The pony looked down from the rooftop he was stood upon. While the fact that he was on a rooftop did not surprise anypony, what was slightly confusing was the way he was balanced perfectly on the edge, not even trying. Also somewhat bizarre was the way he was dressed, almost entirely in white, a large hood covering most of his face, only a small bit of grey mane poking out from under the lip of the hood. What most did not notice was how he got up there, when he was naught but a simple Earth Pony. He had his ways.
His target wound their way through the streets, slipping past ponies of all shapes and sizes, a blue unicorn mare, wearing a large blue cape and pointed hat. Trixie Lulamoon. The pony on the roof flexed a muscle in his left foreleg, a blade emerging from underneath his sleeve. He slowly and stealthily moved across the roof, getting into the perfect position. There. She was beneath him. And before his mind had time to process what he was doing, the pony leapt from the roof, hidden blade pointed at the blue mare’s neck…
The market was always crowded, even on a slow day; he was bound to be seen. From his other wrist extended a blade with a hook in the middle, which latched onto the windowsill his hoof had just missed. He was on the roof of that building faster than Pinkie Pie could appear anywhere she needed. Undetected, save for a pigeon or two who flew away in terror immediately. He silently berated himself for his foolishness, how could he have been so stupid? His hookblade slid quietly into its sheath, but he kept his hidden blade out, activating the poison dart gun within its mechanism. He crept to the edge of the building again, to find that the mare had vanished into the crowd.
Trixie was in fact hiding at Twilight’s library. She had spotted the shadowy colt pouncing from the rooftop right at her before climbing up the roof and vanishing. She at once ran, into the place she thought she was least likely to be: a place of knowledge.
“Can I help you?” A bright voice echoed across the vast repository of books. Trixie turned and saw Twilight Sparkle walking towards her. Then stopping. Then backing slowly away. “What are you doing here Trixie?” The voice had lost its cheer.
“I need to get out of here; somepony’s trying to KILL me!” Twilight stopped in her tracks again. Trixie’s eyes were wide and frightened, she was breathing quickly and shallowly and, most obvious of all, she was referring to herself in the first person.
“What!? Who!?”
“Fucked if I know, but they look like a colt, dressed in white and with knives strapped to his forelegs!”
“Trixie, calm down.” The purple mare thought for a few seconds. She had heard of the Assassin Order before, a simple matter when living in a library. Exactly three books had references to the order, all mentioning the same group of ponies who used to operate in a faraway country a long time ago before the (now defunct) Templar order went to war with them. Both were wiped out with a pony codenamed ‘Desmond’ supposedly. They had all been described as dressed in white and having blades strapped to their forelegs.
The assassin flitted across the rooftops surrounding the marketplace, searching for his target. His vision was blue, everypony a silhouette of blue, every building a silhouette of blue. Just a silhouette however, meaning judging distance was a nightmare worthy of Nightmare Moon. However, he was used to this. Nopony was gold, his target was lost. He swore silently, blinking back into real vision just as a cyan and rainbow Pegasus mare shot past him. In the marketplace, an orange Earth mare with a large Stetson was selling apple products. Tarts, pies, juice, cider… His stomach rumbled quietly. He turned to head to a point where he could drop off the roof as unnoticed as possible. As he reached the edge, he saw a cart of hay being pulled by a large red Earth colt, humming quietly to himself. The assassin smiled, waited and leapt again, spreading his legs and landing in the hay without anypony noticing. He settled down for a long, slow ride through the crowds.
The cart had stopped exactly ten seconds later. The dark brown pony slipped out of the hay, straight into the forelegs of two police colts. Both looked very worried.
“Sir, are you okay?” One asked. The brown Earth pony nodded curtly.
“I was going for a rooftop stroll and must have tripped. I thank Celestia that this pony and his cart passed by at just the right time.” The assassin’s voice had a thick Italian accent and he spoke with the grace of a master spokesman. The cops were not impressed.
“A rooftop stroll? Forgive my scepticism, but not many Earth ponies do that.”
“Two words my friend. Pinkie Pie.”
The cops chuckled and shrugged. “You got us there. Okay sir, have a good day.” They strolled away nonchalantly. The assassin turned to the large pony that had ‘saved him’.
“Thank you, my friend. I am Ezio Auditore,” he said, putting a hoof on his heart and bowing his head. “I wish to perhaps know your name?”
“Ah’m Big Macintosh,” came the short reply. This pony was clearly not one for words.
“Again, thank you. Tell me, are you related to the mare on the apple stall?”
“Eeyup.”
“I thought so. You have the same eyes. Bright green and full of honesty.”
“That so?”
“Si,” Their short conversation was brought to a halt when Ezio sensed his target through the crowd. He at once tuned his vision into the blue of Eagle Sense. A golden colour pulsed from far away. “Excuse me Big Macintosh; I have something I require to do.” Without waiting for a parting word, the brown pony in white walked away and was swallowed by the gangs and gaggles of ponies.
Trixie and Twilight crept through the crowds, looking for Trixie’s caravan.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie is sure that she parked her caravan over here…” They had found a small clearing, somewhat less crowded by ponies than the market behind them, and there was a large, caravan shaped patch of air right where Trixie’s caravan once was.
“Well it’s not here now. Did you put any protective spells on it?”
“Well of course Trixie did! Why, she always puts at least three layers of hexes on before leaving!”
“Three layers of makeup and all.”
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing, nothing.”
Hidden blade at the ready, Ezio prepared to do his job. Once again, he checked the crumpled picture he had been given by his client. No doubt, that was the showpony. He activated the poison dart shooter and took careful aim. The silent weapon sliced through the air towards the cyan neck.