A Newly Hooded Road to Walk

The rustic room was filled with the stench of fresh blood. The floorboards creaked as Fluttershy walked about, and the moonlight showed through the patchy roofing of the house that seemed more like a shack. The home sat on the outskirts of Ponyville, where the city met the farms, and where the real-estate was pretty enough to only attract the per-say, "Bottom of the Barrel." As Fluttershy remembered Flat-Head had so kindly put it, "the shitty part of town." None of the streets were paved like the majority of the city, so only ruts, dirt, and mud distinguished the blocks of residents. Plus, with the sewers only covering certain sections of this part of town, it smelled like you would expect it to.

Fluttershy inspected the home of the pegasus Crimson Breeze, who, to Fluttershy's surprise and frustration, lay dead on his own floor. With his death not being at her own hand, she couldn't formally confirm who Crimson's killer was, despite her suspicions pointing to her rivals. The possibility of one of Flat-head's henchmen withholding information and taking matters into their own hands was still prevalent, and in the end, it didn't matter to her much either way. The pegasus was still dead in a gruesome manner, and Fluttershy was still none the wiser since she left the Mob's estate.

Crimson's death was caused by multiple blows to the skull and face with something blunt but pointed, A rifle stock? Thought Fluttershy. The rest of his body was beaten in the same fashion as well, Was he interrogated? However, with the walls of the shack being so thin and other shacks so close, Fluttershy found the possibility of somepony interrogating Crimson here to be slim, since he was bound to scream in pain. Lastly, Crimson's wings had been cut off in a rough fashion, a classic message used by the mob. However, Fluttershy was no idiot, and suspected that the post-mortem wounds were probably inflicted to throw off authorities and pin the murder on Flat-head's mob.

Dammit, thought Fluttershy, if our elusive opium thieves got Crimson Breeze, then it's only a matter of time before they get Harvus; Considering the chance they haven't already. Fluttershy let out a long sigh, and stepped over the dead pegasus to look for more clues that may have been left behind. Her eagle vision didn't reveal much to her, just dusty corners and Crimson Breeze's personal belongings, but as Fluttershy walked next to the bed she could feel a light sense of heat from the night stand. She grabbed the drawer handle and it felt warm, and as she opened it, it revealed a roughing of the Brotherhood symbol in ash from Crimson's ash tray, where some of the coals were still lightly smoking.

Fluttershy brow crinkled as frustration grew within her, for she had been stiffly taught that such slandering against the Brotherhood was intolerable to a mortal degree. Fluttershy slapped away the ashes in anger, knocking the drawer from its rails in the process. I guess that confirms the murderer's identity.

With the hunch that there was nothing else for her in the shack, Fluttershy stormed out the door into the moon-lit city. However, just as she flung the door open, it knocked into someone on the other side. She heard a thud and a slight grunt as whoever she hit with the door fell into the dark and muddy street. Fluttershy opened the door fully to see a now very dirty earth-pony. He was young, and Fluttershy noticed he fit the description of her other objective.

"Do you need something Harvus?" Asked Fluttershy in an empty tone.

The young stallion froze in his effort to get up, and gave Fluttershy a look of shock with a hint of terror. After a second of Harvus struggling to find Fluttershy's face under her shadowed hood, he bolted down the street in a last ditch effort to escape. Fluttershy figured she might have scared him, with her full garb she looked like a murderous phantom of sorts, especially on a night like this.

Harvus was young, and fast, but not fast enough. As soon as he started running, he looked over his shoulder to see Fluttershy on the roofs to his right with little lag, which only made him run faster. Fluttershy, being within striking range from the start thanks to her wings, waited for an alley to show on their left, since her anonymity would be best kept beating Harvus in a dark alleyway.

Soon the opportunity appeared, and Fluttershy launched herself at Harvus with a jump supported by a single flap of her wings. She landed her knees squarely on Harvus' shoulders, launching him forward into the adjacent alleyway. Fluttershy flapped her wings one more time to balance herself, and landed on her hooves. She rushed over to subdue the young stallion but he countered quickly, throwing out the jab of a switchblade with his right hand as he got up, only to narrowly miss Fluttershy's cheek as she dodged. In response, Fluttershy grabbed Harvus' extended arm with her right, and extended her hidden blade into his wrist, making sure she had a good grip on him. She then ducked under his arm, and in the process twisted his stabbed arm upward, causing him to yelp in pain. With her newfound leverage, Fluttershy grabbed the shoulder of Harvus' twisted arm making him bend forward, and spun him around head first into the old brick wall behind her. Fluttershy disengaged on impact as Harvus slumped to the ground; The wall where he struck his head was slightly cracked, and blood ran down his face from the new gash on his forehead.

Harvus was still conscious (though barely), and Fluttershy still needed answers, so she nudged his shoulder with her hoof to turn him onto his back. With the stallion still writhing in pain, Fluttershy grabbed him by the haunches of his jacket and lent him up against the wall which he struck. With Harvus leaning on the wall, Fluttershy dropped to one knee to meet his eyes at the same level, placing her down knee on his uninjured hand, and one of her double barrel flintlock pistols to his throat. Fluttershy noticed Harvus was bleeding profusely from his injured wrist, so she felt she should get this interrogation underway in the case that he bled out.

"I have some very important questions Harvus, I hope after our little exchange just now you'll make the wise choice of cooperating with me." Fluttershy said so in a kind tone, attempting to establish her good cop persona. This pony shouldn't be too hard to crack given his circumstances, thought Fluttershy. "So what's it going to be?"

Harvus was obviously concussed, and feeling the full extent of it. However, Fluttershy couldn't give him the privilege of gathering his thoughts. She gave him a slap to the cheek and a shake to his shoulders to gar him back to reality. Harvus' eyes widened as he came to realize his situation, and the pistol under his chin.

"O-okay, okay, what do you want?! Are y-you one of the Don's guys?" Harvus shook as he spoke, and some of the blood from his forehead had dripped into his left eye, skewing his vision beyond the already dark alley.

Fluttershy grabbed Harvus stiffly by his cheeks, twisting his head upward and closely looking him in the eye.

"You're in no position to ask questions boy," Fluttershy stated sharply.

Harvus gave a short and frantic nod whilst locked by Fluttershy's stare.

"Good. Now tell me, who gave you the bright idea of stealing from your own Don? Huh? Some rich stallion?" She let go of his face, but increase the pressure on his neck from her pistol.

"What? Do think I really fuckin' met the guy?! We only did dead-drops of the stuff ya' know? Just leave a wagon full of dope in some warehouse, and come back to see a bag of cash in its place, that kinda deal!" Harvus' eyes were tightly squinted from his bloody face, and he seemed to be loopy. Fluttershy figured that would be the case considering who she was really dealing with.

"So how the hell did you set up this deal?"

"Shit I can't remember! Crimson set that shit up and I just hopped on!"

"You better remember something bud, or else you'll be the new street paint on these bricks."

Harvus breathing grew faster, "F-fuck! Alright, alright..." Fluttershy turned the pistol a bit, causing the earth pony to recoil back a little. "T-there was this one time I dropped off a load a little late, a-and as I was walking away, I saw somepony d-driving the carriage down the street just after I had dropped it off..."

"Describe. him." Said Fluttershy in a menacing tone. "You're straining my patience, and if you haven't noticed you're bleeding quite a bit."

Harvus gave a quick glance to his stabbed wrist, then back to Fluttershy's shadowed eyes. "H-he didn't stand out a whole lot, I-I-I mean, he had a gray coat and a short reddish mane-I think. Like them military cuts, he was dressed all pretty too," Stuttered Harvus.

"Hm," Fluttershy furrowed her brow. "Where was this warehouse Harvus?" Her tone became to soothing now that Harvus was cooperating.

"It's 'bout four blocks from that church," said Harvus, who then pointed at the church tower which reached above the rooftops to the south of them. "It's t-the one with all of the lumber shit on the front."

Fluttershy smiled and loosened the pressure off Harvus' neck slightly. "I appreciate your cooperation Harvus, I'll be sure to send Flat-head your regards."

The proceeding gunshot rung Fluttershy's ears, and made her flinch backwards. Harvus was no longer alive, and Fluttershy had a lead. Her first priority however was to get as much distance between her and Harvus' body.

...

Fluttershy's work clothes didn't exactly match the furnishings of her home, and since her return she had felt completely out of place in her old home. It didn't quite match the person she was now, which made her uncomfortable in her own skin. The thought of the old Fluttershy being erased made her shiver, but there was no helping that now.

She sat on her couch in full garb, blood stains on her sleeve, and some splattered on her cheek from the gunshot. She did not wish to kill the young stallion. He was at least eight years younger than her, and she believed it to be a waste. Much of her killing over the past years were formal and efficient, with no questions or sympathy.

Fluttershy's hands were shaking as she peered at them from under her hood, but there was no excuse she could find to put her nerves at ease. She pitied Harvus, for he was probably forced into such messy business; but sympathy or not, he had to die according to the contract she was given. Not that given by the Don, but rather, the importance of his death as established by the Assassin's Creed. Even though she couldn't see why she had to kill him, she had to trust it was the right course of action.

Though she went through this fact in her head, it didn't help to stop her hands from shaking. It was the relieved look he gave her in his last moment that haunted her: The guilt of breaking his sudden trust in her to let him live.

A tear fell from under Fluttershy's bowing hood, mixing with the blood on the back of her hand.