On the Road
Sunset Shimmer and the rest of the Rainbooms sat with Velvet Breeze in her home, waiting for the Assassin’s phone to ring once again.
The girls had left Sweet Apple Acres early that morning, heading right for Velvet’s home when the Assassins had called her. Velvet’s hoodie was still in the wash, so the young Assassin had decided to don the new coat Rarity had made for her.
Velvet had instructed the others that Morning Blade had only asked for Sunset and her, seeing as she had yet to let the Assassins know about the six other friends she had made. The rest of the girls refused to let the two of them go alone, so here they all were, waiting for an Assassin to arrive to supposedly pick them up.
“Don’t worry, Velvet,” Sunset assured, propping herself on the kitchen counter beside the young Assassin. “We’ll explain to them why the others are here. I’m sure they’ll understand.”
“I hope you’re right,” Velvet said quietly.
“Don’t sweat it, Velvet!” Rainbow Dash pretended to flex her arms. “There’s no way we’re letting just the two of you head off without us! We’re your friends. We stick together.”
“It’s not that which I’m worried about,” Velvet said. “If Wolfgang manages to report everything back to his superiors, then the Templars might know that you’re Sunset’s friends.”
“Yeah, so?”
“The Templars might start targeting you as well,” Velvet pointed out, checking the contents of a black slingbag she had retrieved from her room earlier. “Sunset was lucky enough to escape that madman once. You girls don’t want to have the Templars coming after you too.”
“But that’s exactly why we need to come along, dear,” Rarity folded her arms. “At least with you and the Assassins, we’ll have protection. What if they come after us while we’re home alone?”
“I’m also not sure just how the rest of the bureau is going to take it. Technically speaking, we’re not supposed to get civilians involved. It’s part of our Creed.”
“Well, whether they like it or not, I’ve been involved since Mr. Wolfgang attacked me,” Sunset explained, knowing it to be true.
“And if Sunset’s involved, then so are we,” Rainbow pumped a fist to the air.
Velvet looked down to her feet, deep in thought. There was no turning back now. Whoever the Mentor sent, Velvet hoped they would understand and allow the girls to tag along. She’d hate to see the Assassins use force to keep them away.
“But what about your families? Won’t they be worried if you don’t come home?”
Pinkie shrugged. “That happens all the time with our slumber parties. Hard to think of a time when we do give notice that we’re not coming home.”
“I tell them…” Fluttershy whispered from the corner, seated on one of the old couches.
Velvet grimaced and nodded. “All right. I hope whoever they send to pick me up is understanding enough to let you girls come too.”
“Speaking o’ that,” Applejack took her hat in her hands. “When do you think they’ll arrive? Ya said your base is in Trottingham, right?”
Velvet nodded. “They could be arriving any moment now.”
Sunset pondered this. What kind of person would the Assassins send for them? Would they be cold-blooded killers like Velvet had described, killing all those who stood in their way? Sunset shook her head. The Assassins were on their side. The real problem was shaking these Templars off her trail. She had no idea what they wanted from her, and she wasn’t at all sure that she wanted to find out either.
On cue, Velvet’s phone began to ring. Lifting the screen to her head, Velvet accepted the call and placed the mobile device to her ear. “Hey, High Noon... Yeah, we’re fine... Should we meet you outside? Sure, see you there.” With everything said, Velvet ended the call and deposited her phone in her bag.
“So?” Applejack hopped off her stool and grabbed her coat. “We leavin’?”
Velvet nodded and slowly inched off the counter with a little help from Sunset. “Yeah. We’re meeting the Assassin outside.”
After a quick headcount, Velvet switched off the lights and heaters before leading the party down the steps and out into the snowy streets. Just outside the bureau door was a parked white van with a hooded orange-skinned man twirling a hat on a finger. He quickly stowed it to his side when he saw the group of girls and he was clearly shocked that they numbered more than two.
“Hey, Velvet. Glad to see you’re walking about…” he looked behind her and his smiled dropped. “Uh… Weren’t there only supposed to be two of you? What’s with the… the others?”
“That’s what I want to talk to you about.” Before Velvet began her explanation, she turned around and pointed at the others. “High Noon, these are Sunset Shimmer and her friends. Girls, this is High Noon.”
“Uh, well, a pleasure to meet y’all I’m sure…” the man smiled at them awkwardly. Then he bent closer and whispered to Velvet. “Kid, why’d you bring so many? You know the Creed. This is… Well… Yeah, you know.”
“Here’s the deal,” Velvet said. “The Templars are after Sunset, but I’m worried about her friends too. Wolfgang might have told the Templars that Sunset has friends, and we both know that it’s all too likely they’ll come after them to get to Sunset. If we let that happen, we’d be propagating civilian casualties, and that’s not allowed by the Creed, is it?”
Sunset was impressed. Although High Noon was clearly older, Velvet had him wrapped around her finger just like that.
“Uh… Hmmm… Well…” High Noon was lost for words. Finally, he conceded and let out a low sigh. “Frigid’s gonna kill me for this… You make a strong argument, Velvet.” He slid the side door for the van open and stood aside. “Hop in, kids. I’ll get us back to the bureau, but let me tell you first. Not a word of this to anyone.”
Rainbow whooped and led the others into the back of the vehicle. When Applejack was about to head in, the Assassin suddenly lifted a land before her to stop her.
“High Noon, what’re you doing?” Velvet looked at him puzzled.
“Nothing’s wrong, Velvet,” the brown haired Assassin shook his head. “But… I know you. Uh, what was it… Apple Tree, right?”
“My name’s Applejack,” Applejack corrected. “But whaddya mean ya know me? Ah’m pretty sure we ain’t never met before. Ah’d remember someone like you.”
What he said next surprised the girls. “Braeburn’s cousin, right?”
“Yeah…” Applejack’s jaw almost lost its strength. “Ya know my cousin?”
“Braeburn and I were best pals back in the day. You and your family visited him from time to time back in Appleloosa. Well, I guess you were much too young to remember me. You were just a little toddler then. How’s your granny doing?”
“S-She’s doing fine…” Applejack still looked bewildered by this turn of events.
“Well, let’s try to keep it that way, eh?” High Noon chuckled at his words. “Wow… Small world.”
“High Noon,” Velvet tugged on his sleeve. “Not to interrupt you or anything, but we should head out.”
“Oh, right, right, of course!” The Assassin flipped his hood off and replaced his hat back on his head. Only now did Sunset understand why he had a hat. “Come on aboard, Applejack. We can chat more later. Uh, and don’t forget your seatbelts. Safety first, you know?”
As the girls buckled themselves in (with Velvet taking the passenger seat), Rainbow Dash nudged Applejack. “I didn’t know you had history with the Assassins, AJ. That’s sooo cool!”
Applejack looked less enthused. “‘s news to me too.”
“I like how he simply started chatting with you,” Sunset smiled and leaned back against the metal. “Maybe these Assassins aren’t as cold-blooded as we thought.”
“They need a better name,” Fluttershy suggested with a small laugh.
The girls watched the front and rear as High Noon maneuvered in and out of traffic, skillfully avoiding all the other cars on the road. There was the occasional honk from passing vehicles, but not once did he make Sunset feel like they were going to crash.
“Hey, Dash, he seems to be a much better driver than you,” Sunset joked.
“One time,” Rainbow groused. “I run into a flagpole one time and this is what I get.”
The girls all shared a laugh as the van picked up speed once it hit the interstate. For a rickety old van, it sure could drive pretty well.
“Everyone alright back there?” High Noon pushed open the glass window separating them. “Velvet wants to check on y’all.”
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Sunset reported. The van’s suspension kept them from feeling any of the bumps in the road, and not even the snowy roads seemed to deter High Noon’s driving skills.
“Just wanted to let you know, no one is to know the location of our bureau, got it?” the driver reminded as he swapped lanes again. “If you tell anyone, I’m going to be in big trouble.”
“You got it, Mr. Cowboy Assassin!” Pinkie leapt to the window and yelled behind his head, startling him, swerving the car a little.
“Careful there!” High Noon managed to get back control of the car. “And what happened to your seatbelt? Put it back on, please.”
“It is on.”
Only then did the others notice the seatbelt was still fastened around Pinkie’s waist, somehow stretching all the way to the front. It shrunk back after she hopped back to her seat, smiling from ear to ear.
“How in the…” High Noon watched from the rearview mirror. “Nevermind. The faster we get back the better.”
Even though the van was pretty steady, it didn’t seem to have a very good heating system. The cold was already seeping through the van’s walls, creeping into Sunset’s skin even through her winter getup.
“Woo…” Applejack shivered and hugged her arms across her chest. “It’s gettin’ m-mighty cold in h-here… Hey, could one of y-y’all turn on the h-heatin’ or somethin’?”
“Heating?” High Noon asked while watching the road. “Oh, heating. Sorry kids, we don’t have that here. This is a pretty simple van. Inherited it from an old friend of mine after he left. He never was very afraid of the cold, so he didn’t have heating installed.”
“Must’ve b-been a very odd fella…” Applejack mused. “Ah mean, it’s r-really cold back here…”
“The previous guy was probably a really… Cold-hearted Assassin. Right, guys?” Rainbow slapped her hands together and laughed, but stopped when no one else joined her. “What? It was funny, wasn’t it?”
“Well, you’re not far off...” High Noon gave a wave to some car on the left. “I’d say the guy was a robot if I didn’t know him better. Very little emotion, monotonous, and he even spends more time with technology than with us human beings. Can you believe that? Ha ha!”
“I liked him,” Velvet added. “He’s the one who taught me to use the baton.”
“Well, I’m quite sure we can believe it just fine,” Rarity checked on her make up. “We’ve got one like that back in school. I can’t stand a minute of his class. Ugh.”
The next hour of the ride went about silently with the exception of breaths and clattering teeth. Each girl just tried to keep themselves warm in their own way as the cold fought to fully enter the van.
Sunset had wrapped her purple scarf tightly around her ears and mouth, while she dug her gloved hands deep into her jacket pockets, unable to do much else.
Just gotta put up with it a little more. You can do it, Sunset. Just think about a warm sunny beach. Clear waters, swimming turtles, the hot sun…
An uncertain amount of time later, Sunset’s reverie was broken by High Noon’s voice.
“We’ll be arriving in about five minutes,” the cowboy Assassin reported. “When we get there, please don’t wander off. Stay with me and Velvet, okay?”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie finished after sticking a fist in her eye. “Got it, Mr. Cowboy Assassin!”
He looked to Velvet for an explanation, but all the young Assassin did was shrug her good shoulder. “They will, High Noon. Don’t worry.”
“They better…” the orange-skinned Assassin nervously swallowed. “I’m already sticking my neck out on this one. Frigid isn’t going to like this one bit…”
As the van pulled into the bureau, neither the driver nor the passengers noticed a black and green motorcycle lingering in an alley between two distant buildings. Its black-clad rider slowly lowered her binoculars and slid her helmet’s visor back down over her face. A phone was produced and dialled.
“Hello, chairman,” Mirror Match said. “I just thought you should know, they’ve arrived.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.022 seconds
Total duration
969 users online
399,379 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Oh snap! Mirror Match is back!
And Braeburn is friends with an Assassin? Didn't see that one coming.
Wow so who is the higher up traitor? They seemed to know that Sunset was going to get moved and where. She was safer at school then where she is now. Hopefully Sunset will be able to stay safe or have Twilight open the portaland make a mad dash for Equestria.
Yaaaaaaay act 3 already!!!! So things are definitely going to escalate now right? Now the Templars know Sunset is here, it won't be long before they strike. Maybe they're in more danger here than at home. And is Twilight coming over any time soon?
Frigid's gonna blow his top, I shall use it to make smores.
7331565 good I'll bring the popcorn and get ready to watch the drama unfold and it shall be glorious!
DAMMIT MIRROR MATCH! NOT NOW!
Pierce.
And this is where things start going oh so very wrong. Good luck girls.