//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Realizations (Faith) // Story: Fair Flight // by Baryski //------------------------------// Creed safe houses were usually in the slums, hidden amidst decaying buildings and dangerous hideouts.  It was the kind of place ponies would never look for them, because they would condition themselves to not see those kinds of areas.  No pony wants to look at the run down and the decrepit.  No pony wants to have to deal with that kind of thing and Creed loved to feed on that conditioning.  However, it seemed Rose was either never informed of this practice, or she had blissfully chosen to ignore it in her selection. Draymare Road; for a city engulfed in battles and explosives this street seemed to be blissfully unaware of the danger.  Small quaint homes, large mansions, and even a couple of apartment buildings, all seemingly no worse for wear.  It took a few minutes to locate the building that had been specified by the courier, and Faith immediately began to regret this entire thing. The last couple days had been, well, awkward was probably the best word even if it didn’t cover the half of it.  Indecisiveness was the name of the game and Faith had probably won it ten times over by now.  Still, she had received the courier yesterday after a rather jaunty night in a decaying oak tree, she knew she would be dealing with something like this today.  A part of her had even wanted to ask Scarlet if she wanted to come along.  But, she had decided against it.  Oh, how she regretted that decision now. The building itself was large, at least twenty stories.  Large, Faith could deal with, but everything else just compounded the problem.  Apparently, when Rose Breaker did something, she did it in a way that defied logic.  In under five days she had managed to acquire an entire floor of this building and convert it.  How she did it, or why she thought this would make an effective safe house were beyond consideration.   Please let this be some kind of elaborate hoax.  Please, please, please.  After the last few days Faith had expected something that might remind her of what she was used to.  She had expected to at least shake off some of those awkward feelings, but this hardly seemed like it was going to end like that. The key fit perfectly, not that she should have doubted that it could, into the door of her apartment, or floor, or whatever other ridiculous word could be dredged up to describe it.  Literally, there was only one door on the entire floor, pretty much assaulting you the second you got out of the stairs.  Thank Celestia it wasn’t the top floor at least, but it was still ridiculous. The inside wasn’t much different, totally opposite of a Creed safe house and, yet, completely Faith.  It was spartan by even the most conservative standards; a few chairs adorning a little island from a kitchen, a couch and chair around a little table, and a bed, oh how wonderful a sight an actual bed could be.  Everything screamed normalcy, at least at first, but this was an entire floor.  Tucked into small out of the way or hidden rooms lay countless little treasure troves. A complete grow room stocked with herbs and plants from every corner of Equestria, even some that didn’t grow in Equestria at all.  A stock room with racks and holders for countless types and styles of weapons.  Even a library slash training room was present.  But, it was the little touches that managed to impress Faith the most.  A fridge stocked with only instant meals and a few emulsifiers and mixing agents, considered perfectly for Faith’s copious cooking talents. There, sitting in the middle of this amazing chaos, as if by the hooves of the divine themselves, was a little mannequin in Faith’s size sporting the various implements now recrafted for her and a sporty little letter hanging from it.  The letter first, equipment later.  She tore the letter open and proceeded to plop herself down on the couch to read it, thoughts of Scarlet and her own couch immediately driving into her mind as she read. To Justy Equestria’s Number One Assassin and Filly-Fooler, Rose, I am so going to get back at you for that one day.  The blush lightened her face, perhaps it was a good thing Scarlet wasn’t here.  There could be no telling how awkward having her read this letter could be. By the time you’re reading this, I trust you’ve already had ample time to take a look around your new place.  I know it isn’t the traditional Creed accommodations, but I couldn’t stop myself.  Besides, you can’t very well bring that mare of yours back to a rundown shack in the middle of the badlands.  Besides that, tailor the place to fit the job.  Creed would never look for a Creed in an upscale place. She has a point with that one.  Rose always has a damn point.  She could almost feel the insistence on tea rise in her throat.  Creed wouldn’t be looking for her in an upscale building, they would be expecting a trained assassin living in a dump.  Still, the part about bringing Scarlet back here stuck.  Was that the kind of thing she should be doing? Some things you might not have noticed yet, Justy.  I made sure to give you a fully stocked closet, plenty of options to choose from, because I don’t think wearing a Creed cloak is going to go over well everywhere.  I added in a few dresses as well, You will never get me in a dress, killers don’t wear dresses. You really need to wear more dresses, you would look cute, no matter what you think. Gah!  Stop reading my mind! And, I’m not reading your mind, Yes you are. I just know you well enough to know your reaction.  If you want to attract her you might actually put some effort in.  Killer greys and dishevelled mane will only get you so far. Low blow. In either case, there should also be a lockbox with some spending cash for you.  Eat out, go out on a date, etc.  Just promise me you won’t try to cook.  Now, look down, there should be a little book there I left as a gift for you. Faith lowered the letter and looked at the small table in front of the couch she rested on.  There was indeed a book there.  Gah!  How does she do that?!  Upon closer inspection of the book, it turned out to be something Faith had only seen once or twice in her life. When certain organizations were dangerous enough, or the leader wasn’t the only trouble, sometimes kill orders would be issued en mass for the entire organization.  When that happened the kill orders were grouped together and put into a book.  The book was usually green in colour with a completely inconspicuous design.  The kind you could stick on a library shelf without anypony ever taking note of the one extra book. This one was a little different than the common design.  The blue cover and binding matched with Faith’s mane nearly perfectly, and the back cover was embossed with Rose’s personal seal, that perfect set of twin roses crossed in an X form.  It was obviously a forgery or, more accurately, Rose’s own take on the traditional design put together with whatever knowledge she had gathered.  Inside the pages were mock kill orders for every single influential member Hooftail and Shadowbrand.  On each kill order stood a little bounty amount on the top right, Rose’s way of pretending she was still doing business with this whole ordeal.  Of course, the combined bounties she had posted could bankrupt a small principality, so it was doubtful there were actually ponies willing to pay her that much.  Still, Rose always looked after Faith’s best interests. I know it isn’t much, but I figured it might help you on the right track Justy. Now, on to those items I had made for you.  I might have gone a little overboard there. Overboard was an understatement.  The items on the mannequin looked like something, well, honestly it was something she had never seen the likes of before. They are, of course, custom made by a couple of my dear friends who do some of the best metalwork in Equestria, in my opinion.  I think they must have thought I was crazy when I asked them to make such simple designs.  The engravings on them were their doing as well, I suppose they wanted a bit of a flair for it, but they do hold the magic charges far better than my normal runes.  As always, as long as the magic lasts, the blade is immune to damage or wear, it should also be able to cut through just about anything.  I also added a little something extra, I tried making a charge that would allow it to also cut through magic, but it is my first attempt so I can’t be sure it will work as well. The launcher, that one was fun.  I swear, I’ve never seen Flare that interested in a design.  In the end, I couldn’t talk her out of modifying it, but I think you’ll enjoy the surprise.  I tried the same new charge on it, if you are lucky the darts might be able to penetrate basic spells.  If you aren’t, well, they might explode when you fire them. Seriously?  I have to deal with a potentially exploding dart launcher?  Faith wasn’t as bothered by the possibility, Rose often knew what she was doing.  There was probably only a small chance of explosions and the modifications more than made up for the added danger.  The device had been slightly modified to enhance loading times.  Instead of having to load in individual darts, it would now accept cartridges preloaded with six darts.  She could design the cartridges in advance and cut loading down to a few seconds.  It would be tremendously more efficient, despite the potential for exploding.  Besides, the potential ability to penetrate magic barriers certainly piqued her interest. I still can’t believe you haven’t had any rear bracers since that incident, but I made sure to remedy that as well.  A second blade, for your rear hoof, and something a little special.  I know, I didn’t have to do it, but I like to take care of my investments. There it was again, Rose trying to pad her excuse properly.  She probably had made some deals, something to give reason to her extravagant backing of one mare.  Who knew what kind of ponies would pay Rose for this.  As for the special bracer, it was little more than a metal band for her rear left hoof.  It had the same engravings, little decorative waving lines, as the rest of the pieces, but whatever special traits it had were all in the magic Rose had designed for it. Whatever that was. Finally, and yes, I do know I shouldn’t have done this. But, I modified your traditional cloak.  No more assassin grey and no more Creed insignia.  In honour of your first solo hiring I thought you deserved your own insignia.  No offence, but if Rose Breaker is spending the money to hire an assassin, she certainly isn’t hiring just another Creed lapdog. Ouch, that kind of hurt.  Okay, it didn’t hurt nearly as much as the low blow from before, but there was a bit of pride to be had in being a Creed.  If she didn’t have that, what did she have?  She glanced at the cloak, a pure white to offset the normal Creed greys with a clearly visible mark on the back.  The mark was perfect, there were no words left besides that.  The normal owl that had once represented Lore division stood, wings spread proudly, gripping a grand looking sword in its talons, the word Retribution clearly scrawled across the blade.  All of this was set against a twilight moon in the most ridiculously appropriate colour imaginable, a scarlet red. Only you could lecture me with an image from miles away. I do hope you like what I designed.  I wanted you to look forward, because there is always a forward.  If you succeed in this mission, then you could have a future as a soloist.  But, enough about that.  Let’s talk about that marefriend of yours. Faith let out a loud groan.  The one thing she didn’t want to think about right now.  Marefriend, more like incredibly awkward acquaintance.  Faith really didn’t know how to categorize the two.  She knew there was more there, but how much more?  She wasn’t even sure how much was required to qualify for something like caring.  Was she qualified to be upset if Scarlet died, if she got hurt, if she slept with somepony?  Was she even qualified to think about those possibilities?  Could she do something like ask the mare over? Just kidding.  But, I got you thinking about it, didn’t I?  Thinking is good, it means it actually means something. Oh, I hate you.  I hate you so much Rose.  She was lying.  It did actually feel good to think those things, but there was still the part of her mind that told her those thoughts were foolish and useless.  That was the same part that was infinitely convinced that Scarlet could never have feelings for a Creed, former or not.  What had happened, it was just a fluke of accidental emotions, right? Keep thinking, you’ll figure it out. Keep Safe Justy, Rose Breaker Equestria’s Number One Everything Else You always did have to think like that Rose.  Faith laid back on the couch, staring at the letter for moments to come, as if she expected it to give up the secrets to its author’s mind reading prowess.  But, really, she just didn’t know what to do next.  She thought about the difficulties and the options, about caring and invitations, about hatred and jealousy.  Her initial goal of extracting revenge seemed more or less a distant memory, holding only second place to the torrent of her emotions.  Were emotions supposed to be this hard? “Poisons!”  She jolted herself out of her heavy thoughts, forcing thought back to a more suitable topic for a killer.  That was right, Scarlet had expressed interest in getting her hooves on some Creed poisons.  It was perhaps the most disjointed segway ever, but all of a sudden Faith had a purpose again.  A purpose was undoubtedly better than staring at a ceiling and trying to determine why you couldn’t stop thinking about somepony.  Besides, Faith had the perfect supplies to fulfill that request. A quick flight around the apartment provided all the tools and materials she would need for something extra special. Arrowroot bark.  Lashbane.  Collar leaves.  These were all combined and mashed into the mortar she had obtained, forming a small paste.  The paste was then dropped into a small glass jar along with small amounts of hexbane, chaos tree leaves, and ashe buds.  Once she was satisfied with the mixture, Faith added in a small amount of one of the vials of acid and set it over a strong flame in a distilling setup. It was amazing.  The mare could light a sandwich on fire, but a complex mixture like this was done with expert precision.  It was all a matter of concentration, mixing something like this required to be done perfectly, sandwiches were a pastime.   It would be two hours of distilling, then another three of setting.  The end result was a poison unlike poisons.  Depending who you talked to, it was either the most effective thing in Equestria, or a pathetically failed experiment.  Fear.  The concept was simple enough, a tincture, that when ingested by any means, usually inhaled as a smoke, could invoke a desired emotion in the target.  In this case, that emotion would be fear, pure unadulterated fear.  Those exposed would fear anything and everything to the extent of begging for death from a butterfly.  The ingredients were quite rare and hard to get your hooves on, but Faith thought the end result was impressive enough for Scarlet. She watched the concoction distill and let her mind slip again.  She imagined being thanked by the mare for her hard work.  Maybe she would earn a kiss on the cheek?  Then she could maybe suggest a meal, like lunch, after which maybe she really could invite Scarlet back and... No, no, no.  I need to find something to do.  Her mind had slipped back into that state, she needed to get out.  She needed something to distract herself.  She needed to get out, she had five hours of time to kill and sitting around seemed useless.  Besides, there was an entire closet full of viable disguises for her now. “No, no,” Faith let out a huge laugh as she threw yet another one of Rose’s cruel jokes into a pile, “Definitely not.”  She stood, with yet another of the dresses on for a few seconds, trying desperately to not tear it off and throw it in the pile.  It soon joined the pile despite her best efforts. “Do mares seriously wear something like that?”  She settled for a more or less conservative sweatered shirt and, despite knowing it was completely pointless, a set of more or less tailored leggings for the rear.  Seriously, ponies who didn’t wear clothes were crazy.  It just wasn’t natural to not. ************* Caffeine.  In small quantities an effective stimulant.  In larger quantities produces psychological effects and heart arrhythmia.  If mixed with hollowood sap the psychological effects can be enhanced without giving away any taste, to the point that the subject becomes unusually receptive after two glasses.  Lethal dose begins at 1340µg with higher dosages required for those who have developed higher resistances from ingesting it for long periods of time.  Recommended lethal dose at 1700µg.   It was an old comforting habit to analyze the substances she ingested.  Faith’s distraction of choice had, of course, been a coffee shop where she could settle her nerves over a cup of poison.  It was funny to think about how many times she had been scolded for drinking a type of poison, especially one that could be used as effectively as coffee.  But, it was one of the few pleasures she had allowed herself as a Creed. As a Creed.  It felt like a distant memory now.  Every day, every minute of every day, Faith was slowly beginning to think of herself less as a Creed and more as something else.  The problem was, she wasn’t sure what that something else was.  Part of her was determined to be a solo assassin, one who could take whatever job she wanted.  Part of her just wanted to die with her comrades.  Part of her wanted to find that happiness Nicoli talked about, and an ever growing part of her was obsessed with that perfect mare.  That part no longer cared about anything else, the rest didn’t seem to matter in those eyes. It was becoming more and more obvious that Faith would have done just about anything for that mare, but she couldn’t understand why entirely, “Can I buy a gorgeous mare another drink?”  Love, even like, was a foreign concept.  It wasn’t supposed to apply to killers, it wasn’t supposed to be possible for them.  It wasn’t strange that she didn’t know what to do with it at all. “No, thank you.  I’m taken.”  Faith hadn’t even thought, not even the slightest.  The colt standing on the other end of the table hadn’t registered, and his words had only hit against her subconscious as her mind was furiously struggling with reality.  She did, though, snap back to reality as she realized what she had just said. I’m taken?  Why would I say something stupid like that?  I’m not taken.  Am I?  She started blushing furiously, then realized that there was no reason to, and blushed even harder, “Whatever colt that would leave you all by yourself like this has to be the luckiest one who doesn’t deserve you.” It’s not a colt, and she doesn’t have a clue.  It felt good, not being hit on by a random colt, but the imaginary relationship.  To pretend like maybe she could understand what she was becoming, like maybe she could find that answer in Scarlet, or like Scarlet would actually be there like that.  It was a nice imaginary world that would probably only last as long as she was in that cafe.  But, as long as she was in it, Faith wasn’t an assassin, she was just a normal pony who was actually cared for and she cared for others.  No, she cared for her special somepony. This was the first time she had ever made the mistake of enjoying her own cover, “Yeah, she is pretty lucky.”  It was going to hurt later.  It was going to hurt a lot later when she had to give up that fake little cover. “That figures,” The colt was laughing.  He had stopped trying to hit on her, but he was still being friendly.  Normal ponies did that sort of thing, right, “I never have a shot with the good ones.  She’s still one hell of a lucky mare, though.” “Maybe I’m the lucky one,” Cover, this was a cover.  She needed to pull out the details.  What was her next stop?  Where was the next place to continue it, “She might as well have saved my life.” “Really, this isn’t one of those, I’d be lost without her love kind of things?”  Damn, a cardinal rule of creating a cover, you don’t pull details from your own life.  It makes the cover too real, but it was already too real.  It was such a wonderful feeling, a wonderful feeling that was going to sting like buck later. “Yes, and no,”  Faith smiled genuinely, thinking about the past and even the future, “If I hadn’t have met her, I’d probably have been killed or wound up killing myself.  Meeting her changed everything.” “Damn, that really does sound impressive.  You must have a real keeper there,”  The colt sat another cup of coffee down on the table in front of Faith, “No tricks or hidden agendas, consider it a congratulations for finding such an amazing pony.  I hope to find mine one day.” “Yeah, thank you.”  Only, she’s not really mine.  Only, she probably wouldn’t ever be.  Damn, it was starting to sting already.  The colt was already gone, and she fully intended to take the cup of poison back to her new home.  There she could drown herself in it slowly, and then perhaps drown herself literally.  Part cover, part real feelings, all pain when she realized it was completely fake. Still there was one thing she was determined with.  The next time she had the opportunity, one thing would not remain unsaid.  What am I to you?