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// Chapter 3: Travel 
// Story: My Little Pony: Assassinations are Magic 
// by Fluttershy Auditore 
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The train jolted over the tracks on its way to Canterlot. Inside a carriage, six ponies looked over their bloodied and injured companion. Each face was a mixture of pain and upset. Even Trixie was worried as she finally tore her eyes away from the wooden shaft in the Pegasus’s flank, a stark reminder of what they were up against, and turned to the two other unicorns.
“Can’t we do anything to help? We have magic, can’t we-?”
“Shut up Trixie. I don’t need your sympathy,” snapped Rainbow. “The only thing you can do is buck off.” The unicorn stepped backwards, surprised, then slunk off sadly.
“I don’t suppose you’ll apologise to her later? Or now, perhaps?” whispered Pinkie Pie, surprising the others. After all, it was not often that the pink party pony took the voice of reason, or indeed a quieter voice than a tone that Twilight had dubbed ‘very loud’. “I mean, it just isn't nice to shout at people like that, she hasn't put that arrow there.”
“SHE DIDN'T, DID SHE!?”  The Pegasus exploded in a fit of rage, directing her fury at Pinkie. “BECAUSE THOSE ASSASSINS WEREN'T AFTER HER!?” Her voice quietened to a deadly whisper. “Well let me tell you something. We are travelling to Canterlot with a mare who, in case you hadn't noticed, is being hunted down, and THEY DON’T CARE WHO GETS IN THEIR WAY!” With that, Rainbow turned away from them all, shaking and muttering darkly. Silence reigned in the carriage from then on, until a quiet thump on the roof drew Rarity’s attention.

Everypony in the cave was silent, brooding. Not even the Changelings disturbed the assassins as their master paced up and down the length of the cavern, head unhooded and face furious. 
“One shot. We had ONE shot. And we messed it up. Idioti! All of you, idioti! Leave me,” Everypony took a look at somepony nearby, then fled. “Not you Connor!” The glimmer of a tomahawk blade flitted across the master’s vision as the final pony froze at the entrance. Ezio drew his sword, slashing at a nearby training dummy. Already covered in scars, the neck split perfectly in two as the blade cut cleanly through it. “You hurt an innocent, Connor. You know well that it is against the Tenants.”
“But Master-”
“ENOUGH! Give me your bow.” The dark brown Earth Pony glared at the lighter brown Earth Pony. The younger assassin glared at his master, then took the offending weapon off his body and put it in the older pony’s hoof. “Good. Now, go.” Connor left, growling quietly.
Why? Why did he keep failing? He was paid good money to kill the mare, and now she was on her way to Canterlot! Ezio sighed and turned away, heading to a small alcove in the rock. “Axton, I need to talk to you.”
“What?” A light brown colt looked up sleepily from his desk, his khaki mane held back from his eyes by a pair of mechanics goggles balancing on his horn. He stretched and turned, his cutie mark of two crossed wrenches and a blue star showing his expert knowledge of crossing magic and engineering. A small gemstone and cogs of various sizes were scattered over the unicorn’s workbench, remnants of the experiment he was working on at that time. “What is it?”
“I need my poison dart shooter looked at, I think the aim is off.”
A chuckle from the unicorn. “You missed? The master assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze missed?” The mechanic burst into a fit of giggles, slumping his head against the desk with mirth. Ezio did not react, knowing there was nothing he could do. Axton was one of the few ponies who could mix machines and magic so well, and the only one willing to work for the order. It was only he who had the privilege of laughing at the order without receiving a blade through the neck.
“Also, Axton, I need the ability to travel to Canterlot before the train that left ten minutes ago arrives there. Think you can handle that?”
“What did you just say?” The mechanic snapped to attention at once, mirth dispersed. “Canterlot?” He grimaced slightly. “Well… I’ve got this.” Axton turned away from Ezio, illuminating his horn to scan along the many cupboards and wall brackets adorning the stone. Something levitated off of the wall, held in the unicorns silvery white magic. A colour that reminded Ezio of steel, another credit to the mechanic.
“And what is this exactly-” began the assassin, but Axton cut across him.
“I’d been working on this for a while before I figured it out. I needed to study how they work before I could actually make them work.”
“That is wonderful, but what exactly are ‘they’?”
“Well, mechanical wings. You know… Err… What’s his name? Yusuf? The Pegasus? This wing harness’s based on Pegasus wings, plus magically and mechanically enhanced. They can go a lot faster than a train. Head out, you’ll get to Canterlot within two or three hours, just before the train arrives.”
The assassin took the lightweight, metallic gold device from the unicorn’s magic and slipped it onto his back. “Grazie, Axton. I shall try to return it in one piece.” 
“You’d better,” began Axton, pulling his goggles over his eyes. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m a little busy.” He clicked the bones in his neck and lifted two cogs up, levitating a third and humming quietly. Ezio left the mechanic to unravel the secrets of his technology.

Trixie Lulamoon stood at the back of the caboose, quietly admiring the scenery as the train raced towards Canterlot. Her hat was in the carriage still, and her cape billowed slightly around her in the slipstream. Outwardly she projected the image of silent serenity. Inwardly, however, her mind was in turmoil. She hadn’t wanted the assassins after her, and she especially hadn’t wanted Rainbow Dash injured. How was it her fault? She wouldn’t wish this upon her worst enemy. She sighed and turned to enter the carriage again, then paused and turned back. There was something flying towards Canterlot, faster than anything she’d ever seen before. Something white and brown, but it was hard to get a closer look. Uninterested, she turned away and shut the door behind her. Just in time to unintentionally dodge a thrown knife that bounced off the slats that served as a floor for the caboose and clatter away on the railroad.