Cape and Cowl II: Puppetmaster

by Artimae

Chapter One

Author's Note:

Merry Christmas, Forest <3

1

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue… again?” The pegasus cackled at her own joke, stepping deliberately down the stairs, tugging the leash behind her.

“Don’t worry,” the stranger said as she reached the bottom of the staircase. “Your family is safe. For now. Let’s just think of them as… insurance. So you’ll do exactly what I say and when I say it-” The pegasus was cut off as she found herself thrust up against the wall, Snow Storm’s foreleg pressing against her throat.

“Snowy…” a voice called out from the middle the stairs. A voice which sent an icicle down Snow Storm’s spine. It couldn’t be...

The pegasus sputtered, trying to laugh as her windpipe was being strangled. “Why… why are you taking it out on me? It’s too bad Primsy here has barely said a word. She was very talkative when I first picked her up! She’s the one you should be mad at, not me.”

Primrose slowly walked down the stairs, the leash attached to her neck.

“Snowy, I… they were going to kill him, I couldn’t just-”

“You hear that!?” the pegasus taunted, falling into a laughing fit even as Snow Storm nearly strangled her. “Sold you out to save the life of the stallion who killed your own brother!” She cackled madly, and worse, genuinely. “You just can’t make this up!”

Snow Storm slowly lifted her hoof from the pegasus’ throat, turning towards Prim. She felt...nothing. Even when she had fought for her life against Bloodshot, she had felt something. But now it was as if the bonds that had brought them together had been severed in an instant. If Primrose was dying in an alleyway as her brother had, she could just walk away. It was a terrible, horrible thought, but as she stared into the mare’s eyes she knew it was true. She was beyond hating, now.

“I think I’ll just leave you two for now. After all, you must have so much catching up to do… see you later, ‘Snowy’," the pegasus taunted, walking out the door. “Oh! I almost forgot.” She poked her head back inside. “Two nights from now, the park fountain, midnight. And if you even think of going to the Guard, you’ll get your folks back. In pieces. Got it? Good.” And with that, she took off.

“Snowy, I…” Prim began.

“I didn’t mean… I already lost someone I cared about, and s-she was about to kill B-Buck in his hospital room, right in front of me! I had a chance to save him this time, Snowy!”

“Shut your mouth,” Snow Storm said coldly. “All I want to hear from you is who she was and where my family is.”

Prim bit her lip, fighting back tears as she spoke, “Abacus. That’s all I really know. And she never told me where they are.”

“... Tell me you were abducted, tortured, and brainwashed until you couldn’t handle the agony any longer. Tell me that, because I don’t want to think about the alternative.”

Prim shivered in place, more terrified than she had ever been in her life. If she told her what she wanted to hear, maybe she would forgive her, if only slightly… but she would never forgive herself. But if she told her the truth… would she even make it out of there alive? The mare that stared into her eyes was so far from the Snow Storm she had grown up with, it was hard to tell.

But she had to do it.

“Snowy… she told me she’d let him live, but only if I did as she said, and kept her informed of everything you did. The Red Hoof had been two steps ahead all along… and it was all my fault. I put you in danger to save Buck. I wasn’t tortured, or brainwashed.”

“And did you even stop to think that he was lying!?”

“She promised that if I didn’t keep telling her everything, she’d kidnap us both… and make me…” Primrose couldn’t bring herself to finish. “I couldn’t think about letting that happen, so I… I kept doing it.”

“‘Kept’...?” Snow Storm looked at Primrose finally, her eyes filled with disgust. “How long?” she asked quietly.

“These past few months. I was to keep an eye on you, but I did it from a distance. Every conversation between you and Pelleas, in particular. Snowy, I’m as good as dead now anyway, but before I go I’ve learned some things about the Red Hoof you could use against him.”

“Months!?” Snow Storm sent a hoof flying through the wall. Primrose screamed at the outburst. “He’s known for months!?”

“He was biding his time, wanted to make sure you thought you’d won!” Primrose blurted out, feeling herself on the verge of panicking. “That was why he took so long to do this! That, and he wanted to wait until you were out of town first.”

This time, Snow Storm slammed her head against the wall, more in frustration at herself than anything. “So stupid- where do you think you’re going!?” She slammed her hoof on Primrose’s tail, who had been trying to crawl away. “You made this mess. You help clean it up.”

Prim winced, closing her eyes “What do you want me to do?” she said, bracing herself for the same sort of beating she had seen her deliver to those thugs at the cinema a few months ago.

“Go find Bolt Buck. I’ll need him.”

Primrose eyed Snow Storm suspiciously. “He had nothing to do with this… he never asked me to-”

“I said I’ll need him,” Snow Storm repeated, grinding her teeth. By the Goddess, this mare was useless! “And if you try to run away, I’ll find you.”

Primrose nodded. As she turned to leave, she briefly considered asking if, should she somehow manage to get Snow Storm’s parents back, she could ever be forgiven for this.

But a part of her already knew the answer.

---

2

Lieutenant Flyntt was hardly one to let the little things bother him- normally, he’d have shrugged off just about anything, but the months after Pelleas’ sudden departure from the guard had managed to get to him. The Fulake had refused each and every new cadet he had been offered, instead turning to his oldest ally in the guard; alcohol. A dozen bottles of different shapes and sizes littered his desk, which was stacked with paperwork he couldn’t bring himself to look at.

“Whaddaya want?” he muttered curtly to the figure by the door, his back turned to them.

“Since when are you a desk jockey?” Lieutenant Aella asked, letting herself in to Flyntt’s rather small office. “And drinking on the job!? You could get tossed for this!”

“Since that cocky little punk just strode outta here like he was too good for us,” Flyntt said, slamming his current bottle onto his desk and turning to her, “I thought he was better than that…”

Aella shrugged. “He disagreed with the Captain’s methods in handling that filly.”

“So what? So did I… difference was I didn’t throw my armor to the ground, like suddenly the idea of being a guard was beneath him. Don’t he realize how many ponies would kill to reach that position? These days we’ve got more recruits tryin’ to sign up than we can handle… but no, that wasn’t good enough for him,” Flyntt spat out, his voice contemptuous. What he wouldn’t give for five minutes with that cocky little brat...

For a wonder, Aella giggled. “Well, you know why he did it, right?”

“Nope,” Flyntt admitted. That much had always bothered him, though he had been too proud to question whether his former subordinate had a decent reason to leave, “I just figured he wanted to change the system, and threw a tantrum the moment he couldn’t have his way.”

“Well, yes,” Aella conceded, sitting down and rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “But more than that, he threw a fit because he was smitten with the Mare do Well. And when the Captain turned right around to arrest her…”

Flyntt finally lowered his bottle to the desk, turning to look at her with bloodshot eyes.

“...Yeah. I guess we all do stupid stuff when we’re in love,” he said, thinking back on the days when he had tried to impress Aella, years ago. “But it’s too late now. The Captain will never let him back in, and the rest of the guys aren’t exactly crazy about him either… I’ll admit, I took his leaving a little more personally than I should’ve, heheh…”

The Fulake turned to his desk, brushing the bottles into a wastepaper basket with a single motion, then finally stood up, joints cricking.

“What do I do, Aella? I can’t let myself go like this… it’s been six months. What do I do?”

“Well first of all, you should go congratulate Murdoc. I bet you haven’t even heard the news, being cooped up in this box behind that stack of papers.”

“What, was the surgery to remove the stick from his ass successful?” Flyntt asked, grinning wryly at her.

“Just about,” Aella replied. “In fact, he’s got himself a Cadet now.”

At this, Flyntt seemed to sober up almost immediately. “Seriously? Murdoc’s been on the force as long as us, and he’s never found a cadet he could stomach, let alone one worth his time… so, who are they?”

“Amber Shield,” she informed him. “Niece of Brass Shield over in Liveryburg. She’s been giving Murdoc a run for his money trying to prove she’s got what it takes to maintain her family’s image.”

“A Shield? No wonder…” Flyntt chuckled, his mood having improved over hearing the news, “So, where is he? I wanna go congratulate him on not scaring off the newbie yet.”

“Well…” Aella shot Flyntt a wink. “He’s probably on his way out, seeing as his shift started and yours ended about ten minutes ago. You really need to keep better track of time.”

“Well then, might as well go have a word… oh, and, erm, Aella…?” he coughed, seeming nervous for some reason.

“Hm?” She cocked her head back as she stood halfway out the door. “Oh, I’d offer to buy you a drink but I see you have that covered quite nicely.”

“I was just wondering if, since you don’t have a cadet yourself, maybe we could partner up, like the old days?”

She cocked her eyebrow. “And this isn’t some subtle attempt to go out searching for Pelleas?”

“I’ll go talk to him some other time, but let’s face facts. As long as Leaf’s in command he’s got a snowball’s chance in Tartarus of becoming a guard again… and I’m more than a little worried he’s still the drama queen that stormed out of here… but none of that matters right now. What do you say?”

“Sounds like fun. I’ve got a feeling this is going to be a busy year anyway.”

“Yeah, me too… Aella, I get the feeling the Red Hoof is far from done with this city…” Flyntt said, following her out of his office.

* * *

“Captain Murdoc, I’ve fetched that coffee you asked for, sir!” An eager young mare saluted him proudly as she stood in front of his desk, which was far neater and more organized than Flyntt’s.

“Lieutenant,” he corrected, magically grasping the styrofoam cup and levitating it to himself.

“Whoops, sorry sir.” She blushed, slapping herself on the forehead. It was the third time she had called him Captain by mistake, but he had been unusually forgiving of it. After all, Amber Shield had an impressive resume for someone of her age, having already served two years in the Liveryburg guard before moving over to Manehattan.

“I looked over the case file like you asked me to, by the way. So far, nothing’s turned up in the case of the missing couple…” Amber Shield sighed, sitting down.

“You seem distracted,” Murdoc said, ignoring her report for now. “Why is that?”

“Well, I’ve been wondering about this ‘Mare do Well’ that the others have been talking about,” she said, turning to him, “is it really safe to let a masked vigilante roam our streets, sir?”

“You tell me,” he replied, tipping the coffee back and drinking. He let out a contented sigh as the coffee warmed him. “As I understand it, she’s been sighted in Liveryburg, too? Or, perhaps, it’s another one?”

“Well, as far as we know it’s another mare entirely,” Amber said. She sat down, but almost immediately stood up and paced the room again. “Though I have no idea what’s going on there… Liveryburg isn’t exactly around the corner, so it’d be a surprise if it was the same mare. For all we know, she was in operation before ‘our’ Mare do Well arrived on the scene…”

Amber Shield turned to her Lieutenant with curiosity plastered on her face. “Sir, I’ve only heard the rumors, but was it all true? That she helped to bring down one of the more dangerous ponies to ever walk our streets just a few months ago?”

“Yes,” Murdoc confirmed. “It was a… long day.”

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Amber got up and opened it, seeing Flyntt outside.

“Sir, Lieutenant Flyntt are here to see you,” she said.

“Way to state the obvious, kid,” Flyntt said, smirking as he walked inside, “So, you’ve finally chosen a cadet then, Murdoc? Congratulations.”

“Yes, she will make a fine Guard,” Murdoc said, causing Amber’s brown face to turn scarlet.

“T-thank you sir!” She saluted once more as he whispered something into her ear. “I’ll go and file my reports right away now,” she said, grabbing the case file from his desk, stuffing them into her saddlebags, and running out of the room.

“Wow, she’s pretty green for a Shield,” Flyntt said, shaking his head as he heard her crash into something outside. “Clumsy too… so, why’d you choose her, Murdoc? A chance to bask in the Shield family legacy?” he teased, throwing his rival a cocky grin.

Murdoc held his tongue - any mention of Pelleas would be an unfair shot, and highly unprofessional.

“Well anyway, Leaf’s been talking with some of the higher-ups, and he’s convinced the Red Hoof is planning something. Something big,” Flyntt said, deciding to change the subject. The air in the room grew stiff as the topic went to him. “From what we can gather, the Orange Family disappearance was his doing. Question is, what is he after, targeting a humble orange grove… it don’t make sense, if you ask me.”

“He’s obviously after something,” Murdoc muttered, finishing his coffee and tossing away the cup. “The bad news is the Captain hasn’t had any contact with him at all.”

“There’s no way the Mare do Well has him beat… he’s been around for decades, one mare isn’t going to bring him down that easily, even if she took down his favorite mad dog… oh, sorry, forgot it was time for your shift. Well, I won’t keep you,” Flyntt said, turning to leave.

Murdoc looked up as Amber stepped back in. “Close the door behind you. There’s another matter we must discuss privately.”

“Yes sir?” she said, closing the door and turning towards him.

“How is Pelleas doing?” Murdoc asked kindly enough. For a split second, he thought he saw a twitch on Amber’s face.

“He’s… getting by,” she said quietly, suddenly unable to make eye contact with her superior. “He’s not doing much these days. Just mopes about my place. All he ever talks about is her,” she said, a trace of bitterness in her voice. “I’ve told him to get a job, but I doubt he will. Frankly, sir? I’m getting tired of how pathetic he’s become… though I’d appreciate it if you kept that particular detail between us.”

“My dear, I hardly make it a habit of nosing into the personal lives of my kin, let alone announcing it to the world.” He looked her sternly in the eye. “I’m merely concerned that it may affect you and your work. It would be a shame if I would have to report any negatives to your uncle.”

“And have you any negatives to report, sir?”

“Only positives. Come now, it’s time to patrol. I’ve heard of an incident at the train station this morning.”

“Yes sir!”

* * *

A pair of guards were already at the scene when Murdoc and Amber Shield arrived. A witness was talking to them, her face white as she relayed the events she had seen.

“A pair of ponies wearing guard uniforms wandered over to this stallion in a cowboy hat, said they needed to check his luggage, but a few minutes later I heard a scream…” she shivered.

“I see… oh, hey Lieutenant. We’ve got a witness here, would you like to take her name, ask a few questions while we secure the crime scene?” one of them asked as Murdoc walked over to them.

“Yes, yes,” he said dismissively, waving a hoof at Amber. “Let’s see how you perform.”

Amber walked up to the witness, smiling companionably. “Cadet Amber Shield, Day Guard, First Shift. What is your name, ma’am?”

“Ember Glow,” the mare answered, “and I’ve been here for about three hours now, ever since it happened…”

“Alright, could you please describe what you saw?”

“Well, there were two ponies dressed in guard uniform, and they escorted a young man down the street there,” she pointed east, far from the station.

“I see... and what did they do?”

Ember Glow shook her head at this, “I don’t know, but whatever it was, he screamed so loudly that I could hear it all the way from over here…”

“Could you give us a description of the ponies involved?”

“Well, one was tall, his coat was greyish-brown and he had hazel colored eyes… the other had a strawberry-blonde mane, he had a slight lisp, and he was rather short… I’m sorry, that’s all I know.”

“Thank you for your assistance with this matter, ma’am,” Amber turned to Murdoc, “Sir, should we search the area the scream was heard from?”

“Yes, go ahead,” Murdoc said in a droning voice. It was good practice for the kid, at least, but he wished longingly for his warm, cozy office. The cold, crisp air of winter never agreed with him or his bad left-front leg.

Amber headed towards the stretch of road the mare had pointed to, only to stare, jaw open as it stretched out into the labyrinthine alleys of the city. The mare was completely unused to these streets, and as she was about to turn back she noticed something that made her freeze on the spot.

“S-sir, we have a blood trail here!” she shouted to her superior, more than a little scared. Two years in Liveryburg had not prepared her for the brutality of Manehattan’s criminals, it seemed.

Murdoc went to investigate.

---

3

Primrose felt sick to her stomach as she hung in the middle of the crowd. She knew the big fuss had been about Bolt Buck, and hearing a Guard say ‘blood’ had made her wince. Not in the least because the last time she had even spoken to him, it had turned into a shouting match…

She paced around his apartment, shooting a glance every now and then out the window, just in case that mare had decided to not keep her word. Bolt Buck would be home soon, and then Primrose could tell him the good news. The Red Hoof would never harass him again.

“Hey there Prim,” he grinned, opening the front door as he trotted in merrily, “I still can’t believe it’s finally over… I was certain the Red Hoof was never gonna just let me go like that, now that Bloodshot’s out of the picture. Guess he realized messing with me was also messing with her, haha!”

“Don’t worry, honey.” She smiled brightly, feeling good about herself. “I’ve made sure he won’t bother you ever again.”

“Yeah, I-” he paused, confused. “...Wait. Did you just say you made sure he’d leave me alone? No offense Prim, but I don’t exactly see you making him back off.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it!” she said, trotting over to the kitchen to fix him up a snack. “I promise, he won’t bug you anymore. He has more important things to deal with now.”

Bolt Buck walked over to her, the slightest trace of concern in his voice, “Er, what exactly do you mean, ‘more important things?’. And why are you so sure he won’t come after me? I mean, I sold him out. Unless we move out of the city, I’ll never be safe. Frankly, it’s a miracle I’m still around right now.”

“What does it matter?” Primrose asked, a little defensively. “I had a run-in with one of his lackeys, and I took care of it. For you.”

“You… ‘took care of it’?” he asked, now walking right up to her, looking her straight in the eye. “Primrose, tell me what you did. Please,” he added, now a tangible hint of dread underlining his words, his gaze never leaving hers for an instant.

She looked quickly and intently down at the food she was preparing for him. “I don’t see why I should,” she said snappishly. “You should just let it go.”

“Prim, if you’ve been talking with the Red Hoof’s guys I need to know what it was about,” he said, putting a hoof on her shoulders, “It’s very, very important that you be honest with me. What did they tell you, and what did you say?” he asked, his expression darkening.

“Nothing that concerns you,” she said shortly, trying to focus on the food.

Buck Bolt pinned her to the wall, a look in his eyes that she had never seen before.

“Primrose, you have no idea what these ponies are capable of!” he said, trying to keep his tone neutral and calm. “They abduct, they torture and they kill. Now frankly I don’t care what they’ve said, but I need to hear what you had to offer them in order to buy my safety. Because whatever it was, it isn’t safe here for us anymore. Now, for the last time… tell. Me. What. They. Said,” he snarled, a nasty underlying hint of a threat to his voice.

“Fine!” she spat, snarling at her coltfriend. Why couldn’t he have just let it go? “They know I’m a friend of the Mare do Well, and they said they’d leave you alone if I told them about her!”

At this, Buck backed away, winded and pale as though he had just taken a crossbow bolt to the heart. He backed into the kitchen wall and slowly, slowly dropped to his haunches, eyes wild and thoughts racing.

“You… you… what?” he managed after a few minutes.

“You heard me! I told them everything I know so you’d be safe!”

“You… you sold out your best friend, the one pony that actually stood a chance of bringing down that damned menace once and for all…” he mumbled before turning away in disgust. “Primrose… why? You know what I did. I killed her brother- your first love! And you sold her out? Don’t you think you owe her more than that?”

“She can take care of herself!” Primrose screamed, baring her teeth in a tight grimace. “And you can’t! Why do you even care? She put you in the hospital for a week!”

“You’re right- I shouldn’t care. You should!” he shouted back, his eyes burning into her. “You’ve been her friend since you were fillies! She trusted you, and you threw it all away… and worst of all, you act as if you should be proud of what you did! As if her safety doesn’t matter to you! As if the safety of the city doesn’t matter! Didn’t you give even a little thought to what the Red Hoof could do to her, you stupid, selfish girl? You think she’s invincible? What’s to stop the Red Hoof from sending a few of his men into her house at night, when she thinks her secret’s nice and safe? Well? WELL?”

“But… I did it for you…” she muttered quietly, staring down at the floor. Her ears drooped, and she began to sniffle.

Bolt Buck turned away, bitter, angry tears forming in his eyes.

“I know. I love you, Primrose. I always will. But I can’t overlook this. What you’ve done to her… someday, you might do it to me, too. Or maybe you won’t. I’ll never know, and that’s what scares me. I can’t trust you anymore.”

Bolt Buck turned, heading to the front door, grabbing his hat from the rack and sighing, turning to her one last time.

“Have you got anything else to say? Might as well make it count. We’ll never meet again.”

“Just… everything might be okay anyways. It’s been months since I told and nothing’s-”

“I don’t want to hear it. Your excuses, your half-truths… you laughed with me, loved me, looked me straight in the eye for all this time, and it was a lie. If you had even the decency to tell me straight off the bat, I might have forgiven you by now, but you didn’t… no wonder you quit your job.”

“Fine then!” she snapped, throwing a dish at Bolt Buck’s face and causing him to duck. Tears were spilling down her cheeks now. “Go! Who needs a murderer anyway!?”

“You did,” he managed, his voice cracking slightly when he finally spoke again, “You needed me for six long months, so badly that you sold her out to do it.”

Perhaps later on all of this would turn out to be a bad dream, some nasty illusion. Perhaps he would wake with a jolt, and the Primrose he had loved would be by his side, as sweet and innocent as the day he had met her.

But it was raining outside, and in that moment he knew in the deep pit of his stomach that that moment would never come. It never rained in his dreams.

At that moment, Primrose felt a hoof on her shoulder. A voice she could barely recognize made her blood freeze. She turned around and saw the wild eyes of Bolt Buck glaring at her, his hooves stained with blood. Thankfully, the crowd was ignoring them in favor watching what the Guards were doing.

“Where is she?” he muttered darkly.

---

4

Snow Storm paced the study of her parent’s mansion, a thousand busy thoughts jostling for attention as she desperately tried to piece together what Abacus had said to her.

Two days, fountain… by Epona, what evil is she going ask of me…?

Primrose had likely fled the city by now, the mare thought. The very mention of her name making her stomach churn, a series of cruel, vicious fantasies against the treacherous mare playing in her mind as she tried desperately to calm herself. She could only recall one time she had felt this scared, this powerless… and the memory made her send a hoof crashing into the wall, splintering the plaster.

“Snow Storm!” The voice of Bolt Buck desperately called from the front door, along with hard, loud knocking.

“It’s open,” she called back, slipping out of the study and into the main foyer. Only family was allowed in that precious study.

“-was attacked at the station, knocked one out, the other got away… it was a heck of a close call…” he said breathlessly, collapsing into a chair. “I’m sorry about Prim, by the way. I’d have never have approved, if she had told me sooner maybe… well, maybe things would be different right now.”

Snow Storm cocked her eyebrow at him. “You didn’t ask her to do this?

“As far as I know, she was told that if she didn’t comply, I’d be killed. She didn’t really think about this very much at all… outside of saving me, she ignored the consequences. And I’m sorry to say I’m not sure what I would have told her, if she had asked me beforehand. I don’t want to die.”

“Yet you were attacked this morning anyway, if what you said was true,” Snow Storm pointed out humorlessly. “So much for her grand heroics.”

“If she had told you right away… what would you have done? At the very least, you could have prepared for this. Instead, she kept us both in the dark, for six damn months… she’s not who I thought she was, that’s for sure.”

“The time for ‘what-ifs’ is over,” she said sharply. “You have experience with the Red Hoof - where would he take those he kidnapped?”

“Well, they’re not in the city anymore, that’s for sure,” Bolt Buck said, pacing around the room. “And traditionally, he’d take his hostages far away. Could be as far as Griffin Country…”

Bolt Buck sighed, staring at her for a moment before shaking his head. “What exactly are you going to do? He’s got you in a checkmate."

“I… don’t know,” Snow Storm admitted, falling to her haunches in a slump and scowling at that metaphor. Now I really hate chess. “I have no leads… this city is huge, let alone Equestria. What do you know about the mare named Abacus?”

Bolt Buck racked his brain for a moment; it had been a long time since he’d met the mare, and even then it was only a brief encounter. “Abby… she’s damn smart, from what I know. The head of most of the Red Hoof’s operations… she’s a big part of the reason he’s so untouchable. They say she’s the only one knows who he really is… and she’s pure evil. A cold, calculating bitch that is capable of any cruelty. You saw the Mayor, didn’t you? She did that to him herself,” he said, a mixture of fear and disgust in his voice. “Why? What’s she got to do with this?”

“She’s going to make me do… well, something,” Snow Storm answered. Her ears drooped and she shuddered at the very thought of what Abacus would ask of her. “She’s using the Oranges as leverage against me. If I don’t do what she asks…”

“Ah,” said Bolt Buck with a frown. “Blackmail always was one of the Red Hoof’s best weapons. So, what’re you going to do about it?”

Snow Storm bit her bottom lip in a futile attempt to keep it from trembling. “The… the only thing I can do,” she said, fighting back a sob with all the strength she could muster. Even that was a losing battle, for her eyes began to shimmer with tears.

“I have to do what she says.”

---

5

Flyntt knocked on the door to Captain Leaf’s office, more than a little nervous. The Captain had become obsessed with bringing down the Red Hoof once and for all ever since the events of a few months prior.

I haven’t seen him this worked up in years… hope he hasn’t forgotten about his kid, Flyntt thought to himself as he waited outside the room.

“Come,” said a sultry voice unlike the Captain’s. Gilded Leaf’s face was sunken; a pair of bags hung beneath his eyes, as though he’d been working several shifts without sleep. Flyntt wouldn’t have been surprised if this were true.

"You wanted to see me, Captain?" Flyntt asked, cocking his head curiously. He'd been asked into Captain Leaf's office after his shift had ended, which was rarely ever a good sign.

"Bad news." Captain Leaf slid a note to Flyntt, scowling. "A development in the disappearance of the Oranges. I knew that bastard was behind it..."

His gut filling with dread as well as confusion, Flyntt turned the note around to read it:

'Dearest esteemed Captain of the Guard,

It will inevitably come to your attention that the Orange family is 'missing'. Rest assured that they are being well taken care of. For now, at least. My only condition for their safety is your unwavering understanding in the fact that the Mare do Well now works for me, and will continue to do so as I see fit.

She is mine now.

If it ever comes to my attention that the Guard is, in fact, aiding the Mare do Well in an attempt to undermine me, there will be consequences. To you, to this city, and especially to a lovely couple whose only crime was harboring the greatest thorn in my side. What a shame that would be, yes? Despite my financial endorsements elsewhere, nothing beats a citrus fruit from the Orange grove.

Yours truly,'

Where a signature would normally be, there was a stamp, recognized as the Red Hoof's mark.

“Damn it…” Flyntt sighed, screwing up the letter and throwing it away, “I suppose your orders are to apprehend the Mare do Well on sight, sir?” he asked. Before the Captain could say anything, however, Flyntt burst out with something he had been holding back for months. “Also, I have to apologize for the actions of my subordinate. Apparently I didn’t teach him to respect the system nearly well enough…”

“This is a delicate situation, Lieutenant,” Leaf said calmly, though there was a faint twitch at the corner of his mouth. “I only brought you in here because you are one of the few Guards who know who she really is. We must assume the Red Hoof knows who she is, as well.” Captain Leaf’s gaze hardened, causing Flyntt to flinch slightly. “Your ex-subordinate also knows who she is. And he would jeopardize everything by trying to help her. I highly doubt that the Red Hoof would care about such trivialities as the fact that Pelleas is no longer one of us. He’s a wildcard now, and must be stopped.”

Captain Gilded Leaf stood up, staring out the window at the rising sun. Manehattan seemed to gain some sort enchanting beauty at sunrise, with the sun glinting off the buildings. He held the winter in especially high regard - Manehattan shone white with fresh snowfall. Even at this early hour, the streets were full of bundled ponies and winterized carriages going about their lives.

“I don’t care how much you hate him now, I want him found. And I want him kept away from the Mare do Well at all costs.”

“Sir, before I go… what should I tell Pelleas? He’s been obstinate about not returning ever since he left, and I’m not sure he’ll even listen to me… should I arrest him?”

“At all costs,” Leaf repeated firmly.

“Yes sir,” Flyntt said, with a hint of reluctance in his voice.

Comments

[Forest Rain]

Best Christmas present ever. <3 Thanks Arty!