15: The Warm Welcome
Celestia and Rainbow Dash flew high above Hoofington, their eyes scanning the streets below like birds of prey. Neither have uttered a word, not since their departure from the others. They simply flew together in silence.
Occasionally, Celestia stole a small side glance at Rainbow, but Rainbow kept her eyes on the ground, her face stern with focus. Celestia knew more than anypony that she should’ve paid more attention, given the stakes, but she couldn’t properly focus, not until she got something off of her chest. “Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow didn’t take her eyes off of the ground for a moment. “Yeah?”
“I… wish to apologize.”
The sudden apology must’ve gotten to Rainbow, because she finally looked up at Celestia. “Apologize? For what?”
Celestia shut her eyes for a moment, letting out a soft sigh. “For what I said. At the city gates.”
“Oh, that. Nah, don’t sweat it. No big deal.”
“Regardless, I still wish to apologize. It was unnecessary of me to say.”
Something of a forced chuckle left Rainbow’s muzzle. “Yeah, well I can’t say you’re wrong.”
Celestia’s head perked up. She looked over at Rainbow, her face scrunched up in confusion. “What?”
Rainbow shrugged. “You had a point,” she said. “With all the time I spent in that crazy spell, I’ve had a lot of time to see how Shadow did things. I guess this isn’t all that different. You know, searching the city, gathering info. Hay, we’re even knee-deep in this whole ‘Pieces of Equestria’ thing. I’d say it’s kinda cool, but..." Rainbow trailed off. It looked like she was still trying to figure out what exactly to say, but soon gave up with a tired sigh. “I don’t know.”
Rainbow looked back down at the city, resuming her search. Celestia tried to do the same, but something in the back of her mind kept her from doing so. It was Rainbow’s attitude; it just didn’t ring well with her. Though she hadn’t spent a large amount of time with her, Celestia always received the impression that Rainbow was a pony brimming with confidence, if a tad brash in behavior. There was a fire inside of her, one that drove her to do anything, regardless of the consequences.
However, Celestia didn’t see any of that fire in the pegasus flying next to her. She seemed somber. There was no anxiety, worry, or some kind of cocky smirk. It was as if she was taking everything in an emotionless stride. Given the severity of the situation, it was both admirable and worrying. “Rainbow Dash, are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just thinking. Been doing that a lot lately.”
“Thinking? About what?”
Rainbow slowed to hover, Celestia doing the same. “I mean, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing, but there’s still something bugging me. What’s gonna happen to me at the end of all this?”
Celestia opened her mouth to answer, but the words were caught in her throat. The current situation captured all of her attention; she hadn’t even considered the aftermath of everything. She took a deep breath, taking the time to choose her words carefully. “If all goes well, then you’ll be able to return to your normal life. In time, it will be as if nothing ever happened.”
“And what if things don’t go well?”
“If not, then…” Celestia took a single glance at Rainbow. Just by looking at her grave expression, she could tell that Rainbow knew full well what the alternative was. It seemed like the gravity of the situation was finally taking its toll.
Rainbow’s eyes drifted back down to the ground below, scratching the back of her head. “Right.” It was clear that a change in subject was desperately needed. Thankfully, that wish was granted when Rainbow spotted something of interest down below. “Hey, check out that house down there,” she said, pointing down at the building in question.
Amongst Hoofington’s vast assortment of stores, houses, and other humble structures, all bustling with activity, was a single, abandoned, three-story building that must not have been touched for years. Decades, even.
The paint, or at least what was left of it, peeled and chipped away. Balconies jetting out from the upper windows were little more than concrete stubs, having crumbled and collapsed long ago. Every window, door, and any other conceivable entrance, including holes in the walls, was boarded up with timber that seemed just as old and worn as the house itself. There was just a grey, depressing tone about it. As far as subtlety went, it stood out amongst the other colorful buildings like a sore hoof.
Rainbow looked back up at the princess. “Think a place like that’ll have something worth finding?”
Celestia took a moment to further observe the house herself. Though it was certainly riddled with holes, they only led into a darkness that could conceal anything, including the very ponies she was searching for, from the public eye. It didn’t seem as likely as she would’ve liked, but as long as the possibility was there, Celestia wasn’t going to dismiss it.
“It certainly wouldn’t hurt to check, I suppose. Then again…” Celestia’s eyes drifted away from the house. Just down the street, a few buildings away, was a small tavern. It wasn’t the fact that it was a tavern that caught her attention; she had nothing against it nor its patrons. Rather, it was the shady group of ponies gathered outside of the entrance. Even more so when she saw them whispering to each other, occasionally stealing a glance directly at her and Rainbow. That was more than worthy of its own investigation. She couldn’t be too hasty, however.
It was clear that following them would lead Celestia right into a trap, one that she’d rather keep Rainbow out of. Celestia kept a close eye on the group. Only when they walked back into the tavern did she turn her attention back towards Rainbow. “Rainbow Dash, listen to me,” she said, capturing Rainbow’s attention immediately. “I believe I may have just found the suspicious activity we were looking for.”
Rainbow immediately perked up at the news. “Really? Where? Let’s get ‘em!”
“No.” Celestia’s voice was stern, final, and immovable. That diminished Rainbow’s spirits a bit, but she allowed the princess to continue. “They are more than likely expecting us. We’d be walking into a trap. I don’t want you caught up in that. You go investigate that house while I explore the tavern.”
Rainbow raised a suspicious eyebrow. “You sure about that?”
Celestia nodded. “I’ll be fine. Should things go wrong, it won’t be anything that I can’t handle.”
Rainbow was still hesitant, constantly looking back and forth between the abandoned house and the tavern, trying to decide which one was worth her time. When she looked into Celestia’s eyes, however, her tune quickly changed.
Even behind her disguise, Celestia’s expression was that of unshakable determination, one that was equal parts inspiring and terrifying. Rainbow didn’t even entertain the thought of going against the princess after seeing that. That was all she needed to be convinced.
After a final nod between the two, they parted ways, Celestia heading towards the tavern, and Rainbow, towards the house.
----
Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy calmly walked down the streets of Hoofington, making it a crucial point to draw as little attention to themselves as possible while they kept an eye out for anything suspicious. Pinkie was doing the exact opposite of that.
The pink enigma looked like she was re-enacting a scene from her favorite, cheesy spy novel. Decked out in a black, skin-tight spy uniform, complete with night vision goggles, she constantly darted from cover to cover in a blur. She hid behind a merchant stand, then a wagon, and then a light pole, somehow. All the while, she eyed any passersby with a glare so scathing and heated, it was probably capable of melting ice.
“Do ya think we should stop her?” Applejack asked as Pinkie spied on a nearby couple through a pair of binoculars despite them being ten feet away.
Twilight simply shrugged. “Would she listen? You know how she gets when she—Hey, where did she go?”
The four mares looked all around, but it seemed like Pinkie wandered off somewhere. Fortunately, they didn’t need to search for long; Pinkie popped out of a hay pile right next to them, sparing them the trouble of looking for her, while also scaring them into a near catatonic state. “Hi!” she cried. “You wanted to see me?”
Twilight was the first one to calm her heart back down to a manageable rate. She even took a deep breath for good measure. “Yes, Pinkie, we wanted to see you. Not to rain on your fun, but do think you could tone it down a bit? We’re trying to keep attention away from us, remember?”
“I know!” Pinkie exclaimed, taking off her night vision goggles. “Why do you think I’m being super-duper sneaky? Nopony’s even noticed me yet! Look!”
Twilight and the others looked around, and sure enough, none of Hoofington’s citizens so much as batted an eyelash at the strangely dressed mare sitting in a hay pile. “Hmm. That’s odd,” Twilight muttered. She turned her attention back towards Pinkie. “Still, can you at least focus more on spotting anything unusual?”
Pinkie’s mouth turned curled into an annoyed frown for all of half a second before being replaced by her usual smile. “Okie-dokie!” She ducked back into the hay pile before hopping back out, her ‘discreet’ sneaking gear somehow gone. As soon as she hit the ground, however, her attention was immediately captured by something else. “Oh! Gift shop!” In an instant, a pink blur hastily made its way to a gift shop directly across from the group. None of her friends even had a chance to object before Pinkie found herself perusing a selection of snow globes.
Twilight could do little more than slap a hoof to her face. “Alright, you girls stay here. I’ll go get her.”
“You sure you don’t want us taggin’ along, Twi?” Applejack asked.
Twilight waved a hoof, declining the offer. “I’ll be fine. It won’t take long. What’s the worst that could happen?” The rest of her friends just shrugged as Twilight trotted into the shop.
The welcoming jingle of the shop’s bell rang throughout the store when Twilight opened the door. Twilight stepped inside, taking a moment to examine the store’s interior. As far as layout went, it was rather standard. She was flanked by rows of shelves, all of them sporting various kinds of knick knacks. The aisle in front of her led directly to the cashier, a dark green stallion wearing a welcoming smile, if a bit forced.
“Hey there!” the stallion greeted. “Welcome to Knick Knack’s Knick-Knacks!”
“Oh, hello,” Twilight kindly said.
“What can I do ya for?” Knick Knack eagerly asked.
“Oh, nothing right now, thank you. I’m just here to get a friend.” Aside from the stallion, it seemed like she and Pinkie were the only ones in the store.
Speaking of Pinkie, Twilight found the pink mare searching through an aisle filled with snow globes, eyeing each and every one with foal-like wonder, spending all of half a second looking at one before switching to another. “Look at this one! Oh, look at this one! Oh, my gosh! Look at this one!”
Needless to say, she wasn’t a very hard pony to find. However, she wasn’t the only talkative pony in that store.
“Would you like to take a look at our stock?” Knick Knack asked right out of the blue.
For a moment, Twilight didn’t even think he was talking to her, but when she glanced at the store clerk, sure enough, he was staring right at her. “Um, no, thank you. I won’t be here much—”
“We have a special on snow globes!” Knick Knack cut in. “Wanna take a look?”
Twilight could only stand there and stare, completely dumbstruck by the stallion’s odd and persistent behavior. She met door-to-door salesponies who were less annoying. “N-no, I—” But before she could go any further, Pinkie popped up at the counter with a hoof-full of snow globes.
“I’ll take six!” she blurted, dropping them all on the counter. At least she wasn’t difficult to find.
“Pinkie!” Twilight called, walking up to her friend.
Pinkie twirled around, a wide smile on her face, in spite of Twilight’s clear annoyance. “Oh! Twilight, look at these! Aren’t they adorable?”
“Pinkie, not now,” Twilight said. “We need to go. Besides, I don’t even want a snow globe.”
Despite that, Pinkie didn’t back down for a second. “But these have little toy ponies in them! See?” Pinkie snatched up a snow globe and practically shoved it in Twilight’s face. It certainly made it difficult for Twilight to miss the tiny pony floating around in the glittery water.
Twilight smacked a hoof to her face. She had a tendency of doing that whenever Pinkie was involved. In spite of that, she put on a forced smile. “Yes, Pinkie, that looks very nice. But we really need to get going right now.”
“Okay, okay,” Pinkie said, taking the globe out of Twilight’s face. However, just as Twilight was ready to let out a relieved sigh, Pinkie turned back towards the counter. “Just let me buy all this stuff first.”
Twilight felt her eye twitch ever so slightly. It might have been easier to just pick Pinkie up and carry her out, but it was just Pinkie being Pinkie, and trying to prevent that was like trying to dodge rain. It simply was not going to happen. So, Twilight decided to wait as Pinkie hopped back to the counter.
As Pinkie purchased her souvenirs, Twilight took a quick glance back at her friends. She immediately did a double take as her heart dropped to her stomach. She knew for a fact that they were just outside the store, and she knew for a fact that she told them to stay put. So why weren’t they there anymore?
Twilight already had a niggling sense of anxiety resting in her stomach like a stone. That anxiety quickly blew up into a full-fledged panic as she rushed towards the window. She pressed her face up against the glass, shooting her eyes up and down the street. There was nothing. No sign of her friends anywhere. They disappeared, pure and simple.
Even under normal circumstances, losing her friends without a trace would’ve been reason enough for some underlying sense of panic. The fact that they were in a relatively dangerous situation did nothing to calm Twilight’s racing heart.
Okay Twilight, keep calm. Don’t panic. Panicking won’t help anything!
She was right. As bad as things seemed, it would only get worse if she didn’t keep her head together. After all, as things stood, it wasn’t the most life-threatening situation she’d been in. The fact that it wasn’t the only life-threatening situation she’d been in was even more reason to stay calm. At least she still had Pinkie with her.
Twilight glanced back at the counter. Staying calm suddenly became much more difficult for her.
Okay, Pinkie’s gone too.
She didn’t know when, she didn’t know how, but Pinkie somehow managed to disappear just as suddenly and mysteriously as the rest of her friends. She couldn’t even hear the usually talky pink pony, and that had to have been a first. The only other pony there was Knick Knack, and he just stood behind the counter with that stupid grin on his face.
“Excuse me. Did you see where that pony just went?” Twilight asked.
“Do you wanna take a look at our snow globes?”
Twilight nearly left an imprint in her face with how hard she slapped it. “Okay, so you’re still no help,” she muttered. Still, she tried to stay calm. It wouldn’t have been the first time Pinkie disappeared without a trace; she was probably waiting to pop out of somepony’s cookie jar. It was just a matter of finding the right cookie jar. That still didn’t explain where the rest of her friends went, but baby steps.
Twilight slowly backed away towards the door, haphazardly throwing together pieces of what was supposed to be a plan.
Alright, Twilight. Don’t panic. Just think of a plan. You’re good at that. Great at that!
The moment Twilight finally made it back outside, she started down the street at a trot.
Let’s see. My best bet would be to go get the princess. If I can find her. It might also be a good idea to go see if Rainbow Dash is still okay. If I can find her. No worries, though! Hoofington isn’t that big of a city, just five times the size of Ponyville! I’ll find them eventually. If I don’t get captured first.
Okay, so getting captured is the worst case scenario. Big deal! I’ve been captured plenty of times and always came out just fine, save for a few mental scars. I’m sure we’ll all come out of this just fine and then we can look back on this and just laugh and laugh and—
“Ow!” Twilight’s perfectly rational series of thinking was cut off when she felt a sharp prick on the back of her neck. She immediately washed magic over her neck, expecting it to just be some random bug. There was something there, but it wasn’t a bug. It was thin, sharp, and metallic.
She pulled it out and brought it up to her face. It was a small needle, hardly even an inch long. Though it was hard to see, Twilight could make out some odd, green ooze glistening at the very tip. Most other ponies would’ve flown into a debilitating sense of panic at the thought that they were just shot with that, but any sense of fear was overridden when Twilight’s inner historian kicked in.
Huh. A tranquilizing dart. These were frequently used centuries ago by highly trained infiltrators in order to incapacitate and capture key targets without causing any serious injuries. Coated with a concoction carefully crafted from numerous potent numbing and knock-out agents, these were notorious for their virtually instantaneous effect on the body.
…
Oh, dear.
The drowsiness slammed into Twilight with the grace and subtlety of a brick wall. She hardly had any control over her limbs as they grew limp and weak. She staggered about the street before colliding with a nearby wall, her only source of support. In nearly no time at all, simply keeping her eyes open became an impossible task as the darkness overtook her.
As Twilight approached the threshold of unconsciousness, she still had just enough time for one, last thought.
Worst case scenario, here I come!
----
Surprisingly, getting inside the abandoned building was far easier than Rainbow thought it would be. Breaking down the boards blocking the front entrance was like snapping a twig in two. Virtually no effort; one buck and she was in.
Granted, it might have been beneficial to find an entrance that wasn’t exposed to civilians, but since literally none of them reacted, they either didn’t notice or didn’t care. Either one was perfectly fine as far as Rainbow was concerned. It gave her one less thing to worry about.
Rainbow slowly stepped inside, taking a look around. As far as appearances went, it looked exactly like what she expected. Even with the bright sun shining through the house’s numerous holes, there was still a dull, grey light about the place.
Every single thing in sight fell victim to time. The wooden furnishings were rotten and termite-ridden. It was a miracle that anything was still standing at all, and considering how graceful Rainbow was around fragile objects, that could change very quickly.
It was a true shame, really. As she looked over the torn curtains, ripped paintings, and shredded furniture, it was clear that the house used to be a rather high class establishment. The rug that adorned the entire floor, grey and hardened from time, must’ve been dream-like against the fur during its time. Regardless, it begged the question, why would such a nice place be left to rot?
The last thing to capture Rainbow’s attention was a painting on the nearby wall. It was the only one left even remotely intact, but that wasn’t saying much. She knew that it was of a filly, but most of her mane, hind legs, and tail were all either torn off or faded beyond recognition.
Observing it more closely, Rainbow could at least tell that it was a bright pink filly. As for her mane, it was difficult to say since nearly all of it was gone. The only remaining pieces of mane, a few errant locks hanging over the filly’s face, were white. A pink filly with a white mane.
But it was strange. Rainbow knew that she never met such a filly before, but she couldn’t help but feel an odd sense of familiarity as she stared at the painting. Maybe it was the coat, or the mane, or the smile, but something about her gave Rainbow a strong sense of déjá vu. Slowly, everything started to click in her head.
“Hang on,” she muttered, squinting her eyes as she peered even closer at the worn painting before her. “Isn’t that—”
Rainbow was torn away from her thoughts when she heard glass shatter. Whipping around, she darted her head back and forth, eyes scanning every square inch of the room as she searched for the source. They eventually stopped on a set of stairs leading to the upper floor; that was where the noise came from.
For several, agonizingly long seconds, Rainbow only stood there, trying to figure out what that noise could’ve been. In a house as old and decrepit as the one she stood in, it could’ve been any number of relatively harmless things. In the situation Rainbow was in, however, it could’ve also been any number of not-so-harmless things, the worst of them planting itself right at the front of her mind.
There could’ve been another pony in the house.
Rainbow glanced back at the front door, then back at the stairs. It was a simple choice of either cutting her losses right then and there, or risking a quick investigation. As she weighed the two options, something else popped into her mind.
Alright, a quick peek won’t hurt.
Slowly, Rainbow made her way up the staircase, flinching at every silence-shattering creak as she neared the top, but heard nothing in the way of reaction. In fact, as she neared the top, another noise became apparent to her. It was difficult for her to describe, but it sounded like a low, continuous hum. She didn't have the slightest clue what could make such a noise, and as far as she was concerned, there was only one way to find out.
Once she reached the top of the stairs, Rainbow cautiously made one side glance. It didn't take very long for her to find the source of that hum. Right down the hall, at the very end, was a door protected by a shimmering, magical barrier, illuminating the entire hall with a deep, blue glow.
“Whoa,” was all Rainbow could utter as she approached the barrier. Out of all the things she expected to find in a house older than Granny Smith, magically protected rooms were definitely near the bottom of that list. Standing in front of it, Rainbow looked at it more closely.
Upon closer inspection, the barrier seemed rather old itself. It sizzled, cracked, and popped in various places. Rainbow could even spot a few holes in the barrier. She may not have been an expert when it came to magic, but even she could safely guess that the barrier wasn’t in the best of shape. All things considered, it was likely just as old as the house. Whatever it was meant to guard, it probably couldn’t guard it much longer.
Rainbow rubbed her chin as an idea spun in her head. She vaguely recalled Twilight, at one point or another, talking about such spells during one of the rare times when Rainbow actually listened to her. These spells, or wards, as Twilight called them, were rather basic as far as defensive spells went, but could be incredibly useful if used correctly.
Depending on the amount of magic put into the spell, wards could last anywhere from half an hour to entire decades, but they all weakened over time until inevitably dissipating. If a ward was weakened enough, it was even possible to break through it using nothing but brute force. That was what Rainbow was aiming for.
From the looks of it, that ward was on its last legs; a few hours, at the most, and it’d be gone. Rainbow, however, didn’t have a few hours. Even if she did, there wasn’t a snowball’s chance on the sun that she’d wait. It looked weak enough. If she went at it with a bit of gusto, she’d be able to force herself inside.
“Alright, buddy. You’re going down.” Rainbow spun around, her back facing the ward. She raised her rear legs, positioned to deliver a powerful quick. In a single, powerful motion, she bucked her back legs out. They collided with the barrier, pushed Rainbow forward, and sent her crashing face-first into the dusty floor. So, the barrier was tougher than it looked, as if that would ever be enough to stop her.
After picking herself up and brushing the dust off of her coat, she turned back to face the bothersome barrier. “So, tough guy, huh? Alright, I got something for ya.” Rainbow trotted all the way to the other end of the hallway. She didn’t stop until her rump was pressed right up against the opposite wall. She took a quick moment to stretch her legs and wings, especially the wings. She didn’t want to pull a muscle, after all.
Nice and limber, Rainbow crouched down, unfurling her wings to their full extent. With a single, hard flap, she launched herself forward, speeding forward like a bullet.
The weakened barrier stood no chance. Rainbow plowed through it like paper. She also crashed through the surprisingly sturdy door directly behind it, a minor flaw in her plan that she hadn’t considered at the time. At that point, through the immediate daze, she suspected that she might have overdone it a bit.
Rainbow tumbled and rolled across the floor of the newly opened room. It didn’t take very long before she came to a rather painful halt when she slammed her head on the opposite wall.
After shaking the stars spinning about in her vision, Rainbow dizzily got back onto her hooves and took a moment to look around the room. In retrospect, barreling headfirst through a magical barrier and a closed door wasn’t the best of ideas, but that was the last thing on Rainbow’s mind. What was on her mind was whether or not it was worth the trouble. The moment she got a good look at the room, that question was immediately answered.
It didn’t even look like she was in the same building. The room she found herself in wasn’t abandoned, filthy, or even really dirty. A glistening, golden chandelier hung overhead, its many candles keeping the room alit in a warm glow. The rug beneath Rainbow’s hooves was as soft as any cloud, nothing at all like the hardened spikes she walked on mere moments before.
For a moment, Rainbow thought she had somehow crashed into a different building. Such a possibility wasn’t entirely out of the question. That theory was quickly disproven when she looked back at the door she just crashed through. Everything beyond its threshold was the same, grey, decrepit house Rainbow entered minutes ago. It was as if the room was not only protected by the barrier, but preserved as well. That still left one question in the back of Rainbow’s mind. Why?
She didn’t get much time to ponder before her attention was caught by something else. On the ground next to her, partially hidden underneath a desk, was a hefty burlap sack. That alone would’ve been enough to pique her curiosity, but what the bag contained sealed the deal. Numerous letters filled the bag up to the brim, some even spilling out onto the floor.
A small smile appeared on Rainbow’s face. “Alright, now we’re getting somewhere.” She didn’t bother picking out a letter in particular. She just picked one up and started reading. It could’ve been anything, from organized meetings, to planned attacks, maybe even the names of the ponies responsible. The letter was none of those things.
Hey Mom, Hey Dad,
Sorry it too so long to get this one out. Camp’s been getting pretty crazy lately. Been spending most of my time either training or sleeping, but now I’ve finally got some down time, so I figured, why not write another letter? So, what’s been happening? Where do I begin? Like I said, the coaches have finally grown a pair of wings and cranked things up a notch. I still come out on top, of course, but it’s nice to have a bit of a challenge every now and then. Doesn’t look like everypony can handle it, though.
There’s this one pony who barely got by in the intro classes. Could barely fly in a straight line. And when they cranked things up, geez, it was almost painful trying to watch her. She doesn’t seem like a bad pony, though. Just a bit on the shy side, if I had to guess. I might try to talk to her tomorrow and see where that goes. A friend or two doesn’t sound too bad.
But that’s what I’ve been going through so far. What about you guys? Haven’t heard back from you in a while. Everything’s okay, right? I mean, if not, you can at least tell me so that I’ll know. Just letting you know. Talk to you later. Love ya!
-R.D
Rainbow slowly lowered the letter. She didn’t even realize how badly she was shaking. In her mind, she wanted to scream, to move, to do something, but her body refused to listen. She had no idea how to describe whatever it was that was brewing in her stomach. It could’ve been denial, it could’ve been sorrow, perhaps it was even anger. It could’ve been all three of them, or none of them. There were a lot of things in her mind that she wasn’t sure of, but there was one thing that she knew for a fact: that letter wasn’t hers.
It may have had her name on it, it may have been written in her barely legible mouth-writing, it may have even had various doodlings of Wonderbolts across the page, but it wasn’t hers. It just couldn’t be. It had to be the product of some master forger with nothing better to do than to copy, down to a T, a filly’s letter to her parents. At least, Rainbow hoped that it was just the one.
She dove back into the bag, pulling out letter after letter. They were all hers. There were letters from her first week at flight camp. Letters from her first party, from her first run-in with authorities, from her first talk with Fluttershy. There were even letters from her time spent in Ponyville. It was all from Rainbow Dash, no matter how much she didn’t want to believe it.
Finally, after minutes of sifting through the letters, Rainbow stopped. She dropped the letter in her hooves, backed away, and sat down on her haunches. She couldn’t read anymore, anyway; her eyes were too full of tears.
She didn’t want to believe it, but that was the reality, one that she wished she didn’t find. It meant one of two things. Either someone was stealing all of her letters for whatever reason, or her parents were ignoring her, lying to her, all of this time. That was a painful thing to imagine, and Rainbow didn’t want to think that her own parents could be so cruel, but after everything she’d been through, she wasn’t about to put anything past anypony. She needed to find them. She needed to ask them. She needed to know.
“Perhaps we should come back at another time.”
Rainbow shot up to her hooves, spinning around on a dime. Three stallions stood before the pegasus, clad in black robes, their faces concealed in the shadows of their hoods. They blocked the doorway, the only way out, trapping Rainbow in the room.
The pegasus already felt the adrenaline flowing through her veins. She firmly planted her hooves on the floor, ready for a fight. She may not have been the best judge of character, but she didn’t have to be to know that they were trouble.
“Who the hay are you?"
The middle stallion, presumably the leader, took a single step towards Rainbow. She responded by flaring her wings. Despite that, the stallion offered a quick bow. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Dash,” he said. “I’ve heard quite a lot about you. A brash, reckless, little stunt flier, yes?” His voice was dripping with that smug pretentiousness that always got under Rainbow’s skin. If he honestly expected her to calm down, then he was due for a disappointment.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Rainbow said. “Who are you?”
The stallion simply smiled. Rainbow felt a tingling in her hoof as she entertained the idea of wiping that smile off of his face. “I believe names at this stage are… unimportant,” he said. “What is important, however, is that we are your allies.”
Rainbow laughed at the supposed sentimentality. She’d seen mane extensions that were more authentic. “You’re so full of it, you know that? If you seriously think I’m gonna buy that load of horseapples, then you’re dumber than I thought.”
“I’ll admit, I had my doubts, but I still believe that you’ll listen to what I have to say.”
“You really don’t know me, then.”
“Perhaps not yet, but I am confident that that will change. You see, I am a stallion of facts, so here is a fact for you. You and I both want the same thing.”
The smile on Rainbow’s face was nothing short of deliciously sadistic. “You wanna beat up a couple of clowns, too? Cool. I’ve got three in front of me right now. If that's not what you want, then take your Saddle Arabian rejects and get lost!” She couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction as the stallion shifted in his seat.
He quickly cleared his throat. “As I was saying, you and I want the same thing. Peace in Equesria.”
Rainbow arched a single eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
“Perhaps I should explain.”
“Yeah, you better.” Rainbow didn’t even notice the single, intimidating step she took towards the stallion.
He took a moment to gently sigh to himself. “Allow me to get right to the point. We know that you’re helping Celestia locate the Apple.”
Rainbow’s eyes, already filling with restrained anger, gave way to the slightest hint of shock. “What? How do you—"
“My friends have heard things in the past,” he quickly answered. “Now, allow me to explain, Ms. Dash. I know that you believe listening to Celestia is the best course of action, but blindly aiding her will only lead to Equestria’s demise.”
Rainbow wanted to tell him off so badly. She wanted to do worse. Her body trembled at the mere thought of it, but something held her back. Not necessarily restraint, but some kind of morbid curiosity. Recent events had left her brain fried, both metaphorically and literally. She had more pieces to this puzzle than she knew what to do with. It didn’t help that she wasn’t very good at puzzles to begin with.
She subconsciously yearned for anything that’d be able to clear up even a bit of the haze that she’d been trudging through for the past few days. She just didn’t expect some of those things to come from a stallion about as trustworthy as the hobo down the street offering young foals free samples of his ‘milk’.
With her silence, the stallion decided to continue. “Though it seems that Celestia is eager to let you help, she is still keeping you in the dark. She is hiding her true intentions. She doesn’t simply want to ‘find the Apple’, as she so passionately puts it. She wants to use it for her own purposes. To create the Equestria that she wants.”
“You really expect me to believe that? This is already the Equestria that she wants. She told me so.”
“And you believe that?” A small, almost pitying chuckle left the stallion’s lips. It was getting harder and harder for Rainbow to keep her cool, but she still wanted to see where he was going with this. “Whatever act Celestia put on for you was just that. An act. But she’s evasive when you ask her the hard questions, isn’t she?”
“Hey, this is just as hard for her as it is for me! And I don’t care what her ‘real intentions’ are. I know they aren’t what you’re saying. There’s no way that she’d do anything like that!”
The stallion let out another, deeper sigh, as he shook his head. “Oh, you poor child. Celestia has done an excellent job brainwashing you. No matter. You’ll see the truth in time once you come with us.”
Rainbow took a defensive step back, the adrenaline pumping back into her veins. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“I’m afraid that isn’t your choice to make.” He nodded to one of the stallions behind him. The hooded goon wasted no time before lunging towards Rainbow.
A nearly debilitating sense of panic shot right through her heart. He was fast, far faster than a stallion his size had any right to be. But just as quickly as he lunged, something inside of Rainbow awoken. Through all of her shock, through all of her panic, there was something else. A soothing sense of calm and focus that she never felt before. Her body, once rigid and taut mere seconds ago, grew nice and relaxed, yet Rainbow still remained alert.
There was something else as well. Something instinctive. Whatever that something was, it guided Rainbow’s hooves along an unseen path as the stallion grew closer. There was no hesitation, no thinking, simply action as Rainbow’s hooves made contact with the stallion at the perfect angle to effortlessly shove him aside.
The entire room shook as all of the stallion’s momentum went into the solid, wooden wall behind Rainbow Dash. For a moment, there was nothing. Rainbow just stood there. She had no idea how to feel about what she had just done. She had been through her fair share of fights before, but never had she felt so… relaxed.
She looked down at her hooves. They weren’t even shaking from adrenaline. Her breathing was smooth and controlled. Her mind, which was racing not even a minute ago, was clear. She was, in every possible way, calm.
And it felt very, very good.
With newfound determination in her eyes and an unconscious stallion behind her, Rainbow looked back up at the head honcho. Despite taking down one of his henchmen without breaking so much as a sweat, he didn’t seem scared. Nothing about his body language suggested fear or even concern. He seemed just as calm as Rainbow was. For some reason, that only made her even angrier.
“Interesting,” he said. “It seems that you’re more in tune with Shadow Streak than we thought.” He looked back at his remaining ally. “You. Lop off those pesky legs of hers. We only need her mind.”
As relaxed as Rainbow was, even she wasn’t able to keep a calm face as the goon drew a razor sharp dagger from his robes. But despite the seemingly bad odds, there was something about his body language that Rainbow couldn’t help but notice. He crept along the edge of the room, keeping his distance. His steps were slow and methodical, as though he was expecting her to attack at any given second. He was afraid. That fact put a small smirk on Rainbow’s face. She was in control, an advantage that she was going to abuse oh so maliciously.
She took a single step towards her opponent. He responded by taking a step back. She took two more steps forward. He took two steps back. She took a step back, he took a step forward. But when she went forward again, he was quick to retract that little advance.
She’d have been lying if she said that she didn’t enjoy it.
After having her share of amusement, Rainbow started another advance. This time, she didn’t stop. The stallion, apparently having completely forgotten that he was the armed one, kept backpedaling as Rainbow continued towards him.
One crucial thing that he seemed to have forgotten, though, was that it was a rather small room, and that he’d run out of space to retreat eventually. That was a fact made clear as day to him as he felt his rump bump into the wall. Reacting completely out of shock, he glanced back just to see what he backed into.
That was Rainbow’s opening.
With a single flap of her wings, she shot herself forward. Her opponent barely even had time to look back at her. The last thing that he saw was a bright blue hoof rushing towards his face.
Rainbow must’ve had a nastier right hook than she thought. One hard one and the stallion dropped to the floor, dagger flying from his mouth and skidding across the floor.
With the two goons down and out of the way, Rainbow set her sights back on the stallion who sicked them on her in the first place. “What was that you were saying about me not having a choice?” she asked, that smirk still gracing her face. She felt good. Great, even. She had no idea where it all came from, but she was far too lost in the moment to care. All she knew was that she was two for three, and she was going to make that third beating something to truly remember.
The stallion let out a little chuckle himself. That little chuckle quickly turned into a hearty guffaw. “Most impressive, Ms. Dash. Most impressive, indeed. You certainly have the skill to fit our needs. Now we simply need you to see the truth of this dire situation.”
“Yeah, good luck with that. It’s gonna take more than your say-so to get me to turn my back on the Princess.”
“And I’m inclined to agree.” Rainbow wasn’t entirely sure if it was a trick of the light, but she could’ve swore that she saw light reflect off of the stallion’s toothy smile. “As I’ve said before, I am a stallion of facts. Here is another one for you. I have custody of your friends.”
Rainbow’s smirk disappeared in an instant. The sense of calm flowing throughout her body gave way to something more primal, and far more barbaric. “What did you say?”
“You can resist all you wish, but in the end, you’ll only be hurting those five ponies you’ve held in such high regard. Wouldn’t it be a shame if they were to suffer the consequences of your actions?”
That sensation in her stomach only grew more intense. It felt familiar somehow. The last time she felt something like this was way back during her early years in Ponyville.
By that point, she and Fluttershy were about as close as friends could be. It was a warm, summer night and Rainbow was flying home after a tiring training session. However, as she flew over Ponyville’s market district, she saw Fluttershy cornered by a couple of drunks. She couldn’t remember exactly what Fluttershy was doing out at that hour, something about her making some last-minute purchases for the nocturnal animals, but that didn’t matter.
Fluttershy hardly stood a chance at getting out of there herself. She just stood there with her eyes clamped shut as though that would make them go away. She was a sitting duck. A late-night plaything for the drunks to do whatever they wanted with. Rainbow was already speeding towards her friend’s aid when she saw something that put her over the edge.
When Fluttershy felt one of the drunks brush a hoof over her flank, she immediately, almost instinctively, bucked him in the leg. She must’ve surprised herself with that, because she did nothing but apologize, but he had none of it. That was when he slapped her.
Something in Rainbow snapped. She didn’t know what she was thinking except that she saw a couple of punching bags with her name on them. She could hardly even remember what it was that she exactly did, just that at the end of it all, those drunks woke up in the hospital the next morning with a plethora of broken bones to accompany their hangover.
It took a long few weeks before Fluttershy was able to talk to her again, but the two patched things up in due time.
And now there she was, with that same feeling boiling in her stomach, staring at the stallion responsible. That was when she realized what it was. Unrestrained, uncontrolled, and unbridled anger. Her teeth were clenched to the point of aching. All of the calm and relaxation that she felt was long gone. The only thing that kept her from caving his head in at that very moment was a simple question. “Where are they?” she demanded, her voice masking the storm raging inside of her.
“I’m afraid that it doesn’t work that way, Ms. Dash.”
For a brief moment, a tiny fraction of that rage made its way to the surface. “They’ve got nothing to do with this!” she cried.
“They have everything to do with this!” he snapped back. “The Elements of Harmony are our ace in the hole should Celestia ever lose control. We just have to convince you all to join our cause before it’s too late.” A sinister chuckle left the stallion’s lips. “Whether or not that process is pleasant, well... that will be up to you.”
Something inside of Rainbow snapped. The last sense of restraint in her mind gave way to a voice screaming in her head. There was no pain. There was no sudden case of nausea. Only pure, blinding rage as a single sentence range loud and clear in her head.
If you touch them, I’ll kill you!
“If you touch them,” Rainbow began, “I will kill you!”
For the first time since they met, the stallion took a single step back. “What happens to your friends rests entirely on your shoulders, Ms. Dash. Regardless of what happens, you will see things my way in due time.” He dug into his robes and pulled out a small, silver ball. “And once you do, we will be waiting for you.”
Before Rainbow could make a single move, he slammed the ball into the floor. It exploded into a thick cloud of smoke, enveloping everything into the room. Rainbow shut her eyes, coughing any smoke out of her lungs as she hurried out of the room. She was not going to let him get away.
She burst out onto the streets of Hoofington, still coughing out smoke. She looked up and down the streets, looking past all of the obliviously cheerful ponies passing her by. No matter how hard she tried, though, she couldn’t even spot a glimpse of the stallion. He escaped. And he had her friends.
The anger boiling within Rainbow subsided. All of the energy she had mere seconds ago simply went away. She slumped down onto her haunches, head hung low in defeat. She couldn’t even try to hold back the tears falling from her eyes.
It was too much. Everything that had happened to her in just a scant few days. It was simply too much to bear. How could she possibly hope to protect Equestria if she couldn’t even protect her friends? Maybe it would’ve been easier just to lie down and let whatever doomed fate that awaited Equestria run its course.
No.
Rainbow wiped the tears from her eyes. She wasn’t going to just stand idly by while her friends were in danger. They wouldn’t abandon her, and she wasn’t going to abandon them. As hopeless as things seemed, there was always a way, even if Rainbow had to scour every square inch of the city, of Equestria, to find it. Thankfully, she didn’t need to look that far to find some semblance of a lead to follow. In fact, the pony she had in mind was only a few blocks away, in a tavern, possibly fighting for her life at that very moment.
Rainbow wasted no time before galloping down the street towards the tavern. She already didn’t like that stallion, whoever he was, but he made it personal the second he got her friends involved. And once Rainbow got her hooves on him, she was going to truly make him suffer.
Stats
Page generated in 0.032 seconds
Total duration
1,103 users online
1,980,252 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Ohoho yes, now we get to the meat of the sandwich!
-Mis
Bought time we got to story line
took too long. many of us have forgotten the flow of the story by now.
I like the story dude and I'm also a fan of Assassin's creed.
Where are my manners, I'm new to this website, and started making a story and a new group during the fourth of July this month. 
Oh so you're doing that lame old plot point of "I have your friends therefore you'll do everything I tell you to do" ?
Okay, I don't want to be too much of an ass because I actually liked your work up to now but seriously ?
Why didn't rainbow just use her ludicrous speed to catch that asshole and bring him to Celestia ? I mean he clearly wasn't expecting her so he probably doesn't have a contingency plan and Celly could certainly look through his mind for his crew and bases position.
Really there wasn't any dilemma here, she should have just jumped him. In fact, the original character would have ! Rainbow IS the brash abrasive one and she's not stupid enough to leave him any chances to escape, she would pin him to the floor the second she dropped his goons !
So now you have a situation where a character's action is not caused by her but because the story need a specific thing to happen, after all Mc douchy over there is predictably right, so Celestia can't get a hang of him before he convinces the girls.
And I actually have all the Assassin's creed games except number one and revelations.
2834649
Except for the fact that, during the actual fight (if you want to call it that), Dash wasn't fighting like she normally would. The Bleeding Effect embedded a little of Shadow Strike's training into her, altering her methods. After all, since when did she ever toy with anyone in a fight?
2834498
You could just reread the story to this point to get back into it. Personally, I don't have a problem with it. Hell, I've been trying to get work done on my own stories for some time now.
HO HO! An assassin might be at rest, but they will never be truely gone! That's when people least expect it and when an Assassin writer strikes! Welcome back to writing sharp blades and dark shadows!
)
(I'm amazed and happy that you are still writing, I still haven't got it completely in me and it's been nearly half a year and I think my skills are rusting. It is a cycle of reluctance that keeps on giving!
2834649
The same issues that you mentioned did come to mind while I was writing this, but here's the way I was looking at it. While I can agree that the original Rainbow Dash likely would've smashed the dude's teeth in before he got past his first insidious chuckle, by this point in the story, this isn't the original Rainbow Dash.
After having her mind sufficiently probed from chapters 5 to 12, changes in her attitude were simply inevitable due to overexposure, the Bleeding Effect, etc. So, the Rainbow Dash that went in is not the same Rainbow Dash that came out. Celestia even makes an observation of this.
She wouldn't think the same way that she used to, and in this case, she didn't just want to beat the guy up, she wanted to kill him. But if she did, where would that leave her? She still wouldn't know where her friends were, and as keen as she may be, she isn't clairvoyant.
As for the enemy not expecting Celestia, they do expect her. She expresses her suspicions that they suspect her right before they enter the city, so logic would dictate that they do have a plan set for her if she finds them.
Maybe I'm just blowing smoke, but none of my prereaders seemed to think that this was too forced or contrived. If push comes to shove, though, and a lot of people say that they don't like how that part of the chapter plays out, I'll see about changing it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, though. That doesn't happen very often.
2834765
I'm happy and grateful for the encouraging words you bring with each comment you post here. In fact, it was your comment on my blog that got me back into working on the original. 'Cause, in all honesty, you're right. The story may have a few bumps here and there, but I am still having a lot of fun writing it. So, thank you.
2834803 Haha, no problem man, it's what I'm here for. Personally I find the small bumps bring a sense of artistic style and gives the writer more originality for their work. There's always that 'I need to get this story as perfectly perfect as possible' I see in certain writers which is not true. What's important is having fun and enjoying what you do, for THAT is what truely makes a story great. That's what makes your story so enjoyable to read
Just glad to have helped with the support
)
(Please mind any grammer mistakes, I'm slightly distracted by trying to remember the right order of words to describe what a hidden blade slounds like. Umm... stab?
2834765
Pfft. I've been there. I'm surprised that I still have people that favorite and follow my stories.
2834792
Okay to be honest I was expecting this kind of answer, but it still doesn't work for me, Shadow is a professional assassin, do you really think she would've left an opening this huge for her arch enemy to escape ? Because I don't.
I feel like in both instances, the result should be the same, only on one side it would be out of rage and on the other out of experience.
Dash would grab him and shake him until he gave the info up or Celly got it out. Shadow would put a blade to his throat, threaten him and/or torture him until Celestia came to find her.
It might seem like i'm nitpicking but i feel like this single scene is making the grand lines of the next chapters predictable because of it's really cliche approach.
And as I said before it feels like you choose this not because it was the obvious answer for Rainbow, but because any slight change in the way this event unfolded would have caused the scenery to collapse because Celestia.
To throw a little bit of positive your way, this is the only real complaint I have with this chapter. And you actually did a good job keeping things intriguing and interesting through a part I thought would get boring. So props to you.
Edit: Oh and for the part about having a plan for Celestia, of course they have something, but it probably doesn't include losing their leader for her to use like a USB drive filled to burst with their personal info.
Yay, it has updated! And, right away, it seems like things are not looking well for Dash. Past letters of her found in one of the enemy's hideouts, an unknown party has captured (and possibly now brainwashed) her friends, and dark secrets all around (including a certain princess). And, when she discover the reason for those letters being there, it is going to get worse. The only good thing amongst this madness is Luna, who found out about the brainwashing and trying to help outside of selfish reasons, compared to Celestia.
Heh, I love this story so far, it just keep getting more intense, yet keep it from getting too depressing. Can't wait to read the next chapter!
2835311
I have to say, this is probably the first in-depth piece of criticism I've gotten ever since I began writing this story. Reading this actually gave me an idea on how to change this scene in order to make it play out more naturally, hopefully making it less contrived. I'll see if I can weave it into the narrative that I have so far. Like I said before, thanks for bringing it up.
KILL THEM. WITH FIRE.
This was a great chapter and I enjoyed it thoroughly
I didn't see anything wrong with the fight scene like AVJ because rainbow is still getting used to Shadow's memories. 
Right now even though it isn't showing I'm pretty sure the two personalities are fighting for control which makes Rainbow a little confused on how to handle the situation. 
On one Hoof the old Rainbow would beat him to a pulp on the other hoof Shadow would watch and try to figure out the game the leader is doing, don't forget Shadow had high respect to the leader of the Assassins, she would not out right kill him until she figured out what he was doing. 
Also it probably did not cross Rainbow's mind to use Celestia at the time, another thing about Shadow was she was a loner. 
If you do rewrite the scene don't change the battle outcome but show a little more of the conflict of personalities, because of that it would show a little more hesitation on Rainbow's part. 
On top of that even if she does fight him with the rage in her and he remains calm he would win because of her anger she would have over extend her hits, and flailed about which would make him in control the combat not her. 
I don't care how fast she is the amount of training the leader would have had he would rise victorious, though not unscathed 
I think when Rainbow waited that was the smarter thing to do, Shadow's personality was probably more at the forefront than Rainbow's original, and would keep her from getting too hurt so she could do something about finding her friends unharmed. 
I look forward to the next chapter and I WANT MOAR SOON 
if that is alright with you 
2836936
Okay I'm sorry to say but I disagree with most of what you said.
First off, the part about shadow's personality causing confusion would make sense, except those memories seem to extend to slight changes in her comportment and new fighting abilities and as I said, it would either way make sense for her to pin him down before speaking to him. I don't think Shadow, with all her training, is dumb enough to let an opening that obvious for him to escape. She would have pushed him into a corner or pinned him. But she certainly wouldn't stay far away from him.
And yeah maybe the guy's a really good fighter, but Rainbow doesn't know that and since she's been that successful with his goons I think she would still take her chances.
And also, waiting in this situation is actually the dumbest thing you can do, because you play directly into your enemy's game when he's most likely half-assing something on the fly. There are easier ways to find out where your friends are, especially in a world where magic exist.
That being said, Rainbow never had the time to think that much ahead, but she's still smart enough to not let him run away.
2835536
Well if my ramblings somehow helped then I guess that's a good thing :D
2837133 So are you suggesting that Rainbow tries to attack the guy, only for him to counter and sorta subdue her? Would that be better?
2836222AND ACID
2837440
I didn't want to talk about any possibility in detail to leave the pick to Fought but yeah that's a way to do it.
The only problem is that I'm almost certain the guy isn't a fighter. And if he is, such a scene would undermines Rainbow's capacities and possibly create future plot holes.
Another way which I think works better would have been a third assassin attacking her by surprise, preferably from behind, or using a poison dart. That way you hit all the metaphorical birds with one stone.
2837779
AND A CACTUS
2838418(lets see how long we can keep this going) AND AN ANGRY BEAR
2838636
AND PINKIE
2838829Whoa now that's going a little too far
How about instead of Pinkie AND BIG MAC
... wait
2838883
AND THIS LEPRECHAUN I JUST FOUND STEALING MY SALAD
2838955AND... AND A.... DAMNIT YOU WIN
2458046Nooooooooooooooooo
2839149
VICTORY IS MINE. ALL YOUR INTERNET ARE BELONG TO US.
2839194YOU CAN HAVE THE INTERNETS BUT YOU WILL NEVER HAVE OUR BASE!!! HAHAHAHAHAAAAA
2839200
kulfoto.com/funny-pictures/24096/creepy-nicolas-cage-cats
First off, it's "worst", not "worse"; and second, Twilight why would you say that? Why?
2839218"Rainboom uses 'creepy pictures', its not very effective".
Thinamajig uses Gi-freaking-normus tank
http://wtfcontent.com/img/131093820500.jpg
2839281
It had no effect...
2839388Huh
, well I guess we're screwed then
2839392
I love this huge....thing we have going on in the comments of a story about assassin ponies.
Your move, Internet.
Right, sorry it took me this long to set up a proper 'Welcome back to the Assassin Writing' celebration *Ahem*
VITTORIA AGLI DE ASSASSINI!
wtfbot.net/pix/1717.jpg
2839404I got a note from the internet saying "knight to e5"
2839468
You sunk my battleship!
2839544 2839468
Not to sound rude, but is this little back-and-forth going to end anytime soon?
2839553Sorry I forgot this shows up on your notifictions
I'm done
2839740>>2839544
Well it doesn't nessesarily have to end, you two could always send these in the form of a PM to one another. That'll keep the notifications from piling up on FoughtDragon's side while you two can go about your back-and-forth on sending assassin counters to each other for no worries!
nice chapter, in RD'splace i probably would've panicked and flew through the wall to escape, but im glad she held her ground
2839435
fuck you, I'm taking that picture (
)
2839440 Is he gonna die? No, it's a medium shot.
Pan, zoom and slow-mo means he's the target.
This is one heck of a return. Patience pays off, and we are rewarded with the action!
Just one note:
You know I was just on the homepage when I saw this cover pop up on the update list After going to the actual story I was just like "Whoa..." I really really like this story, you know I was starting to get sick of all the other stories that I usually read. Anyway, this story is truly amazing and has given me a different perspective on how I perceive stories and I thank you for that.
Thanks again for the enlightening,
~INTERSTELLA 5555
Feed me more chapters!
So, are the black hooded ponies the Assassins? I've forgotten so many of the minute details up to this point... I mean, if they are, I'm having a hard time seeing them threaten Rainbow in such a way. It sounds more like something the Templars would think up.
But if they aren't, ignore that. I want to see the Bleeding Effect take full effect so Rainbow has the skills to pay the bills!
In which RD becomes more tuned to the abilities and instincts of Shadow Streak, starting her along the path towards ULTIMATE POWAAAAH!
Or at least Ultimate Awesome. Whichever comes first, really.
I am a REALLY REALLY REALLY big fan of Assassian's Creed, so this is a dream come true for me :D