The enormous auditorium buzzed with murmurs among the crowd while the glass ceiling of Kristen square gardens was reflecting the gleaming lights of the city of Manehattan. In a box seat on the left wall of the building sat a young green coated stallion with a combed back made of pure darkness and upon his rear end stood his cutie mark, a map and compass.
“Sir,” said a valet. “Do you require anything before the show begins?”
Turning from his seat the stallion merely smiled before saying, “No thank you my friend. I do believe I have everything that I require.”
“Of course sir,” said the valet before leaving the balcony behind dark red drapes.
“Yes I do believe everything is all ready for this evening,” thought the stallion before turning his attention to the opening curtain on the stage. “Showtime.”
As the curtain drew apart the audience stamped their approval to the orchestra being revealed.
Marching across the stage was a elderly stallion in a elegant suit of black before taking a bow before the audience resulting in even more applause. Turning around the elderly stallion picked up his stick and started to conduct.
The music started gently and smooth with the sound of violins soothing the air with their melodies and the flutes of a section started playing along with a series of tamperings shaking to the conductor's stick causing a tune similar to that of traditional Saddle Arabian music, but the stallion in the box seats was only partly listing.
“Hmm, odd they should, aww-” the stallion said hearing the drapes behind him rustle followed in suit by the sound of hoofsteps. “No need to be so quiet my friend. Come let us sit and chat,” he said. Out of the corner of his eye he only saw a glimpse of his would be uninvited guest’s cloak. “Not one for talking are you?”
“I don’t talk with monsters,” hissed the voice of a mare behind him.
“Aww, but my dear lady, you are wrong on both accounts,” said the stallion feeling a motion of a blade opening. “One, you talked to me just now and two, you call me a monster.”
“That is because you are one!” said the assassin. “I don’t kill innocent ponies, enslave them, or sell them!”
“Perhaps, but you do stab people in the back don’t you?” said the stallion with a smirk when he noticed the sound of the music speeding up.
“I usually try it in the front,” said the assassin. “But for you, I will make an exception,” she said raising her blade ready to end her target.
“Oh, but you won’t I’m afraid,” said the stallion when he heard the thunder sound of the orchestra’s prop cannons going off.
Two slightly louder cannon shots were heard with a distinct sound and at that moment the assassin felt a arrow hit her blades knocking them out of her hoof, quickly she tried to get to her other weapons but the same mysterious force quickly hit her hoof.
“Buck!" She grabbed hold of her bleading hoof and took the arrow out.
“Guards! Now!” the stallion shouted, a second later the box office stood with a dozen guards coming out of the doors inside the box office. “Now you will-huh?” he said when he noticed the sight of the would be assassin hanging onto a curtain. “You don’t have the guts!”
The mare merely smiled, her grey muzzle with her face hidden by a hood. “Try me,” she said before jumping off the balcony while clutching onto the curtain as she sailed across the wall shocking the upper audience and resulting in a few screams and gasps.
“Assassin!” shouted a voice causing the audience to panic with the orchestra in a fray of confusion.
The mare jumped down onto a platform before galloping into a hallway to the memory of her escape plan, but she was met to the sight of a guard pointing his spear at her. Quickly the mare ran into him with her hoof and spun him around before knocking him out. Hearing the sound of more guards, she quickly jumped out the window onto a tree and would have gotten away if not for the following sound of a odd cannon.
Suddenly the mare felt a seething pain in her back leg but ignored it remembering her escape plan to run into a nearby alleyway.
Atop the building she had escaped from a yellow stallion with an bow and arrow on his back along with a silvery eye watched the mare run into the night before pointing again.
“Wait!” said the green coated stallion rushing thru the building’s top door.
“What?” said the yellow stallion. “I thought you wanted me to end the assassin?”
“Originally yes, but I got message just now from my supreriors detailing her to be followed."
The mare just galloped as fast as she could even has the feeling of seething pain ran thru her foreleg.
“Celestia dammit!” she growled to herself. “I should have been quieter-wait!” said the mare hearing a sound. “What’s that?”
Turning to a corner the mare leaned to the side to see the sight of a light brown, black mane and mustached stallion with a ring of what purple on his side, but the thing that confused the mare the most was not that fact that a stallion of fine hygiene was in a alleyway. No the thing that confused the mare was the fact that there was a stallion of fine hygiene in a alleyway...singing.
“...Cuz this whole world keeps spinning around!” sung the stallion while the mare limped to him with her hood down. “I sure do love singing Blue Moon’s songs in alleys, huh?” said the stallion noticing the limping mare. “Miss are you alright?”
“Please, hgg,” said the mare moaning in pain. “I need help.”
Seeing the blood drip down from the mare, the stallion rushed to her aid.
“What do you need me to do!?” said the stallion.
“Medical aid, but no hospital…” said the mare before collapsing on the ground, the last words she heard before going unconscious were, “Coil?”
The mare awoke to find herself in a bed of a small apartment with a bloodied bandage tied around her wound and the stallion who must have saved her last night looking out the rooms window with a spyglass. Slowly the mare got up and saw that she had none of her (broken) weapons, so carefully trotting the mare was about to knock the stallion uncouis when her stealthiness was ended by the sound of a stuffed pigeon cooing.
“Oh your awake!” said Coil Sparks turning around. “How-omph!”
“Where am I!?” said the mare with her hoofs on Coil’s neck. “And don’t lie, or I’ll end you before you can even say violin!”
“Coil?” said a grey stallion with wild hair and a tragedy/comedy mask with a pencil going down the middle as a cutie mark. “Is our guest...awake,” said Humble Pie staring at the mare choking his best friend’s neck. “Umm excuse me miss but could you-yah!’ shouted Humble throwing the tray of food at the mare only for her to deflect it with her hoof before jumping on Humble and pinning him.
“You should not have done that,” said the mare about to end Humble when Coil spoke.
“Wait! We were the ones who saved you last night,” said Coil trying to get a hold of the mare. “Remember?”
The event of the night before flooded the mare’s mind causing her to let go of Humble.
“My most dear apologies good sirs,” said the mare with a bow. “It was a reflex of mine to attack, sorry.”
“That’s some reflex,” said Humble rubbing his neck.
“If I may,” said the mare. “How did you fix my leg?”
“Well I know a little about metal extraction,” said Humble.
“I know how to hand things over to ponies,” said Coil. “And Slit knows extensive medical research.”
“Well I must thank him as well,” said the mare with a serious look. “Where is he?”
“Oh, he’s right next to you,” said Humble.
“What do you mean?” asked the mare. “There is nobody but us in here,” she said before the sound of a bellow coming from the ground caused her to look down to the sight of a alligator in a doctor's coat. “Who is this little guy?”
“That’s Slit.”
“Of course,” she said facehoofing.
After having some breakfast, the mare explained to the dou what had happened to her.
“So what you're saying is that you were in a old timey fair and got hit by a stray arrowhead?” said Humble eating his pancakes.
“Eeyup,” said the mare with no sign of lying.
“I told you Humble there was a old timey fair!” said Coil with a mouthful of oats.
“Well this has been nice and fun, but I must head back to my town, do you know where my stuff is?” said the mare hoping none had been stolen or lost.
“Oh yeah, I fixed it by the way,” said Coil taking a siop of juice. “Here you go,”
“Huh? You fixed it...whoah!” said the mare at the site of her repaired and improved blade. What had just been a short blade was now a longer and and sharper.
“I hope you don’t mind but I also made a second one,” said Coil putting a second blade on the table. “A cosplayer shouldn’t have a dingy blade and one blade, remember the Comic convention Humble?”
“Yeah,” said Humble before whispering to the mare. “We aren’t allowed to come back.”
“Well I don’t know what to say Mr. umm”
“Coil Sparks and I’m Humble Pie,” said Humble smiling.
“Well Humble and Coil I make a vow to you that I will find a way to repay you,” said the mare getting up. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”
“A pleasure to be met,” said Coil shaking hoofs.
“We hope to see you again, and don’t worry about vowing us anything,” said Humble. “We historian buffs gotta stick together right?”
“Right,” said the mare with a smile before leaving.
“Ugh,” said Vinyl Scratch throwing the remote to the floor. “There is nothing good on!”
A second later the upstairs door opened to the sound of a tired sounding Octavia.
“Vinyle you're not throwing the remote to the floor again are you?” said Octavia. “I’m trying to sleep from my vacation in Manehattan, you know I broke my leg.”
“Uhh, no,” said Vinyle.
“Vinyl!” replied Octavia.
“Sheesh Octy, don’t be such a tightwad. Be adventurous!” said Vinyl struggling to pick up the remote with her horn.
Closing the her bedroom door, Octavia opened her closet and pulled out a box labeled “Shirts” opening it to a white cloak with a hood and blades atop it.
“Oh, Vinyle if only you knew,” said Octavia with a smirk. “Nothing is true, everything is permitted…”
