//------------------------------// // Widow's Bite // Story: Crime Pays // by chillbook1 //------------------------------// “Jesus, Twi… Are you okay?” “I have a hole in my arm.” “But does it hurt?” “Oh, sorry, I misunderstood your question. I have a fucking hole in my arm!” I knew he meant well, and that there wasn’t much one could say in this situation, but it really did hurt a lot. I just had to rip a large bit of metal out of my arm, which was currently being sewn shut. I was bleeding, I was swearing, and I was swallowing pills at much higher than the recommended rate of dosage. So pardon my language. “Was she like this when you got her, Dash?” Spike asked as he was finishing up my arm. My pain was far from gone, but the drugs were helping to dull it. I was on my bed, surrounded by every member of the house, save for my assailant. Even her sister was there, no doubt to get her fix of blood and violence. “Pretty much,” said Dash with a shrug. “Considering the whole being shot thing, I’d say she’s handling things pretty well.” She stared at my wound uneasily. “Good thing you know how to do stitches.” “Oh, I don’t. This is trial and error,” said Spike, poking my newly-sealed wound. “It’s why I keep asking her if it hurts.” “It does,” I reminded them all. “You done? Cause I could really use some rest. It’s not every day that I get shot, and I’d like to enjoy the rest of it while I can.” Spike packed up his sewing kit, checked my arm one last time, then handed my painkiller’s to Dash. “Stay with her, make sure she doesn’t OD,” sighed Spike. “Twi, stay in bed, try to stay hydrated, et cetera. Sweetie, Scootaloo, come on. I need your help to get stuff for dinner.” And, with that, Spike led the two girls out of the room. Rainbow took a seat next to me, flipping the bottle of pills over in her hand. She waited until she was certain that Spike and the kids were gone before popping open the pills and laying two on the dresser next to my bed. “I’m stealing some,” Dash informed me. She took out another two, then swallowed them dry. “What are these? Oxy?” She read the label. “Yup. Thought so. Oh, fuck, that’s gonna be fun in a few.” “Glad to know that you’re enjoying yourself,” I muttered. “Hey, if you can get high, I should be able to.” “If you touch my pills again, I’ll give you a reason to need them.” I was mostly joking, but Dash wasn’t quite sure, so she set the pills down. “So, let’s get down to business,” said Dash. “Whose ass are we kicking?” I raised my eyebrow in confusion. “Well, I’m not letting some cartel fucks get away with shooting my boss. Who do we have to fuck up?” I couldn’t do anything without Dash’s help at the moment. We’d need to be on the same page if we were going to leave soon, which was the plan. I needed to tell her. But… I was paranoid. If Rarity truly did shoot me, which was the only explanation I had, she would need to know where I was. She couldn’t have, I never told her. Unless… “I really don’t know,” I sighed. “It could’ve been anyone. They probably weren’t even aiming at me. The sniper killed three people but let me go. Why would they do that?” She was toying with me. The White Widow had a habit of that. She liked to savor her kills, to let her victims know that they are powerless to stop their own demise. That’s why she kept Applebloom alive for so long, why she mocked AJ with her sister’s death before pulling the trigger. But, like killing the Apple sisters, she would move quickly. Once she tasted blood, she had to pounce. “Hey, Rainbow, would mind fetching me a glass of water?” I asked. “Oh, and maybe a bucket? The drugs make me feel a bit queazy.” “There should be one under the sink,” said Dash, pushing herself to her feet. “Be right back. Don’t die while I’m gone.” I smirked as Dash left to get what I had asked for. I appreciated her eagerness to get back at whoever had wronged me.That loyalty was becoming a rarity in my world. I would need that if things end up going the way they seemed to. Dash truly did deserve more thanks than I gave her. She returned a short bit later, with both a tall glass of ice cold water and a small, orange bucket. She set the bucket next to my bed, handed me my water, then returned to her seat. “Thanks,” I said, taking a tiny sip. Then, I brought my finger to my lips. When I was certain the Dash understood, I emptied my glass into the bucket. Then, I pulled out both my burner and my personal phone. One at a time, I carefully tore them in two, exposing the wires, battery, and other electronic bits. I dropped my phone debris into the bucket. Then, I beckoned for Dash’s phone. Uneasily, she handed it to me, and I repeated the process. I gently shook the whole thing, just to ensure that water would sink into every crevice and ruin any sort of delicate technology. “Keep talking,” I mouthed as I rolled out of bed. “So… Spike and Rarity, back together, huh?” she said nervously. “That’s cool. It’s nice to see them happy.” She had to fight the urge to ask what I was doing as I moved throughout my room, running my hand along the edges of my dresser, the frame of the door, the seams where wall met wall. “I’m glad Spike did what he did,” I said, still making my passes. “I’d hate to split them up. Again.” Once I was certain that there was nothing hidden in my room, I returned to my bed. “Have you seen my mask?” “I left it in the truck,” said Dash. “You want me to grab it?” “No. It might be bugged. It definitely has a tracker,” I murmured. Dash raised an eyebrow, but I didn’t let her start with questions yet. “Look, we don’t have much time. We need to figure out what we’re going to do, then do it.” “You’re losing me, Boss.” “Rarity was the sniper.” Rainbow froze, her lips moving without producing sound. “We need to act.” “How do you know?” she asked. “How do you know it was her?” “The bullet. It was one of the diamond bullets,” I said. “She didn’t kill me now, but she will soon. This was just for fun. Next time, it’s for keeps.” “What do we do?” she asked. “We can’t kill her, can we?” “Even if I wanted to, I don’t think so. She’d see us coming from a mile away.” I scratched at my stitches, as if trying to claw away my doubt and fear. “We need to leave. This week, no later. But it’ll be suspicious if I start moving around too much. I’m going to need you to talk to Rift and get everything set up for you.” “Alright. I can handle that. When?” “Tomorrow. Find an excuse to get out of the safe house,” I said. “Then run to the money spot and meet up with Rift. Have him find a place to stay in Ponyville. Tell him we don’t have time to be picky. We leave as soon as possible.” “Shit… I’ll tell Scoots to start packing.” “No. She can’t know until we’re on our way to Ponyville. Rarity might be able to tell that something is up, and that’s a recipe for disaster.” I laid back in bed, my stomach turning over itself. I couldn’t tell if it was because of dread or the painkillers. “I need you to get rid of the bucket and phone parts. We’ve been needing new burners anyway.” “Alright. I’ll be back soon.” Dash grabbed the bucket and headed for the door. “Need anything before I leave?” I reached to my holster and drew my revolver, turning it over in my hand. “I’ll manage,” I said. With a snicker, Dash disappeared from the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. As bad as things were, we hadn’t actually deviated much from the original plan. Everything was about the same, except for me being shot. That was actually quite assuring. My plan was still holding up. Only difference now was that I had a much more firm deadline. But, for now, all I could do is sit and suffer. My eyes soon fell on the painkillers that Dash left on my dresser. I didn’t like the pills. They had made everything fuzzy and floaty. Everything felt heavy, and my stomach… I don’t understand how Dash took the pills for fun. I actually needed them and I would never willingly take them again. I hated how they made me feel, from the nausea to the drowsiness. When the pain in my arm reared its ugly head again, I decided to leave the pills where they lay. I still hadn’t gotten past the drugs that I already consumed, which still had some fight left in them. I was so tired… I fell asleep before Dash made it back to the room. My eyes refused to open. Frankly, I didn’t much care to make them. I felt as if all the energy in my body had been drained. I felt my gun weigh heavily in limp, unresponsive hand. I tried to turn over, to make myself more comfort, but my whole body felt three times heavier than it should’ve. It was bizarre. I felt like I had no control over my own body. Just flipping over was impossible with my current state. “Come on, darling. Wake up.” I bolted up, clumsily pointing my gun in the general direction of the voice. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, and it was shocking that I managed to hold off from pulling the trigger. Good thing I did, because I had my gun pointed directly at Widow. I could only see her eyes on account of the mask, but she didn’t seem disturbed by me at all. “Good morning,” she said calmly. She looked down at her watch. “Evening, more like.” “Jesus, Rarity.” I didn’t lower my gun. “I might’ve shot you.” “I’m lucky you look before you shoot, then.” She winked slyly. “I just heard what happened, I came as quickly as I could. Are you doing okay?” I don’t think I can overstate just how much I hated her. She couldn’t even let me be shot in peace. “I’m fine. Tired,” I muttered. I finally set my gun onto the bed. “Trying to figure out who did this to me.” There was a faint glint in her eyes, hinting that she was smiling behind her mask. She thought I was stupid. “Where’s Rainbow?” “She’s in the kitchen helping Spikey with dinner,” she said casually. At least I knew I was safe for the time being. Even she wasn’t crazy enough to attempt to murder me with Spike and Dash in the next room. “Oh. Okay. Erm… What brings you here?” I asked. She pointed at my arm. I looked down at the crooked stitching, just barely holding my arm together. “That, my dear, is an absolute mess,” she said. “Spike tried his best, but he’s never been the neatest of fellows. I need to fix those stitches before they come loose, or—God forbid—get infected.” She stood up, grabbed a sewing kit that she had beside her, then set up shop on my bed. She took a pair of thin scissors and began snipping at my stitches. “My, this is a nasty one,” she muttered. “Does it hurt?” “Not much. Spike had me on painkillers,” I said. She stiffened slightly, probably disappointed that I wasn’t in agonizing pain. “That’s good. Now, this is going to sting.” She ripped the thread firmly, which did hurt quite a bit. I tried not to show it, but I’m sure I let out a grunt of pain. “Never been shot before,” I said. I thought about it for a moment. “Eh, that’s not true. Got my knee grazed once, a long time ago. That feels like stubbing my toe in comparison.” “I take it someone removed the bullet already?” asked Rarity. I nodded. “Dash pulled it out for me when she came to pick me up.” Rarity nodded, then immediately went about restitching me. She was as rough as she could be without actively making the wound worse. She worked slowly, savoring my grimaces and flinches. I could imagine her licking her lips, tasting my pain in the way you would a fine wine. It was despicable. “And that should do it,” said Rarity, wiping my wound clean. “You tell me if that starts bothering you any.” She stood up, packing up her tools. “And Twilight, dear, I must say… I’m glad you’re okay. What happened to the sheriff… That easily could’ve been you.” “I beg your pardon?” I said, raising an eyebrow. “What I mean is that the south is a dangerous part of Equestria. Safety is not guaranteed.” She removed her mask to show my those pearly whites of hers. “That could have been you, dead on the sand. Keep that in mind, darling. There are some dangerous people around here.” She snarled for a fraction of a second, returning to her smile so quickly that it was obviously unintended. “Do keep that in mind.” She went to leave, pausing in the doorway. She gave me one last look of savage hunger before opening the door and stepping out. A few moments later, no doubt because she was dismissed from dinner duty, Dash returned, closing the door tightly behind her. “You okay?” she asked. I wasn’t. I was livid. She was taunting me! Mocking me. Toying with me before she killed me. And to make matters worse, she thought it’d be easy. She was taking her time, trying get as much of my suffering as she could to satisfy her sick cravings. She thrived off of my pain, my fear, my uncertainty. She would watch as I wondered who had shot me, knowing with disgusting satisfaction that I would never know until it was too late. She thought I was stupid. She thought it’d be easy to kill me. She thought wrong. “The plan has changed,” I said. “I need a burner.” Dash passed me a brand new phone, sitting on the bed next to me. “I grabbed new ones when you were out,” she said. “What’s the plan?” I ignored her, then dialed out Rift’s number. After a few moment of ringing, the lines connected. “Brooke residence,” he said. “Who’s calling?” “Cut the crap, Rift. I need your help,” I said. He sighed tiredly. “Jesus, why do you guys always need my help?” He chuckled slightly. “Oh yeah. It’s cause I’m just that damn good. What do you need, Dusey?” “I need you to get me some things, then get ready for some work,” I said. “I have a plan to put together that’s going to need some materials.” “We hitting a bank?” he asked. “We’re hitting something. Just not a bank.” I spent a day watching Rarity and Spike. I studied the way that they spoke to each other. I watched every hug, kiss, and loving gaze as if I needed to pass a test at the end. Rarity noticed, and it only served to fire her up more. She took joy in knowing that I was so focused on their relationship. It confirmed everything she ever thought, and cemented the fact that she was the better woman. I smiled internally at the very idea. I spent another two days managing Dash and Rift, and doing research. I had to subliminally interrogate Spike to uncover the location of a bar. The bar that he met Rarity in. Drifter’s Saloon had closed several years ago, which only served to save me money by removing the need for any bribery. I put Rift in place across from the bar, where he would wait for my signal. From there, I had only three variable to concern myself with. Variable one: Sweetie Belle. She would be easy enough to deal with. All I had to do was subtly convince Scootaloo to head out to the arcade the day of the deed. Variable two was Spike. Again, he was nothing difficult to handle. All I did was set up a small heist one town over, which he would leave for before Rarity returned home. That brings me to the final—and most unpredictable—variable. Rarity was the most dangerous element of this plan. If any of us made a single misstep, it could end with one or more of us dying. I wasn’t concerned, though. Rarity had made a mistake by underestimating me. She would soon regret that. All the pieces were in place. Dash and I sat in the bar. The children were as far away from the action as possible. Rift was where he needed to be. Spike was gone. And I had his phone. Now, all that I needed to do was pull the trigger and set everything in motion. “We sure about this?” asked Dash. “Yes. I’ve spent too much time and effort planning this out,” I said, tapping my finger on the counter. “I’m not throwing it away now.” “In fairness,” said Rift, his voice ringing through my earpiece. “You threw away a perfectly sound plan less than a week ago.” “Touche.” I raised Spike’s phone, then sent out my text. I had spent ages preparing, revising, deleting and retyping it. Hey, babe. I have a surprise for you at the bar. Meet me there as soon as possible “And now,” I said with a sigh. “We wait.” “Jesus, this is a mess,” grumbled Dash. She nervously tapped her foot. “Where do we go from here?” “Ponyville. Rift has a place set up,” I said. “Hm. Never been,” she said. “Heard it’s shitty, though.” I shrugged my shoulders, deciding to keep my Ponyville plans to myself. For now. “How long do you think it’ll take for her to get here?” “I have no clue. Depends on where she is.” I pulled out a cigarette and started smoking. I was starting to get worked up, and that was no good. “Ten minutes, minimum. Thirty max.” Fifteen minutes, as it so happened. While I was on my third cigarette (those things would kill me before Rarity ever had the chance), the doors swung open, and Rarity slowly, carefully, confusedly walked in. She scanned over the room, searching for the reason she was there. “So you got one too?” I asked. Rarity blinked, looking confused. “A text, I mean. From Spike. Said he wanted to say something to us?” “Oh. I thought… Hm. I don’t actually know what I thought,” said Rarity, pulling out her phone. “He didn’t happen to tell you what he was calling us here for, did he?” “Nah. We’re just as clueless as you,” said Dash. She locked eyes with me for a moment before rising from her seat. “Hey, I’m gonna go smoke a bowl. Call me if Spike shows up.” She disappeared out of the back door of the bar, leaving me alone with the White Widow. For the first minute, it was silent. I just sat there, basking in the moment. “It isn’t like Spike to do something like this,” murmured Rarity, tapping on her phone. She slowly began pacing in a small circle just in front of the window. She was making this too easy. “I agree,” I said with a nod. “He’s been acting strange lately. Kind of nervous.” Rarity stopped in her tracks. Apparently, that was very interesting to her. “N-nervous? Nervous how?” I smirked slightly at how quickly she lost her composure. “I’m not sure. Just… weird. This surprise must be something.” “I have the shot, Medusa,” Rift whispered. “Are you ready? One cough is yes, two is no.” I coughed twice. She wasn’t getting off that easy. “So what do you think it is?” I asked. “I don’t know why he couldn’t just tell us at home. Why have us come to this dirty, dusty old bar?” “This is where we met,” she said, trying not to sound offended. I’m happy to report that she failed. “Oh. I presume it was in better shape back then?” I snickered. “Though, knowing Spike, it wasn’t. Not by much, at least.” “It was a fine bar. It’s where I met the love of my life, so it was perfect. As far as I am concerned.” Now, she seemed properly angry. She really didn’t like it when I belittled anything related to her and Spike. “I’m sure,” I said, as patronizingly as possible. “Looks like crap now, though. Spike really does know how to pick them.” My gaze lingered on her for a moment. “Doesn’t he?” “I beg your pardon?” she snarled through gritted teeth. “I don’t think that you thought about that very much, Ms.Sparkle.” “Oh, I thought about it quite a bit.” We locked eyes and, for the first time since we met, I stood my ground. I refused to be intimidated by her anymore. She wouldn’t get be to back down like during chess. This time, she would bow to me. Her response was interrupted by Dash’s return. She seemed significantly calmer, which was to be expected. She took a seat next to me, then pulled out her phone. She started texting, probably checking on Scootaloo. “He’s still not here?” groaned Rainbow. “Jesus, some of us have places to be.” “How’s your arm, Twilight?” asked Rarity. Her voice was devoid of concern or warmth. She wanted to know so she could relive my pain. “Oh, it’s fine. Thanks for asking. I’m glad you brought it up, actually,” I said. I stood up from my chair and began pacing. “I’ve been thinking about who could’ve shot me. I think I’ve figured it out.” “Oh? Do tell.” Obviously, she was confident in herself, which was one of her many mistakes. I couldn’t wait to tear down her illusion of perfection. “Well, I haven’t been here long enough to make any new enemies, so it had to be someone from the north,” I said. “I thought it through, and I realized it could’ve been one of only two parties. Either my brother and his squad or a gang headed by a guy named Rumble. I soon ruled out Rumble’s gang, because they wouldn’t go out of their way to kill me unless Dash was there. Rainbow pissed them off, you see.” Rarity was clearly bored, which was fine. I wasn’t doing this for her. “So it had to be my brother. Except it couldn’t be. If Shining truly wanted to shoot me, he would have shot me dead. This arm shot really put a wrench in my reasoning, until I thought of something. “What if my assailant didn’t want me dead just yet? What if they wanted to torture me? So I started looking for people like that. Then, I looked at how sloppily it was done.” “Sloppy?” asked Rarity. “Oh, yeah. They could’ve shot me in the leg. Would’ve made it harder to defend myself or run, if I wanted to do that,” I explained. “It wasn’t very careful. If AJ didn’t have a first aid kit in her truck, I might’ve bled out. Then, there’s the matter of the bullet.” “You said Rainbow pulled it out, yes?” she asked, fiddling with her phone. “Well, I’m a liar. I took it out, and I noticed something,” I said, trying my hardest not to grin. “I noticed a diamond in the bullet.” I coughed once and, before she could raise her phone completely to her ear, a dull thump cut through the air, followed by the wet squelch of a bullet sliding through flesh, and Rarity’s scream as she collapsed under her own weight. Blood oozed from the wound in the side of her neck, pooling around her and seeping into her hair. She clasped her hand on the wound in a futile attempt to slow the blood. “Rainbow, I need your gun,” I said. Dash silently tossed me her handgun, which I easily caught. “Thank you.” Then, I turned my attention to my prey. “For the record, this is how you should’ve done it, Rarity. I accounted for every variable, and that is why you won’t walk out of this situation like I walked out of mine.” “Y-you bitch…” she gasped, shuddering in pain. “Spike will gut you for this…” “No, he won’t,” I said. “When he finds out… Well, he’ll learn to live with it.” “No! He chose me, not you… Me…” “Who do you think gave him the choice?” I crossed the room, crouching next to Rarity. “You know why he chose you? Because I told him to. If it weren’t for me making him choose you, he never even would’ve considered it.” “You’re a liar! Lying… Cunt…” With every word, she grew weaker, and it was clear that she wouldn’t last much longer. Fine by me. I got what I wanted. “Well, now you’ll never know for sure,” I said. “You want to know what’s ironic about this whole thing? You tried to kill me for trying to steal your man, but I never wanted him. I told you from the beginning, I wasn’t interested in him. Not like that.” “You stole him… Last time…” She coughed, splattering blood on her chest. “I won’t let it happen again.” “I didn’t steal him last time.” I pressed the gun to her forehead. “I didn’t even know you existed, darling.” I pulled the trigger, dropping the gun next to her. I trembled with something I couldn’t immediately describe. Adrenaline, excitement, exhilaration. After a bit, I decided that it must’ve been satisfaction. The kill gratified some sick, primal desire in me to prove that I was better. And I was. “Grab her phone, ID, driver’s license,” I ordered, crossing the room and taking a seat on the far side of the bar. “Anything that could be used to identify her. I need to think about what I’m going to tell Spike.” Rainbow nodded, then went over to frisk the White Widow’s body. In the meantime, I sat quietly. Spike would understand what I had done, right? He’d know that I’d never kill Rarity if I didn’t have to. Murder is bad for business. Rift was right. As my best friend, he’d find it in him to forgive me. “Rarity!” I looked up towards the door to see Scootaloo and—more importantly—Sweetie Belle, clutching her phone to her ear, absolute despair etched on her face. Dash and I both froze, unsure of how to deal with her. “Sweetie—” Rainbow didn’t get much more out before Sweetie pounced on her, pinning her to the ground with incredible strength. She smashed Rainbow’s head against the floor, fiddling in her pocket and quickly pulling out a switchblade. She flipped it out before I was up out of my seat and halfway there. I wouldn’t make it in time. By the time I’d get there, Dash would be dead. A loud gunshot rang throughout the bar, freezing me in my tracks. Blood and brain dripped out of the new hole in the side of Sweetie’s head, pooling and combining with her sister’s. She fell, dead, onto Rainbow’s chest, who pushed her off immediately. We both looked up in search of her savior. Scootaloo clutched the gun I had discarded, the barrel still smoking, with tears in her eyes. She gaped, horrified at the sight of what she had done. I made my way to her, then tugged the gun out of her hands. I dropped the clip and popped out the bullet in the chamber before throwing the gun across the room. I looked at Dash, who stared silently at her little sister. “Come on,” I said quietly. “We’ve got to go.” “What did you originally intend to do with Sweetie Belle?” “I’d leave her to the authorities. She wouldn’t have known about Rarity, so she wouldn’t have given us up for fear of implicating her sister.” “I see. But, instead, you let a small child handle your dirty work.” That irritated Twilight quite a bit. Now she could see that the prosecutor really was just trying to anger her by this point. Twilight couldn’t see much reason for that, other than for his own enjoyment. She shook her head, opting not to let him annoy her too much. “Like I said, I never intended to happen,” sighed Twilight. “And I couldn’t un-shoot her, unfortunately. So, I made it work.” “How did Ms. Dash take it?” asked the prosecutor. “I take it she didn’t appreciate the situation you put her sister in?” “She did not. But, as I said, I made it work.” “Of course. So, next stop is Ponyville. Why there?” Twilight grinned. Perhaps the prosecutor had been learning something from her after all. “Oh? And what makes you think there was any particular reason?” asked Twilight. “It’s cheap, closer to home, and bigger than Appleloosa. There were some juicy heists that could happen.” “You always seem to have some sort of ulterior motive, even to what seems like a completely logic-driven plan.” “Heh. Well, you’re right. While researching Ponyville as a potential new Mythos HQ, I discovered that there was something there that I wanted to get my hands on,” explained Twilight. “Well, two somethings, actually. But that didn’t come until later.” “Then what happened first?” “First, we moved in,” said Twilight. “Then… We met with Simon Oswald Lawler.” “And who is that?” asked the prosecutor. “You’d never believe me if I told you.” Twilight chuckled. “I could hardly believe it myself. For now, let’s just call them… Mythos’ newest business partners.”