//------------------------------// // Chapter 53: Someone to Depend On // Story: A Long Way to Fall // by Cinders of War //------------------------------// "So this is your first encounter with that poison?" Twilight Sparkle asked the white haired ex-Assassin, deciding to stand up to stretch her legs. Human legs were so much more susceptible to the cold than pony legs. "I wasn't there, Twilight." Morning Blade adjusted her braid's hair tie. "But I had heard of the poison's horrors first from Dewdrop. Let's say it's a weapon I would never want to come into contact with. It's like it has a mind of its own." "In all of Equestria, I've never come across poison like this." Twilight flipped at her notebook pages. "You must tell me more about it, Morning. Perhaps I'll have more clues to study this in detail." "Right." Morning nodded. "Then I shall continue." The clinic, never the best place to be on the finest of days, was now as quiet as the grave. The only sound now the labored breathing of Broadside as Mirror Match’s poison did its work on his body. “I’m afraid I can’t find a cure,” Patch replied, defeat scrawled all over her face. “I’ve spent the past night looking up as much information as I could, but… I don’t know! I don’t know how to save him…” Broadside’s skin was a pallid, uniform grey, and his lips flapped with each breath his drew in. That and the faint twitching of his fingers indicated he was still alive. The cut on his hand had become inflamed and puffy, and most disturbingly of all, the veins around that area had become dyed an acrid green. “It’s okay, Patch,” Rose Petal put a hand on the doctor’s arm. “You tried your best.” “But it’s not enough!” Patch put her face in her hands. “You did everything you could, doc,” Fire Frenzy wrapped an arm around the doctor comfortingly. “Unlike someone else here, you did your best to keep Mirror from hurting Broadside.” “What, Frenzy?” Frigid scowled at the fiery Assassin. He had just about enough of petty insults. “You have a problem with me, just say it straight out! Let’s hear it.” “Yeah, I got a problem with you! You had more than enough chances to put steel into that turncoat, and you didn’t do it. You’re too chicken to have anything to do with Mirror Match!” “Well why don’t you fight her then!” Frigid got right into Frenzy’s face. “She’ll be coming for you soon enough, why don’t you show everyone just how pro you are then?” “Maybe I will! At least it’ll prove I’m willing to do what it takes for the Brotherhood, unlike you!” “Well until you do, why don’t you stay out of my face, huh? I’ve had it up to here with you all thinking I’m in league with her!” Frigid stormed out of the room, leaving everyone else bewildered. He headed straight for the roof and leapt off around the back where no one really ventured. The wind blew around him as he fell, soon landing on a few old mattresses he had stacked there a few years ago. Frigid bounced off and made his way down the cliffside towards an old secret hiding spot. It was a small cave just under the cliff and next to the water; a place where he could be without the sound of the other Assassins accusing him. He and Mirror had used to come here sometimes when they didn’t have work to do, back when things used to be simpler. “There’s nothing simple about this entire business, you know,” a familiar voice said not too far away. “Never was.” “I had a feeling you’d be here,” Frigid sighed as he sat on a small boulder and looked out to the sea. “How could I not be?” Mirror’s dark robes made her look like a ghost, sitting on the rocks near the entrance. “From what I hear, I’m the talk of the town these days.” “Why are you after them, Mirror?” Frigid looked at her. “Dr. Patch is devastated. She doesn’t know what to do. And Glimpse… I don’t even know what to say.” “Those who defy the queen must be punished,” she recited in one breath. “And me, I’m just doing what I’m supposed to, just like all of you would love to end me if you had the chance. Well, almost all of you.” She finished with a wink at Frigid. Her face looked normal. No fangs or anything, and she sat back as if this spot were the safest place in the world. “Who is this queen?” Frigid decided to ask, sitting forward, letting his boots touch the shallow waters. “Is she the one controlling Mahogany Wood?” “Oh, Friggy,” Mirror clucked her tongue as if she were dealing with a naughty child. “I could tell you, but then I’d have to end you too,” in a flash, the crooked dark dagger was in her hands, the Templar agent raising it to her mouth and licking the point. “And that would be unfortunate, because I really rather like you.” Frigid Night nodded. Looks like he’ll just have to figure it out through other means. There was no way he was going to fight her again, even if he didn’t love her. “Mirror, could we just… not talk about all this business at the moment? I came here to get away from all that.” Mirror shrugged. She unwrapped a lollipop and stuck it between her teeth. “Suit yourself.” Frigid smiled and looked down at his faint reflection. Strange how the only one he was happy around was the enemy. “How are things with you?” “To be honest, very dull. Mahogany Wood is full of delusions of changing the world when he’s not even capable of changing his pants without Crescent Wing around to back him up, and everyone else acts like this is the most important thing of their lives. Trust me, it’s not.”` “Yeah…” Frigid looked out at the glowing moon, casting light across the rocks and water. It was a wonderful picture, one of the reasons why Frigid Night liked coming here. “I still miss you, Mirror. It’s empty without you.” Mirror stuck out her tongue. It was smudged green from her sweet. “Tell me about it. All this money, all this power, and still no one to share it with. No family or friends to use my wealth for,” the ex-Assassin reached into her robes and unfolded what Frigid thought looked like a photo; he caught a flash of three teenage girls before she stowed it away. “Not really a lot of fun.” “Well, this is nice,” Frigid agreed with her. He put a hand to the photo in his coat; the one of Mirror and himself. “Just the two of us. Our organizations away from here. Will you really not come back?” Frigid was not surprised when Mirror let out a bark of laughter. “I might ask you the same thing. The Templars are winning, Friggy. They have the money, they have the power, and now they have me. If you come back with me, I’m sure I can convince the chairman to let you in.” “G-go back with you?” It sounded tempting, but he couldn’t abandon the others at the bureau. Frigid hopped off his rock and slowly approach Mirror’s side. “But I can’t. The others, the Mentor. I can’t betray them.” “From what I hear, you may as well have,” Mirror muttered. “How are they treating you back at the bureau, anyway? All sugar and rainbows?” Frigid thought about it, deciding there was no harm in telling her. “They don’t trust me anymore…” He took a seat beside her. “They’re giving me a lot of trouble because I brought you to the bureau, and… because I didn’t kill you that day.” “Well you got a B for effort that day, though I think if you’d scored an A, I’d have ripped your fingers off and forced you to eat them,” Mirror kicked her legs out casually. “So yeah, I think what you’re getting back at the bureau sounds better than that.” “I guess so…” he hunched. “As much as I’d love to be with you, Mirror, I don’t think I can leave the Assassins. I might have lost a lot of friends, but I still have High Noon and Satin. I can’t leave them like that.” “Yes. Satin.” Was Frigid imagining things, or did Mirror’s voice change slightly at his friend’s name? “She’s gone through so much for her sister. It’s… admirable. Very admirable. I know she doesn’t want to hear this from me, but… I’m proud of what she’s doing.” For the first time in a while, being with Mirror had him chuckle again. “She really has. She’s a good girl. Even her partner, Dewdrop. Sure, she goes out drinking a whole lot, but at least she’s dependable.” “I’m glad she’s found someone she can depend on. Better than me, at least.” “I depended on you, Mirror. You were my partner. You were my girlfriend. I still don’t know what to do without you.” Mirror’s mouth twisted into a wry smile, one that alarmingly showed off an impressive pair of fangs. “You’ll figure it out. Do your best to keep Satin safe for me, though if anyone lays a finger on her I will personally beat them until they’re spitting up teeth.” “I’ll be sure to do that, Mirror.” Frigid leaned back against the cool cave wall. “But… thanks, Mirror. For coming here.” He waited for an answer, but none came. Frigid opened his eyes to find that he was alone.