When the dark stallion had answered Leaf's question, silence reigned supreme, not so much in awkwardness, but in fear. The other assassins had been too afraid of their leader's reaction to say anything to him, to do anything at all. They'd never seen him in such a state before, never seen him so angry. Even Ember Spark, the trio's highest ranking assassin, had never seen Blood Moon angry before; she'd seen him annoyed before, pissed off and frustrated, but never truly enraged before. Never like this. Falling Leaf, ever stoic, was least unnerved by Blood Moon's behaviour, but that wasn't saying much; his legs were shaking ever so slightly and his brow was leaking the odd droplet of sweat. Candle Light, however, the youngest and least experienced of all the Shadow Weavers in the room, was petrified; when he'd first met Blood Moon he'd been most afraid by the stories he'd heard, and the rumours he'd caught wind of that circulated the Shadow Weavers themselves. Now though, he was more afraid than he'd ever been before; during his training, he'd been put up against fellow trainees and a few more experienced assassins, he been dumped in the wild and told to survive, he'd had to kill a defenceless stallion who'd been roped to a chair and, just before he'd been sent on his first contract, he'd been knocked unconscious and woken up in the middle of the royal army's barracks in the dead of night; he'd been clad in his assassins gear, but unarmed, unarmoured and with no equipment. Just a scrap of paper that read: get out alive. But now that he stood before Blood Moon, in all his furious might, he'd take the days in training any day.

Blood Moon let his glare bore into the ponies before him, his assassins, the ponies he'd seen grow up in the Shadow Weavers, seen raised by retired, killed or still active assassins. Now that they were in better light, he could make out what they were wearing; most were in their civvies, Ember Spark in a simple brown vest while Candle wore a white shirt, a black jacket on top. Falling Leaf simply wore his assassin gear, brown coat and white shirt, the hood draped over his neck and the mask hidden away somewhere. He had a generically handsome face, a thin scar on his jawline, cutting through his stubble.

He knew their faces, bodies, minds and attitudes well already; not many ponies knew it, but he was inside the walls of the Shadow Weavers more often than they knew, observing them from afar and from the shadows without them knowing. He'd always seen the Shadow Weavers as a sort of family, there was no real structure to it, but if one thing was for sure, it was that Blood Moon was the father; he looked after everypony, organised everything and made sure everything went smoothly. One thing he always made sure to do so, however, was to never take his anger out on the assassins under his banner; not because he knew he could kill the lot of them without much effort, but because the Shadow Weavers were born out of respect and affection.

Blood Moon had no problems with fellow assassins forming bonds closer than friendship, more than once a pair of assassins had gotten married thanks to their time together; he didn't exactly encourage it, but he did see to it that no relationships were disturbed by the more…'traditional' assassins. But something the dark stallion did encourage was that when a filly or colt was brought in because of them having no parents, that they raise them like their own; this was for three reasons: one, because when the foal grew up, there was the threat of them trying to be 'clever' and sell them out. Having somepony in the walls of the band of assassin that was loyal to them made them less likely to try and betray them. Secondly, since the young had been brought in off the streets because they had no parents, the assassin bringing them in was likely to form a protective bond because of it. Why not make it official, let them have parents, had been Blood Moon's thinking. Thirdly, Blood Moon had no desire to lead heartless killers; the difference between a ragged band of murderers and an honourable order of assassins was as thin as a blades edge, and it was exceedingly difficult to keep them to the correct path. If the assassins had somepony to be soft with, a foal for instance, they wouldn't be dead on the inside; they wouldn't just be killers, they'd be ponies.

Now, however, Blood Moon was in no mood for niceties, in no mood for kindness. In no mood for showing the good stallion he could be. He took a single breath.

"Leave" he growled. Ember and Candle swallowed slightly; there was that voice again, no emotion, no life, nothing. Leaf and Candle's nerve broke and they slowly backed out of the room, not bothering to turn away from the dark stallion. Blood Moon looked down at the papers on his desk for a second; jobs available, assassination logbook, reports and this month's fatalities. The assassin couldn't be bothered with paperwork right now, and looked up from his work; he found Ember Spark still stood before him. He narrowed his eyes again.
"Have you forgotten how to take orders, Ember?" His voice still had that… void-like feeling to it.

"I'm not going to leave you alone like this Blood Moon" she told him. The assassin snorted.

"Is that so?" Ember squared up to him, his desk really.

"Yes, it is. Blood Moon, we've known each other for a long time now, and I've never seen you like this before" she told him. Blood Moon took a breath and rested his head on a hoof. The mare trotted around the desk until she'd reached the side of the dark stallion. She cocked her head at him. "What happened Moon?" Blood Moon slowly turned his head to her.

"I don't need your concern" he growled at her. Ember smirked and cocked an eyebrow.

"Are you so sure about that?" Blood Moon stood from his seat, slowly advancing on Ember Spark; the mare backed up as he moved forwards, swallowing slightly.

"In case you haven't noticed, Ember, I am in no mood to have anypony disagreeing, messing, playing with me or trying to screw me over." He tapped her chest. "I am in no mood for games, so act like a mare, like an assassin, and grown the buck up" he ordered. Ember growled at him slightly.

"Or what? Blood Moon, you're acting like a colt whose first fillyfriend just broke up with him" she tapped his chest back "what in the hay happened" she demanded. Blood Moon's lip snarled, but he caught his anger before he snapped her neck and backed off a little, his temper subsiding ever so slightly. He sat back on his seat, swivelling towards the oak wood table. He cast his gaze over the table top, his eyes resting on the picture he always kept there. Him and her. Their foals too. She had sunlit cream fur, a gold and sunset red mane and tail, curling around her unicorn horn, spiky in a few spots. Her eyes were brilliant, cyan blue, kind and peaceful, but easily capable of going much harder. He bowed his head as the unwelcome memories swarmed into his mind.

It was an appropriately huge turnout. She'd been much loved by her friends, by her family. By her husband and her children. They lowered the coffin into the plot of empty ground, into the meter and a half deep hole, dug to house the corpse of a pony; the pony so many had turned up to bid their last farewells to. Blood Moon wondered, should he ever die, if this many ponies would visit his funeral. He doubted it.

His now dead wife had been a much loved artist, a pony of great imagination and even greater skill about the canvas. He watched two ponies, a stallion and a mare, trot towards the grave. They cleared their throats as they went said a few words; the stallion, a pony called Crimson Sunset, spoke first.

"Our mother…our mother's death was…I guess it would be unfair to call it untimely" he started unsteadily "but it still…still seems so unfair, to have to stand above this grave and say these words." He paused, taking his time to gather his thought and take a few breaths; a few stifled sobs tempted, his sister, Rising Moon, approaching his side to offer her comfort. She put a hoof on his shoulder, the stallion looking back and smiling his thanks before he began again.
"Our mother led a good…long life, she loved those around her as much as they loved her" he said solemnly. Blood Moon wondered if the crowd got the second meaning behind that. "We…we were a close family, me, my sister here, our father and mother; she was the….the one who kept us together, throughout any arguments, any of our little spats, she would always step in we'd be all lovey again" he told them with slight humour in his voice. His mood plummeted again. "The day she fell ill, we all thought nothing of it, thought she'd pull through easily. Everypony but dad. We all thought he was wrong, that he was foolish to doubt our mother's strength. 'As tough as an old boot' we used to say" a few tears fell from his face "what are we saying now?" He sobbed a few times, his magic pulling out a small rag and blowing his muzzle on it. "We're saying goodbye, we're all telling each other how much we miss her…because…because nopony listened to our father, the only stallion that sat by her side every day and night" he paused again, the crowd's silence washing over everything and everypony "the only stallion that truly knew her" he finished. Crimson broke down again, his sister leading him off the small podium. Rising Moon took to the stage when her brother had sat down, looking out over the small sea of sad faces and black suits and dresses. She took a breath.
"My…my brother's words hold truth, more truth than anypony wants to imagine" she started, more hidden meaning in her words "but there is something to add" she told them. Crimson Sunset looked up at his sister, Rising looking back, and found his conflicted expression; they held gazes for a second before the elder brother nodded his head. Rising Moon took another breath. "Our mother's death will, and has, hit us all hard. But…that's…" She couldn't continue, couldn't tell them what she, what they'd all, planned to tell them. She swallowed slightly as she swiftly changed subjects. "…Not what mother would want, she'd want us all to remain strong, as strong as she always was…because that's what she'd want, she'd want us to be happy" she said with a small, forced grin "she always saw the best and happiness in everypony, always saw the good in them…always saw the best" she said quietly. Without another word, she stepped down from the podium and sat next to her husband and brother. The gathered ponies then turned their attention to the grave, preparing to pay their last respects, to begin tossing some soil onto the coffin and dropping a flower in with it, but before they could, two ponies moved through the crowd; when the ponies felt the presence behind them, they looked back, and their eyes widened slightly as they gazed upon the ponies. Celestia and Luna trotted forth.

Blood Moon knew this would happen, this being why he was watching from the shade of nearby trees, a big, beaten up brown trench coat over his back, the collar popped to hide his face. The Alicorns of night and day looked around the congregation of ponies, very probably for Blood Moon, before they gave up and just watched the proceedings. Blood Moon knew what they were doing; they were waiting for him, waiting for him to reveal himself. The assassin could wait. He knew what this would devolve into; a waiting game, a few days, maybe a week, they'd be patient but they were no assassins. Blood Moon could wait all year if need be. Some of the ponies at the back discreetly left, fellow assassin and other ponies of dubious qualities coming to pay their respects. You know you'd done at least something right in your life when your enemies came to offer a few kind words. The ponies all stepped forwards, dropping their respective flowers onto the coffin; roses, bluebells, violets, daffodils, small bunches of mountain flowers, one or two sunflowers. The brother and sister to have spoken stepped forwards next, their families following; Crimson's wife and filly followed him, the foal clinging to his neck as he held her up in his fore-hoof. His horn sparked to life and a black and red rose, the colours spiralling into each other, floated from his daughter's hooves. It dropped onto the coffin silently, his tears following it. Rising Moon stood beside him, her husband next to her, her own horn sparking to life as her own rose floated to eye level; she stared at it for a while before she dropped it onto the coffin alongside her brother's; it looked the same as Crimson's only the colours spiralled the other way. Blood Moon wanted to go to her grave and pay his own respects, only Celestia and Luna's presence prevented that. He could do it, take them on, but not here, not now. Not at her funeral. Not over her grave. He could wait.

Celestia and Luna stepped forwards, their own horns sparking to life as flowers of their own materialised from nothing; Celestia's was a golden sunflower, the petals reminiscent of the sun on her flank. Luna's was a nightshade, the flower head bigger than natural. The pair of flowers dropped to the coffin, the large plants giving off a tiny 'thud' as they hit home. Though he couldn't say it, he appreciated the gesture. The congregation started to spread; they knew of Blood Moon's questionable qualities, and knew that he would be the one to lower the coffin into the ground, so he could be sure to pay his respects as well. The son and daughter of the deceased held their ground, but bid their families leave them. Celestia and Luna stayed in place, completely still, not to mention a respectable distance behind Crimson and Rising. Blood Moon's children knew his story, his relation to the solar and lunar princess, and didn't say anything, didn't even acknowledge them.

An hour passed, and still the princesses, son and daughter remained.

Two passed, and still they stayed.

Three passed, and still no change.

Four passed, and Crimson and Rising's family came to check on them.

Five passed, and their families brought them a bite to eat.

Six passed, and Crimson's child cantered out to him.

Seven passed, and the filly had fallen asleep in his fore-hoof.

Eight passed, and the son and daughter decided to retire.

Nine passed, and night had fallen, Luna forced to leave to raise the moon.

Ten passed, and she came back to stand by her sister.

Eleven passed, and still they stood.

Twelve passed, and the less reputable members of society came to pay their respects.

The night passed, and still they stood.

The day passed once more, and still they stood.

The night passed for a second time in their stand-off, and still they stood.

As the day turned to night once more, they gave up, both hanging their heads slightly as their fortitude broke.

"Come Luna, he can out wait us easily; we've more important things to attend to anyway." Luna nodded and yawned slightly into her hoof as they both left. Blood Moon waited an hour before he trotted from his spot in the shadows. He stood before her grave silently. He didn't cry, he couldn't, not anymore. He'd done his weeping. His horn sparked to life as a bouquet of roses, black and red, appeared in his hoof. He said a few words, too silent for even him to pick up, and dropped them into the grave. He turned his head to the mound of dirt besides him,
and took up the shovel.

It took him all of forty-five minutes to shovel the dirt back into the hole; he felt slightly bad for piling dirt into her grave. It was an impure substance hiding a pure mare. When he was done, he looked up at the gravestone; black stone, the outline of her cutie mark chiselled into the stone. Below that, a few words.

Blood Moon sighed once more. P.D.W. Post Discord wars. He sometimes wondered what age he'd be buried in, most likely P.A, post apocalypse. He reached back with his hoof and grabbed the dagger there; a curved blade, a fire-like pattern engraved into the metal. The hilt was well-polished bronze, the handle wrapped in brown leather. Water droplets landed on the metal; Blood Moon looked to the skies and found the grey clouds hanging overhead, the weeping skies. He grunted. Even Equestria herself was saddened by her passing. With yet another sigh, he stabbed his dead wife's blade into the earth before her gravestone. He then reached back and grabbed his own weapon, laying it before her own. A mark of respect and a message to the future; that she was better than he. That she was on better standing in life than he was. It was the way it was and the way it will always be. Always.

Blood Moon set the picture in his hoof down on the table silently. Ember, meanwhile, had sat on one of the seats before the assassin's desk, watching him think, watching him remember. The dark stallion looked up at her and found her looking back.

"Tell me, Ember…have you ever been in love?" Ember Spark smirked slightly.

"You know me Moon; I don't settle for one, it's not practical. I charm my way into my mark's clutches before cutting his throat. I'm not gonna settle down for a while" she told him. Blood Moon raised an eyebrow, Ember Spark returning it with a smirk. "No Blood Moon, I've never been in love; flings, lying romances, a few two week romances." The dark stallion gave his own smirk.
"I can tell by your voice that may be changing" he answered. Ember glared, frowned, pouted and blushed all at once.

'Bull's-eye.' The assassin had no reason for asking this; he was unhappy, angry, depressed, so he decided that messing with Ember was the best path to take. Well, finding somepony to hug would be the best idea, but he wasn't about to reveal his back to a bunch of ponies renown for back-stabbing.

"W-well…I-I…Shut up Moon" she blurted. The assassin chuckled dryly as he stood up. He trotted over to a small cabinet and opened it with his magic. He took a pair of glasses out of it, alongside a bottle of whisky, carrying them to his desk in his magic. With a smirk on his face, he set the glasses down and filled them both with the booze. Ember took hers quickly in her hoof, gulping it down just as fast. The assassin chuckled as he followed suit.

"So tell me, who's the Shadow Weaver's latest couple" he asked with a laugh, propping his hind-hooves up on the table. His voice was quiet and low, but was no longer as endless as the void, and held a little mirth. Ember scrunched her muzzle up a little.

"I-if you tell him, I'll gut you" she told him. Blood Moon laughed.

"I'd like to see you try Ember" he told her. Ember grimaced; no use trying to threaten a master assassin with violence. "So tell me" he insisted.

"No" she grumbled "and quit treating me like a filly" she told him. Blood Moon shrugged.

"What, can't a stallion have fun?" Ember shot him an annoyed smirk.

"No, you can't, not at my expense anyway" she muttered.

"Can you at least describe him to me" he asked as he refilled his and her glasses. Ember sighed.

"Pegasus, orange fur-" She was cut off when the assassin on the other side of the table burst out laughing, laughing so hard he almost fell out of his chair.

"Candle Light, really? He doesn't seem like your type" he chuckled, necking another glassful of whisky down. Ember growled slightly.

"Blood Moon, c'mon, I thought you'd be a little more…conservative, at least" she told him. The dark stallion quit his laughing and calmed down. He sat up properly on his seat and leaned on the table, resting his head on his hooves.

"Right, sorry" he answered. He cocked his head. "Does he know?" Ember grunted.
"What, that one of the Shadow Weaver's most accomplished, beautiful, deadly and notoriously single mare likes him?" The assassin grunted.

'Diggin' the modesty there, Ember.'

"Yeah." Ember rolled her eyes.

"It's not that simple" she told him. Blood Moon stood up.

"Yes it is" he answered, stretching out the first word to at least nine syllables. Ember followed him with a raised eyebrow.

"Where are you goin'?" Blood Moon glanced back at her.

"Healing vats" he answered, feeling the uncomfortable tickle in his side once more. Ember hopped off her seat and trotted after him. Blood Moon continued to the door and opened it, taking a single step back as Candle Light fell through when his support suddenly disappeared. Blood Moon looked down at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You call yourself an assassin" Leaf asked as he helped him up. Candle grumbled something. Blood Moon glanced back and caught Ember's blush.

"Did you at least hear anything" Blood Moon asked, always testing his assassins, not to mention trying to ease Ember's blush. Candle shook his head.

"No, the wood's too thick to eavesdrop" he answered. Leaf clouted him around the back of his head.

"I told you" he grumbled. Candle rubbed the back of his head, muttering something else. Leaf looked up at the dark stallion. "Are you alright now" he asked cautiously. Blood Moon shrugged.

"I've been better" he answered as he trotted past. Leaf was about to ask where he was going but Ember beat him to it.

"Healing vats" she told him swiftly. Leaf raised an eyebrow, Ember shrugging in return. The dark stallion lead the way to the healing vats, the three Shadow Weavers trailing behind him; they traversed the halls of their hideout quickly, black brick and the odd candle being their only company. The halls of the Shadow Weaver's hideout had been built into an old, abandoned mine, so old that even Celestia had forgotten about it. Blood Moon sometimes wondered how she'd react to finding out that most of his operations had been based right under her nose.

The mines had once been owned by a wealthy mineral and gem dealer who'd gone bust when his mines had run dry. He and his family had gone on to mine everything from coal to buck-all after that, desperately looking for something to sell. In the end, they'd just sold it to Blood Moon, who'd paid for it with a single pouch of bits. Because of their desperate searching, the halls of the nameless hideout were long, numerous and went deep beneath the streets of Canterlot, and were filled with a small city beneath Equestria's capital. But down here, only one sort of pony trotted: assassins. Before long, Blood Moon had led his company to the door, labelled by an iron sign that rested above it that read 'healing vats.'

Pushing through, Blood Moon found his way into a room filled with four huge barrels, great wooden planks that were circled by a pair of black iron rings. Inside the gargantuan barrels, was a deep, dark, slimy but by no means unappealing liquid. It sloshed around like thin tar, sticking to the pony like the same substance. The assassin, already undressed, just hopped into the mixture of healing tar unceremoniously, while Ember, Candle and Leaf just watched awkwardly.

"Come on in, the tar's great" he said dryly as he relaxed and leaned his head against the rim of the barrel. Ember shrugged and slipped her vest off, Candle and Leaf following suit as they stripped off. When the three of them were sat comfortably in the vat, Candle looked at his boss.

"So…uh, what was with you earlier?" Blood Moon sighed. They weren't going to let this go.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Skulduggery didn't like stakeouts.

They were boring, tedious and, in this case, incredibly unhygienic. At the moment, he was sat silently in a dumpster, the lid propped up ever so slightly by his horn, disguised by a toilet-roll tube poking out. He had a small camera in his coat pocket, alongside his flashlight, notepad and trademark magnifying glass. He was waiting for a suspect in a smaller case he was working, a 'side case' as he liked to call them, that he'd gotten back to after his investigations into the Battle of Fancy, as it had been nicknamed by his peers, had come to a halt.
He thought about that; almost all of his cases that involved either Blood Moon or the Shadow Weaver always came to a dead end after around two days of investigations, no matter the crime or situation; he was always met with a snag, cold trail or lack of new evidence. It never changed.

Now, however, he was on the trail of a cheating husband, nothing too fancy or special, but something to keep him busy and in liquor. The dumpster he was in was across the street from a 'love hotel', as they were called by the general populous, and he was waiting to see if his suspicions, notes and the information given to him by his client, the cheated party, were correct. He'd been here for all of two hours, and so far the marriage was intact. However, his hopes for a continued love were shattered when he saw the client's husband trot into the hotel with a mare who wasn't his wife. With a small glow of his horn, the camera floated to eye level as he took a few pictures of the two of them. The pair actually kissed while he was snapping evidence, pretty much sealing the deal, not to mention his pay check. Skulduggery waited until they'd entered the hotel and it was safe for him to leave his latest hovel, in an extensive collection of them, and hopped out. He looked at the pictures he'd just taken, the camera producing the images instantly. He checked them over for a second before he slipped them into one of his many pockets.

He cantered out of the short alleyway, glancing left and right as he did so. It was late afternoon, the golden light of Celestia's sun replaced by a majestic bronze glow as it crept slowly behind the horizon. As the detective trotted his way to his client's home, he cast his gaze over the ponies before and around him, taking them in and remembering their faces, bodies and cutie marks, specifically their marks. The pony mind had a great affinity for remembering the cutie marks of others. Throughout his observations, he allowed his mind to wander; it had been a few hours since his and Celestia's 'conversation' and he was still of split mind about it; on the one hoof, Celestia had kissed him, and on the other Celestia had just bucking kissed him. He hadn't a clue how to react to that, who did, but it was still something his mind just wouldn't drop. That said, it wasn't exactly surprising. Not only had one of the princesses of Equestria just told him she wished to be his friend, she'd actually gone on to kiss him afterwards; he couldn't even guess what had been going through her mind at the time. Loneliness? Desperation? Affection? He didn't know, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

He couldn't hold down the grimace/smirk when he realised that, not four hours ago, his thought track had been precariously similar to this one, only before his conflict had been born of something as innocent as friendship. Now, however, it was the prospect of romance.

'No' he thought 'nothing like that could be born of a simple kiss. It was a heartbeat thing, an on the spot…fling, I guess.'

Skulduggery was brought from his thoughts with a metallic 'thud' and a sharp pain on his head. He backed up a few steps, growling and holding his head as he looked up; lost in thought, he'd trotted into a streetlight. Turning his head and glaring at the smirking ponies around him, he continued on his way. He bowed his head, adjusting his hat slightly, and restarted his thoughts; who was he kidding, this was any stallion's dream come true, Celestia was one of, hay, the prettiest mare in Equestria, rumour was that once upon a time she'd had droves of ponies, griffons and even some of the horse nobles of Saddle Arabia lining up and asking for her hoof in marriage. After declining each and every one of them, all hope of anypony forming a relationship beyond business or simple friendship was dead and lost. Now, however, Skulduggery was on the brink of doing just that; who in Tartarus was he to turn down such an opportunity?

After a while, Skulduggery found himself both unwilling to dwell on his thoughts any longer, and at his client's home. He trotted up the steps of the small townhouse and knocked on the door. He heard hoof steps from the other side of the door, alongside the voice of a mare saying something to somepony else that was muffled by the door. After a few seconds, the brown, wooden door was opened by a mare; she was a generically pretty Pegasus, peach fur and sky blue mane and tail, peach eyes looking back into the house.

"Put that down dear" the mare told a filly; that made Skulduggery flinch: the kid's father had just cheated on her mother. When the mare had looked out, she smiled in that way a client dose to somepony they've hired; a sort of respect, mixed with gratitude but not lacking the 'I'm paying you' seasoning on top. "Oh, detective, hello again." Skulduggery tipped his hat silently before looking up and down the street.

"Evening Mountain Dew" he returned. She was a mare who made her living by flying to the tops of mountains and bottling up the fresh, clear and ever-spring air before selling it as a perfume/air freshener. They stood in silence for a few seconds, Dew not really knowing the social protocol for the 'detective/client' situation.

"W-would you like to come in" she asked anxiously. Skull nodded; he wasn't oblivious to the ways of neighbourhood gossip, hay, it was how he'd gotten the bulk of his information for this case.

"Please" he answered as the mare stepped aside, allowing him entry. She guided him to the living room and bade him sit on the couch; the detective didn't take much notice of the home, but what he did notice what that it was your average 'townie' job.

"Would you like anything?" Skull shook his head, it wasn't polite for the employee to take anything from his boss, but she still went into the kitchen to fix herself, and possibly her child, something. As the detective examined some of the ornaments scattered around the room, the filly sat before him, a curious look in her eyes. Skull wasn't too good with foals, subsequently, he just smiled at her like he would a stallion or mare. The filly smiled back, her wide, beaming grin making his own turn a little more honest. The filly earth pony had dark red fur and a peach mane and tail, likely gotten from her mother, while her eyes followed her fur. She wore a diaper on her flank and didn't seem to have a cutie mark yet, but hay, she was still young. Dew trotted back into the room with a cup of something hot and a Sippy cup of juice for the filly, the child taking it happily. "Now Alpine, it's rude to stare" Dew said softly. The filly, or Alpine as Skulduggery now knew, looked back at her mother with the Sippy still in her little maw, grinning around it, before she trotted wobbly over to her mother, sitting on her flank before the seat her mother had sat upon.

The silence came back for a while, the filly's happy gurgling and the mare's periodic sips breaking the silence now and then.

"So…" Dew started awkwardly "d-do you have anything." Skulduggery, already knowing the answer, said nothing as he slipped out his evidence and floated it over to her. The Pegasus placed her cup down on the table besides her and took the photographs in her hooves; she looked through them all quickly, there were only six in all, and as she did so, Skulduggery watched her get more and more teary-eyed. He took a long, shuddery breath, as she was slowly reduced to tears, the filly looking back at her mother.

"Mamma, what matter" she asked eloquently. Dew sniffled a few times before she reached down and picked her daughter up and held her against her chest.

"N-nothing Allie, but we're… not gonna be seeing daddy for a little while" she said softly. Alpine nodded a few times, her young mind not really comprehending what her father had done but recognising her mother's pain, nuzzling her a little. Dew smiled slightly as she nuzzled her back. Skulduggery watched this for a while, not thinking it prudent to get up and demand payment when she was like this. They continued to embrace and nuzzle each other for a while, but before long Alpine had fallen asleep. Skull watched as Dew took her daughter upstairs, probably to her room and cot. When she came downstairs, Mountain Dew looked like she cried a lot more on the way down stairs. Skulduggery's practiced eye made a most intelligent observation.

"You look like you could use something stronger than that" he remarked, nodding at the steaming cup. Dew huffed in bad humour.

"I don't drink, weak liver" she answered. Skull nodded once.

"Are you alright?" Dumb question, but one that needed to be asked, one that simply gave her release she evidently needed.

"No. Eight years of marriage, a two year old filly and a life I've worked so hard for, all of it…" she couldn't finish.

"It's not necessarily the end" he retorted "you can still save it-"

"Oh stop" she said irritably "this isn't the first time. I've caught him myself before, about a year ago. He said he would never do it again, but ever since, his boss has been having him work much longer hours" she said in bad sarcasm. "I hired you to find out if my suspicions were true" she explained.

"What will you do?" Dew glanced at him, not impressed by his questions.

"What do you think? Divorce his sorry flank and take him to the cleaners. My mother always said that everypony pays for their crimes, one way or another." The smoke-grey detective nodded; he didn't care for her methods, or her attitude, but he couldn't blame her. Mountain Dew gave a long sigh as she stood. "Listen, I don't mean to be rude, but he'll be back soon, and I'm sure I'm boring you. Just let me get your fee and-" She was cut off when the door swung open heavily.

"Honey, I'm home!" Dew's head whipped around to find her husband, of orange fur and dark blue mane and tail, trotting into the living room. He found his wife and smiled slightly before he spotted Skulduggery rising from the couch. "Who in the hay are you" he spat.

"I'm a detective" Skull replied. Dew cantered into the room.

"Crag, you're home early" she observed. 'Crag' looked suspicious.

"Yeah, something came up and I had to come back" he growled as he looked between the two of them "just what in the hay's going on" he demanded.

"I was showing her some pictures" Skulduggery shrugged. Crag squared up to him.

"Were you? A stallion home alone with my wife, and all's he's doing is 'showing her some pictures?' I doubt it" he spat.

"Crag! What's that supposed to mean?" He whipped his head to her.

"You know what I mean! I've seen the way you've been acting around me, always so awkward and quiet, I knew it, you're cheating on me with this bum aren't you!" Skull snorted.

'Playing the blame game are we? This'll be good.' Crag, however, had heard the snort and whipped his head back to the smoky stallion.

"And what's your buckin' problem!? Coming in here, bangin' my wife!" They heard the sound of a filly crying from upstairs. "While my daughter's home too, you're a piece of work aren't you!"

"Crag please" she begged as she tried to get pasted him to get to her daughter.

"And where the buck are you going! I'm not done with you!" Skulduggery hadn't been with any mares through his life, but he prided himself on being a gentlecolt, and though he was no sexist, he always stood up for a mare.

"Leave her be" he growled. Crag lost it and swung his hoof at Skulduggery, catching around the head and knocking his head to the side, his hat flying off.

"And who the buck are you to tell me what to do." Skulduggery didn't answer, he just wiped his hoof along his maw and found the smearing of blood there. He glared, cracking his neck left and right. "Ooo, a fighter are we, c'mon then y' bucker!"
Skull wasted no time in obliging him; he moved in quickly, swinging his fore-leg in a small arc, striking Crag across the temple, following it up with a left hoof jabbing into his snout, drawing blood. Crag stumbled back, grunting in pain and holding his muzzle, as Skull kept up his assault; he swung his left hoof upwards, the stump at the end of his leg finding purchase on Crag's jaw as he stumbled back. Crag was sent back further through the room, led by Skulduggery's painful guidance, and found himself against the wall; he picked up a lamp next to him and tossed it at the detective, catching him in the temple; the round base of the light struck Skull in the brow, blood pouring from the thin gash, as Crag followed it up by lunging at him. From there, the fight devolved into a simple scrap, a brawl, with the two of them rolling around on the ground as they tried to get in a decent angle or some distance, neither one allowing the other to do exactly what they wanted to do too. Crag rolled Skull over the top of and slammed him into the table side-unit to them, a few small figurines falling onto them. Skull grabbed one in his hoof and broke it over his opponent's head, Crag responding with a grunt of pain as a lump developed. They rolled back into the middle of the room as Dew shouted at them to stop, swinging clumsy hooves at each other as they did so. Crag managed to push Skull off him a little as he threw a strong but blind haymaker into his shoulder, a dull crack playing the tune of 'dislocated fore-leg' for all who would hear it. The detective fell off of his opponent with a growl, holding his left fore-leg with the other, as Crag stood up; the detective swung his hoof again, finding Crag's jaw as the stallion got pushed away again. The detective stood again, his stance wobbly, and advanced on Crag again, the dislocated leg making it no easier. Crag lunged, taking them both off their hooves again, and the brawl reengaged.

After rolling over each other again, tumbling into a big cabinet and bringing pictures and other possessions down on them, Skull beat Crag's head against the wood. Dull, wooden 'thwacks' were the detective's reward, a small dent developing under Crag's head. Crag managed to push Skull off of him again, looking much worse for wear, and picked himself up; he bull-charged the detective, the pair of them tumbling into the kitchen. Dew followed them out of the living room, Alpine still wailing upstairs, and watched their fight continue. Crag took another swing at Skulduggery, the detective ducking beneath it and returning the gesture with an uppercut. Crag swung his hoof again, finding purchase in the investigator's jaw, following the bruised jowl with a jab to his snout and a clumsy swing to his temple. The quick right-left-right disorientated Skulduggery, his eyes rolling around his head a little before he shook his head to clear it. When he got his sense back, he was met with the sight of Crag clutching a knife in his hoof, the stallion wasting no time in lunging at him. The pain of Skull's dislocated leg disappeared for a while as he used his fore-hooves to stop the weapon coming down on him, swinging the blade, using its momentum against its master, and stabbing it into the ground. Skull took Crag's head and turned it to the side, beating his temple brutally against the back of the weapon until he'd broken his skull and knocked him out in a bloody mess.

Standing up as straight as he could, Skulduggery limped out of the kitchen, breathing heavily, limping badly and holding his head with his dislocated leg. Double the pain. Yay.

Dew watched him patiently as he picked up his hat, brushed some lint off of it and placed it on his head. He was panting heavily from the encounter, clearly out of breath, and in very clear pain from his injuries. Silently, he reached for his dislocated fore-leg and clutched it in the other; he wrenched it back into place with a badly bottled up scream, panting for more breath afterwards. He looked up at Dew, the blood trickling from his head wound obscuring his view a little. He looked around the room, finding it trashed after his scrap, the floor littered with pictures, little figurines and other assorted household items. Still gulping down air, Skulduggery looked up at Dew.

"You may wanna…call the…call the guards" he said between breaths. Dew nodded a few times. "Show 'em the…the pictures and tell them what happened…they'll understand" he said quietly. Dew nodded again, still a little wary and uneasy about the detective. She trotted for the cabinet Skulduggery had beaten her soon-to-be-ex-husband's head against and pulled out a thin, brown envelope and held it out to him. Skulduggery took it and opened it. Inside was a bank exchange notice for a few thousand bits. Useless at a stall or actually buying anything, but good for easily and quickly exchanging money between accounts. Basic payments for a P.I. Skull tipped his hat to her. "I'll see you" he told her as he trotted for the door.

"I hope not" Dew mumbled as she looked around her broken living room. Once outside and having closed the door, Skulduggery trotted calmly down the steps leading to her home and paused.

"Buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, BUCK" he grumbled, holding his head in pain. He staggered around a little as the pain hit him, a dull throbbing developing in his skull as the pain started up as the adrenaline wore off. He started on his way home, a small but noticeable limp in his left fore-leg. "Another day, another bit" he put his hoof to his muzzle, finding the blood "not to mention another bloody nose" he muttered as he started on his way. The detective's home was not far away, so getting back to his bed was high on his list of priorities, even higher than cashing the exchange notice. He got a few looks from the ponies he passed by, a few guards noticing him too but taking no notice; they knew him as a private detective, not to mention his rep as a bit of a trouble maker. Skulduggery pushed through the door to the apartment block he lived in; an eight story building that wasn't exactly run down nor high class. Unnoticeable, subtle. Just what he needed.

He climbed the stairs slowly, making his way to his sixth floor apartment. Upon arriving at the door to his home, he picked the lock open (he'd lost the key a while back) and headed inside.
A simple two-bedroom job. There was nothing exactly outstanding about his home, it wasn't messy nor overly neat, but he always made sure to keep the lighting low. There was no real reason, he just liked the atmosphere it gave. He trotted into the spare room, the room he'd claimed as his 'office' of sorts. He sat at his desk and massaged his open wound. There was already an open bottle of especially hard cider on the desk, next to a shot glass. As was the ritual, he poured himself a glass and held it to eye level. He took a breath. What had he done today? Told a wife of eight years that her husband had cheated on her, trashed her home and left without a word.

"What do I regret Celestia" he asked the room "I regret becoming a detective in the first place" he said, the shot of apple and alcohol replacing the gap the words had left.
______________________________________________________________________________

Leaf, Ember and Candle had responded to Blood Moon's story with mixed reactions.
Ember had a small grin, perhaps prompted by either the fact that her boss was discussion relationship problems or that he actually had a relationship to have problems about. Leaf, as ever, remained completely stoic about the situation. Candle Light, however, seemed rather conflicted; he hadn't known Blood Moon for long, and had only had two interactions with the stallion, one consisting of discussing a contract with him and the other consisting of little more than him being angry.

The dark stallion's eye whipped between the three assassins, waiting for a reaction or answer; all's he had was their facial expressions and eyes. He gazed at Leaf; he was surprised, to say the least, that his boss was discussing his love life, but even more so at how he'd come back from the job. There was more to his thoughts, but it went beyond instinct and emotion, as such, it was lost to Blood Moon. Ember was most amused; she seemed partly relieved that Blood Moon had found himself a mare, and partly shocked that it was one of the Elements of harmony, specifically Twilight. He also noticed that she seemed grateful for something, though he couldn't see thoughts through her eyes, but he guessed it to be something along the lines of relief that he was dating somepony. Candle was most predictable; he seemed annoyed at the assassin's mood swings, scared at the prospect of another, confused at the conversation, slightly relieved at the fact that Blood Moon seemed equine rather than a monster, amused by him having relationship problems and, finally, genuinely concerned for him. That fact touched Blood Moon.

"Well" he prompted of the silent assassins. Ember blinked once.

"I, um, well I guess…uhhh… I agree with Leaf" she said quickly, pushing attention away from her. Blood Moon looked at said stallion.

"Intriguing" was all he said "Candle? What do you make of this" he asked of his apprentice. Blood Moon was proud of the question, in that he'd basically just done exactly what ember had done, only much more eloquently. Candle raised an eyebrow.

"Well…I guess I'm surprised that you're dating Twilight, for one, and…after what happened with…" he waited for input.

"Scootaloo" Leaf provided.

"Scootaloo" he repeated "I can't really blame you for your reaction. From what I've heard, you're kinda…unstable, no offence" Blood Moon raised a hoof to assure none was taken "and you seemed to show real affection for the filly. But taking it out on the mares was wrong; losing control is beneath an assassin like you."

The room was silent.

Ember Spark was gaping at the young stallion, rather literally, as she subconsciously shuffled closer to her crush. Both of Falling Leaf's eyebrows were in his mane-line in both shock and purely because of how impressed he was with his apprentice's assessment. Blood Moon just grinned.

"Candle, what rank are you?" The stallion blinked in confusion.

"Oh, uh, I'm still a novice sir" he answered.

"Well consider yourself an Assassin now" he said. He didn't vocalise it, but the young stallion was both taken aback and honoured to have been promoted, not to mention that he'd been bumped a rank, by Blood Moon himself.

"I…uhh…I…Thanks?" Blood Moon just smirked.

"Anyway" he said like no promotion had been given "I appreciate your honesty Candle. But all things considered, what do the three of you think of the contract?" Things suddenly went darker, the room's atmosphere dampening as the shadows seemed to get darker than before.

"The Goldhooves, huh" Ember said "we've been preparing for a contract on them for years, only barely anypony has the balls to put one out on them" she said off-hoofedly. "A little while back, another Reaper went after them…" she trailed off. Candle looked over at her.

"What happened" he asked, apparently incapable of reading her facial expression. Ember glared at him slightly.

"Let me put it to you like this: they came back inside an envelope." Candle shuddered and swallowed slightly. Meanwhile, Blood Moon had gotten up from the bench built into the inside of the barrel, his usually silvery grey coat now jet black, shiny and dripping back into the healing tars. The tips of his mane were in the same state, the whole of his tail following suit. He trotted out of the vats, the 'quick-fix' formula (as it had been 'lovingly' nicknamed by the other assassins) having reduced the stings, tingling and dull throbs of pain to tight, almost scar-like sensation that would dissipate in a few hours. The other ponies watched and followed silently, drying themselves with the nearby towels. Blood Moon lead the way back to his office.

"So, any ideas as to how we get to them?" He trotted for a few seconds before he realised that he was alone. He looked behind him to see Ember, Candle and Leaf with gob-smacked, horrified and slightly slackened faces respectively. "What" he asked.
"You mean…you're going after them" Ember demanded. Blood Moon blinked.

"Yeah" he said. The three assassins looked between each other. "I thought we'd already established this" he told them "what's the big deal, anyhow?"

"Well, it's just…" Ember trailed off.

"You're going alone" Leaf finished. Blood Moon raised an eyebrow before a smirk met his lips.

"What? You think I'd take away your chance of ripping out Loaded's guts" he asked mischievously. That seemed to settle Ember and Leaf, but Candle still seemed troubled.
"What's the matter kid" the dark stallion asked. Candle didn't say anything, but Leaf apparently recognized this situation; he put a hoof on the shoulder of the stallion who he'd come to see as a son and gave him a look of concern he reserved only for Candle Light.

"N-nothing sir…it's just that was a little worried for you" he explained "I've heard stories about the Goldhooves, how they…" he gulped at the memory "…'deal' with the enemies they can get their hooves on." Blood Moon understood; he'd heard the stories too, about the nightmarish basement of the Goldhooves estate.

'Basement. Estate. Oh yeah.'

"I just remembered" he told them, his trotting resuming, the other following after him "I've something to show you" he told them. Arriving back at the door to his office, Blood Moon pushed through and used his magic to clear his desk, prompting everypony to stand around it. He spread the blueprints Mayor Mare had given him across the table and watched as they Ember's eyes gleamed, Leaf grinned and Candle looked confused.

"What is this" the tiger orange fur stallion asked at length.

"These, kid, are the blueprints to the Goldhooves's…hoof's, ah screw it, it's the blueprints to their estate, is what I'm saying." He tapped the plans. "This is our secret weapon, our way in" he told them. "We gotta takes these down to Tinker so he can give them a look" he mumbled as he rolled them back up and put them in his mane. As he cantered out of the room, eager to get things started, he caught Candle smile slightly. All of the new guys and gals liked Tinker; he was, rather literally, a mad scientist. He was responsible for all of their weapons development and pretty much all of the Shadow Weaver's technological advancements. He worked and practically lived in a room on a level or two below Blood Moon's office; as they pushed through the door, it became obvious that was no lie.

Tinker's room was any scientist's both wet dream and nightmare; there were machines and computers and flashing lights and whirring things that Blood Moon was fairly sure he didn't even want to know what they did. Besides that, there were no small amounts of papers, crushed and empty cans of energy drinks and half-eaten hay-burgers that still lay in their take-out containers. Stood at one of the many consoles about the room, was tinker himself; he was a unicorn, his fur slate and his mane navy blue, spiked up from the amount of electricity around him, singed in other spots because of his experiments and pink at the tips because of his strange preferences in life. His cutie mark was a pair of screws that were without nuts. Loose screws. I'll let you make of that what you will. Over his back was a white, lab coat, greyed and black in some spots and with pockets filled to the brim with rather useless junk that included a paddle-ball, stick of chewing gum, a hologram-flashlight and a pair of fluffy, pink hoof-cuffs.

Blood Moon cleared his throat and knocked his hoof against the doorframe, announcing himself, as Tinker exclaimed 'Domed, I domed yah!' When he heard the sound of visitors (no doubt having heard their digestive tracks too) his head whipped around overly excitedly. His eyes were covered by a pair of goggles, his horn blackened and sighed slightly, and his face a little bony and old, but his expression and attitude, not to mention the tropical shirt he wore beneath his coat, gave off the unmistakable aura of youth. Blood Moon had never looked into this pony's eyes, and he never would, because he was fairly sure he'd never come out alive.

"Blood Moon" he practically roared as he cantered over and lunged at him, only to be caught by the laughing Hunter and get nuggied hard until he let go. "How you been" he asked, his spiky hair mussed up and swaying slightly as he tried to regain a balance he didn't have.

"Not too bad" the assassin lied with a shrug "you?"

"Same as ever!" Translation: you DON'T wanna know. "Hey, look! Candle, good to see you little bro" he said, bro hoofing the stallion "Ember, stunning as ever" he complimented, about as smooth as gravel, the mare smirking his way anyway. He didn't bother to acknowledge Leaf, not after that time the Enforcer had broken his snout. (It had actually been the first time they'd met.) "So, what's up boss" he asked as he dumped himself into a swivel chair with wheels. Hours of fun, for a pony like Tinker. Blood Moon responded by pulling out the blueprints and laying them flat, the scientist holding them down with a few bits of random junk. Tinker's eyes widened in a flash, his grin almost demonic. "Aaaaaaaaaall right" he mused, scratching his scraggly stubble. He glanced up at Blood Moon. "You finally goin' after the Goldhooves, huh?" The dark stallion sat opposite him.

"Yes, but this ain't gonna be easy. I need you to look over these plans and draw up the necessary equipment and whatever else you can come up with" he explained. Tinker nodded as he looked back down at the plans.

"Bitchin', I can do that" he answered "what about you?"

"Me and these three are gonna do some recon on hoof, get a feel for the place" he answered. The scientist nodded.

"Sure, whatevs, that should give me enough time to get a good look at these and…and…uhhh…"

"Think" Candle provided.

"Yeah, that's the one" Tinker answered before he fell silent and became consumed by the plans. Blood Moon rose from his seat silently and left the room promptly, preferring to be out of Tinker's company than in it. Blood Moon liked the stallion, and he was smarter than he looked, but he was about as crazy as Blood Moon, only the assassin hid it better.

"So, now what" Leaf asked as he exited the scientist's lab/home.

"We do what I said" Blood Moon answered. "You and Candle will take to the buildings, find us a good way in and out over the rooftops, while me and Ember will take to the streets and take a look around the walls and surrounding area. I wanna know that place inside as well as out by the time this day is done" he declared. The tree assassins nodded as they split up, Leaf and Candle going one way, presumably towards the armoury to get Candle's new coat to signify his equally new rank, while Ember and Blood Moon went off towards the dark stallion's quarters again.

"So what's the plan" Ember asked.

"Basic couple job. We'll dress up in hoodies and stick close together. Nopony will look twice, and if they do, we'll make them uncomfortable" he answered with a shrug. Ember gave him half a glare.

"Are you doing this on purpose, I told you, not two hours ago, I sorta like Candle" she hissed as another assassin passed them, nodding at Blood Moon.

"I know, but I'm not taking the time to think up a decent backstory to two alter egos. Trust me, I'm not one to break up relationships-"

'Asides, apparently, my own.'

"-So you don't have to worry about that" he assured her. Ember's glare dissipated slightly as she turned her head back to their rout as they came to his office. He trotted up to the wardrobe at the side of the room and slid it open, grabbing a grey/green hoodie and a plain brown leather jacket, tossing them back at Ember, who caught them out of the air as she slid off her vest and replaced it with the items of clothing Blood Moon had given her. When her head had popped through the hole in the hoodie, she found that Blood Moon was wearing a similar attire; a dark blue hood over his head and a black denim jacket with grey accents. The jackets covered their cutie marks while the hoods covered their faces, the fact that all ponies had to cover both making both assassins slightly jealous of the griffons for a second. Blood Moon rummaged through a small crate at the bottom of his closet and pulled out a pair of butterfly knives, throwing one to Ember, watching her slip it into the chest pocket on her hoodie, the stallion slipping his into the sleeve.

They left his quarters, trotting a little closer to each other as they sank gracefully into character, and met Leaf and Candle standing by the exit in their assassin gear, the smaller stallion' green coat replaced with a wine-red one. Blood Moon looked between them for a second before he spoke.

"Alright ponies, let's roll."
______________________________________________________________________________

Scarlet Blade had been a personal Goldhooves mercenary for a long time now. She a was renown blade for hire throughout the blade for hire world, known as one of the most fierce, deadly and merciless mares in the world. As such, it was only fitting that the mare was given the position of security Capitan within the walls of the Goldhooves estate. Even so, her latest job didn't do much to boast her skills, talents or reputation. The original contract had described her job as a 'multi-positional occupation' that ranged from guard to personal escort for members of the Goldhooves family. Now though, she been told by her, in her opinion, overly paranoid boss to take a patrol route outside and watch for suspicious activity.

So, that morning, she woke up alone once more in her bed and prepared for her day. Recently, the stallion she'd been paired off with by the Goldhooves, Hardhoof, had been seen less and less around the estate. Granted, his job was guard lieutenant in Ponyville but he'd never really cared much for his career in Ponyville. He'd always had his eyes and a bigger prize, the position of guard Captain for all of Equestria. Whatever the case for his absence, she still missed the fact that she could at least wake up every day with somepony. Of course, this had nothing to do with romance; just that a surprise morning buck was a nice sensation for a drowsy mare.

She'd washed and showered already, and was now in the process of dressing herself in her armour. Admittedly, she still wasn't over the loss of her morning, as Hardhoof had taken to jokingly calling it, 'morning cocky' so there was a vibrator raging around inside her marehood. She started at the mirror for a while; she was a pretty-ish mare, her fur was deep red, spots having gone silver in a whitewash style she rather liked, and her mane and tail were golden, a red streak running through the mane. Her cutie mark was that of her namesake; a bloody bladed broadsword. Though perhaps her most distinguishing feature was the eye-patch on her right eye, the strap reaching around her head, her remaining eye showing its colour had been as gold as her mane. She turned to the armour mannequin next to her mirror; the Goldhooves, mainly because of her stature, had allowed her to keep the armour she normally wore: blood red plating, metallic bronze accents and black leather beneath. There was a sword leaning against the mannequin was identical to her cutie mark; a long, dual bladed broadsword that was almost tinted red from the blood stains that had covered it over its life. She slipped the sword onto the scabbard on her back, built into her armour, and reached back with her hoof. She had to admit, it would have been easier if she had a horn but she loved her wings too much to give them up. Or at least, that's what she would have thought if she wasn't pulling something from her secret place; as it was, her thoughts were reduced to:

'Ggggggaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh…put it back in dummy…'

Taking a few breaths, trying to regain herself as she dripped slightly from her rear-end, she flicked the vibrator to its 'off' position and hid it back inside the only lockable draw in her and Hardhoof's room. She trotted out of the well-lit room into an equally well-light hallway. The Goldhooves may be paranoid, to such an extent that they disliked having shadows and darkness in their home, but they could at least do it in style. She passed a few other guards, all of whom nodded her way, and she acknowledged none of them; she didn't like the other guards, they were unprofessional, their armour and uniforms were always sloppy and didn't treat her like an equal. Or at least they hadn't, she'd solved that problem when she'd ripped one of the guard's balls off when he'd gotten too touchy feely.

That was something to be said about Scarlet; she was no normal mare. She was very unfeminine, didn't bother in talking away problems and was more of a stallion than more than half of the guards protecting this place. Her mane fell into place as she trotted, hanging slightly above her left eye and it only added to the glare she sent to each and everypony she met. She stole another guard's apple as he went to take a bite and swiped another's water bottle as she stepped outside, necking the water quickly and eating the apple in a few bites as Celestia's sun shone down on her. The golden light made her squint slightly before her eye adjusted to the light. Scarlet cracked her back and spread her wings, the powerful muscles glad for the relief after too long without activity. She took to the skies for a while, flying low over the estate, outside the usual airborne patrol routes as she forged her own path.
She frowned suddenly.

She thought she'd seen something, a black dot on one of the rooftops. She hovered for a second as she tried to decide whether it had been a trick of the light or not, but soon decided that she was going to check it out anyway; better safe than sorry. She swooped down and landed on the rooftop gently; she drew her blade in one hoof and looked around herself slowly, searching for whatever she had seen, if she-

Thwak

Scarlet Blade's eyes rolled up into her skull as she fell unconscious, the world growing dark around her, but not before she saw a familiar looking mask step from the shadows.
Candle Light watched as the mare fell down, Falling Leaf having chopped his hoof into her neck. The Enforcer looked up at the Assassin, a glare hidden by his mask.

"Next time, wait for my mark" he growled.

"Hey, don't be so harsh" came the smooth voice of Ember as she stepped out of the shadows Candle had been in. Blood Moon came last as he stepped up to the fallen mare; he bent down to see her face. He didn't know her, but she looked like any other merc.

"Anypony know this one" he asked. Candle and Ember shook their heads, but Leaf didn't do anything. Blood Moon looked over at him. "Leaf?"

"…We dated once" he answered. For the second time in a day, the four ponies were completely silent. Falling Leaf in a romantic relationship? It didn't seem possible, the stallion was too stoic, too silent, too…boring to even have a hope at that kind of relationship. Candle Light's reaction was perhaps the most understanding, the pair's pupil/teacher relationship giving him a better look into his personal life. That said, even he had an eyebrow raised. Ember was stifling giggles badly, wishing she was wearing her mask so they couldn't see the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. Blood Moon couldn't give a rat's ass about the Enforcer's past relationships.

"Think you can get any information out of her" was all's the Hunter asked. Leaf shrugged.

"Probably. She only knew me when I was a Learned Novice, so she probably won't recognise me now. That should shock her, make it easy to squeeze information out of her" he mumbled, mind always on the job, despite his distant voice. Blood Moon nodded once.

"Good. Take her back to the hideout, tie her up-" Ember giggled again "-and then get back here." Falling Leaf nodded as he hauled the Pegasus onto his back, his strong earth pony body making lifting the light Pegasus easy on him. He vanished in a spiral of leaves. "Right, now we should have some inside information soon enough. Let's get to it" he said as he turned to the edge of the roof. Ember followed him, not before she glanced back at Candle and winked at him flirtatiously. The visual flirt gave the young stallion a boost of confidence, his chest puffing out slightly, as Ember giggled and hopped off the building with Blood Moon.

The landed before a bench, swiftly sitting on it and wrapping up together and giggling at nothing as a patrol of guards passed them by. When the gold clad ponies were far enough away, they immediately stopped their giggling and stood up; they looked to be joined at the hip, Ember's head snuggling up to Blood Moon's as they giggled and laughed at things they hadn't said.

There were too many eyes on them; the crowds were being watched by the guards stood atop the walls surrounding the Goldhooves estate as well as the other mercs trotting around the grounds, not to mention the solar guards trotting on the other side of the street. Public displays of affection may make ponies used to coldness and little emotion, such as guards, uncomfortable, prompting them to look away, but a well-trained guard may glance Ember or Blood Moon's cutie mark. He needed to find a dark spot, somewhere to take stock of the situation. He instructed Ember to laugh naughtily as he guided her to a dark alleyway; they stepped into the shade and stepped away from each other, both taking up a position either side of the alley so they could see all there was to see from this spot. They both sunk into the shadows and kept their hoods down, the combined glare of Celestia's sun and the deep shadow making them nearly invisible.

"So why Candle anyway" Blood Moon asked from the blue, mentally marking up the spots and patrols on this piece of the wall. Ember grunted a little.

"I thought we'd dropped this" she told him, her own eyes darting all over the wall and the main gate.

"I did drop it. But that means I can pick it up again too" he told her, sinking a little deeper into the shadow as a guard cast his gaze over their hiding spot. He could smell Ember's smirk.

"Touché" she mumbled, wondering if she'd used that right "whatever. I'll tell you why Moon. It's because he's brave enough to talk to me" she told him. Blood Moon angled his head at her a little, not quite glancing at her, but getting the same message across.

"If that's true, why not Leaf?" Ember grunted again.

"Because he's the same rank as me. He has no need to be scared. Ever since I made Novice, everypony always treated me like a Master. They always cowered away from me and offered the utmost respect. And the ones who didn't, treated me like a piece of fruit; something to be used and tossed when you're done with" she explained. "It's probably because he's Leaf's protégé, but he's not scared around me and he's real nice to me. Or at least, he's the right amount of nice, y'know?"

"Sorta. I guess I can see where you're coming from" he answered. He smirked. "Kinda cute actually, almost like you're-"

"Oh, baby" Ember groaned as she fell into Blood Moon's awaiting fore-hooves, the pair's lips meeting as they rubbed each other against the other. The slightly disturbed and aroused guards trotted past hastily, wishing these crazy kids could keep it under their tails. Ember kept it going for a second until she was sure the guards had left in proper before she pulled back again, resting on her side of the alleyway.

"-Finally growing up, getting your first crush and all that" he finished, as though nothing had happened at all. Ember tried to growl at him, but it came out as a small giggle as she found his smirking face; not even she was immune to the Hunter's charms.

"Easy on the tongue next time, buster" she told him, prompting another laugh from the assassin.

"Not bad?"

"Not bad, but your lips are too chapped" she told him, the dark stallion nodding as he stored the information away for future use. "Anyway, shut up, it's not like this is my first crush" she told him "I mean, when you and me first met, I was sorta…swept away" she told him. Blood Moon became a mix of both bemused cockiness and slightly disturbed stallion.

"Yeah, I'd never seen a four year old blush so hard before" he told her, a slightly accusing hoof aimed at her. Ember laughed.

"Hey, lay off! I was young!"

"That's my point" he answered, still grinning "I may have inclusive standards, but they're inclusive standards, for mares. Even my tail don't swing that way" he smirked. Ember responded by sauntering over to him and caressing him slightly.

"What about now" she asked, trotting the line between slutty and sultry perfectly. Blood Moon cocked his head to the side slightly as his smirk turned to a grin.

"Hmm, maybe I don't know" he mumbled, brushing a strand of hair out back into its place. They both suddenly heard trotting from up the alleyway; it was the same guards. Blood Moon cringed slightly; there was a very distinct possibility that the show Ember had given them earlier could turn into a problem, given that they looked to be about to head to a hotel; they didn't have the time nor inclination to do that though, so they went with much more dangerous option. Ember took the initiative, slapping her hoof against Blood Moon's flank as their faces dived back together, both of them getting progressively more precarious with their hooves. As Ember's hooves drew blood to Blood Moon's stallionhood, Blood Moon's drew moisture from her slit as the guards trotted past quickly, practically galloping, and left them to it. When the guards had left, Ember didn't move. "You gonna get offa me" he asked with a grin. Ember smirked back, her head cocked.

"Do you want me to" she purred "didn't you leave your marefriend just now? I'd have thought you'd need something to take your mind offa things" she told him, feeling the oh-so-familiar feeling of a stallionhood hardening beneath her hoof. She angled it to her exposed marehood and let the tip tease her, slipping in ever so slightly, her blush growing slightly.

"What about Candle?" Ember sighed deeply.

"Moon, he's still new to the Weavers. He barely knows me, hay, I barely know him. The only pony he really talks to is Leaf. I may like him better than almost all the other stallions in the order, but I'm still not just gonna throw myself at somepony who'd probably have a heart attack rather than retune my sentiments. I'm gonna give it a few years, see how things pan out" she told him, making some pretty dangerous (and alluring) hints. Blood Moon smirked again as he thrust, half of his length going inside Ember's marehood. She bit her lip and threw her head back. "Oh, Moon" she groaned, burying her face into his shoulder as he spread her lips.

"Alright you two, cut it out" a voice said from beside them. A trio of guards, the mercs under the employment of the Goldhooves, stood watching them. Ember gulped as her marehood clamped down on Blood Moon's dick involuntarily. The assassin pulled out his hidden blade and willed it to go flaccid as Ember clambered off of him.

"R-right, sorry" she said sheepishly, scratching the back of her neck "got a little carried away I guess" she said. "Let's go honey" she told Blood Moon, who's red eyes were boring into the guards as he made sure the mare under his charge got away safely. He waited until Ember was a step behind him until he turned with her.

"Where d'you think you're goin', sugar flank" one of the guards called after them. Both Blood and Ember rolled their eyes at once; they were those kinds of guard. Blood Moon and Ember froze, as though suddenly scared, and didn't move as the guards moved up beside them, mainly her. "We could send you two to the dungeons, y'know. Public indecency. Or we could have you put in the Goldhooves dungeons for crimes on their property" he told them, the lead guard, as he brushed his hoof along Ember's back. "Or…we could be persuaded otherwise."

Blood and Ember moved at once, their movements graceful and in perfect sync; Blood Moon flicked his right hoof and the butterfly knife slipped out of his sleeve and into his hoof. He didn't bother unsheathing it, and instead slammed the metal handle into the guard's eye. Ember went with something more powerful, sacrificing speed for overall power. She slammed her fore-leg into the guard's throat and took him by the back of the head, bringing his head down to the ground. Both spun at once, Blood Moon making a show of spinning and flipping the butterfly around his hoof as he unsheathed the blade, Ember simply whipping it out of the pocket and, making one simple flick, the gleaming blade was out. Both slashed the small blades quickly, not allowing their opponents to unsheathe their own. Blood Moon, ever valuing speed over power, opened a smooth gash in his guard's neck. Ember beat the back of her weapon over her guard's head and followed through by stabbing it through his cheek and ripping it out.

Both guards now bleeding, they both made a flourish of movement; Blood Moon's painted a smile on his guard's throat while Ember's planted the small knife in her guard's skull and brain. Ember heard a wooden 'clunk' and looked up to find Blood Moon holding the staff of a spear just over her head. The other end of the spear was being held by an earth pony guard, the guy who'd had the smart idea to try and force sex out of her to keep quiet about what they'd caught them doing. Blood Moon gave a vial snarl as he snapped the blade off and tossed it aside. Ember ripped her blade out of her blade and held it in her hoof, looking like a mirror image of Blood Moon as they thrust their weapons at once; brutality had taken over Blood Moon's mind as he stabbed the guard in the eye, Ember following suit, but didn't go far enough to kill him. They both pulled their weapons back, the eyeball coming out with them, and shoved them into the guard's mouth, beating his lower jaw up to keep his maw closed. He swallowed instinctively and shuddered as his eye sockets wept blood. They both spun their grips on their weapons and slashed their blades along his neck, making two eerie smiles along his neck. He wobbled slightly before he fell, but neither had seen; they spun around and tossed their butterfly's into the air, the weapons closing mid-air, and catching them mid-air before slipping them into their opposite sleeves, all in complete and perfect unison.

They then trotted out and glanced left and right before they trotted away from the crime scene as a mare screamed and a bunch of other ponies cantered to the source as the mercs and guards argued over whose jurisdiction it was. Meanwhile, Blood Moon and Ember trotted like a couple out for a stroll towards another alleyway, the spot they, Candle and Leaf had agreed to meet. Blood Moon and Ember leapt up to a fire escape and quickly climbed it. At the top, the found Falling Leaf and Candle Light already there, the elder assassin leaning on the lip of the roof.

"Your doing" Leaf posed, nodding at the mass of ponies gathered around the spot they'd killed three guards not three minutes ago. Ember smirked a little too much to look quite innocent. Leaf shook his head. "Anyway, we're all done here. You?" Blood Moon turned swiftly to business mode.

"Yeah. We mapped out the guard's outside and around the front gate, alongside this, our hostage and Tinker's progress, we should have enough to go on" he decided.

"Back home" Candle said. Blood Moon nodded and the two masked assassins disappeared in leaves and feathers. Blood Moon's hoof raised and he spanked Ember square on the ass as he teleported, bringing her with him. Ember gave a cute and suggestive little 'ooh' as she felt the contact, but grinned back at him either way. They'd ended up just outside Tinker's lab and promptly trotted inside.

Inside, he hadn't seemed to have moved though the two knew he'd very probably invented three things, broken up with his marefriend, had make-up sex and gotten back together with her, made three more assassins want to either commit suicide or kill him, disproved around four theories as to the meaning of life and come up with around nine more, all of which very probably had at least something to do a flying spaghetti monster he kept going on about.
"Hey Tin-" He was cut off when Tinker raised his hoof and cut him off. He was muttering something only Blood Moon could hear, and it both aroused him and made him reconsider the existence of his lungs. Tinker looked up and both caught the momentary look on his face; that was why Blood Moon kept him in the Weaver despite him not being a real assassin, that was why he made sure no harm came to him, that was why he endured his constant jests, that was why Blood Moon knew Tinker was the best of the best in his field of work. It was an indescribable look of utter intelligence, of concentration, ultimate thought of the deepest and most complex variety. It was genius given form. But then it went away, to be washed away with the bright look of pure joy that Blood Moon felt would look more at home on Pinkie's face.
Or maybe Pinkie's would look better on Tinker's. Blood Moon made a mental note to never introduce the two. Either because the world would implode or neither would ever get any sleep again and he'd be shelling out a lot on bed frames. Either way, the assassin shuddered.

"Heya boss, how goes it?" Blood Moon smirked.

"Pretty good. We've got a hostage, plenty first-hoof knowledge on the place and now we're just waiting on-"

"Nopony! I got it all worked out" he exclaimed as he stood up. "Come see" he prompted as he led the way to a nearby workbench, Blood Moon grabbing the blueprints as he went. On the wood and iron table sat a few items of interest ranging from armour to masks and knives to small balls with a small fuse coming off. "Right, so there's a few things I've been tinkering with, see what I did there, and I was wondering what you think of them, so I'm gonna run them by you." Blood Moon shrugged.

"Alright, shoot." Tinker responded by picking up a bow looking object, the limbs compacted down halfway along them.

"This" he gave it a small flick, the limbs of the bow popping out before clicking into place with a small metallic 'snap' "is the recurve bow. A compact, high range, high power bow used for all sorts of bow and arrow situations" he explained. "I've been thinking of a way to allow our none-unicorn assassins a more powerful long-range attack without using magic. I had my eureka moment when I decided to start looking back instead of forwards, so I threw this puppy together and, hey presto!" Tinker had handed the bow to Blood Moon, who held it in his hooves and pulled the string back a few times before he frowned. "Light, huh? I had the Pegasi in mind when I was making this; it's nice and light, powerful up to at least half a mile and it's light enough for 'em to use with ease" he explained as Blood handed it to Ember, who made similar appreciative and inspective motions.

"Anything to shot from it" she asked, glancing at the scientist. Tinker beamed like a colt on Hearth's Warming Eve as he handed the mare a quiver of arrows, with heads ranging from standard broad heads to heads of small caskets full of either explosive chemicals or noxious gasses.
"Take your pick" he insisted as Ember took up a saw-tooth arrow and drew back the string.

"Wow, it is light" she mumbled, getting a feel for the weapon. She looked down the arrow and released the string; with a 'thunk' it embedded itself deep into the wall. "Not bad" Ember Spark praised, setting the weapon down before she fell too in love with it.

"What else" Blood Moon asked. Tinker picked up a pipe. Blood Moon took it up. "A blowpipe" he concluded.

"Yes, buuuut." Blood Moon glanced up to find Tinker bringing down a battle-axe; his eyes snapped open for a second as he raised the pipe in defence. What looked like flimsy, light wood stopped the heavy iron axe dead in its tracks. Blood Moon gave Tinker a glare that would haunt Tinker's dreams for a few weeks as he pulled the axe back and rested it on his shoulder. "It's practically indestructible" he finished.

"Good to know" Blood Moon muttered as he loaded a steel dart into the back of the pipe of gave a sharp puff; the dart embedded itself into the same wall Ember had shot her arrow into.
"Nice" the dark stallion said as he placed it back on the table "next?" Tinker picked up a pair of bracers.

"Put these on" he instructed. He held them out to both ponied; Ember and Blood shrugged and took one each, before going to put them on. "NO, left hoof" he corrected. Blood Moon shook his head as he complied, Ember following suit. Once they both had them on, they took a look at them; they were black, made of a relatively thick leather and held the Shadow Weaver's symbol on them, a blood red dagger, the outline of a simple loom etched across the blade. They were strapped to their legs with numerous laces beneath the leg that kept them tight to the hoof. "Now, tense your leg muscles" Tinker explained once they were done admiring them. They complied and both watched in fascination as a thin blade shot out from beneath the leg, between the securing laces and the leather around the bottom of the hoof. Blood Moon gave a grin the devil would cower under while Ember looked like she had just orgasmed. "Nice, right" Tinker said, both pride and smugness in his tone and on his face. They both nodded silently. "A little while back, a stallion showed me something like these; he was Istallian, wore black and red robes and armour, swords, daggers, the real deal. Look like an assassin himself. Real smooth guy too. Anyway, he wanted the designs of our hoof-bows, so I agreed to hand them over in exchange for something equally as useful. I think I made a good exchange" he said. Blood Moon nodded once.

"You're damn straight" he muttered "these are great. You'd never know they were armed" he said quietly, still examining the silver blade. Tinker nodded.

"Aren't they? The only down side is the metal; it needs to be light, strong and easy to forge. Such a metal exists, but it's as rare as a sober Irishmane. Moon Silver." Blood Moon nodded a few times, taking in the words but still transfixed by the hidden blade.
"Ember…remind me to…to…to…sweet Celestia these are awesome, anyway, remind me to divert more funding to the mining and geological research division. Tell them to be on the lookout for Moon Silver too" he said. Ember nodded as she tensed her leg muscles again.
"Anything else?" Tinker went on to describe to the pair the rest of the weapons and armour laying on the table before them; they consisted of an optical zoom for the gasmasks, stronger yet lighter armour for the coats, a different weave of metal in the swords that made them stronger yet easier to balance and finally a clump of black dust.

"What's this" Ember asked, having lowered her face to the small pile of pure black dust. Tinker gave a small, demonic giggle as he struck a match and advised everypony to stand back. Once they had, he dropped his match onto the dust and watched it combust. Ember hadn't seen it coming, and promptly gave an embarrassingly shrill squeal as she hopped away from the explosion, into the defensive fore-hoof of Blood Moon, who held her in a bodyguard's protective hold. Granted, Blood Moon had flinched badly too, having taken a full step away from the table. Ember's glaring head popped out of Blood Moon's body, though she didn't step away; partly from paranoia and partly from affection. "What was that" she demanded, her voice laced with both fear and anger; she didn't like being caught off-guard, didn't like anypony seeing her scared.

"Here, here" Blood Moon agreed, seemingly as agitated as Ember.

"That is…well, I don't really have a name, but some of the guys have taken to calling it 'boom dust!' I kinda like it, but I've been trying to think of a more serious name, maybe like black powder, but not so boring." Blood Moon glared slightly.

"That's your concern? The name! This is a highly explosive, easily hid material. You no longer have jurisdiction in the implication of this, it's too damn dangerous! I mean, think about what would happen if the somepony like the Goldhooves got a hold of this! Dose the phrase, weapon of mass destruction, ring any bells?" Tinker looked deflated.

"Ahhh, come on boss. Not this again, it's just like the dynamite and corpse reanimating gas! It'll work, trust me!" Blood Moon picked up the blow pipe and beat the scientist around the head with it.

"That's not my concern; it's how it'll be used is what concerns me! Does anypony else know the formula?" Tinker shook his head dejectedly.

"No" he mumbled at length, sounding like an upset child. Blood Moon released a slightly calmer Ember Spark and nudged him slightly.

"Hey, chin up. You still did a good job with the blades" he assured. Tinker lit up again.

"Thanks boss" he said, sounding just a little too much like Pinkie Pie.
"Don't worry about it. So, you think all of this'll help us out when we're goin' after the Goldhooves?" Tinker nodded.

"Yeah, I'm not tellin' ya how, that'd spoil the surprise, but trust me, they will." Blood Moon nodded.

"Great. I want you to make a few more of these, this won't be a one pony job. Thinking of which, I'm keepin' this" he said, holding up the hidden blade. "Actually, now that I think about it, make sure only Reapers and Masters get these, and make sure they know how to used them. If they're rare, I don't want them to go to waste" he added. Tinker nodded.

"Sure thing boss, have fun with it" he called after them "you too Ember" he said without looking up, making the mare attempting to sneak out with it cringe and mutter a small 'damn.'

"Thanks Tinker" she said, pecking him on the cheek. Tinker didn't look up from his work, but his smile turned into a classic Cheshire grin. "So, now what" she asked as she came up beside Blood Moon.

"We see how our guest is doing" he answered, trotting away from Tinker's lab and towards the holding cells. They arrived promptly, finding Candle Light and Leaf in the room opposite, watching their captive through one-way glass. "How is she" Blood Moon asked as he came up beside them. Leaf remained silent for a second before answering.

"She's awake. Scared, confused. She's gotten angry, desperate, she's demanded answers and now she's just given up. Silence for about half an hour" he answered. Blood Moon nodded and stood beside him; the mare in the room was sitting at a steel table on a steel chair, her bored looking head resting on her left fore-leg while her left played absently with her mane.

"Leaf, you're up. Talk to her, try and get her to talk. Use whatever means you have to" he explained. Leaf nodded wordlessly as he trotted out of the open door of the observation room and into the interrogation chamber. The mare raised her head quickly to see who had entered; she found the masked, coated, armoured and, most importantly, armed Shadow Weaver enter. She gave him a truly fearsome thousand-yard glare as he sat before her.

"Who are you, where am I" she demanded evenly, her tone majorly pissed off. Leaf remained silent. "Do you have any idea who I am? I'll give you three seconds to let me out of here before I rip you a new one!"

"Charming" was all Blood Moon mumbled. Leaf had remained silent, observing her from behind his gasmask, watching the droplet of sweat run down her neck.

"Scarlet Blade" Leaf started, his metallic tint worsened by the gravel he added to his voice. She stiffened, apparently shocked he knew her name.

"Who's asking" she shot back. Leaf cocked his head to the side.

"You work for the Goldhooves, an estate guard." Scarlet narrowed her eye.

"And what if I do" she demanded, having crossed her fore-hooves.

"Answer my questions and I won't dip you into a vat of acid" he told her in an eerily calm voice. Scarlet gulped once.

"Do we even have a vat of acid" Candle asked.

"It's called a bluff" Ember answered with a smirk.

"Go ahead" the merc shot back "I'm not saying anything" she told him. Leaf cocked his head again.

"Why's that? Loyalty? Payment? Make things easy on yourself Scarlet, just answer my questions and no harm will come to you." Scarlet glared again as she leaned over the table a little.

"Let me out of here, little colt, and no harm will come to you" she hissed. Leaf was still for a second.

"Answer my question" he said. Scarlet and Candle Light raised an eyebrow.

"You haven't asked me asked me anything" she said.

"Why do you refuse to answer my questions. You have no reason to remain loyal to the Goldhooves." She glared once more before she smirked.

"Hardhoof. We're, how do they say, courting." Blood Moon laughed. He stepped out of the room and into the interrogation chamber, his hood down. He stood behind Leaf, who had acknowledged his appearance by turning his head back slightly. The assassin smirked slightly.

"Do you know who I am?" Scarlet shook her head, her eyes still narrowed at him. "They call me the Hunter." Recognition and fear exploded on her face, the mare sinking back into her chair slightly. "I guess you do now" he grinned. He trotted up to the mare and leaned on the table before her; his wolfish grin unsettled the mare and she wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and cry a little. The Hunter was the kind of pony, when you heard more about him, the more you feared him; Scarlet Blade had heard a lot about Blood Moon. "I suppose I should tell you, you no longer have any reason to be loyal to the Goldhooves anymore" he said. Scarlet gulped.

"W-why" she asked quietly.

"Hardhoof's dead" he said bluntly, his twisted mirth still putting fear into the mare; her eyes widened.

"H-he's dead" she repeated. Blood Moon nodded.

"Yeah, I killed him. Tied him down by his guts over a bamboo shoot, cut off his legs and set some Timbers after him. I reckon he's nothing but a pile of maggots by now" he goaded. The dark stallion knew he could be very harsh when he wanted to, and took no steps to tone down his menace. He enjoyed indulging himself from time to time. Scarlet just watched as he continued to smirk at her, an unbearable smirk that she desperately wanted rip off his face. So she did.

She lunged at the assassin, pushing him off his hooves and pinning him to the floor; she swung her hoof against his head, feeling it make contact with nothing. She blinked; he'd vanished. She felt a sudden strain around her neck and felt her airways cut off. "He was a pathetic fighter" he hissed "drew me out my kidnapping six mares, then threatening to rape and murder them and pin it on me, just so he could get to guard Captain faster. Did you really love a stallion like that? You're loyal to a family like that?" He tightened his grip as she started spluttering for air, snorting and grunting. "If so, I hope you're a much better warrior than him" he growled. As the world went black around Scarlet's vision, she felt the world become weightless around her as she fell to the floor, her breath coming back to her in a rush as she sucked in air greedily. Blood Moon stood up. "Leaf, ask her your questions, and if she doesn't answer, cut out her other eye with a rusty spoon" he ordered. Scarlet Blade held her throat with her hoof, rubbing it gently as she coughed and heaved. She looked up at the other assassin. He didn't seem to have moved throughout her and the Hunter's antics, simply observed. She crawled back to her seat and fell onto it, resting her head on the table; she hated this, being held hostage, being scared, having somepony who could kick her flank without breaking a sweat breathing down her neck. She looked up at the brown clad stallion and something occurred to her.

"He called you Leaf" she said, something in her head telling her that was somehow relevant. The stallion responded by reaching up and pulling off his mask, pushing the hood off of his head. When he looked up again, her eyes snapped open. "L-Leaf" she murmured. He nodded once. She suddenly got angry. "You sonofabitch" she growled as she stood, pushing the table to the side and squaring up to him "the last time I saw you I'd just been sent on that contract in-"
"Be quiet Scarlet. We may have history, but don't think that'll distract me. You're my prisoner now, and you're gonna answer my question; we're going after the Goldhooves and you're gonna tell us everything we want to know." He drew his blade and aimed it at her working eye.
"Else say goodbye to your vision" he growled. Scarlet got the idea he wasn't bluffing. Her nerve broke; the combined efforts of her sore neck, the blade aimed at her eye, the Hunter's visit and slight sorrow at Hardhoof's death all worked against her as she broke.

"What do you want to know?" Blood Moon smirked.

"We'll leave them to it, we have more to do in order to prepare" he told Candle and Ember. As he trotted down a corridor, he continued his orders. "Candle, you spread the word; make sure everypony knows about what we're planning. We're gonna need more than just the four of us to take on that place" he told them. Candle paused.

"Wait, four of us" he repeated. Blood Moon looked back absently.

"Yeah; me, Leaf, Ember and you" he listed. Candle frowned.

"M-me? You want me to come along?" Blood Moon stopped completely and turned to the young assassin.

"Yeah, why?" Candle swallowed once.

"It-it's just that I thought this seems like a contract Masters and Reapers would perform. I mean, I'm still just an Assassin" he pointed. The dark assassin grunted as he nudged Candle's shoulder.

"Hey, you've done well so far. I have faith in your skills, you have some too" he advised as took a step back to continue on his way. "Now scram kid, you've got work to do" he said with a grin on his face. Candle followed his advice and turned away, cantering for the common room. Beside him, Ember smirked.

"Y'know, you always treat the rookies like kids" she noted. Blood Moon shrugged.

"That's because they pretty much are. He may be in his twenties, only a little younger than you, but in comparison, you're practically in your fifties when it comes to maturity and skill. Hay, you're younger than Leaf but you're still a higher rank." Ember frowned.

"I'm a Reaper, he's an Enforcer. We're the same rank." Blood Moon shook his head.

"This has already been explained to you; in a room with you, me and Leaf, as the Chapter Leader, I give the orders, but with you, Leaf and Candle, you give the orders because of your superior skill in stealth and your greater experience. Trust me, just go with it" he advised. Ember shook her head.

"What are we doing anyway?" Blood Moon gave a long sigh.

"The absolute best part of an assassin's career; paperwork." Ember's groan of agony made her sound like a filly.

"Reeeeeally? Do we have to?" Blood Moon nodded with an annoyed look on his face.

"Yeah, I've got eight cubic-assloads of paperwork to catch up on and you've gotta take a good look at these plans, figure out a good way in and out" he told her. Ember sulked all the way back to the Hunter's office.

Once they arrived, they settled down for the long-run; Blood Moon leaned back in his chair, his horn glowing as he held the log book up, a raven feather quill scratching everything down; he knew that all assassins hated paperwork, and that very few kept note of what happened, so he'd decided to take on all paper work within his chapter; assassins KIA, completed contracts, contracts received, contracts in progress, the take, if the client attempted to be clever, targets taken alive, targets eliminated and any promotions. It was gruelling, boring work, but somepony had to do it. He wouldn't allow those under his charge to fall into disorganisation. That wasn't his style.

"What is it with you Ember" he asked, an hour into their work. Ember didn't look up from her maps and notes.

"What'd you mean" she answered.

"You tell me you like Candle, then not three hours after, you and me are almost bucking in an alley. What's up with you?" Ember grinned deviously as her eyes swivelled up to him, Blood Moon looking back at her from between his levitating papers.

"Why'd You ask" she answered. Blood Moon grunted as he looked back at his work.

"Conversation" he half-lied. Ember giggled as she looked down at her maps again. She took a long breath before she answered.

"Because, Blood Moon, I may have developed a thing for Candle recently, but I've liked you ever since I met you." Blood Moon grunted.

"You were four, Ember" he reminded her. Ember Spark shrugged her slender shoulders.

"I remember" she told him.
Ember Spark sat on the street side. She was dirty, her mane and tail mussed up badly, her stomach empty and thin. Her eyes were empty and sad as she watched the world go about its business. Manehatten hadn't any time to spare for another homeless filly; her mother and father had apparently given up looking for her and returned to their lives, the wealthy and successful didn't care for the riffraff on the street side and the poor hadn't anything to spare.
Recently, the small pony had taken to thievery to sustain herself, snagging an apple of an orange with her tail and galloping for her life as the guards pursued her before hiding in a sewer pipe. She was beginning to regret her dreams for adventure and excitement, wishing she'd just endured her parent's pushing and overly annoying protective tendencies. At least she'd have a bed to sleep in. She watched a trio of ponies pass her by; the elder two held their noses up high, a stallion with a well-kept green mane and tail, his fur light yellow and his cutie mark an orange trotted with a mare with pale yellow fur, her orange mane kept in a fancy do that reminded the filly of a beehive, while her cutie mark was three orange segments. The third member of their party was a filly, around her own age, and had the same mane-style as the mare. Her mane and tail were a pretty blond, her face freckled, her fur orange. She had green eyes that filled with concern when they fell upon the homeless filly.

"Are yew-you alright" she asked, her voice suspiciously upper class. Before Ember could answer, the orange filly was dragged away by the other two ponies, who she suspected to be her parents.

"Now, Applejack, we don't associate ourselves with filth" he snobby mare told her. Ember glared.

"You mustn't talk to yourself much then" she shot back. Her eyes snapped open before long; what had she just said, what had she just done? The mare gasped horribly as the stallion narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth.

"Guards" the mare practically screamed in fury. A single second later, two gold clad guards had appeared.

"Yes ma'am" one asked in monotone.

"Apprehend that-that…ruffian, at once!"

"On what charges ma'am?"

"She assaulted me and my niece" she told them. Ember's eyes opened.

"I did not!" But the guards weren't listening; they were already advancing on her. The corners of Ember's eyes went down in fear. She looked around for support, but the street was suddenly very empty; her eyes passed over the filly, and they locked long enough for her to catch her mouth 'run!' Ember quickly complied.
The grey filly turned and galloped for it, taking the guards by surprise for a second before they growled and gave pursuit. Before she'd even taken the first corner around the block, her lungs were already burning. Her breaths were ragged and harsh, her lungs desperate for more air than they were getting; she was too far away from her sewer pipe, and there was nowhere else she knew to hide. Her only hope was to find a crowd and loose the guards there, but at the rate they were gaining, they'd have her before long.

Her galloping came to an end when she rammed into a black shape that had just exited a building. He was doing a good job at not being spotted, as she hadn't even noticed him. She bounced of the big pony and landed on her flank, holding her head. She looked up with wet eyes, from both the panic and the pain; there was something hard hanging from his side, beneath the cloak he was wearing. The big pony turned to her, looking down at her; her heart froze in fear. His eyes were pure blood red. His face was badly scared and mangled. His mane was as black as midnight. There were a few errant spots of blood on his face. Fresh blood. She couldn't describe her fear, but the sudden, sharp scent of urine did the job well. He smiled warmly at her fallen form; his hoof moved forward and she flinched, but relaxed slightly when she felt his hoof grab her and pull her up. She opened her eyes to find him watching her with a strangely kind eye that didn't suit his face one bit.

"You alright kid" was the first thing this mysterious stallion said. "You should really look where you're going" he advised good naturedly. She didn't say anything, just watched as this stallion watched her back. He seemed to be taking her in, observing and analysing every detail. He seemed to pay particular attention to her eyes. She didn't get that. What was so special about her eyes? They were fire orange, the inside of the left side hot-red, making them look like flames. It was no real surprise, given that her parents had been blacksmiths; ash fur, smoke mane and tail while her eyes were the fires of the forge, not to mention, the only real colour on her. The stallion's fascination with her eyes was wiped from her mind when she heard the sounds of guards cantering behind her, closing the distance. She looked back to find them slowing down as the noticed the hooded and robed stallion before her. Ember froze in fear, thankful that her bladder was empty, and watched as they continued to approach. Then, her vision was blocked when a black shape obscured her view as the dark stallion stepped before her.

"Who're you" one of the slightly panting guards demanded.

"Nopony interesting" he retorted "what's going on here" he asked calmly, reasonably.

"That filly just assaulted a mare and her child. We're here to apprehend her" the guard explained. The stallion looked back at her with a slightly confused look on his face.

"This one" he asked as he stepped to the side slightly, granting them view of her. The guards glanced at her for a second before their eyes went back to the stallion.

"Yes. Are you her father?" The stallion shook his head.

"No, don't even know her. But you say she's assaulted a mare and another foal?" The guard was beginning to look irritated.

"Yes sir, she did. I was unsure at first too, but somepony innocent doesn't gallop that fast." The stallion looked back at Ember, finding Ember looking back at him desperately.

"Depends on the situation" he retorted. The guards had been advancing again, but stopped when they heard that.

"What's that supposed to mean" one of them asked cautiously.

"Look at her. She's obviously homeless, hungry, scared. She hasn't said a word to me, and she looks like she can barely hold herself up, never mind try and attack a fully grow mare and a well-feed foal." Though Ember couldn't see it, she could hear the glare in his voice. "The scared can gallop as fast as the guilty, guard" he told them. His voice tone was no longer even or calm; now it was challenging, threatening. The guards glared back.

"If you intend to defend this filly, you're aiding and abetting a criminal" he told him. The stallion cracked his neck.

"If it's wrong to stand up for somepony, send me to the dungeons" he drew a blade swiftly "if you can." The guards drew their own swords and lunged. What happened next…

Ember's eyes widened in terror, tears falling from the corners and down her face as she watched him…watched him…Blood spurted from them, covering the wall of the apartment block next to them. There was a gurgling scream and a gut wrenching 'crunch' as the first fell. Ember threw up. Then there was a flash of sparks and the sound of whistling winds for a fraction of a second before there was a dull 'thwack.' The second guard fell the his front as chest as two gold-metaled boots rolled away. There was another sickening crunch, accompanied by a 'squelch', more blood leaking from the guards. She heard the sound of armoured hooves on cobblestone as more guards approached. She couldn't look away, couldn't blink, as he went to work. He spun and twirled gracefully, blood falling to the ground in litres; some of it fell onto Ember, and the small filly threw up again. She fell to her side and watched in terror as he stabbed, slashed, cut and killed guard after the guard. Why didn't they stop? Why didn't they get the message that he couldn't be beaten? Why were they still fighting? Why was she still watching?

After what must have been five, whole minutes of slaughter, all in broad daylight, he stopped. He stood amongst broken and dismembered guards, some spasming slightly in death, some groaning in pain, others not making much fuss. He wiped the blood from his blade and slid it gracefully into its sheath, turning back to her. She looked up at him, he looked down at her, and his horn sparked to life. The filly felt herself get picked up as he placed the tired, scared filly on his back. A second later, she felt a wrenching feeling all over her body, as though her whole body, specifically her gut, had been pulled from all angles all at once. When the wrenching feeling stopped, she opened her eyes wearily. They were somewhere else.

It looked to be a small, yet well-kept, apartment, somewhere in Manehatten. The stallion's horn flared again and Ember felt herself get floated from his back to the couch, where she lay down on it. The unicorn then went into another room, where he stayed for a few minutes, before he came back. He was bare now, his cloak and hood stashed away somewhere, and Ember could see his face better now, in the new light. He was a ruggedly, un-handsome stallion. There was very little about his face that was at all appealing, yet it still held her attention with the rugged ugliness. But, somehow, it didn't disgust her. It must have been those deep eyes of his.

"Are you alright?" She shivered slightly; in all the excitement before, she hadn't notice his voice: it was deep, creepy and dark, rough and horse to a whole new degree. Yet he spoke in a very gentle manner, as though he had experience with foals. Ember nodded wordlessly. The stallion cocked his head to the side. "I'd ask you if you're hungry, only it's kinda obvious" he told her. He disappeared again, into another room, and gave Ember chance to take a look around her surroundings; the room was simple: the walls were covered in light blue wall paper, a few wooden shelves and bookcases scattered around. There was a deep oak coffee table before her, a few scattered books and a newspaper upon it. The couch she sat upon was comfy, soft, if a little big for her. The one thing that caught her eye was the amount of pictures around her. They all seemed to of the same four ponies; the dark stallion, an impossibly pretty mare and two younger ponies. She stood up and looked closer at one; the mare in this picture seemed heavily pregnant, or at least she thought that as the word, and the stallion seemed very happy. There was another nearby; it was him and her again, only now there was a newborn foal in her fore-legs; the mare looked tired, the stallion holding her up, but not so much as she couldn't hold her child in a loving embrace. She looked back and found that the stallion had reappeared; his horn was glowing again and there was a big plate of steaming nachos in his magical grip.

"Hope you like them, there all I can make" he admitted. He set them down on the table, two glasses of juice coming down with them, and sat on the chair beside the couch. He made no invitation, simply watched her. After five seconds of the standoff to end all standoffs, he cocked his head. "I know you're hungry, you should eat" he said. Ember realised that her stomach was rumbling rather violently at the prospect of food, and she couldn't hold back any longer. She cantered over to the table and sat at it, taking the corn snacks in her hoof, making sure to find one covered in plenty of cheese, and bit into it. The filly didn't care about the flavour, simply the fact that there was food in her mouth. The stallion seemed to have looked away, gazing at the pictures around the room, probably to give her some privacy while she ate, and she took advantage. Her lack of table manners shone through as she shovelled as many nachos into her maw as quickly as she could, munching down on the gooey cheese, crunchy nachos and nicely off-setting sour cream, before swallowing more food down than she had in the last few months in one mouthful. She washed it down with a few chugs of her juice before she went back to the food. "You needn't eat so fast, you're not on a time limit" the stallion told her. She glanced up at him to find him looking at her from the corner of his eye, a small grin on his face. She swallowed what she had in her mouth and smiled back, the colour back in her cheeks making her positively glow. He turned his head to her fully, his grin having turned to a smile. "You're a very pretty filly" he complemented "may I ask of your name?" She blushed at the complement, looking away bashfully. She suddenly liked his voice a little more.

"I-I'm called…E-Ember Spark" she told him, only slightly easier with him now than she had been before. He smiled.

"An equally pretty name" he said, prompting more redness from the filly. "My name is Blood Moon, young one. A pleasure to meet you." She swallowed down what she'd been eating and nodded.

"You too, mister Moon" she said. Blood Moon grunted.

"Please, my name is Blood Moon. Call me by it" he insisted. She nodded wordlessly again. She resumed her eating, taking her time now, and watched Blood Moon turn his gaze back to the rest of the room. When she had finished, Blood Moon stood up and took the now very empty plate back into the kitchen. Coming back into the room, he looked over her for a second. "You look like you need a bath" he commented. Ember absently smelt herself before cringing slightly. He smirked. "I'll run you one." He trotted into another room and she soon heard rushing water filling something, the scent of bubble bath filling the air. After a few minutes, he came back. "Bath's all set up, soap and such are in there. Take your time" he said. He trotted away, before he noticed she hadn't moved. "Something the matter, Ember?"

"I need you to wash me" she told him, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He blinked.

"You do?"

"I'm only four" she told him. Blood Moon gave a deflated sigh before he held a hoof to bid her enter the bathroom. She did so, the stallion behind her. Ember quickly hopped into the bathtub, enjoying the warming feeling of the water and the bubbles on the top. Blood Moon sat beside the bath and his horn glowed; the sponge and soap did the same as they rubbed together lathering up the sponge before he ran it over her front. "Who were they" she asked as he scrubbed away the dirt on her chest.

"Who?"

"The ponies in the pictures" she clarified. He shrugged.

"My wife and foals."

"You have kids" she asked, noticing their absence. He chuckled slightly.

"No, not anymore. They're all long dead now." She looked down slightly.

"Oh…I'm sorry."

"Don't be-forwards" she leaned forwards so he could scrub her back "thank you-I have my memories. They'll do me for now." It seemed her young mind hadn't noticed that he looked almost exactly the same in the pictures as he did now. "What about you" he asked as he scrubbed along her fore-leg.

"What about me?"

"Who are your parents, your family?" She looked down slightly.

"MY mommy and daddy are smiths, and they wanted me to continue the family business, but it's boring and noisy. And I don't like the stuffy rooms we have to work in. I wanna go on an adventure, see Equestria, do something cool with my life" she explained. Blood Moon grunted.

"I've never met such an ambitious four year old before" he commented. Ember pouted.

"I'm nearly five" she mumbled. Blood Moon laughed.

"Maybe so, but you're still pretty young to be running away from home" he said. She crossed her fore-hooves.

"That's what everypony says. I don't wanna go back home. Mommy never let me go outside to play and daddy always made me help with the forge when I wasn't in school." Blood Moon raised an eyebrow.

"You're a brave young mare, you know that?" She blushed again, bashfully smiling and shuffling around in the tub. "But you're still only four" he pointed out. Ember shrugged.

"They always told everypony else who said that that I'm advanced" she said. Blood Moon considered that; it made sense, given how eloquent she was, and how much she could gallop before getting tired. He got an idea.

"Ember, did you see what I did to the guards?" She shivered again. A small 'mm-hm' was her answer. "What do you think about it?" She sniffed lightly at the memory.

"It-it really scared me, but…but you helped me out…so…" she trailed off again, unsure how to judge the memories.

"Yes, I helped you out, but the way I went about it. Do you think it was a good thing?"

"No" she answered immediately.

"Was it right?" She went to say no again, but something stopped her. She didn't know what, but something in the back of her mind told her that what he'd done may have been bad, but it had been for the right reasons.

"N-n…yeah…I-I not sure" she answered. "I mean…you helped me out so…I guess that's good, but the…I don't know" she pouted. Blood Moon smiled.

"All things right, aren't necessarily good. Admittedly, that may have been a little overkill, but you get the point." She mumbled her agreement. "Ember, do you still want your adventure?" She nodded quickly, looking back. "Listen, I like you; you're a brave young mare with more guts than some stallions I've met" he told her. She blushed again.

"Thank you Blood Moon. I like you too" she told him. The stallion smiled.

"Thank you. Ember I want to offer you an adventure; I represent an…an order of sorts. We take in the homeless and give them a home, a family, and we teach them. We'll teach you how to fight, how to defend yourself, how to do the things I did before. It may not be what you had in mind, but you'll get your adventure, your excitement. You're brave, smart and strong, and you gave my question thought. You've also gotten away with thievery before, so you may have a hidden talent." Ember didn't register that he knew about something she hadn't told him about. "Would you like that? To come with me, to train hard and learn things your parents will never teach you. To become an assassin." She looked at him for a while, for a long while, as she thought. What were her options? Stay on the streets and live like a petty thief to survive, alone and cold. Or go with this stallion; she barely knew him, but she had already decided that she liked him a lot. She didn't know what an 'assassin' was but she got the feeling it wasn't a good thing. But what had he told her. 'Not all things right are necessarily good?' She blinked a few times before she looked up at him.

"Okay" she said. Blood Moon grinned as he lifted her out of the tub and dried her off with a big, fluffy towel.

"Good. You can sleep here tonight, and we'll set out for Canterlot in the morning" he told her as he finished rubbing the towel over the damp spots. "You should get some sleep, we'll have a long journey tomorrow" he told her. Ember nodded a few times, rubbing her eyes as she realised how late it was. Seven thirty. He pointed in the direction of another room, which she went into to find a big, well-made bed. She hopped onto it and quickly snuggled under the warm duvet. Blood Moon smiled a nice smile and bid her good night as he closed the door, darkening the room. Ember decided that she loved that stallion, then and there, and promised herself, and him, that she wouldn't let him down.
Ember Spark looked up from her work at the assassin hidden behind the logbook and other papers; she sometimes wondered if he knew her motivations, why she was such a fierce fighter, why she was so quiet when she wanted to be, why she always trained hard and why she always worked to her greatest ability. She often wondered if he knew how he really felt about him.

He probably did now, after the stunt she'd pulled in the alleyway; they'd done stuff like that before, kissed, held hooves in public, not to mention that one sleepless night they'd spent together in a love hotel. The main downside to that night had been the fact that he'd kept it under his tail. She remembered distinctly the five hours she'd spent laying on her side, bedroom eyes, rose petals sprinkled over her, wearing a sexy, see-through pink nighty and G-string. He'd kept his gaze out of the window the whole night, not looking back at her once, and constantly making idle conversation about wanting to snap the target's neck for keeping them cooped up all night with a weird smell in the room. It apparently hadn't hit him that that was the perfume she had been wearing and the pheromones she'd been releasing.

She smirked at the memory; that was one of the pluses about being Blood Moon's personal protégé. Their relationship was a strange one, in that everypony thought they saw each other as father and daughter, but it was as simple as them being partners in crime. They didn't exactly flaunt it in front of everypony, but it was still true. Now that they'd almost had sex, outside the needs of the contract, she wondered where it would go. He'd told her about his recent relationship problems, and wondered if he actually saw it as breaking up with Twilight. She knew he was loyal with his heart, but that he wasn't with his loins. That said, that did stem from one of the tenements of the Shadow Weaver's code; in that it was mandatory to satisfy a mare in heat in desperate need of relief. Many saw it as the stallion's way of just banging all the mare's they could, but, in Ember's experience, it was extremely useful to have a full order's worth of stallions (and mares, depending on your mood) to sooth your heat.

She shook the thoughts of her order from her head, not wishing to dwell on the thoughts of work right now, and put her thoughts back to the stallion before her. She couldn't help but wonder where Twilight Sparkle and Blood Moon's romance had bloomed from. She shrugged it off, concluding that she'd probably never find out anyway. She yawned and checked the ticking grandfather clock in the corner; ten thirty.

"Blood Moon, you wanna pack thing up for the night? I'm getting bored of going over the same plans and I'm pretty sure we're gonna need a good night's sleep if we're gonna get the job done properly tomorrow." Blood Moon put the log book down on the table before he burned the majority of the papers up; he cracked his back and neck, working out the cramps, and relaxed.

"Yeah, good idea. We should hit the sack" he agreed.

"Don't hit it too hard" she smirked. Blood Moon smirked back as he stood from his seat and rolled his neck again; Ember's smirk turned to a grin as she admired the stallion's muscles. He put his right hoof to his left as he unwound the laces under the bracer before he placed it on the table, Ember following suit, putting her blade next to his. He trotted over to the bed built into a crevice in the wall, the fireplace and cornering wall either side of the king-sized bed.

"G'night Ember" he said drowsily, his sleepy state suddenly hitting him. Ember raised an eyebrow and sauntered over to him, putting her hoof on his chest and moving her face to his, pressing her lips to his. She pushed him down, crawling on top of him as he went down. She grinned and giggled as she did so, finding a weird spark ignite inside her. Love? Perhaps, but she'd never considered herself a truly loving pony.

'Time to find out' she thought as she held herself up with her fore-hooves as his wrapped around her barrel. Her eyes widened as she felt herself get thrown to the side, swung over the dark stallion's body and land on a soft mattress. Blood Moon's horn sparked to life as she was lifted up, the covers moved for her and set back down again as the covers wrapped over her. She quickly found Blood Moon under the covers with her, a grin on his face.

"Good night Ember" he repeated, leaving no room for argument. Ember gave her cutest pout as she moved up to the stallion, pressing herself up against him.

"Goodnight Moon" she replied as his horn put out the candles, the darkness invading her mind as she rested her head under Blood Moon's and soon fell to sleep.

Blood Moon smiled as he felt her relax and quickly fall unconscious as sleep took her, wonder what she'd dream of. Likely the time they'd first met. He wondered where their relationship would go; he'd never taken a romantic interest in Ember before, because he'd watched her grow up, grow into an assassin. She'd been his pupil, his protégé, her whole life. She was very dear to him. And that was the problem; she was too much to him to be a romantic interest… or at least, that's what he'd told himself during her maturity. He wouldn't lie to himself, Ember was an attractive mare with a great attitude and sass, of course he liked her, but for whatever reason, it just didn't feel right for some reason. It wasn't a family-like affection; they'd established that their relationship was a partnership long ago, so it wouldn't interfere with the fact that, sometimes, they would have to get frisky to keep their cover intact. It was just the way it was when you were partners like Ember and Blood Moon. Admittedly, they didn't use that partnership too often, as both enjoyed working alone as well as with each other, but it was still one of the best partnerships in the whole of the Shadow Weavers.

He took a deep sigh. Was his and Twilight's relationship over? Was he cheating on her by being here, or had their time together been another of his many, many flings over his life? He didn't know, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know, but that was a real possibility. Had they broken up? He sighed again. It was a stupid question; of course they had, what with the show he'd put on before he'd left. Hay, they'd probably already told Celestia about him and his whereabouts. Still, it had been nice while it had lasted, but it was just then end of another chapter of his life.

The end of another chapter in an endless story.