My Last Assignment (Part One)
In this life, the name I went by was Silent Kill.
In this life, the body I was born into was that of a unicorn.
In this life, the profession I chose was murdering other ponies for coin.
I sit here in this dimly-lit room of the inn outside of Canterlot's walls, my shirt and cloak stained with my blood, soaked by the weeping tears of red that steadily pout forth from the critical wound in my chest. The royal Guard back within the walls of the great city of the unicorns are alive, alert. They are looking in every nook and cranny of the city, searching for me, so that I may be brought to justice for my crime. Well, my attempted crime. The job I failed not so long ago. The reason why I am in such a state.
They shall find me all right. But I will not be alive when they do. No medical attention have I sought - I would have been reported to the authorities anyway, and my fate would be sealed still. No, at least this way I had a choice in my death, and before I pass on, I also choose to tell the world how such a tragedy befell such a skilled and clever shadow of the night as I.
It began about a couple days ago, when I was hanging around one of my favorite taverns over in Trottingham. I had returned from a job out over in Appleloosa, after fulfilling a contract hit to eliminate a buffalo chieftain, and make it look as if another tribe of buffalo were responsible for the killing. Why my employer had wanted me to start a tribal conflict between the buffalo to begin with was and still is not of my concern; so long as I'm given my pay, I ask no questions, just where and when. I get a lot more customer satisfaction that way. Employers like a pony who doesn't pry his muzzle into affairs that don't matter to him, and I don't care what or who I'm getting paid to kill. In the end, I only want my coin, and that's it.
Anyways, I was happily enjoying a nice cold drink of cider at my usual table, the usual piano music playing merrily in the background, some ponies clapping their hooves to the tune and others just conversing with their friends and lovers. I was happy in my secluded spot, far away from the rest of the crowd that they wouldn't think to bother me, but close enough that I might overhear some gossip, perhaps catch word of my deeds and the consequences they might have set in motion. I don't mean to sound like a braggart, but I can't help but smile upon hearing of how my work affects the world around me. It's a feeling of...control, in a way. The death of one pony can cause so much to happen. Especially when it's an important figure, like a soon-to-be monarch, or some other figure just as great.
Suddenly, what little sunlight was shining through the glass panes of the window to the side of me went dark, and I noticed a large hooded figure taking a seat next to me. Normally, my first reaction would have been to pull out my trusty dagger, concealed just beneath my cape, and give the intruder one chance to leave me be, but in my line of work, a pony who doesn't show their face, who tries to keep their identities a secret, are usually looking for my services, for somepony who does not mind getting their hooves dirty, who has the skills required to pull off whatever task they may have in mind, and who can be relied on to keep quiet about the job in exchange for a reasonable bonus of coin.
Luckily for such ponies, I just so happen to meet all of the above, and this stranger's presence did interest me so. The stranger was a stallion, his deep rough voice making that clear right away. He gave not his name, or at least what I would have believed to be his real name anyway - a lot of my clients really like to keep their identities a secret, you see. Nothing that can be traced or linked back to them in the event a job goes wrong. Not that I've ever messed up before.
So, there we were, sat together at the table, and he said the usual line I've grown accustomed to hearing - how he heard of my clients, how he was in need of my services, the same old things everypony else said when hiring me. My interest in the conversation perked up when he got out a large bag filled to the brim with bits, in fact so much that quite a few of them poured out onto the table right in front of me. Taking the heavy bag in my hooves and pulling it closer to me, I smiled and asked him who he wanted dead to have paid me so much coin.
Even now, I still remember that cold smirk on his muzzle beneath that hood of his...
So, it turned out that he wanted me to deal with a king and a queen. No big deal at first, as I've been summoned by shady characters before to 'off' monarchs in other parts of the world. I actually find such jobs to be the most fun, what with all the security and maze-like fortresses I face in my tasks. I relish a challenge in my line of work, and if there's one thing rulers can promise a killer like me, it's a challenge at best. Oh, I've nearly been caught a few times before.
I remember one time during a job, when I was hired to kill off a recently-crowned prince of some crystal kingdom. His dark brother had wanted the throne for himself, and paid well for the deed to be done. I recall entering the prince's room, and he woke up before I could plunge the dagger right into his heart. Oh, did he put up a fight. Woke up half the castle, too, which by the way was not easy sneaking around in when your reflection practically shine off the damn floors, but I was able to slice his throat and make my escape seconds before the guards broke through the doors. Not sure what became of the kingdom after that, but I think I heard something about the whole damn place just up and disappearing. But of course that was stupid. An entire kingdom can't just vanish into thin air.
But I'm diverting from the story at hoof.
As I was saying before, the stranger was paying me to eliminate a king and queen. I had killed a number of monarchs and heirs of monarchs before, but this time I was going to be much closer to home with this particular target. He was tasking me with killing the current ruling alicorns of Equestria, King Solaris, and Queen Faust.
I have to say with much honesty, I was...a little taken by surprise that I was being asked to kill two royal figures who governed the very kingdom I lived in, keeping in mind that I am a murderer, so for what must have been a first time for me, I broke one of my own rules and asked my employer why he wanted such a task carried out. It wasn't so much that I cared who my target was. I just never imagined my own king and queen would have done anything to piss off somepony so much that they'd want to kill them.
Apparently, the Stranger was an arms dealer of sorts, supplying weapons and equipment to griffin military forces fighting in the current war that was being fought against our kingdom. Since my profession takes me out of Equestria often, I never really thought much about what was going on in my home land, not unless it involved a job requiring my skills. A few days from then, King Solaris and Queen Faust were supposed to meet with the ruling griffon royals to discuss a peace treaty, since no real victory was being achieved with either faction.
Since a successful peace treaty very often means no more war, that usually is bad business for ponies like the Stranger, who profited well from supplying the side that paid more for his goods and wares. Therefore, by eliminating the royals, and planting false evidence to point the hoof of blame at the griffons, not only could the war continue on for a lot longer, but the Stranger would be able to take advantage of the war's requests for weapons and supplies, and make himself a very, very rich stallion.
He had offered to pay me a lot more coin should my mission be a successful one. While I will admit now in this document that I did indeed feel a knot in my guts about killing my own king and queen, I nevertheless accepted the task. I made my contract, and I left the tavern to prepare for the mission ahead of me come the fall of night. I returned to the inn I was staying at while I was in Trottingham, to my rented room, and there I began packing my things. I paid the inn-keeper, and I immediately made haste to the nearest carriage station for a ride to Canterlot. After finding somepony to give me a ride, and paying him the fare, I threw myself into my seat and we departed towards the great city of the unicorns.
The bright sky had darkened almost to black by the time we reached Canterlot, despite taking a few shortcuts. I gave the cart stallion some extra coin for his effort, and headed over to a small inn outside of the city's walls, a cozy-looking place I imagined was set up for weary travelers and tourists, perhaps. I went inside, asked for a room to rent for a few days, hoofed the coin over, and made my way up the stairs to my temporary base of operations. I made sure the door was locked securely behind me so nopony would 'accidentally' snoop in on me as I unpacked my things. Getting caught taking out a pair of nasty, sharp daggers from my bag wouldn't exactly bode well for me, after all.
Come the rise of dawn, I would have to prepare for the task tomorrow night, which would mean acquiring as much detail of the castle's layout and its security as I could get. Knowing these things first-hoof would make my job a lot easier. Until then, I moved my killing instruments where nopony would stumble upon them, accidentally or on purpose, and laid my body upon the bed sheets, closing my eyes and allowing the sand-mare to draw me into slumber.