Chapter - Battle Under the Pale Moonlight

"Tick-tock, tick-tock. These barrels of apple cider won't deliver themselves, you know."

Tick Tock finished the letter of apology for accidentally sending three empty barrels of Sweet Apple Acre's apple cider to Craggy's Pub by sending four barrels instead. The barrels being sent were originally old and worn, but a day with his careful hooves had made them look every bit as authentic as any of Sweet Apple Acre's barrels and forging Applejack's handwriting was simple once he'd acquired the original batch of cider to be sent out.

Tick Tock watched the delivery stallion and his two Diamond Dog escorts leave Ponyville and make their way to Wintertrot. The timing of the delivery had to be perfect so he had intentionally booked the delivery pony a room at an inn on the route to Wintertrot so he would arrive on the day before his apprentice and her teachers finished their mission. It would look too suspicious if an honest, hardworking pony like Applejack waited too long to correct a clerical error that could ruin a good day's business for somepony.

Trotting off, Tick Tock entered the Everfree Forest. On this end of the vast expanse of dark trees near Ponyville lived a zebra herbalist who was shunned by the irrational fears of the locals excluding a group of fillies whom Tick Tock actively encouraged to visit her. They'd never learn how to love and tolerate others if all they did was avoid anypony that looked and behaved differently. Tick Tock would never have met Crow if he hadn't been practicing parkour down by the bad side of Manehatten. He smiled fondly at the memory as he made his way into the woods.

He was after a particular plant, considered by many to be a nuisance, named Poison Joke. Pulling out his pruning blade and gardening socks, Tick Tock meticulously cut and harvested his monthly supply of Poison Joke which amounted to roughly two saddlebags full. He had discovered Poison Joke as a colt, when he and his parents were passing through Ponyville, he had run off to play and ate a few petals of the blue flower. Thankfully, despite the plants name, all it does is pull jokes. In his case the joke turned him into a filly as a way of getting back at his father for accusing him off prancing off into the woods like a little school filly skipping through meadows.

Tick Tock had found it to be quite humorous. His mother had always wanted a daughter and for about a year, she found one in Tick Tock. He sighed at the fond memories as he recalled his father trying to best the curse, as he called it, with testosterone injections and, when that failed, as many artifical remedies he could get his hooves on. This had continued for a month until Tick Tock's father finally conceded defeat and, believing that his son-turned-daughter would never be a colt again, tried for a second son. He had no idea what awaited him eleven months later. Ironically, the doctors at Manehatten General Hospital had the answer to Tick Tock's condition. On the day of his sister's birth, he had mentioned to the family doctor that he vaguely remembered eating a blue flower. His father had been sulking in a slight depression since his daughter's birth only to have Tick Tock trot back into their private hospital room a colt again.

Tick Tock put away his gardening tools and made his way out of the Everfree Forest. He had found Poison Joke to be a harmless way to incapacitate ponies or cause distractions. He could create three different capsule strengths, the first was a semi-permanent variety that acted like regular Poison Joke and washed off with some bath salts. The second was a weaker version that lasted an hour or longer, depending on certain variables. The third was kept for practical jokes and training. Nothing showed his assassins were cautious and alert than being ready for a trap at any moment, it was his way of injecting some humor in-between the assassinations, espionage and subterfuge that made up their lives.

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It was midnight in the village of Ponyville and, for all intents and purposes, quiet. The moon beams bathed the town in ghostly white light giving the it a certain serene beauty. That is, until the night was disturbed by a panic stricken mare. She was being pursued by a shadow, a shade in the night, that seemed to be following at a much slower pace but never falling too far behind.

The mare ducked around a corner and breathed out. Hearing the hoof steps of her pursuer, she clamped her own hooves over her mouth being careful not to breathe. She saw the shadow as it loomed at the mouth of the alleyway before it appeared to turn away and continue down the larger street. The mare didn't dare breathe until the hoof steps were gone and felt safe. As she breathed out a sigh of relief, the sounds of rushing hoof steps came to her ears and she ducked, attempting to hide, before a massive blade swung around the corner and into the wall where she had been standing, leaving a very fine line across its surface.

"Jill be nimble!"

She fled once more, galloping in the direction of the clock tower.

"Jill be quick!"

She found the door at the base of the tower open and slunk inside.

"Jill jumped over the candlestick!"

The mare climbed the tower stairs. A trap door at the top hung open and she rushed up to it.

"Jill jump high!"

The shadow rushed over to the tower at a gallop.

"Jill jump looooooow!"

He leapt into the air as his wings unfolded and lifted him into the sky. The mare had reached the top and had closed the two trap doors as she had passed them and she was galloping up to the last one when a shadow obscured the small window on her left. She turned and saw a single blood red eye staring at her before it constricted.

"Jill jumped over and burnt her tail!"

She barely dodged his blade as it came through the window. She screamed in fear, fleeing even higher up the tower. She arrived at the top and found a small room filled with photographs of happy pony families littering the walls. The trap door she had come through slammed shut behind her. She turned but saw nopony other than her own shadow dancing on the walls, the only light source were the firefly lamp's hanging around the edges of the room.

"There once was a foal who thought she could fool." A voice spoke out from the dark, filled with glee. "She had others do the deadly deed as she sat back, wishing to succeed."

The menacing colt emerged from the shadows, his body hidden beneath a full robe and hood combo in black and red, his face hidden behind a mask. Half the mask was entirely blank, whilst the other half a disturbing smile that was impossibly huge and a bright red eye that changed size whenever the wearer demanded it.

"I-I ha-have no idea what you mean!" Her voice was quavering at the site of the young colt, with a blade bigger than himself and almost as thick as his small body carried in a sheath on his side.

"Good one. You know what you did, Jillllll." His voice was still cheerful as he stretched out the last syllable.

"My name's not Jill, you have the wrong mare."

"Jill..., Jill..., Jill.... I know that it's not your name but merely the one I've chosen for our little game." The Colt drew his blade, it's edge gleaming in the luminescent light of fireflies. "You see, Jill, you killed each pony on this wall and doomed all these happy families to fall."

The mare shook her head, whimpering. She could vaguely recognize the faces but she couldn't put any names to them.

"This is Summer Spring and he was a guard bound by a ring. You convinced him to try and kill Queen Moon and so sent him to his doom. He and several of his friends in fact, you definitely know how to act. You promised to sleep with a few you horrid shrew."

The colt pointed at another photo "This is Autumn Breeze, brother of Summer Spring who tried to avenge his brother's death. Killed by the Queen's Daughter, Moon Beam, during a failed attack." The colt continued pointing out photos, each name a damning mark against the mare."You had a hand in organizing several attempts on the Queen. You hoped to bring back that aloof Celestia and her damnable sun." The colt no longer spoke in rhymes as contempt crept into his voice.

"C-Celestia is good and pure. She was always good to her subjects..., always willing to listen..., alwa-"

The Colt laughed, a manic laugh, the red eye shrinking and then returning to normal as he stopped.

"Celestia...! Good and kind? It's easy to believe that, isn't it? Nightmare Moon is giving this country a firm hoof of authority. Celestia gave the nobles too much freedom! The nobles had power and wealth they didn't deserve!"

The colt breathed slowly as he raised his sword and slammed it down, using it to propel himself and the blade forward. The mare was backed up against the wall as the blade landed in front of the her. The colt perched atop the blade and used his front hooves to grip the mare's face.

"You're a monster, too cowardly to try and kill Queen Moon yourself but bold enough to send assassins."

The mare tried to escape by biting the colts left fore-leg. He jerked back as she ran around him. A surge of hope flowed through her as the happy pictures on the walls seemed to turn cold and accusative. She managed four steps before the colt lifted the blade and used it's weight to cleave a bloody wound on the mare's back. She gasped as she collapsed forward, losing blood. She felt herself weaken as her blood flowed ceaselessly from the wound.

"I-I only wanted to be a good pony, I was t-trying to do the right thing." The mare mumbled to herself as she began to hallucinate Celestia was before her, a warm smile on her face, calming the mare. As she prepared to fade peacefully, the reality of the situation returned as the blade pierced her stomach from above. Agony and pain filled her and before her eyes she saw the Dark Queen, Nightmare Moon, cackling away.

"Tick-tock, Tick-tock. I must say; your little games are rather time consuming, no?" Tick Tock appeared from the rafters, his sides burdened with two full saddlebags.

"I apologize, master. I felt a simple assassination wasn't enough."

"Indeed... Well, her actions have caused much pain and suffering but you'll have no time for games in our next assignment, Shade. A clean and simple kill is more to my tastes."

"Understood, master. After I clean up..., can we... play?"

Tick Tock sighed. "Tick-tock, Tick-tock. You're gaming time is running out, Shade. We'll play on the way."

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Tick Tock stepped out of the carriage. He paid the cab fair and waited along with Shade. The two could be mistaken for father and son at a distance but Shades albino tail and mane would give him away. His mask was packed in his saddlebag revealing a colt with a royal blue coat and a short mane tied back in a ponytail. His eyes were brown like polished oak and he stared ahead undeterred at the lack of anything interesting. They were on the dirt road leading to New Mareland. Tick Tock's face was calm and impassive, he observed a watch with a silver casing and crystal hands waiting for the rest of their meagre strike force.

A half hour passed before three ponies emerged from the Everfree Forest. Crow and Snowball lead the group whilst the initiate followed dutifully.

"Tick-tock, Tick-tock. Impeccable timing my friends." Tick Tock smiled warmly as Crow and the initiate nodded and Snowball gave him a warm smile of her own.

"Are Celestia's foolhardy loyalists on the move Crow?"

The unicorn nodded. "They're on the move, along with twenty Dragons."

Shade whistled.

"That is more than I expected, Crow, thankfully fewer than I thought they'd bring." Tick Tock managed a small smile.

"I'm afraid we have more bad news. A regiment of militia are arriving, led by Lord Rust." Snowball said with a small frown.

Tick Tock was smiling as was Shade. "Tick-tock. Lord Rust, what a wonderful stroke of luck." Crow and Snowball looked at each other confused. "Rust is a old general, too old to be of any practical use in battle, hence why they stuck him with the lightly equipped militia. Hoping he'll get himself killed just getting to the battlefield."

Shade reached into his Saddlebag and pulled on his Mask. "Can I play with him Master?"

Tick Tock shook his head sadly. "Sorry, Shade, not tonight. Lord Rust may be old but he'll likely have brought his own private army. You know how these nobles are. You've got to cut through all that gristle they call nobility to get to the pony..., starting with his troops. We will be intercepting Lord Rust. Preventing him from joining the fray may be the most important thing we can do, without revealing ourselves."

The assassins gathered together as Crow pulled out a map so they could go over the details.

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If there was one sad truth in the universe, it's that nobility are twits no better than the ponies below them. Sun Chaser reflected on this as he pulled Rust's carriage. Rust insisted on riding up near the front of the column, which meant his stupid carriage kept dipping into pot holes on the damaged roads. The disused road once ran from New Mareland to Rust's countryside estate.

Lord Rust had logically presumed that any attacking force would take the main road, it would be stealthier and technically deadlier to take this old path. Sun Chaser blessed the fact he was a pegasus as he floated Rusts Carriage over a gap near the edge of the road. They rounded the corner where they would be meeting up with two-hundred and fifty drafted ponies. Instead they found a wall stretching out across the road. Sun Chaser halted, the scene ahead felt dangerous. He could make out two ponies putting the finishing touches on the wall.

"PRIVATE! What seems to be the hold up?" Rusts raspy voice emanated from the carriage in an annoyed tone.

"Sir it seems some civilians or loyalists have set up a wall or barricade across the road.

"Well don't just stand there like a useless foal, take one-hundred ponies and clear that obstruction. Apprehend the scum that built it and kill anypony that tries to stop you."

"Sir, yes sir!"

Sun Chaser saluted smartly and rounded up one-hundred earth ponies to help him take down the wall. Unicorns and pegasi needed to be kept in reserve for the coming battle, The Queen herself was said to have a thirst for battle. Sun Chaser chuckled at the thought of Old Rust trying to take on the alicorn Queen.

The large group approached the wall finding two ponies adding to it's base.

"Cease and desist this instant, this wall of yours is blocking our army."

The smallest Pony, no more than a colt turned to face them wearing what looked like a Nightmare Night costume, complete with a creepy mask."

The colt drew a blade bigger than himself.

"'Welcome to my parlor,' said the spider to the fly~" The colts voice was singsong but sounded ominous through the mask.

"Enough of this foolishness, seize them." Sun Chaser ordered, his regiment moving in, only for a vast shield to spring up and surround them. Outside the dome, Snowball and Crow stood hidden behind the wall.

The group of soldiers were still stunned when Shade and Tick Tock lunged into them. Shade hacked away, like an aggressive berserker, dismembering ponies, while Tick Tock was swift and accurate, piercing lungs, hearts, necks and anything else that would kill quickly with little to no pain. Tick Tock caught a sword blow with his hidden blade and threw a capsule of Poison joke. The clothes and mane of the stallion beside him turned into an exact copy of his own.

Before the unfortunate stallion could respond his friends and fellow soldiers speared him, only for Shade to leap in and hack at the soldiers whose weapons were now stuck in their friend's body. The battle raged on within the dome as Rust impatiently got out of his carriage in full armor. "Stallions, mares, something is wrong, we've been ambushed. Rush forward and shatter that dome before all of our forward party are killed."

The group of three-hundred remaining soldier edged around to the battlefield, the edges of the dome were crimson with blood and behind it stood a looming wall. They began encircling it, the unicorns charging up dispelling magic. The shield wavered under their spells and barrage of swords as the army was able to surge forward. Tick Tock and Shade made their tactical retreat, Crow teleporting them as they allowed the enemy to be demoralized at the sight before them.

The wall wasn't built of rock, stone, brick or magic. It was a grisly edifice, a wall of bodies roughly thirty feet high made of the regiment the militia had expected to meet up with earlier. Around them and underneath their hooves were the bodies of roughly seventy ponies slaughtered by Tick Tock and Shade. Panic began to spread as they realized what a horrid sight they were witnessing. Not even griffons were so callous as to use dead ponies to build a wall. Rust forced his way forward with a grim expression on his face.

"YOU THINK THIS WALL OF MEAT IS GOING TO STOP ME!? DO YOU!? I've got something that'll fix your little wall. Captain Fizzler, send the signal flare." The unicorn nodded as he began charging up his spell. A moment later a red burst of magic soared into the sky and exploded creating a temporary magical beacon.

Shade looked over to Tick Tock, his expression hidden by the mask. "Now?" he asked cautiously.

"Now." Said Tick Tock plainly. They both pushed against the wall feeling it budge as Crow and Snowball joined in. The wall of bodies surged forward burying Lord Rust and any pony unfortunate enough to be too close to the wall, which had been six layers thick.

Around half the ponies had stayed after the wall had fallen forward, perhaps hoping the butchers who had cut so many of them down would be buried beneath it. Sadly for them, Tick Tock and his group emerged unscathed. The initiate stepped out, one of these ponies would be her first kill, it was frightening and parts of her wanted to run, but she had nowhere to go. Tick Tock had rescued her, trusted her, trained her and admittedly changed her and probably not for the better, but definitely for the best. She looked into the sea of confused, scared and angry faces before her, none of them probably wanted to be here in the first place.

As she was choosing her first kill a terrible roar broke the silence. The form of a dragon emerged, it's body was thick with muscle but it was still a youngling compared to older dragons. This one looked younger than the ones she, Crow and Snowball had seen earlier that night. It's scales were bright green and shinier compared to the duller colors of the adults they'd seen.

The dragon roared landing amongst the soldiers, clearly confused as to who it was supposed to fight. Rust must've had some instructions for it, but without him to give any, the dragon was attacking anypony it could reach.

"Kill the dragon, my apprentice." Tick Tock had leaned close to her and whispered.

She nodded and stepped forward intending to use everything she'd learned to kill this beast. It bellowed and let off a gust of thick smoke, it couldn't breathe a lot of fire so she had one advantage at least. She charged forward, the beast not immediately noticing her since her cloak blended so well against the night sky. The dragon spotted her when the gleam of her hidden blade attracted it's eye. It sent down a large claw which she dodged and jumped on top of piercing it right through with the blade, she did it again and again. Before leaping off a small gust of fire had erupted from the enraged dragon.

She observed the battlefield in front of her. The dragon had one non-functional hand but was now breathing fire. She rushed forward again, leading it to attack right when she was actually faking out and going left, it retracted it's arm, but the initiate was behind the beast. She stabbed her blade into the tail, twisting it in at the base of the beasts back. It roared in obvious agony and took to the sky.

She held on as the beast rose higher, and more quickly than any pegasus could, digging in her blade, she felt the dragon even out and used the opportunity to shimmy further up it's back. she reached the base of it's wings and jammed her knife upwards tearing into the soft weak flesh. Realizing she might not be able to kill it solely by stabbing, the initiate reached into her pouches. An assassin uses everything at her disposal, she found a small curved dagger she'd been given by Snowball.

The Dragon began twisting, trying to knock her loose. The wind lashed at her face as the dragon twisted and looped like a common show mare. It's cries of pain being the only indicator of it's unusual predicament. The initiate felt the sweat on her coat crystallize as they went higher still.

Gritting her teeth against the thin air and colder temperature. With the hidden blade anchoring her she used the second knife to slice into the bone and joints of the dragon's left wing. It roared as it lost control of it's wing and began falling down to earth.

The ground was a long way away, and Crow and Snowball combined couldn't reach out with their magic and slow her enough to prevent dying. She looked at the knife and grimaced, an idea popping in her head.

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Tick Tock watched the Dragon plummet, it was truly a wonderful sight, a whole wing missing and a fall from such a height was bound to kill it. Sadly his apprentice too. He had seen much promise in her, it was only right that they go to the dragon and make sure it was dead. You didn't kill one of Tick Tock's friends and get away with it. Fire erupted from the dragon as it made a final terrified roar of pain as it slammed into the ground. The landing sending off a small tremor.

The corpse of the green dragon, lay amongst the corpses of trees His apprentice had done a real number on it, it's back was covered in various minor stab wounds and one particularly large one which was probably made when she fell off. The Dragon's back twitched, everypony readied themselves. Instead of an angry Dragon though they saw a mare burst out of the large gash carved down the dragon's back choking for air.

Tick Tock beamed, she'd done better than he could've hoped. He had been sure he'd have to help her kill the dragon. but all her training had served her well.

"My apprentice, you are truly full of surprises." Tick Tock smiled and helped her out.

"My name... is Dagger." She held the small blade above her head proudly.