Twisted Dagger was not a happy stallion. The only thing he hated more than failing was “them” also known as Seeping Cut and Precision Arrow, fraternal twins with the mentality and attitude of a pair of foals. Sure they were good at what they did but that barely made up for the fact that they were always pestering him with questions, or taunting him, or pulling pranks.
Seeping Cut, the eldest of the twins was slightly more insane then her brother. She was a Pegasus mare with bright red hair swept into a bun. Her eyes were the shade of violet and she had a light, orange colored coat. While she usually wore a set of robes with the councils’ symbol on it, as they were undercover, she was wearing nothing more than a pair of bronze horse shoes. Seeping Cut was a master a sword fighting and was also skilled in poisons and runes.
Her brother, the younger sibling, Precision Arrow was not a Pegasus like his sister, but rather a unicorn. This was due to their mother being a Pegasus and their father a unicorn. He shared his coat coloring with his sister but that was where the similarities ended. His mane was a deep brown and was wild and unruly. His eyes were a dark green which twinkled with malice. Precision Arrow was a skilled archer, having trained since a young age. He was also skilled at hoof to hoof combat and how to to blend in, even in broad daylight and being pursued. The only thing he wore was a fedora which looked stupid on him.
Now you're probably wondering why exactly Twisted Dagger disliked this pair so much, other than the fact that the acted like children. The answer is actually quite simple.
They were his cousins.
He loathed his cousins with a passion. Really, he didn’t even need his cousins with him. Of course his father thought otherwise and was convinced he was unable to take out the mare known as Fluttershy, the element of kindness and an animal caretaker, so he had sent his cousins to “help” him with his task. He had it under control, he had just forgotten to factor in and consider the strength of that stupid Pegasus’s friends. It was a mistake he would not make again.
“Oh, oh! Look at this, Twisty! There’s going to be a Fall Festival! “Twisted cringed at the nickname, his cousin obliviously pointed to a poster in the window of the café they were sitting outside of.
“For the last time, we are on an important mission, we do not have time to run around playing games like foals!” whispered the stallion aggressively, staring at his cousin with pure loathing. ‘How so very like her to want to shirk her duties’ thought Twisted Dagger. Seeping Cut pouted and let out a small frustrated whine. Twisted ignored her and turned his attention back to what really mattered; figuring out how to kill that damn mare. Currently the trio, sans Precision Arrow who was….somewhere, was holed up in a café next door the hotel, The Crowned Alicorn where the target was supposedly staying.
Normally, he wouldn’t care if his target was surrounded by other individuals however her fiancé was the fabled Discord of legend and had powers none could match. She was also protected by the other Elements of Harmony, one which was a princess, a dragon and another princess. Killing an Element of Harmony was one thing, but if he was to kill a member of royalty, the entire nation would be hunting him down. Besides, he couldn’t kill them because it would ruin the council’s plans. So he just had to wait until she was alone or surrounded by the weaker of her friends.
Suddenly, Precision Arrow appeared in Twisted’s peripheral vision, causing him to jump in fright. “Don’t do that, for Tourniquet’s sake! “Said the startled pony; his cousin merely rolled his eyes and pointed out the window. Frowning, followed the hoof with his gaze and promptly froze.
There she was! His target, leaving the hotel surrounded by her friends and four other ponies that he didn’t recognize; He racked his brain for a moment to try and figure out who these ponies were when it hit him. “Fuck” he said out loud.
Those weren’t normal ponies, they were guards. It looked like his mission got a hell of a lot harder.
-
Discord hated this form; it was much too simple and plain for his tastes. The ancient being was disguised as a middle-aged stallion. His antlers were gone, replaced by the standard unicorn horn. His wings were also gone, replaced by nothing (apparently a sudden, new male Alicorn would raise draw attention, according to Egghead Sparkle) and his eye color had changed from red to violet. His coat had gone from mixed match to a bluish grey. On his flank was a swirl with an unfamiliar shape, some sort symbol, in the middle. The only thing that remained was his long, scraggly white beard. Honestly, he didn’t know why he chose such a boring form. Then again, it had been at the suggestion of Fluttershy, (well actually Swift Sword, one of the undercover guards following them suggested it, but Fluttershy had encouraged him) and well, he would do anything for her, even though he would never admit it to anypony.
The purpose of the disguise was mostly to stop the locals from panicking. Not many were aware of the fact that Discord had been reformed. Many assumed he was still a statue in the Canterlot Royal gardens. There was also the fact that after Discord had caused chaos to the city, the mayor had declared him a menace and encouraged her citizens to call the guard immediately if they saw him. Many Manehattan natives were unconvinced that Discord had even been turned back to stone, many though he fled, waiting for the chance to attack. In fact, when they had checked into the hotel the receptionist had started screaming and calling for the guard.
The guards assigned to them weren’t any less happy, as well as the mayor. They didn’t trust Discord. When Mayor Sunshine Smiles had heard about Discord being in town, she had immediately sent word to Celestia. Apparently it has taken a dozen letters back and forth to Celestia to convince the mayor not to declare war on Discord. Really, he didn’t know why she was making such a big deal out of the situation. He had done worse things to Canterlot and Ponyville during his hostile takeover. The most he did to Manehattan was summon a chocolate tornado and maybe a few other things. The draconaquuas laughed as he recalled the life-sized cheese dogs failing from the sky.
As Discord laughed, he casually allowed his eyes to shift over the carriage he was sitting in, out towards the city. Their carriage was headed towards East Manehattan, from what the Element of Honesty said, it was where most rich ponies lived. The mare looked quite nervous and out of place, largely so. She had done herself up, curling her hair and putting on make-up. She didn’t wear any fancy clothes, but she had put on a pearl necklace and donned a pair of bronze plated horseshoes. Honestly she looked odd, the makeup and pearl necklace did nothing to suit her.
Discord also looked out of place, as did everyone else. When Applejack had decided to visit her Aunt and Uncle, and had realized Discord and Fluttershy would be tagging along, she forced them both to dress up and demanded that Discord behave. While he would normally ignore her threats and be absolutely against dressing up, it was the looks from his fiancé that made him keep his mouth shut and go along. With his magic, he dressed himself in a Tuxedo jacket, a bright white linen shirt underneath and for extra classiness, donned a top hat and a monocle. Fluttershy wore just a wide, brimmed hat with an elegant silk green bow tied around its base as well as another bow around her neck. Discord offered to summon her up something more “snobby” but the mare refused.
As the carriage passed through streets, Discord could tell that they were nearing their destination. The stores they were currently passing were filled with elegant, expensive looking stuff in the windows such as several mannequins which were donned in expensive looking dresses and tuxedos, covered in crystals and silk. There was also the fact that the ponies walking the streets were dressed as well, rich ponies. They wore silk garments, gold plated horseshoes, elegant hats and coats as well as things like boas or high-end saddles. Their expressions and posture screamed: I’m rich and you’re not, so bow to me peasant! Discord could already tell that while these were the most fun ponies to mess with, he was not going to have a fun time.
Finally the carriage stopped outside a large, upscale apartment building. Discord, Fluttershy and Applejack slowly got out of the cart and after paying the quite, stocky carriage puller slowly made their way towards the pair of ponies outside the doors. They were doorcolts, though they also served a bit as guards, making sure no rift-raft got inside to harass the tenants or to rob apartments, or anything else for that matter. Instantly, the disguised draconaquuas could tell that they were going to have an issue when he saw the heavier colt, a unicorn, slowly move his eyes over Fluttershy’s flank and licked his lips. He growled softly and shot a look towards the stallion. The doorcolt was unfazed and only gave him a sneer. Before Discord could transform him into a toad, or something else that was befitting of him, Applejack stepped forward and spoke with the stallions.
“Hello, I am here to see Mr. and Mrs. Orange. Would you happen to know if they are at all perhaps home?” said Applejack, tapping into her inner-snob by ditching her usual way of speaking for one that gave the sense of superiority and money in every word. The other stallion, a Pegasus, merely glanced them over and frowned.
“What business do you have here?” asked the stallion, suspicious of the group of ponies, especially the ones that were behind the trio, glancing around and studying every passing pony with extreme detail.
“I am Valencia and Mosely’s niece, Lady Applejack of Ponyville, and these are my companions, Lady Fluttershy of Ponyville and….er…Duke….Duke Disc of Ponyville. “ said the earth pony, a look of uneasiness on her face.
“And those other ponies with you?”
“Their escort and body guards; We are here to insure that they are safe and secure and that no low-class ruffians come near them” said Swift Sword, stepping forward, her wild silver mane swishing behind her. The guards grunted for a moment before gesturing them to go in. As they passed, Discord spied the guard from earlier attempting to brush his hoof over Fluttershy’s flank as they passed. Calmly and quietly, the draconaquuas summoned up a bucket of water and had it fall on top of the stallion.
The stallion sputtered and gasped as the cold water hit him, soaking him to the bone. Thankfully, the rest of the group was already half way inside and too distracted to notice. Discord grinned and followed after his fiancé, shooting a smug look back at the stallion who was trying to figure out where the bucket of water had come from.