> An equestrian hitpony > by rainbowderp117 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > An "easy" job part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sharpshooter sighed heavily as he looked out towards the warehouse, it was abandoned years ago and just by having a short glimpse at it you could easily tell it had better days. But Sharpshooter didn't come for sightseeing his target was rumored to be in it and he was going to get paid a formidable amount of bits to him. "Lets get this over with." he whispered to himself as he began to slowly move towards the warehouse. Just so you can get the picture of Sharpshooter's appearance he is a dark blue colt with a brown mane and has just became 20 years old a few days ago, he usually wears a black trench coat with a matching fedora which does a remarkable job at hiding his appearance but makes guards more suspicious of him. He never would have thought in his life he would have been a hitpony until a job had been given to him for an extremely large amount of bits. After murdering what seemed to be an innocent pony Sharpshooter had decided he would never land his hooves against a pony ever again, but then he remembered his low paying job and his depressing Manehatten life and decided to become a hitpony even if he had to end another innocents life. after five assassinations of normal everyday ponies he decided to pursue the big leagues. The amount of bits to murder this pony sounded absurd but he didn't dare question it. Sharpshooter walked around the warehouse expecting to find guards but all he found was the entrance to the building "they told me this would be easy but I didn't know it would be this easy." He thought, It had been said to be an easy job a few thousand bits to get in a building and kill a drug dealer who was a new kid on the block but he had expected at least a guard trying to protect him. "Well you know what they say easy bits easy life" he sighed as he slowly turned the doorknob and inspected the contents of the facility, nothing. The inside was mostly wiped clean and stripped of it's paint because of the highly noticeable rusted walls "nothing but a bunch dust and cobwebs" he said in a depressed tone. "DAMN IT SHOW YOURSELF ALREADY." he yelled but the only sounds audible where silence and the echos of his furious outburst echoing off the walls. He then began to trot towards the office where he was told the target would be hiding. As he gripped the doorknob with his hoof he remembered to unsheathe his sword and out of his rage of boredom decided to kick the door open. The room was pitch black so Sharpshooter had decided to pull out his lantern but what he didn't know was that a pony was right behind him with a sword. "Looks like we have a trespasser." The pony said in a stern voice. Before Sharpshooter could react the pony collided into him sending his sword flying into the air and pulled out a syringe from his gigantic suit of armor. "This is gonna hurt a lot." The pony said with a smirk before he jabbed it into the hitpony's chest. Sharpshooter than collided into the floor, the contents of the syringe made him disoriented and he decided that he needed rest so he immediately shut his eyes. Sharpshooter woke up in a stone cell he felt lightheaded but had managed to get off the cold floor "where am I?" He asked no pony in particular. "Your in the point of your life that you will never forget." Said a distant voice that began giggling evilly. His anger had only doubled from the start of the job and he didn't like being in tight spaces for a long amount of time. "GET ME OUT OF THIS DAMN CELL! " He yelled at the top of his lungs and angrily started punching the bars of the cell which he immediately regretted as he yelled a quiet curse and pulled his now bleeding hoofs back. "Well I can let you out on one condition." The pony said as his figure slowly appeared out of the darkness and his stern face turned into a smirk and said "you work for me." "Why do i have such crappy luck." Sharpshooter whispered to himself before being knocked out by a tranquilizer dart he had not seen poking out from his back. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "So where do you want this new worker to be thrown?" a guard said to the drug dealer named Spark he was currently working for. "Just throw him on the couch i have work for him to do" Spark said while taking a sip from his coffee mug. "Oh, and guard him too I don't want him to leave just yet." "As long as I get paid overtime for guarding this dirty mess." the guard sighed before throwing the pony against the couch like he had been ordered to. A beige colt with a black mane then barged into the room with easily noticeable sweat racing down his face. "Did you capture him?" He quickly asked. "You know me, of course I would he's taking a nap right now." Spark said and after closer inspection of the pony who he now knows as his scout asked "why do you look like you just tried outrunning a pack of timber wolves?" his faced now turning into a concerned expression. "I am so sorry to tell you this sir but the royal guards just found out about our trade routes and are going to attack are caravan!." He said as he slowly stepped towards the door. "Well then." The dealer decided to take another sip from his mug. "I guess our new hitpony has some work to do." He heard a confused voice and then a loud thump coming from the couch. "Oh your awake, perfect timing!" > An "easy" job part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Dammit" Sharpshooter cursed as his body landed on the hardwood floor of Spark's office. He then looked around the room to see his captor drinking coffee on his chair. "Worst Monday ever" he sighed as he forced him self off the unusually comfortable floor. Spark then casually looked around the room and saw him forcing himself off the floor. "Oh, I completely forgot to tell you my name is Spark Nighthoof I'm your new boss!" his captor said with a nasty grin as he extended his hoof towards Sharpshooter which he regrettably stood up and shook. "Now that I know your ready I have a new job for you." After those words came out Spark's mouth his blood ran cold. "Their is a royal guard in Canterlot, goes by the name of Sgt.Hardhoof he has the plans to our new route and I need you to take him out." "And what if I don't?" He said but could nearly predict the answer to the question. "My surveillance team would be keeping an eye on you most of the time so if you tried to escape you would be chased down and killed." Spark had an unreadable expression but by the way he looked at him he knew he was serious. "Now if you would could kindly leave my office the folder with all the required information for the job is at the table by the door." As he began to slowly walk out Spark said "oh, and your equipment is out back so you should probably take that if you don't want to die easily." As Sharpshooter came out of the office he received a few snickers from the guards since they where calling him boss's slave Which infuriated him to no end. He quickly grabbed his equipment and ran out the door. He began to walk outside and looked at his surroundings the gentle breeze pushed his mane back as the bright yellow sun blinded his eyes through the green trees. "Now what does this damn pony want me to do." He said as he opened up the folder and flipped through it's contents. It was mostly personal information of his target wife,hobbies,etc but the last file contained his nearly exact location. "CANTERLOT CASTLE!?" He yelled after he read where his target would be he became less confident about his chance of survival. "Welp" he sighed "guess i'm gonna have to catch a train". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sharpshooter was able to reach the nearest town he knew that contained a train station in a fairly short amount of time. The town was named hoofington, it was a small town with a few shops and houses, it had the same look as most towns except the only difference is that it had a train station. Sharpshooter was bored since he had found out the train would arrive in an hour. After ten minutes of searching for something to do he found an ice cream shop near the station he then looked at his bits and then focused his attention back to the shop "It's always time for ice cream." he said as his stomach growled. Sharpshooter began eating his ice cream but all the ponies where staring at him since he was eating it so quickly it looked like he needed it to live. He didn't mind though because he had just figured out the train would leave twenty minutes early and he only had a few minutes left so he could be on time. "Excuse me sir sorry to disturb you but you need to pay for that before you leave." Said the waitress pony as she curiously inspected him shoving his ice cream down his throat. He quickly glanced at the clock on the wall and heard the sound of a train starting to move. "Sorry gotta go bye!" He said as he threw his payment in a random direction and quickly flashed towards the door ramming it open and he ran into pedestrians trying to get himself to the now moving train. As he got closer and closer he began to prepare his legs for a jump towards the railing on the back of the train. After a few seconds of him trying to catch up with the train he finally decided to launch himself which worked but he received a welcoming bonk from the railing against his head which nearly made him fall off. When he walked in he was heavily panting and soaked in his sweat "I, never want to do that again." He exclaimed as he slowly took his seat next to a mare who was intensely staring at him. "What are you looking at" Sharpshooter said in a non serious voice. "Sorry" she said as she turned her head in the other direction. After a few hours of staring out at the boring forests through the window Sharpshooter decided to go to sleep. When he woke up he looked around to see that the mare was gone. "Well guess I better take the chance to look at my equipment while no body is looking." He said as he opened up the bag Spark had given him. The first thing he had pulled out was a shiny dagger that looked brand new "guess Spark wanted me to take out an important target if he gave me this." He then proceeded to take out a map, throwing knives, a rope, and a poison dart with an iron tip which had truly impressed him. "Damn son where did you find this." He said with a smile stuffing it in his backpack as Canterlot slowly appeared through the thick fog which had formed after he had woken up. His train had finally came to a halt in Canterlot station, he began to pick up his things and trotted outside looking at his surroundings he noticed that the city was very wealthy with posh ponies walking all around and buildings with diamonds strapped to them. When he had finally reached the inner city he began to notice ponies giving him strange looks but he didn't mind because he knew it was the middle of summer. He began to think about how to get in the castle, he knew that if he tried to go to through the entrance he would be stopped by guards and the windows where to high to reach without wings, so he had decided to enter a nearby inn and sleep till night when most guards would be asleep. When he walked in the inn the lobby became eerily quiet as all the ponies in the room had focused their attention on him. Unlike the other ponies the owner was a friendly colt and decided to actually speak. "Hello their sir do you need anything for today?." He asked in a calm manner. "Yes, do you have any rooms I could stay in?" Sharpshooter asked the owner. "Oh yes we have an unoccupied room to your the left." He then grabbed one of the keys that was in a dresser and handed it to him. "It will be fifteen bits for a day and night. Sharpshooter quickly grabbed the keys and walked towards his room before things get even more awkward. After he laid himself on the room's bed he began to think about how he would survive his next hit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hey sir why did you send that pony out there to kill that royal guard if the Insurrection would stop the attack anyway?" One of Spark's men asked him. "It is all part of my plan you will see." Spark said as he took another sip of his coffee. > The first job > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sharpshooter woke up in the first hour of midnight and prepared for his hit he grabbed his equipment and put on his trench coat. He walked through the dark hallways of the inn and set his room key on the counter where the manager had been sleeping. The streets were clear of all the tourists and citizens and the only sound he could hear was the quiet chirping of crickets in the grass and the rushing of the cold air. After walking down the streets of Canterlot he finally reached the castle where his target was said to be. "Now how am i going to get in this damn thing?" He said to himself as he began his journey around the castle trying to find a way in. He heard the flapping of wing as a male pegasus landed in front of him. "Oh crap I have to play this cool so i won't get caught." He thought to himself as he turned to greet him. "What is your business here citizen?" The guard asked with a stern look on his face. Sharpshooter knew that he was being serious and he had to legitimately answer if he didn't want to get thrown in the royal dungeon. "Oh I am so sorry for disturbing you sir but I have seem to have lost my belongings that I am sure I had lost here." Sharpshooter answered but the guard wasn't taking any of it. "Sir I request that you please return to your home you can recover your belongings tomorrow morning." The guard responded with a stricter voice. "I am so sorry but I need them immediately so they will not be stolen." He said with a small grin expecting the guard to back off. "We will retrieve your belongings before anything happens to them if you want to have a further argument you can take it to court." The guards face clearly showed that he was annoyed. "Well screw you to then." I said before I quickly dashed away from the guard before he could tackle me. As I ran towards one of the sides of the castle I could hear the echoes of the guard cursing as he attempted to pursue me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sgt.Hardhoof was reading the plans for the raid on a convoy route when a pegasus guard threw open his window. "Sir their is an pony who is trying to break into the castle!" the guard hesitantly told him. The sergeant was caught off guard by his unexpected remark and responded. "Well, Um tell some of the guards to search the perimeter he might as well be a spy." He said to the guard who gave a slight nod and quickly dashed out the window. Hardhoof then gained back his focus on the task at hand. "Well everything is certain to work." He pushed back his mane and thought for a second "but who would actually be brave enough to do it is hard to say." He then began his walk to the armory to discuss it with his guards. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sharpshooter had found a way in by climbing over a low fence into a garden. The garden was filled with thick grass and rows of flowers he paid no attention to them though because he notice a pair of guards running around the outside of the castle towards his direction. He was lucky enough to get out in time because of the door that lead inside. He was furiously sweating after the run he had outside but he knew he would be caught taking a rest so he made his way down the dark hallways of the castle. He heard a pony running behind him and he started sweating even more. "GET ON THE GROUND NOW!" The pony yelled at him and he realized it was a guard pony who was behind him. Sharpshooter knew if he was caught he would end up in jail longer than he could ever bear and knew what he had to do. "MAKE ME!" Sharpshooter yelled as he turned around and punched the guard in the face sending him spiraling into the marble floor. Before the guard could get off the ground he pulled out his knife and stabbed the guard in the neck. He could hear a large amount of footsteps and yelling coming towards him and quickly dashed across the hall into an area with stairs "Okay where is the damn armory?" He said quickly searching through the map of the castle. He quickly ran down the staircases almost falling over and found the door to where the armory is said to be. The room was filled with weapons and had three guards talking to what he believed to be his target who stared directly at him. "There is the criminal get him now!" The sergeant yelled at the guards who immediately obeyed and began to approach him with spears. "Get on the ground or we will use deadly force." The guards told him as they got nearer. "Not if I do first" Sharpshooter said as he took his three throwing knives from his backpack and threw it straight into the face of one of the guards sending him onto the floor screaming. The guards tried to thrust their spears into him which he dodged before he rammed into one of the guards with a knife sending him onto the floor. He then tried to throw his knives at the last guard but he had forgotten to notice that he was a unicorn so the guard was able to grab both knives in midair with his magic and send them back towards sharpshooter who was able to dodge with only a small cut on his cheek. Before Sharpshooter was able to recover the guard ran straight for him with his spear in hoof Sharpshooter was able to roll to side which made the guard fail to rearrange his position and crash into a rack of weapons which then fell on top of him. Sharpshooter stood up and patted the dust off his coat. "Now your next." he said with a smirk as he pulled out his poison dart. "I wont go without a fight!" The sergeant told him as he prepared his knife for battle. "Their won't be a fight." He told him as he threw his dart at his neck. The sergeant was struggling to take it out but the poison was already injected in his body and it had knocked him out cold and would soon kill him. "Now" he said as he brushed the sweat off his face "How am I going to get out of this damn place." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Escaping the castle was fairly easy for him except that once he stepped out the door a group of guards saw him and started chasing him. "You'll never take me alive!" He yelled as he ran towards the train station away from the guards. He got into an alley way with the guards right behind him and knocked a stack of barrels over causing them to stop and move them out of the way. He had gotten to the main street that lead towards the station when a guard tackled him to the ground, Sharpshooter was able to knock him off and launch his hoof at the guards face causing him to be knocked back down before he sped off. When he got to the train station he pushed himself through the crowds of ponies making their ways into the train and jumped into the door. He sighed in relief in his newly found seat as the guards where outside searching the entire train station for him. > And now for something completely different > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had already been a week since the death of Sgt.Hardhoof and the entire equestrian military was still on a frantic search to find the killer. I certainly couldn't care less but the only reason I needed to was for what I was about to do. Their was a plan that the sergeant had nearly carried out to raid a caravan which was carrying illegal arms from Equestria to different nations. My teammates and I are the mercenaries who where the chosen to intercept it. The area is a large forest surrounded by mountains and a large dirt road crossing through it where the caravan route was said to be. "Sir, how exactly are we going to stop these guys?" I asked my commanding officer Blazing Wind who currently was inspecting his weapons and armor. "We go in loud all of us charge in and order them to stop if they put up a fight we take them out." He told before refocusing his attention to his weapons. I started making my way toward the dirt road where the caravan was said to pass through while my teammate Eltron followed me. "How exactly are we going to take them down if their is only four of us and most likely many more of them?" He asked with a frown, Eltron was a new recruit, he did not want to stay in the city as a guard so he had decided to become a mercenary a rather confused one though since the commanders orders usually sounded like suicide missions. "I don't actually know this time Eltron, you know he usually underestimates his enemies and thinks we can take them on but this time it sounds like suicide, maybe it even is suicide." I told him which only made his frown deeper before he began to stride off to the group. I began to drink the remaining water from my canteen and gripped my crossbow with my magic before I heard the sounds of hooves and saw a large group of carriages coming towards my position. "CONTACTS SPOTTED!" I yelled to my teammates which made them jump and frantically run towards my position on the road. "HALT!" My most heavily armed teammate who went by the nickname Crusher yelled at the trail caravans which immediately stopped in front of him. "You are under arrest for transporting illegal weapons!" Crusher then began to unsheathe his battleaxe causing some of the ponies in the caravan to quiver in fear which brought a smile to his face. "Do you honestly think you can stop us without a fight?" A pony in chain mail said to him as he jumped out of one of the carriages and unsheathed his spear followed by a group of more ponies with the same idea. Unlucky for them they did not notice me hiding in a nearby bush gripping my crossbow with my magic. "I mean you are just one pony there is no way you can stand a chance against my men." he said with a clear grin on his face. "But all things must come to an end and today it is your life!" He then began charging at Crusher at full speed. I took aim and quickly fired a bolt which landed in his torso sending him gliding into the forest from it's force. The group of ponies jumped back and began rushing towards Crusher as my other teammates decide to emerge from the bushes and join the fray. Everything after those moments was a full out bloodbath Crusher began striking enemies with his battleaxe sending them flying as Eltron was attacking them from the side with his broadsword. "What is he doing this is suicide!" I thought to myself in awe as I saw my commander gracefully conquer the hostiles one by one as he ran up to an enemy and stabbed him in the throat while shooting another trying to tackle him from the side before he could take the sword out of the others throat. Since I was so busy staring at the carnage I failed to notice a pony exit a caravan with a bow. I quickly reloaded but before I could the pony pulled the bow back and fired the arrow which managed to hit Crusher in the face and making him collide into the dirt road "CRUSHERRRR!" I yelled before I fired the bolt hitting the archer directly in the skull. I was consumed by anger and unsheathed my sword "You will not get away with this!" I cried before I began rushing towards the caravan. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TASH GET BACK TO THE BUSHES!" My commander yelled at me which I paid no attention to as I began attacking the enemy. We were winning I was taking many of them down with my broadsword with Eltron close by killing anypony who came from the sides. "They have reinforcements!" My commander alerted before having a crossbow bolt fired in between his eyes immediately killing him. "NOOOOOOOOO!" I yelled in shock before Eltron pulled me back into the safety of the forest as heavily armored figures wearing black capes began to approach from behind the caravan. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been a day since the attack on the caravan and I still couldn't overcome the shock of it all. "How did we not complete the mission it was going fine until..." "Relax Tash I brought you here to calm down." Eltron told me since he had brought me to an expensive restaurant in Canterlot. "Oh, and I forgot to show you this he said as he showed me the newspaper with a drawing of a pony on it. "What exactly is it you are trying to show me?" I asked. "A drawing of the pony who murdered Sgt.Hardhoof." He answered. "Wait is that." I said as I took a closer look at a somewhat familiar face drawn on the newspaper. "What is it?" He asked. "I think I have seen him before name was something Shield." I said scratching my mane as I stuffed a hay sandwich in my mouth. "Oh yah now I remember I have worked with him before." I said causing Eltron to spit out his drink. "YOU WHAT!" he yelled causing some of the other dining customers to jump startled by his outburst. I didn't know what to say I was to confused of why I had regained this lost memory and was stuck mid-thought when Eltorn interrupted me. "Helloooo Equestria to Tash anyone in there?" He said tapping his hoof against my forehead. "..." > An old friend > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been nine days since I had murdered Sergeant Hardhoof and I had finally arrived at Spark's warehouse to report back to him. I slammed the door behind and saw Spark on the other side waiting for me. "You will be satisfied to know that Hardhoof will no longer be of nuisance to you um... Sir." I told him as I tossed Sergeant's medal before his guard grabbed it with his magic. Spark then looked at me and laughed. "Oh yes I am satisfied but what I do not like is that you are still alive." he told me which I thought was a joke until I saw that his face was dead serious. "What do you mean when you say that Sir?" I asked nervously. "What I mean is that I already knew they would attack my caravan anyway if they found out about the routes which they already did two days ago, I found out in a report from one of my officers." He said which infuriated me. "WHY WOULD YOU SEND ME THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE IF YOU HAD ALREADY KNOWN!" I yelled at him causing some of the guards to unsheathe their weapons. This only caused Spark to grin "You should already have known this mister Sharpshooter. I had planned for your demise since the second I had captured you, but since you have prove how formidable you are I'll will need to rethink it." He said as he began walking back towards his office while the guards watched me like hawks. "Oh yeah I will give you more missions to complete later, so get out before I send my guards to give you a nice new scar for your scar collection." He yelled I wanted to kill him then and there but I knew I would go with him if I did so I decided to walk out. "Well I should at least do something productive before he sends me on the next impossible mission." I sighed but then perked up when I decided where to go. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had finally reached my destination after hours of waiting on the train to Manehatten my home, but I wasn't here to remember the past but instead to speak to my friend who I had met a long time ago. He is a grey colt with a blue mane named Ticket Blast although I don't know if he had changed it after he had quit his job of being a hitpony who had once saved my life. I knocked on the door of my friends home which he slowly opened and took a look at my face. "Do I know you?" he asked suspiciously. "You don't remember me at all well I will give you a hint, do you remember a pony named Storm Shield by any chance?" I said as his face became filled with joy. "I knew it! Come inside I have much to discuss do you want something to drink? Wine perhaps or some apple cider?" He offered as he began leading me toward his living room. "No thank you, I have only come to speak to you about a matter of life and death." I told him as he focused all his attention to me. "Wait what do you mean a matter of life and death, if it is just a job you can just refuse it." He told me as he began pouring himself a glass of cider and planted his body on the couch. "Tell me everything." I had finished telling him everything about being captured by Spark and killing Sergeant Hardhoof which luckily enough he believed me. "So this Spark pony has he ordered you on any other missions yet?" Ticket asked. "No but he will soon enough and I know this one will actually kill me." I said as I sighed and decided to pour myself my own glass of cider. "Don't worry about it to much I will help you survive this next mission and even kill Spark himself." He handed me a drawing of a large strange looking red crystal, I was confused by this. "This is the dragons stone it is a crystal that is said to contain powerful magic but you don't need to know that, what you do need to know is that it is worth a large number of bits. Well if you can manage to find it that is." He said with a giggle. "Where do I find it?" I asked him. "The volcanic mountains in the east." He said worryingly "it will be difficult to survive the harsh conditions if the royal military doesn't get you first." "Well I guess I must go, I cannot waste any more time speaking to you." I told him as I packed all my things and walked out the door. I was greeted by four armed ponies in cloaks waiting for me outside. "What do you want?" I said defensively as I slowely reached for my dagger. "Their is no need for violence Mr.Sharpshooter, Spark has requested for you to do more work for him." They told me as I sighed and moved my hoof away from the dagger. "What is it then?" I asked but they said nothing and gave me a folder containing files as they began walking away. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I went to purchase armor and weapons at a nearby blacksmith since I knew I would not get anything to help me survive this time. I wasted nearly all my bits on concealed chain-mail and a sharp dagger that had a nice looking golden handle. "Excuse me do you know if any trains would be stopping by today that would be going to the Crystal Empire today" I asked the blacksmith. "Well, today is your lucky day because their is a trains coming in less than an hour." He told me with a smile as he went back to crafting. "Their is no way i am going to get out of this alive." I thought with a frown as I began walking out. I knew this would be the last of my days because instead of some easy mission that Spark would think is difficult I would be going there to kill the princess...