two throwing knives reappearing in their holsters. Another opened door led to a cubicle containing the mangled body of a guard, a beige mare in blue, whose face was torn up, the rest of her bones twisted, chain tracks on the suit. The door from that cubicle into the next opened by itself, as a very heavy thud shook the floor under Nexus’ hooves, sending the coffee cups on the nearby desks flying off. Two quiet puffs and a loud bovine shout, which quickly devolved into a distorted gurgle, had the changeling duck preemptively before entering the room through the open door. Inside, on top of the bodies of a dead guard and three appropriately suited drones, was a black mass that was formerly in the shape of the minotaur Gaur. In front of it stood another postal pony, a crow, who had just put down a hoof with a snub-nosed gun strapped to it. A feminine wail came out of her as Nexus rushed her and slammed her to the floor. Her gun clicked empty as she attempted to fire at his head, while the changeling using the cleaver cleaver to chop her mask and face apart. To the side of that cubicle was another door, leading to another corridor. Nexus stayed inside, listening in, and emerged with his throwing leg at the ready, immediately throwing a knife at the sound of galloping hooves. His aim proved true, as a blue, blonde unicorn in a white suit came rolling past him through inertia, dragging the back of the cleaver that halved his face over the linoleum carpet. The synaptic shuddered as a breeze of green vapor sucked itself into where his horn would have been. He blinked, eyes glowing green briefly, and he turned his head to the restrooms, which were in the middle of the passage. A door had clasped shut, after which two tattering volleys sounded out of the male room. Looking both ways first, Nexus saw half a dozen corpses in white and blue suits on both sides, and he hurried into the room. Inside, he found a large unicorn wearing a honeybird mask, bringing his heavy hoof down on a drone’s back, tearing through the white fabric. The drone flickered into the visage of a teal earth mare several times, and the hoof pounded through its body, sending splatters of fizzling, shining green all over the restroom. One final stomp sent the drone’s wings peeking out of their sockets by inertia, tearing up the signature suit even more. Nexus did nothing, as he noticed a pair of crystalline firearms floating above the grunting honeybird’s head. They were aimed at the door he just entered through. Both the honeybird and the seagull stood where they were, breathing heavily. Ravenous, shrill screams and animalistic growling sounded out from the other side of the offices, coupled with gunshots, but neither of them moved. The changeling glanced down at himself, the postal outfit obscuring the overwhelming majority of his body, and his pink wings were average size. Nexus shook slightly, closing his eyes, the space above his head lighting up a very dim green. Clearing his throat briefly, he spoke up in a female voice: “Calm down. I’m with you. Seagull.” While he spoke, the changeling began to lift his throwing hoof. “You’re not a mare, you shapeshifting son of a bitch,” the honeybird growled. His horn brightened. Nexus quickly leaped at him, and the killer screamed, managing to lift one of his guns and fire several times, but the crystal bullets went wide, as his target was already too close. His hooves flailed and slammed into the changeling’s sides, even as the cleaver hacked away at his skull and neck. When the honeybird finally stopped moving, Nexus pulled back,  spat into his mask, and hung his head as he left the restroom. His legs shook, and he kicked the door open with a grunt. Continuing down the corridor, Nexus heard a noise in one of the rooms and, as it got closer, reacted by ramming at the door. The heavy wood smashed into a body, which he instantly sunk a cleaver into once he was on top. A pearly stallion with slick blue hair opened his mouth in a silent scream when he seagull’s cleaver got stuck in his guts, Nexus having to empty the pony’s stomach to liberate the weapon before he advanced further. He walked down the corridor, stepping over torn up corpses. Nothing was in his immediate vicinity, all of the sounds of carnage having shifted to a section of the office further away. The changeling stopped, raising the foreleg with the empty knife holsters, and materialized three new cleavers. They slid into place, their previous incarnations hissing as they evaporated. Nexus’ nonexistent horn, however, continued to send off vibrations through the seagull killer’s skull, causing him to turn around. Although there was nothing behind him, he still backed away a few steps - right in time to evade a sharp stiletto that was aimed for his neck. The crane griffon appeared out of thin air, their own nonexistent horn glowing a little as the cloaking magic dispersed. The crane's eyes stared at him for a scant moment, after which the bird’s beak curved, and, despite the lanky, oversized build, the griffon sprinted back down the corpse-filled corridor, cloaking out of view at the far end again. Nexus flung two cleavers down where the other changeling was running, but the griffon crouched to avoid them. He looked around and hung his head, taking off toward the loud commotion on the other side. It had moved up by then, to the corridor where the eagle killer lay dead on top of another changeling - Nexus found nothing but battered, torn apart corpses as he sped along the section of the offices that was closest to the street, and, as such, was the entry point for the attack. Far more bodies piled up there than he had noted when they entered - some riddled with holes, some with precise shots to the head, some mashed into the floor. In total they numbered a dozen drones, several synaptics and around ten pony guards. He came across several corpses with the seagull’s cleaver marks, and having looked around, he quickly plucked a genuine cleaver out of a white-suited guard’s chest, by which he had been pinned to the wall of a cubicle. The changeling’s attention passed to a whole clump of bodies that were barely identifiable, drones and ponies alike, entire chunks of flesh missing, the rest of their bodies covered in haphazard marks. They were lined up against the wall, covered in blood, liquid synapse, and dents. His attention switched shortly - heavy steps signaled another enemy coming from behind a corner. Nexus slowed his pace, preemptively raising the throwing leg, unfolding his wings to keep balance. A distorted bovine shout was followed by a loud crack, then a wet thud. Several meters ahead, a disfigured pony in a blue uniform was thrown out the window, hitting the frame with their head, dropping behind a torn-up cormorant mask. Purplish pieces of the pony’s brain dropped into the empty mask, slipping off the frame. A massive bluish-grey minotaur emerged from around that corner shortly afterward, already staring at Nexus. He swung a knife at the towering bull, but the approaching, thundering steps threw his aim off, causing the knife to plant into a wall. As the bull’s bloodstained, ring-covered hand flew towards him in a punch, he barely dodged to the side. He then struck with the cleaver, but the blow was deflected by the minotaur’s other hand - the sharp edge slid off the thick cover of rings. The floor quaked as that same hand planted into it, narrowly missing the hind quarters of the seagull killer. It struck hard enough to sink into the concrete beneath the linoleum, and while the minotaur was busy liberating his hand, Nexus turned around and launched another knife, this time hitting the mark. The cleaver struck the bull right between the shoulder blades, and as he struggled to free himself, it lodged deeper, the wound oozing green, steaming blood. Eventually, as the minotaur’s likeness slipped from the large synaptic, he added another knife lower down his back to finish him off. The emerging green vapor passed right into his mouth, causing him to quickly shake his head. He opened his eyes with his head turned to his side, limbs spasming with newfound vigor as his horn consumed the essence of the other changeling. Moments later, he found himself face to face with the crane, whose claw was about to stab him. He rushed in quickly, toppling the avian over, and he jabbed his melee cleaver into the long neck. The plumage faded away, and the misshapen changeling behind the disguise stared at him with his own snake-like eyes. “Fuck… you…” the synaptic gurgled before his eyes lost the greenish hue. Nexus’ horn vibrated again from another ingestion, but he was already off. The remaining sounds of slaughter had moved, now coming from where the hidden door was. He backtracked, flapping the pegasus’ wings, speeding himself over the bodies of the ones he had already seen or left behind himself. He stopped at the stairwell - there lay another pile of twisted, torn apart corpses. A pair of guards in Majors blue and white, the rest wearing Los Caballeros brown and pink. The changeling tilted his head, the pegasus’ eyes open wide at the roadblock of bodies and body parts. He lifted his right hoof and recreated the missing knives, then headed down the stairs, back to the room where they began. At the end of the stairs, leaning against the railing, was the pink, black-maned mare he dissed during the meeting. Her left foreleg was completely missing, together with the shoulder and parts of the stomach. The pony’s head rested against the railing, eyes gazing into nothing, mouth gaping sideways. Nexus took slow, steady steps, hiding behind the corner and peeking into the room. The desk had been broken in half and most of the filing cabinets had toppled over. Two figures were circling each other, a pony and a griffon. The raven wielded a long rapier, but was kept at bay by the pony, a unicorn, who was making all of the identifiable noise. In front of them, they were levitating a huge wooden club roughly the size of their own body, punctured all over with nails, needles, pieces of rail, slabs of metal, wooden stakes, and dim crystals. Multiple chunks of flesh and chitin were attached to the sharp implements, dangling and swinging. A part of someone’s face stared at Nexus as he observed the fight. The egregious weapon was being kept in the air meters in front of its wielder, cutting the griffon off from any angle of attack. Finally, the griffon leapt into the air with his wings, jumping over the club and going into a dive, rapier pointed at the killer. Mid-flight, the club righted itself vertically and swung upwards, smashing into him and sending his body into the top of a wall. The griffon’s arm remained on the club, still clinging to the rapier, squirting bright red. Nexus got behind the wall for a moment and closed his eyes tight. Then, he hopped out and headed straight for the room. The pony was looking away, staring at where the raven ended up landing. The changeling cleared his throat, and spoke in a male voice: “That’s the last of them. The rest is cleared out.” Slowly, the other killer turned to face him. A pair of wide, bloodshot, jittering green eyes stared at him from behind a battered, bloody vulture mask. The masked pony began to side-step, picking up their weapon again. Their horn sparkled and fizzled, a faint greenish aura keeping the large club in the air nonetheless. “You’re dead…” a shrill, raspy, androgynous voice said from behind the mask. “Got better,” Nexus said, doing away with the voice, and quickly flung a cleaver at them. It glanced off the club and embedded into the wall behind the masked figure. The vulture’s head tilted and shook, and they roared: “MEAT!” He jumped back, still having to duck to avoid the weapon's long reach. The unicorn continued to side-step, driving him to do the same. There was only one knife remaining in his holster. Backpedaling from another swing and rolling to the side to escape a vertical followup, he threw it in the vulture’s direction. It was another miss - the cleaver landed somewhere in the corridor. Nexus’ head turned toward the pair of doors that lead to stairs further down, but he had to leap back from them as a sharp piece of metal swung right by him. Looking back, he saw the vulture having wrestled the rapier from the griffon’s talons, leaving the club in a weaker aura. The rapier, however, did not aim at him - it rammed right through the thick push bar, and as he tried to operate it, the lock got jammed by the blade. The vulture swung their head back to screech, loosening the grip on the rapier and bolstering the aura around the club. He rushed forward, spreading the pegasus’ wings and slicing with the melee knife in front of him. Another scream sounded out, and the unicorn bucked hard, blowing him back with their forehooves. The pegasus’ postal uniform received a few tears from bits of metal wrapped around the vulture’s forehooves, but on the vulture, there was a deep cut along their chest. The other killer regained control of their weapon before Nexus struck again. The two of them circled each other again, the vulture puffing, growling and muttering. The seagull pegasus’ body evaded two more swings of the club, shifting from one side of the room to another. The broken desk in the middle served as a barrier between the two until advantage was gained. He attempted to pull out a knife stuck in the folding cabinet as he was passing by, but barely dodged another swipe that came as soon as he stopped. The cabinet toppled over, banging loudly on the floor. Nexus switched directions, nearly coming too close in contact with the floating club. It got closer to him than it did to the griffon. He switched to a run to get to the other side before it isolated him in a corner, but had to skid to a halt as the other end of it was already in place. He unfolded his wings for a moment, and then folded them back, eyes passing over the curled up body of the raven in the opposite corner. The changeling stared at the unblinking vulture as they moved closer in, while he walked back until the pegasus’ flanks touched the walls. “Rip.” The vulture gurgled, swinging the flesh-covered club at him. He fell to the floor, crumpling up the seagull mask’s beak. With a wet, squeaking, heavy noise, the club rammed into the wall. The screeching unicorn pulled their head back, their horn sparkling profusely, working to pull their weapon out of the wall. Nexus rose and raised the melee cleaver leg, swinging at the vulture’s neck. His hoof was stopped halfway, however, as a thin, inconsistent aura of green formed around it. The unicorn’s pinprick, bloodshot eyes glared right into his, and Nexus felt the peagsus leg being pulled further and further back, carried by the knife fastened to it. He flapped the pegasus’ wings, but was kept in place by the magical grip. Another screech left the vulture’s throat as the foreleg started to bend even further. Hissing and spitting, Nexus ceased moving his wings. Instead, he lit up the space above seagull's forehead. With a green flash, the knife dematerialized, as did the wings and the rest of the pink pegasus seagull. Nexus lunged at the vulture, whose eyes stayed unblinking even despite the flash, and screamed as his gallop carried both of them to the other side of the room. He landed snout-first into the remnants of the table upon tripping on it, wiping a grimace off his face. The unicorn was flung further back by inertia, crashing into the tool cabinet door. It swung open, and the other killer landed in there, groaning, grabbing their head with their hooves. The synaptic got up, growling, and looked back. A bright green light encased the monstrous club, which flew by him. He winced, lowering and raising it in the air, and turned to the unicorn. With a distorted, echoing yell, he brought it down on the vulture’s body, which rested on top of the large corpse that still lay inside the cabinet. Hissing sharply, he tore the club off the killer’s body and levitated it out of the tiny room. It dropped on the floor with a meaty, slippery sound. Gasping and spitting, the changeling walked up to the unicorn. His eyes widened as he heard raspy, spastic breathing. Despite massive holes covering their body, the uniform having been torn to shreds, and a huge reddish mess where their left eye used to stare out the shredded vulture mask, the killer was alive. “That’s it,” Nexus said, huffing. He entered the cabinet, avoiding the unicorn’s weak attempt at bucking him. “Who the fuck are you?” His lips curved as he pulled the remnants of the mask off the pony’s face. Under the mask, there was little not pulverized by the vulture’s own weapon. It was a pale, white unicorn with greenish joy spots over parts of their surviving skin. Only some of the right half of their face remained. The pony’s cheeks were sunken in, snout curved, exposed bones showing signs of having been broken prior. They were nearly bald, a very short layer of pinkish fuzz covering their head. They were covered in piercings and tattoos, further misshaping their face. The piercings sunk inside their disfigured flesh and the tattoos were hard to distinguish among all the holes left in their head. Nexus only saw a drawing of four teardrops under the surviving eye, one of them colored up in black ink. “I… I can’t… so…” the unicorn gurgled, coughing blood. Their remaining eye stared right at the changeling. “So close…” “Street trash,” he mumbled. They locked eyes for a few seconds, after which he closed his. Raising his head, Nexus shut his mouth tight, and then spat hard at the pulverized part of the pony’s face. Despite the synapse sizzling in the fresh wounds, the surviving side of their mouth curved upwards. A coughing chuckle left their throat. “Ch— Change… lings. Bugs. All the… fucking same…” they said, staring into his eyes and trying to grin. For a couple of seconds, the pony just wheezed, and their eye lost focus. “I w-went for a walk… watched the cars go by… the sun w-was high— I th-thought of yooou…” The changeling blinked as his opponent kept going, trying to force a strained melody into their mangled voice. “I went f-for a walk…” They coughed, hacking up a mouthful of blood. “The moon was glowin’.,, It sure w-was high… I thought of you…” Nexus closed his eyes and jabbed the sharp end of one of his forehooves into the bludgeoned mess. The body thrashed one last time and went limp, the half-grin still stuck to its face. It wasn't silent in the room, however. The changeling raised his head at the audible sounds of whimpering and gagging. They came from behind the wall of the tiny cabinet. Shaking his head, he banged on it, his hoof leaving slight ripples on the surface. “It’s me. Lockvara’s bodyguard.” Vomiting could be heard from behind the wall after he said his employer’s name. “I’ve dealt with the lunatic. Open the fuck up.” The wall rippled out of existence, revealing the hornless white unicorn huddled in a corner of a featureless room, far bigger than the size of the cabinet would have implied. Nexus looked around it with his mouth hanging open. “All the magical bells and whistles, and you’re still getting fucked…” he drew out, before thumping a hoof against his temple and heading toward the stallion in blue. A long breath left his chest as he saw the pony was clinging to a safe. The gangster’s hooves twirled the disc on the front of it before the changeling even spoke, causing him to shrug and wait. The door clicked open, revealing a big briefcase inside. “T-take it,” the stallion blurted out. “Money from this joint. This is two... two months of joy peddling along the river underground. I don’t care. I was... I was gonna retire, anyway... Have better things to do now.” He cradled the remains of his horn, which still sparkled subtly. “Let me go. I just want to go home. I just want to go home…” Nexus levitated the heavy briefcase and placed it on his back, locking the straps under his belly. “And what do you think you’ll do like this?” he asked the stallion. “Think they’ll stop coming or something? Your pony friends have lost their fucking minds. Pretty sure they don’t give a rat's ass whether you’re a ‘bug’ like me or not anymore.” The Major leader lowered his hooves and glared at the changeling. “I’m gonna make this fucking personal once I’m better again,” he whispered through gritted teeth. The synaptic’s horn lit up slightly and he showed his fangs, taking a step closer to the pony, only to notice that he was gesturing with his foreleg. The hornless unicorn’s leg and eyes, both unsteady and spastic, were pointed at the two dead killers. Nexus sighed and turned around, stepping over the bodies of the vulture and the decaying penguin. “Just don’t take it out on the cow,” the changeling replied. He made his way back through the corridor and hastened once he heard police sirens in the distance. “Like you’d ever find us...” *** Commissioner Vice Point, I hope this letter finds you in good health, though I doubt it'll do so. If and when it does reach you, there’ll be no point looking for me, so don’t bother. There’s only so much jurisdiction you have. You probably want me court-martialed, which I understand. There’s a lot I wanted to tell you in this letter, but by this point, anger and frustration have kind of lived themselves out. You’ll find that I’ve brought everything you’ve been hiding to the public. It wasn’t easy, but The Daily Carol is filled with enough nuts to actually publish it. I'm surprised they did so. You clearly have your pull over Willow Wings. Maybe they're not as loyal as you think. Maybe they're not patient enough to really cause the bombshell event you so clearly want. Maybe I did succeed at what I wanted to do, and this will raise a massive stink, but you won't be able to sow chaos. Maybe they'll edit it beyond recognition. It doesn't matter. I get your motivation, Vice. We talked enough. I was along for the ride for years, but I have my limits - it’s got to stop. If you think that getting me to call in that favor of mine would get rid of both me and this little problem our city is having, I’m sure you’ve already thought again. I’ve done all I could, bad and good. I know you know what I know, though, and I doubt you were ever this naive. There's much I've seen in my life, but this is scaring me. Your plan. This city. Things in general. There’s no fixing this. You’re curing dragon cough with a dose of the pendulum plague. Hear me out one last time, then. I won't moralize and accuse you of hiding things from me, things you'd never have thought of if not for me. Instead, humor me on a tactics advice: the city has to go. Total evacuation. Send in the cavalry. Scorched earth. ES/AS style. There is no salvation. Whoever wins, we lose. We do not win, Vice, and I hope I know you well enough to believe you want a good ending. Call up Vellum and the rest of the pencil pushers and order immediate evacuation. Everyone has to run, run away, scream at New Canterlot so they’ll look at what Carol turns into and never let it happen again. And you know why, Vice, you know damn well, and you didn't want me to know you knew. But you're too smart not to have figured it out back in 1009. At best, this is something in the pony psyche that’s just gotten loose after the “war”. I wouldn’t be surprised. Hiding out in communes, dealing with changelings you could trust and changelings you couldn’t, going on bug hunts, going insane while Sparkle pretended a council could rule us. Losing all we had. I won’t lie, I haven’t been the same since then either. At worst, this is 1009 all over again. There’s something off about the changelings, too. Do you remember, they were feral, but not? This isn't that. This is different... It makes no sense, but it’s all connected. I think they may have missed one during the Purge, and I believe it might be here. I don't agree with you, but I hope you still have your wits about you. Everyone has to run. Assume this is another Packsmulle on our hooves, and we’ll settle back in about ten years. Expect San Fran all over again. Stay safe, maintain order, Thorn Coat 15 Minuano Ave - 9:15 PM A strong wind blew in Nexus’ face as he stepped along the walkway to his house. The palmtrees lining the ascending road creaked and rustled, swinging rhythmically. Patches of light from the crystal streetlights illuminated the pavement, changing color every half minute. A news air yacht buzzed far in the distance, around where the office building was. The changeling stopped, raised his head and spat several times into the roadside sewer grates. His horn lit up momentarily and went dim, becoming slightly darker than the rest of his body. On getting closer, he stopped and adjusted the briefcase strapped to his back. The carriage stop next to the house wasn’t empty - an old griffon sat on the bench, leaning against a tall, narrow, dark plastic case. Nexus made a few more steps before looking at the stocky magpie again. His brows furrowed and he sped up, walking past his house and to the stop, tapping a hoof against the bench to alert the griffon. “Uh, hello?” The bird turned his head and looked at him, sighing and giving a smile. “Ah, hello, Nexus. You… have been busy, I see,” the muscular griffon said. His uniform black tie thrashed in the wind, while his vest was partly buttoned, the edges flapping about as well. “Dangerous days. Anyway, I’ve been waiting for you.” “Engels... “ the changeling muttered, raising his eye ridges. “Don’t worry, it’s Gabe to you if you’d like,” the griffon said. “As of today, we’ve got lots more in common.” He stared at the asphalt and placed his beak against the plastic case. “You’re luckier, I guess. You got bailed out. I think I’m stuck in this mess.” Nexus rubbed the back of his neck. The grey-feathered magpie turned his head, looking at the faint colors of the sun, barely visible behind the thick clouds. The changeling righted the heavy briefcase on his back once again. “So… I’m gonna guess the Boss isn’t happy about something. Again.” “No, he is not… Would you mind terribly if I come in?” The magpie turned around and pointed at the changeling’s house. “I’ve been sitting here for an hour. Didn’t want to disturb your girl in case she was resting, or something like that.” “You knew I wasn’t here,” Nexus stated. Engels tilted his head. “Nexus, please. Our precious bovine accountant didn’t exactly operate alone. Who do you think hooked her up with contacts in the Empire, huh?” The old bird smirked and chuckled raspily. “I’m sure you’ll like the place I’ve looked up for you. Well, if she hasn’t already sold it off planning to put you and your girl in some hovel. I won’t be around to monitor that.” Engels sighed. “I’m gonna fix the mess that I’ve started…” “And you need what from me, exactly?” Nexus said. “I’d be glad to pass this thing over if that’s what she sent you out for, my back is gonna break the fuck in half.” He bent a hoof to point at the metal briefcase on his back. “No, sorry, I think I’ve got enough weight on my shoulders. It’s just… There’s something I need to tell you, and as of recent times…" Engels looked around. "Perhaps inside is safer. I think Wander may want to know as well.” “Okay, fine, get up, just… try to fit in the door.” The changeling tapped on the bench again. The stocky griffon caught up quickly, walking by the trudging changeling, nearly double his size on all fours. Nexus banged his hoof on his horn a few times to get it to light up. A spark sipped into the crystalline lock mechanism at the front, and the door clicked. He pushed it open, letting himself in, while Engels struggled to squeeze through for a few moments. There was no sign of Nexus' fiancée on the first floor. Pointing at the door to the reading room, Nexus bent over, unfastening the case, leaving it in the hallway. He heard the griffon grunt as he got himself through the doorway, and the changeling quickly locked the door from inside. “Wander?” Nexus called out. “I’m home. I got guests from work for a bit, I’ll be up there soon. Don’t bother getting down, they don’t eat what we eat.” “I’m a vegetarian, actually,” came Engels’ voice from the reading room. Nexus rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” the synaptic said. Walking in, he found the griffon in the same armchair Lockvara sat in a few hours earlier. “Alright, tell me, what’s so important?” The magpie sulked in the seat, talons gripping the feline knees. There was a frown on his beak, and he stared at the pictures lining the walls. “What in Inferno is this place turning into?..” the griffon muttered. “You’ve lived here longer than I have. Is this normal?” His eyes turned to Nexus for a moment. “Eh… I dunno. Aren’t you the freaking… relations… whatever… expert?” The changeling shrugged, grabbing a glass off the table and splashing the contents in his mouth, setting off a brief fizzling. “That’s politics, Nexus,” the old magpie said. “Not reality. Besides, it’s just to cover my assets. I’m amazed those loons hired me.” He touched a claw against the significant amount of muscle all over his upper half, visible even from under the black vest and white shirt. “Looks like realpolitik to you, does it?” “Well, shit,” Nexus said with a small chuckle. “I guess. Me, I dunno if it’s my place to speak. Only taken to so much identity brainwashing, you know. Hard to say where I’m looking at all this from.” “Whose brainwashing? The Queen’s?” “Nah, the ponies. You know, being hypnotized under drugs and told that you’re an individual now. When you lived the entire, uh, five years of your life already being one, and only, like, occasionally had your brain scrambled by the Queen-bitch. Yeah, that was nice.” The synaptic growled, his fangs showing. He rested his forehooves against the table. “Thanks for reminding me.” “My apologies,” Engels said. “You’ve got to have a clearer view on this, though. You’ve been through the Wedding War. Do you think there really are maniacs running around in masks, killing changelings willy-nilly?” He perched his beak on top of his crossed talons. Nexus glared at him for a few seconds, forcefully taking a deep breath before speaking. “You— Okay, yeah, there are. There fucking are. I..." Nexus stopped himself, looking sideways for a moment. "Look, ponies went nuts after the “war”. Fuck it, there wasn’t a war! You should know. When the network went boom, we went feral for a bit, and then we scrambled together under different synaptics, the bigger gangs used Proxies... whatever. You can’t freaking blame us for doing what we were meant to do. But the ponies, though, fuck me, what excuse have they—” He stopped, cupping his face in his hooves and hissing. “You get me.” “I see. Do you think these masked ponies are problem for the Boss and his plans?” “Uhuh," Nexus mumbled through his hooves, head still resting on the table. “A bunch of pony fanatics who rip and tear anything they don’t like. I’ve seen them, you know. This is, like… I’d say bullshit, but I got more experience than I want. Rumors are true. They’re out there." He shrugged and cleared his throat, slowly banging his head against the table. "Fuck, maybe your guys are training these lunatics in your army camps, then they come here, rough Equestria up, and then you step in, saying this place crossed the line and you'd like to take over cause the Princess clearly ain't planning on doing anything. Like, shit, they got no rules, they got no… equinity, or whatever. I'm rambling, but we're in Equestria, it's as likely as anything else.” “Yeah… as likely as anything else," Engels muttered, cupping his beak in his talons and sighing. "Gnarly, isn’t it? Someone’s going to have to clean up this entire mess.” The griffon rose from the seat, standing on his hind legs. Nexus' eyes shot open. His head snapped up and he gave a sharp hiss. The industrial hammer Engels bore in his talons smashed right into Nexus’ raised head, crushing through the horn and flattening the snout. A crinkle of gears and a loud whistle saw the remnants of the changeling’s pulsating cerebral cortex boil, erasing the wave of green that had begun to seep away from his head. “Miss Wanderlust, we’ve had an accident here. I think we need an ambulance. Would you mind coming down?..” This is Dr. Triage's personal network pager. In case you wish to set up an appointment, I'm sorry to say that I am no longer in business. Please realign your phonocrystal to— Hey, Synth... Nexus here. I hope this piece of trash works, it's making my cortex shit itself. Yeah, I can't do this by letter. They'll track this, but they'd have tracked a paper too... It's fine as long as the Boss doesn't know you bought these fancy phonocrystals. Okay, not a word of this to anyone else, though. Not a fucking peep, you hear? I'm not worried about myself, I'm worried about you. I'm going to be gone for a while. Can't say where or for how long, but I won't be in Carol. It'll stay that way for a long time. I know what the Boss has planned for you, he wants me in on it, too... Well, I won't be around. Business came up, I'm sure you'll see. Look, fuck, I really can't be specific, these cocksuckers probably copied the way they work from our fucking brains, they're gonna listen in. So, basically... Sorry, but I guess you won't get to be at our wedding. I don't want to wait anymore, once shit is even remotely stable, I'm marrying Wander and setting the fuck down. As far down as I can set. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'll have a job, it'll suck, but it's something I'm used to. It's not gonna be as much of a clusterfuck as being under the Boss. What I want is... Look out for yourself, dude. You know I know I owe you for life. You're the reason I lived long enough to find a way out of here. I feel like a cheap mule whore leaving you like this, but that thing has its slimy limbs all over you, and you're gonna have to figure your own way out of this - you know I couldn't have helped. I'm not guilting you, Synth, but you're right - I am a fucked up cadaver, and all I ever do is leave a mess. This shit, it just, like, it was random, you know? Like a brick falls on your head, only in a good way. And I have to take this, and I have to do it now. Blacktop has lasted us long enough, but there's no living like this anymore. I'll find a way to contact you once I'm all set up at the new place. I'm sure you'll find your way out of this shit, you always have. You'll outlive me yet, and my chances of having something that's... that's like a... fucking life, yknow? They just jumped a thousand points, yeah? Remember when we talked, when you agreed with me for once? Just make it through, Synth. See you on the other side. Whoever's listening to this, suck a minotaur cock. *** ... --- - --- June 15th, 1013 AN - 2:14 PM Carol City, Equestria 15th Minuano Ave Ditzy stood in front of the door with a compass-shaped window. Dinky stood to her side, shuffling in place nervously. The grey mare looked through the window, seeing equines move around in the house, but she remained still. Light rain was falling down, and the mare kept an umbrella tucked between her chest and left leg, mostly covering the unicorn filly. “Mom… I don’t think we should be here,” she said, nudging her foreleg. Ditzy looked down at her, forcing her bad eye in place. The filly looked away, continuing to tap her hooves on the grass. The mare glanced at the paper peeking out of the front pocket of an old, torn orange rainjacket she wore. Bending it back with a hoof, she looked closely at a specific line marked with red pen, after which the paper was cut off. ...Nexus|fmr. Roadrunner, now Parasol: 15th Minuano Ave, multiple counts of embezzling and theft. Likely to disobey final order. Cadaver bound. Blackmail? Synth|fmr. Dr. Pillbox, now Dr. Triage... Above the marked line was a pair of photos - a skull-faced, snake-eyed synaptic with a messy mop of greenish hair on his head, and a lanky, pale pink unicorn mare with strands of unkempt blonde hair fallen on her swollen eyes. Ditzy hyperventilated, eventually gulping. She turned her head, looking at the number marker on the right side of the door. She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. Her hoof hammered on the door until somebody ran up to take it. The equine behind the door spent a few seconds looking on the mare before slowly unlocking it. Standing in front of Ditzy was a light blue old earth mare with a grey beehive mane. She squinted at her through a pair of half-piece glasses. “Hello, ma’am,” she said. “Can I help you with something? Or do you need Woody?” She looked up at the rain-soaked pegasus in front of her. Ditzy's hoof rose to her throat and made a few gestures. After a short pause, the elderly pony nodded. “Oh, alright…” Ditzy furrowed her brow, getting the paper out of her pocket and crumpling it up so only the pictures were at the front. She then held it up in front of the mare. As she did so, she rolled her good eye, seeing Dinky having run off to stand under the palmtrees, holding on to one nervously.  Next to the older mare sat a puffy, orange cat, staring at Ditzy while its tail swung back and forth. Its eyes moved to the photograph, and stayed attached there while the animal itself went completely still. “Just give me a second…” the old mare croaked, leaning in to squint at the pictures. Ditzy tensed up, her wings nearly spreading open. In their brief shuffle, the knives clanged against the hanging zipper blades of the jacket, but the rain drowned out the noise. “Oh… Oh dear. Ohhh dear… This, um, changeling - was he a friend of yours?” The pegasus stared at the elderly earth pony for a few seconds, causing her to back down and look back, where another pony was carefully stepping down the stairs from the second floor, a pile of boxes fastened to his back. She turned around to see Ditzy nod rigidly. “So you don’t know… Oh, dear. Your friend… He was killed, right about a month ago. Him and his girlfriend. It happened in here... They didn’t even touch their things… The kitty is his, we took him in. Woody is still taking their other things out. We only just settled in... It was cheap, because of the murder, but we— Oh, I'm sorry to be insensitive. They told us he didn’t even have any friends…” The purple mare covered her mouth up, sniffling. “I’m so sorry about this. He may have been a changeling, but I’m sure he wasn’t one of the bad ones. If you’d like, you can look through his things, they’re—” The mare was cut off by Ditzy slamming the door shut from outside and storming off, losing the umbrella and letting it fly off. Dinky’s hoofsteps approached her when she had already crossed the carriage stop, and it took her tugging on her mother’s tail to get her to stop. “I… I guess I said we shouldn’t have come here,” the filly said, grasping the runaway umbrella. “Come on, mom… Let’s take the bus home. I don’t feel good around here…” The mare sat on the bench. A few minutes later, a public transport carriage stopped by and they entered, taking the route back home.