It has been years since Lighthoof's whole world was changed. Years since he was inducted into the Assassin brotherhood and taken under his family's wing for training. Now he was celebrating his eighteenth birthday with his family. However, his parents and siblings were acting strange, as if the day were something to dread. It started to make him angry, the way they acted, so he went to his father for answers.

He knocked on the door to Swift Messenger's study. "Hey, it's me. May I come in for a moment?" He poked his head in and saw his dad buried in a newspaper with his reading glasses on, reclining in his favorite chair. The father figure folded the paper up and nodded, replying in what seemed to be a concerned tone. "Come on in, son. What do you need?"

After being granted permission to enter, Lighthoof opened the door, trotted in and closed the door shut behind him, then going up to his father and bowing briefly. A few months ago, Swift was promoted to head of the Stalliongrad chapter, with the approval of Steel Gaze. "Welcome to leadership, Swift," the dictator would say with a hearty laugh.

"You don't have to bow to your father," he added, looking at Light with slight disapproval. The son straightened up immediately and nodded. "Right. Sorry. Are you busy? I come seeking answers."

"Answers about what?" Swift replied in turn, giving his child the look. He grew to be wary of that look; It was a look his father developed after he began training him in the ways of the Assassin. Light had asked him so many questions during his training, but instead of faltering, he answered every single question he could throw at him. It was a remarkable strength, one Light admired about his dad. "Well, I've been noticing strange behavior among the family and some of the others in the brotherhood. When I tried to convince my brother and sister to help me celebrate, they shook it off and went away. I want to know why."

Swift looked at his son curiously, his reading glasses now hovering over the desk before dropping with a quiet clink. "Have you forgotten about the pickup you were supposed to carry out today, son? If I'm right, you have... Fifteen minutes, and it's about a twenty-minute flight to Sandy Shores." Lighthoof's eyes widened in shock. How could he have been so stupid as to forget?

"Take your weapons with you, there have been reports of Templar scouts in the woods on the border. And an overcoat, it's cold outside," Swift added, waving a hoof to dismiss Light to his duties. "May the wind flow in your favor, Lighthoof."

When Light turned to say goodbye to his dad, he caught a glimpse of sadness etched into his facial features. He would've stopped and asked why that was so, if it weren't for the fact that he was running late. "I'll be back soon, father." He waited for a response. Maybe a call for him to stay home, let another Assassin carry out the job?

Unfortunately, it would not be so. Swift responded in such a quiet manner that his son could barely hear him. "I hope so, son. I hope so..." Light finally let the door shut behind him, and those words swirled in his head as he darted for his room. What did he mean when he said that? Surely he knew that his son would be back as fast as he could. Something wasn't right in the household, but Lighthoof held off his suspicions until after he had done his job.

He found Wind Breaker in a suspicious position in their shared bedroom; looking right at the door, amazingly-transparent inconspicuous smile on her face, with her hooves behind her back. He leaned against the doorway, meeting her fake-casual stance with one of his own, and grinned. "Windy," Lighthoof greeted with a hint of mirth in his voice, before adding in a sing-song voice, "How're you tonight?"

"Juust fine, Lighty," she replied, letting out that silent giggle that Lighthoof loved about his sister. Then she cut right to the chase. "You weren't thinking we forgot about your birthday, were you? Just the opposite, in fact! We've been saving up bits for a while to get you your gift, which just happens to be..."

Her hooves shot out from behind her back, and Lighthoof was met with a comic book. The cover depicted a young mare locked in battle with a pack of large, pitch-black wolves. The mare wore a red cloak with a silver rose emblem on the back, and her hooves were gripping a large metal scythe, the blade and hilt a striking red that matched her outfit and stood out against the barren winter forest behind her. The title above it all, shrouded by rose petals and the comic's protective plastic, read, 'RED LIKE ROSES 1'.

Lighthoof stared at the cover with wide eyes, his mouth slightly agape. Red Like Roses has been his favorite comic book series since before he was inducted into the Assassin Brotherhood, and he had never even seen any covers from before issue 13, they were so rare. But here he was, being given the very first issue that started it all. He gingerly took the literature in his hooves, left speechless. "B-But... H-how did..."

Wind Breaker beamed wide, obviously proud of the gift she had managed to acquire for her little brother. "Gear Grinder and I put our money together to buy it. Remember the pickup mission we went on a couple months ago? Weell, that's where this baby came from! And also..."

Lighthoof heard a quiet thump from under his bed, and he turned to investigate when his big brother rolled out from underneath, sprung up, and brandished a large metal scythe, near-identical to the one on the comic book cover. "Ta-daa! What do you think, lil bro?"

If it weren't for the fact that he was holding onto it life his life depended on it, Lighthoof might've dropped the comic book in his hooves. After slipping it underneath his chestplate, he went over and admired the weapon closely, realizing that it was made with astonishing detail– and the blade was carefully sharpened. It even included a hook-like grip at the end to keep the wielder's hooves from slipping off, and another grip halfway up the hilt.

"Go ahead, Lighthoof. Take it. It's yours." His brother offered the weapon to him, and he took it into his hooves with great care. Stepping away from his siblings, he gave it a few slow swings to test its balance. It didn't feel too heavy or too light, but it didn't feel perfectly weighted, either, and his hooves gripped the metal well enough to ensure its dependency on the battlefield. A collectible comic book and a brand-new scythe, and Lighthoof couldn't be any happier.

The younger sibling embraced his older siblings in a tight grip, hugging them in a near-chokehold. They both laughed at their brother's expression of gratitude and hugged him back, with Gear Grinder adding, "Watch where you swing that thing, okay? I also added some basic hinges and lock mechanisms so you can fold it up and put it in your scythe scabbard." After they released one another, he continued with, "There should also be an automatic folder button on the bottom of the rear grip. Go ahead and try it out! I want to see if it works."

Light trotted over to his little corner of the bedroom: a simple bed with white sheets and two pillows, a half-cape that can attach to his right shoulder pad hanging off of one of the bed's support poles, and a large scythe with a wooden grip leaning against the other side of the bed, the previously-mentioned scythe scabbard hanging off of it. Setting his new scythe and comic on the bed, he reached over and took the sheath off, hooking it to the back of his belt. Once more slowly picking up his new weapon, he searched for a button– a small, black button, to distinguish against the red metal– and pressed it. First the tip of the blade folded down, followed by the base of the blade, and then it folded into three neat sections, with just the rear grip sticking out for an easy draw. He brought it behind him, lined it up with his scabbard, and it slid right in. A perfect fit– Gear Grinder really did his homework creating this magnificent piece of work.

Lighthoof was left speechless, and he didn't know what to feel, or what to say. On one hand, he wanted to express his gratitude with a well-placed "thank you" and another hug, this one a little less back-breaking. Another part of him wanted to scream with delight and show off his birthday gifts to everypony around. But another voice in his head came up: the quiet but strong-willed voice that wanted to test the blade's true strength in one way only: against the flesh and steel of a Templar. That voice wanted to see blood and bone ripped apart in the blink of an eye. The thought of it made Lighthoof flinch, as he never heard that voice often. It was a violent spirit that would shock anypony to learn that such a consciousness existed within him. He, a stallion whom everypony thought wouldn't harm a fly.

The words "thank you" escaped his lips, cutting off his thoughts as he snapped back to reality. He found himself gently embracing his siblings. Apparently, his mind decided to listen to Voice Number One, as it usually did. That was what made his public image as the nice colt of the city. "Hey, we had to make your eighteenth special, didn't we?" Wind asked after breaking off from the embrace. "Now go on, get outta here. You'll get the rest of your present after you get back from your mission~"

The way she said that, followed up by a flirtatious wink, made him wonder about what she could mean. His first thought went immediately to incest, curse his evil mind– just as soon as the thought entered his mind, common sense cast it away. How did a kind soul like his develop such a dirty mind, anyway? His next thought was that they were going to try hooking him up on a blind date. They had done it repeatedly in the past, always saying something along the lines of 'you deserve a nice mare, we know the perfect match for you', etc. etc. He always appreciated what his siblings did for him, but he didn't see the point. He had never been able to keep a stable relationship, a fact he was painfully aware of.

And again his train of thought went off the rails as his brother ushered him out the door. "Hurry up and get back soon so we can celebrate, да?" Gear Grinder encouraged as his hooves pressed against his brother's back. "The sooner you get back, the more cider will be left for you!" Gear laughed before pushing Lighthoof out the door and shutting it behind him.

Light trotted down the stairs and went into the kitchen, where his mother Gold Shine was busy preparing dinner. "Hey, ma," her son greeted, going up to her and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "I'm off to do this one last job. Be back soon!" She turned and smiled, hugging him and replying, "Come back soon, okay, hun? Dinner's almost done." He nodded and quickly left the house, making a mental checklist: weapons, check. Overcoat, check. He was always wearing his overcoat, though. Off to the ice-cold woods on a retrieval mission? Double-check.

—————————————————————————————————————

"Hey, Lighthoof!"

The pony in question turned around to see his two best friends, Sunny Dash and Quick Draw, trotting towards him. Their arrival at this moment, of all times, only served to frustrate him further. He was already late, and that was something he didn't take well. He figured he would smooth-talk his way out of whatever they were going to try and rope him into.

"Hey, comrades!" Light replied, smiling and bumping hooves with them. Then, he mentally kicked himself, because he remembered he was wearing his hidden blade gauntlets; Long story short, Lighthoof might've accidentally impaled Quick Draw's hoof in a hoof bump when he first got his hidden blades.

"Hey, you didn't stab me this time!" was Quick's first words, followed by a short laugh. Both his friends groaned, but they smiled anyways. "When are you gonna let that go?" Light replied, shaking his head.

"Well well well, look at you! All dressed up and somewhere to go?" Sunny asked, her hoof patting down his collar, which was sticking up a little. Light sighed quietly and nodded. "Yeah, I gotta go and pick something up for my dad, okay? When I get back, we're going to party our flanks off." Light always had to avoid telling others about his place as an Assassin. If he told anypony– even his best friends– what he was, they would be connected to him, and that was something he wouldn't wish on anypony. When you're connected to an Assassin, the Templars have ways of finding out, and those connected to an Assassin will be used against them, and that was always a weakness ponies like the Templars would be willing to exploit.

Then they stepped back and scanned him carefully, something Lighthoof hated. His nostrils flared and he turned, trotting away. "Hey!" they shouted in protest, as Light's wings opened up. "Sorry I'll be back soon don't be angry!" he called back at them as he took off, soaring into the air. He didn't want to abandon them– especially since he had a mild crush on Sunny and he had been friends with Quick since foalhood– but he was on the clock.

Lighthoof waved briefly to the guards on patrol around the front gates as he flew overhead, then turned to focus his attention on the skies ahead of him. He finally found himself able to take in a deep breath of fresh air, and it was like cleaning his system.

His body felt refreshed by the rush of the winter air, and he began to pick up speed as he approached the Frozen Woods, which got its namesake because all the trees were enchanted. Their branches never bore leaves, and no matter what season it was, their bark felt like ice, and so did the air around them. Despite the barren trees, there were alot of them, and it provided good cover for Templar Scouts and their ambushes– despite the occasional clearing. Lighthoof didn't savor the idea of going in there, but he had a bit of comfort knowing that other Assassins would be waiting for him within.

It wasn't going into the Frozen Woods that gave him a sense of impending doom, though. It was small, but it was nagging at him enough to make him think. It also wasn't often that he had feelings like this on mission, either; Something's amiss, but again, Lighthoof reminded himself, he was on the clock. He had to focus on the task at hand.

He probably should've paid attention to the sense of dread in his gut.

Author's Note

Finally got this chapter done after a few days on sick leave. Next chapter, fight scenes! The kinds with blood and violence and stuff.