//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Assassin's Greed 
// Story: Star Walker 
// by kingfish 
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	Fluttershy trotted happily down the street toward her cottage. Her head was weighed down slightly by the bag held in her mouth, filled with a plethora of vegetables. As she crested the small bridge leading to her forest-adjacent home, she noticed that the new flowerbed she had paid for was in a poor state. Soil had been scattered and a pile of flowers lay on the grass, as if the gardener had left in the middle of their work.
"Oh, my," said Fluttershy in a quiet voice. "I wonder why Lily didn't finish." She had paid good bits for that flowerbed, and if Lily had slacked, then so help her, that would be perfectly fine.
It was not like Lily to leave a flowerbed so messy; she had probably been called away on urgent business and forgotten about it. Fluttershy could simply do the rest herself and save Lily the trouble. She disliked asking ponies to do things for her, anyway. The only reason that Fluttershy had bothered Lily with it in the first place was because she was so good at what she did, and would make it look much better than Fluttershy could.
Trotting up to her door, she placed the bag on the ground and dug her key out of her saddle bag. After unlocking and cracking open the door, she grabbed the grocery bag and walked backward into the house, pushing open the door with her rump.
She turned around. Her eyes widened. She dropped the bag, a lone apple rolling out across the wood floor. She took in a breath and let out a bloodcurdling scream of horror.

"So," said Star Walker as she and Applejack walked toward the towering crystal castle on the edge of town, "this friend of yours, Twilight Sparkle; she is a Princess... of Friendship?" The unicorn seemed to be uncertain what to make of this new development. She shuffled forward under her ever-present black cloak, but her hood was down at the moment.
"Yep. I don't rightly know what Equestria needs a Princess o' Friendship for, anyways, but if Princess Celestia says so, then who am I t' judge?"
"A self-aware being capable of independent thought," replied Star Walker, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Applejack chuckled.
"I guess so," she said. "Anyhow, Twilight is the go-to gal in Ponyville for any and all questions. And her castle has a library like nowhere else."
"Excellent," said Star Walker. "Are there any positions open for librarian?"
"Well," said Applejack, "Twilight's been lettin' Spike take care of it since the castle appeared—"
"Appeared?" asked Star Walker in surprise.
"Long story," said Applejack. "So, Twilight's been lettin' Spike take care of it, but I don't see 'im mindin' the extra help."
"I see." They arrived at the front door of the castle, adorned with large quartz knockers. Applejack reached up to grab one and knocked three times, banging against the massive door. Several seconds passed, but nothing happened. No Princesses came out to greet them. Star Walker looked expectantly at Applejack, who shuffled back and forth on her hooves and let out a nervous chuckle.
"Heh, she normally answers pretty quick." She knocked twice more, and this time the doors quickly swung open, animated by matching swaths of magenta light. In the now open doorway stood a lavender alicorn mare with a starburst cutie mark, a beautiful gold crown nestled in her blue-, purple-, and pink-striped mane.
"Applejack!" she said, giving the orange mare a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"Aw, can't a friend just drop by another friend's house to hang out?"
"Maybe," said Twilight, pulling away, "but that applies mostly to houses, not castles."
"Fair enough."
"Also, most ponies don't just drop by my castle without good reason."
"Well, the real reason I came here was t' introduce ya t' the new mare in town. Princess Twilight Sparkle, meet Star Walker."
"Nice to meet y—" Twilight's voice cut out as her eyes settled on the tall mare. There was an awkwardly long pause while the Princess stared silently at the unicorn.
"Twilight?" said Applejack. "You alright?"
"Your face," Twilight said to Star Walker. "It looks familiar."
"I am told that I appear similar to your Princess Luna. I believe that is what you are seeing."
"No," said Twilight, a perplexed look on her face, "that's not it. I..." She shook her head. "Never mind. Please, come in." She led the ponies through the double doors, which closed with a dull boom behind them. Before they turned and started up the stairs, Star Walker was able to glimpse what appeared to be a council chamber, one of the six chairs emblazoned with the same design as Applejack's flank.
"We knocked a minute ago, but ya didn't answer," said Applejack.
"Oh, I'm sorry," said Twilight. "I just returned via teleport not 30 seconds ago. I was in a meeting with the mayor. We were discussing what to do about the town library."
"Ya gonna rebuild it?"
"Regrow it," Twilight corrected, "and we're still not sure. The mayor doesn't think it's worth the massive amounts of magic it would take, and that we should just let it be."
"What do you think?" Applejack asked as they emerged from the stairwell into a hallway.
"I don't know. That library was my home for such a long time. It never even crossed my mind that it could be gone so suddenly."
"Nopony ever thought it would happen, sugarcube." They stopped at a closed door, which Twilight opened and walked through. In the corner was a large, majestic bed, with a much smaller bed next to it. She turned to Applejack.
"What was it that you needed?" Suddenly, there was a flash of light and a large creature appeared with several mismatched body parts.
"A little glass of water, please—"
"Discord!" Twilight said angrily.
"Sorry!" He then flashed back out of existence.
"Star Walker here was hopin' t' get a position as yer librarian," said Applejack.
"Well, Spike already has that position filled, but I'm sure he'd welcome the help."
"What was that?" came a young male voice. Star Walker turned to see a small reptile standing in the doorway.
"Spike," said Twilight, "this is Star Walker. She wants to be a librarian, and I believe that you should take her as your assistant."
"Finally!" he said with a smile. "You actually try to help me with my job for once!" Twilight was aghast, but Spike punched her gently on the shoulder. "Relax, I'm just joking."
"I would be grateful to be your assistant, sir," said Star Walker. Just then, a loud, irregular knocking came from downstairs. Twilight trotted down the stairs to the door, followed by the others, and opened the door to reveal Fluttershy, panting, her eyes wide.
"Twilight," she shuddered between pants, "come quick! It's Lily! She's—" Fluttershy's eyes widened even further and she bent over a bush and retched repeatedly. The bushes exuded a disgusting splashing sound and a foul odor. After a moment, her head came up and she had tears in her eyes. "She's..." she said, horrified. Twilight put up her hoof.
"Where is she?"

Several members of the Ponyville Guard shuffled about Fluttershy's cottage, investigating the home for clues, maybe a hoofprint or something of that nature. Twilight and Star Walker stood in Fluttershy's living room, studying the gruesome scene in front of them. Applejack had chosen to stay outside and comfort Fluttershy.
Lily's body was hanging face-up in the middle of the room. Each limb was tied to a glowing green rope, suspending her in the air. Her abdomen was cut cleanly open and the flesh splayed, revealing the organs. Twilight's stomach rebelled, threatening to spill its contents, but she kept it in check with an impressive display of willpower. Star Walker, amazingly, wore the same cold, indifferent expression she had for most of her time in town.
"So what happened?" she asked the Guard next to them, trying not to vomit. Twilight had called the Guards, though she was loath to admit that she and her friend needed their help.
"Nothing good, Your Majesty," he replied. "I don't think I need to tell you that this was obviously the result of foul play."
"No," she said unsteadily. She moved toward the body, but stopped halfway to grab her stomach and retch at the scent of blood permeating the room. The Guard rushed to her side.
"Would you like a trash can, Your Highness?" Twilight shook her head.
"No, I'm fine," she said. "And please, address me as 'Miss Sparkle.' I don't like that 'Your Majesty' stuff."
"Of course, Miss Sparkle." Twilight managed to reach Lily's body without further incident. She thoroughly examined the scene, looking closely at the ropes.
"These ropes were conjured by a very powerful mage," she said after a moment. "The spell matrix is incredibly complex. Conjuring spells have an inherent time limit, determined by the abilities of the caster. Your average unicorn can cast a conjuring spell that lasts for several minutes. My spells can last up to 48 hours. But this matrix indicates an expiration date of more than a week."
"A week?!" shouted the Guard, temporarily losing control of his face. Then he reined in his expression. "How is that possible?"
"Somepony wanted very badly for her to be found."
"Who could have done this?" It was then that Twilight noticed something in the gore. There were unusual irregularities. She thought for a moment, and came up with an idea. Her horn flashed, and three words appeared in blazing, swirling font, spread across Lily's ribcage.

We are here.


***


"'We are here?' You do indeed have a flair for the dramatic, dear brother."
"As you well know, Javelin. I relish their reactions, even if I cannot enjoy them directly." The brown alicorn stepped back to admire his work. The ropes were in place, the body was prepared, and his hornwriting shone from the dead mare's body. Everything was perfect.
"You and your theater," the mare said to her sibling, shaking her head. "Honestly. 'The dirt is feeling hungry?' And did we honestly have to attract so much attention by placing this mare on display?"
"You seemed happy enough before," he said angrily.
"I was simply going to throw her through a portal, but then you started with your theatrics. I was following your lead!"
"Forget it," he said, reluctantly backing down from the rapidly escalating argument.
"We should leave, Halberd," said the mare. "We must return to our original task and locate the fugitive." Her horn glowed a bright green, and a vortex opened in the ceiling, dropping two gray cloaks before closing. Each alicorn donned a cloak, and they both disappeared in simultaneous flashes of light, not 30 seconds before the door was unlocked by a yellow pegasus.