"Descend, heartless angel."
Rainbow Dash knew that voice and what it meant to say. She had heard it and the three words carrying it many times before. She had completely analysed it.
The voice was her highest in command. One that had made it really far up the Broterhoof. He was a Master Assassin. She was a mere novice at that time. Mostly because of her attitude towards rules and schedules.
It was fairly comedical thinking about that not believing in rules slowed down her rise in the Brotherhoof, whose major principles were nothing being true and everything being permitted.
She didn't understand those words, that was what they told her. Not by far did she grasp their deeper meaning. Eventually, when she would, she'd become a Master, too.
She did understand the three words directed towards her, though. She brought up what information she had gathered in a highly boring moment.
First, 'descend'. That was fairly easy, yet the main part of the order she'd been given. It could be interpreted literally. She had been doing flying exercises and the Master wanted her to stop and come down to talk to him.
Secondary, 'heartless'. That obviously could not be meant literally. Dash felt her heart beat harder from the flying she'd been doing.
Rather, it referred to her tendency to show a highly vicious aspect of herself when in combat, knocking out as many as four other assassins of her rank out of an army at once with calm grace, leaving those smart enough not to enter a training fight with her to stunned staring as she silently defeated some ponies with a single blow.
If that filly was to ever be armed and sent on a mission, it would take at least the entire royal guard as well as the actual enemy's forces to even force her into retreat, that was a known fact.
Tertiary, 'angel'. Thinking about what this meant in the given context made Rainbow giggle like the school filly she'd been not too long ago. Her instructor was just too romantic.
Calling her 'angel' also referred to the grace she showed in all she did, as long as it wasn't being modest about her achievements.
Mainly, it was about her being a pegasus. Most of the order were pegasi, but there were also Earths and unicorns. Although it may also be part of an attempt of his to win her for himself. The only problem was that she had no interest in him.
It was still very charming of him.
After what felt like an eternity of being lost in thought, Rainbow's hooves connected to solid ground. She put on her softest voice to speak to him.
"Yes Master? Do you wish something of me?"
"That you finally stop calling me that. That's enough flying for now. You should report to the training ring. Don't get too far ahead of yourself though, you won't be actively fighting today."
Rainbow's mood dropped a bit when she heard that there would be no ponies for her to beat up, but she regained that pleasure by continuing to mock her instructor called Emnas.
"Yes Master, if you wish."
He started walking in the direction in which she would also have to go with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Stop it. I'm the your current Master, but not your master. Who are you, some kind of genie?"
"Oh no Master, but I still am your humble servant."
"Ugh, whatever. Come back to see me when he says you've done enough."
As it turned out, not actively fighting, as Emnas had put it, meant practicing dodge maneuvers while others trained how to best catch dodging targets.
Dash was bored. Her partners always left her at least one second of swinging time to react to their planned attacks. She had to intentionally slow down in order to give them some success.
Fortunately, she was relieved of her duty after only half an hour. The fight instructer told her that another Master, one specialised in stealth and the Hidden Blade, would train her in the Hidden's use.
There were not many of that sort in the area. In fact, there were only two. Rainbow Dash shuddered as she was reminded of who, with a one in two chance, would be instructing her.
Despite constantly looking around while waiting near the training puppets, the pony tapping on her shoulder still surprised her.
How she managed such a level of stealth was beyond Rainbow.
Dash groaned. "Ugh, hi Flutters."
Fluttershy let out a soft chuckle. "Oh, hello Rainbow Dash. Did I scare you?"
"O- of course not. What makes you think you did?"
"Um, nothing. I didn't think you were able to reach such high tones. He he..."
Rainbow spread her wings and circled Fluttershy once to fly away the embarassment. "Well, what's it today?"
"Stealth weaponry, as always. They told you, right? Oh, I hope you didn't think it was something else and are now disappointed... I can arrange some other training, if you wish."
"Nah, it's fine. I meant, like, what exactly are you going to teach me?"
"Well, you know, walking up to ponies before the assassination is fine and dandy, but what if you need a moment of surprise to even catch them?"
Dash scratched the back of her head with a hoof. "I suppose I blend in with the crowd and slowly approach?"
"You're thinking with just what you have been taught up to now. I mean, you have to stick to the rules, but occasionally, some creativity is also required. Use your environment to your advantage. You can freely climb buildings or just fly up them."
"Like, get my target from a rooftop? That sounds kinda dangerous."
"Oh, don't be silly, Rainbow. You're a pegasus, remember. Also, unless you miss your jump, which shouldn't happen, there's somepony to catch you. They won't need themselves intact if you pounce them, anyway."
"Soo... climb the rooftops, then ambush my prey. Sounds easy enough."
"You're limiting yourself to what those above you said again. For instance, if you have enough room and they don't know of your Hidden yet, why not use those wings of yours to jump really high and land on somepony, then scoring a quick kill with the Hidden before they realise what's going on?"
"They actually fall for that?"
"They most certainly do. There should be some set up for this kind of scenario... ah, yes, over there, see? Pick up your Hidden Blade and start practicing."
Just as Rainbow had begun practicing the new moves as instructed, a messenger engaged in a conversation with Fluttershy. Dash could listen in, but she was not interested. Most likely, the Master would recount it to her.
Her hopes were not disappointed as she, after stabbing five puppets in a series of wing-assisted jumps, concentrating on nothing else in some kind of battle trance, was stopped by Fluttershy.
"Okay, if you are comfortable stopping, that'll be enough for now. There's some grave news."
"What's the matter?"
"Another scouting group got ambushed. They just made it out of there, but the Mentor thinks that's one too many that's been discovered. She says there might be a mule in the Brotherhoof."
"Surely there is. Don't ask me who let them join... oh, you mean mole. Hmm. That'd be kinda uncool. Do we have any idea who it could be?"
"Has to be somepony high up so they know every plan. So don't worry, you're not in danger."
"Hey, I could go right up to Master Assassin anytime I wanted. I'm still kinda baffled you made it before me."
"Maybe it's because I listen to the Mentor's orders. Uhm, that reminds me, as I'm told, there's actually a promotion in for you soon. Together with your first mission."
Being told that she'd soon be able to show her talents made Dash's heart race simply thinking about it. She'd been in training for so long, she was eager to show off.
Apparently, some of that leaked outwards, as Fluttershy seemed to have picked up Rainbow's eagerness.
"Unarmed. You'll do some simple scouting - easy, you've done that before - and if everything goes well, somepony's earned themselves a beating from you. Sorry. You're not high up enough to really draw blood."
"Aw. Whatever, coming back to the traitor thing... wouldn't it have to be a Master Assassin or higher even? It's not you, right?"
"Uh, I don't think I'm it. Am I?"
"Nah. You'd never do something like that. I take it the Mentor is investigating on the matter already?"
"Of course. Please don't do something stupid and go looking for the traitor on your own. Unless you want to... I just don't want to see you get hurt. We have no idea what that pony could do when cornered."
"Don't worry, I'm sure there are far more qualified ponies working on it right now than me. I'll just stick to my petty, meaningless training..."
Fluttershy pulled Dash into a friendly hug to comfort her. "I know this doesn't fit you, but it's for your own good. Anything short of perfection will only expose us to our enemies. Third tenet."
"Yeah yeah, I know. Just... the thing about perfection is that it can never be achieved, yet it's always there, right in front of us, all the time. How am I supposed to be satisfied with myself when I can't reach my goal?"
"By being more perfect than your enemies. Failing that, just stab everything." Fluttershy had spoken the last three words with a dark undertone Dash had never heard before. Noticing it herself, she slightly blushed and giggled it off. "Um, or use the element of Surprise to your advantage."
"Laughter? What's that supposed to help? Wouldn't it be more helpful to just sneak up on them?"
"Uh, yeah? Whatever. I think Emnas wants to have you back. You shouldn't keep him waiting."
"You called, Master?"
Emnas had apparently stopped caring about the way Dash was speaking with him. That took a lot of fun out of their conversations for her.
"Yeah... don't ask me whose idea this was, but you've got a mission. One of the local flower vendors is suspected of getting a bit too close with our enemies. Find out what you can without being detected, then report back. If they find you, run away. Not directly back. First lose your pursuers. Got that?"
"Sounds easy enough." Rainbow was confident that this mission would go without a hitch.
"That's why we're sending you. It's an easy job and there's basically nothing to lose if you do screw up. By the way, I repeat, no violence. If I hear that you've beaten up or killed anypony, you're getting demoted."
"Yeah yeah, I'm not stupid. What are the details?"
"The name's Lily. You know where her stand is, right?" Dash nodded. "Good. You go there and hide in the crowd, it's market day. Constantly be on the move. Be somewhere else every time they look. Maybe buy something from her to avoid suspicion and investigate if anything fishy happens. May the father of understanding guide you."
The sort of goodbye Emnas had said was unusual amongst members of the Brotherhoof, but Rainbow Dash figured she was just not of high enough rank to understand it.
"I'll be right back, Master. Uhm, forgive me for being so curious, but do you know anything about a traitor in the Brotherhoof? Fluttershy mentioned somepony might not be working for us in here."
Emnas' face did not move in the slightest. "I have never heard of anything like that, novice. You do not seek to make me confess any guilt, right?"
"No, Master. You know I'd never doubt you. I just want to find out as much as I can about the matter."
"Do not get involved in something you can not get out of. For now, you'd be better off sticking to your mission. I will consult with the Mentor and other Masters about this. Your curiosity is well, but misplaced."
"Of course. I will be off to the market then. Take care."
"You take care of yourself, heartless angel."