by The Mafia Don Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:15 pmEnter the Mafia…
Hello fillies and gentlecolts. This is the intro story to the mafia game. Go ahead and read, this ones just for fun. When you're finished, please pm me how you would like me to use your personal powers. You all have until 7pm to give me votes...Its not wise to keep the Don waiting...
Current Roster
Violet Star -Sherrif
Deus Crux (Amnesiac)- Psycho
Zestari
Arc Weld
Kestrel - The Veteran
The spark of a cigarette lighter broke the darkness in the office. Jas found herself sitting across from no pony other than the mayor of Stableton once again. Earlier this morning she received an emergency summons via angry knocking griffin at her front door. Despite her easy-going and compliant nature, the griffin made sure to add in a death threat to add a little “pepper” to the mayors invite in case she refused. Her chair squeaked as she shifted left to right, humming a happy tune that seemingly had no structured melody.
There were no windows in this office and just one steel door. The floors were made of concrete and the walls were donned with various certificates and portraits of former governing ponies. Jas took in all the details of the table’s surface, right down to the nearly empty bottle of Applejack sitting on the desk. Toward the upper right corner of the desk was a glass ashtray whose contents were still smoldering. A desk calendar sat beneath these items, covered with notes and errant alcohol stains. The hoof writing on the calendar was pressed deep into the surface of the paper, and scratched with haste. Her eyes raised to see the flame of the lighter the mayor held brushing the end of a cigar, creating a large hearty ember. Her shadowy client puffed on the cigar, their eyes reflected the warm glow of the fire. She couldn’t help but notice how sharp and focused their gaze seemed to be. They were the eyes of a careful and methodical thinker, one who knows how to employ strategy. As their focus shifted from the smoke to her, she was blissfully unaware of the conviction the stare held her in.
“So Miss Beat…After touring the facility, I am happy to say that I chose the right mare for the job…” The figure leaned back in their chair, blowing a small trail of smoke into the air.
“Thank you Mayor, but pleathe refer to me ath a thcientitht!”
The mayor acknowledged her request with a nod before continuing. “No really, thank you. I don’t think anypony else could’ve designed and led this project as well as you have.”
Jasmine’s cheeks flushed red as she offered her brightest smile in gratitude. “It wath nothing, I’m jutht glad to help the town out. Even if my brilliant mind made all of it’th contributionth for free. Right when you thaid you needed a project to bootht your public approval, I knew nothing would raithe town moral like a good ol’ fashioned emergenthy shelter! Theriouthly, why didn’t anypony think of that before?!” Jasmine and the mayor shared a brief chuckle.
“Yes, I’m afraid that much is true…No one would ever think of making a place designed to hide out until danger passes. Plus with all of these features you included in the blue prints, it looks like we can hide out for quite an extended period of time-decades if need be! But why call it a “Corral”?” Jasmine looked up and shrugged in response, losing her concentration before offering an explanation. Her mind became focused on a small insect buzzing about the room. The mayor stared at her, both unblinking and un-amused. He slapped his hoof on the surface of his desk causing a meep of shock to escape Jas. “Enough of this, time to let you know exactly why you’re here. Tomorrow is the unveiling ceremony, I need you make sure everything goes according to plan…”
Jas nodded and cut off the mayor before he got a chance to continue, “you worry too much Mayor. Bethideth, I’m not thure anypony knowth that you took over after the death of the previouth mayor…Or that we even have a mayor.”
“Don’t be stupid, of course they do…Now let’s go over why I called you here. I need to go over the ceremony once more with you; failure will not be an option. The money we put into this will not be wasted.”
The entire town of Stableton came to see the Mayor’s gift to the public. Ponies lined up to enter the entrance to the shelter. The entrance was a large circular opening which appeared to seal with the help of a hydraulic engine, and a solid metal door that was over three feet thick. Caution signs littered the shelter opening depicting pony silhouettes having limbs smashed by a cartoon image of a sealing hatch.
A grey stallion observed the massive opening, which he would guess to be over fifteen feet tall. The ceiling of the shelter was concrete, and had many robotic turrets facing the entrance. The turrets were painted bright pink and had signs posted on their side of a yellow and orange pegasus wearing an ear-to-ear grin. The words “For your safety” were written in red below the cartoonish caricature of none other than Jasmine. He shook his head and muttered to himself. “They built a Stable!? What idiot has the money to throw away on something like this?”
Jas flew to the stallion’s side and threw her hooves around him in a warm hug. “I’m glad to thee you here Thweepy Clean! And let me remind you that thith ithn’t a thtable…It’th a Corral… And try not to quethtion your new employer too much…” Jas patted Sweepy on the back before flying to a large podium in the middle of the Corral’s entrance while singing, “You can be replaced Mithter Clean!”
The otherwise cold and industrial look of the room was brightened up by a few pastel-colored streamers and balloons placed in a few focal points. In the far corner of the hanger, a large curtain separated the town’s folk from a mysterious entryway. A sign hanged about eye level saying “Danger, Do Not Enter!”
Mixed reactions filled the event, but otherwise the welcoming ceremony was a success. Jas watched ponies, griffins and zebra coming together to laugh and share this historical moment with excitement. Over the course of the day Jas spoke through an announcement system explaining key features of the facility to the crowd. She also stated that each resident of the town had their own private quarters assigned to them, with plenty of vacant rooms for future residents. She noticed the shadowy figure of the mayor tapping their wrist, she nodded in response. She tested a microphone on her podium and raised her hooves to attract the crowd’s attention.
“Ok ponieth! I’d like to thank you all tho much for coming out! And now it’th time for uth to move to the final event! I’m going to demonthtrate exactly how thith plathe will keep you thafe in the event of an emergenthy!” Jas flew over to a near-by terminal, on the wall a massive display showed the crowd just exactly what the dopy Pegasus was up to. “The door hath an irreverthible count down feature for the door lock. Onthe the time ith entered, nothing can come in or out…At leatht without technological athithtanthe of thome kind…And if anything trieth getting in or out, that ith what thethe(these) babieth are for!” Jas removed the safety on the turrets causing them to spring to life. Their scopes ominously scanned over the crowd, and after sensing no threat, turned their gaze toward the front gate.
Sweepy raised his hoof as his face wore a quizzical expression. “Wait wait wait, you’re saying that the door won’t open for a set period of time?”
Jasmine nodded, “Exactly Mithter Clean! Watch I’ll show you!” The crowd emited a murmur as everypony looked back and forth to eachother. The terminal interface could be seen on the wall display as Jas began activating the door locking sequence. “For the thake of argument we’ll jutht thay that we want to be shut in for fifty yearth...” The hatch screeched to life as it began to roll into place. Screams rang out as countless town citizens clamored over each other to escape. The plasma cannons snapped toward the desperate ponies and proceeded to blast any that got too close to the entrance into a pile of ash. The space between the massive door and the wall began to close, and a large ash colored griffin attempted to claw her way past a pony and a zebra caught shoulder to shoulder between the last glimpse of the outside world. A Zebra reached under himself to grab his foal and threw her outside to have a change to escape. Aya’la, his foal looked back as a bone crunching slam ended her father’s life and the pony next to him. She screamed as countless individuals ran past her shoving her out of the way. Suddenly turrets rose from the earth, hidden in the landscape, and pointed at the towns folk trapped in the choke point that was the path to the Corral.
Aya’la bleated as shots flew past her. She sprinted up the side of the hill, not bothering to look back at the others faced with the same decision she made: accept their fate as a target trying to get back in the Corral, or try their luck getting past the cannons. She reached the top as a dust colored stallion grabbed her hind hoof and began to try to climb over her in a panic. She felt herself begin to lose her grip as the stallion desperately tried to escape, not considering the young zebra’s safety. All he saw was a youngling coincidently blocking his path on the tiny natural trail that led over the hill.
“STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Aya’la just tried to hang on to a nearby rock, fearing a fall down the side of the steep incline. She looked up to see the male’s terrified face there one moment, and then turn into a cloud of dust the next. His lifeless body fell back down the hill, toward the swarm of what used to be: her neighbors, friends, and teachers all being incinerated by the cannon blasts. A group of ponies banged their hooves on the door, while the cannons targeted the other escapees that were flying or trotting away as fast as possible. She watched as seemingly none escaped before she was snapped out of the horrific scene by a blast nearly hitting her. She vaulted over the hill top and never looked back.
Everypony from the inside stood behind the warning line marked on the floor. Desperate tapping of hooves could be heard from the other side of the gateway. Suddenly, a new series of rapid bangs resonated from the other side of the door for a short period of time. After the noise subsided, dead silence filled the room...
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“BURN THAT MORON! SHE DOOMED US ALL!” A chair flew right past Jasmine’s head as she ducked behind her podium. About a dozen angry individuals clamored over one another to get to her first. Their faces contorted with rage, only driven by the desire to tear the mare apart.“WAIT WAIT! I can fix thith!” Jasmine’s eyes darted back and forth as she watched her neighbors coming. To her surprise they stopped awaiting her proposal. “I inthtalled an emergenthy releathe button for the front hatch!”
“WHERE’S THE BLOODY SWITCH!?”
“I put it on the other thide of the front entranthe!” Jasmine’s head jerked back as one of the mob members yanked her hair and threw her to the ground. Tears filled her eyes as a few ponies with make shift clubs approached her. A hopeless cry escaped her as she blocked out her vision with her hooves, peeking out at her impending doom skittishly.
“SHE’S MINE, MY FAMILY WAS OUT THERE. ANYPONY EVEN TRY TO HURT A PRETTY LITTLE HAIR ON HER HEAD BEFORE I DO AND I’LL BUCKING KILL THEM.” The stallion strode forward, the object of Jasmine’s demise rose high in his mouth. His threat did little to stop the other mob members however, and soon another stallion flashed past Jas’ aggressor trying to get to her first. More continued to practically climb over each other, pushing and shoving each other in the process. Within moments the excitement created a brawl amongst the crowd.
Jas peeked up in the midst of the excitement and flew straight into the air and down the hall without giving a second thought. Several members of the mob took off after her, screaming obscenities and waving make shift weapons. Knowing she had no chance at running away from them all day, she hid in the shadows looking for an opportunity to run to her office.
[later that evening]
The world reappeared before her eyes, slowly coming into focus. The last thing Jasmine recalled after escaping to her lab was trying to find components that could create a chemical compound capable of melting the door. Before she managed to complete her mission, a blow to the back of her head caused the world to go black. She awoke in her laboratory only to find it defaced and rearranged. Graffiti spanned the once pristine white walls and all of her portraits and scientific displays were torn down. She was in the middle of what looked like an arena with a wall constructed from various cages and book shelves toppled over, trapping her in the middle. Too bad she had wings…
Jas tried to stretch her wings out but noticed a strange resistance preventing her from doing so. She looked back to see a strange device binding her wings in place constructed of metal. A cold and savage laugh broke her contemplation. At the top of the wall behind her stood a masked figure, their harsh eyes gazed down on her, appearing out of place with the smile on the clown mask that covered the creature’s expression. Jas noticed that there were various crudely-made torture devices before her, as well as a key of some sort on the other side of the obstacle course.
“It’s good to see you awake Miss Beat. You may call me Psycho, but enough introductions, let’s get started…Care to play a little game? Before you is the key to your freedom. You will have to take care with your life as you try to work your way past all the devices to attain the one thing that will remove the shackles to your wings. Care that you neglected to take with the lives of the town that you trapped within-“ He watched as Jasmine began to dart around from station to station examining each device with intrigue.”
“OH MY GOODNETH WHAT ITH THITH! Did you make thith all by yourthelf Thycho? Wow, what doeth thith do?! OW!” Jasmine continued to prod and poke everything from rotating saws to electric fences. The Psycho only watched in utter astonishment as she continued to recoil from an object in pain, only to go back to touching it again. “OOH! WHAT DOETH THITH DO!? OWIE! OW! OW! OW!”
“You know, you’re supposed to avoid touching all that to get the key…”
“Hey hey, who’the the thcientitht here!? I’m on a quetht for dithcovery…” Jas darted over to a nearby torture device and tripped, slamming her face into its side. She looked up at the psycho, sobbing as she stuck her tongue out of her mouth.
The psycho flinched, averting their eyes before slowly peeking down at Jasmine. “P-lease be careful…”
“I hurt my tongue!” The Pegasus began to weep and writhe in agony as she pressed her hooves over her mouth.
“ENOUGH!” Jas’ ears lowered as the psycho pointed a bolt rifle at her. “I’m just going to end this myself, you’re just so annoying!”
“Well that’th not very nithe Thycho…It thoundth to me that you’re only acting out in thith way becauthe you have a few underlying ithhueth…” The psycho quirked their head while still pointing the gun at Jasmine.
“Care for a bit more tea!?” Jasmine poured a tad more Earl Grey into the cup held in the outstretched hoof of the psycho. Both of them sat on a couch with a plate of cupcakes in between the two as they giggled together. “Wow Thycho, ignoring the fact you kidnapped me and tried to plot my death, you’re actually not that bad of a friend!”
“You’re not that bad either Jazz, I never met someone who just accepted me so easily. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad I didn’t kill you!”
“You know what, me too! Wow, we jutht have tho much in common! Here’th to a beautiful friendship!” Jazz and the Psycho clinked tea cups as they gave each other a warm smile. “Hey, I wath thinking…I think thith whole murdering thing may have been brought on by your extreme thtreth, ath well ath the pertheption that no pony acthept’th you…I want to let you know, that you’re a beautiful individual and I promithe to love you dethpite all your quirkth and inthecuritieth…” The two shared a hug before Jasmine’s head perked up and she proceeded to hold the psycho’s face in her hooves. “I have an idea! I want to take you back to the hanger and I can introduthe my new betht friend to all of Thtableton!”
The psycho tilted their head, “Please don’t touch my face…And are you sure that’s a good idea Jazz? Disregarding the fact that I might not exactly be welcome since I AM a murderer, there’s still the whole- everypony wants you dead thing…”
“Don’t be thilly! The wathteth are full of pothitive, thelf-actualized individualth who relish in theeing otherth make friendth. Bethideth, jutht wait until everyony theeth you, you’re going to be the talk of the town!” Jasmine perked up as she looked toward the set of stairs. “Let me jutht get my make up to deal with all the bruitheth, and then we can get going!”
The psycho nodded gingerly as Jas trotted to go to the first floor where she slept. She hummed a happy tune as she began to descend the staircase, when suddenly she slipped over a tube of lip stick her mother gave her. Jas looked down; everything appeared to be in slow motion remembering that exact one she tripped over. It was one an ugly shade her mom Topsy Turvey gave her only a few weeks before…Ironically her mom insisted she try this hue, stating it wouldn’t kill her to at least test it.
The first step approached her face rapidly, striking her nose and sending her tumbling and bouncing down. She let out small squeaks with each impact, until finally she came to a stop at the bottom. The psycho peeked from the top floor, voice deep in worry.
“Jasmine…? You okay down there…?”
The investigator examined the lifeless body of Jasmine, shaking their head while writing a few notes. “Damn shame…Looks like somepony got to her before we got the chance…” The Corral doctor packed up a kit and turned to the investigator.
“This mare has been dead for approximately…two hours. And she wasn’t killed, she obviously fell down the stairs…”
From upstairs a detective shouted down to the investigator. “Don’t be silly doctor, this is obviously homicide. And by the look of these torture devices that murder must be a real freak. What if we named whoever did this slashy hooves?! …It sounds kind of catchy…Plus I always wanted to name a criminal something… ”
The doctor rolled their eyes while the investigator added in extra commentary. “This is probably one of the worst homicides I’ve ever seen in all my days on the force… Well, I think our job is done here… All except informing everypony else in the stable about her death- Let the celebration begin.”
Suddenly a young filly bursted through the front door. “EVERYPONY, COME QUICK WE NEED…WE NEED HELP!” She was reduced to hysterics, and barely responsive. The only thing she was able to do was babble mindlessly about the hanger in tears. The enforcers of justice in the stable soon got her story out of her and dashed off to respond to the problem. Something was happening in the main hangar that needed attention…
By the time the investigators arrived, it was too late. A massive pile of Corral security officers were shot and stripped of their gear. A few suited ponies wearing pin striped suits as well as civilians were unfortunately among the other casualties. The eyes of the investigator widened with horror, jaw fell slack from the scene.
The Doctor, detective and investigator flinched as an ear splitting screech rang out over the PA system. A hoof tapping the microphone sounded at first, what followed was a mellow yet cold voice. “Good evening Stableton, I’m afraid I must command your attention for the moment. I know that we have yet to meet so allow me to introduce myself as your future leader. You may call me the Don of Stableton, and in case you missed out on my little show in the hanger I’d like to inform you that the former Corral leadership has mostly hoofed over their letters of resignation…so to speak.
To make this brief, what I want is control of the Corral and you as my loyal associates. Some of you may ask what does this mean for us? I’ll tell you, nothing so long as you stay out of our way. I’m afraid that life for me in this “corral” will be much like it was back in town. I command the shots, all of them. And after I assume power I plan to tunnel us out of here, and lead us all into a glorious future where you work for me.
I imagine that some of you will have disagreements about how I run things, which I can completely understand. Some express their grievances differently, and for any who wish to play hero, take a visit to the main entry way to see how I usually handle these heroes. I suppose that’s it for now, just know that soon we will be at the reins, and we’ll be watching for any signs of aggression. Until next time…”
This day left the entire masses of the corral in a panic. The largely unorganized citizens of Stableton were left to fend for themselves in the face of a skilled and very militant threat. A force that was largely anonymous for the moment as it only begun to emerge from the shadows, knowing that they were severely outnumbered by the town’s ponies. However a few extraordinary individuals rose up to take a stand against this force in their own way. Though trust is the greatest commodity at the moment, the town will have to work together if there is any hope of surviving and reclaiming their city.
Last edited by The Mafia Don on Sun Dec 02, 2012 9:19 pm; edited 20 times in total
