We sat there in silence for a time, the occasional sound of metal clinking together the only accompanying noise between us. She was oddly serious about the work she was doing, taking care of her own gun, but I didn't recognize the model. It was odd, actually. I knew my pistols pretty well, though anything outside of that was usually in need of a refresher course since I rarely used anything outside of easy-to-carry pistols, revolvers...aaand maybe the occasional sawed-off and tommygun.

To say it was surprising was entirely accurate at the time. She goes from flirtatious and forward to completely quiet and serious within the span of...what, just a couple hours? It was only three-thirteen in the afternoon, there was a good chance we'd have plenty of time to wait. I doubted she had anything else to do that day...unless she was honestly hoping for a booty call before taking out her ex-boss.

Normally I'd have some kind of music on, doing work like this. Something soothing, like smooth jazz, or some classical, but stuffing a gramophone into my suitcase wasn't exactly high on the priority list over other essentials, so all we had was our idle tinkering and the shuffling of our hooves. Without anything else aside from very distracting television programming, I decided to risk it and attempt to hold a conversation with her.

"So...what kind of pistol is that?" I asked, motioning to the disassembled parts she had laid out on the carpet, atop a towel she'd retrieved from the bathroom.

"Oh, this? Nothing special. Just a modded Makarov," she said, the light green glow of her horn flowing over the parts while she used a few borrowed bits from my cleaning kit to tend to her own bits and baubles. "Larger magazine capacity, higher muzzle velocity...no silencer though."

I frowned. "That'll be a problem. We can deal with that just fine though. Actually," I said, tapping my chin a little. "You seem to really know what you're doing."

"I like tinkering with things," she said, shrugging a little. "Got my mark for it."

"What, messing with guns?"

"Huh? Oh! No. I was just building a toy for a little filly when I was just a little filly myself," she said, grinning ever-so-slightly. "I really got into it. It had to be perfect, it was going to be a birthday present! So I poured everything I had into it. Next thing I know, I am coming out of my focus on it, and everyone is cheering around me because I just got my cutie mark."

"Huh. That's almost an anti-climax, compared to some of the cutie mark stories I've heard," I said, flicking an ear before reaching up to scratch it. "My entrance exam to Celestia's school was pretty monumental, though it wasn't the receiving of my cutie mark that was so amazing."

"I saw that in the papers. You were interviewed after it happened, da?" she asked, reaching out for the small brush I had in my magic. I gave it to her without fuss, I was just about done with it anyways. "You said you had a strange magic surge."

"Embarrassing to admit, but yes," I said slowly, flicking my tail in irritation. "They gave me a test to see how I would respond to failure. Instead, I wound up digging deeper than I'd ever dug into myself before, and broke through a mental block. What I got out of it was the prestige of becoming Celestia's protege, aaand then I became the single parent of a dragon hatchling."

"Sounds rough," she muttered, the edge of her hoof tapping on a small spring, the little piece of metal held up in front of her eyes so she could take a close look at it. "I have no desire for kids."

I smirked and kept my focus on my gun parts. "Should probably stop sticking your dick in cute mares then."

She barked out a laugh and glanced over at me. "You are funny, Canterlot! That will never happen. Mares are one of the greatest delights in the world! To think I would ever give them up, сумасшедшая пони...."

I snorted at that and rolled my eyes. "Oh yes, Celestia forbid you go on suppressants and find other things to do with your spare time."

She perked up at that suddenly and her eyes darted in my direction. "You know anything about that poison?"

"Poison? What, because of the side-effects?"

"Oh sure, just side-effects!" she said, the sarcasm in her tone not lost on me. "Just long-term use resulting in future hormonal imbalances that could result in physical and psychological problems! Weight gain, sterility, erectile dysfunction-"

"Yes, I'm aware of the side-effects!" I said quickly, cutting her off. "It's not like you couldn't just go off of them before you turn thirty."

"Da, because the side-effects are guaranteed to only happen in your thirties, right?" she said, giving me the flattest stare I'd ever seen. "I do not think so. I just adjusted to not being on them. Plus, when puberty hit, I could not afford them. The good ones are expensive."

"Uh...health insurance?" I offered, pausing my work and setting the parts down carefully, in a more organized fashion.

"I grew up in an orphanage way out on the edges of the poorer areas, outside of the fancy area this hotel is located in," she explained, motioning around the room with a hoof. "None of us could afford health insurance, let alone quality suppressants. By the time I could afford it, I was already adjusted to my hyperactive libido. At least I am not popping boners left and right like I was back when I was eleven!"

Oh, I knew all about that. Lewd mental images of Celestia in various compromising positions, along with me popping a boner in the middle of having tea with her all came rushing back to me, but thankfully, the fairly significant dose of suppressants I'd taken was still in effect. I dismissed such thoughts like I would thoughts about the Super Bowl: utterly uninteresting and just getting in my way.

"I imagine that was embarrassing, huh?" I said, slipping off the bed and stretching out my limbs, having been sitting still for far too long.

"I smacked one of the fillies at the orphanage with my erection on accident," she said flatly, setting her parts down as well. "You tell me."

I covered my muzzle with a hoof, struggling to hold back my laughter. "Oh geez! Wow, I bet she never talked to you again!"

"Eh, I rut her every once in a while," she said, shrugging it off and standing up. "No big deal. It was embarrassing at the time!"

"...Touche," I said quietly, blinking a few times. "I legitimately didn't see that coming."

She just chuckled and stood up, looking down at her parts for a moment before lighting up her horn, carefully picking up one piece, then another, using her magic to piece her pistol back together part by part. I wasn't quite done cleaning mine, so I left it all on the bed and went into the bathroom to do my business and take a quick shower. I needed some time alone, and the shower was the closest thing to that, short of telling her to leave for a while. That would've been rude, however.

I sat there for a time and let the hot water cascade over me, soaking my fur and helping me relax. Despite the loud pitter-patter of water raining down over me, the soothing sensation made it a remarkably good place to just sit down, meditate, and collect my thoughts. Not as good as a bath, but I didn't exactly trust those at the moment. Plus, there was a relative stranger in my hotel room. I wasn't gonna just kick back in a bathtub with her around.

This turned out to be a good thing since I failed to lock the bathroom door.

"Hey Canterlot, mind if I join you?"

I damn near shrieked when I saw her silhouette on the other side of the shower curtain. She was in the process of peeking her head in around the side of it, and I curled in on myself and covered my underside as best I could with my tail, my good hindleg raised to keep that specific part of myself hidden.

"Well?" she asked, tilting her head. "Can I-"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" I shouted at her, my horn lighting up. "Get out!"

Her head jerked back out of the shower, but I could still see her standing there, startled and stumbling back onto her flank from my outburst. I could feel my right eye twitching incessantly, and it took some serious self-control for me to not just blast her.

"Shit, sorry! I mean, what did I-"

I didn't bother to let her finish. I grabbed her with my magic, pushed the bathroom door wide open and tossed her out without hesitation. A quick snap of my magic slammed the door shut with a loud bang, and a small click of the lock secured my privacy yet again. I slumped in the shower and laid there in the tub for a moment, just letting the water fall over my back for a time.

She'd gone too far that time, and I think she knew it. She probably just didn't know what she'd done. I turned the water off a moment later and stomped out of the tub, rapidly scrubbing my fur dry and twisting the air around myself to dry the remaining dampness off, a flick of a switch turning the overhead vent on to let the steam air out. I wiped off the mirror and went to work brushing my mane and my tail down before slipping my clothes back on and yanking the bathroom door open.

She was standing there nervously, though she also looked a little miffed at what I'd done to her. She stood up the moment I stepped out of the bathroom, as if she expected me to just throw down with her immediately.

"What was that about, Canterlot?!" she asked, raising her voice at me.

"Okay," I said while stamping a hoof against the carpet. "Some ground rules. Probably should have established them before I hopped in the shower."

"Ground rules? What, you are too good to bathe with others?"

"No. I used to bathe with my brother when I was younger quite a bit, and now I take baths with Spike all the time," I said, taking a few deep breaths to calm myself down. "However, I don't know you, and I don't much like being seen naked!"

"Wait, what?" she asked, confusion plain as day on her face. "I do not understand."

I sighed and motioned to myself. "I don't wear these clothes just because I look fantastic in them," I said, reaching down to adjust my top a little around the base of my neck. "I'm very self-conscious about being naked."

She let that process for a moment before she spoke up. "Oh. Why are you self-conscious about it?"

"I don't want to talk about it, alright? Look, I know lots of ponies do that whole group bathing thing," I said, waving it off. "But that's not something I do. I tend to freak out when ponies see me naked."

"Alright...okay," she said, sitting down and clearing her throat. "I am sorry then, if that helps. I did not know."

"Yeah, I know you didn't know," I muttered, sitting down and rubbing the back of my head. "I'm sorry for flipping out on you like that. I just-I'm really sensitive about it, okay? So I bathe alone, and I'd prefer if you don't sneak up on me like that. I almost blasted you as hard as I could!"

She nodded a few times. "Alright, fine. I will try to keep that in mind. Still...showers must be lonely for you then, huh?"

I shrugged and walked over to re-assemble my pistol, sitting on the edge of my bed. "Not really. Group bathing isn't something I grew up doing on a larger scale, so it's hard to miss what you've never had."

"You say that, but you would think otherwise were you to have five or six ponies in a large wooden tub with you," she said, sitting down with her own disassembled parts. "I like the public baths. Good chance to talk with others, get to know new ponies, that sort of thing."

"Yeah, and I'm sure being able to get touchy-feely with new mares is just a convenient bonus, right?" I snarked, grinning even as my eyes remained focused on my work.

Truth be told, group bathing wasn't uncommon. Given that the vast majority of ponies are at the very least partial nudists their entire lives, it's not so strange to consider that a lot of us bathe together. Pretty much every city has public baths for all ponies to gather together and wash up with each other. It's a very social activity that I've never taken part in to this day. After all, I have a secret to keep. Just because the option's available doesn't mean that everypony does it.

"Hey, if they want to throw themselves at me and ask if they can help wash my back, who am I to say no?" she said with a smile, looking off to the side. "They usually wait until we are out of the baths before they try to make a pass at me."

I just rolled my eyes at that. "Suuuure...whatever you say."

After we were finished with our work, we had about an hour left before we needed to get down to business. We went and got something small and simple to eat after I re-donned my disguise and changed my clothes to something less Twilight Sparkle and more 'casual commoner walking down the street'. Sweatpants and a non-descript shirt, in case that wasn't clear.

In case you're confused, I did not trust her. Not as much as I was pretending to be, anyways. I was under no illusions about the facade she was putting on, though I questioned how much of it was a facade and how much of it was simply how she was. She was very ponyvillean like that, except instead of her heart it was her desires she wore on her sleeve. She would've fit in well in Ponyville, if it weren't for her constant attempts to get under ponies' tails. Then again, I'm sure there were plenty of ponies in Ponyville that followed her thought process, or at least were malleable towards it.

While we ate, I learned a little more about her foalhood. The pseudo-orphanage she grew up in was a decently-sized old apartment building that an old mare named Vanilla Cream took over. She converted the rooms, furnished them as best she could, and started taking in fillies and colts that needed a home. Only catch was that she didn't speak fluent Equestrian, only Gradios and a small amount of Equestrian. My best guess was that she was once a baker, but she'd given up her profession.

Gadget was apparently abandoned there as a foal, and the old mare took her in. I didn't get many details, but I didn't need much beyond that, and by the time we got to that point, we were running five minutes behind my schedule. She didn't know that, but I did, and that sort of thing tends to really bug me. I can usually let it go, but at the time, this sort of thing needed to go off without a hitch.

I rushed her into showing me where we needed to go. Fortunately, she knew a way into the back entrance, and without a magic detection system in place, that meant that thorough use of my telekinesis was more than viable. I had no intention of using offensive spells unless absolutely necessary, for fear of unnecessary casualties. I did, however, have a bit of mind magic I needed to put to use before we moved in.

We ducked around behind a building, and I had Gadget keep watch while I closed my eyes and lit my horn, going through the familiar motions of a very special form of mind magic I'd used on myself countless times. Ponykind had left a lot of their senses to fade away in favor of higher intelligence than your average animal, and while one's brain wasn't tuned to allow for it...they were still there, to some extent. Waiting to be honed and focused in on.

It had taken me years to get it to a point where it wouldn't potentially kill me when I used it. The after-effects can be draining, but they're nothing compared to the time when I did it wrong and went completely blind for a full five minutes. You have no idea how much I was panicking when I did that to myself, but to avoid anyone asking questions, I kept myself quiet and locked in my lab until it thankfully wore off.

It did have limits, of course. You can only fine-tune something so much before you reach a limit, and our senses are certainly limited. While I had the tweaks and adjustments established in my head well enough that it was like flipping a switch in my brain, there was only so far I could push it without actually altering, say, my olfactory glands...which, might I note, is impossible outside of body modification. I think I've already explained the dangers of that form of magic well enough.

Of course, there is enough of an advantage in working with what I've already got. Imagine, if you would, the ability to smell something five rooms away. The chrome metal on a vacuum cleaner, or what your neighbor three houses down is cooking for dinner. That's well within what a pony is capable of, and even without magic there have been documented cases of such things. I was just cheating, I guess you could say.

I did at one point consider acclimating to keeping my senses heightened at all times, but then I got Spike. I tried enhancing my senses around him when he was a baby, and never did it again because a single inhale of the stench coming from his diaper instantly made me vomit. Just, my entire being screamed in revulsion and tried to expel all the things from my stomach. It succeeded.

These adjustments gave me particularly keen hearing, and a sharp sense of smell. You can probably imagine just how useful that is when you're trying to remain undetected while sneaking into hostile territory. Being able to hear a security guard down the hall without having to peek your head out, being able to smell them down below...I had to practice a lot with my sense of smell to really get used to how it worked. It's really difficult to describe what it's like to learn to differentiate from a smell that's close, and a smell that's from further away, smells that a normal pony would never pick up on to begin with.

I mean I still smell really unpleasant things, I can't exactly avoid that, but no one ever said the kind of work I did was pretty.

With little fanfare, I flipped those switches in my head, carefully letting things build up while taking in a few shallow breaths through my nostrils. Immediately, my nose was assaulted by intense scents from the nearby trash bins, but I kept the bile in my throat down long enough to take a few more lungfuls of air. I couldn't comprehend how dogs put up with being able to smell things like this, or at least I assumed this was similar, but then they were born this way. I was sure it was just natural to them.

Alongside that, I partially lowered my ears to dull the echoes of noise filtering into my range of hearing. While our ears are far more limited than what our noses are capable of, I deemed it extremely useful in assisting my enhanced sense of smell to detect targets without actually being able to see them. It was sort of like a second point of reference to help me figure things out. However, when just turning it on...you really don't want to be somewhere loud, like anywhere near a busy main street during the day. I learned that lesson the hard way. Thought my ear drums were going to explode and take chunks of my head along with them....

There is a certain amount of time needed to acclimate to the changes in my head, time needed to help the more specific aspects of these changes to settle in, such as being able to talk to someone right next to me without them sounding like they were talking to me with a megaphone directly against my ears. I was only fortunate that Gadget kept her mouth shut long enough for me to put the finishing touches on it. With the way she'd been running her mouth and teasing me earlier, I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd tried to get my attention in some way.

"What was that about?" she asked, once I'd opened my eyes and slowly gotten to my hooves once more.

"Nothing important, just focusing myself," I semi-lied. "My mentor's lessons in meditation help me to calm my nerves and put distracting thoughts off to the wayside temporarily."

"Sounds useful. How is that going to help us?"

"If I'm focused, I can distinguish sounds better, smell things I normally wouldn't pay any mind to..." I listed off, shrugging and reaching down to pat the pistol I had tucked into the waistband of my sweatpants, the strings pulled tight and tied together to make sure they didn't loosen up on me. "More useful than you think."

"...Da, that sounds like it would be useful," she said, pulling her Makarov out and giving it a quick once-over. "So, how are we doing this?"

"We're sneaking in through the back entrance to the downstairs kitchen. Unless you think there's an entrance on the second floor we could use that'd be more discreet?" I asked, walking with her down the street, close enough to see the building from a block away.

She shook her head. "There is a balcony to one of the second-floor suites you can see from out back, but unless you have a way of getting up there-"

"I can teleport us. Not a problem since there isn't a magic detection system in place."

"Wait, really? You can teleport?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes, as long as I have a good mental map of where I want to teleport to and it's within range of my magic, I can do it. I can take you with me too," I said, shrugging a little. "Though, a blind teleport comes with inherent risks...such as teleporting into a chunk of rubble that wasn't in that spot last time you checked."

"That sounds like it would be bad."

"Imagine your internal organs and a chunk of ceiling trying to occupy the same space at the same time."

"...I do not want to imagine that, no."

"Mmmhmm."

"That is all well and good, but...how are we going to sneak in when I do not have a quiet gun like yours?" she asked, holding up her pistol.

I shook my head. "I don't intend to go in there bullets flying. I'd like to avoid confrontation if I can, but if I can't, well...that's what you're here for."

Gadget just snorted in amusement. "What, as a meat shield?"

"No, as back-up!" I said in exasperation. "I wouldn't do that to you."

"Suuuure," she muttered, tucking her pistol away. "Whatever. So we are just using magic?"

"I'm going to be using magic to put them to sleep before they can make any noise, and you're going to be staying behind me," I explained, motioning for her to show me the way around behind the building. "If they get shots off, our cover's blown and we'll both need to go full-force on this."

"Just the two of us against an entire security team?"

"You forget that I'm an extremely skilled mage," I said, reaching up to tap the side of my horn. "I can deflect incoming gunfire to some extent, and I highly doubt that she can afford nullstone bullets."

"That would be correct...so what, I do nothing unless everything goes straight to Tartarus?"

"Pretty much. I'm used to doing this sort of thing on my own," I said, slowing down as we drew closer to our destination. "You can...you can be sneaky and precise, right?"

"This is not the first time I have done something like this," she said, motioning for me to follow as we turned into an alleyway. "I can be subtle."

"Good. If everything goes to plan, we won't even need to put up a proper fight."

Why did I even say that? How fucking stupid could I be? Though, in my defense, I didn't like the idea of being in a contained area, fighting an ex-Armada pegasus. I had no doubt that if I were forced to engage her in hoof-to-hoof combat, I'd lose, even worse if she still had her Royal Guard weaponry. Plus, she was a pegasus...and they're nothing if not slippery.

Plus, while I doubted she had nullstone weaponry of any sort, that stuff's military-grade and heavily restricted in use, there was always the possibility of the opposite being true when it came to the unknown. I knew very little about her operation, nor did I know anything about her actual finances or connections. I couldn't afford to be careless, even if I had to go full-force in this matter. An explosive magic show wouldn't do either, and I wanted to avoid us being discovered if I could. You can imagine a building blowing up in several places and catching fire attracts attention, the kind of attention I really don't want. Last thing I need is the business I'm trying to take over being discovered by the local police, let alone me being caught with my hoof in the proverbial cookie jar.

Our approach went unnoticed, and I couldn't hear any wings in the air. We hung back in an alleyway while we got a good look at what we were dealing with. The entire setup was amateur-hour as far as I was concerned. There was no line-of-sight to the back entrance from inside of the building, each of the guards forced to stand around the door with only the dim light of a nearby lamp post to illuminate them. No windows for anyone to observe them from properly, not even a security camera...you may as well raise your proverbial tail and invite a pony like me inside without even the smallest fuss!

I pulled my pistol out and gave it a once-over in the dark, my horn barely acting as good enough illumination. I didn't want to be spotted by them, obviously.

"They have security cameras on the inside, right?" I asked, pulling my silencer out of one of the pockets of my sweatpants, carefully screwing it onto the end of my pistol.

"Da," she whispered, clearing her throat as quietly as possible. "Security room is on the first floor."

"Then we'll be splitting up. I'll teleport you up to the second floor balcony you mentioned, then I'll infiltrate from downstairs," I said, quirking a brow. "You're not easily nauseated, are you?"

"Нет, I will be fine. Uh..." she whispered, pausing for a moment. "What does infiltrate mean?"

"It means that I'll sneak in through the back door. Meanwhile, you'll wait for me on the balcony, I'll make my way to you," I continued. "You wait in the room the balcony's connected to, if no one's inside. If you start to hear a ruckus or loud gunfire, wait thirty seconds for them all to come after me, then slip out of the room and flank them from behind."

"Очень хорошо! This is more planned out than most of the other times I have taken part in this kind of thing," she said, grinning a little. "Alright, Canterlot. Show me how good you are with that gun."

I rolled my eyes at that and simply focused on taking aim. The distance was significant, but not so much that it would mess with my aim. There were three of them, two at the door, both unicorns, and one earth pony off to the side, having a smoke. All three had dark blue suits on, and I was willing to bet that was the security's uniform. I suppose he was on break, I couldn't see any other reason for him to be out there with those two other guards. Considering the size of the place, security on the outside was very lax...probably because they'd never actually been attacked before.

I rose up onto my hindlegs and spread my stance a little, gripping the gun with both of my hooves to steady my aim. All three of them needed to go down quick, preferably without making too much noise. I aimed for their heads first, quickly switching between them to get a feel for exactly how far I'd have to shift my aim, then focused my aim on the earth pony.

A quiet 'pff!' sounded off from my pistol, followed by the earth pony letting out a surprised grunt before collapsing to the ground in an awkward fashion, drawing the attention of the two guards. I only had maybe two seconds before they called for help. The unicorn to the left of the door from my position went down next, my second shot striking straight through the base of his horn and into his brain. A quick adjustment to my aim, and the third guard was down for the count as well.

Gadget whistled at the show. "Whoo, very nice, Canterlot! You did not even hesitate."

I rolled my eyes and moved down to all fours again. "I fought an ancient Goddess and came out of it victorious. Honestly, this is more of a return to form in comparison."

"Must be quite a story behind it," she mused, walking ahead of me towards the building. "We will have to survive this so you can tell me."

"Heh! That won't be difficult."

Our approach was as casual as it could be, though I kept my eyes peeled and my ears perked up, taking in every sound in the area. While security looked lax, knowing my luck, she had ponies waiting nearby to report in instead of relying on security cameras.

This didn't turn out to be the case as we approached the back door, the noises from inside muted in comparison to the resounding dull roar of wind all around us. I wouldn't be able to get an accurate feel for what was on the other side of that door until I actually went in.

"Show me where the balcony is."

Gadget just pointed off to the left of the door, up to the second floor. It wasn't a particularly large balcony, but it was enough room for me to get her up there without a problem. Only catch was that there were windows up there, and her re-appearing might be spotted by anyone inside of the room.

"Whose room is that, exactly? Ruby's bedroom?" I asked, dubious on sending her up there without any precaution.

"Da, but she only sleeps in there, and it is not that late," she explained, pulling out her pistol and looking it over. "She should be in her office right now."

"No one else that should be in there?"

"нет, there should be no one."

"Alright...then fair warning, teleportation can be very nauseating for some ponies, especially if they've just eaten," I said, already doing the math to precisely teleport Gadget from here to that balcony. "Make sure to brace yourself, and when you're ready, tell me. It'll be over in a flash."

She gave me a quick nod and took a few deep breaths, her eyes drifting shut while she tried to brace herself for something she had zero experience with. The moment she said she was ready, I gave her to the count of three...and teleported her on one. I found that it was easier to teleport them before they were expecting it, because lots of ponies second-guess themselves near the end of the countdown. Best to do it when she's firmly situated her mind for it.

The flash of magic next to me was quickly punctuated by the semi-noisy burst of magic up on the balcony, and I saw Gadget re-appear up there just barely, the lights doing nothing to highlight her form. The way she was hanging her head and struggling not to retch, however, told me that...she'd handled it better than most. The vast majority of ponies going through their first teleportation usually wind up vomiting all over the ground.

That was part of my reasoning in having her wait for me on the second floor, outside of it being the best laid plan given she didn't have a properly silenced weapon. Nausea and an urge to puke doesn't do good things for your ability to keep a steady aim. I don't know about you, but when I puke, I have very shaky limbs for a time, not to mention how distracting that nauseating churning sensation in my gut is.

Of course, separating from her gave her ample time to set up an ambush with her boss, but I had the sensory advantage. If there was a significant shift in the security detail after her arrival on the scene, I'd know just who she was actually betraying here.

With Gadget in position, and hopefully undetected after that fairly bright light show my teleportation gave off, I pressed myself against the side of the building just next to the back door, and used my magic to move the bodies into a pile behind me. Under normal circumstances I would've given them the double-tap, as any trained assassin would do, but I was running on thirty-three bullets total after putting a few through their heads. I had to be conservative until shit hit the fan, if that ever came about.

I took a deep breath to prepare myself, and exhaled slowly while reaching for the doorknob, my gun being held in my other hoof. Magic detection system or not, a glowing horn and a gun held in a bright glowy aura doesn't do well for someone trying to be sneaky. Tends to really stick out, especially at night or in low-light conditions. I may have impressive magic, but there's reasons I learned how to be very precise with my hooves and not just with my telekinesis.

I turned the knob and pushed the door open slowly, just a smidge, leaning over to peek inside. No one there. Good, that helped me out a lot. I ducked my head in and checked my corners quickly, especially behind the door, then calmly slipped inside and reached back to turn the knob and close the door, slowly letting the knob rotate back into its natural position so it didn't make a loud clicking noise.

This wasn't like with Charlatan Muse. This wasn't the kind of killing I could sit back and enjoy. This was the kind of killing where my more practical skills came into use, the kind of killing where I needed to be quiet, quick, and precise above all else.

The short hallway in front of me had a few boxes stacked on both sides, the tops open enough to show what they had inside. There were more ammo drums than I could count! What did she plan on doing with these? The crowbars they used to crack those crates open were propped against the wall next to those boxes. Maybe this was a shipment they stole?

I didn't have time to really put a lot of thought into it, So I made a mental note of the very minor discovery. My only regret was that I had no way of carrying a few of them. All I had was my pockets, and the three spare magazines for my pistol tucked in my left pocket. I'd stuffed tissue between them so they didn't clack against each other, so at least I didn't have to worry about that.

This sort of thing wasn't like in the movies. You couldn't sneak up on someone quiet as the air with a heavy machine gun on your back and a bandolier of ammunition slung over your withers. I couldn't somehow carry around enough ammunition even for just my pistol to hold off an entire squad of hostiles without some serious trigger discipline. It was necessary to travel light to be stealthy in any way, shape or form. A little spell to cushion your hoofsteps helps too. Seriously, ponies are not built to be sneaky.

I moved to the end of the hallway and rose up onto my hindlegs, pressing my side against the wall and closing my eyes. I focused on my hearing, taking slow, deep breaths to draw in the scents permeating the area. I had to suppress the urge to snort when I picked up the smell of someone using the bathroom a few doors down. Just an unfortunate hazard. On the flip-side, that combined with my hearing let me pick up on at least two ponies in the room opposite the bathroom, though where they were in that room, I couldn't be sure. There were at least three patrolling the main hallway, and a lot of clinks and clatters from further down could be heard. The room those noises were coming from was too far away for me to pick up on how many were in there, but judging by the noises...I was betting it was a kitchen.

I peeked around the corner just a little and realized very quickly that this place must've been a renovated office building. All of these rooms on the first floor, small in size and with tall windows next to the doors, reminded me of the tiny offices you'd see bank managers or supervisors working in, or something to that effect. It only took me a second to look down the hall, and I could see a tall earth pony walking away from me, his back turned. Every single room had the same entrance.

On one hoof, that was great. General uniformity in the building's design made it easy for me to keep track of things and make a mental map as I moved through it. On the other hoof, those tall windows would make it very easy to spot me moving past, and given that the guard I saw was Stalliongradi, and the three outside were also Stalliongradi, and they all seemed to wear dark blue suits, my shorter stature and casual clothes were worthy of plenty suspicion. You know, aside from the obvious gun in my hoof. With a silencer on it.

It was a shame I wasn't still a little filly. There was a decently-sized air duct in the wall across from me, but there was no way I was going to fit in it.

I couldn't keep my head poked out for too long. It wasn't like they wouldn't be able to see me even if they were all the way down the hall. There were overhead lights, and they were all turned on at the moment. Shooting them out wasn't an option, the noise of the ricocheting bullet would make them wary, and plus, that would be a massive waste of my already limited ammunition.

There was a room on the other side of the wall I was leaning against. I could use that. I just needed to be careful. I risked one last peek around the corner, and identified the exact position of the doorknob and the distance from me, and ducked back behind my cover. I could cover that range with a silencing spell, easy.

"Hey, Breaker. We're heading out for a bit. Want us to bring anything back?"

My ears perked up higher and I closed my eyes once again, focusing on my hearing to get a better 'view' of the three ponies walking the hall. They had stopped in a cluster near each other at the other end of the hall.

"Yeah, sure. Just bring me back a sub, I'm hungry."

I cursed under my breath and froze in place, glancing back out of the corner of my eye at the door I'd entered at. I didn't know if they'd be heading out the back or not...but it was certainly closer than the front entrance, at least. If they came out through here...I had to retreat before they came this way.

I moved for the door and slowly turned the knob, slipping back out into the cold and shutting the door behind myself, just as quietly as when I'd entered. I ducked out of the dim light and hid myself behind the small pile of bodies I'd placed just barely out of sight, and waited. Sure enough, they both came out a few seconds later. They were immediately confused by the lack of guards outside, and I wasted no time in taking aim.

Two shots, two more dead ponies to add to the pile. Thirty one. Quite fortuitous for me, since that meant that there was only one guard walking around that hall in there. I moved them back onto the pile after rifling through their pockets. They weren't packing anything big, no tommyguns, not even leg-mounted weaponry. Just pistols. However, the kind of guns they were using didn't match up with mine, so that meant I didn't get to have any extra ammunition. Slightly disappointing.

No, I didn't take their money. Yes, they had money on them. What do you take me for, some common street thief?

I slipped back inside and took up my previous position, taking a moment to re-evaluate the situation ahead of me. You'd be surprised how quickly the situation can change if you turn your attention away for even a moment. Kinda like that old excuse babysitters use when the foal they're watching is suddenly screaming because he managed to drop a vase on his own head while she was going to the bathroom.

Fortunately, everything was right where it should've been, though he was still patrolling the hallway. I didn't have a good angle to see if anyone was watching him, but he seemed to be lingering near the only door that didn't have a tall window next to it, right next to another open hallway that likely led to the areas in the front of the building. Could've been a broom closet, could've been the security room I needed to track down. Either way, I needed to check it out...which meant, I needed to get rid of him.

You may be wondering why I didn't bother with my mind magic, considering I'd used it in previous instances to hide who I really was. The reason is, these ponies are far more attentive than a large group of ponies in a bar, or some dance club. While I could certainly do it, there had to be more than a few unicorns in the area that would pick up on it after a while. Out in public, among larger crowds, ambient magic tends to blend together and get ignored. Here, my magic would begin to stand out the longer I maintain it, and I prefer to not risk detection in any way, if I can help it.

It was irritating, but I had to be patient and find a way around him. This was where most amateurs fucked it up. Jump out, fire willy-nilly, make tons of noise as bullets miss their mark and hit the walls, maybe the glass nearby...stuff like that. Every scenario I had involved a risk, and I had to choose which was the lesser evil.

Killing him from where I was wasn't an option. I couldn't see any security cameras from where I was, but there could've been one around the corner in the hallway that I couldn't see from here. If I tried to get his attention, he might get those guys in that security room, or some other room, to check things out with him. In a worst-case scenario, if he became too suspicious, he might alert the entire building, and then I'm just kinda fucked.

I had no intention of fighting all of them, which was why I wanted that security room under my control. I couldn't just slip out the back and go upstairs and leave it be. I took a deep breath and knocked firmly on the wall, waiting to see what he would do. I didn't see a radio hanging on his hip, but he could've had it hidden in his suit somewhere....

Fortunately for me, he was more the curious sort than the cautious. It only took a few moments before he began moving towards the source of the noise, and I took the chance to step back and duck behind the crates. It wasn't much in the way of cover, but it'd do. I took aim directly at the corner, and waited for him to make the turn.

The moment he appeared, I pulled the trigger and reached out with my magic at the same time. A spray of red ejected through the other side of his head along with my bullet, and I cringed at the indentation it made in the wall. The angle was slightly upward thanks to him being taller, so it didn't hit anywhere too obvious, but anyone with a good enough eye would spot it.

I caught him in my magic before he could crumple like the sack of dying meat he already was, hefting the Stalliongradi just a few inches off the ground and whisking him away, closer to me. There was nothing I could do about the blood splatter, which was one reason I didn't always try to kill everyone I came across, but I knew almost nothing about Ruby Red other than the fact that she was a pegasus. In the off chance that I didn't put her down with a single well-placed shot in an ambush, I had to be sure I didn't get an entire security team bearing down on me. If that happened, I'd have no choice but to retreat, if I even could.

Speaking of pegasi...I just came to an odd realization: none of the ponies I'd seen thus far had been pegasi. All of them were either earth ponies or unicorns. As I laid him down behind the box I'd taken cover behind, I made a mental note to double-check that observation as I made my way through the rest of the floor.

I lowered my head and lit my magic as I twitched my ears this way and that, focusing in on the ponies in the rooms. There weren't many, and as I passed by, I swiftly pulled the doors open and fired sleeping spells at them. I made sure to catch each one before they fell so they didn't make any noise, and just as I thought, no pegasi. Not a single one of them. What was the purpose behind that? Maybe she had something against her own tribe?

Sleeping spells would be so much more efficient and safe if mind magic were legal. The difference is trivial in the casting of the spell, but the way a sleeping spell based in mind magic puts a target to sleep compared to the accepted standard is far faster. Directly forcing the mind into an REM state instead of causing the body to produce a heavy flood of endorphins that results in a pony passing out into blissful slumber, almost akin to an opiate-induced black-out? Let's just say the latter one can actually take a few seconds to kick in, whereas the former drops them as quickly as those ponies I shot in the head.

I took the time to check each room, just short of that first hallway. Every step deeper into the building I took was measured, quiet and careful as I ducked into each of those smaller side-rooms and made sure my spell did what was expected of it. Some of them seemed to be civilians, staff members, ponies that I couldn't verify had anything to do with her operation. They didn't deserve a bullet to the head. Well, save for that one security guard that was already napping in a chair in one of the rooms, of course. I shot him in the head and set him down on top of his dead co-worker by the ammo drum crate.

I mean, I guess none of them could've been involved in Ruby's activities and they were just responsible for watching the place, but....they were in the way. Besides, if it were that easy to make me bend to the will of my conscience, I probably would've been dead a long time ago.

When I reached the hallway, I stopped short and took a deep breath, focusing once more on my hearing. A security camera generally didn't make much noise, but the small motor they had to let the camera swivel back and forth to cover a larger area could be heard well enough with my enhanced senses. Sure enough, after just a few seconds, I heard that tell-tale whirr.

Now, this was where things got risky. I had no way of seeing around that corner without possibly being spotted by the camera in the process. If I was correct, the security room was just across the hall. If that camera caught sight of me, and security noticed...well, things might get really loud, really fast. That would be really bad no matter what way you look at it.

With a deep inhale and a moment taken to make sure I had good footing, I ducked low and waited for the camera to finish turning. The moment the motor fell silent, I peeked around the corner...and everything went to shit. Fuck me sideways with a barbed-wire bat.

I had the terrible misfortune of losing that unannounced coin toss. There was a fifty-fifty chance that, when the motor stopped, the camera would either be looking directly at me, or it would be turned towards what appeared to be a narrow stairwell leading downstairs into the basement. Almost immediately, I heard a commotion from the very room I was looking to take without being detected, and then the door burst open with two earth ponies rushing out with tommyguns pointed right at me.

I felt the world freeze in a moment of genuine terror, just before my magic flashed to life and I threw up a shield. I felt the impact of their bullets as they cut loose on me, but my barrier held strong long enough for me to shake it off and let the adrenaline take hold. I took aim at them and popped two rounds off into their heads, then threw their bodies back into the security room and slammed the door shut.

There was no way that those gunshots weren't heard by anyone else. Already, I could hear chatter and commotion all around me, upstairs and down the stairwell to my right. I had to act fast. I eyed their tommyguns and snatched both of them up, giving them a rapid once-over before reaching out back down the hall where I'd come from. I grabbed the entire crate of ammo drums and pulled it over to me just as hoofsteps began to sound off from every viable direction.

They were coming for me.

What, you thought I was gonna be a total badass and pull this off super-clean? Sadly, 'being a badass' isn't how things always go. From an outside perspective, what I was doing at that moment, standing my ground, was plenty badass as-is, but it sure didn't feel like it from where I was standing. I was scared, I was vulnerable, and outside of an almost-complete stranger, I was alone and surrounded. I could have teleported, but how many street ponies do you know that can teleport? Oh, none? Yeah, exactly. I may as well have raised a flag that said 'Hi, my name is Twilight Sparkle' while I was at it, if I'd done that.

I could hear the hoofsteps above me, and I felt the familiar rush of panic. There were at least five coming my way, and more waiting upstairs for confirmation of the situation. Two downstairs, with five more lingering behind them. The hallway the camera was in? I could see a pony peeking around the corner through the glass door that separated this section from theirs. They had a clear line of sight to me. I didn't hesitate to take aim with my pistol and fire a covering shot for myself, ducking to my right and hiding behind the wall again.

It only bought me a moment's time, and I was down to twenty-seven bullets for my pistol. Fortunately, that wasn't much of an issue anymore. The advantage of stealth had been lost, but on the flip-side, the disadvantage of having to hold myself back had also been cast aside. While I would make a distinct attempt to spare staff that didn't try to put a bullet in me, I now had carte blanche.

Welp. So much for doin' this the easy and less noisy way.

Author's Notes:

Well! That was interesting. Shame it all fell apart for her, huh?

As always, like comment and subscri-wait, this isn't YouTube. Nevermind that! Just comment, and like if you think the story deserves it.