Blade of Silence

It was long past midnight.  Fall leaves sat upon the trees, unable to show their true colors under the light of the moon.  In Trottingham, the night was peaceful; not many ponies were wandering the streets at this time.  However, there were a few ponies running along the rooftops.  An orange maned, navy blue earth pony wearing a black vest, raced along the the rooftops, being actively pursued by two pegasus in a green uniform of some sort.  The blue pony in front of them also had a couple of small gadgets on her front hooves; 1 near the base of each hoof, and another about midway up her front right leg.   She also bore a strange looking cutie mark; a knife with a halo above it.

Sweat was pouring down the blue earth pony's face as she ran along the rooftops.  Since the ponies giving chase were pegasi, no matter what gap she would jump across, they would make it with ease.  It was starting to frustrate her as she struggled to get them off her tail.  She would need to make quick maneuvers if she was to have any hope of escaping.  Observing another house to the left within jumping distance, she changed direction suddenly, and raced towards it.  The pegasi were mildly confused by this, but followed shortly after the blue pony.

'Damn. Not good.' Silence thought to herself as she continued running away.  She landed on the roof, continuing to run without a hitch.  The pegasus chasing her were starting to gain on her now, and she was running out of options.  It was then that she elected on a sudden stop, in hopes that the ponies would fly right past her.  It almost worked, but the pegasi had stopped in time, just a couple of feet away.

"So," One of the pegasi asked, "what're you gonna do now?  You got nowhere else to run, girl. You can't just keep going on the rooftops forever, and eventually, you'll run out of city."

Both pegasi began to advance on her as they drew their weapons from the holders on their sides.  If it wasn't for those, the pegasi would have been flying this entire time. The second pegasi asked.

"You look pretty good! Shame you probably won't look half as good with a ton of cuts all over you."

Silence was ready for their advances.  Withdrawing a sword of her own and placing it on the custom mount she wore on her right leg, she prepared to defend herself against these ponies.  Both clumsily wielded swords in their mouths, which made their attacks awkward to perform, and they were already difficult to do as is.  Silence defended against the attacks of these ponies with ease and grace, while not making any strikes herself.  Small sparks were created as metal clashed against metal.  Silence, after defending agaist a considerable number of attacks, was now teetering dangerously close to the edge of the building.

'Looks like I'm getting careless. Silence thought. 'I should probably end this quickly!'  With that, Silence used her blade as a launchpad and boosted herself high into the air, performing a flawless flip clear over the landed pegasi and landing behind them.  In the same, swift motion, she placed her hooves directly against their necks, uttering the last three words they would ever hear.

"Rest in peace." Silence said as she triggered a pair of knives which plunged directly into their throats.  The two ponies fell limp as Silence retracted the now bloody knives from their flesh. "Not that you deserve any peace, ya freaks."  Silence looked upon her work with a smile.  She had killed in so many ways before, but flipping over the ponies to a perfect execution was something that she had never managed to pull off before.  The blood of the pegasi started to seep down the roof.

'Ugh.  Whoever lives here is in for a nasty surprise when they wake up.' Silence withdrew her sword from the roof of the house, where it had stuck when she used it as a launchpad.  She placed it with extreme care back into the sheath where she kept it.  She stopped to think for a second, and remember that she needed to get back to Canterlot.  Her mission was a success, and there was nothing else to it.  She had been sent by Celestia to take down a Trottingham resident who had been inciting violence and saying that Luna should not be allowed to rule again after the Nightmare Moon incident.  Apparently, he had been concerned enough to hire a pair of bodyguards.  Silence didn't like getting innocents hurt, but it became a necessity for her survival in this case.  Now that he was finally dead and gone, Silence hoped that this could be quelled now, with nopony else to preach his message; something in the back of her mind told her this wasn't going to happen though.  Still, she had left no trace of her presence, and only the body remained in the home.  Suddenly, Silence found herself immersed in reality and she returned to the task at hand.

'I'd better get out of here, before someone notices.  It's a long haul to Canterlot.' With that though, Silence Dogood slipped into the night, appearing to exist as only a shadow in the darkness.

Silence had almost forgotten about how long the walk from Trottingham to Canterlot actually was.  She had been walking at a consistent pace since her kills in Trottingham; soon the sun would be appearing over the horizon, piercing the darkness with it's overall cheeriness.  The birds would sing, and the weather team would being in today's conditions.  From what she remembered, there was a storm scheduled in Canterlot; not exactly the weather she would want to make her way to Canterlot Castle in.  That was enough motivation for her to pick up the pace now.

As she finally neared the city on a cliff, she noticed the sun's shining rays beginning to creep over the hills in the distance.  Looking at the sky above, she saw no signs of the weather team; just a cloud or two were present, and stars were still visible.  The other thing she was starting to notice was the pain in her leg muscles.  This much walking had begun to bring down her speed.  In her mind, that was all the more reason to push herself to go faster now.

'The sooner I can get there, the sooner I can go into my room at the castle and fall asleep.' After the attacks on Canterlot those years ago, Celestia had given her a spare room in the castle.  Upon further training, and a couple of successful assassinations, Celestia had made Silence a member of the castle staff, albeit unlisted to keep her safe.  The room was her own now, and she had customized it with arrays of shelves displaying various forms of weaponry, most of which she had modifed or created from scratch.  She just wanted to get home, and relax after a long day.

The sun had risen now, and Silence had finally arrived at Canterlot Castle.  She was let in instantly by the guards, who knew full well what she was capable of.  She smiled kindly at them, and they closed the gates after she had gone in.  Upon gaining entry to the castle, it was a few turns up to the throne room, where Celestia would be eagerly awaiting a report from Silence.  The guards in front of the prestigious throne room let Silence pass without issue and when Silence had gotten closer to Celestia, the guards beside her had left.  That was protocol when discussing the results of Silence's missions.  Nopony else was to know of these results, for fear of gossip.  It could be a real problem around there.  After the doors had closed, Silence took a deep breath.  Now that it was just the two of them; she felt like she could relax, even though Celestia was royalty and all.

"How did everything go?" Celestia inquired.

"About the usual.  You didn't warn me about the bodyguards though." Silence replied.

"I had no idea." Celestia's tone shifted from the regal princess, to a slightly more devious tone.  "Were they any trouble?"

"I'm Silence Dogood.  Do you think they were any trouble?" she replied sarcastically. Celestia smiled and laughed a little.

"Did you make a mess?"

"A little blood on the rooftops.  No trace of my presense though."

"I should expect nothing less of you, Silence." Celestia's voice shifted again, now to a more caring and compassionate tone. "Everything going okay with you?"

"Meh.  I've been struggling with the memories of the attacks, but other than that, I think I'm doing pretty good. I mean, I'm super happy here.  I've got my own room, tons of stuff to fiddle with and experiment on, and a sick arsenal of weaponry to play with."

"I don't see how you couldn't be happy with all of that!"

"Yeah, me neither." Silence replied.  There was silence for a couple of seconds before Silence asked Celestia,

"How've you been doing?" The princess was quiet for a few seconds, after which  a quiet sigh left her lips.

"Busy with the usual government crap." Celestia said.  Silence was mildly shocked.  Celestia never used this kind of language, at least not around anypony. "All of these uprisings in the towns aren't helping with the stress levels."

"There's something else wrong, isn't there?  I mean, you practically swore just a few seconds ago! you never do that!"

"Trust me, I've said worse. Not in public though."  Celestia replied, cheeky looking smile on her face.  From there, her expression and tone became much more somber and serious as she began to pace in front of the throne.  "I'm in a situation much like you.  I've been thinking about the Canterlot attacks 5 years ago, and I think we may very well be entering a dangerous time to be in government."

"What do you mean by that, Celestia?"

"Several governments like ours have recently collapsed. Canterda's leader has been killed by rebel forces, not to mention the other countries to the east who have had their governments removed from power."

"What do you mean, 'like ours'?"

"Where one or two central figures make all of the desicions in the government.  It's called autocracy." Celestia replied. "Canterda had an autocratic government, but a week or two ago, rebellious forces took the capital by force, much like the attackers of 5 years ago had tried. However, I fear that their numbers are starting to grow.  Soon enough, they could have as many ponies as they would need to overthrow our entire military force, and then they would come for me."

"Right, so what you're saying is that we could be screwed in the next couple of years?"

"I fear that it could happen much sooner than that." Celestia turned her gaze towards Silence. "That is why your services could see a lot more use.  There will be a lot more danger involved though, and the stakes would be much higher."

"I should expect that my pay will increase accordingly."

"You should expect no less." Celestia said.  "On the topic of danger, how's that new weapon you are working on?"

"Just fine and dandy!" Silence replied.  The weapon in question was a hoof mounted miniature cannon.  It was designed custom by Silence to fit her own hoof, and used the same trigger system as her mounted knives, which relied on tilting her hoof backwards and hitting a button. But when the new system would be triggered, it would strike a flint and steel, creating sparks, and setting off a highly flammable and explosive powder that she had also managed to create.  A small shell of copper, or occasionally lead, would be ejected at extreme speed, flying with extreme speed and precision towards the target.

"Yeah, everything's going good with it so far." Silence said.  "Just need some final tweaks on the firing mechanisms, and a way to fire multiple rounds without having to reload the powder."

"Hop to it," Celestia said in a commanding tone, "and remember that if you need any help, the castle staff is at your disposal."

"Thank you very much Celestia. Pleasure doing business with you, as always." Silence said as she turned tail, retreating from the room.  As she left, the guards, who had been present earlier, went to Celestia's sides at the throne.  Silence made her way through the halls of the castle, and into her room.  As she opened the door, the light from the hallway shone upon with various weapons that she had on her shelves.  She threw off her hoof mounted weapons at the door to the room, and took care to place them on the shelves where they belonged.

As she opened the thick green curtains, the rest of the room was revealed in all of its glory.  Each wall was painted a shade of light grey, and several shelves in the room were simply loaded with various forms of weaponry.  As a matter of fact, she had crafted a significant number of these weapons herself, having been educated by one of Canterlot's most respected blacksmiths.  The weaponry itself was all something that she had taught herself and because of her unique talents, Celestia had even ordered the repurposing of an old section of the castle into an area where she and the guards could do proper combat and weapons training.  Also present in the room were a small bed with light blue sheets, and a desk where Silence could often be found, writing furiously into a journal that she kept, detailing her exploits in assassination.

Silence approached the desk, opening it's sole drawer to reveal that very journal.  She withdrew it, and began to write.

Danger.  That is the word that rings through my mind today.  Sure, in this line of work, there always has been, and always will be, danger.  A significant amount of it for that matter.  It's part of what makes the kill so exciting, so wonderful to do.

But now, Celestia is saying that the danger is going to increase.  Having almost been killed today after my assassination didn't go exactly as planned, I'm not sure if I can handle that.  Putting my lite on the line is tough enough for me to do as it is.  But, if I'm going to be expected to put it on the line for my government and leader, things could become a lot more interesting.

I never asked for any of this.  I never asked to be an assassin, never asked to work for Celestia, never asked for any of it!  I just wanted revenge, and I still want it.  Working for Celestia is making this very difficult though.  She doesn't want me to make myself known to them.  As far as they know, I still don't exist; hell, as far a lot of people know, I don't exist.  She doesn't want me doing an unsanctioned mission, especially not one that's personally motivated or that I don't have enough information about.  All I remember is that they are from Manehattan, and if I kill them, my life will be complete.  I just want that accursed Blue Mask dead.

Is that too much to ask for?

Her quill remained on the paper, and she sat there, trying hard to fight back tears as she remembered her parents and their deaths for what seemed to be the billionth time.  She remembered how she could never see them again, hear their voices, embrace them.  But, that thought was a double edged sword, as she remembered why she fought.  She was fighting to avenge them, and that was exactly what she intended to do.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp series of knocks on the door.  Silence turned her head to see a greyish-green unicorn standing at her door, envelope at his hooves.

"Can I help you?" She asked him.

"I need this message sent, special delivery.  Needs to be there in 20 minutes, at the most."

Silence's thoughts now drifted to those of her other job.  Being agile and able to navigate the rooftops like no other pony, she was often tasked with delivering various things across town; more often than not letters.  She kind of enjoyed it; it was something that she had taken on herself, to keep herself from being bored at all times of day.  Plus, a run would make her feel good about things, and maybe clear her mind a little.

"Who's it going to?"

"Miss Vinyl Scratch."

"What do you want with her? Gonna have her host a party or something?"

"What I require is none of your business."

"Fair enough." Silence moved to her bed, and grabbed a small saddlebag underneath it.  Moving towards the pony at the door, she grabbed the letter from the ground.

"20 minutes." he said, walking away from the doorway.  "I'll wait for you in the kitchen." Silence stuffed the letter into her bag, and began a dash in the opposite direction of the unicorn, racing through the halls and beginning to get her adrenaline pumping.  This was going to be a good run.

The activity in the town was at an incredible level, even for the normally busy mid-day.  Everypony seemed to be moving on the streets; one could scarcely be seen standing still as the chaos of life moved around them.  Above everything, along the rooftops, a single pony could be seen, orange mane flowing freely in the wind as she sped along.  Coming to a gap between roofs, she made a massive jump, clearing the gap with ease and maintaining speed.

Silence's running was flawless, as always, moving fluidly between the rooftops and remaining largely unnoticed by the general populace.  She kept her focus, running towards a small apartment complex in the distance, where Vinyl Scratch could be found whenever she didn't have a gig in one of the local bars.  The letter shifted only slightly in Silence's bag, even as she ran at top speed.  Getting bored with the standard running and jumping between the roofs, Silence decided to try something new as she came close to the next gap.  Shifting her weight forwards slightly, she ran towards the edge before leaping into the air and performing a perfect front flip, landing flawlessly on her hooves.  The feeling of pure exhilaration that Silence was experiencing only increased at the mere thought that she had executed a perfect flip.

In front of her now, she could see the complex where Vinyl resided, a mere 300 meters out.  Now, she would shift into the crowd which milled about beneath her.  It was just a matter of getting down.  The next gap approached, but instead of clearing it, Silence stopped.

She observed the ground, and more specifically the lack of ponies on said ground.  Noting this detail, she lept towards the ground.  As she landed,  she kept her leg muscles relaxed, allowing her knees to act as shock absorbers and reducing the impact on her body.  After the jump, she continued to run along on the ground, catching strange looks as she ran towards the apartment complex.  Regardless of these looks, she remained focused on the goal that was set for her.  She had 5 minutes remaining, if her calcuations were correct.  Whatever was in this letter must have been super urgent to warrant such a speedy delivery.  Silence made a turn, pulling into the the complex, and looking at the directory nearby the door.

"Vinyl Scratch.  Floor 3, room 307." She observed, and ran for the stairs.

"Excuse me, miss!" The concierge shouted at Silence as she blazed past him and on to the stairs.  Silence paid him no mind, and raced up to the third floor. "Damn hooligans..." the concierge muttered, not even bothering to give chase. He knew that there was only one way out of this building, and that was by using the door; he would get a chance to talk to her.

Silence had made her way to room 307, and began pounding on the door.  A rather tired looking Vinyl Scratch answered the door after a few seconds.

"Geez! Those knocks on the door must've been louder than half the bass drops in my set!"

"Delivery for you, miss." Silence replied, ignoring the previous comments.

"Umm, okay.  Thanks?"

"No problem." With that, Silence turned away from her, and went towards the balcony at the end of the hall.  Vinyl had poked her head around the corner just in time to see Silence climbing up onto the railings on the balcony.

"Whoa, what the hell are you doing?!" She shouted, as Silence jumped off of the balcony and into the streets below.  She sailed through the air, mane flying behind her as she approached the grounds at a crazy speed.  All of her legs were spread apart, causing more wind resistance as she fell to the earth.  Within a couple of seconds, she adjusted her body to be tilted more towards the ground, and finally made her impact.  But when Vinyl looked over the edge of the platform, Silence was nowhere to be seen.

She was just well hidden in the hay cart she had landed in.  She had always been proud of her ability to suddenly disappear.  Poking her head outside of the hay, she could see Vinyl looking worriedly for her, desparately trying to figure out what had just happened.  She left the balcony, certainly concerned for the pony who she had just witnessed jumping off a third floor balcony.  This was Silence's chance to really mess with her.  She quickly picked herself up out of the hay, and dashed away from the scene, and back onto the rooftops.  Vinyl had recieved the message in time, and that was all that mattered.  Now, it was full speed ahead; time to return to Canterlot Castle.