//------------------------------// // Coat of Arms // Story: Leap of Faith // by A bag of plums //------------------------------// “Here we are!” Rarity removed her scarf and turned the lights on, revealing a spacious room with racks of cloth on the sides, a few mannequins to the right, a table in the middle, and a well-sized platform at the back. “What do you think?” she asked with hopeful eyes. “Looks like a nice place,” Velvet Breeze nodded her approval. “I mean, it’s well organized, and I’m sure you’ve got plenty of choices to pick from.” “Precisely,” Rarity said as she walked over to her rack of bolts. “My little sister, Sweetie Belle, messes them up sometimes, but I manage to put it all back together.” She looked at a section of red bolts of fabric, noticing a few of them were green and yellow. “Mostly.” “How about those scorch marks over there?” Velvet pointed to some circular black marks on the carpeted floor by the window, which had a crack going along the center of the glass panel. “That...” Rarity said with narrowed eyes. “Was an ill-fated attempt at blending chemistry and cooking. Rest assured, she will not try it again.” “Wait, Sweetie Belle tried to blow somethin’ up here too?” Applejack inspected the marks closer. “Apple Bloom tried that recently. Nearly set the barn roof on fire if Ah didn’t step in sooner.” “Your sisters want to be scientists when they grow up?” Velvet asked both of them. “Not like the both of you or anything?” “They don’t know what they want to be when they grow up, Velvet,” Rarity explained. “That’s why they’re trying all kinds of things, like trying to blow up my shop.” “And settin’ the barn on fire,” Applejack reminded. Rarity returned to the young Assassin with a grey bolt and a long strip of measuring tape, rapidly applying it to Velvet’s arms, sides, and every other conceivable surface of her body. “Ummm…” Velvet mumbled as her violet haired friend swooped around her, taking notes. “What are you doing, Rarity?” “Why, taking measurements, dear,” she answered as she grabbed a pair of red spectacles from her table. They looked awfully huge for her face, reminding Velvet about the comment Applejack made in the theater. “When I said I was going to make you something, I meant it.” “Thank you, Rarity,” Velvet smiled slightly. “I owe you one. I owe all you girls.” “Now, the things is… what should I make for you?” Rarity pulled at the fabric in her hands. “A new hoodie, or maybe a jacket? Hmm…” “Well, her hoodie’s in the wash,” Applejack pointed out, placing her hands on her hips. “How ‘bout ya make her a jacket instead?” “I don’t mind a jacket,” Velvet agreed with a nod. “All the other Assassins wear jackets. I just prefer hoodies because you don’t have to zip or button them up.” “Then it’s settled!” The fashionista rushed back to her table and spread the bolt of fabric across it, quickly placing markers on it before grabbing a pair of scissors and getting to work. “Would you like to try anything on, darling? Perhaps you could help me model for a few fine pieces of mine.” Velvet looked to the mannequins by the side, each one wearing a different kind of fancy suit or dress. “I don’t know… They’re a little too… showy for me, if you know what I mean.” “Ya should see when she tries to dress Rainbow Dash up,” Applejack bent back in laughter. “One time, Rarity had her lookin’ like a good ol’ clown.” “Not funny, AJ!” Rainbow covered her face with her hands. “I’m supposed to be awesome! That wasn’t awesome.” “Well, it’ll be fine, Velvet,” Sunset jumped in. “It’s not going to hurt or anything. It’s pretty interesting.” “But still…” the blue-skinned girl rubbed her arm unconsciously. “I don’t know…” “No harm trying, right?” Sunset wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Besides, girls do this all the time. It’ll help get you back to being one of us instead of… well, an Assassin.” Velvet thought about it, but eventually conceded, seeing as there was no way a bunch of clothes could hurt her. Right? Sunset led her into one of Rarity’s changing rooms around the corner, holding a set of white clothes on her arm. “Here, try these on, Velvet. I think they’ll suit you.” “Alright, if you think I should…” Velvet took a set and headed through the white door, closing it behind her. The young Assassin got to work in removing her borrowed coat and her regular clothes. She didn’t ask Sunset for help, deciding that as an Assassin, she had to at least learn how to get about with injuries on her own. Her friend had picked out a longsleeved white t-shirt, along with a red skirt. Velvet didn’t particularly like skirts, seeing as she had to jump across rooftops on a regular basis. She didn’t know how some of the Assassins lived with that, knowing they were showing a lot when they were going about; a small number of them wore skirts, while most wore pants or jeans. Taking her time to put on the new clothes, Velvet finally walked out, smiling awkwardly as Sunset examined her. “W-well…? Is it alright?” “Looks good on you,” Sunset nodded and motioned for her to follow as she returned to the main room. “Girls. What do you think?” “I think it suits her,” Fluttershy said softly. Velvet Breeze gripped the hem of her skirt. It felt awfully airy under it; a lot different from when she had her jeans on. It was nice not having the tightness of pants around her waist, but she felt like skirts were just too exposed. “You look adorable, dear,” Rarity added from her table as she used her sewing machine. “Though… Velvet, why do you wear a hair clip when you don’t even use it to keep hair out of your face?” Velvet looked up, unable to see it without a mirror, but she knew what Rarity was asking. “I wear it for sentimental value. I don’t actually need it.” “Well, since you’re wearing it…” Sunset unclipped it and shifted Velvet’s fringe up before putting it back in its place. “There. How is it?” “It looks good on you, Velvet,” Fluttershy muttered with a smile. “You look wonderful, Velvet!” Pinkie hopped up and down, bouncing around the workspace. “I think everything works well on you! Maybe you should get more of these!” “Pinkie!” Rarity flinched as the girl almost knocked over her mannequins. “Be careful!” “Gotta agree with Pinkie here,” Applejack whistled. “Like this, ya don’t give me that Assassin impression like with your usual getup.” “You didn’t even know she was an Assassin until recently,” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “What Ah meant was when ya think about it.” “Sure.” “Well, come on, Velvet,” Sunset pulled her back towards the dressing rooms. “Let’s try more clothes on you.” The next hour and a half saw Velvet switching out to different kinds of clothes as the Rainbooms worked to see what went well on Velvet and what didn’t. The young Assassin didn’t mind shorts, seeing as she used to wear them most of the time when she was younger. skirts still weren’t on her top priority list, but they were alright; at least they were still better than dresses. Velvet didn’t like those. The girls had picked a full length white dress for her. Sure, the material was soft, but there was no way anyone could run or climb walls in that thing. Dresses just weren’t practical. In the end, of all the things the girls had her try on, Velvet’s favourite were the longsleeved shirt and the skirt. Perhaps maybe once all this blows over, she could wear that from time to time. “You can have them, Velvet,” Rarity chuckled and lifted another piece of grey fabric to examine. “All yours. No charge. They look good on you.” “So many?” Velvet blushed and held her injured arm. “I don’t know… One is enough. I don’t really need that many.” “Nonsense!” Rarity waved a hand. “You can never have too many clothes, darling. They’re yours. Simple as that.” Sunset grabbed the set and shoved it into Velvet’s arms. “Don’t worry about it. Just take it. If Rarity wants you to have it, then she wants you to have it.” “Well… Thanks, Rarity… I mean, wow, it means a lot. Thanks for these.” “Don’t mention it, Velvet…” She lifted the finished coat. Velvet couldn’t believe it had only taken her less than a day to get it done. She must really have some talent with clothing. “And your new coat is done too. I figured this could replace your hoodie while Applejack tries to wash the bloodstains off of it.” “Ah assure ya, we can do it,” the cowgirl winked. “Nobody’s that good,” Rainbow challenged. “Oh ho ho, trust me, Rainbow, we are,” Applejack replied with a smirk.”Granny’s really good at the laundry too.” While they chatted away about Velvet’s coat, the blue-skinned girl had decided to try out the coat, changing back to her regular purple shirt and blue jeans before putting it on. It fit just nicely, hanging down to her calfs. The material was strangely soft, but also resilient at the same time. “Wow, this feels incredible,” Velvet admitted. She would’ve started running around in it, for testing purposes of course, but she still had that injury on her left leg, so that would have to wait. “Of course,” Rarity lifted her chin higher. “I use only the best fabric in Canterlot. I don’t settle for anything less. I even made you a hood, seeing as you Assassins seem to like them.” “You got that idea from the movie, didn’t you?” Applejack snickered and leaned an arm on her friend. “Maybe a little…” Rarity looked around and folded her arms. “Well, my work is done here, girls, and ooh, look at the time. I believe it’s almost time for dinner. Shall we eat out?” “Actually…” Applejack started. “Granny’s cookin’ up some mango pie, just for Velvet, so she’ll be expectin’ us to be back at the farm for dinner.” “Why, that sounds brilliant!” Rainbow rubbed at her tummy as she thought about dinner. Velvet had to admit, mango pie did sound rather delicious. She had to control herself to run for the door when the girls began leaving. She probably would’ve just tripped and fallen along the way anyway, seeing as one leg wasn’t good right now. After locking her front door, Rarity and the others piled into Applejack’s truck as the girls began their return to Sweet Apple Acres. Velvet wrapped her scarf tighter around her face as the truck hit the highway; even the inside of the vehicle was starting to get cold. Snow was also descending from the sky at a much faster rate than in the afternoon, plus the sun had almost disappeared beyond the horizon now. “Don’t ya worry about the cold, Velvet,” Applejack told her as she kept her eyes on the road. “We’ll be back before ya know it. Besides, it’s a mighty fine weather. Beats bein’ hot all the time.” “That’s true…” she replied, but gripped the scarf tighter. “Though, I wouldn’t mind a regular temperature. Neither hot nor cold.” The ride home seemed to take longer than before. Maybe it was the cold, but the in-car clock seemed to be moving slower than usual. After what felt like forever, Velvet watched the truck pull up into the Sweet Apple Acres’ garage, glad to finally be back in a warm place. Dinner was most excellent. Velvet had never had mango pie before, but it was a fantastic new experience. The young Assassin enjoyed it so much that she’d had thirds, and would have gladly gone for fourths if she hadn’t gotten too full. “That… Was… So good…” Velvet held back a burp as she leaned back in her seat, too full to move. “Applejack, you’ve got to thank your grandma for me.” “Sure thing, Velvet,” she cowgirl guffawed. “Ah mean, from what Ah saw, you really liked that pie.” “You bet…” Velvet scratched her cheek. “So, what are we doing tonight?” Velvet didn’t understand most of it, but she was looking forward to spending more fun time with her new friends. Was this what it was like? To spend time with friends? When she was younger, she never really had any real friends. The other kids in her class just sort of acknowledged her presence, but they never spent any time with her outside of class. Maybe that was one reason why it was so easy to be an Assassin. Pinkie Pie hopped up on her chair and shot a stack of board games out of her little backpack. Fluttershy and Rarity had to duck out of the way to avoid them. “I brought games!” she shouting happily, giving them all a wide smile. “We can play them all night!” “Not another all nighter,” Rarity wagged a finger. “Staying up too many nights in a row is bad for the skin.” “This is only the second night!” Rainbow mentioned. “We can still afford to stay up all night! Besides, it’s only a little bad for your skin.” “Looking after yourself is important, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity began lecturing the athlete about her personal health care regime. Velvet looked to her left as Sunset touched her arm, signalling for her to stay quiet. Following after her, Velvet and the others snuck out of the dining room as Rainbow and Rarity continued to debate over their different health care methods. Once back in Applejack’s room, Velvet burst out into laughter, unable to control it anymore. The other two Rainbooms didn’t seem to even notice the rest of them had left. “Phew!” Applejack wiped her forehead and smiled. “Don’t know how long those two will be at it. Could be years before they realize we’ve disappeared.” “Board game time?” Pinkie asked, widening her already large grin, holding a rectangular white and black box in her hands. “I brought Monopoly!” Monopoly was a game even Velvet was familiar with. She soon found herself seated amongst the other girls, rolling a dice to move her little game piece, which was a shoe. She had managed to buy up several properties, getting loads of money from Applejack and Pinkie Pie. “Applejack and Pinkie, nil…” the party planner said in a low monotonous voice and looked at her remaining hundred dollars. “Velvet Breeze, loadsamoney!” Along the way, Rainbow Dash and Rarity arrived, at first shocked that the other girls had been in Applejack’s room already playing a board game, but later, amused that they had no idea the rest of the girls had left while they argued. Joining late in the game, the two of them didn’t get much property, and Velvet had managed to siphon a decent amount of cash from them, snickering when Rainbow Dash made a fuss about not being at her full power. After two more hours, the game was finally over. Surprisingly, especially to Velvet, Fluttershy had won the game by a large margin, even though Velvet had gotten so much money from everyone else. “Congrats, Fluttershy,” the young Assassin leaned back and laughed. “To be honest, I didn’t think you’d be the one to win. You barely said anything the entire game.” “It’s the quiet ones that win,” Applejack blew hair out of her face and tossed her remaining money down on the board. “Cause ya never know what they’ve got planned. Take Rainbow for example. She’s always hinting to ya what she’s gonna do.” “I do not!” the athlete widened her eyes. “You totally do, Rainbow,” Sunset patted her rainbow haired friend on the back. “I’ve got to agree with her on that one. Fluttershy never says anything. That’s how she totally caught us all by surprise.” “Just chance…” Fluttershy hid behind her pink hair. This was a little too much attention for her. “I got all the right cards and numbers… And Velvet, you did pretty well yourself.” “It was nothing,” Velvet shook her head. “I simply rolled the dice and moved accordingly. It’s as Fluttershy said. Chance.” The girls spent the rest of their night playing a few more simpler board games before heading to the bathroom to wash up. After Velvet had finished up and changed into her borrowed pajamas, she had found the others had already rolled out their sleeping bags, ready to call it a night. “Ya can take my bed tonight, Velvet,” Applejack pointed to her blue bed. “Ah figure we let Apple Bloom have her room back.” “Thanks, Applejack.” Velvet yawned and strolled over before pulling out the sheets to lift herself in. She was starting to get used to her injuries, finally able to maneuver around most of the pain as she moved about without help. “Well, goodnight girls,” Rarity was the first to say, tucking herself in before placing a sleeping mask over her eyes. “Goodnight, y’all,” Applejack nodded and turned off the lights once all the others were lying in their sleeping bags. “Sleep well, Velvet.” “You too,” Velvet smiled and leaned down against the soft pillow. “Goodnight, girls. Thanks for everything again.” Velvet closed her eyes and waited, unable to fall asleep like the Rainbooms did. Once she was sure they were all soundly away in dreamland, Velvet silently scooted herself up, resting her back against the pillow and the bedpost, focusing her eagle vision to cut through the darkness, instantly finding the golden aura of Sunset Shimmer, resting on her side, her form moving up and down as she breathed. Though they were in the safety of Applejack’s home, Velvet wasn’t going to take any chances. If Templars did show up to try to take Sunset, she was going to be ready. Velvet had hidden her baton under the pillow earlier, and now, it was in her right hand, ready to be extended the moment a threat were to appear. Her hidden blade was also strapped under her left arm, but that was only for emergencies. She didn’t want to mess up Applejack’s room with someone else’s blood, and she doubted Sunset would be happy about her gutting someone so close to the rest of them. The darkness brought the cold, but the internal heating kept most of it away, though she partly welcomed it, seeing as it was keeping her more awake. Velvet continued to watch through the darkness, occasionally looking out the window for any signs of the red aura her enemies gave off, at the same time, watching Sunset’s golden form turn to her other side, safely asleep on the floor beside her. Don’t you worry, Sunset. I’ll keep watch. I’m not letting any Templars get the jump on you, not now, not ever. It was going to be another long night, but to Velvet, it would all be worth it. “Absolutely not, Morning,” Frigid Night sighed as he walked up the stairs towards his office with his partner following by his side. “Outsiders shouldn’t be here. We can’t risk that. It’s part of our Creed. We can’t have them learning about us.” “But she’s in as much danger as Velvet is,” Morning Blade tried to reason her point. “She’ll be safer with us than out there by herself. What if the Templars get her? We still don’t exactly know what they want. She could be really important to their plans, sir.” “Morning…” Frigid stopped outside his door and placed a hand on her shoulder, almost gently. “I get what you’re trying to say. Yes, we can keep her safe, but we can’t risk drawing civilian attention to ourselves. Sending Assassins to watch her is a much better idea to me.” “But Frigid,” she looked into his blue eyes with fierce determination. “I don’t think that would be enough. Can a few of us keep her safe? And besides, Velvet Breeze isn’t going to leave her side.” “Velvet has to come back here,” Frigid looked to the darkness of the bureau hallways. “Keila was right. I’d already put her in too much danger. I want her back here and away from the field.” “She’s not going to unless Sunset Shimmer comes with her,” Morning explained. “That I can assure you.” Frigid frowned and pushed open his door, walking in with Morning Blade. “Then we’ll have to get her to understand. We simply can’t bring an asset here. It’s too risky.” “I think your former apprentice is on to something, Frigid Night,” a voice said from the Master Assassin’s desk, drawing both their attentions. A single hooded figure was seated on his chair, going through a file from one of Frigid’s drawers, her metallic gauntlets gleaming in the lamp light. “Mentor,” Frigid nodded his greeting to the shrouded woman behind his desk. “But what about our Creed?” The purple-skinned woman closed the file she was holding and placed it atop the desk, her hooded face only partially visible from the dim table lamp. “There have been instances where Assassins have made exceptions in our long history. I… We can sense it. This girl is different.” Morning Blade smiled. She was glad the Mentor was on her side. She couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to get Frigid to understand, though she wished she was able to help him understand his trust problem as well. “Velvet Breeze has suffered enough for a girl her age,” their Mentor said stoically. “It’s time for her to come home. As for this Sunset Shimmer, I want her here as well. I think we shall be able to learn a lot from what she has to say.” The Mentor stood up and placed a hand on her golden sword’s pommel, which was shaped like the head of a horse. “Is there anything else you would like to add, Frigid Night?” Morning knew what her partner’s reply was going to be. Even the lieutenant wouldn’t dare talk against the Mentor. “It is as you say, Mentor,” the grey haired Assassin bowed and stepped aside as she passed him. “Then I bid you both goodnight,” the Mentor said without looking back, her greaves clinking against the concrete floor. “Morning, send Velvet a message. Tell her to come back to us… and to bring the girl with her. It’s high time we make our move.”