Octavia's eyes slowly opened. The sun was up and the alley she was in was filled with precious sunlight. She was still tired. Her bruised face ached and she wanted to touch it, but it hurt too much to aggravate. Her lower back burned and one side of her chest was bruised as well. That was where Sunset threw me into the ground. She proceeded to rub her eyes with only one hand.
A snorting sound came from next to her. She sleepily turned to see that the horse was standing right there. "You've been here this whole time?" she asked the mare. "Go back to your owner. I stole you."
The horse responded by sticking her muzzle into the Assassin's face lovingly. Octavia was taken off guard by the affectionate act of the beast and pushed the horse's face away. "Alright, I get it," she laughed and then pointed a finger at the mare. "However, if we see your true master again, you will return to him."
The horse blinked in some odd understanding. Octavia could hope the beast understood anything she said at all. She patted the horse on the top of the head and stood up; dusting her robes of the dirt she had collected. The uncomfortable ground made the back ache and she stretched, but immediately stopped when all the pain from last night flooded her system.
"Gah..." she moaned, "I guess I'll take it easy today."
The horse snorted an affirmative.
Octavia used the mare as support as they walked down the alley together. They were almost out when suddenly, a hooded figure landed right in front of them. This startled the Assassin who reached for her sword, but the wounds hurt too much for her to do such a quick move. As Octavia groaned in pain, the figure put her hood down to reveal a familiar face.
"Take care of yaself," Hearts said and went to support the young Assassin.
"Hearts?" Octavia sighed in relief. "Oh, you have no idea how grateful I am to see you."
"We do know. The whole city knows about that attack," the thief told her. "The three of us been seeking survivors all night long. We stumbled over you 'bout two hours ago, but ya was sleeping and we decided not to disturb you. So, how are ya?"
"I had a mean scuffle with a Templar Mistress," Octavia said. "She's a true brawler of a woman."
"I can tell. Did you see any survivors?"
"The only live Brother I saw was Den Master Whiplash, but he perished soon after I arrived. Anyone else was long gone and no, I did not see a Bearer. Wait!" Octavia hastily put a hand on Hearts' shoulder. "Did you see Vinyl? An Assassin that wears white with blue hair and a terrible attitude?"
"No, we've not seen her. Actually, as of right now, you're the only one we've seen," Hearts gulped and removed Octavia's hand.
"I'm the only survivor?" her lips began to quiver.
"Maybe some will turn up, but yeah. The Templar were precise in their attack. Two other Dens were bombed as well. For all we know, the Brotherhood in Canterlot could have been wiped clean out in one night."
"But....But I just got here..." Octavia found no other words to say.
"Listen, Octy, I'll tell ya that I've never seen it like this out there. However, we need to get going. If you don't have a Brotherhood to go to, then ya might as well stick to us for now."
Octavia nodded in understanding. "That would be for the best." She then took the reins for the horse and began to lead the beast out of the alley. Hearts took some steps ahead and looked about to check the streets of enemy activity. After making sure it was clear, she started to walk backwards and put her hood down to let her blue-green curly hair out.
"You shouldn't worry too much, the Brotherhood have rebounded from attacks like this in the past. Well, at least I've heard that," the thief shrugged.
"I'm not worried about that. I'm more concerned with my Brothers and Sisters. Vinyl is a good friend of mine and I want to know what has happened to her. Perhaps you found me because I lack the hiding skills like the better Assassins."
"Maybe?" once again, the thief knew no answer. "If I was ya, lass, I'd start to prepare for the worst. It's the life ya live. When ya live by the sword, ya die by it too. Not to sound harsh, but this is what happens to Assassins."
They continued to move down the street. Octavia felt like clutching her heart due to Hearts' less-than-sympathetic words. She started to picture all the ways Vinyl could have met her untimely demise. Burning in the Den, being butchered by the Templars outside, maybe even dying instantly by the explosion that blew the Den apart. The Assassin shook her head clean of the thoughts. It was not healthy to think about such gruesome things, she concluded. With a long sigh, she simply led the horse along and followed the thief.
Canterlot had not recovered from the attack either. Wide eyes were present in the faces of the merchants, smiths, and every woman and child. They were scared. Haunted by the explosions of the night, the Canterlotians were slow to leave their homes in the morning. The shops were closed; the popular areas such as fountains were surprisingly empty, and the people who were out fared well to not utter a sound as if to protect themselves from the phantoms that terrorized their city.
"Is there a plan, Hearts?" Octavia asked.
"No, not yet. The plan right now I guess is to stay low and try to recover. Just let the Templar ride their momentum until we are ready to step up and stop them."
"How long will that take?"
"A year? Five? A decade?" the thief shrugged.
"A decade!" Octavia snapped. "We can't let that happen! If the Templar take control of Canterlot they will have all of Equestria!"
"Well, power shifts ya know?"
"But we have the Bearers of Harmony! That should give us quite the advantage!"
"Huh! With that talk, why didn't ya guys make the Templar extinct?" Hearts asked.
"Huh?"
"I'm saying that ya can't rely on them. The Templar have artifacts too," Hearts told her. "Ya need way more than the Bearers. Also, do-"
"Can we stop up ahead? I'm not sure how much more walking I can do," Octavia said.
"It's ya ribs?"
"And my head, and my back, and my face..."
"Alright..."
Hearts supported Octavia and helped her to a fountain in the middle of a plaza. The hurt Assassin sat down on the stone rim and rubbed her side. The thief went to one knee beside her and started to untie some of the Assassin's robes.
"I think ya need to let the wound breath," she said. "Doesn't matter how much ya want to get the Brotherhood back, ya ain't going anywhere like this."
"I understand," Octavia sighed. "I presume you are taking me back to the Thieves Guild?"
"Not so loud," Hearts whispered, "but yes, I am. We can bring ya horse too."
"She's not my horse..."
"Stolen eh? Well, that's even better!" Hearts chuckled. "Hate to cut ya rest short, but we need to get over there."
Octavia simply nodded and allowed the thief to lift her up on the fountain's rim. With a grimace, she reached her arm around Hearts' shoulder and they began on their way again. The horse neighed loudly before following them without either one of them holding on the reins.
"Here we are."
Hearts knocked on a small wooden door four times and waited. The door was in terrible shape and appeared like it had been put back together more than once. However, the door was fitting for what was around them. Being in the eastern parts of the city, the sun hardly ever reached alleys or the neglected plazas. In the morning the sun was blocked by the mountain, and in the evening it could not reach past the tall buildings to the west. Because of this, the eastern quarters were less inhabited and the people who did inhabit it were much poorer than their northern or western counterparts.
The door opened and two men came out. They said quick hellos to Hearts before relieving her of Octavia and taking the hurt Assassins as their burden. It was a lightning fast exchange and they soon entered the Guild's headquarters before anyone could spot them. The thieves hurried her over to bed and laid her there carefully. Then they ran back out to take care of the following horse.
"Aw, so ya found a live one eh?" Minuette said when she entered the dark room.
"It's Octavia," Hearts told the other. "She had a scuffle with Sunset Shimmer."
"Tough luck," Minuette smiled.
"Minuette, this is serious," Twinks scolded her when she entered. "Twilight is a friend and we are dear allies with the Brotherhood. If they go, we are likely to follow," she looked over at Octavia. "How is she?"
"I could do better, much better," Octavia answered. Have you two found any of my Brothers?"
"I found a dead Assassin, but that's it," Twinks shrugged.
"Dead? Could you identify him or her?" Octavia breathed faster.
"He had orange hair and a dark complexion. He wore gray robes," Twinks answered.
Octavia sighed in relief, but then felt guilty at doing so. "He was not my friend, but it is sad to lose him. I remember seeing him at the Den once or twice. Anyone else?"
"Not at all."
"Then it seems I'm the only Assassin left in Canterlot..."
"I wouldn't go that far," Minuette patted Octavia's leg. "Canterlot is a big place. There's hundreds of places where Assassins could go hide. Give 'em a week or so and they'll find each other."
"Wait! I may have something that could help in that," Octavia lifted a hand. "I would reach for it, but the pain is too much. There's a crystal in my sash. Please be careful with it."
Minuette untied the sash around Octavia's waist and took out the Map's crystal. It glowed like it had been, a faded blue that would seemingly pulse every two or three seconds. The thieves were confused only for a moment and then raised a brow at the Assassin.
"What do with do with it?" Twinks asked.
"I am not sure. I took it from the Den. It's a map you see and we can use it to track down Templars or Assassins. It was inside a thick table. That's all I know when it comes it activating it. If we do, it will be very valuable to us."
Hearts stepped up and pointed at the crystal. "If ya guys had a map that could follow Templar, how did ya let them attack you?"
Octavia was speechless at this question. Her eyes wandered as she thought of an answer or a reasonable conclusion. There seemed to be none. "I...I don't know. Neglect? Sometimes it seems a bit slow on the tracking. Perhaps the Templar went too fast for it? Your guess is as good if not better than mine. In fact, since I joined, we had not really used it all that much. The Grandbearer knew it best, I'm sure of that. She was always around it."
"Did the Templar carry artifacts with them?" Twinks asked.
"I did not see any. Why?" Octavia asked back.
"Alicorn Artifacts don't get along with each other," Twinks explained. "Never been around them, but Twilight's told me a thing or two about them. You know her, always talking. The artifacts were not made equal. One artifact will always trump another. The Templar may have been carrying a more powerful artifact that interrupted this artifact's capabilities."
"Well, that's bloody good news," Minuette growled. "We're thieves, but we can't beat the supernatural."
"Then it is of utmost importance that I contact the Brotherhood in other cities," Octavia said. "Ponyville is a headquarters for the Brotherhood. I will not let my home fall to the Templar."
"That's great and all," Minuette rolled her eyes. "But you're not going anywhere with those bruises. Sunset beat the tar outta ya."
Octavia leaned her head back and blew some hair out of her face. "Damn my body! And damn that insane woman too! Once I am well enough to leave, I shall with no hesitation. My city needs me and my friend is out there," she gulped. "Oh Vinyl, please be well.....please be alright..."
~