//------------------------------// // New Threat - The Mysterious Assassin // Story: Path of Kindness and Blood // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Path of Kindness and Blood - Chapter 8 New Threat Part 3 - The Mysterious Assassin “Umm… Apple Bloom. Are you sure it’s… safe?” Sweetie Belle asked hesitantly as she sat in front of a large bear, staring at the rope around his neck and Apple Bloom on his back. “I’m all up for finding our marks, but don’t you think that a bear rodeo-riding cutie mark isn’t really worth it?” The farm filly shook her head. “Oh come on, ‘fcourse it’s safe. What could possibly go wron’?” Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “Yeah, what could possibly go wrong?” “Fluttershy’s pets ain’t mean, Ah’ll be fine,” Apple Bloom said as she pulled the rope with her forelegs. “Ready… ummm… Harry, was it?” Hearing a growl of confirmation, she pulled the rope again. “Yeehaw!” The moment the bear jumped, the filly yelped, barely holding the ropes. Out of reflex, she grabbed the rope with her teeth, desperately trying to keep herself stable on the bucking bear. “Ohhh... I knew it was a bad idea,” Sweetie Belle said while walking backward. The moment her friend was thrown from the bear’s back, she ran to the side and jumped, catching Apple Bloom in mid-air, only for them both to roll on the ground as stars circled above their heads. Angel giggled at the silly display, when suddenly his ears perked up, his eyes half closed as he looked around. Suddenly, he felt the earth tremble under his paws. With a few quick jumps, he climbed onto the bear’s shoulder and whistled. Apple Bloom rubbed her back before standing to her hooves as she looked around in confusion. “What’s goin’ on? What’s all that commotion?” she asked as she saw the animals acting oddly. The bear with Angel on his shoulder was growling towards the forest while a falcon, an eagle and a few snakes gathered around him. Birds flew around in a panic before heading towards the cottage. It didn’t take long before the farm filly’s question was answered by a strange movement that caught her attention. “Is that… a tree?” “Huh, what?” Sweetie Belle massaged her forehead before looking in the pointed direction. Her pupils dilated. “Am I dreaming?” “Ah hope so,” Apple Bloom said as the trembling under her hooves grew in strength, her eyes unable to look away from the four large walking trees. Much to her confusion, their roots were straightened by some sort of dark aura as they not only supported the weight of those trees, but also moved them forward. “Ah… h-hope s-so.” *** After another whistle from the bunny, the bear charged at the tree, his paw striking against the wooden surface while leaving a cracking mark on it. With his paws on both sides of the tree, the bear steeled his legs and wrestled against it, stopping it from moving any further. Angel, noticing that another tree was approaching from the side, jumped onto the bear’s head and pointed his paw at the flanking enemy before whistling again. Both the falcon and eagle attacked the branches at the bunny’s command, which the tree ignored as a mere annoyance. Carefully examining the tree from top to bottom, Angel’s attention focused on the roots and ordered the snakes to attack them. The tree started to tremble as the snakes tried to bite the roots, but the animals quickly stopped attacking as their eyes flashed in red. With both the tree and snakes heading towards the bear, Angel jumped onto the ground and focused his own power before putting his paws down, emitting burst of electricity to knock out the attackers. Not wasting a moment, he focused his power and absorbed the dark magic from the shocked snakes as it gathered between his paws. With a ball of dark energy at his disposal, he pushed it towards the tree roots, shattering a few into pieces. While it seemed to slow down the tree, it didn’t stop it as a dark aura formed around the branches. The bear seemed to be losing the struggle, forced to take a step back by the overwhelming strength of the tree, at least until Angel climbed onto his shoulder and whispered to his ear. Taking his advice, he raised his leg and smashed it against the root, which in turn provided him with a needed advantage. His victory didn’t last long as several branches straightened towards him and grabbed his neck and paws. Angel focused another spell as the branches around the bear burned, though his fur also suffered a small burn from the fire. Now free and no longer choked, the bear dropped to his paws and ran away, outrunning the slow moving trees and branches that tried to capture him. Angel examined the battlefield as his army of animals was retreating, clearly outmatched. While he found the weak point of the enemy and focused on attacking the roots with his magic, one bear wasn’t enough to smash them while fighting four aggressive trees. Smaller animals on the other hoof proved easy to corrupt by dark magic around the roots, making them useless. Four trees! Angel looked around in panic as realization struck him. While he and his personal army were fighting against two trees, the other two and the two fillies were missing. *** “Why can’t I imagine up a marshmallow ice cream statue of Rarity?” Sweetie Belle asked as her forehead was furrowed from her concentration. “No matter how hard I try, I can’t make anything appear. Shouldn’t I be able to imagine stuff in my dream?” Apple Bloom took a step back as several animals did their best to stop two trees from advancing while another two were heading towards them. “Ah don’t think it’s a dream.” “Not a dream?” Sweetie asked as she doubled her effort. “Walking trees are fighting Fluttershy’s animals, how’s this not a dream?” The farm filly turned around and grabbed her friend before galloping away with her friend on her back. “Dream or not, Ah ain’t goin’ to find out.” “I think we will, look!” Sweetie Belle said as she pointed ahead of her. “Pony feathers!” Apple Bloom said and flinched, startled by the approaching bushes. Their moving branches making them even more intimidating. Now panicked, she looked around for any kind of weapon, quickly grabbing a stick between her teeth. Sweetie Belle’s ears curled. “I don’t really think it will do anything, Apple Bloom,” she said before picking up a rock between her hooves and showing it to her friend. Not wasting a moment, Apple Bloom kicked the rock with her rear hooves, sending the projectile flying with great speed as it penetrated one bush, crashing through branches that got in the way. Apple Bloom’s satisfaction didn’t last long as the bush just continued to walk towards her, not affected by the hit at all. The filly jumped to the side in fear the moment one bush spread its branches towards her, barely avoiding being grabbed. “What do we do? Ah don't want to end up as plant food!” Sweetie Belle rubbed her chin. “Maybe they’re angry or something?” She slowly approached and said, “Excuse me Mr. Bush, whatever we did, we’re really sorry. Please don’t be mad.” In response, the bush shot its branch out and grabbed Sweetie’s foreleg, causing her to yelp in panic, but was quickly freed the moment her friend attacked the branch with her teeth. Now understanding that this perhaps wasn’t a dream, Sweetie Belle trembled and yelled, “Help!” Apple Bloom took a defensive stance and used tricks that she learned by observing her sister’s training, kicking bush after bush with her forelegs or grabbing their branches, only to run around the bush and tie it. “Is it just me, or are their branches as flexible as if they’re made of bubble gum?” Sweetie Belle ignored the question as she tackled one bush into another one. “I noticed it too. Also, where did you learn how to fight like that?” Apple Bloom bit her lips. Surely it wasn’t the best time to tell her school friend that she learned it from her sister, who hunts monsters from time to time. “Behind you!” The farm filly turned around and curled in fear as a giant tree towered over her. She wanted to run, but her legs refused to heed her call, paralyzed with fear. Her pupils shrank as a large branch flexed towards her at high speed, only to feel something tackle her from the side. She shook her head and opened her eyes as her mouth was agape. Sweetie Belle was smashed to the ground by a big branch, a bruise visible on her head as she lay motionlessly on the ground. “Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom shouted as she stood to her hooves. While she already considered Sweetie Belle as a friend, the fact that she took a hit for her and was now badly hurt struck her like a hammer. Feeling a surge of guilt, Apple Bloom ran towards the unicorn, but her path was blocked by a tree branch. Her legs trembled and her breath became rapid as she was now surrounded by several bushes and two evil trees. Apple Bloom closed her eyes and awaited the impact, but instead the loud sound of cracking wood reached her ears. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up, noticing the bear struggling against the tree while Angel jumped onto its roots, attacking them by burning them with a mere touch. Not wasting a moment, she jumped over one bush and picked up Sweetie Belle before trying to escape, but her hind legs were grabbed by several branches as she was pulled back. “Help!” she shouted as dark spikes rose on the branches. “Leave her alone!” Apple Bloom looked towards the source of voice as Fluttershy with large bat-like wings flew in her direction. She yelped in fear as the vampony swung her wing swiftly, cutting off the branches. Apple Bloom’s breath slowed down as she could feel her heart trying to escape her throat. She looked at Fluttershy who stood between her and the filly-hungry plants. Wings spread. “How dare you hurt two innocent fillies! If you try to harm a single hair on their heads, I’ll tear your controlled plants to pieces!” Fluttershy said with a firm stomp. Apple Bloom felt the earth trembling lightly from the stomp before looking up at the sky. Even if she wasn’t a vampony expert, it was obvious that at night, a pureblood like Fluttershy would have access to her full power. Please Fluttershy… be a good vampony like Ah hope you are. The branches from the bushes straightened again, armed with black spikes as they wrapped around Fluttershy’s legs and neck. Their vice grip strengthened and Apple Bloom stared in horror as blood started to cover the spikes. Much to her relief, Fluttershy’s wings flapped as she flew above the ground, easily shattering the branches that held her in place. “I’ve warned you!” Fluttershy shouted as her blood that was covering spikes of shattered branches levitated and rained on several bushes, melting them as if it was acid rain. Two large branches shot from the tree to slam against the wounded pureblood, but Fluttershy dodged it with ease and grabbed both branches between her hooves. Her teeth grit and her wings rapidly flapped as she pulled the tree to the side, causing it to lose its balance and fall with a loud thump, generating a slight tremor. Apple Bloom noticed a bunny jumping on the roots of a tree as if giving a signal to his mistress, to which Fluttershy responded by diving into the roots and shattering them to pieces with pure strength. The dark aura quickly dispersed as the dangerous tree became immobile. “Sweetie Belle!” Rarity shouted as Apple Bloom looked at the fashionista who grew a pair of fangs on her face and her ears transformed. “Rarity… you too?” Apple Bloom said in shock as she pointed her hoof accusingly at the unicorn vampony. Ignoring the filly, Rarity stood on her rear hooves and took a fighting stance, her forelegs raised. “I was never one to engage in violence and I do not like to sully my hooves,” she started before hissing. “But for what you all did to Sweetie Belle, I will make an exception!” She galloped towards the tree, dodging left and right as two large branches with dark spikes slammed against the ground. Emerging from the dust of the impact, Rarity lit her horn and pulled on the roots before performing a jump kick, shattering them with her hoof. With magic gathering in her horn, she shot a powerful blast that made a small hole in the wooden surface. *** “Aim for the roots, it’s the source of the trees’ manipulation,” Fluttershy lectured as she evaded another attack and dived towards the other attacking tree, cutting the roots with her wings. Rarity took the example and shot beams of dark magic to destroy the roots as well. As Rarity ran towards Sweetie Belle and embraced her unconscious body, Fluttershy shouted, “Your sister is safe, she’ll be alright!” After receiving a nod from Rarity, the pureblood thestral landed on the ground, her eyes flashing in red as she studied the ground, quickly noticing streams of dark magic connecting destroyed roots to some sort of source. Not wasting a moment, she galloped, following the discovered trail until she noticed a dark figure near the entrance to the forest. “Why did you attack those innocent fillies? Who are you? Answer me now!” she shouted while her nostrils flared and her teeth gritted. “Shut up and fight!” the mysterious figure responded as two more trees came to life while hooves made of stone emerged from the ground, grabbing Fluttershy’s legs. Fluttershy's eyes snapped open wide as she saw that one of the trees tilted towards her direction as if trying to bodyslam her with its weight. With a shake of her head, the pureblood spread her wings and flapped with all her strength, breaking off the fake hooves that held her against the ground. With all the speed she could muster, Fluttershy slammed herself into the tree before emerging from the other side, leaving a big hole in the wooden surface and pieces of wood raining all around her. She dove towards the enemy, but her progress was stopped by another tree that got in the way. With a rush of adrenaline and her power at her peak, Fluttershy tackled the upper part of the walking tree, knocking it towards the mysterious hooded figure who jumped to the side. In an instant, Fluttershy flew towards the assassin and pressed him against the tree before tearing off the upper part of the hood, revealing the assailant’s face. He was a red coated stallion with a surprising resemblance to Big Macintosh, though not as big and he had a visible scar going across his left eye. His mane was brown. He had pointy ears, fangs and thin pupils while lacking wings, clear signs of being a turned thestral. “Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to hurt innocent fillies, have you no shame? Answer me!” The stallion just laughed. “Darn impressive. It seems that ya have a spark of being a worthy pureblood in ya,” he said before looking to the side, his attention focused on the two fillies next to Rarity. “But it appears that to get this spark out, ya need some proper motivation.” Fluttershy felt her blood boil as she resisted the urge to slap the vampony. “You used innocent fillies to provoke me? Why? Why do you hate me so much? How can you be so cruel?” “Cruel?” he said before chuckling. “Ah’m just a pawn. Ah find no pleasure in what Ah have to do. Mah goal is to see if ya deserve to stay on the chessboard or not.” He smirked. “Ah must praise ya. Yer doin’ darn good so far.” With the help of his forelegs, he freed himself from Fluttershy’s grasp before turning around. His forelegs bent while hind legs were lifted above the ground. Fluttershy’s eyes widened as time seemed to slow. She recognized this technique. She saw it countless times when watching Applejack work. A half eaten apple cutie mark was the last thing she saw before two rear hooves made contact with her belly. She felt as if her chest was crushed from the impact while her body was sent flying against a tree. A surge of pain went through her spine as she penetrated one tree and crashed into another, now stuck deeply in it. *** Apple Bloom couldn’t believe what she just witnessed. While her older sister could push a tree hard enough to uproot it and make it fall over, something that Big Mac could do even more easily, seeing something similar being done by Fluttershy was breathtaking. Now that Ah think about it, Ah doubt Applejack could make a hole in the tree by slamming into it, she thought before looking at the unicorn vampony who observed the fight while still holding Sweetie Belle in her embrace. “Excuse me, Miss Rarity?” The fashionista looked at her and next back at the fighting Fluttershy. “Apple Bloom, it is not safe here, you need to hide, quickly.” “But…” “No buts,” Rarity stated as her horn lit, capturing both fillies in her levitation as she galloped towards the cottage. “Take Sweetie Belle indoors and wait there.” She released the farm filly before placing her younger sister on Apple Bloom’s back. “We are not going to hurt you, I swear, please believe me.” Apple Bloom knew that tone. It was the same Applejack always had whenever something dangerous had come to the farm and she wanted Apple Bloom to be safe so her mind could focus on the current threat. With a sigh, she nodded. “Okay, Ah’ll be safe.” Rarity smiled and nodded before turning her attention back to the fight. Apple Bloom, hidden with Sweetie Belle behind the tree, waited and prayed that the two of them would be alright. At the same time, she was excited. She knew she was suppose to go to the cottage, but this was her chance to see her first vampony vs vampony fight. No way she was gonna miss it. *** Rarity ran over to help her friend, her horn charged with magic. “Are you hurt, Fluttershy?” she asked with concern before pulling Fluttershy from the tree and onto the ground. The pureblood thestral held her chest with a foreleg as she was clearly in pain, her eyes half closed and teeth grit. With all of her determination, she looked around in search for her foe, but he was gone. “I… I’m fine… just give me a moment,” Fluttershy said between breaths as her bones slowly regrown inside of her. She spread her wings, ready to give chase, but a hoof on her shoulder stopped her. “I have to stop him before he hurts more ponies to get to me!” she shouted as her eyes watered. “Why does everypony around me always end up hurt?” “Now is not the time for self pity,” Rarity said firmly before pointing towards the cottage. “We just showed our true forms in front of Apple Bloom. How are we going to get out of this one?” Fluttershy bit her lip. “If both of them were unconscious, we could easily say it was a dream or something, but Apple Bloom might tell her family. If it was just Applejack, she could help us explain everything, but Big Macintosh and Granny Smith are another story. They’ll hunt us down or inform the guild.” “Help us?” Rarity asked in confusion. “Why would Applejack want to help us? She tried to kill you last time!” “We made up and she promised to keep it a secret. I trust her, Rarity,” answered Fluttershy. Rarity sighed and shook her head. “Very well, I believe you. However, this does not help our current predicament. What should we do? Do we can erase her memory? Can we even do that?” Fluttershy shook her head. “No, that’s way too advanced for me and I’m not really at full power at the moment. Maybe we could—” “Ugh, what happened? Rarity?! Where are you?!” cried out Sweetie Belle’s voice. Rarity froze the moment she heard it. In an instant, both mares focused as their fangs disappeared while their eyes and ears returned to normal. Fluttershy’s wings and cutie mark transformed as well. Now in pony form, they both rushed over behind a tree to see a blushing Apple Bloom and a confused Sweetie Belle; the latter was rubbing her head while moaning in pain. “What happened? I remember getting hit in the head and...” Rarity wanted to curse her luck. Not only was Apple Bloom a witness to their vampiric nature, but they also now had to deal with Sweetie Belle. She could already see Sweetie being told that her sister is a monster by the little filly, giving a glance of hate and disgust before shouting she never wanted to see her again. “D-don’t worry, Sweetie Belle. Ya just fell and hit yer head on a rock is all,” said Apple Bloom, smiling. “Nothin’ strange happened.” Both thestrals mouths dropped in shock. Was Apple Bloom going to tell on them later? Big sister mode kicked in as Rarity levitated her Sweetie onto her back. “There there, darling. It is okay. Let us get you into Fluttershy’s cottage so we can patch up your bruise, we can even have a sleepover.” “Okay,” whimpered Sweetie Belle as they made their way towards the cottage. *** With Sweetie Belle now resting on the couch with an ice pack on her head, both Rarity and Fluttershy sat in the kitchen across a nervous looking Apple Bloom who was poking her hooves. The awkwardness only grew with each passing second. After at least a minute of silence, Fluttershy bit her lip and was ready to say something, but the filly spoke first. “Ah knew yer a vampony.” This made the pair of eyes widen. “Ah’ve known for a while anyway. Ah overheard mah sister and Fluttershy’s talkin’ and put the rest together.” “But... if you knew, then why did you not tell anypony else?” asked Rarity. “Because Ah don’t want ya to get hurt!” shouted Apple Bloom before going back to a whisper when she remembered that Sweetie Belle was sleeping in the other room. “Yer both such kind ponies. Ah don’t think yer evil like Ah was led to believe. Am Ah right?” After a moment to recover from the shock, Fluttershy nodded and said, "Of course." She smiled warmly. “We just want to live in peace, Apple Bloom. A lot of us do. I’m not saying some aren’t... mean, but we’re some of the good ones.” “Ah know. Ya wouldn’t have left mah sister alive if ya weren’t,” said the filly and smiled back. “Don’t worry about me spillin’ yer secrets. Ah’ll keep mah mouth shut just like Applejack. Just don’t tell her Ah know? Ah don’t want to get in trouble.” “I think that’s a fair bargain,” Fluttershy said, sighing in relief. With one problem out of the way, she examined the filly. “How’re you feeling? I’m sure that this experience most likely frightened you.” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Maybe a bit, but Ah found it excitin’. And Ah wasn’t hurt thanks to ya.” With a large smile, she continued, “Thank ya kindly for saving mah life.” Fluttershy felt a warmness in her heart, but it was quickly extinguished by a wave of guilt. She lowered her head as her ears curled. “I… I don’t deserve it.” Noticing confusion on filly’s face, she continued, “It’s my fault. Your and Sweetie’s lives were in danger because of me.” Rarity massaged her forehead with ‘this again’ face expression while Apple Bloom titled her head to the side and asked, “What do ya mean?” Fluttershy looked to the side. “I was his target. You and Sweetie are both innocent victims. If you both didn’t come here, you wouldn’t have been in danger in the first place.” Rarity placed her hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “You cannot blame yourself for something you have no control over.” “How can you say that?” Fluttershy responded, forehoof held against her chest. “I understand everything now. The ability to control trees and bushes, the ability to cause an earthquake, it’s the result of mixing earth pony magic with dark magic. Only turned earth ponies are capable of such a feat.” “You do not mean...” Rarity started before hissing, “first he caused the earthquake that killed me and now he tried to hurt Sweetie Belle. Oh, when I get my hooves on him, he will not live long enough to regret what he has done.” She quickly placed a hoof over her mouth and chuckled innocently. Luckily Sweetie Belle was still fast asleep. “I did not mean it Apple Bloom…” The farm filly looked at Rarity suspiciously. “Wait a minute. How are ya dead if yer not?” “Fluttershy turned me into a thestral to save my life,” Rarity responded, causing the filly to smile. Apple Bloom approached Fluttershy and looked up into her saddened face. “So ya saved a friend. That’s mighty kind of ya.” Fluttershy took in a deep breath before responding, “I thank you for your kind words.” She let out a sad exhale as her voice suddenly turned much colder. “However, until I capture that assassin, being with me is too dangerous. Apple Bloom, Rarity, I want you both to stay away from me from now on.” “Awww…” Apple Bloom said in disappointment, her ears drooping. There were so many questions she wanted to ask Fluttershy, so many games they could play together, and now they couldn’t even spend time with each other. “Darling, you cannot be serious,” said Rarity. “You cannot face him alone.” “I have to, Rarity. I lost the most important ponies in my life once, and I swore I would never let that happen again,” Fluttershy said before looking Rarity in the eyes. “Besides, while I doubt he will do the same again, in case he will targets Apple Bloom or you to provoke me...” She pointed at Apple Bloom before saying in a commanding tone, “Rarity, I’m ordering you to keep an eye on Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, and ask Vinyl if she can help.” She blushed and tapped her hooves together. “If you don’t mind that is.” Rarity looked at Apple Bloom and next at the stairs leading to where Sweetie Belle was recovering. “I will keep them safe, and if that stallion shows his ugly face…” she smashed one hoof after another, “He will regret it.” Fluttershy’s fangs appeared as her eyes glowed. “He wants to see a pureblood’s strength. I’m going to give it to him.”