Making choices

The earth pony took a look at the wall clock. It was 9 o'clock in the evening, and his emplyer still hadn't shown up. Sharp Witt simply shrugged his shoulders. After all, he had been paid beforehoof. The dark grey stallion was going to wait for another 15 minutes and than go out and search for another task he could complete on his way to Mouthguard. He had completed his task succesfully, it was time for the next one.

Just as he was about to leave, the door opened and his masked employer stepped in. Surprised, that she was still wearing her disguise, the stallion smiled and spoke:

" There's no more use of your disguise... Princess Celestia. You were unwary enough to walk around undisguised with your group, and your " prized pupil " was unwary enough to adress you by your name. I had no doubts it was you back in Graywood, and you proved me absolutely right today. "

" Is the purse I gave you still in your possession? " the hooded mare asked, as if she hadn't heard what Sharp Witt had just said.

" Of course. " the grey stallion staid. Than, to confirm it, he put it on the small table next to the bed he was sitting on. The cloaked mare looked in that direction, and suddenly the small purse was surrounded by a white magical oreol. Using telekinesis, the mare brought it back to her and probably put it in saddlebags she was wearing beneath her cloak.

It was first than the detective started to suspect something's wrong.

" So... " he asked, a bit unsure.

" ... what is the next part of the task? "

" There will be no such. " the cloaked pony replied.

" Your services are no longer required. "

" Alright. " the earth pony told her, relieved he'd leave this mysterious task behind.

" In that case, can I have my payment back? "

The white mare seemed surprised.

" To have your payment back? " Sharp Witt could swear he heard her giggle.

" I'm not sure how it is in your land, but back in mine, we don't pay ponies for badly done work. "

Sharp Witt got up, a tad insulted. He moved towards the cloaked mare.

" Please tell me, how was my work badly done? "

" I paid you for one simple thing. " the mare spoke with a stern voice.

" Signalisation. I didn't ask you to protect my group, I only paid you to signalise in case of danger, so that we could be ready to repell the threat.

Some would say you did what you were paid for. You signalled us. Good job. However, after paying a whole purse of golden bits, " the cloaked figure was starting to sound threatening, so Sharp Witt retreated to the safety of his bed.

" ,I expect a time gap of at least a minute before the attack itself. 10 seconds are not sufficient. What were you expecting? That I'll stop time and prepare myself? "

" There was a thick fog... " the detective began excusing himself, but was interrupted by his employer:

" The weather conditions weren't the most convenient ones, I admit, but for a purse of bits, I would have been smart enough to travel ahead of the group, so that we'll have enough time to see the signal. However, I see you aren't that smart. "

Shocked, the detective tried to get some money out of this all:

" I demand... I demand... a service fee! "

" Service fee? " this time the mare laughed openly.

" Are you kidding me? You were travelling in that direction anyway. You didn't do any real service. You arrived for the same amount of time you would have arrived for normally. So... what else does a service tax include? "

A moment of awkward silence followed.

" Enjoy the rest of your night anyway you want to. I leave you the room. Checkout is tommorrow at noon. " the mare threw the key at him. It landed on the bed. Then she headed for the door.

Realising he was missing one great opportunity, Sharp Witt jumped off the bed and spoke:

" Alright, alright. I'll make it up to you. I won't dissappoint you again. "

The white mare ignored him. The earth pony ran towards the door and stepped on the end of her cloak. The hood turned back to look at him.

" I promise. " the stallion spoke.

The mare sighed. As she waved her hoof beneath the cloak, Sharp Witt was thrown across the room and pinned to the bed with a white magical oreol.

" No. I've had enough of you. " the mare spoke.

" You have failed me for the last time, detective Sharp Witt. "

As she said that, the mare put her hoof on his forehead. It was surrounded by the same oreol, that kept the detective pinned down. Soon it also surrounded the earth pony's head.

" You won't remember anything from the last few days. Tommorrow you'll take off and go back to Mouthguard. There you'll start your detective business again. Now you'll fall asleep. "

The stallion fought against the magic, but soon his eyes closed. The white mare removed her hoof from his shoulder and left the room, carefully closing the door behind her.

The captain of Smith Keep's town guard stared at his visitor, wondering wheter he was joking or not. Having cooperated with them, captain Buckethelm a.k.a " Buck " knew the Gang with No Names very well. So he was very surprised to hear somepony had slaughtered the whole gang besides the Observer, the white pegasus with the scar on his neck, who was currently sitting on the chair on the other side of the desk in his office and swearing he was telling the truth:

" Buck, I'm not joking! That black devil jumped out of nowhere and killed all of the lads with a blade of thin air! "

" Just listen to yourself... " for the last time, the captain was about to explain what effect some " spices " the merchants were carrying had on the pony brain, but he was interrupted by one of the guards, who broke in his office and spoke:

" Sir, permission to report! "

" Granted. " Buck replied.

" The Observer's words are true, sir. Subject 17, black of coat, gender stallion, of the pegasi race with a dark blue mane and tail entered " the Lucky Miner " along with a big group, the subjects in which all match the description of Mister Observer. Object 2, the " thin- air sword " wasn't noticed, but Object 3, a black mace, seems to be in Subject 17's possession. "

The Observer leaned back on his chair and grinned.

" I told you. " he said.

Now Buck finally believed the words of the robber.

" Shall we arrest the subject, sir? " the guard asked.

A grin appeared on the captain's muzzle as well.

" That would be a waste of talent. " he spoke.

" Observer, remind me exactly when did the stallion stop being attacked and begin attacking. "

" After... " understanding the captain's plan, the grin on the face of the robber widened.

" ...after we shot at the pretty lady with the phoenix. "

" Exactly. " the captain nodded. After taking a look at the list of suspects, he gave the guard his orders:

" Take everypony, who's currently available, and go to the " Lucky Miner " . Arrest Subject 5, white of coat, gender mare, of the unicorn race with an ellaborate purple mane and tail. Bring her back to the department without doing her any harm. Since we suspect Subject 17 would come after you, the rest of the guards will block his way, until you go back to tell them to retreat. Then we'll see if we could acquire Subject 17's services as a part of our organisation. Dismissed. "

The guard got back in the main room of the department. A minute afterwards, the full staff of Smith's Keep's town guards, excluding their captain, ran down Smith's Keep's main street, headed for the " Lucky Miner " . Buck smiled. He was going to be promoted at least to a commandant for his smart strategy.

What captain Buckethelm couldn't know was the fact, that his troops stopped to have a beer in " The Stag's Den ", the second most popular pub in Smith's Keep after " Beer'n'Hammer".

The den was conveniently located exactly on half of the distance between the guard department and the central square. One beer turned into two, two into three, and when the guards finally arrived where they were ordered, the Equestrians had already returned from the " Beer'n'Hammer" and were sleeping from half an hour already. Drinking veterans, the sauberness of the guards hadn't been affected by the three beers at all. So they entered " The Lucky Miner " absolutely clear- minded.

The owner of the hotel (and the receptionist of the same time) knew he shouldn't mess with the guards. So he immediately gave them the number of the room the white mare they referred to as Subject 5 and went on with what he was doing.

The guards stopped in front of the door of Room 203 and quietly opened it. Sergeant Woodsword (the others called him Woodie), the one, that had spoken with captain Buck, carefully snuck inside. The two beds were put on the two opposite sides of the room. The left one was taken by a pink earth pony mare, and the right one - by Subject 5. Woodie carefully moved towards her, until suddenly the floor beneath him creaked.

As a zombie, rising from its grave, Pinkie Pie rose up from her bed, horrifying the guard. The earth pony smiled from ear to ear and whispered.

" Are you going to play a prank on her? " she asked.

" Yes. " the sergeant confirmed, not knowing what else to do.

" Alright. I'll pretend I haven't noticed anything. " the pink mare than lay back in her bed. Left befuddled for a moment, the unicorn guard continued with his mission. He pressed the bed, so that the mare, who was lying with her face against the wall, can roll, so that he could see her face and be sure that's Subject 5.

Subject 5 was wearing a sleep mask. Having never seen one before, Woodie was surprised. He also noticed a comb on the floor. Apparently this mare took good care of herself. She could only hope there is a comb in the department.

Initially, the sergeant intended to slowly take the mare away, without anypony noticing. Now, when he knew the pink pony was awake and expecting him to play a prank, he had to choose Plan B. He raised Subject 5 with his telekinesis and ran out of the room. He than ran down the stairs, followed by the rest of the guards.

However, Rarity has been awoken when she was abruptly lifted. While her ponynapper was leaving the room, she had used her magic to remove her sleep mask. When she realised what was happenning, she yelled:

" Help! "

The guard running behind Woodie put his hoof in front of her mouth, but it was too late. The others were probably already awake. Increasing the pace, the guards ran out of the hotel. As it was planned before, two remained at the exit of the central square in direction the department, to slow down Subject 17. Over equal distances, two by two, the guards remained behind, untill only Woody and Subject 5 in his telekinesis were left. Panting, the sergeant entered the department, took a chair, entered the captain's office, put down the chair and Subject 5 on it. He than reported:

" Mission complete, sir! "

" Very well, sergeant. " Buck replied. As his subordinate left the room, the captain brought his attention to the arrested mare.

The first door, that opened, wasn't exactly opened. The receptionist's train of thoughts was violently broken when somepony smashed through the door of a room and a black pegasus jumped out the broken door of Room 201, which was, as the receptionist had identified, the room with the smashed through door. The pegasus ran towards Room 205, but instead of entering it, used the mace he, since this was a stallion, was carrying to turn the wooden railing, that prevented ponies falling from the second floor on the ground floor, and jumped off. He landed smoothly in the middle of the lobby, after a small hover, just in time to see the last guard run away. He turned his angry gaze to the receptionist and yelled:

" YOU TOLD THEM WHERE SHE IS! "

Then he ran at him with his morningstar lifted for attack. The owner had no time to run away, so he simply folded in a small ball, expecting the end.

Hase stopped midway. He was going to kill somepony again. It was a good thing he understood it before doing it. An idea popped in his mind. How to elliminate the rage he was feeling.

He moved the mace in the air, so that it pointed his head, and just the way he had done it before with Metal Chord, sucked out the rage from his head. He wished he had not. Powerless, he fell down on the floor and began crying. The rage having been removed, something much worse had taken its place. As if one had managed to remove the incredible amount of salt there was in a meal, only to find out it's so hot you can't extinguish it with the milk of a whole cow. Before being supressed by his anger, now this feeling had Hase's entire mind at its disposal.

That feeling was despair. Feeling sorry for the stallion, the receptionist approached him and spoke:

" Come on, lad. We all make mistakes sometimes. " then he helped the pegasus get back on his hooves. When the old pony looked up, he saw the other members of the group looking at him.

" I'll never have a normal life. I even won't have friends. I don't deserve them anymore. I don't deserve Rarity. I killed those ponies... " that was what the old earth pony stallion could understand before the pegasus began crying again. Feeling bad about what he had done, he looked up towards the ponies, probably friends of this stallion.

" I'm sorry, lads and gals, but if I messed with the guards, the town would have taken away my hotel. They are headed for the guard department, along with your friend. I'm really sorry. "

" We understand. " a big stallion with a hammer on his back replied, making the old stallion feel better.

" We'll get out from the back door. " he than turned to the rest of the big group.

" We'll split up in groups of two, so that we aren't noticed. We'll meet in the north end of town and from there we'll go back to the department. "

The rest of the group noted and the ponies headed for the back door, leaving the receptionist alone with Hase, who had meanwhile stopped crying.

" I don't deserve her. " he mumbled, sitting on the floor.

" I'm sure you do, lad. " the receptionist patted him on the shoulder, before he sat down next to him.

" I'm also sure none of the stuff you said before will be that way. From what I see, your friends are still your friends. Eventually, we all settle down for a normal life, and about the love of your heart... I'm sure, that whatever small obstacles were created when you killed those ponies, whoever they were, will vanish when yo become her savior. "

" You sure? " signs of hope appeared in Hase's voice.

" Yes. Go out and show those guards what happens when you stand in the way of love. " the pony encouraged him.

" Just don't kill anypony. They're guards. That's their job- to follow orders. "

Hase got up. It was first than he noticed something weird lying right where he had landed, on the spot, where he had sucked out his own rage. A curled up black rope. Curious, Hase used his telekinesis to lift it, but dropped it once he felt the rope stick in his mind. However, it was too late. He felt how it bonded to the despair he had felt a minute ago. The pegasus sighed. They were two now. Two mysterious weapons. As he swiped with the rope, that turned out to be a black whip with a purple handle, a purple semi- transparent earth pony spirit was let out. It screamed, until it stuck in the wall. Hase's doubts was confirmed. The weapon had the same abillities as his mace and a simillar appearance. Unlike the mace, however, the whip used his despair.

" Don't worry, " he turned back to the startled receptionist.

" , I won't kill anypony. "

Then he walked out the front entrance. He took a quick look around the square and almost immeadiately noticed the two guards, standing in the direction, opposite the one the group had came from. Smiling, Hase walked over to them. The guards drew the swords out of their sheaths.

" Oh, let's not start like this. " the scientist urged them. The two stallions, both earth ponies, raised their eyebrows to express their surprise. One of them even put his sword back in his sheath.

" What do you mean? " he asked.

" Is it illegal to walk down, or should I say up, " the blue- maned pegasus looked towards the steep street.

" ,that street? "

" It is. For you. " the second stallion had dropped the sword from his mouth. He didn't waste any time saying what he was supposed to say, which also made the second guard behave a bit more hostile, even though Hase had felt he was willing to cooperate. The inventor unwillingly turned towards the second stallion. He was one of those ponies, who obeyed their orders, no matter what. A bit of a wild card, the scientist couldn't understand such ponies.

The guard went on with the usual routine:

" Subject 17. You are accused of murdering 10 or more ponies... "

" ... murderers. " the accused pony added.

" ... and are therefore to be arrested. Will you surrender? " the guard ignored his remark.

The pegasus chuckled.

" I am afraid violators of the law can't tell the others not to violate it. "

" Your vocabulary seems to be poor. You mistake the word " violators " for the word " enforcers " . " the stallion made a bad attempt to be humorous.

" I assure you my vocabulary is richer than yours. Subjects 1 and 2, you are accused of being accomplices in a ponynapping. "

The earth pony laughed. Than he became dead serious again and responded:

" She is an eyewitness. She will confirm, that you have killed ponies. "

" There's no use of an eyewitness. " Hase was playing with the stallion.

" I confess my crime. However, in this land, where justice's work is usually done by somepony else, I consider killing 15 ponies, each of who has probably killed at least 10 other, isn't something you can be sued for. Let's just say I was preventing future decreases in the taxes. " the inventor smiled.

Dissatisfied with the course of the conversation, the law enforcer drew out his sword again and pounced at the blue- maned stallion. Hase hit him with the handle of the mace, bringing him down. Than he struck with his whip, missing the fallen stallion on purpose. A purple semi- transparent earth pony spirit was sent flying towards him. It engulfed the guard, before separating, now white. The stallion, that was rising up to strike again, dropped the sword and fell down, crying.

" Will he be OK? " the first guard asked.

" After some time. " Hase was actually guessing, but he didn't want to turn this earth pony against himself.

" Can I go... " the earth pony began, but having guessed what the pony was thinking, the pegasus answered before he had finished with his question:

" Yes. If I get caught, I'll say I ran away from you. "

" And what about Reedshield? Won't he tell the captain the truth? " the stallion fearfully gazed at the sobbing stallion.

" No. " Hase replied. If the stallion was feeling what he had felt before, he wouldn't be able to actually comprehend anything from the moment the spirit passed on its despair.

" Thank you. " the earth pony took of his helm and smiled at the pegasus.

" However, I'm afraid the others will be even more stubborn than Reed. You'll have to use your weapons. Just don't kill them. "

" I won't. " Hase promised.

The next two side alleys were clear. The third wasn't. Two pegasi guards flew from the top of the building on Hase's left. Having heard their yells, the pegasus jumped forward and the pegasi hit the ground instead. While they were getting up, Hase aimed the mace at them and fired. The red stream of spirits passed right betwen them, two of the ethereal gryphons swiping and passing on their rage. The inventor ran away, leaving the only object for the two pegasi's rage being the pony in front of them.

Hase knew very well, that in their furious state, those two guards could easily kill eachother. But he had wasted too much time with the first two guards. He had to dispatch of the rest more quickly, since he didn't know what was happenning with Rarity. While worried thoughts about her were going through his mind, the pegasus missed the two unicorns, hiding on the two sides of the street, behind two barrels. One of them had a crossbow.

The arrow stuck right into Hase's right flank, piercing it exactly bellow his cutie mark. The stallion grunted and fell down. The two unicorns approached, with their smiles on. Using his mind, the pegasus tried to repell them with the desperate spirits from the whip and the angry ones from the mace,but the unicorns were protected with a magical barrier. Exhausted, Hase couldn't retalliate when the one, that had fired, kicked him in his stomach. The duo than laughed.

Hase knit his brows. He said he wasn't going to kill anypony. However, the guards apparently had no trouble hurting him. Well, he didn't have trouble hurting them either. The two unicorns had dropped their barriers. A perfect time to attack. Ignoring the horrible pain in his right flank, Hase swiped with his mace, sending the guard with the crossbow flying right above the barrel he was hiding behind. The guard fell in it and lost conscience. Hoping, that the hit had only broken a several ribs, the inventor brought his attention to the second unicorn just in time to block his sword slash with his mace. While blocking the unicorn's attacks with the mace, Hase sent the whip behind the pony's back. Then he began slapping. The whip span around the stallion, that looked like he had become crazy after the third hit, hitting and hitting again, each hit leaving a long trail of blood on the pony's skin. Hase wasn't cruel. After about 7 hits he knocked out the guard using the handle of the mace.

He was having some trouble moving, because of the arrow in his flank he couldn't get out himself, but the rest of the guards he dispatched of rather quickly, due to a combination of the whip's and the mace's normal and magical abilities.The thing, that really slowed him down, was his injury. That's why he arrived at the guard department a whole hour after he had left the " Lucky Miner ".

An hour captain Buckethelm had spent trying to get as many details as possible regarding the group and especially Subject 17. However, Subject 5 turned out to be a hard case. She wouldn't say a single word regarding her group and its mission.

" Give up already. " after an hour of interrogation, Buck was really tired.

" Your group is harmless. There's nothing they could do to our well- trained guards. Mister Observer here has confirmed it. " he nodded at the white pegasus, who was sitting  6 feet away from the white mare, after she punched him in the eye, the vicinity of which was now " in a pleasant shade of blue" , as the mare had described it herself.

" If my group is harmless, why do you need... Subject 17? " Rarit swiftly avoided revealing the name of her lover, which angried the guard's captain.

" Subject 17 is the only exception in your otherwise useless group. From what Mr. Observer has reported, he has a great potential to become a guard in Steamcross, or, who knows, perhaps even Mouthguard or Razorcliff? It is very selfish of you to keep him as our group's bodyguard... "

The white unicorn smiled, as she heard how far away from the truth the stallion was. That smile made Buck feel a little more unsure about his theory.

" ... isn't it? However, one other thing also caught my friend's eye. It seems you and Subject 17 are in close relations, Miss... "

The fashionista mare wasn't as stupid as to tell them her name. A moment of silence followed.

" ... Anonymous. I'm sure he'll gladly accept the service, now that your life is in danger. "

Just as the unicorn concluded his sentence, a mace smashed through the door. Than it pulled back, the claws sticking in the wooden material, the whole door being ripped out as a result. The mace, not being hold by anypony, as Buck could see with his own eyes, hit the door against the floor, so that it would liberate itself from it. This event was followed by the entrance of Subject 17.

He was just the way the Observer had described him. A black pegasus with a zenith blue mane and tail. The mace seemed to follow his orders. Apparently, so did one whip as well. It was really an unusual weapon.

' Whips aren't really that useful in battle. ' the captain thought, before being proven wrong. The Observer jumped at the pegasus, holding a dagger in his mouth. Subject 17 stopped this attack with the handle of the mace and than slapped with the whip, leaving a gaping wound across the other pegasus' chest. He than swiped once more, this time in the air. Something purple and semi- transparent, that Buck couldn't recognise as something, screamed and collapsed with the white stallion. It than turned white in colour and vanished, while the coldblooded robber began - was that even possible? - crying and sobbing. Seeing Subject 17 wasn't the kind of pony, that wastes his time talking, the captain quickly levitated his sword and put it against the white mare's throat, avoiding the same fate.

" Subject 17! " he greeted.

" We were all waiting for you! Especially she. "

Rarity looked back at Hase.

" I'm sorry, darling. " she spoke.

" It's not your fault. " the black pegasus replied. Then he looked threatingly at the beige unicorn stallion. His gaze indicated he wasn't going to get away with threatening the lady of his heart so easily.

" Both weapons where I could see them. " Buck smiled.

Hase left both weapons lie on the desk in front of the unicorn. This troubled the captain. He shouldn't have given up so easily.

" What do you want from me? " Subject 17 asked.

" I want to offer you a job. A job of a town's guard. " Buck spoke, hoping his offer would be tempting enough.

" My friend the Observer told me how you got rid of his friends. Why waste this potential for killing road robbers? In service of the country, it can get you to very high positions, my boy. "

" Killing is not something I'm fond of. Killing is something assassins, the ponies without feelings do. I'm not Dagger. " the pegasus replied in a stern tonality.

" Ddagger? You know her? " this name was legendary. It made Buck shivver. However, a new plan appeared in the captain's mind. A much better one.

" Can you describe her to me? " he asked with the most polite voice he had in mind. If one has an assassin's identity, one has them. The lack of identity is everything for an assassin. If the captain had the identity of one, especially Dagger... let's just say promotion would occur a lot faster.

" No. " the other stallion replied. At the same time, Buck felt something choke him. He dropped his concentration, the sword falling down. Hase quickly drew Rarity next to him and dropped his spell. Just as before, he had used the small amount of magic he could wield in a very smart way - forming a thin cord, that was so thin it couldn't be seen. While the captain was having a conversation with him, the pegasus had formed this cord behind him. When it was ready, he had wrapped it around his throat and pulled, so that the sword wouldn't be a threat to Rarity anymore.

While the stallion was trying to get up, the inventor knocked him out with the handle of the mace.

" He'll be allright. Just as everypony else. " Hase said, as he stepped through the door frame.

" You didn't kill anypony? " Rarity smiled.  Hase kissed her on the cheek.

" No. After a few weeks in the infirmary they should all be good as new. " her coltfriend replied.

It was first then she noticed the arrow, sticking out of Hase's flank. She gasped and almost fainted.

" Are you alright? " the inventor asked her.

" Are YOU alright, that is the question. " Rarity knelt down to take a closer look at the wound. The blood had stopped flowing, meaning that the wound wasn't fresh.

" How long has this thing been inside of you, dear? " the worried unicorn asked.

" About an hour... ARRGH! " he grunted. However, Rarity had barely touched the arrow. She became really worried.

" I.... I'm going to try to pull it out. " she warned him.

" Go ahead. " Hase told her before sticking the handle of the mace in his mouth.

Rarity wasn't sure how she was supposed to pull out an arrow. Should she pull it out abruptly or slowly? Which would cause her coltfriend less pain? Eventually, she decided to take it out slowly and carefully. The arrow was surrounded by her light blue magical oreol, as she began pulling. Even though the inventor's mace made the grunts he was letting out a lot quieter than they would have been, she could still hear them. However, she couldn't give up. The mareould already see the arrow tip.

After 10 seconds, which seemed as 10 minutes to Hase, the arrow was out of his flank. Luckily, its edges were smooth and Rarity hadn't done any further damage by pulling it out. His adrenaline dropping, the pegasus felt the effect of the bloodloss. He leaned, but luckily, the white unicorn caught him. She put one of his forehooves behind her neck and helped him up again.

" Thanks. " he whispered in her ear, feeling the upcoming passing out. The rest of the group entered the guard's department and surrounded the duo. The last thing Hase remembered before the blue spots obscured everything was his father looking at the whip with a mix of fear and dissatisfaction.