Sonia Star is a perfect example of born at the wrong time in the wrong hooves. Raised to become the next leader of the night faction by horrible parents, she learns just how grueling and traumatic it can be. She doesn’t let it last however.
A filly born and raised for the sole purpose to kill by the night’s faction leader and his heir causes the filly to slowly lose sight of the family's goals. Though a nightly visitor helps her find new ones until they’re discovered. With this discovery, it’s only a time limit till Sonia breaks off from her family. However, after she catches wind of a small group of ponies who decide to run out of the safety of the night and into the in-between of the entire faction war, she decides she and her nightly visitor should go, too. Unfortunately, once their escape is being made, the parents of Sonia do not take kindly to her betrayal.
With her skills and noble knowledge of everyone and everything, she is put in charge.
Let’s just see how far she’ll make it before guns are pointed at her again. As for her visitor? Let’s see if they want to stick beside her after he catches wind of her plan.
Sonia grunted as she collapsed on to the floor, dropping an M14 replica rifle. She had been working her ass off since the morning, she had been put through grueling and heavy amounts of physical and mental challenges. She growled as she let out a cough. She wished day and night to have been born a normal filly rather than be put through this for the foreseeable future. She grabbed her rifle and turned around only to be met with a slap across the face, causing her to drop her gun and she collapsed again, looking up at her abuser. Her father towered over the small filly with his bulky frame. He had a scowl on his face and glared daggers into her soul. Sonia instinctively flattening her ears against her head.
“God damn it you stupid filly! Can’t do anything right! Try again!” He said before turning around and flying to his tower.
Sonia grabbed her rifle and got up, her body aching from the abuse she put herself through throughout the day. She turned to her sister who was looking at her from the tower, with eyes full of fear. She was only 12-years-old. Once she turned 13 she’d be going through the same thing Sonia was. Her mother, however, didn’t think she had it in her because every time a gun went off she jumped or flinched.
“Move it, Sonia! Time’s ticking!” Yelled her father once more. She sighed and galloped back past the sandbags and up and over shallow trenches just behind some of the sandbags to reach the beginning of the course. This was a grounded course, meaning she wasn’t allowed to use her wings to simulate a wing injury or if one is to be removed due to injury meaning she would have to utilize speed and her surroundings to keep herself from being shot. She turned around, her ears perking up and her pupils turning a deep red. She looked immediately at her surroundings while she got the chance to plan a route; Two trenches just behind a small stack of sandbags to her immediate right. She looked past that and then got into stance. She had a layout now of what she was going to do. She got ready and waited for the starting gun to go off.
“Three... Two....” counted down her father before he shot the gun and Sonia started running soon after.
The gunner at the end of the course was shooting a paintball machine gun firing approximately 200-250 paintballs per minute. There was no crack like an ordinary gun as the paintball left the gun, meaning it was virtually silent. Though, the paintballs it fired were anything but silent. For a moment as she began to run, the course was silent, though eventually once the paintballs known as “Poppers” fired by the gunner hit small objects and pieces of cover, it erupted the course with loud cracks. You see, these paintballs were anything but normal, they were filled with popper fluid. It was a liquid chemical that once on impact would pop, creating a small explosion on impact and making that deafening crack a gun usually would.
Sonia winced as the rounds exploded on her cover and around her because being hit by one hurt like hell. It wouldn’t leave you very injured aside from small cuts and large bruises. Soon she got tired of waiting. She jumped over her cover then some trenches and crates left throughout the course easily, getting to the cover to cover section without getting shot. As she neared some cover she tripped on one of the trenches. She nearly fell but managed to get to a sandbag, much closer to her target now. As she attempted to run to a better cover angle she was shot once in the chest, causing her to lose her breath. Most ponies would drop to the ground after being shot, but she didn’t stop. She wasn’t about to run this course again.
The impact of the popper against the cover she was behind left her ears ringing, but she couldn’t stop and she waited till the gunner had to reload and sprinted out of cover, grabbing her rifle and aiming it at the gunners head. She shot and the popper round hit him in between the eyes. She heard the sound of a small crack and then the collapse of the stallion. A buzzer sounded off and the stallion stood up, removing his helmet and inspecting it before using his magic to give her a thumbs up. Sonia panted, looking back at her father and seeing him smile. Sonia’s pupils would flicker from red to blue, before settling on blue. She headed back to the start, her father pulling out a knife and cutting off the rope from her wings.
“Well fucking done, Sonia! See? I knew my little princess could do it.” He said with a grin on his face.
Sonia repeatedly gasped for air and silently wished she could shoot her dad. She put a hoof onto her chest and pulled it away noticing there was a little bit of blood staining it.
“Get my princess a couple of bandages! She’s earned a patch up.” He said after inspecting her wounds.
Sonia saw as a couple of the colts who were training to be combat medics run over, motioning her to lay down and rollover. She did as she was told and sighed, pulling her hooves close to her body. She felt the colts work on her, one of them working quickly, while the other putting his hooves in places where... he didn’t have to. Sonia opened her eyes, looking over at the hoof that was working on her leg injury from the popper from the first run. The colt was rubbing her rump, his eyes filling up with lust. She kicked him in the snout and yelled;
“The hell are you looking at pervert!? Patch me up! I’m not eye candy!”
He yelped and collapsed, covering his snout as he curled up on the ground. Her father came over and picked up the colt, dragged him away, and gave him a screaming any pony would fear receiving. The other colt however kept working professionally. When he was done, she sighed before getting up and thanking the colt. She walked over to her father, letting him know she was okay now. She looked at the colt and glared at him, the colt looking at her before crawling away, a group of recruits looked over at her, with harsh glares Combat medics in the compound had a bad reputation for their recruits, but they were nothing compared to the veteran colts and fillies, or stallions and mares. Those were the ones that would go on to either become full-on soldiers or mercenaries for the best of the crews in the faction of the night.
VSGR, or, Veteran Shadow Gun Runners, were usually the ones that thought they were hot shit because, well, they were. They were the toughest, strongest, and most resilient of the compound. Sonia hated them, they hated her, just like a divorced couple. Sonia always found herself in trouble because of them, not because of her work ethic, but because they kept harassing her. Everyone knew who Sonia was, just like everyone knew who Cassius was. Cassius, her father, was the leader of the faction itself. He oversaw the entire compound and oversaw everything that happened between the night faction and the day faction. Usually, the night faction was known as ‘Shadows’ due to their bond love of the night.
Day factions were the enemy in the Shadow’s eyes. The day faction called themselves "Angels" even though a majority of the night faction called them "Day Devils" because of how much they hated each other. Ever since the fight between the Princesses, firefights and crime increased as ponies began to choose whose side to be on. Those on the middle ground were the ones that would try and fight against both sides. Sonia never understood how the whole fight started, or why she was going through all the hell she was going through.
She didn’t question it however, it didn’t matter to her. She was never informed why they were in the night faction, why the fight ever took place, or why she was supposed to hate daylight fighters. She just did what she was told and she’d be treated right. At least, that’s what she was told even though she was still smacked around, hit, yelled at, and more by her parents. Her mother specifically.
Sonia wasn’t only treated poorly by her parents, due to their high expectations for her, but everyone hated her. Only a small few saw her for the filly she was, and that was a filly that had no choice. A few of the colts who hated her would grope, spank, steal small kisses, and get away with touching her whenever they could. Usually, she’d stay quiet because her father wasn’t around. It would usually be her mother, and she would slap her if she fought back against the colts or stallions who would touch her, calling it ‘unladylike’ in front of the colts. This made them bolder around her mother. If she could help it, she'd stay around her father when any of these colts were nearby.
Sonia trotted towards her house, flapping her wings a little to stretch them out. Having them roped up tight hurt but it felt really nice to stretch them once they were free. Looking around, she noticed many of the ponies were either really young fillies and colts or brand new twenty-one-year-old stallions. It was almost a miracle most of them hadn’t seen action yet, especially after the increase of gunfights.
Sonia looked over at her sister who was standing on the other side of her father, getting a small earful about how ‘You should be more like your sister!’ and ‘Your sister never jumped at the sound of gunshots!’ God. He was such an asshole sometimes. He didn’t know how the little filly felt, let alone why she was so terrified. Sonia saw her sister look over at her as they trotted and Sonia’s pupils turned from a light blue to a light purple as she opened her eyes. Sonia couldn’t smile due to some disorder her parents told her she had, but her eyes would change color to show emotion. Purple represented comfort and calm and they changed to this when Sonia felt comfortable or tranquil.
“Fermata! Pay attention to me when I’m speaking!” Her father yelled.
Fermata Sky, a small 12-year-old filly was just a filly who didn’t want to die fighting for something she didn't believe in. She squealed and prepared to be smacked. Sonia wanted to say something but she knew she’d just get a smack, too. She winced as she heard the loud smack and her sister squealing again. The rest of the walk home was quiet and Fermata didn’t look up at all. Sonia thought to herself, 'One day, he'll be on the other end.'
Sonia sat on her bed in her room. Her house wasn't actually that large, granted it was still very big. It wasn’t very different than a normal pony's house either. The only difference was the size of the rooms themselves. Her bedroom was large and had its own bathroom and a rather large closet full of expensive clothing such as school uniforms - that she personally liked due to their appearance - plus hair bows and other accessories that she enjoyed dressing with. The maids in the house were the only kind souls that help her pick out clothing. Sonia was never truly happy unless she was with one of the kind older maids or Cinnamon, who Sonia thought of as a true mother.
She sighed, standing on her bed, and gently jumped to the ground. Sonia turned and looked over at her window, her eyes turning a light purple. A colt gently hovered with his hoof under his chin, the other perched on the edge of the window. He snickered as Sonia looked at him and her eye color gave away her emotion.
"Missed me that much? You know I can't visit you every night." He said with his dumb yet deep voice.
"I-I didn't say anything!" Sonia said. Her eyes turned light pink, signifying small hints of shyness, love, or lust. In this case, it was shyness mixed with love.
A small smirk adorned the dorky colt’s face, making Sonia huff in embarrassment and look away. He had a way with words that she just couldn't describe. He had a sleek backcombed mane that dark mint green with darker turquoise blue streaks. His coat was also the same as the streaks in his tail.
"Can I come in? Or did I already burn that bridge?"
He slowly glided in and landed just in front of her. He was an idiot and a bit arrogant, but that's what she loved about him. He was serious when he needed to be, strong when he needed to be, loving and kind when he was just him. For a colt, he was very well kept and well-mannered.
"I hate you, d-dumbass," Sonia said with a bright red face.
"How can you hate me? Sleek Turquoise! I'm handsome and amazing!" He said proudly, jokingly nudging Sonia.
"You also said I was a good kisser."
Sonia's ears turned a bright red and immediately she turned and faced him, her mouth ready to say something. She tried to but her vocal cords forced her not to. Her heart was beginning to race faster than it would race during training. She huffed again and looked into his eyes, her glare turning into embarrassment after a few seconds. Sleek leaned in and locked lips with her before stepping away and floating around her room.
"So, got any plans tonight?" He said, nonchalantly. He wasn't blushing nor was he embarrassed, merely smiling and happy. Sonia on the other hand seemed to be having a small issue. She grabbed his tail and yanked him down, making him give an instinctive squeak before landing. He turned around and pouted angrily but was cut off as he met the lips of the filly again. This time he turned red.
Within a couple of minutes, the two were sitting side to side on the bed nuzzling each other lovingly. He held her close with his head perched on hers, causing her ears to gently press back against her head. She sighed, her back collapsing onto the bed and her eyes stared up at the ceiling. She looked over at the colt and he simply looked back, smiling.
"You look beautiful with your pink pupils,"
Sleek said in a soft tone. Sonia simply stared back, her eyes tearing up as she slowly mumbled something.
"Even... though I can't smile?"
She looked away, back at the ceiling. Sleek stared at her still, his smile growing timid.
"Of course, you're my star,"
He slowly got up, standing over her and looking down at her eyes, "You idiot."
Sonia looked up at him, his eyes gazing into hers and hers looking right back. Their lips slowly closing the gap between each other as they prepare to lock lips once more.
Suddenly, the door handle turned, and another pony peeked in.
“Wh-What is going on here!” Asserted that all too familiar female voice.
“Wh-What is going on here!” Asserted that all too familiar female voice.
Sonia and Sleek have just been caught about to have their make-out session. Sonia's heart stopped beating, at least, that's what it felt like. She looked up at her colt-friend and saw just how white his face was. Both of them gulped, staying in that same position for what seemed like ages.
"M-Ms. Cinnamon! U-Uh it's not what it-" Sonia attempted to say.
"Not what it looks like? Sonia, you know what'll happen if your father were to find out about this!" Cinnamon said in a loud whisper.
Cinnamon stepped into the room, closing and locking the door behind her. The mare was a maid that worked for the night faction, but mainly within the high moon house, or HMH, where Sonia lived. She was a weird species, she was half-dragon and half-pony, but right now Sonia didn’t care what she was. She trembled, turning as white as a sheet of paper.
"I'm sorry, Cinnamon, I just-" Sonia tried to talk again.
She didn't get much out and Sleek had already begun to get off of her and sit down on the bed, Sonia merely sat up a bit.
"Don't try to explain this to me, what's his name and how did you meet him?" Cinnamon looked at Star much like an angry protective mother would to her child, "And what were you two about to just do? Were you two about to-?"
Sonia turned bright red, and Sleek let out a girly peep, "N-No! W-We're not like that! We're just-"
Sonia gulped, knowing that admitting what they were about to do would be the only way to get Cinnamon to understand, "We were just about to kiss is all."
Cinnamon sighed and almost seemed relieved, "Thank Celestia."
The room went silent for a while and they all just looked away from each other. Sonia could hear all their hearts thumping quietly.
"I won't tell your dad, Sonia, but please lock your door whenever he's around, ok?" Cinnamon said, with a sincere tone of her voice. Her cheeks were a light red.
Sonia perked her ears up, "R-Really? You won't tell?"
Cinnamon nodded at the filly, and soon found herself caught in a tight hug from the rather small bat pony. Cinnamon felt her heart warm up to the little filly holding her. She sighed and softly pet Sonia, causing Sonia to delicately rub her face against the sweet-smelling dragon pony’s chest fluff.
Cinnamon felt her world light up.
"Ok, well, I have to get back to work. Lock your door if you two are still going to... y'know, do stuff," Cinnamon said, still rather flustered. "Mhm! I will! Thank you so much, Cinnamon!" Sonia hopped around joyously, as it was the only way to show she was happy. No smiling of course.
Cinnamon left with a smile on her face, closing the door with a small “click”.
"She's growing up so fast." She said to herself.
The next morning Sonia was simply laying in her bed. The night before hadn't had much action, due to the rather surprising peek-a-boo Cinnamon had performed. Sleek left sooner than usual but it didn't bug Sonia, since she could see him again tonight or the one that followed.
She got out of bed and put on her cloak because she would need it if today was another training day. Her dad could be vague, making it difficult to tell what she would be doing each day.
Sonia stretched her wings once she got outside, enjoying the sensation of having her wings spread and un-bound.
Her joy was suddenly cut off by the sound of her father’s voice, "Sonia! Sweetheart! Come, I'd like you to meet someone I've grown quite fond with,"
She reluctantly walked over, thinking to herself, ‘Who is it this time?’
"Yes?" She walked up to him, looked at whomever he was talking about and felt her heart fall to the ground.
Standing behind her father was Sleek.
Sleek’s face looked pale and his stern mercenary face seemed fragile. Sonia held a wobbly expression of seriousness before she looked up at her father and stuttered, "Who is he, father?" "His name is Sleek Turquoise, your new bodyguard! He'll accompany you on any trips outside of our grounds. Isn't that just splendid?" His voice rang with a sarcastic glee, but it was all genuine.
"B-But you told me-!" Sonia was cut off before she could finish.
"I know, I know. I've told you never to go off our grounds, but based on your performance yesterday I think you're capable of going out and handling yourself." He smiled and patted Sonia on the head.
Sonia didn't like his hoof patting her though and held in the urge to bite him.
"Then why that bodyguard?" She said, trying to connect the dots as to why this was happening.
"Well, it's a precaution sweetie, we can't be too safe. Plus, he's one of our best! He'll take good care of you." Her father looked over at Sleek and then said, "Isn't that right?"
Sleek gulped and nodded. It would be his first time being deployed outside of the walls and he wasn't prepared for the possible dangers outside. On top of this, he was being tasked with taking care of the Faction leader's daughter!
Sonia watched Sleek closely, knowing he was freaking out. She turned and looked at Cinnamon standing at the front door, her usual smile on her face.
Sonia sighed, looking over at her father and asking, "Can I bring Fermata with me?"
A scowl grew on his face and Sonia’s heart rate slowly began to speed up as he responded.
"Of course not. Your useless sister needs to make up for her shortcomings by helping around the house."
Sonia sighed and nodded. "Can I leave now or do I have to stay for training first?" Sonia asked.
"Well, you may leave. After yesterday's display, I’m going to double your training. A break from training does seem to be in order, so yes, you may go today." He cleared his throat once he was done, "Now if you don't mind sweetie, I have to go talk business with a prestigious gun merchant."
Sonia watched him walk away and grumbled an insult, before turning away and heading inside, being followed by Sleek.
"Where are you going, Star?" Sleek asked Sonia, wondering why she was heading inside the house.
"I'm not going out in my cloak, if I'm going out, I want to look like myself.," Sonia responded a bit sternly.
Sonia got a small head pat from Cinnamon as she walked by and a small blush adorned her face.
It felt nice.
A few minutes later she came out wearing a nice warm dark grey hoodie and a small red clip-on bow set on the front of her mane. Her mane was now down, instead of in a ponytail like it usually would be. Her mane was just short of shoulder length.
Sleek followed behind Sonia as she exited the grounds of the faction.
A group of ponies just across the street stared at them.
Sonia was once told that Canterlot was one of the most amazing places to live in. It would turn out that those ponies were right. She looked around at the crowded and beautiful shops and restaurants. It was the first time she had been able to come out without being told where to go or what to look at. This was time for herself and time alone with her "bodyguard".
“You know, you look stupid when you’re trying to act normal around my dad, right?” Sonia said, looking at Sleek with a glare on her face.
“Oh, hah-hah you’re so funny,” Sleek responded sarcastically, “You realize who your dad is, right? Why do you think I was scared of dating you when you first asked me out?”
Sonia looked at him, “I thought you were just surprised a filly liked you.”
“Wow, you’re so cruel, y’know?” Sleek responded.
Sleek stared at her and then looked over to a small shop full of candies,
“Wanna go inside there?”
Sonia shrugged, nodding and heading inside. She looked around, a sudden sense of dread crawling onto her. The fur on the back of her neck stood up, much like it would if a cold breeze just brushed past it.
Sonia looked around the small shop. Countless amounts of candies were on the shelves and inside dispensers. A couple of fillies and colts, younger than Sonia, ran around happily, looking at the succulents and chewy candies. Chocolate bars and lollipops that Sonia had never even seen before were all over the shop. Sonia picked up a box and blanched when she saw the price.
“Jeez, twenty bits for a box of chocolates?” Sonia said.
She held another small box with 20 chocolates. She grimaced as she stared at the price and the chocolates. Sonia set the candies back down where they had been and turned back to the establishment. Sleek was looking around the store, mainly at the new ponies who had entered.
“Does something feel off?” Sleek asked, looking back at Sonia.
Sonia scoffed and looked around before a small weight inside of her chest began to form.
She began to look around, too, “Yeah, but what exactly?”
She walked through the store and looked around. Nothing was off, it was just a bunch of ponies looking for chocolates for their marefriends, or couples snickering as they picked out sweets for an event. Sonia walked past a group of friends, then a couple, and a small pack of wild colts salivating over spicy candies.
Sonia took in the warm environment and a twinge of sadness tore through her. She felt her eyes tear up. No popper wounds today, just a nice afternoon in Canterlot.
“Bang bang, little filly,” said a stallion's voice.
The sound of light parts inside of a frame rang inside her ears. Suddenly, the shop's calm and peace were shattered as ponies screamed and galloped away.
She knew what those sounds of light parts were. Bullets rattling against each other inside of a magazine. She swiftly used the power of her wings to go left.
A gun went off following her movements.
She swiftly turned around and looked at her assaulters. Two stallions.
“Surprise bitch!” yelled a stallion behind her.
She glanced back and saw him, running at her with a knife in his maw. Sonia prepped her stance to kick him away. She never got the chance as more gunfire went off, and then she heard the yelling of a young colt.
“Get away from her you dicks!” yelled Sleek.
Sonia turned towards the source of the voice but had trouble keeping track of Sleek as he sped by like a blur. His body collided with the stallion who held the gun. Sonia took this short window to swiftly spread her wings and flap them powerfully forwards. She quickly went backward and swiftly turned her body using her wings so she was flat on her back in midair.
In this position she crashed her hind legs first into the stallion with the knife, causing him to collapse to the ground with the knife simply flopping out of his mouth.
She turned back to face Sleek who was making quick work of the other two. By the time she walked over, Sleek had already disarmed and taken the two down. Now, where was the fourth one?
Sonia flicked her ears and looked around the now very ruined candy shop.
“Where could you have gone, you miserable fuck?”
Sonia looked around questioning whether he had run away or if he was simply hiding. She hovered off the ground, Sleek sticking close.
Sonia’s heart rate kept a calm pace, the silent flap of her wings creating a small updraft keeping her up off the ground. Her terrifying glare as she moved through the shop and the twitch of her ears picking up small sounds. It quickly became too much.
A scream came from behind the register counter and up stood a stallion with a gun pointed straight at Sonia. Her eyes widened, but using quick thinking she flapped her wings left, pushing her right.
The gun went off, Sleek ducking to the ground. The gun went off a few more times as the two young ponies kept moving forward, swiftly and evasively.
“Die already!” yelled the stallion.
Sonia smirked but slipped as she evaded left, crashing into the wall and yelling in absolute agony as her wing bent into a shape it wasn’t supposed to. The gun swiftly pointed at her and the stallion cackled as he was about to pull the trigger, Sleek quickly crashed into the side of him. Sonia took this chance to get up and put her wing back into the place, putting two pieces of hard candy between her teeth.
The sound of three gunshots followed and once Sonia was done she stood and grabbed a sharp piece of glass, her blood beginning to seep onto the glass shard. Sleek looked over at her and smiled, but the smile quickly faded as the sound of the pistol deafened the two. Silence fell among the room, Sonia didn’t move as her pupils began to shrink to the size of pinpricks. Among the silence of the sound of the bullet casing hitting and bouncing around the floor.
Sleek slowly collapsed to the side of the stallion, the stallion slowly sitting up and aiming at Sonia. Sonia didn’t move but gripped the glass shard tighter, her eyes began to turn a deeper and deeper red. The stallion pulled the trigger and a soft click emitted from the gun but no bang. Sonia slowly walked forward and growled, giving a death stare at her attacker.
“You’ve run dry.” She said with anger seeping at every pore.
The stallion slowly dropped the gun and crawled backward, his eyes frantic as he looked left and right around him. He grabbed a shard and threw it at the filly, cutting her shoulder. She didn’t flinch let alone wince. The stallion frantically grabbed glass and candy and threw them at her. The glass cut her body up but she didn’t let the small cuts left on her body slow her down.
“G-Get away from me you-” The stallion stopped suddenly as the foot of the filly was jammed into his stomach.
Her eyes pierced the stallion's soul as he looked up at her. She brought the shard to his throat and in one swift action, slit his throat.
She stood up once she was done and looked around the shop. Candy shelves were strewn all over the ground. She let her rage subside then she realized why she was so enraged.
“Sl-Sleek! Sleek!” Sonia yelled out, her eyes frantically looking for her fallen partner.
Her eyes locked onto the injured colt and in a swift dash she flew beside him, her eyes focused on Sleek’s injury. Sonia collapsed beside him and began applying pressure to his wound. She stared at Sleek's eyes and frantically attempted to keep his bullet wound from bleeding.
“Sleek! Come on tell me you’re going to be ok!” Sonia said frantically.
She leaned down and kissed his cheek, her eyes looking for some sort of life in him. Sleek smiles and coughs, attempting to sit up but groaning as he does. Sonia helps him up, Sleek looked up at her and gave her an off smile.
“I’ll be fine, I just-” Sleek coughed, groaning right after and putting his hoof over his wound. “God being shot really does suck.”
Sonia looked at him, restraining any tears from dripping out.
“Are you sure? Please tell me you’re going to be ok, I don’t want you to-” Sonia was cut off.
“Die? Yeah trust me, this really fucking hurts but I’ll live. Maybe a kiss would make me feel better, heh.” Sleek chuckled, finishing that sentence.
Sonia smiled weakly, her smile small and hardly visible, her lips connecting with his and a bit of her tongue colliding with his. The two held the kiss for a bit.
“As I suspected,” said a familiar gruff stallion’s voice.
Sonia’s face went pale, her ears twitching with her fur coat standing on its end. Sonia stared at her father who was standing amongst the destruction of the shop.
Sonia responded, “D-Dad?”
“I knew something was amidst. Your abrupt chat with Cinnamon seemed rather bizarre, hon.” Father replied.
Sonia gulped, standing up slowly and her posture shaky. Her ears were huddled against her head.
“D-Dad, I can explain!” She blurted, her voice shaky.
Father grabbed a small shard and inspected it, his eyes bloodshot red, naturally. Her father had a grey-ish brown, his mane a slick-combed back mane colored a more vibrant orange-brown. A vamp-pony, though he was essentially similar to a bat pony in looks.
“No need. I got all the explanation I needed from this little trap of mine.” He replied, with an angered undertone.
He glared at her, shooting through Sonia’s heart with those bloodshot eyes. She shook in her place, her eyes turning into multiple colors at once. Sonia stood her ground and looked back at Sleek.
“Look at me, worthless filly! Not your damn playtoy of a colt!” Father yelled.
HIs hoof promptly raised and fell onto Sonia’s cheek. Her body quickly collapsed to the floor, skidding across the glass shard-covered floor. She slowly stood up and looked over at her father, her wings slashed and her hooves cut up from the sharpness of the glass. She let out occasional gasps and winced as the blood streamed from the wounds.
“Tsk tsk, and I thought by letting Cinnamon warn you, you'd at last put up a better fight,” Father responded.
Sleek groaned, “What? S-Sonia? What is he talking about?”
Sonia backed up slowly, her blood running down her legs. Sonia gritted her teeth and grabs a piece of glass off the floor.
“Cinnamon gave me a heads up while I was passing by her back home. It was so quiet, only I would’ve heard it. I’m sure my dad must’ve heard a gist of it and forced her to tell him,” She said with her eyes fixated on her father’s quickly growing grin.
“It seems you’re not as stupid as I thought you were, dearest daughter of mine,” Father said before walking towards Sonia.
Sonia’s body shook, her eyes rapidly jittering around, almost like they were scanning her father for a weak point. She gulped and stepped back, sweat rolling down the side of her head.
“I still can’t believe that despite these being some of our top stallions, you still managed to survive it. Hell, you knew about it, got ambushed, and survived. All for this colt here?” Said Father as he pinned Sleek to the floor using one hoof.
“Don’t you dare lay a hoof on him damnit!” Sonia yelled.
Her eyes flashed red, her father flinching as he noticed the sudden change. She gritted her teeth and lunged at her father, her teeth attempting to sink into his neck. Father backed up, his front hoof lifting preparing to puncture her side. Sonia lifted her wing, allowing her to turn in the air and throw the glass she had picked up at her father, blinding him temporarily. Father yelled in anguish before flapping his wings boastfully, pummeling her into the wall, knocking her out in the process. Sonia felt her wings twist and her head smash against the wall. She fell to the floor and slowly she closed her eyes, hearing Sleek yell her name vaguely before she simply sunk into darkness.
Three months later.
Sonia sat in her room with a small notebook in her hooves. She held a pencil in her maw and her eyes rested on the neutral color of grey. There was an emptiness in her eyes, even she saw it when she walked past her room’s mirror. She dropped the pencil and sighed. She didn’t have any ideas for today’s report. She stood up out of bed, throwing her notebook onto her bed. Sonia stepped out of her room, her glare forcing all the standing guards outside of her room to flinch.
The sound of her hooves gently clacking as she walked down the hall, her eyes straightforward despite her knowledge of the guards all staring at her.
“Ah, there you are dear,” Father said, his voice as calm as ever.
Sonia stopped dead in her tracks and turned around, looking at her father dead in the eyes. And just like that, her eyes turned from grey to red. Her father smiled and gently ruffled her mane, Sonia growling like an angry dog prepared to bite.
“What do you want,” Sonia asked.
“How rude, you don’t even say father anymore. You’ve grown much older indeed,” He mockingly said.
He attempted to pull Sonia in for a hug, though Sonia slapped his hoof away and stared daggers into him, her eyes glowing bright red like stop lights urging you to not move or risk an accident. Only in this case, there wouldn’t be anything accidental going on.
“What do you want from me. Don’t try treating me like nothing happened you bastard,” Sonia hissed.
Sonia twitched her wings, her wings still tightly wrapped up in bandages ever since ‘the incident’ as the guards called it.
“I see… Well, you have a mission-” He was cut off before he could finish.
“No! I demand you let me see Sleek before I do anything for you!” Sonia stomped her hoof on the marble flooring of the hallways. A large crack appearing from the stomp area.
“How about I have him killed.” He said with a serious tone.
Father snatched one of her ears and pulled her close, whispering, “Remember, he’s only alive because I deemed it so. You’ll ready up in your room and meet your team in the briefing quarters and you’ll do it fast before Sleek meets your old pet fish.”
Sonia shook her head and was released from his grasp. Sonia felt tears gently beginning to take shape on the edge of her glistening eyes. She locked eyes with one of the guards as she stomped to her room, yelling, “What are you looking at?!”
Once she was in her room she slammed the door, grabbed her notebook, and threw it against a wall. She turned and kicking the wall, leaving a small dent to be permanently marked where she kicked.
She collapsed at the edge of her bed and slumped her head, little pearly drops of salty tears dripped onto her carpet.
She twitched her ears as she heard the crack of a stick outside her window. She stood up and looked out her window, a sudden silence fell as she stared. She felt the urge to let out some sort of noise just to track what it might’ve been but she didn’t.
She stood and grabbed her cloak off the hanger and grabbed her holster, swiftly making her exit from her room, wiping any tears from her eyes.
Time to go back to work. The night won’t last forever.
Twenty minutes later.
Sonia stood in the briefing room, in her little corner with her cloak on and a pistol holstered around her waist. She looked over the rest of the room, spotting two other bat ponies and another stepping in. She didn’t know them let alone cared to figure out their names.
She noticed their stares and taunting at her lack of body armor and weaponry. The standard assassination was usually lead by two assassins, a recon, and three grunts in case things went wrong. Sonia wasn’t leading this mission, not this time due to her father’s mistrust of her.
Sonia pulled her weapon of choice out, a silenced M1911 restored to full condition. It was a little strange though, it had a small hoof-sized strap and the trigger guard was gone. This would allow for faster firing and easier handling. She looked at the grunts weaponry; A rifle of their choice, one even had a semi-automatic rifle. The grunts always had unsilenced weaponry, they were meant to be outside of the danger zone on standby in case the main infiltration group was compromised.
Which they hardly ever got caught.
One of the bat ponies though did catch Sonia’s eyes. A pink and light pink striped maned mare with a light pink coat. She also had a cloak like Sonia’s except she didn’t have a hood, and her cloak was deep black.
“Alright squad, we got a late one coming, he owes me fifty laps around the flight course. That is if he survives what we’re doing. I will be your squad leader, the names Strawberry but you can just call me Berry, it’s easier that way.”
Sonia paid no more attention past the introduction.
‘Sleek… Sleek. What if he’s not even…’ Sonia was snapped out of her pondering.
“Hey! You may be the chief’s daughter but that doesn’t matter in this squad! Let’s go!” Berry yelled, her face had a smile and a confident posture.
Sonia scoffed and walked out, spreading her wings like the rest of the team and waiting for Berry’s lead.
A gust of dust was left behind as they all flew into the air, Sonia being the fastest but having to stay behind Berry as they headed to the landing zone.
Into the Everfree forest, they went. It was one of the safer sides granted, but still heavily wooded areas.
“So, where exactly is this place,” Sonia asked, her gun already unholstered.
“It’s still two klicks dead ahead. We’ll be on foot for a while but we’re no longer in a safe zone, so keep your guns up and stay quiet.” Berry responded, the rest of the squad nodding.
Sonia’s hooves were like feathers as she moved slowly through the forest, her eyes scanning the area.
“So, where should we stationed, Berry?” Asked one of the grunts.
“You three,” Berry points at the grunts, “Will be stationed a couple of mikes out and if for some reason we get wiped, it’s up to you to go in and either provide assistance or accomplish the mission with brute force.”
The grunts looked amongst each other and shrugged, continuing to hover slightly off the ground.
Sonia looked over at Berry, seeing that she only had a knife, “Where’s your gun?”
“What? Oh, It’s holstered. I don’t use my gun until I need to.” She moved her cloak aside and flashed her silenced Glock. No other attachments.
“That makes sense, but what if-” Sonia looks stops and the rest of the group does as well.
Voices could be heard up ahead. Two? No three. Wait, machinery too?
“Alright, we’re starting to get closer. Grunts, you stay here, me and Sonia will infiltrate. Recon, get up in the sky, and give us support.” Berry commanded.
“Yes ma’am.” Recon grabbed his rifle and hovered up into the air, aiming towards the combat zone.
“Alright Sonia on me.” Berry flapped her wings and silently flew.
Sonia closely following behind, leaves rustling and being lifted as they left the forest. Berry and Sonia made quick work of the first outer recon guards, moving silently cover to cover.
Sonia stopped behind a crate just outside of the HQ entrance. Berry hovered over the two guards standing in front of the entrance and dropped on one, Sonia taking out the other.
Once inside they made their way through hallways, navigating their way to the head office, disposing of any targets that got in their path.
Sonia and Berry moved silently through the halls before something heavy and mechanical made its way down the hall.
“Mech!” Berry whispered loudly, looking around for cover.
Before Berry could do anything, Sonia grasped her and tumbled her into a janitor’s closet, Sonia sitting up against the door, letting out a sigh of relief as the heavily armored pony walked past the door.
“Haven’t seen one of those since the clash at Steel HQ,” Berry commented.
Sonia heard of the Steel Defense Operation, she wasn’t part of it herself but essentially from what she heard was a large mobile force with around five hundred foot soldiers and fifteen mechs. Havoc machines of pure destruction if used in the right hooves.
“Right, well no time like the present, let’s move,” Berry said, slowly exiting the room.
Sonia followed silently, her footsteps making little to no sound. A least, not the average pony.
“So, where can we expect to find him right now? I could capture one of these rats and get some information out of them.” Sonia whispered.
“No, I’ve got a large clue as to where he might-” Berry was cut off as a sudden large caliber bullet whizzed between them.
“Target missed, recalculating.” said a slightly robotic voice.
“Mech spotted us! Get down!” Berry yelled, “Sonia, let’s go! The office now!”
Sonia stared at the mech, “We can kill this thing we just need to,-” A few more shots whizzed past them, their cover was completely blown at this point, no point being quiet.
“God damn it! Recon, keep reinforcements off us we got trouble!” Berry yelled again, firing back at the squad of foot soldiers that appeared behind the pair, leaving them only one exit, “Sonia! To the office right fucking now! We can jump from the window!”
“I’m not running from these bastards! I have to do this! If I return home without anything to show for it…” Sonia pondered before shaking off the sensation of doubt in her father.
“We don’t- Shit get down!” Berry said toppling Sonia to the ground as the mech fired a small salvo of rockets, narrowly missing the duo and killing the other attackers.
“There now stop being a coward and fight!” Sonia commanded before flying towards the mech, holding her pistol tight, firing at its neck to stun it, “Shoot its launchers before it fires again!”
Berry fired a couple of bullets at the base of the launchers on its shoulder, causing them to limp and break off after a couple of shots. Sonia swooped between slams and strikes from the mech. Her cloak taking some hits from an uncontrolled burst of fire but not ripping due to its strong carbon nanotube bond.
Sonia shot at its thick armor plating, her pistol only tickling its armor. Sonia gasped as the mech brought down its left hoof down onto her. Narrowly escaping its stomp, she slammed herself into the wall, her gun falling to the ground. Berry got close to the mech and kicked it away, stunning it for a sec before it let out a low mechanical creaking from it resetting and standing back up.
The mech’s modulated voice didn’t come through as it spoke again, “God damn you fucking mares! DIe already!”
“That mech is the target! I was starting to wonder why its attacks were so sluggish!” Berry grabbed Sonia’s pistol and tossed it back at her, “Aim for the head! Concuss him!”
Sonia laid fire upon the mech, the mech firing several shots at the mares, Sonia remaining unscathed for now, but the same could not be said for Berry. A couple of scratches and light wounds from narrow misses of the blazing bullets ripping through the air.
The two dodged and weaved to avoid the spray of rounds that the mech fired aimlessly. Unlike most mechs, this mech wasn’t quick and terrifying, but it was much stronger than the two of them combined. Sonia rushed the mech and eventually toppled it over, far easier than she thought, but suffered a bullet wound to her hoof.
“Gah! Fucker!” Sonia yelled as she ripped the helmet off the mech, her eyes turning red as she felt the pulse of pain go through her hoof and the rest of her body.
“W-Wait hold it, halt!” yelled the stallion inside. He put up two hooves, with much exertion, “You m-mustn’t! I have the knowledge you need!”
Sonia pressed the tip of her pistol against his head, “Talk before I pain the floor and walls the shade of my eyes!”
“You mustn’t kill me! I can give you information about our forces! Our tactics! Our future attacks as well!” He yelled in fear.
“A coward like you serves no use to me! You’d probably betray me and end up leading my team into a trap!” Sonia growled in anger.
The stallion, sweating, grimaced and then said, “You realize that if that were true, it wouldn’t just be me? You’ll see soon that you won’t be against just us! You’ll be against your own as well! You filthy flying rat!” He finished yelling as he tried to lift his hoof and fire at Sonia again.
Berry sighed and fired her gun at the stallion, finishing him, “Well, that’s that.”
“Fucking trashy stallion! Ugh! Let’s get out of here before any reinforcements come through here,” Sonia said, the pain in her hoof taking her mind away from anything Berry said.
“Alright, recon, head back to the rest of the group we need to evac immediately. We got reinforcements coming in, take out any forces near you before you do” Berry said over a small chest latched radio.
Sonia hissed as she picked up a rifle off the floor, “Sweet Celestia that hurts, damn target!”
“Just head out, I need to check the office before we leave, go, the rest of the group might need your help,” Berry commanded.
Sonia nodded and grabbed a couple of magazines off a fallen soldier, flapped her wings, opened a window, and exited out into the desolate night sky.
Berry watched as Sonia flew up into the sky, smirking before whispering into her radio, “Target is flying now. Prepare for combat in about 10 mikes.”
A voice came back from the radio, “Roger that commander! Let’s move-”
Berry turned off the radio and looked up at the flying Sonia.
“Let’s see what you’re capable of Sonia, I got high hopes for you, beautiful,” a light red glow appeared in Berry’s eyes.
