"This is going to be fabulous," Rarity shouted as she and her friends stepped into Manehattan's premiere department store.

In the five days since the Flutterbutt incident, Rarity had received a letter from Status Quo, the fashion editor of Cosmarepolitan magazine, requesting to feature her designs in a fashion show.

"My clothes are going to be seen by the most prestigious fashion critics and editors in Equestria. Can you imagine anything more exciting than this," Rarity said with a spring in her step and a sunny smile on her face.

The answers from her friends, she found less than satisfactory.

"Joining the Wonderbolts?"

"Looking after a rare or unknown species?"

"Unlocking the equine genome?"

"Expandin' the apple business?"

"Eating a three story sundae?"

"You're all just jealous because my dreams have come true first," Rarity said with a dainty huff. She then walked off to the elevator. "I'll be on the upper floors, dazzling the staff with my wonderful designs. Feel free to shop around before the show. Everything's on me."

As they walked through the pristine store, Twilight noticed how Travis and Spike didn't voice what their dreams were just then. She walked along side the two, to inquire about their hopes for the future.

"Hey guys, what're your dreams," she asked cheerfully.

The two thought for a moment before they gave their answers.

Spike never really had much ambition beyond serving Twilight. To him, it was what he was born for. Now that he thought about it, it was exactly what he was born for. He reclined on Travis's back when he answered with a shrug, "Keeping your stuff organized and helping make your dreams come true, I guess."

Twilight didn't necessarily like that answer. It almost made her feel guilty, as if she'd clamped Spike into a personal trap. "Well, what about you, Travis," she asked.

"Never really thought about it," Travis bluntly said, "I wanted to train with my personal hero: Master Jacobs. But some douche went and killed him before I could."

This answer slightly disturbed Twilight. When they first met, she interviewed Travis about what his home was like. She was fascinated by the idea that he came from a world inhabited by a completely unknown species of primate, but was horrified by how different things were there. It seemed that the more she learned, the more it seemed that where Travis came from was horribly violent and scary. But Travis wasn't done with his answer.

"It only got worse when his daughter decided to take it out on me!"

Twilight dreaded what he would say next, but she had to confirm her suspicions, "She didn't try to...kill you, did she?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Turned out she was just a little girl who watched way too many samurai flicks," Travis said.

He noticed Twilight go pale. No matter how much she learned about Travis's life before he came to Equestria, she never got used to the idea of him killing others.

"Don't worry, she's fine. We're only kind of friends now," Travis said, trying to ease his friend.

"Wait: kind of friends? How does that work," Twilight asked.

Travis thought back to his relationship with Shinobu. He recalled how she came on to him in his motel room. Sure she was interesting, smart, devoted, talented and jaw-droppingly hot, but she wanted to train under him as his student, and that just made it weird to him. 'Like a pervy teacher in a porno,' as he put it himself.

He also remembered how bad he felt when she left him. Though he didn't return her feelings for him, her heartbroken expression left a serious impression. "Sorry, Sparks, but I don't really wanna talk about that," Travis said, suddenly uncomfortable with the conversation.

Twilight wasn't the most socially adept pony around, but she knew when somepony wanted to drop an issue.

"Okaaaaaaayyy..." Twilight said, feeling the sudden urge to leave, "Spike, why don't we look for something to go with your new belt?"

After crushing Travis under a tree (and paying the hefty fine for destruction of public property afterwards) Twilight seemed to understand that Spike was more capable than she previously believed.

She borrowed Travis's beam katanas, and using her weirdly high levels of scientific academia (as well as her seemingly anachronistic science tools) she crafted Spike his own beam katana, as well as one for Rainbow Dash.

For Spike, he received a small, medium weighted beam katana, with a deep red, curved scimitar blade which he named 'Fire Ruby' after his favorite gem. For Dash, her model was similar to the Blood Berry, medium length, and light weight for speedy attacks. Its blade was a silver, ninjato blade. She had named her weapon 'Nimbus' after the cloud.

"Sure," Spike enthusiastically replied, "I bet they have some shirts that go great with this color."

Twilight chuckled when she heard Spike's chipper response, and guided him to where there were shirts his size.

"Kid's spendin' way too much time around chicks," he thought to himself as he chuckled too. Suddenly, a new thought entered his head, "Wait, is that a thing...Nah. Too bad he doesn't get to hang out with any dragon babes though."

When Travis turned to look at what they had for jeans, he froze at what he saw.

It was a mare that he saw from behind, wearing a skin tight black uniform, with a poofy, white mane and tail. He would recognize that look anywhere.

"Shinobu," he thought to himself, "But...it can't be."

Travis cautiously approached the mare and reached a hoof out to tap her shoulder. Could she really be there? The closest thing that Travis ever had to a healthy relationship, even if he felt it was wrong. His hoof almost touched the mare's shoulder, when suddenly--

"Travis!!"

The mare turned around to reveal herself to be Pinkie Pie, completely decked out in femme fatale ninja gear.

"What do you think," she asked as she posed for him. "I just got back from the salon with this tooooootally awesome new look!"

"Holy shit, that was fast," Travis thought, "Aren't salon visits supposed to be drawn out and relaxing? How do I know that? ...Fuck, there is such a thing as spending too much time with chicks!"

"I asked them for a manecut that said, 'I'm sexy, but I'm also dangerous!' But I don't know, I kind of think this says 'I want to go get the guy who killed my dad," Pinkie detailed her visit to the salon.

Travis was relieved that it wasn't actually Shinobu, but the style that Pinkie was sporting was making him uncomfortable as it brought up some awkward memories, though in the back of his mind, it was a serious turn-on.

"It's great, Pinkie," he hastily said.

"Come on, let's go to the bargain bin," Pinkie said as she started walking, "That's where I found this super cool outfit. And I saw some shirts I think you'd like."

As Pinkie walked away, Travis found his eyes drawn to her flank. The form fitting leggings really brought out the contours of her body, that was for damn sure. Before this point, he didn't realize how well toned she was. He also became aware of the way that she swayed her hips from side to side with every step she took.

"That should not be sexy! Why is that crazy sexy," Travis thought to himself. Maybe he was starting to see Pinkie in a different way. One that let him notice things like this. "This department store has a salon?"

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Pinkie grabbing his hooves and pulling him after her.

"Nopony likes a slowpoke," she said giddily as she dragged Travis with her.

The time for the fashion show drew near and Rarity excitedly sat at a table next to the runway, expecting her friends to show up any minute. Her excitement built with every passing second until the glorious moment when she could dazzle even the most bitter critic with her fantabulous designs.

A pony sat next to her, and Rarity's heart lept with joy. She turned to speak to her company, expecting it to be one of her friends, only to see a stranger who looked very out of place.

She was a cream colored mare with an electric pink mane and tail, both of which were styled into wild spikes.

Unlike the other fashionably dressed attendees, she was wearing a jacket which had several patches of varying colors. Its sleeves were torn off, but were held to the body of the jacket by safety pins. Underneath, she wore a blue shirt that only covered her chest, but not her stomach. Torn up pants garbed her back legs, but her's were tight-fitting as opposed to Travis's baggy jeans.

Around her neck, she wore a small strand of barbed wire as a necklace, the barbs that would be a danger to her neck were clipped off. Her ears had several silver piercings, as well as one of her eyebrows and her lower lip.

"Excuse me. Are you lost," Rarity asked the mare. She recoiled inwardly, realizing that may have been the wrong thing to say.

The strange mare instead gave a smile that tried to seem friendly, even though she didn't look at Rarity.

"Nah, I'm here with one of the models," the stranger replied, "Maybe you know her? Peaches Parfait?"

"Who wouldn't," Rarity squealed with delight at the mention of the name, "She's only the biggest rising star in the fashion world, not to mention one of the greatest mares who ever lived! In her short career, she's donated to schools, promoted local businesses; volunteered at humane societies, children's hospitals and homeless shelters! Oh, she's wonderful!"

"I know. I do all of that with her," the other mare said as she extended a hoof to shake, still not looking at Rarity. "Cream Parfait, Peaches' twin."

"Her sister? But if you do all of that with her, how come I've never heard of you," she asked as she shook Cream's hoof, genuinely surprised that she didn't know that Peaches Parfait had a sister.

"Does anypony know about your less famous sister," Cream asked bluntly.

Rarity began to grow uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was heading, but she did her best to be polite.

"I'm...not exactly famous," Rarity said with a sheepish chuckle, "But there are many nobles in Canterlot who specifically make orders to my boutique. I'm Rarity Belle, by the way."

The name seemed to get a reaction out of Cream, as she now actually turned to face Rarity. Her face changed from its previous blank gaze to what looked like an intrigued smile.

"Rarity Belle? My sis saw your designs backstage. Said she really liked 'em."

Those words made Rarity gasp in excitement as her hooves covered her mouth.

"She did," she said, using every ounce of her self-control to not shout loudly, "I never dreamed such a thing could be! What else did she say?"

"Something about how she wanted to visit your place after this thing ends," Cream replied with a smirk.

Rarity answered with a shrill, "WAH HAH HAH," as she bounced up and down, which was a sure sign of her peak of excitement.

"Fillies and gentlecolts. It's time for the show to begin," came Status Quo's voice.

Rarity looked around anxiously, hoping her friends would be present, but couldn't see them. She silently prayed to Celestia and Luna that they were on their way as Status Quo emceed the show's introduction.

The curtains parted and out onto the runway stepped a peach-colored unicorn mare, whose red mane was styled to cover one of her eyes. She wore a deep blue dress which shimmered as she walked.

Rarity was overjoyed to see that it was her dress that was presented first, being worn by none other than Peaches Parfait. But on the other hoof, she was disappointed that her friends weren't there to see it with her. She eyed the doors as she nibbled her hoof, hoping that they would enter right that second.

"Up first, we have Peaches Parfait, sporting an elegant, midnight blue evening gown," Status Quo announced to the audience, "The strategic placing of sequins on this piece give one a feeling as if the wearer is draped in the night sky itself, making this a one of kind item to die for."

There was something about those last three words that when they were used in that order, bad things happened.

This case was no different, for as soon as Status Quo finished her assessment of Rarity's gown, two sharp daggers stabbed her in the back.

The resulting panic sent the ponies in the room running for the door, Rarity among them.

Her escape, however, was cut off when she felt something wrap around her back legs, followed by a stinging pain.

Looking down, she saw a bull whip with a bladed tip tightly wrapped around her legs, surrounded by a cream-colored magic aura. Looking to the owner of the magic Rarity saw it to be Peaches Parfait, who stepped off the runway to join the side of her twin, who was carrying blood-soaked daggers in a peach-colored aura.

"Come on, y'all! Hustle yer bustles! If we move fast, we can just catch the beginnin' of the show," Applejack said as she hustled everypony off the elevator.

"Oh, I feel so terrible," Fluttershy worried aloud as they ran to the fashion studio, "Why does this store have to have such distracting bargains!?"

Their progress was suddenly impeded by a rush of ponies running panicked right past them.

Travis, Spike and Dash saw this and immediately drew their weapons, knowing that wherever Rarity was, there must be trouble.

Dash flew in front, but was grabbed by Travis's magic.

"Someone has to stay and look after the others," he said to Dash.

Dash nodded, realizing that if the three of them all went to Rarity at once, another assassin could easily take out their unprotected friends. She flew to her friends' side as Travis and Spike got ready to charge into action.

"Stay here until we get Rarity," Travis said before leaving.

"Wait," Twilight said before the two could move. She bit her lip as she eyed Spike worriedly. Though she had more confidence in him, she still had a hard time watching him rush into danger. Twilight took a deep breath before she spoke, "Try to stay safe..."

"I'll be fine, Twilight. Travis will be with me," he reassured Twilight.

This didn't comfort her much, however. Pinkie hopped next to Twilight to offer her own assurance.

"Don't worry, I made Travis Pinkie Promise to keep everypony safe." She actually hadn't at any earlier point, which Travis was about to point out before Pinkie spoke up, "Cross your heart?"

"Yeah," Travis agreed.

"Hope to fly?"

"Yeah."

"Stick a cupcake in your eye," the two spoke at the same time, Travis affirming his end of the bargain. "See? Now they have to win."

"Rarity's in trouble and we're dawdling," Spike interjected as he pulled on Travis's jacket.

Travis didn't quite think about that, as he was once again distracted by Pinkie's frame hugging clothes.

"Shit, you're right! Let's go," Travis said quickly as the two ran to Rarity's aid.

The remaining bearers watched their friends rush off into battle. Pinkie quietly wished them safety as she smiled, realizing that Travis really, really liked her outfit.

Travis and Spike ran through the hallways, following the signs to the runway.

Hey, Travis," Spike said as they approached the doors to their destination, "Think we should try out that technique we've been practicing?"

"Fuck yes," Travis said with a grin, "Sorry bastards won't know what hit 'em!"

As they neared the doors, Spike ran ahead and jumped into the air, as Travis wound up for a powerful kick.

"Cream, dear," Peaches said calmly as she and her twin approached Rarity, "We were only supposed to kill the Bearer of Generosity. Why did you feel the need to kill Status Quo?"

"Why wouldn't I," Cream said with a satisfied smile, "You should've seen the way that bitch cringed when she saw my outfit. You know, last week one of the fillies we work with at the orphanage stopped wearing her headband just because she read that Status Quo arbitrarily decided that they weren't fashionable anymore? I think I did the world a favor killing that fucking fashion czar."

"Such language, sister," Peaches gently admonished, "But since you feel so strongly, I guess I'll let you deal the killing blow."

When Rarity heard that, she began frantically trying to use her magic to release herself from Peaches' whip. What she found was that the model's magic was far stronger than her own. The only other pony she knew with magic this strong was Twilight.

The fashionista grabbed one of the lights and tried to swing it at Peaches, only to have it blocked by Peaches' magic.

Peaches smiled at Rarity, amused by the effort as she tossed aside the light. "I hope you won't mind if I keep the dress. It's a pity you won't be making any more."

"Yeah, I'm just welling up with tears," Cream said sardonically. She raised her daggers over Rarity, aimed right at her neck and heart.

"SUPERBALL SPECIAL!!!"

Two loud voices rang out as the doors burst open.

In flew Spike, curled up into a tight ball as he flew right into Cream's face.

The impact sent the assassin reeling, and Spike bounced back towards Travis.

As he did, Travis jumped, and with a strong roundhouse kick he sent Spike flying into Peaches next.

Once Spike had hit Peaches, he bounced high into the air, and Travis jumped up, spiking Spike back into Peaches.

Afterward, Travis crashed downward with an elbow drop onto Cream.

Spike had hit Peaches right in her horn, which nullified her hold on Rarity.

Rarity pulled the whip's bladed tip out of her leg, then shook the weapon loose from herself and scrambled for the door.

As Rarity made her way to the door, Spike uncurled and just barely managed to land on his feet. He was very dizzy from the team attack he had just executed with Travis, and was barely able to parry away Peaches' whip strikes, let alone stand.

"Fear not, my sweet..." Spike slurred to Rarity as his eyes rolled around in his head, "I'll-I'll save you!"

Peaches noticed Rarity's escape attempt and was not about to let her get away. The model flared up her horn and cast her magic towards the door as she battled Spike.

Rarity had just opened up the door, and relief washed over her when she saw her friends' faces.

As she was about to rush into their safe embrace, Peaches' magic struck the door and sealed it shut with a barrier that was made to stave off the most powerful teleportation spell.

Rarity desperately tried to open the doors, and could hear her friends do the same on the other side as the magic that sealed it spread around every wall, the ceiling, and even the floor of the room.

Travis had his own troubles battling Cream.

The assassin proved to be blindingly fast, requiring Travis to fight her with the Blood Berry.

He swung at her with an overhead cut that she blocked by crossing her two daggers in front of her.

With her two daggers tied up, Travis took advantage of her vulnerability by swinging the Rose Nasty at her legs.

What happened though was his two swords were blocked by another pair of daggers that came out of her jacket. These daggers were soon followed by several more.

"Oh, shit," Travis yelled as he quickly counted at least twelve more daggers.

Travis needed all four of his swords to defend against the sudden onslaught of daggers.

He strained to keep a hold on all of them at once, and tried to end her offensive in one fell swoop.

He swung the Peony with all his might at Cream, only to have it slip out of his grasp and fly between Peaches and Spike, making Rarity shriek.

Cream and Travis briefly stopped their fight to watch the projectile katana. She saw her sister, and thought to herself that they spend all day with foals, but now she was having trouble when one little punk had a sword.

She decided to give her sister a hoof and sent a bundle of daggers Spike's way.

Travis had made a Pinkie Promise to keep everyone safe, and he intended to keep it.

As he fought off an array of daggers that were raining down on him, he kicked a table and sent it rolling to Spike.

Spike had only just perceived the daggers coming towards him as the table came between them, shielding him from the attack.

As soon as the daggers hit, Peaches thrust her whip at Spike, who grabbed the table and used it to shield himself once more.

Once he had, the daggers were magically dislodged and aimed at Spike once more.

With a yell of surprise, he dodged the dagger, but not without getting his shoulder cut. The blade was surprisingly sharp enough to cut through his thick scales.

An idea flashed in Spike's head. As the next dagger dislodged itself, Spike aimed the table to Peaches, who dodged each consecutive dagger.

Travis deflected each blade as they came to him next.

Cream collected every blade that came back to her and used them in her assault on Travis.

Travis decided that Spike's shield strategy was a good idea and put one between himself and his attacker.

When he saw Spike still using the table, now to shield Rarity, he got a new idea.

"Spike," he called, "Bitch sandwich, on mahogany!"

The tables were fiberboard, but Spike knew what Travis meant.

Both Travis and Spike thrust their tables forward, crashing into their respective opponents. They met in the middle of the room, smashing the two sisters together between their improvised shields.

"Hey, Travis," Spike called from his side.

"What's up?"

"You know what this sandwich is missing? A toothpick."

"Whoah! That was a surprisingly grim joke," Travis thought, not expecting someone so good-natured as Spike to say such a thing.

"And, uh...Why don't you do it. I have to hold on to my side." Spike said as he pressed his uninjured shoulder against the table.

Travis knew that Spike just didn't want to deal the final blow, which Travis happily obliged him. He quickly drew the Tsubaki back to impale the twins.

A sudden sound like thunder blew the two away. When they recovered, they saw Peaches and Cream both looking no worse for wear.

"Hey, sis: why don't we show 'em that thing we were doing," Cream suggested.

"Alright. But we use the name I picked for it," Peaches said as she snapped her whip into position.

"Whatever. My name's better, though," Cream muttered, as she clasped the flat of the bladed top between her rear hooves.

What came next was a nightmarish team attack as Peaches spun her extended whip around the room, while her sister was spinning wildly on the tip as her daggers flew around her body.

"SPINNING LOTUS," the sisters shouted together, though Cream thought 'Bladed Halo.'

The attack tore into everything it came into contact with, coming threateningly close to any of the three targets.

Travis saw the Peony still stuck in the wall closest to Peaches. He used his magic to dislodge it and send it spinning to Peaches.

A solid hit, and Peaches was knocked off her hooves, while Cream was sent into the ground.

"Peaches! What the fuck," Cream yelled at her twin. "You have any idea how much that fucking hurts when you have this many fucking piercing in your face?!!!"

"Be quiet, Cream! And get ready for our next attack," Peaches said in a slightly raised voice.

Peaches dove toward Rarity with her whip spiraling gracefully around her, point first. Cream's daggers spun around her in a circular formation, steadily getting closer to the tip of the whip.

Rarity screamed as the assassin came at her, "I NEVER SAW TUSCANEIGH!!"

Just as Peaches was upon her, Travis and Spike intervened by spinning the Rose Nasty to deflect any of the daggers, while the Fire Ruby swung at the bladed whip.

The defensive was successful as the twin's weapons were thrown aside, and Travis's head ended up squashed between the chests of the two mares.

"Is it wrong that I wish they had boobs at a time like this," Travis wondered to himself.

Spike was having a little party of his own with his face stuffed into Rarity's thigh.

Cream growled, frustrated at the failed attack. She began to magically toss her daggers at Rarity, whose head zipped back and forth, whose eyes were wide with horror as she dodged each oncoming blade.

Travis put his back hooves on Peaches' stomach and launched the model away from him and his friends.

Peaches performed a somersault and gracefully landed on her hooves on the runway. Her twin joined her shortly after, and the two began using their magic to throw the tables at their opponents and target.

The two fighters batted away the oncoming tables with all their might as Rarity cringed behind them.

Spike knew that this could not be kept up. Not when Rarity's life was on the line. He knew that this had to end.

Steeling himself, and fighting against all of his usual fear and doubt, he sprang forward and sliced the oncoming table in half.

"Spikey-wikey! Come back," Rarity yelled in alarm.

"You better know what the hell you're doing, kid," Travis muttered as he cut away the tables that were flying at him and Rarity with three of his swords.

Spike sliced his way through the projectiles, stumbling as he dodged, and nearly getting hit several times.

He saw one table flying at him, and jumped onto its surface, using the succeeding tables to hop across to his opponents.

When he got close, he heard Cream say, "I'll take care of this," before her array of daggers came flying at him.

The words "I'm gonna die," repeated over and over in Spike's head as he tried to bat away the daggers, but failed to prevent some of them from painfully cutting him.

Rarity shrieked once more and nearly fainted as Travis left her side to aid Spike. He used his magic to keep the Rose Nasty guarding Rarity from any more attacks from the twins.

Spike knew he lacked experience. In the seconds that he dove towards the twins, he hated himself for willingly going with Travis. He wondered what good it was wanting to protect his friends if he wasn't strong enough to defend them.

Those fights against the hydra and the quarry eels were just fluke victories, and he knew it. He only managed to trip the hydra because its foot was stuck, and only two quarry eels actually noticed him, both of which gave up after it turned out that he and Fluttershy were out of their reach anyway. Any time that he didn't prevail by a stroke of luck, he just messed up and set things back.

But not this time. Spike held on to his desire to protect his friends, even if he knew it was bound to backfire. He deflected Cream's daggers and landed on the runway, slicing Cream's legs as he rolled under her, just as Travis came to fight against her.

Spike stood when he came to Peaches, and unleashed his Fire Ruby on her

When Peaches became dazed from his attacks, Spike grabbed the assassin and masterfully suplexed her on top of her sister, leaving Travis in awe of him. It took Travis months to learn how to properly do his first suplex, and here Spike was slamming opponents like a pro.

Spike wasn't finished with the sisters yet. He held the Fire Ruby in front of his face and breathed deeply. In one huge burst, he blew his green fire into the blade.

When his fire connected with his weapon, it merged with the red blade, creating a spray of fire made of beam katana that engulfed the screaming assassin sisters.

Travis was nearly caught as well, but a quick stumble to the side, and he fell off the runway to avoid the attack.

When the attack was finished, the two sisters were desperately patting out the fires on their bodies that didn't simply dissipate. Despite the massive, and apparently painful attack, the sisters didn't look the slightest bit charred.

That was just the thing about beam katanas: even though getting hit by one felt like being cut by a traditional metal blade, they never left a bloody mark until the killing blow was made.

Spike felt his pride welling up just a little. This was the second time he had directly assaulted an enemy, and so far he managed to hold his own quite well. However, he felt his confidence wane when he saw the way the two assassins were glaring murderously at him.

"You are going to die for that, little drake," Peaches said, her voice now icy and bitter.

Spike froze in terror as the twins brandished their weapons.

Travis swung his katanas at them, but it seemed that they had anticipated his attack.

Cream blocked his attack without even looking.

Every succeeding attack was blocked by either sister as Travis released his fury on them. He tried to picture the slot machine in his head.

One Cherry...

"That's what I'm talking about!"

Two Cherries...

"Shit's about to go down!"

An attack from Peaches broke his concentration.

BAR...

"Dammit!!"

The twins onslaught kept up, and Travis's beam katanas burned out one by one.

Soon he was without a weapon, and his opponents tore into him.

Spike leapt to protect his friend, only to be pinned by Cream's hoof, along with Travis.

The assassin put daggers to both of their necks as her sister left her side.

"Take care of them, won't you, dear," Peaches said in her normal, calm voice, "I have business with the Bearer of Generosity."

Travis knew that he and Spike were both doomed if he did nothing, so he decided to stall for time. "How's this gonna look in the news? 'Bloodbath at Runway' doesn't read too good."

"No, it doesn't. But the story of two deranged assassins who murdered a small town fashion designer, and were killed in self-defense by the two survivors? That, dear Travis, reads much better," Peaches said, rubbing her hoof through Travis's mane as she spoke the last sentence. She then went to take care of Rarity.

Though Travis was entirely freaked out that she knew his name without him telling her, he kept his mind on the more important matter of staying alive.

He saw the dead body in the room with two stab wounds in its back, and remembered the panicked rush that came past him and his friends. Travis put the two together as he felt the dagger on his neck shift. "What’ll happen when people nail you for murder? Sure, no one's here for this, but what about the chick over there? How many people do you think saw you kill her?"

Cream hesitated, Travis's plan was working so far.

"You think you can get out of this? You think your sister’s gonna save your ass? Hotties like her are always out for themselves," something that Travis knew firsthand.

Cream clenched her teeth as her daggers trembled.

Rarity was right where Peaches wanted her. Helpless and alone. The model approached the fashionista with menacing anticipation.

"Why are you doing this," Rarity whimpered, "You're Peaches Parfait! You're future was so promising!"

Rarity paused briefly, looking at Peaches. Here was a mare who she had so looked up to, only to learn that she was the one who was going to kill her.

"I...I was going to accept your offer to visit my shop...I was going to introduce you to my friends and...and hope we could all be just as close to you as we are each other..."

Peaches smiled at the sentiment. To her, it was a shame to kill somepony who was not only a very talented seamstress, but a very nice mare as well.

"So sorry, dear, but life has a way of keeping us from getting what we want," the model answered.

Peaches extended her whip threateningly, inching it closer to Rarity's vulnerable throat.

"Now, be still," Peaches said in that ever calm tone of her's.

In a sudden movement, the vile cord was wrapped tightly around Rarity's neck.

"It will be much shorter if you just relax," Peaches gently whispered into her ear.

Rarity desperately tried to use her magic to defend herself, but to no avail. Her breath grew short, and her vision began to fade. Just as she was about to completely black out, several things happened at once.

The first was a sudden yell, followed by a sharp gasp from Peaches.

After the gasp, the whip that was choking Rarity suddenly loosened, and the fashionista collapsed to the ground, gasping and sputtering for air, just as the doors to the runway burst open from a solid buck delivered by Applejack.

Rarity then felt somepony support her head, tilting it up so she could breathe easier. Glancing down, she saw Spike, who was no longer pinned down by the dagger wielding assassin. Immediately, she wrapped her hooves around the small dragon in a tight hug.

The two were quickly hustled away by their friends to a safe distance and group hugged.

"What happened," Rarity gasped as she became aware that Peaches' magic had been nullified.

"Look," Spike said simply as he just stared in the direction of the two sisters, prompting the mares to do the same.

Their first concern was Rarity when they burst into the room, so what they saw shocked them.

Cream was standing beside Peaches, both daggers dug deep into her sister's neck.

Peaches had a look of pure shock and surprise frozen on her face, her eyes wide and her mouth open with blood slowly trickling out. She shifted her gaze to see her sister's face, expressionless, but trembling with anger.

"Cream..." Peaches said, not believing her sister would do such a thing, "Why...?"

Cream did not answer right away. She just stared at her sister, her gaze boring the rage she felt into her before she spoke, "Because it was always about others, wasn't it? That's why everypony loved you. But what about me!? Everywhere we went. Every event, every charity, every photo shoot, I was there. But nopony knew who I was, or why I was with you. I fucking hated it!"

"But you wanted to come with me," Peaches tried to reason with her sister.

"No, Peaches. You wanted me to come with you." Cream's daggers slowly dug deeper up the handles into her sister's neck. "You wanted me to be there as everypony praised you for being such a giver. I always had my own plans. I didn't even want to kill the Bearer of Generosity. Just today, I was going to sign to a record label. But I had to put that off to be here, because I come second!"

Peaches was speechless. All this time, had she been neglecting her own sister? Only one word came to her.

"No..." she said quietly.

With a sudden burst of magic, Cream sliced her blades through her sister's neck, severing her head. The headless body crumpled, and the severed head landed between the body's forelegs, as though being cradled by it. A single tear appeared in the head's eye before it whispered its last words.

"Cream, you were never second to me..."

And Peaches' voice fell silent.

Cream stood over her fallen sister, staring for what felt like an eternity to her.

Travis looked on and found himself relating to the sisters. He himself had a twin brother, but they weren't on the best of terms. Chances were that if they ever saw each other again, one of them would end up dead on the other's sword. He approached the sullen assassin in an attempt to console her.

"Cream," he asked as he reached out to put a hoof on her shoulder.

"I don't need your pity," Cream said as she swatted away Travis's hoof, "Or your sympathy, or your comfort. There's nothing you can do to fix this."

Cream's daggers flew up again, this time one dagger's point came to rest over her heart, as the blade of the other one lay across her neck.

"I can only help myself now," she said as a hint of fear and sadness crept into her voice.

"Cream, be reasonable. Don't do anything drastic," Travis pleaded.

"Shut the fuck up," she snapped at him, "If it's not my sister, it's somepony else deciding what I want! Please...let me have this."

Her words touched Travis, though not in a way he liked. He decided to demonstrate his generosity and stepped back to his friends.

"Thank you," she said forlornly.

"What's going on," Spike asked, dreading what was about to happen.

The mares went rigid as they understood what was coming next.

Rarity began to breathe heavily. "Travis, do something!"

"Stop her," Pinkie begged as she clung to Travis's foreleg.

It was too late.

The first dagger plunged up to its hilt into Cream's heart.

Twilight shrieked as she took Spike and buried his face into her shoulder, sparing the dragon from the gruesome sight.

Fluttershy hid behind her mane and Pinkie covered her mouth in an attempt not to scream.

Dash had already turned away before Peaches was killed, and still had her back turned now, trembling from the noise of the piercing dagger.

The others watched as the second blade magically dragged itself across Cream's throat, releasing a cascade of blood.

Cream settled to her knees and rested her head on her sister's shoulder. She took her hoof in her own, and slipped away with a contented sigh.

Travis recalled Holly Summers suddenly. She had the same look on her face that Cream did before she died. He remembered how he felt that day when she took her own life.

It reminded him of why he hated killing some of these people. Though some of them were shit heads with serious issues, they were still people who had lives of their own. Travis put these thoughts aside for the moment and turned his attention to Pinkie and Fluttershy.

"It's okay. It's over now," he gently said to them as he helped the timid pegasus up. He looked to the others and saw Rarity crying as she hugged her friends.

"Rarity," Travis asked.

"Rarity, what's wrong,"Twilight said, worry building inside of her.

Spike still had not taken his face from Twilight's shoulder. She gently cradled his head as she spoke.

Rarity's voice was barely audible over her choking voice, but after a few seconds she managed to speak.

"I...want to see my sister...It's her birthday tomorrow and...," she began to loudly sob, "And I want to be there for her."

Travis surveyed the scene, taking in the carnage that lay before them.

Dash gently nudged Rarity to her hooves, and her friends guided her to the door.

"We might as well go," Travis said quietly as he put a comforting hoof around Pinkie. Pinkie leaned into Travis's side as they walked as if she was trying to be as close to a friendly pony as possible, "This photo shoot's as good as cancelled anyway."

Sweetie Belle's party went about as well as could be expected without Pinkie's special brand of fun. There were games and gifts and general merriment. But for Sweetie, this meant nothing since her sister was busy in Manehattan. She dismally opened up her last present, and the cake was rolled in.

The cake was a standard chocolate affair, nothing special to say about it. But with a burst of confetti, and a fanfare of party horns, a much larger, much more impressive cake bumped the other one out of the way.

Out of the top came Pinkie, singing a special birthday song for Sweetie. This helped to lighten the birthday filly's mood, but not so much as when her older sister appeared with a gift for her.

Sweetie took the gift and eagerly tore the wrapping off to find a two books inside: Pitch Perfect's Guide to Greater Vocal Technique and The Art of Lyrics. Sweetie's face beamed as she held the books.

"Rarity, it's exactly what I wanted," she said as she happily bounced up and down, "I have the best big sister ever, don't I?"

"That's debatable," Applebloom said.

Scootaloo opened her mouth to say something, when all of a sudden Rarity picked up her younger sister in a tight embrace, much to the little filly's chagrin.

"Come on, not in front of my friends," Sweetie protested.

She stopped though when she heard the quiet sobs of her sister, and her annoyance turned to concern.

"Rarity, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Sweetie Belle," Rarity said as she stroked the filly's mane, "But I want you to promise me something: never, ever grow up."

Sweetie Belle knew that Rarity had a knack for melodramatics, but this seemed different to her. She looked up at her sister, confused, "You sure you're okay?"

"Yes," Rarity replied with a smile, as tears streamed down her face. "Please, promise me you'll stay the way you are always. It's precious to me, and I don't want to lose it."

Sweetie didn't understand what she was being asked. But she could tell from how her sister was acting that it was something genuine. The filly rested her head on her sister's shoulder, and returned her embrace.

"I promise," Sweetie Belle said quietly.

The sister's actions had an effect on everypony around them, which filled them with a sense of familial love.

One stallion in the crowd thought he should contact his sister, who he hadn't seen or spoken to in years after a fight they'd had.

Another mare began to regret moving away once she got custody of the foals after her divorce.

Even Travis himself thought that he should try to get back in touch with his twin once he got home. Maybe the two of them could start things over and become like a real family. After all, it wasn't as if they had anyone but each other since their sister died. He watched the Belle sisters, wanting what they had for himself.

His mind was made up: when he got home, he was going to call Henry over, order some pizza and kick his ass at Bizarre Jelly 5. Hell, maybe he'd take up Shinobu on that offer to give her a call.

Then he became aware of a presence to his left.

Glancing over, he found Pinkie glaring at him as if he'd just stepped on a cupcake.

"Uh," Travis began, not sure of what to say to the apparently angry mare, "What's up, Pinkie?

"Who's Shinobu?"

Author's Notes:

Cosmarepolitan?! What the hell was I thinking when I made that up? I guess I'm not clever enough when it comes to equine puns.

And the Superball Special, I'll admit was taken from X-Men. Wolverine and Colossus doing their Fastball Special. Sweeeeeeet.

Just a heads up, the next few chapters are not going to be assassin chapters. They will focus on Travis's life around Ponyville. Also, we're going to see how the assassin fights have affected the element bearers and Spike.

We're also going to see just what happens between Travis and Pinkie (TraPinkie, as my brother calls it. Yeesh...). See how you like the upcoming change of direction. And as always, rock on \m/.