The Fall

by Writer12577

Chapter Eight: Encounter

Rainbow slowly put the folder down. She knew that facility. She had spent endless hours there whilst Twilight had been helping the so nice-seeming Plasma Cannon out with his projects. She had seen some top secret stuff, but had never suspected anything like this.

They had a gun that could bring dead back to life. All of a sudden, she had hope. Hope that was radiating from the past. She could bring her friends back. She would meet them again, reunite after the countless days, feel their warmth and just let the pressure slide off of her.

And together they would be able to stand up against the Rebellion. They would end the era of exploitation and cruelty. They would bring the light back to the citizens of the greatest of the nations.

But that was a far-away dream. The gun was in Canterlot, in a shut-down, top secret and possibly already cleansed facility. And she was stuck here in Ponyville, blood-thirsty Rebels surrounding her.

She had to get out. She had to leave this damned village and get to Canterlot, no matter what. There she would have even some hope. Hope of surviving, hope of ending this all, even hope of reuniting with her friends.

But getting out wasn't so easy. The Rebels had tightened the security over the course of the last twenty hours. Rainbow had seen multiple patrols and a suspicious-looking shadow that was circling the streets.

It was already late night, but she was afraid to sleep. Last night she had learnt a lesson: Nowhere is safe. She couldn't just go to sleep, completely unaware of the surroundings.

So she stood up from the bed, grabbed the small flashlight she kept next to the sofa, turned it on and took a good look around the room.

It was just as empty as it had been five minutes ago, when she had last checked.

She sighed. All the hiding and killing was starting to get on her. Paranoia, insomnia, even slight amnesia. The darkness around her was starting to embrace her even more as the minutes passed by.

The window. She could swear that the shadow had been there.

She quickly trotted over to the window, killed the light and stared outside, trying to see every single detail of the surrounding camp.

And there it was. The shadow. Flying in the skies over the surrounding houses. It was looking for something.

The shadow was gray. Light gray, to be exact. Though, it seemed to be cloaked into the darkness, making it more like a deep dark, almost black gray.

It had wings. A pegasus, maybe? But it was a Rebel. All Rebels were bad, no matter who he or she was.

Rainbow felt a sudden urge to spread her wings, to take the skies from the sudden invader. The skies of Ponyville were hers and hers only.

But the pain of the still-wrapped wing stopped her from doing that. She felt a single tear force its way out of her eye due to the mixture of pain, emotions and memories. She was doomed to be flightless.

The gray pony was circling something. It was just across the street. Rainbow tried to see what was so interesting.

And after a minute of zooming, she saw it.

An apparently brown earth pony that was lying on the ground, holding his or her hooves over his or her head.

The pegasus was a predator. A hunter, just like Rainbow. A lone wolf, all alone against the world.

But at the same time it was an enemy, a threat. And threats need to be neutralized.

Rainbow looked with a blank expression as the pegasus slowly started landing. It was slowly descending over the brown earth pony. Rainbow knew that the pony was doomed. If the pegasus really was an assassin, it would kill its target with no pity.

The pegasus dropped down and landed agilely, not even causing a slightest thud as its hooves touched the ground. Now that it was on the ground, Rainbow could see its body shapes better. It was definitely a mare.

The pegasus walked over to the earth pony that was visibly shaking. Despite the fact that the earth pony, apparently a stallion, was bigger than his hunter, he was completely helpless when lying on the ground under the silhouette of his doom.

The pegasus seemed to say some words. Rainbow had no hope of hearing what it was, but knowing assassins, she could have sworn that it was a bloody insult.

Few seconds passed by. Nothing moved. Every single littlest thing had stopped to look at the scene that was playing in front of them. A scene of life and death. A scene of destiny getting fulfilled.

And all of a sudden, the pegasus dropped down, pulled something out from her coat-matching bag and made a swift motion with her hoof. The earth pony stopped shaking and his head dropped back. Although it was not visible, Rainbow knew that the blood of the poor stallion was flowing out from the freshly-made cut in his throat.

The pegasus immediately pulled her knife back, cleaned it and put it back into her bag. Her job here was done and she knew that staying in the scene for too long was extremely dangerous.

She let out a loud whistle, a signal for the stallions that had been hiding in the shadows. They came out of their hiding spots, had a few words with the pegasus, gave her something that looked like a bag of bits, put the body in a black bag and took the lifeless corpse of the brown earth pony away.

The pegasus was an assassin. Rainbow had been right. No random pony kills with such a professional touch. But what Rainbow thought was wrong was that she got paid. She took lives for money. She was a lousy hit man. A true assassin takes no payment, as the respect from your comrades and the fear in the eyes of your victims is enough.

Rainbow focused again. She had lost herself into the veil of thoughts yet again. It had to stop. It was not safe in such environment. Someday, if not now, someone would offer a fat bag of bits for her head. And when that would happen, she could not afford any mistakes.

She looked back out of the window. The pegasus was gone. The scene was silent, empty and clean. The stallions had left no mark of the kill. Once again the work of a professional.

Rainbow let out a little sigh. Things had been so different mere weeks earlier. The world had been in peace. The sun had been shining, the birds had been chirping as always and she had been taking naps and spending good time with her friends.

Those times would still be here if she would just have made the right decision. It was her fault. Her and her only. She had caused the deaths of her friends. She had caused the rise of the Rebellion. She had caused all the evil in the world. She had caused the death of that innocent brown earth pony. She was responsible of all the pain and sorrow in this world.

Rainbow let a tear drop from her eye. If she only would have chosen wisely, reacted faster…

“Having a little moment, huh?” asked a cold voice. The tone dug deep into the insides of Rainbow, causing her to shiver.

She tried to spin around, but a hard kick to her left hind leg forced her to face the window. She had been surprised. And in the middle of a deep moment. Not a good thing.

She knew exactly who this pony who had managed to surprise her was. This certain pony had spotted her when she had let her concentration slip off. This certain pony had managed to get in from Celestia-knows-what little hole that was somewhere in this house, unblocked. This certain pony had waited for the perfect moment, mentally stabbed her victim and made sure that her victim wouldn't try anything.

This could have worked for a regular victim. But Rainbow was an assassin, too. She had experience from stuff like this. She was agile, maybe even more agile than her enemy. She could do surprising moves. She could take the little knife out of the hoof of the other pony. And most importantly, she was fighting for something way more important than cash or neutralizing witnesses. She was fighting for her friends. She was fighting in order to change destiny. She was fighting for a greater good.

Rainbow felt the feelings boil inside her. She was preparing for her attack. She would win. For the brown earth pony. For her friends. For Equestria.

But she had to wait for a perfect moment. Her enemy was no regular pony either. One small mistake would mean certain death.

The best way to distract a pony was to start up a conversation. That’s just what she tried.

“Okay, you got me. Bravo. How did you get in? I thought that I had blocked all the entrances,” she said.

“Do you really think that I’m that stupid?” the other pony asked in the same deep and cold, emotionless tone.

Rainbow smirked. Just what she had been waiting for.

“Yes,” she said, jumped high into the air, spun around facing to the other pony, who by the way really was the same light gray assassin, and swung her right forehoof directly towards the skull of the pegasus while on mid-air.

There was a slight look of surprise and even awe on the face of the pegasus for a blink of an eye, but soon it was replaced by the same emotionless look as the pegasus dodged the swing by just mere inches.

Rainbow stumbled to the floor. But knowing that it was dangerous to just stay there, she ignored the pain in her injured wing, forced herself back up and faced the pegasus.

There was a second of silence between the two assassins before the light gray pegasus attacked.

She aimed for the throat. Rainbow knew this well. It was the easiest place to deal a killing blow to after all.

She swiftly dodged this obvious attack, trying to distract the other pony with her hoof whilst doing so. But she forgot about one thing.

Her enemy was a pegasus as well. And she was capable of flying.

The light gray pegasus unfurled her wings while she was still on air, changing her direction and giving her an open spot in Rainbow’s side where she easily could slice.

Rainbow felt a sharp pain on her right side. She had underestimated her enemy. And now she had a wound on her side.

But her experiences had taught her to ignore the pain. She swung her forehooves towards the gray pegasus instead, got a hold of her right wing and pulled as hard as she could. A loud crack could be heard, indicating that Rainbow had been successful.

The other pony screamed in pain. The wings of a pegasus are really fragile and sensitive unless trained to a top fit. So it was completely understandable that the pegasus was in horrifying pain. When Rainbow had hurt her own wing, the pain had been so hard she had fainted. It was still present, never leaving her alone.

The other pony fell to the ground, face still showing an emotion powered by pure pain. The effect had been an extremely hard one. Rainbow almost felt bad for what she had done.

But a good assassin feels no pity. Respect, on the other hoof, is even encouraged.

Rainbow walked over to the other pony that was still in so horrible pain she was unable to move. She put a hoof in front of her enemy’s eyes, indicating that she had something to say.

The gray pegasus immediately snapped her attention to Rainbow.

The next part was going to be hard and Rainbow knew it. But it needed to be done.

“Do you want to live or die?” she asked. She was offering a way out. It was a sign that the enemy had been good and the winner respected her.

The gray pegasus immediately nodded. She had lost her honor, she had lost to a completely unknown enemy, she had broken her wing, and she might never be able to fly again. To be honest, Rainbow would have made the very same decision in her condition.

The other pony pointed at the small knife that was lying next to her. She wanted to be taken by her own, faithful weapon. Together, until death takes them apart…

Rainbow nodded silently. She walked over to the body of the suffering pegasus, took the small knife that was lying next to her body and positioned it over her throat.

The pegasus opened her mouth. Final words.

“You… You were... An enemy too good… For me…”

Rainbow took those words, absorbed them, let them embrace her. Pure respect from another assassin was rare nowadays.

“Mara. I’m Mara,” said the pegasus, before putting her hoof at the knife, hinting about what had to be done.

An assassin never tells his or her name. Never, unless it’s an extremely special occasion. Most of the assassins take their name to the grave with them, not letting even the closest ones to know it. It’s often seen as either a betrayal, cowardly action or as a huge sign of respect, even love. Rainbow knew what this was meant to be.

“I’m Rainbow. You were a worthy enemy, Mara. May you rest in peace, free of the pain and sorrow of those whose your life you took. You die as an assassin, by the hand of another assassin. Your soul is clean.”

As Rainbow said that, she took a final look into the eyes of the mare. She was looking in awe, but at the same time begging for the relief.

She made a small motion with her hoof. End it.

And so Rainbow pushed the knife into the throat of the gray-coated pegasus. She could see a single tear roll down the light gray cheek as life escaped the body, leaving it empty and limp.

Rainbow made a small symbol with her hoof into the air. A fellow assassin had fallen, even if she had been a corrupt one.

Rainbow put the knife down. She could not live in this house anymore. She had to leave. Too many memories. Too many deaths. Too many emotions.

She’d leave the next morning. It was decided. No matter how safe this house would be, it was impossible for her to live in a place where she had taken five lives.

She closed her eyes to prevent the tears from escaping, fell over to the ground and shortly after fell asleep next to the lifeless body of her latest victim.

Comments

[Writer12577]

Finally. Talk about taking my time...

Explanation coming up. Prepare.

Well, as the vacation ended, I returned home. I had stuff to do and catch on. This chapter was one of those, yes, but for some reason I was completely unable to write anything. Depression? Maybe. Lack of creativity? Nope, I had ideas but putting them on virtual paper didn't work...

But the most important thing is that this is up now and I finally can easy my mind for a week, until I have to start worrying about when I will publish the next chapter.

Anyways, you know the regular stuff. Feel free to point out mistakes and all.

[Silver Moon]

YAY!! Two deaths!!
Now for the less fun part, pointing out mistakes. In no particular order:

"The skies of Ponyville were her and her only."
Say this line out loud and it seems choppy. Perhaps if you made the "her" plural. Or if you replaced the "were" to "belonged to."

"The earth pony opened her mouth. Final words."
What Earth Pony? The only Earth Pony we have seen in this chapter was the brown one that died.

Also, when Rainbow asked Mara if she wants to live or die, the response is unclear. A nod means yes, but the question asked is not a yes-or-no one.

That is all I found today. I am really enjoying this story. Can't wait for more!!!
Oh, and I almost forgot: FUZZYNESS!!!

[Writer12577]

1433000

Once again you have helped this story in a great way.

Yes, you're right. That really does seem pretty choppy... Fixed!

Pegasus! Pegasus for Celestia's sake! That's what you get for writing in the early hours of the morning...

Yes, I actually was well aware of that. But immediately after the nod, she points at the knife, hinting about her decision.

Great to hear that. Happy to see that I have such enthusiastic readers! More coming, as always!

So. Much. Fuzziness!!

[Silver Moon]

1433078
No, that was not so much fuzziness.
THIS is so much fuzzyness:

[Writer12577]

1433119

>Too. Much. Fuzziness!
>Can't keep up!
>Fatal Error!
>Closing system to prevent serious damage in 5.
>4...
>3...
>2...
>1...
>

>Fuzziness took over! No going back possible.

[Silver Moon]

1433201

Fatal Error

[Silver Moon]

1433201

Fatal Error

[Writer12577]

1433239

>Emergency shutdowns are always so nice.

1433244

>They keep you up and running with no errors.

>They just happen to DELETE EVERYTHING! Seriously, when my XP crashes, BOOM! There goes hard work...