Sequence 8
"Alright, I'm going to head over to Sweet Apple Acres," Fluttershy whispered into Ditzy's ear, "meet me at the front of town hall in two hours."
"Ok," Ditzy replied as Fluttershy left her and headed out into the crowd.
Fluttershy kept her hood down as she made it to the road heading to Sweet Apple Acres, once she made it to the outskirts of the farm, she flew to the top of a nearby tree and looked out over the area. She heard a small flapping in her right ear and she looked right to see Hummingway.
"Alright Humming," Fluttershy said, "I need to stay low, so scout out a path please."
Humming nodded and flew off, getting consumed by the darkness. Fluttershy sat in the tree, looking out on what she could see, studying patterns of guards stationed out all throughout the farm. She could see the barn from the tree and two ponies guarding the entrance, one looking out from the opening at the top, and a pegasus flying around above it. She heard the flapping again as Humming way returned.
"What did you see?"
Humming made an mixture between soft hums and chirps that only the understanding of animals from Fluttershy would know. Fluttershy nodded while Humming flew away then looked at the ground to see a haystack near the tree.
Fluttershy took a deep breath, and then jumped with her front hooves spread out and her back hooves in a line forming a cross. As she descended, she rolled forward right before she landed into the haystack. When she landed, the noise attracted a Tempmare guard, causing him to investigate. The Tempmare approached the stack and took a peek around the haystack, until all of a sudden, Fluttershy popped out and grabbed him around the mouth and neck, dragging him into her hiding spot. There was a moment when the sound of rustling was made, then silence, before Fluttershy climbed out of the haystack, brushing a few straws off of her and out of her mane, and then ran into the cornfield.
Without making a sound, she ran across to the edge of the opening where the barn stood. Fluttershy took a long bamboo pipe from her back and put a little dart inside it. She took a deep breath, aimed it at the pony in the opening of the barn, then blew. It hit the target in the neck, causing him to gasp and sway back and forward before falling from his post to the ground. The two at the entrance saw and poked him.
"Is he dead," One asked.
"No, just asleep."
"Think one of the Assassins got out?"
"I don't know, go check."
One went inside while the other alerted the pegasus flying around to search the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres for suspicious activity.
Once the pegasus left, the pony turned around and, only for a moment, saw a throwing knife stike him in the forehead, instantly killing him, while the pony who went to go check on the prisoners came out from the barn.
"They're all still there... what the b-"
The pony was cut short by fast shadow that used a blade to stab him in the chest while scooping him up into the air and then fall to the ground.
"I never understand why RD enjoys this," Fluttershy muttered as she removed her hidden blade from the dead Tempmare, "It's horrible."
Fluttershy approached the barn and slowly open the door ajar to peek inside. She saw Shining, Edward, Connor and Mayor Mare inside, tied up and gagged.
"Thank goodness I found you," Fluttershy sighed, opening the door completely.
The moment she fully open the door, a hoof struck her between the eyes, stunning her, before being kicked out the door.
"Ah, Fluttershy I presume," the deep voice of Big Mac chuckled while two ponies appeared and picked her up around her front hooves, "Your more beautiful than I thought you would have been."
Fluttershy sheepishly raised her head to see three Big Macs approach her and chuckled, "To bad all that beauty must be wasted."
Fluttershy saw the Macs grin before being striked one more time in the head and getting knocked out...
###
Fluttershy slowly open her eyes to see she was in a small wooden box that was moving a long a bumpy road while Shining was sitting across from her.
"Look who's up," Edward said from the left of Fluttershy.
Fluttershy looked to the left and saw Edward next to her, Connor beside him, and Mayor Mare across from Connor. They all had a rope tied around them, but Connor and Shining had weird metal things shaped around their horn.
"Well, it was good knowing all of you," Edward continued, "but I'm probably heading to Tartarus, so I won't see you all on the other side. Anypony got regrets?"
"I regret not asking Cadance to go out with me sooner," Shining chuckled.
"You didn't have a shot with her anyways," Edward grinned.
"Shut up," Shinning growled
"Well we won't need regrets," Fluttershy interjected, "Ditzy is still out there, so she could save us."
"Ditzy? She has two weeks of training," Edward replied.
"She knew more than you did with a year worth of training when she started," Connor smirked, "all she need was some physical workout to be perfect."
"Well how I was I suppose to know Tisudo was teaching her our ways," Edward flared.
"Hey," Big Mac exclaimed from outside, "keep it down. Besides, we're here."
The doors to the wooden prison box was open as Tempmares came in and grabbed all of the tied up Assassins and escorted them to a raised platform in front of Ponyville's town hall while a crowd of ponies watched.
"Attention all ponies," Big Mac boomed, "These five ponies are outlaws to Ponyville. They attempted to overthrow the ponies that care for you, allow you to survive. Shining Armor, Edward Kenway, Connor Kenway, Fluttershy, and Mayor Mare."
The crowd was shouting, not at the five ponies, but at Big Mac, booing and hissing at him.
"These five ponies are sentence to be hanged for attempt at murder," Big Mac continued as Applejack reluctantly put the noose around each of the five prisoner's neck.
"Ah'm so sorry suger cube," Applejack mumbled to Fluttershy when she put the final noose around her.
"Ready Big Mac," Applejack huffed as Big Mac walked over to a lever.
"You lose, Edward," Big Mac chuckled, then pulled the lever only to be caught by a hoof.
"Now where are your manners Big Mac," The hooded figured attached to the hoof chuckled, "mares first."
"Of course, Gari," Big Mac bowed, but gave her a sour look behind her back.
"Don't you dare give me that look," Gari growled to the surprise of Big Mac, "or I'll have to just let your farm go bankrupt!
"Sorry mam," Big Mac bashfully said.
"That's better," Gari chuckled, "now, onto the matter at hoof."
Gari's tan hoof appeared from underneath her cloak as it reached for the lever before being slapped away by an orange one.
"Don't ya dare talk to my big brother that way," Applejack yelled at Gari.
"You made a terrible mistake AJ," Gari replied. Then a green aura appeared around Applejack, lifting her up into the air, while Applejack was choked be an unseen force.
"Applejack," Big Mac exclaimed, then begged, "Let her go Gari, Please!"
"Sorry," Gari yelled, "I have had just enough of your sister's intrusions!"
Big Mac looked at Gari, then at her sister, who looked at him with scared and pleading eyes.
"I said let her go," Big Mac yelled before spinning around and bucking Gari in the side, shooting her across the platform.
Applejack was released and dropped to the ground, coughing as Gari pulled down her hood to reveal a horn sprouting from a orange mane and green eyes.
"What is wrong with you Big Mac," Gari yelled.
"I've had enough of your ways," Big Mac flared, "I don't care if you stop funding our farm, burn it for all I care, but you will never ever lay a hoof on my family!"
"So be it," Gari replied, "Pinkamena!"
Pinkamena appeared from the crowed and lunged at Big Mac. Big Mac dogged Pinkamena but then got hit in the flank by her throwing knife, causing him to fall to the ground.
"Big Mac," Applejack exclaimed, about to rush to his aid only to be held back by Gari's magic.
Pinkamena grinned as she slowly approached Big Mac and pulled out another knife. Big Mac tried to get up but fell back down in pain. Pinkamena threw the knife only to be caught by a fast gray blur and thrown to cut the ropes around the Assassins neck one by one.
"Ditzy," Edwards questioned as they were then surround by Tempmares.
The cloaked blur took off the Tempmare cloak and revealed Ditzy in her Assassin robes with sword drawn as she slowly came up on Pinkamena but was blocked off by Gari.
"I've been watching your Ditzy," Gari smirked.
Ditzy glared at her for a second, then her eyes widen in epiphany.
"Y-You're the mare," Ditzy murmured as she remember her haunting dreams of the hood pony holding the Apple.
Gari chuckled as she pulled her sword with her magic. Ditzy took a stance as the two stood opposite, waiting for the other to make a move; Gari charged at Ditzy as she swung her sword at Ditzy.
Ditzy easily blocked it while driving her shoulder into Gari's side, throwing her off balance as Ditzy pulled out a pistol. Gari used the sword to hit the pistol out of Ditzy's hoof and then charged at Ditzy. Ditzy flew up into the air and came crashing down on Gari, but Gari pushed her off and grabbed the dropped pistol while Ditzy landed next to a Tempmares who she grabbed and used as a shield before using her mouth to grab a poison dart from her pouch and threw it a Gari. Gari used her magic to rip out a board from the wooden platform and blocked the dart then tossed it aside before they both went back to a stand off again.
"bu.... ho... wh," Edward was stuttering as the others just watched with agape, "wh-where did Ditzy learn all that?"
"Your guess as good as mine," Connor replied, still as shocked as the others.
Ditzy and Gari walked in circles, staying on either side until Ditzy's sword was hit out of her hoof by a knife Pinkamena threw.
"Now your just not playing fair," Ditzy smirked as the two approached Ditzy.
"All's fair in hatred and war," Gari chuckled then swung her sword at Ditzy. Ditzy ducked the first time then used her hidden blade to block the second before grabbing Gari and throwing her aside before spinning around and stabbing Pinkamena in the chest, letting her fall to the ground.
"Pinkamena," Gari exclaimed then looked at Ditzy, "You..."
"I would dare do that," Ditzy said as Gari was about to shoot Ditzy with another pistol.
"What do you mean," Gari asked.
"Look at the crowd," Ditzy smirked as she gestured to the angry mob starting to form, "they're tired of you Tempmares and are ready to attack at any moment."
Gari looked out into the crowd and saw that while the two were fighting, the crowd was thrown into an uproar. Tempmares tried to contain it, but some now lay dead while others where cowering from the ponies. Gari knew that her Tempmares were out numbered by the citizens of Ponyville and had no choice but to retreat.
"Until next time Ditzy," Gari said, then all the Tempmares simultaneously threw down a ball that blew up into smoke as they all made escape.
Once it cleared out, not one Tempmare... well, that was alive... was seen. Big Mac laid in agony as Fluttershy tend to his wound while Pinkamena gasped for air.
Ditzy approached Pinkamena bleeding on the ground and saw that Pinkamena wasn't hurt enough to kill her, but too far to save her. Pinkamena looked at Ditzy and smiled.
"You know what my only regret is," Pinkamena coughed but chuckled at the same time.
"What," Ditzy asked.
"Is that now I have too be replaced with that annoying Pinkie character," Pinkamena replied, "It's just how my story goes."
"After what I saw today, I'm willing to believe anything," Ditzy smiled.
"Listen, there's is a secret I must tell you... come closer," Pinkamena said.
Ditzy put her ear right next to Pinkamena as she whispered, "Connor is Gari's mole. He's been injected with something that allows her to see your plans through his eyes. He got it from our little encounter two weeks ago."
Ditzy didn't reply but just looked at Connor as he helped Fluttershy tend to Big Mac.
"How do I get it out of him," Ditzy asked.
"I don't know but I know I'll regret it if I didn't tell you," Pinkamena replied.
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because, I'm in terrible pain and you can just leave me to slowly live an agonizing death. Do you really think I would lie to you?"
"I guess not... it was good knowing you, I guess."
"Wait for a second," Pinkamena said as she looked around her surroundings then nodded to Ditzy. Ditzy nodded back as she used her hidden blade to end Pinkamena's suffering.
(To Be Continued...)