“Hehehe.” Kestral laughed quietly to himself. He had left that mark under the bait, knowing it would draw eyes. The mark didn't mean anything, it was just a simple, little design that looked a little peculiar. Of course, the ponies wouldn't know that. Putting a bullet in the bait wasn't going to help their confusion either. It went all the way through, letting the projectile get lost in the ground somewhere, and left a sizable hole in the meat.

His plan was simple. While he went out robbing ponies and killing changelings, he would just need to leave small 'gifts' to the authorities to freak them out. Weird things, unnatural things. Scratches on the wall, knives stuck around in wood, toys arranged in a circle, maybe even full messages on the walls. Ghost hunters would call them 'signs', Kestral though, would call it psychological warfare.

Maybe I can find some dye and make some fake blood. He thought, as he ran through the last alley.

He came to a stop at a low fence, which guarded the large backyard of another mansion-like building. The marble pillars came up to end at the top of the second story, which was quite higher than the second story of the other, more modest homes that surrounded it. A balcony was on the second floor, similar to the previous mansion, but differed in that it also acted as the cover for a patio.

The windows told a friendly story to Kestral. The upstairs windows were all dark, while the downstairs had a bright light bleeding out into the open. He couldn't tell what kind of room it was, but he saw several shadows moving about, so he could tell it was a gathering.

He began to move in, after hopping over the short fence, and went straight for the balcony again. Light from the room shone out to the yard, and danced at his feet as he closed in. By the time he was under the ledge, he could hear a tune, which sounded rather similar to Beethoven’s fifth. He leaped to the ledge with a teleport, and pulled himself over.

He moved closer to the door, and reached for the handle. He wiggled it, but it didn't budge. Instead of worrying about it, or trying to find another way in, he decided to test his lock picking skills. He pulled out a torsion wrench and a pin, and began working away. After a minute of trying to set each pin individually, he tried raking a couple of times, which was rewarded with the lock giving way.

He put his tools back into hammerspace, and opened the door completely. After walking into the moonlit office, he closed it again, and walked around. A mahogany desk was set to the side, with a bust on it the shape of a pony's head. On the floor were several throw rugs at various locations. Around the walls were trinkets and documents of different sorts, though none of any value to Kestral.

He moved across the room, to the only door present, and listened for anything on the other side. Nothing sounded, except the soft mimic of a violin downstairs, so he opened it and went through. Ahead of him was was a hall the led straight to a window and nowhere else, while to his left was a hall that led to several rooms on each side. To his right, was a more open space, which connected directly to a staircase. Between the stairs and the hall ahead of him sat the ajar door of a bathroom.

He walked down the hall, away from the stairs, and began peering into each room he passed. The first one was covered in simple toys, cheerful colors, and sleeping children. He passed it over, and looked in the next. It was some kind of design room, with random drawings of buildings and arrows and words thrown together. It was unappealing to him, so he moved on again.

The next one held promise. It was a large bedroom, with an open, circular bed in the center, large enough to fit about a dozen ponies comfortably. Several wardrobes were lined up against the wall, with a closet door setting closed at the end. He went straight for the closet.

As he entered, he noticed several things. Firstly he saw the pile of clothes all set up next to the door, probably to deter immediate sight of the contents. After moving in some more, the next things he saw was the changeling pods, four total, all lined up along the wall shared by the bedroom, with an additional four on the opposite wall. He went up to each pod, with his machete in hand, and tore at the membrane holding each pony in.

In total, there was a pink mare, a gray stallion, and two, almost identical cream-colored unicorn mares. He moved the body of each into a comfortable pile of clothing, out of sight from the entrance. With his targets now known, he decided to get to work immediately.

He exited the closet, sheathed the machete, and made his way through the bedroom. He then went down the hall, towards the stairs. At the top, he could see a large, open room, with the floor separating the first and second story being absent. A chandelier hung off the ceiling, with it's chain leading off to the right, where light was bleeding out from a nearby room. To the left side was large double doors, presumably being the front entrance. Directly to each side was a walkway with a rail, leading to a window. He heard the soothing tune of violins and cellos in the cool air.

He descended the stairs at a slow, deliberate pace, keeping an eye on the room filled with light. As he went down, he saw that the walkway was an entrance to a dining room. He slowed his descent to a crawl, and crouched down, to ensure he was not spotted in the darkness. He saw one of his targets, but he also saw another pony, which was not a changeling in disguise.

Okay. I've got four targets, and at least one innocent in there. He sighed. I'll need to think of a way to separate them without drawing suspicion too quickly. He remembered his exploit at the hospital, and decided he was prepared to use one of his auto-injectors if need be.

With a plan in mind, he made his way back up, and stood next to the bathroom door. He held out his fist, and knocked on the hard wood loudly. He then pulled out his silver pistol and moved back to the edge of the stairs. A minute later, he saw the form a gray stallion move from the dining room, and on towards the doors.

Kestral took off his boots, similar to his trip to the hospital, and teleported down on the marble floor below, just inside the dark shadow of the stairs. He followed along behind the stallion, occasionally teleporting to move in closer. When the stallion reached the door, he opened it.

“Hello? Anypony there?”

Kestral moved closer, putting the barrel of the gun right behind the head of the changeling.

“Damned ki-”

He was cut off by a nearly-silent bullet entering his head. Kestral quickly grabbed the body, and dragged it inside before it could be spotted. He closed the door, and hoisted the bug's body on his shoulder. He made off towards the side of the stairs, and once he was sufficiently close, he teleported up to the rail, and pulled both the body and himself over.

He quietly ran through the hall, reaching the bedroom, and deposited the carcase of the undisguised changeling on the bed. Once it was done, he slowly walked back to the staircase, trying to think of another plan to get one of them alone.

I got it! He went to the children's room again, and opened the door some more. He stalked silently, looking through the toys and other childish property, before he got to the bed. The two of them, rather young looking, were covered by a small blanket, which was not the one pulled down to the side of the bed. He grabbed it, and quickly replaced it with the larger blanket, covering the young ones once again.

He crept back over to the door, and left it open just a crack, then went over to the stairs, ready to enact the next part of his plan. He went to his right, and walked until he was just above the walkway into the dining room, and tossed the blanket down in the light. He walked back to the bathroom, but before he got there, he heard a female voice call out.

“Kids? You know you're supposed to be in bed right now.”

Kestral entered, but only closed the door enough to hide himself from sight. From the edge, he watched and waited for the changeling to come up.

“Children, you have school tomorrow.” The cream colored unicorn said softly.

Kestral watched as she put her head in the doorway. “Children?” She asked, as he teleported up behind her. He leaned out to see her head, and shot her. A small splatter of green blood landed on a teddy bear, and the body of the undisguised changeling dropped to the ground. He pulled on its leg until it was all the way out of the doorway, then picked it up, and closed the door.

He ran back to the bedroom, in order to deposit the second body of the night. He dropped it, and casually walked back to the stairs, already thinking of a new plan. Two distractions to draw off changelings were fine, but a third would more than likely draw suspicion, so he decided he needed a new way to get one out.

He hopped over the rail, and teleported down to the ground floor. He turned around, trying to find anything useful. Along under the second floor was a wide entrance. On the right half was what he realized to be the real dining room, since the table seemed significantly longer than the other one, with windows along the wall. On the left half of the entrance was a long hall, similar in design as the one upstairs. Immediately inside was an open walkway which, as he walked closer, he realized was the kitchen, with the other, smaller dinner table at the other side. He heard the voices of a few females become clear.

As he grew closer to the dining room, he saw a candle on the table, and an idea began to hatch in his head. In the dark lighting of the room, he grabbed the candle and moved around to the window side of the table. He pulled one of the chairs out, and moved it up against the wall, a few feet from sight of the dining room. He placed the candle at the top, leaning against the marble wall.

He lit the candle, and ducked down under the table, where the chairs and tablecloth would shield him from the light. He didn't find any reaction immediately, but eventually he heard one of the 'ponies' voice her concern.

“Hey, did Risky light that?”

“Don't know, but it's wasting a good candle. Go put it out, would you?”

Little did the disguised changeling know that she sent her friend to death with that sentence. Kestral awaited patiently for the clopping of hooves to make it to the table, then around the table's corner. He felt the heartbeat in his chest as he watched the four legs make their way past him. Just as the changeling reached the candle, he leaned in to blow, while Kestral leaned out to shoot.

“phew.” Just as the light went out, a bullet entered the skull of the bug, causing the undisguised body to drop down. Kestral teleported in closer, and caught the body before it had a chance to hit the ground and make much noise. He carried the body forward a bit, then simply set it down, where it was leaning up against the chairs.

Three down, one to go.

Kestral teleported to the other side of the table, and moved towards the kitchen. He leaned up against the open walkway, and looked for anything he could use to get the last changeling out with. He looked all over the kitchen, and saw an oven, with some kind of food cooking in it. He sniffed in the smell, and realized it was a sweet desert.

He smiled a wicked smile.

Planner, with her long, dirty blonde mane tied back into a standard ponytail, and lavender coat giving a nice sheen, sat patiently across from her good unicorn friend, creamer. The empty salad bowl had been set in the sink a while ago, and the smell of ranch dressing left the room around the same time. Her lasagna, flavored with extra cheese, stuck to her ribs rather nicely. She did not eat too much, nor too little. She would be perfectly content to not eat another bite.

She would be, except the smell of brownies permeated the air, sending off her once contented stomach into a fit.

“By the way, creamer.” The aptly named cream-colored pony looked up from her unfinished helping of lasagna. “Do you still have my necklace? The one with the pigeon on it?”

Creamer, with her chocolate brown mane thrown over the side to cover her left eye, sat there with a quizzical look, until she remembered. “Oh! Yes, the kids were trying to play with it, so I put it in the safe until I could find a good time to get it back to you. Do you want me to go get it now?” Creamer offered.

“Oh, there's no need, I was just making sure you still had it.”

Creamer smiled. “Okay, but remind me to get it before you leave. I don't want to forget every time I borrow something.”

The two lulled into a silence. Planner began to think about where the rest of Creamer's herd went. Risky went to answer the front door, and was talking to somepony out there, while Cool Whip, Creamer's sister, went upstairs to check on the kids. Whip always loved talking to kids, so it was likely that she went to telling stories to get them to sleep. Of course, she couldn't get why it would take so long for Pink Petal to go put up a candle.

“Hey,” She began, “where did Pink go?”

“Oh,” Creamer rolled her eyes. “she's putting up the candle, although she might be upstairs preparing.”

Planner furrowed her eyebrows. “Preparing for what?”

“Well,” Creamer gave a sultry look. “I was talking to Risky about how you lost your herd, and how great of a friend you are. And, I may have convinced him to, you know, give you a bit of love.” She winked. “Just between friends, of course. So you aren't feeling so lonely.”

Planner blushed a bit, her eyes receiving every sexual look her friend gave her. “W- well, that's awfully kind of you.”

Creamer slowly climbed up on the table, refusing to break eye contact with her friend. She swished her body from side to side, getting lower, like she was about to pounce on a meal. “Of course, if you want an appetizer, we can start together, you and I.” Creamer leaned in to Planner, her mouth opening to go for the kiss. Planner reacted by mimicking the opening of the mouth, unconsciously preparing for the taste.

DING!

“Desert's ready!” Creamer proclaimed as she jumped off the table, as if nothing had happened, leaving Planner to deal with the subtle sorrow at the missed opportunity.

Planner watched Creamer go around the bar that divided the kitchen, and to the oven. She magicked the door open, and took the pan out, setting it on the counter, and letting the fresh scent of brownies fill the air, which they both breathed in heartily.

Suddenly the large candles set in the center of the table went out, causing only total darkness to be seen by either of the two.

“What the?” Creamer asked.

“It wasn't me, I swear.” Planner said. She heard an exhale of breath, and the sound of two hooves hitting the stone floor. But then, silence. “You know, you could use your illumination spell right about now. Wouldn't hurt.” She squinted her eyes, trying to adjust to the darkness. “Creamer? Are you there?” Again, there was no answer to be heard.

The light flicked on again, by itself, scaring Planner. “Okay Creamer, this isn't funny.” She stood up, and walked around towards the bar. As she turned, she suddenly felt a weight on her back. She tried to scream, but a foreign appendage reached up to clamp her mouth shut. Her heart beat faster and faster, trying to get her out of there. But it was too late, whatever was on her had her pinned. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her neck, like she had been stabbed. She tried to flail about, but it only made the pain flare.

NONONONONONO WHAT'S HAPPENING?!?!?!?

Slowly, against her will, he muscles began softening up. Her eyes became heavy, and the pain dulled away. Her legs gave way to her body's weight, and bent down until she couldn't resist gravity in the slightest. The last coherent memory she had of that night was in the shape of a rubber boot, walking away.

It worked! Kestral thought. He ascended the stairs in a triumphant manner, letting his confidence emanate into the cold, dark room, which was only lit by his small flame and some moonlight from the back windows.

He decided that he would let the brownies cool, while he robbed the place, and have them as his primary reward. He went to the master bedroom, and began his search there for the safe he heard about. He went through the wardrobes first, quickly filing through them. He managed to nab a couple of silvery earrings, but nothing else. He then went to the bed, and looked under it, but it yielded nothing. He looked at the mirror at the side of the room, but saw it had no drawers to go with, so he left it be.

He made his way to the closet, and began going through all the clothing using his telekinesis. After moving one large pile from one place to another, he found nothing, and moved on towards the back of the oversized storage. He saw a set of glittery looking dresses. He moved in closer, and saw the sparkling was just sequins, so he lost interest. Down below, though, he saw three sets of what looked like horse shoes, but not of any kind he had seen before. One set was a standard gold, with emerald gems setting in the front, the next was a shiny cobalt, with a citrine gem, and the last was a reflective green with a sapphire gem.

He grabbed all three sets, and moved on out of the closet. He scoured the bedroom, trying to find a hint of the safe, but no matter how much furniture he moved, he could not locate the cashe. He gave up on the bedroom for the time being, and moved down the hall to the office again. He went in and went straight for the desk.

He opened a drawer, and went through the various papers that resided in it. All he found were a set of blank scrolls, a pencil, and some letters of no importance. He grabbed the former two items, knowing he would use them later, and moved on. He went through the other drawers, but found nothing of use. He moved to the center of the room, trying to think of any possible places for a safe to be.

He noticed the rugs thrown about, and realized there was a pattern. One was behind the desk, where 'Risky' would stand, and another was in the front, where -presumably- another pony would stand. Another was setting at the entrance, a fourth was at the balcony doorway.

The fifth, was right in the center of the floor, next to his feet, with nothing to indicate importance.

Aha! He slid his foot to the side, sliding the rug along the floor, and revealed a steel plate on hinges. His sudden smile faded a bit, though. He could not see any combination or keyhole, only a handle. He pulled hard, but it didn't open for him, so he came to a conclusion; That there is a secret release somewhere in the room. He looked around, trying to find any potential triggers for the lock. After a minute, he just started walking up to some trinkets on the wall and began randomly pulling and turning them, in a vain attempt to find the trigger.

When he was halfway through turning random objects, it occurred to him that it might be more obvious.

The bust!

He went to the desk, and looked at the bust. It had the name 'Risky Business' inscribed on the front. More importantly, it had a crease running along the neckline. He pressed the head back to see it give way, revealing a switch. He flicked the switch, letting a click resound in the room. Kestral went over to the safe and pulled it open.

It revealed two gold bars, a beautiful silver necklace with a pigeon stretching out the side, and several small silver bars and a few leather bags full of gold coins. He grabbed each of the items, leaving only a single bag of coins and nothing else. He closed the safe, threw the rug back over, and put the bust back as it was.

He ran out the room and down the stairs, eagerly getting to the food that awaited him

Kestral put his dish at the sink, and washed his hands, or at least the fingertips that protruded from the gloves. He walked by the bar, which had a plate of seven brownies cut out and placed along the edge. Under the plate was a note. It read eerily, 'to the survivors', in a scratchy handwriting. He passed along the table, where the lavender pony was laid, and laughed to himself as he saw the note and apple that were pinned down by a kitchen knife about a foot away from her head. That note simply said 'Eat well'.

Heh, that ought to scare them well enough.

With his only target of the night done, and it not even being midnight yet, he decided that he wanted to go check out a book. As he went up the stairs, through the office, and out the balcony, he began to wonder what kind of magic he was going to learn that morning.

Guess I’ll find out, won't I?

Kestral watched for anything that moved, then pried open the window with his flat bar. He moved in, and shut his entrance. Once inside, he took out the paper in his pocket. It read 'Electromancy: Shocking Theories'.

Oh geez, the puns just get worse, don't they?

He put it up, and began going to the spell book section again. Once he reached there, he went through each row, trying to find the book he wanted. Near the bottom, he spotted it, and grabbed the leathery item. Once he put it into his stash, he pulled the two books he had previously stolen, and put them in random spots of the shelf.

It's not like he needed them. Their usefulness was done, and he didn't see any need to spite a librarian.

With his new book attained, he decided that he could take the rest of the night reading. Kestral lifted the window, and exited the building.

What he didn't know, was that every action was watched by a certain pair of owl eyes.