Mafia Game (Round #1)

Alright Fillies and Gentlecolts, the Mafia Game shall begin tomorrow, at 6 PM Central Time. Until then I will post the current roster of players, which include the Detective and Bodyguard positions. Under no circumstances should anyone, other then myself, post in this thread. If they do, the Psycho will get a free ticket to kill them, and I will be forced to lock the thread when I'm not making posts, which I'd rather not do. So please, don't make me have to do that, it is in all of your best interests.

CURRENT ROSTER (Will be updated for each death)

Players

1. Aquilinus - The Detective - Bolivian Army Ending
2. Cross Roads - The Bodyguard - Killed Off-Screen
3. Shutter - Mafia
4. Bakewell Tart - Mafia - Baked Well
5. Blast Cap - Civilian - He just wanted a Radhog Burger
6. Blitz - Civilian - Distracted by the sexy
7. Sky - Civilian - Tasted Plasma
8. Reflected Failure - Civilian - Death by Irony
9. Pendant - Mafia
10. Scrap Parts - Civilian - He had a bit of a headache
11. Zestari - The Psycho - Burned at the Stake
12. Whitefeather - Civilian -Should of left town
13. Jasmine Beat - Mafia Leader - Wasth cuthe enough
14. Arc Weld - Civilian - Went Quietly into the Night
15. Lightning Flash - Civilian - Didn't go into the light
16. Bone Head - Mafia - Failed a Spot Check

NPCs

Ashen Coat - Civilian - Killed by Unwanted Houseguests
Rookie Star - Civilian - The First of Many

Our tale begins, as these tales often do, on a dark and stormy night. Clouds blackened the sky as a torrent of rain poured down on the town of Stableton, a fitting precursor of the events that would soon consume the community.

Rain pounding on his brown mane, now matted with water, the young unicorn Ashen Coat briskly trotted down the street, his goggle-covered eyes set on his own shop so he could get out of the rain and dry off. The unicorn recently rented a new property after his previous one was vaporized in an unfortunate accident involving a balefire egg. The new property was larger and more spacious for his tinkering, which suited the unicorn just fine.

The unicorn deftly opened the door with his telekinesis, and walked inside. He shook the excess rain off his barding and coat, before walking further inside the building, setting down his Bolt Rifle on a counter as he passed. Ashen had been gone for several days on a salvage mission to the robotics factory he helped clear out, and his body was tired and eager for rest.

Unfortunately, it would be a much longer rest then he would care for.

Ashen whirled his head around, a strange feeling in the back of his mind. As if someone was in the room with him...Watching him. But he saw no one. On instinct he activated his EFS and, to his surprise, he saw four red dashes surrounding him! Immediately he was leaping into action, magic grabbing onto his rifle in the other room, but he saw a flash to the right of his vision, a figure stepping into view, and suddenly everything went black as something impacted his skull.

He awoke an undetermined amount of time later, his hooves bound together in a rather uncomfortable manner. Surrounding him were five silhouetted figures, all talking amongst themselves.

“I told you we should've gotten out of here sooner, this unicorn over here could of been back here at any time and he was!” said one of them, a mare given her voice. Judging by her silhouette, she was wearing a dress of some kind, along with a beret perched on her head.

“Look, everything is going to be fine. We got the guy all tied up, he’s not going anywhere, we can get all his junk out of here for some caps and then we can take care of him.” said another figure, also a mare. Her attire seemed to be more conservative than the other’s, a simple vest covering her chest.

“What if someone finds out? What if-”

“No one’s coming, I know this buck, he’s got no friends. No one will even miss him.”

Ashen turned his head towards the two, which the first mare took notice off. She walked over to Ashen and tilted his head up, grinning a sick grin at the unicorn. “Well well, looks like Mr. Sleepyhead is finally up. What took you?”

If the mare was hoping to elicit an emotional response, she was disappointed, as all she got was a flat stare. “What is it you want?” he asked flatly.

“Well, I don’t see why it’d hurt to tell you that, you won’t be living long anyway.” she turned towards a figure further in the back, completely obscured by shadow. It simply nodded. “Alright. See, the five of us have gotten together to take over this dinky little town. We're going to slowly kill everyone here, and then make it into something fun for ourselves." her grin curled. “Doesn’t that sound like a blast?”

“No, not particularly. I’m wondering how the five of you plan on taking on an entire township.”

“Oh, with a little stealth and intrigue anything’s possible.” said another figure, a stallion this time. He was wearing a very prim and pressed grey suit complete with a matching fedora. In his hooves was Ashen’s own Bolt Rifle, which the stallion was taking interest in. “If they don’t see us coming, before they know it there will be no one left in this town, and it’ll be ours. Nice gun you have here, by the way. I’m certain it will be of use in the future.”

“I see. So, I suppose this is the part where you all kill me?”

The mare in the barret sighed. “I don’t like this guy. He’s boring, can’t we find someone who’s can actually show an emotion and kill him instead?”

“In time, #2. But first, we need to take care of this one.” said the stallion as he pulled a silenced pistol out of his suit jacket, holding it in his mouth as he aimed the pistol directly as Ashen’s forehead. The unicorn looked around, and struggled in his bonds, but he just couldn’t see a way out of this situation. He didn’t have long to think either, as moments later, the stallion squeezed the trigger, and the unicorn was no longer in this world.


Somewhere else in stableton, a lone colt ran through the soggy streets. He was visiting Stableton when the storm hit, looking for a job or something to do, but he found nothing. So here he was, his mane and coat being soaked by the freezing rain that chilled him to the bone, and not an inn in site.

He soon had to stop to catch his breath, and he looked around, mentally going over where Stableton’s tavern was. His eyes darted for a shortcut or anything to get her there quicker. He quickly spotted an alleyway that looked like it may lead right to the tavern’s street, and eager to get home the stallion galloped down it.

Unfortunately for the stallion, this was a poor choice to make. As he trotted through the dark alley, a figure suddenly and abruptly appeared before him with as lightning flashed above. He stopped with a gasp, hooves sliding out from under him, causing him to slip and fall onto his haunches. Before he could even get up one of the figure’s hooves flew towards his chest, smashing into his diaphragm and driving the air out of him. As he struggled to regain his breath, the figure’s hooves were around his neck and mouth, stoppering any attempt to get more air. The stallion valiantly struggled, but soon he passed out as everything went back.

The stallion awoke hours later, finding himself enclosed in an uncomfortably small space. He tried to feel around with his hooves, but only found cool metal surrounding him. He was trapped in a metal box. Feeling around some more, his hooves touched some slits in the metal, close to his head. He painfully craned her neck towards the slits, trying to see what was outside. He couldn’t see much, the room outside was dark and rather empty.

“So, I see you have awoken.” came a metallic, staticy, voice in the darkness, one that sounded filtered. He couldn't even tell the gender of the speaker. The mare then saw a figure step out of the shadows. A cloak was obscuring most of its features, and any features that weren’t hidden by it’s shroud were covered in a full-body suit the figure wore, not even allowing coat color to be distinguished. The only noticeable feature was a mask, a metallic, glowing respirator over the figure’s muzzle, most likely being the thing filtering its voice. While he couldn’t see much else about the figure, the stallion could recognize its form, it was definitely a pony.

“W-who are you?” stuttered the buck, his hooves trying to find any way out of the metal prison that encased him. “W-what do you want?”

“Who I am is not important, and what I want is very simple, good sir. I want to see this town burn. All of it, and everypony and creature inside of it, to burn. No being will be spared, all shall die. And you will be the first, the first of many.”

“W-w-what? N-no, you can’t do that! LET ME OUT OF HERE!”

“I am afraid I can not do that, good sir. Your suffering will be long, and painful. But rejoice, what you will experience, will be a pittance compared to what awaits your friends.”

“N-no...Please...I’ll do whatever you want...”

“Then die, Mister Rookie Star.”

The figure reached a hoof under Rookie Star’s box, and flicked a switch. Suddenly the entire room was enlightened as something under the box lit up, although this did nothing to help reveal any more of the figure’s features. He couldn’t even see the madpony’s tail. Without another word, the figure turned and began to walk out of her room, not even paying Rookie another glance.

“W-what are you doing? W-what d-did you do?”

The figure paused at the doorway, as if it was about to say something. But instead it just turned towards Rookie and looked directly at him, a dark, evil gleam in the figure’s hooded eyes.

And then it laugh. It was a cold, metallic laugh that sounded like nails running down a chalkboard, sending shivers down Rookie’s spine. And with that, the figure left the room.

It was at that point Rookie noticed that his box was getting warm...And increasingly hotter, especially on the bottom. He blinked in bewilderment as she wondered what was going on, until it clicked in his mind, and the horrifying thought hit him.

‘He’s cooking me alive...’

“H-Help! Somepony, anypony, HEEELP MEEE!!!”

The heat was soon became painful, and Rookie felt his skin start to burn. His blood curdling screams filled the room that trapped his as she, quite literally, was cooked alive inside the metal box. The pain felt like it lasted forever, thirty minutes in actuality, before the sweet release of death overtook him, ending the torment.

Aquilinus stared down at the body at his hooves, avoiding stepping in the blood that had pooled around the unicorn’s head. The zebra had taken the job of ‘Stableton’s Detective’ after something happened to the sheriff a week ago, mostly because he needed the caps and no one else was taking the job, but not a single lead had come up in that case. And now he had two more cases on his hooves, a murder and a missing-pony case. The murder he decided to tackle first, as he actually had something to work with there.

The victim was Ashen Coat, a unicorn mechanic that was from Stable 113. He was found when a client of his came in that morning and found his cold body surrounded by a pool of blood. Aquilinus was called in once the body was reported.

“Hmm...Very clean, right through the forehead. Whoever had done this was a professional...And that’s worrying.”

Was it an assassin? From what he heard from the ponies here Ashen Coat wasn’t exactly well liked, but he didn’t have any enemies either. Which meant he had no suspects.

Not only that whoever had done this was careful, he didn’t find any overt signs in the room that would point to who the murderer was. No fur, no feathers, no hoof marks, no nothing. Definitely a professional. Sighing, the zebra stood up and, carefully stepping over the blood, walked into the next room. Maybe he could find something in there.

The next room was apparently Ashen Coat’s workshop, it was filled with carts and boxes full of scrap parts and metal, as well as tools to work all those into whatever Ashen Coat needed. At first glance, there was nothing in here pertaining to the murder...

...That is, until Aquilinus’ eyes spied something sticking out of a cart of scrap, a piece of paper. Gingerly the zebra pulled the piece of paper out of the scrap and set it down on a workbench, reading what was written on it. And it was not good.

WE ARE THE MAFIA. STABLETON WILL BE OURS.


Players

1. Aquilinus - The Detective
2. Cross Roads - The Bodyguard
3. Shutter
4. Bakewell Tart
5. Blast Cap
6. Blitz
7. Sky
8. Reflected Failure
9. Pendant
10. Scrap Parts
11. Zestari
12. Whitefeather
13. Jasmine Beat
14. Arc Weld
15. Lightning Flash
16. Bone Head

NPCs

Ashen Coat - Civilian - Killed by Unwanted Houseguests
Rookie Star - Civilian - The First of Many

---

Alright Civilians, start looking for clues! Your lives depend on it!

Written by The Detective, Aquilinus.

Sighing as he walked through town, he looked up at the sky thinking about what had happened. It had only been a few weeks since he had taken this post and already he was neck deep in cases. Aquilinus had been going house to house to 'check on things'. At least that's what he told the citizens, in reality he was checking every house for clues to the murder case.

His next house was that of Shutter, he didn't expect much from the pony but he had to check anyways. Knocking on the door to the house he waited for the pony to answer it. Hearing hurried footsteps inside a voice came over the commotion, "Yes? Who is it, I'm quite busy at the moment."
"It's Detective Aquilinus, I'm just checking all the houses to make sure no one else has gone missing." Explained the tired detective.
"One second!" Hurried footsteps came shuffling up to the door and started to unlock it. "As you can see I'm here and since I live alone no one is missing, was that all you needed?" Watching the pony answer all the questions he was about to ask made him a little uneasy. "Would you mind if I stepped in? I've been walking all day and I'm kinda tired." Rubbing his head Aqui smiled at the pony. "Yea sure come on in, want anything to drink?" Offered Shutter kindly. As Aqui looked around the house he saw one of the cabinet doors had a weapon hanging out of it. Glancing back at the pony, "Oh water would be great thank you."

As Shutter headed into the kitchen Aqui used this time to go and check out the gun that was hanging out slightly. Upon closer inspection it was a Bolt-Rifle, not just any though, it was Ashen's Bolt-Rifle. Being sure to place the rifle back where he found it very carefully he turned around. Right behind him was Shutter, nearly causing Aqui to jump out of his skin at the unexpected sight of the pony. "What are you doing in here?" question the stallion. At a loss for words he had to think fast, he needed an excuse for being in that room. Looking at everything he could he saw it, his salvation, it was an old pre-war camera. "Oh well that camera of yours interested me and I just wanted to get a closer look at it. It's pre-war tech right?" Looking up at the pony he prayed he would by it as he put his best honest face on. "That, yea I some times use it to take photos. Though most of the time getting them to develop is more of a pain then they are worth. Anyways you said you wanted water right? Well it isn't the cleanest water but at least it's not irradiated." Handing over a glace of water, Aqui quickly thanks the pony for it and quickly excused himself from the house as he had many others to visit that day.

As he walked away from the house his mind was racing with what he just found. How did Shutter get that Rifle, no one had been to the house except for me, the deputies and the client. As far as I know Shutter shouldn't have been anywhere near Ashen's house. And since Ashen had just got back from his outing he clearly had his rifle when he was killed. The only possible explanation to it all would be that Shutter was the killer. As he thought to himself he quickly trotted off to his house to figure out more of the details.

---

Shutter is a Mafioso! Get him!

Remember everyone, send a Lynch Vote to the Mafia Don by 6 PM Central Time tomorrow! Take down the Mafioso!

Unbeknownst to Aquilinus, one of his deputies leaked that Shutter was the murderer of Ashen Coat. For obvious reasons the citizenry of Stableton was not amused by this news, and soon an angry mob had formed outside of Shutter’s house.

“COME OUT HERE YOU MURDERER!!!”

“SHOW YOURSELF!!”

“LETS SHOW YOU WHAT WE DO TO MURDERERS HERE IN STABLETON!”

For even more obvious reasons, Shutter declined to reply, choosing to remain inside his locked house as the mob tried to beat down his door. He silently loaded his stolen Bolt Rifle and secured the battle saddle he mounted it on, before waiting for the mob to break in.

He didn’t have to wait long, as one last blow to his door tore it right off its frame as the mob started to swarm in...Right into the path of a plasma mine Shutter had left in front of the door. A number of ponies were vaporized in the blast, but the others kept coming, some firing shots in Shutter’s direction, although none of them hit. The mafioso began to open fire with his own weapon, scoring precision headshots on any who tried to get through the door, intent on taking as many of them out as possible before he got overwhelmed.

Unfortunately for Shutter, the Bolt Rifle used went through spark batteries like candy, and soon his supply was out. He sighed and closed his eyes, calmly accepting the fate of the mob that would soon swarm him....

....Until they snapped open at the sound of a grenade rolling across the ground. Eyes darting around, he spotted the fragmentation grenade rolling right into the mob. It eviscerated them, and those not hit by the shrapnel were dazed by the blast, including Shutter. He felt himself being roughly pulled into an adjacent room by a familiar hoof, #2’s.

“Come on #3, you don’t want to die yet, do you?” she asked as she dragged Shutter towards a hole that had been blasted in the wall of the room, leading to the outside. Standing there was the familiar form of #4, otherwise known as vest-pony. “The boss told us to get your flank out of this fire before you got burned, looks like we got here just in the knick of time.” she explained as Shutter stumbled out, the mob not noticing his escape just yet.

“T-thanks...” he panted as he caught his breath, looking back at the mob for the briefest of moments.

“Don’t thank us yet, come on, we have to get out of here!” exclaimed #4. Shutter nodded, and the three Mafia escaped without anypony being the wiser.

---

The Mafia Leader used a secret power to help Shutter escape from The Lynch! The Mafia Leader has used up his/her power and can not use it again, so no need to worry about it happening again.

Scrap Parts trotted through the streets of Stableton, keeping a wary eye over his shoulder. Ashen Coat’s murder was still loose, and if the rumors were correct, he had friends.

The thought of a group of murderers running around Stableton was not a comforting one.

The unicorn hastily opened the door of his house and scurried inside, glad to be in the safety of his house. Or, at least, so he thought.

As he walked into his main room, he felt a heavy blow slam into his chest from the side, driving the air out of him and sending him sprawling across the ground, stopping at the hooves of a beret wearing mare who smiled wickedly at him.

“Why hello there Scrap. Nice of you to join us.”

Scrap heard something like hoofsteps behind him as something large stood over him, the unicorn daring not to look at it in fear of reprisal. “W-what d-do you w-want?” he stuttered.

“Oh, well we were talking to a little birdy earlier today.” explained the mare, grin not leaving her face. “You may remember him, he was a deputy. Emphasis on ‘Was’.”

“W-what?”

“Well, he told us that there was only one pony he told about Shutter, that pony being you. Before we killed him, that is.” She nodded at the figure behind Scrap. “And, well, we’re here to make sure you regret spreading that little piece of information. Not for very long I’m afraid, we’re on a tight schedule, we can’t stay here and torture you all day sadly.” she looked back up at the figure behind Scrap. “Do it.”

“Do wh-” Scrap’s last word was cut off when his head was brutally slammed into the ground, his entire skull crushing under the force of the blow, killing him instantly.

“Well, that’s done. Clean yourself up #5, but leave the body here. It’ll be a nice message for the rest of these pathetic townsfolk.”

‘#5’ nodded, before walking into Scrap’s kitchen. #2 merely chuckled to herself before stepping out of the house, not even glancing at Scrap’s body before leaving.


Jasmine Beat flew through the streets of Stableton later that night, seemingly without a care in the world. The pegasus made several accidental crashes on the way to whatever her destination was, but she didn’t seem to mind.

Unfortunately, she’d never reach her destination.

As she flew over a pair of buildings, with a wide alley in between, out of the corner of her eye she saw a figure leap off of a nearby building and slam into her back, sending her plummeting into the alleyway below.

Jasmine was used to crashing into things by now, and was able to recover rather quickly, shaking her head and looking around for her attacker. The person in question quickly revealed itself, wrapped in a cloak and with a metal mask over its muzzle, as it stepped out of a shadow.

“Oooh...Thath wasth very niceth misther. Or is thath mith?”

“My gender is unimportant. All that matters is that I end you.”

“Enth me? I donth really follow.”

“Allow me to demonstrate then.”

The figure began to walk up to the still oblivious Jasmine, who merely stared at it as it approached. The sound of a blade unsheathing could be heard under its cloak as it stopped in front of the pegasus, who still had not moved.

“I’m going to kill you.”

“Well thath noth very ni-” Suddenly Jasmine sprang into motion, slamming a hoof into the figure’s face, to little effect, before spinning around and trying to kick it, using her wings to increase her momentum. The figure simply stepped backwards to avoid the kick, before slamming into Jasmine and sending her into a wall.

“Your act of innocence and naivety may have worked against many ponies of lesser intelligence, but I caught on to your ploy long ago, Jasmine Beat.”

The figure took a step forward towards the downed pegasus, a scowl on her face now as opposed to a smile.

“Or should I say, #1?”

The pegasus pulled a pistol out of the clothing she was wearing and opened fire on the figure, however not a shot phased it as the bullets apparently impacted some sort of barding it was wearing. When the tell-tale clicking noise of an empty magazine filled the air, the figure took a step forward, to stand directly over the pegasus.

“W-waith!” the pegasus said, extending a hoof to stop the figure. “W-we donth have to fighth, my organizathion can helth you with whathever ith is you wanth! I swear!”

The figure raised a hoof, a shiny blade extending out of a gauntlet wrapping it. “Swear to this.”


Both bodies were found the next morning, with evidence on Jasmine’s incriminating her as the leader of ‘The Mafia’. Who her killer was, is still unknown.

---

Scrap Parts, a Civilian, was offed by The Mafia!

And Jasmine Beat, The Leader of the Mafia, was killed by The Psycho!

(Note that there is only one clue per murder this time. And neither is very obvious.)

Written by Aquilinus.

Aquilinus had been calling in random ponies for questioning in light of the murder of the head mafia member. Hopefully with the loss of their leader one of them would panic and make the mistake of revealing themselves. Now it was Bakewell's turn for questioning, walking to her house he remembered a few weeks ago she had come in asking about a gun she had lost somewhere in town, I'll have to tell her we have that for her back at the precinct. Spotting Bakewell farther down the road Aquilinus started to run towards her, "Hey we know everything, just come with me to the precinct!" Bakewell looking up and noticing who was shouting at her turned and took off in a sprint.

Wondering what was wrong Aquilinus took off after her, they proceeded to run all over town and a fair ways into the wastes. Finally catching up to her Aquilinus jumped on top of her to pin her down. "Why are you running?" Puzzled he looked her over, wondering what would have caused her to run. "What do you mean why am I running? Aren't you here to arrest me for being a part of the mafia?" spat the struggling Bake. Chuckling slightly at his good luck Aquilinus straightened up slightly. "I was calling you because we found your gun, it was back in my office. But since you confessed I'm gonna have to take you into protective custody and place you into a single cell so that we don't get a repeat of Shutter."

Aquilinus hauled the stunned Bakewell back to the jail and placed her into a cell away from the others so she wouldn't get harassed by the other inmates. Sighing as he locked the door, "We literally had no leads that you were a part of the mafia. You could have gotten away scot free if you just played dumb about the subject. But it's a bit late for that now I guess." Walking away back to his office Aquilinus looked at Bake's gun, he would have to hold on to it, though for what he didn't know yet.

---

Bakewell Tart is a Mafioso! Get her!

Remember everyone, send in your Lynch Votes to The Mafia Don by this time tomorrow!

#2 scowled as she spied the mob gathering outside the jail. Their leader had been killed by that masked bastard, or bitch, or whatever the thing’s gender was, and not only that two of their own have been revealed as Mafia, although thankfully neither of them have been killed yet, although Bakewell was dangerously close to being murdered with how things were shaping up.

She couldn’t allow that, one too many of their own have already been killed, and with command falling to her she couldn’t allow another to be taken.


Meanwhile, the crowd was banging on the doors and walls of the jail, only barely being held back by the deputies. They screamed obscenities, demanded that ‘The Bitch’ Bakewell be given to them so that they could dispose of the murderer. Aquilinus frowned from the relative safety of the jailhouse, hoping that something would happen to draw these idiots away before they hurt somepony.

As if on cue, the anguished cry of a mare could be heard, prompting the crowd to turn around to see a bloodied mare step out of a alley, stumbling around as she clutched a wound at her side.

“H-help...” she moaned as blood dripped out of her mouth. “B-B-Bla..Blast Cap...attacked...me...Mafia...” she promptly collapsed right in front of the shocked crowd.

Aquilinus gaped, before quickly opening the door and rushing outside with a deputy. Nopony seemed to notice the opportunity they could've used to get to Bakewell.

“You, find doctor, we need to get some healing potions into this mare before she bleeds out!” Aquilinus ordered the deputy, who immediately nodded before galloping off towards the clinic. All the while the Detective didn’t notice the murmuring going on in the crowd.

“Blast Cap...Blast Cap... Blast Cap! BLAST CAP!” they all cried out before charging in the direction the mare came out of, being careful to not smash the wounded mare. Aquilinus scowled.

“No...Dammit! You guys get back here! Damn...” he shook his head and turned to two deputies standing outside of the jailhouse. “You, watch her,” he told one, “ and you come with me, we have to stop those idiots!” he ordered before charging after the crowd.


Blast Cap trotted through the streets, idly wondering what he should have for lunch. He did have several options to choose from, although he was considering checking out that new spot that somepony had just opened up, selling Radhog Burgers or something like that. His idle, lunch-related thoughts were interrupted however, by the approaching noise of what sounded like a crowd of angry ponies.

Blinking, he turned around and saw to his shock an angry mob barreling straight towards him, murder in their eyes. He could've sworn he even saw some torches and pitchforks among the crowd. Regardless, only one thought was on his mind.

Run like hell!

And run like hell he did, galloping as fast as he could away from the crowd, galloping quite literally for his life. Sadly however, it wasn’t enough, as the crowd was quickly gaining on him.

“W-WHAT DO YOU WANT?” he screamed. “I-I-I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!”

“LIAR!” screamed one pony back. “WE’RE GOING TO SHOW YOU WHAT WE DO TO BUCKS THAT BEAT ON MARES!!”

“W-WH-” he didn’t get to finish his question, as a pony leaped for him and pinned him to the ground, letting the crowd gang up on him. They were not kind, they were not merciful, and only relented when a gunshot echoed through the air, courtesy of the Detective and his revolver.

“BACK AWAY! BACK AWAY ALL OF YOU!” he yelled, aiming the revolver at anyone who looked at him funny as he made his way to Blast Cap. He lowered a hoof to the neck of the buck’s broken and battered body, and his heart sank when he felt no pulse. The mob had beaten him to death.

“...When I turn around, anypony I still see on this street is under arrest.” he told the crowd, and they wisely dispersed in seconds, leaving only Aquilinus and his deputy. “...Take care of his body, I’m going to go back to check on that mare.” The deputy nodded as Aquilinus turned and started galloping back to the station.


Aquilinus’ mind battled with himself as he tried to figure out, was Blast Cap with The Mafia, or was he just a innocent victim wrongly accused? He was going to have a talk with that mare when she recovered, he needed to know for sure.

When he arrived back at the jailhouse, the mare and the deputy were nowhere in site, she must of been taken to the clinic, he reasoned. Sighing to himself, he walked into the jailhouse, not even noticing that the door was wide open.

Which meant that the site he saw inside came as a shock. All of his deputies he had left to guard the place were dead, bleeding all over the floor with holes riddling their bodies. Eyes widening in shock and realization, he broke into a gallop, heading straight for Bakewell’s cell, and as he suspected, it was completely empty, only a single note inside.

A scowl set in his face, Aquilinus walked inside and picked up the note, reading what was written on it.

‘Thanks for doing our dirty work for us, you guys made it just a bit easier taking over this town.

-Love, The Mafia.’

If Aquilinus was mad before, he was now seething with rage. He roared and ripped the note apart with his bare teeth, before slamming a hoof into the jail cell doors, the clang from the impact ringing throughout the building. Not only was an innocent civilian killed, but now they had lost Bakewell. There was no way this day could get any worse, he thought as he slammed his hoof again.

And that’s when the cell door slid shut, locking him inside.

“......FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFU-”

---

The Civilians have FAILED. The Mafia dominated the Lynch Vote, allowing Bakewell to get away scott-free, and allowing them to have Blast Cap, a Civilian, take her place and get killed!

Civilians! Actually vote next time!

#2 walked through the dark alleys of Stableton later that night, her self-inflicted wounds healed by large quantities of healing potion. The Detective was easy enough to fool, and the crowd simple enough to turn, although she will have to be careful to avoid showing her face, The Detective was bound to recognize her, even when her features aren’t matted with blood.

For now, she would have to operate in shadows, and let the one remaining unknown of their organization handle any daylight dealings. Right now, she and #3, aka Shutter, were tailing one of Stableton’s remaining deputies, one of the only competent ones, a pegasus. He was a rather snoopy one, and could potentially get too close to something and reveal either her or #5, something she could not allow.

She saw him, now, patrolling the dark streets with a flashlight in his mouth. Alone. For someone so smart, he made a very dire mistake. And it would cost him dearly.

The mare reached into her coat and pulled out a small copper bit, before flinging it directly at the deputy, hitting him right on the side of the head and causing him to flinch, as well as gaining his attention. He rubbed the side of his head before flashing the light into the alley, seeing no one down the dark path. Curious, he turned and stepped into the alley. A mistake that would seal his fate.

Shining his flashlight in every nook and cranny, the deputy continued to trot down the alley, their hairs on his neck slowly rising as he had the strange feeling he was being watched. He took another step, before he felt a hoof tap him on the shoulder, causing him to literally jump a foot into the air, hovering there as he whirled around to see who had tapped him, quickly shining the flashlight into #2’s face.

“I-it’s you!” he gasped. “The mare that was hurt earlier! You got the crowd to kill Blast Cap!”

“Well aren’t you an observant one Flashy?” sarcastically remarked the mare. “How are all your fellow deputies doing?”

“...All but one are dead, and I have a feeling you had something to do with it.” growled Lightning Flash as he glared at the mare.

“Your powers of observation continue to surprise me!” jabbed the mare, sarcasm still dripping from her voice with a hint of venom. “You know, we’ve been watching you Flashy, and we’ve found that you’re getting a bit too snoopy for your own good! We can’t just let you find out all our secrets, so we’re going to have to make sure you stay quiet for now on.” she explained with a sharp, cruel grin.

“Oh yeah? How are you going to do that? You aren’t armed.” countered Flash before he dropped the light, catching it in a hoof before drawing a gun with his mouth. “And I am.”

“Oh, I know I’m not armed Flashy.” she said coyly before pointing a hoof down the alley. “But he is.”

Flash didn’t even have time to turn his head before he was hit in the side with a barrage of prism blasts, ripping right through his barding and flash-frying his internal organs. Intense pain blossomed throughout his body as he fell to the ground with a heavy thump, before weakly turning to his attacker, everything already going dark.

Shutter walked towards Flash’s body, smirking as the pegasus tried to open his mouth, weakly trying to say something but not having the air to speak. “That was easier than I suspected.” he remarked as he glanced at the Firefly RCPW strapped to the battle saddle on his back. “That’s one more pony down.”

“Yep!” exclaimed #2. “But somepony probably heard that, so we should get out of here. Don’t worry about finishing him, with those wounds he won’t last more than a minute.”

Blood dribbled out of Flash’s mouth as he watched the two walk away, making a weak gurgling sound as everything went back, the pegasus eventually going completely still as the lights in his eyes faded.


Meanwhile, while The Mafia murdered Lightning Flash, another murder was taking place, one far more complex in nature.

The hooded, masked figure watched the mare it had recently ponynapped, dangling from rope over a tarp-covered pit outside of Stableton. Capturing her while she was unaware and spiriting her away from the town was a simple matter. It had a very special death planned for this one, one that would be most...Fitting.

The figured paced around the covered pit, hard eyed staring at the panicking, gagged mare hanging above the pit.

“I believe you will find this death most appropriate, Ms. Reflected Failure. said the figure in its cold, metallic voice. “It’s only fitting you die, I witnessed what you and the citizens of Stableton did to Blast Cap, with you leading the charge.” it stopped and turned to Reflected and her tear-filled, pleading eyes.

“It’s because ponies like you that I must perform my charge. The wasteland needs to be cleansed, and Stableton is the start of that cleansing.”

The figure removed the tarp covering the fit, revealing what was down below. Large and extremely sharp mirror shards, the moonlight bouncing off their reflective surfaces. Reflected’s eyes widened as she saw them, and she started trying to scream through the gag, although her efforts were futile.

“Once the citizens of this wretched town are all dead, I will burn it. And then I will move to the next town and burn it too. All of the wasteland shall burn, and once it is not but charred ash, everything can begin again.

Reflected’s efforts had stopped at that point, the mare reduced to quiet whimpering as she waited for her end to come.

“Your corpse will be found by tomorrow, this pit is not far from the town. It will serve as a message, to the townsponies, that no one is safe. No one will be spared.”

A blade flicked out of the figure’s gauntlet, and with a flash the rope was cut and Reflected Failure fell down into the pit below, skewered by the shards of mirror. Her suffering was not prolonged, and she quickly bled out within seconds.

“It is done...It is time to leave, this town will soon see what it is dealing with. They are unprepared.” it turned and started walking back to the town.

---

The Mafia whacked Lightning Flash, a Civilian,

and The Psycho murdered Reflected Failure, also a Civilian!

Same as before, a single, specific clue in each murder. Get to it!

Not written by Aquilinus

Aquilinus scowled as he stomped through the streets, still fuming over the events of the previous day. And to make matters worse, Lightning Flash was killed last night, leaving him with only one deputy. Things were not look good, at all.

So enraged he was, that Aquilinus almost didn’t spot a familiar mare skulking about, almost being the key word. His eyes widened at the sight, it was the mare from yesterday, the one that got the mob to kill Blast Cap!

“Hey you! Stop!” he shouted at the mare, who immediately started galloping away as fast as she could, kicking up dust as Aquilinus gave chase. Already in a foul mood, and angry at the mare for what happened yesterday, Aquilinus drew his revolver and fired a shot into one of the mare’s kneecaps, causing her to drop to the ground with a cry of pain. Keeping the weapon trained on her, Aquilinus slowly walked up to the mare, eyes widening slightly in recognition as he saw her face.

“I know you...” he muttered, remembering interviewing the mare a few days ago when he was investigating all the citizens. “...Pendant, wasn’t it?”

Pendant spat in his face. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with Detective, this town is going to be ours. Neither you, the rest of this pathetic populous, or that hooded freak are going to stop us.”

Aquilinus flinched slightly at the mention of ‘That Hooded Freak’, remembering finding Reflected Failure’s corpse outside the town. “That’s very nice, but I’m going to have take you to the station now.”

“I don’t think so. SHUTTER!” Pendant yelled, before a burst of prism fire hit the ground at Aquilinus’ hooves, causing him to drop his weapon as he looked up to see a suited pony on a rooftop with a Firefly RCPW to his side. He looked back down at Pendant, but she was gone, being carried away by a beige colored pony.

“HEY! GET B-” he yelled before he was cut off by another burst of prism that he just barely dodged. The Detective scrambled for his gun to return fire, but by the time he got it in his mouth the shooter was gone, as was Bakewell and Pendant.

“...Dammit...”

---

Pendant is a Mafioso! Get her!

Remember, send your votes to The Mafia Don by this time tomorrow!

The now-revealed Pendant briskly trotted through Stableton’s alleys, knowing that this entire town would soon be there’s. They had already eliminated most of Stableton’s major players, leaving only a few left, including the Detective Aquilinus, a security officer or something from Tenpony who was supposed to be guarding the town but has been doing a poor job of it, and the hooded figure who had been murdering ponies around the town, including their former leader. After they were all taken care of, all that would remain would be a populous weak and easily swayed fools.

Case in point, was the newly gathered Angry Mob that had formed when someone overheard her ‘discussion’ with Aquilinus, now after her blood. She would easily mold them for her own purposes.

Pendant spied one of Stableton’s few remaining major players, a buck, hanging out at the exit of the alley. She grin as her mind pieced together exactly what to do with him.

Her stance changed in a flash as she slowly sauntered up to the buck, her grin turning into a small smile. She walked past the buck, who took immediate notice of her.

“Oh hey baby, what are you doing here all alone?” he asked, prompting Pendant to turn around, that smile still on her face.

“Oh, just going for a little walk.” she replied, her smile turning coy as she took a few steps closer. “What are you doing?”

“Just hanging out, checking out any babes such as yourself that are walking buy.”

“So I’m a babe then?” she asked while taking another step closer, getting very close to the buck’s face as she heard the sound of the mob approaching...

“THERE SHE IS!” cried one as they rounded the corner, spotting the mare. “GET HER!”

“Remember the plan!” Pendant suddenly yelled at the buck before galloping away, the mob pursuing.


Blitz just stared as the hot mare as she galloped away, wondering to himself what just happened.

He probably should've been paying more attention to the mob persuing her though, because if he had he would've noticed that half of it stopped and stared at him.

“...Did you hear that?” asked one. “She was talking to him about a plan!”

“That must mean he’s another one of those Mafiosos!”

Blitz just finally noticed that they were talking about him. “Wait, what?”

“GET HIM!!!”

The mob swarmed Blitz and started beating at him. He fought hard and long, but in the end he was overwhelmed and left for dead, although he had the satisfaction of knowing that he took several of The Mob with him.

---

The Mob Lynched Blitz, a Civilian!

Shame on you, other Civilians, for not voting better!

Apologies for the late post.

Bakewell crept back into her house, the moon shining bright outside and the building unguarded, the deputies who would be watching it all dead by the hooves of her comrades, with the last of them being killed by her own hooves just a few minutes ago, the blood on them still fresh.

Once inside she flicked the lights on, grinning as she saw that the place was empty. There was something in here she needed to get, and she doubted that the detective ever found it when he searched the house.

She felt her hooves around the wall behind her couch, until she found a nook, not visible and hard to find. She tugged at it, hard, until a part of the wall was pulled away from the rest, revealing a small hole, a stash. Inside was pair of hooved weapons, some of the deadliest in the wasteland.

“Ah, I’ve missed you guys.” Bakewell cooed as she pulled out the ‘Thunder Hooves’, slipping them over her forehooves. “Come on, we’ve got an old friend to meet.”

“Why wait? I’m already here.”

Bakewell froze at the sound of that metallic voice, her heart skipping a beat. Her head slowly turned, looking over her shoulder, to see a hooded figure standing behind her.

“...How did you get in here?” she asked slowly.

“Come now, this was once my home as well as yours. Getting inside it was a simple matter.

The figure took a step forward, a hoof going up to her hood and pulling it back, revealing a spiky mohawk of a mane, black and white striped face, and magenta eyes, completely devoid of any of the warmth Bakewell once saw them possess.

“...Zestari.” breathed the mare.

“So you do remember me. I find myself surprised, you never were the brightest of ponies.”

“What do you want Zestari? Let me guess, going to kill me like you killed Jasmine?”

“Spare me the lecture, your group is no better than I, and to think otherwise is unbecoming of yourself.”

“I suppose.” Bakewell agreed with a sigh, switching on her Thunder Hooves. “Shall we?”

“After you.”

With a roar Bakewell whipped around threw herself at Zestari, hooves first. The zebra easily sidestepped the move, Bakewell’s deadly hooves hitting a wall and blasting a huge chunk out of it. Teeth barred, Bakewell charged again and tried to slam a hoof into Zestari’s face, although the zebra expertly parried the blow while sending her own into Bakewell’s jaw. The earth pony went flying a few feet back, breaking a table with her backside and groaning as Zestari approached. Her eyes widened as the zebra raised a hoof and, acting fast, the pony kicked in Zestari’s feet, sending her to the ground.

Bakewell was up in a flash an on Zestari, raising a hoof to smash into her face. The zebra managed to knee Bakewell in the gut, preventing the fatal blow. As Bakewell groaned from the attack, Zestari grabbed her sides and threw her into a wall, before getting right back on her hooves.

Bakewell was disorianted from being thrown like that, and could do little as Zestari walked back up to her and slammed her head into the wall, severely dazing the pony and giving her a concussion. She felt her Thunder Hooves being removed, and as she blinked and looked wearily around to see what was going on, she suddenly felt a massive spike of unimaginable pain in one of her legs that caused her to cry out in agony. This soon followed with her other three legs as Zestari completely shattered them with the Thunder Hooves, one by one.

The zebra was soon finished with her work, removing the hooves and throwing them to the ground by Bakewell. She turned to leave, pushing the hood back over her head.

“W-wait...A-aren’t...Aren’t you going to k-kill me?” asked Bakewell, struggling to talk through the pain.

“Oh yes.” responded Zestari. “But to simply kill you would be a disservice. No, you must suffer, you must know true agony, before I allow you to die. I believe you will find the manner of death I have chosen for you most...Fitting.”

And with that, she turned and left the house, leaving Bakewell wondering through the haze of pain, wondering what she meant.

She didn’t have to wait long to find out.


As soon as Zestari left the house, she found three sets of guns pointed at her. Shutter, Pendant, and a griffon she did not recognize.

“Look at what we’ve got here boys,” said Pendant with a grin, “looks like we’ve found our hooded Psycho.”

Zestari said nothing, choosing to simply glare at Pendant from under her hood.

“Hey, don’t I know you?” asked Shutter, squinting as she stared under the hood. “Yeah, you’re that zebra that used to live with Bakewell, Zestari!”

Zestari still said nothing.

“Not very talky tonight Zebra?” asked Pendant. “That’s fine. Shutter, go inside and get Bakewell. Then we’ll take care of Psycho over here.”

Shutter nodded, before starting to walk towards the house, and inadvertently walking past Zestari. This was a mistake.

In a flash of motion Zestari grabbed Shutter’s leg and pulled his hooves right off the ground, before swinging the diminutive unicorn right into his comrades, knocking them all into a big pile on the ground.

Zestari leaped right over the three, landing on all fours behind them and whirling around. There was a click, and suddenly fire came shooting out of every door, window, and cranny of Bakewell’s house. The building was engulfed in an all-consuming inferno, and Bakewell was inside.

“DAMMIT!” screamed Pendant as the group could hear Bakewell’s anguished cries from inside. “GET INSIDE THERE NOW AND SAVE HER!” she yelled/ordered the griffon, who tried to comply, charging to the door, but the intense heat inside was enough to keep him back, and they could already hear Bakewell’s cried dying down.

“SHUTTER! GET THAT BITCH!” Pendant screamed as she pointed a hoof at the fleeing zebra, her black cloak billowing out behind her. The unicorn unsteadily got to his feet and aimed his battle saddle at Zestari, opening fire with a barrage of prism bolts. But his aim was severely off from his disorientation, not a single bolt hit, and the zebra was already out of site.

Pendant tried to give chase, enraged and infuriated over another death of one of their own, from the same psycho, but her unsteady body tripped over a rock and she ended up twisting a knee, stopping any further attempts at pursuit. She was seething, to say the least.

“Celestia. Fucking. DAMMIT! YOU’RE DEAD ZESTARI, YOU HEAR ME? DEAD! WE’RE COMING AFTER YOU, AND THERE’S NOWHERE IN EQUESTRIA YOU FUCKING CAN HIDE!”

---

Bakewell was killed by The Psycho, who has been revealed to be Zestari!

The Mafia attempted to kill The Psycho, but failed to due to The Psycho’s innate ability!

Written by Aquilinus

Tired and exhausted from the events previous Aquilinus walked into one of the taverns ready to drink is troubles away. As he opened the doors the place was dead empty, except for one lone figure sitting in the darkest corner there. Ordering a drink from the bar keep he decided to join the lone figure for some conversation. As he walked up he noticed some blood stains in his feathers, wondering what was up with it he thought he would ask.

"Excuse me, would you mind if I sat with you?" asked Aqui to the griffon. The figure said nothing other then a rough grunt and a nod. Sitting across from him, "So what brings you hear today?" Looking at the griffon, who said nothing at his question. "Would you at least tell me your name?"

"Bone Head" was all he said.

"Well Bone Head, would you care to explain why you have blood on your feathers?"

Flipping the table over Bone Head pressed his talons into Aqui's neck, "You listen hear Detective, you may find out who we are, but you will in no way be able to stop us! This town will be ours, one way or another," spat the last mafia member into the face of Aqui.

Kicking the griffon in the gut Aqui got to his feet ready to fight. Getting up Bone dove at Aqui, pumping his wings to gain speed. Hitting with a deadly hard uppercut, Bone pushed him into the wall on the opposite side of the tavern. Coughing up some blood from the hit Aqui started to black out, just as he was about to pass out he heard the familiar voice of his deputy as he tackled and cuffed Bone.

When he woke up he was back in his office, getting up he had a horrid head ache. Limping down the cell row he saw Bone sitting in a cell, as he got next to it the griffon smilled. "Looks like your tougher then I thought... I'll have to hit you harder when I get broken out," mused the prisoned griffon. Holding his throbbing head Aqui pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the griffon. "You're lucky I can't shoot you myself from the law." Tired and hurting Aqui limped home to get some long needed rest. All the mafia have been identified, the Psycho is known, only thing left to do is catch them, that's the hard part though.

Apologies for the very late post. On friday I was for some reason completely cut off from the site until a rather late time, so I could not post then, and yesterday my dad just came home from Afghanistan so you can imagine how I would of been a bit busy. Well, enough excuses, without further ado, here’s the post.

Zestari snuck through the town’s streets, quiet as a whisperm the darkness of the night enshrouding her. She was nearing her destination, the office of the town’s Detective. Her goal was clear, silence him, and the rest of the town would crumble. The Mafia weren’t a threat, they were now few in number, and one of them was out of the picture for now. She could deal with them later, they were not a major threat.

How wrong she was.

“I see her.” reported Shutter into a radio. “Right where we expected her.”

“Do it.”

“Roger that.”

Shutter pulled out a small remote with a cap-covered switch. With a smirk he flicked the cap off, before pressing down on the switch.

Zestari found her entire world consumed by bright light and harsh sound, her eardrums being filled with a ringing as several rigged flashbangs detonated all around her.

When she regained her senses, she found her hooves bound around her back, her body contorted in a very uncomfortable fashion. She was being dragged across the ground by Shutter, wearing his signature suit and hat as he pulled her through an alleyway.

“Where are you taking me, cretin?” questioned the hooded zebra.

“Oh, we convinced some of the townspeople here of an appropriate enough way for you die. They’re waiting in the square.”

Shutter neared the exit of the alleyway, and met a rather large and muscular stallion.

“I believe you were looking for this?” Shutter asked as he dragged the zebra right in front of the stallion. The buck nodded.

“Well then, best be off with her then. Oh, and before you do...” Shutter slowly pulled out a syringe, taking off a cap as he gave Zestari a smirk. “I better make sure she doesn’t try anything.”

He stuck the needle into her side, the chemical’s effects taking place almost immediately. The zebra’s tense body suddenly went slack, the entire thing becoming limp.

“Muscle relaxant. It should keep her...Manageable. And best of all, unlike a paralytic drug it won’t do anything to stop the pain. Carry on.” he said with a very dark grin as he took a step back. The stallion shrugged and lifted up Zestari, carrying her over his shoulder towards a large gathering in the town square.

“BURN THE BITCH!” yelled one pony.

“LETS SEE HOW SHE LIKES IT!” screamed another.

“SHE NEEDS TO DIE!”

The crowd’s purpose became obvious as Zestari was dragged to the center, where a large wooden pillar surrounded by chunks of scrap wood from ruined homes, the wood smelling faintly of flamer fuel.

“...Ah. How ironic.”

Zestari didn’t even try to resist, not that she could, as she was tied to the post, simply choosing to give the cheering crowd a hard, cold stare. She was silent as she watched somepony approach with a flamer. As the flamer pony prepared to light her ablaze, the Psycho spoke.

“Do you think this will change anything?” she asked. “Will you all go to sleep tonight, thinking that it was over? That you were safe? Hah, there is no safety for you, none of you, as long as you all live. I was your one chance at salvation, your one chance at redemption, and now you’ve lost it.”

The crowd was silent as the Psycho went on, her metallic voice sending chills down their spines.

“Go ahead, kill me, I would welcome it. Know this though, within a weeks time, you will all join me. You are weak, pathetic, and spinless insects, and they will take advantage of that, and that destroy you.” she turned to the pony with the flamer. “Do it. DO IT.”

He obliged, lighting the stake, the wood, and Zestari, on fire. The zebra just laughed as the flames consumed her, a load, echoing, cold, merciless, and completely terrifying metallic laugh that echoed throughout the entire town, causing many to wet themselves in fear.

Suffice to say, very few ponies had a good nights sleep that night.

---

Zestar, the Psycho, was Lynched!

Whitefeather’s eyes darted around the nearly-empty jail, taking a deep gulp as she tried to the control her rapidly beating heart. She was the only deputy left in Stableton’s entire police force, and that terrified her. She had a giant target on her back, not only that she was the one that captured one of the remaining members of the Mafia, so they’d be even more keen on gunning her down.

She closed her eyes, deeply regretting her decision to not just leave town by now. She probably would've stayed like that for quite some time if a voice didn't break her out of it.

“Hey, aren’t you guys supposed to feed me? I haven’t gotten anything to eat since I got here!”

It was Bonehead, the mafioso she arrested. Whitefeather clenched her eyes again and took a deep breath, fighting to control her breathing, she couldn’t look like a scared child.

Walking over to a closet, she grabbed a chunk of dried radroach and walked over to Bonehead’s jail cell, sliding the hunk of meat through the bars towards the vicious looking griffon sitting in the back.

“There, don’t expect much more tho-” she couldn’t finish her sentence, as Bonehead flew across the cell and slammed a clawed hand between the cell’s bars, clenching the griffoness’ throat.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you saying something? You seem to be having trouble breathing.”

A bloodthirsty grin was on Bonehead’s beak as Whitefeather struggled to break out of his iron grip, fighting and thrashing around, clawing at Bonehead’s arm with little avail. After a few moments of this, Bonehead just decided to end it.

With one snap, the white griffoness’ struggles ended as her entire body went limp. Bonehead continued to grin as he pulled the corpse closer to his cell, fishing for the keys on the still warm body.


Bonehead stepped out into the cool night air, taking a deep breath, that grin still on his face. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a familiar stallion step out of the shadows, tipping his fedora to him.

“Was just about to come get you, but you seemed to have had a handle on things.” remarked Shutter. “Come on, Pendant’s waiting for us. There’s little standing between us and our ultimate goal now.”

“Right, lets go.”

---

Whitefeather got killed by The Mafia!

As all hidden roles have been revealed (The remaining Civilians are marked on the Roster), we will skip the investigations for now on. The next Lynch will occur tomorrow, so remember to send your votes in!

Bonehead glared at the town from his perch, atop the tallest building of Stableton and hidden by night.

The griffon was getting antsy, Shutter and Pendant said they had a plan to finally get rid of The Detective and ensure the takeover of the town, and said that they’d call him when it was time, but the griffon was getting tired of waiting. He wanted to find something to do, something to kill while he waited.

Looking down, he spotted a lone pony trotting down a deserted street. Not many of the town’s citizens were left, many had fled after Zestari was burned, terrified by what the zebra said and fearing for their own lives. A bloodthirsty grin appeared on his face as he spread his wings and swooped down towards the pony.


Arc Weld trotted down the street, a heavy pair of saddlebags over his back. The unicorn was on his way to leave town, and fast. Most of the ponies he knew here, with few exceptions, were now dead, and knowing how things were going he’d be next.

And how right he was.

As he cast an uneasy glance down a nearby alley, he felt an extremely heavy weight suddenly slam into his back, his saddlebags being ripped apart as he was scrapped across the ground. He tried to get a good look at his attacker, but all he saw was a huge mass of feathers.

His body pinned, Arc reached out with his magic and picked up the closest heavy object he could ‘feel’, a large pipe in this case, and threw it with as much force as he could muster at his attacker.

Bonehead shrieked as the pipe impacted his bony skull, causing him to stumble away from his prey. Arc too trotted away, breathing heavily as his attacker shook away the concussive blow.

The unicorn glanced towards his bags, the contents, including his Firefly Rifle, were only a few feet away. He glanced towards Bonehead, who looked like he had recovered, and dove for the rifle.

Bonehead lunged at the same time, a clawed hand grabbing one of Arc’s rear legs and pulling him away from the weapon. The talons cut right into the leg, blood covering Bonehead’s claw as he squeezed. He slammed Arc right into the ground, breaking several of the pony’s ribs. The unicorn groaned, blood dripping out of his mouth as Bonehead stepped over his body, raising a talon to finish the job.

In what may be his last act of defiance, Arc kicked his one good leg up, right between Bonehead’s own legs.

The resulting screech probably woke up some of Stableton’s remaining few residents.

Bonehead was now seething, murder in his eyes. He roared and grabbed Arc by the neck, slamming him into the ground again before dragging him across it, the unicorn’s back red and raw from the abuse. Pinning the unicorn down, with a foot on his good leg, he pressed the tip of his talon against the unicorn’s throat.

“I’m going to enjoy bleeding you dry.” hissed the griffon, completely focused on tearing the unicorn’s throat apart.

Which was really too bad, because if he wasn’t, he would’ve noticed Arc’s horn glowing.

The Firefly went off, the energy weapon pointed directly at Bonehead’s...head. Arc held the trigger down until the static cell was dry, and suffice to say all that was left of Bonehead’s head was a blackened stump. The body collapsed right onto Arc, pinning the several wounded unicorn right there.

Luckily for him though, the fight caused quite a ruckus, drawing the attention of Aquilinus. Soon after Bonehead was finished he arrived on the scene, finding the victor pinned under his opponents body. He helped get the body off and rushed Arc to the clinic, promising the unicorn a beer for taking out the griffon once this was all done.

Hopefully it’d be a promise he could keep.

---

Bonehead got lynched!

Shutter silently fumed as he walked the streets. Bonehead’s hasty attempt to kill Arc, and his own demise, has been a setback to their plans. A minor one at that, but a setback none the less.

Stableton was nearly a ghost town at this point, there was barely a dozen ponies left besides himself and Pendant. And once Aquilinus was taken down, the rest would either cower or be driven off.

Although killing a few more wouldn’t hurt, increase the panic among the populace. Which is why he was tailing a certain blue pegasus through the dark streets, waiting for the right moment to strike.

He watched Sky approach a group of ponies, some of the few brave enough to stay in the town. He would soon fix that.

The pegasus talked to the others about, saying how there was only two left and that if they got together they could easily take them on. She seemed to actually doing a decent job rallying them together.

That should only make what is to come sweeter.

As the other ponies started talking in louder and louder voices, getting fired up by the mare’s speech, a single plasma bolt flew out of the shadows and nailed Sky in the head. The pegasus mare was instantly turned into goo, her entire body breaking down as a pile of green gunk took her place at the bench she was sitting down.

As the other ponies began to scream, Shutter smiled and returned to the shadows, knowing that none of those ponies would be sticking around for long, much less plot to take him and Pendant on.

---

Sky got Whacked!

Same as before, Lynch is tomorrow guys, remember that!

Arc Weld laid in his bed in the clinic. The lights were off, and a nurse could be seen through a window reading a book or something like that, a small light keeping her book alit. Arc sighed and turned away, closing his eyes as he tried to force his sore body into sleep. He drifted off into a fitful haze, only to be awoken by a voice.

“Hello Arc.”

He jerked up, looking around and spotting Shutter, sitting by his bed, half obscured in shadow.

“N-Nurse!” yelled Arc, turning towards the mare through the window, only to discover to his horror that the mare was slumped over in her chair, her book stained crimson as blood leaked from her neck.

“I’m afraid the nurse won’t be helping you anytime soon. In fact, no one can help you now. Even if somepony was to burst in it’s too late, you’re already dead.”

The pony held up a syringe, empty, and pointing it at Arc Weld’s leg.

“By my estimation, you have about 5 minutes left. Don’t worry, your death won’t be...Painful. Despite your role in the death of a colleague I have no ill-will towards you, Bonehead was a moron anyway, acting before thinking. I must say I was actually rather impressed to hear that you managed to kill him, in fact under better circumstances I most likely would have offered you a position in our organization after that. However, we both know that even if I did, you wouldn’t accept, would you?”

Arc Weld said nothing, simply giving Shutter a cold, hard stare.

“I thought not.” Shutter chuckled. “Well, I’m afraid I must be off then. But before I go, Aquilinus will be here shortly, before you...Expire. When he does, rely to him these, exact, words.”


Aquilinus was galloping to the clinic, hearing an explosion going off there. When he arrived he stopped, seeing a blast crater outside of the clinic. He didn’t like this one bit.

Drawing his revolver, he carefully advanced towards the clinic, and saw that the door was already opened. He carefully snuck inside, and immediately saw the blood-covered nurse, quickly deducing that she was far gone by this point.

The Detective advanced towards Arc’s room, and burst in when he saw that Arc was alone in there. The unicorn’s breathing was labored and his face was pale, his entire body covered in sweat.

“Arc!” exclaimed Aquilinus as he rushed towards the unicorn’s side. “What happened?”

Arc slowly turned his head towards, the normally small and simple motion taking a great deal of effort for the unicorn. “Aq-Aquil...inus...It...It w-was...Sh-Shutt..er...K-kil-killed n-nurse...P-pois...Poisoned...me...” stuttered Arc, the unicorn trembling as he spoke.

“Don’t worry Arc, there has to be a anti-poison or something around here...” the zebra moved to leave, to find something, but the unicorn stopped him, somehow managing to move a leg enough put a hoof on the zebra’s chest.

“N-no...Too...L-late...Not...e-eno-ough time...Sh-utter...S-said...H-he toollld me to...say...”

Arc turned his head even more, looking directly in Aquilinus’ eyes.

“Y-you...you’re...You’re next...”

He closed his eyes, the unicorn’s breath slowing.

“B...be...c..ar..eful...Aqui..lin...us...”

The unicorn’s hoof slid off Aquilinus’ chest, all life and energy leaving the unicorn’s body. Aquilinus just stood there for several moments, looking down at the dead unicorn. Silently, he reached a hoof over and closed Arc Weld’s eyes, before slowly turning and walking away.

He had preparations to make.

---

Arc Weld got Lynched!

And since all the civilians are dead, well, The Mafia have won. Stay tuned tomorrow for the finale!

Aquilinus silently loaded his revolver, sliding each individual bullet into their proper chambers. The town was deserted now, only three people remaining in all of Stableton. He was outnumbered, and from what he heard about The Mafia’s firepower, outgunned.

But no way in hell did that mean he wouldn’t go down swinging.

He slowly trotted up to the door of his office, the only thing separating him and certain death. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“This is it.”

He pushed the door open and stepped out into the sunlight.


Pendant watched Aquilinus step out jailhouse, a small smile appearing on her face. “Well well Detective, we’ve been expecting you.”

“Indeed.” simply said Shutter.

“I can see that.” growled Aquilinus, glaring at the two.

“Oh, come now Detective. There’s no need to be rude, we just want to talk.”

“Is that why your friend is carrying that prism rifle?”

Pendant turned to Shutter, who was indeed wearing his signature Firefly Rifle. He merely shrugged.

“Consider that insurance. Now, Detective, we’ve been watching you for awhile now. For obvious reasons.” started Pendant.

“And we believe, somepony with your tenacity, would be a valuable asset in our organization.” finished Shutter.

“...Are you serious? You want me to join you guys, after all you’ve done? All the ponies you’ve killed?”

“They were a means to an end. We want to turn this town into something great, something that will be remembered, a place that will rise higher than Red Eye or the Steel Rangers. But, we couldn’t do it while these pathetic townsponies still loitered around.” explained Pendant.

“And if you refuse,” Shutter added, “killing you will be a simple matter. So choose wisely.”
Aquilinus was silent, glaring at the two but saying nothing. His mind was fighting with itself, one side wanting to join those two, the other side appalled at the thought and wanting to at least try to avenge all those ponies. All those ponies he couldn’t save.

‘I should make their deaths mean something...If I die now nothing would change, but if I help them...’

‘But...That’s wrong...What would all the others thing, if they knew I sided with these two in the end...’

‘But...Think about what I could do, what we could do! We could really do something in the wasteland...’

‘...Like murdering innocent people, or taking over towns to be used as a power base...Committing horrible acts just to reach an end...’

Aquilinus was silent for several more minutes, before opening his eyes and giving Shutter and Pendant a hard, scorching stare.

He drew his revolver.


Pendant and Shutter soon recruited more people into their Mafia, griffons, zebras, ponies, they got people from all walks of life to join. Using Stableton as a base of operation, they swept the wasteland like a storm, over the following years becoming a terrifying power.

They became a dominant power, THE dominant power. They took on Red Eyes Army, the Steel Rangers, even The Goddess. They assumed complete control of the entire Equestrian Wasteland, for the first time in centuries bring some semblance of order. It wasn’t exactly a very nice order, but it was order.

And then The Enclave came.

The war was bloody and brutal, but The Mafia eventually won out, using their own massive resource and power base, as well as the technology assimilated from the Steel Rangers. After that, their position in the wasteland was secured, no one dared to challenge them.

Pendant and Shutter lived to a old age, nurturing their empire as it rose. All the while, they kept a shrine in Stableton, a shrine to those who had fallen in their early years.

They had vowed, to never forget.

Reserved for Alternate Endings