A young woman with long dark blue hair with a magenta stripe and a pair of large, lavender feathered wings attached seamlessly to her back, entered one of the vast guest bedrooms within Canterlot Castle, a thoroughly depressed look on her face. She wore an elegant lavender dress, a pink diamond necklace, and brown sandals with heels. Upon her head was a golden tiara. This was Twilight Sparkle, recently-crowned Princess of Equestria… although, at the moment, she was wishing she was still an ordinary Spellcaster, getting ready for bed in her old treehouse/library home, back before Tirek had smashed it to splinters… back before she had to put up with all of this hatred and anger towards her and her politics.
I just don’t understand it… why do they hate me so much? thought Twilight as she striped down to her black bra and panties. It’s not like I’ve done anything horrible to them… I’m just trying to make sure that Equestria isn’t left behind in this ever-evolving world we live in now. I mean, right now Equestria is laughably out gunned, lovers of two different species can’t get married, no matter how much they want to, and the Council is made up of royals and nobles who only have interest in themselves rather than the common good.
As Twilight snuggled into the blankets and bedsheets, she felt a wave of hopelessness wash over her. Maybe I’m not meant to be a Princess of Equestria is this is how ponies are going to treat me… maybe I should just step down…
No, Twilight. You can’t step down now. Do you really think all of this hatred will just go away because you’re not a Princess anymore? a stronger voice told Twilight deep in her subconscious
Immediately, Twilight reached into a bedside dresser drawer and pulled out three pictures. One of them was of her and her friends, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. The second was of her and the other three Princesses, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, all of them looking very formal and elegant in their dresses. The third was a picture of a man around Twilight’s age with navy blue hair and orange feathered wings wearing a Royal Guard dress uniform. This was Flash Sentry, Twilight’s secret boyfriend… although, she was starting to suspect that he was getting ready to propose to her.
Twilight thought for a moment about what this might mean for them, given all the hate she’d received. Flash must truly and deeply love her if he was willing to risk going through all of the same bullshit she’d been through… and if he wanted to start a family with her.
Twilight smiled. As long as she had this group of people by her side, she could take anything those nay-sayers and Traditionalists threw at her.
And with that, Twilight returned the pictures to the drawer, and closed her eyes… completely unaware of what was going on right under her nose.
…
“Well? Are we going to do this thing or what?” grumbled a voice in the shadows to one of its four fellows.
“Are you really sure about this? I mean, we’re about to MURDER A PRINCESS-”
“Shut up, Gallant! Do you want to get us arrested? Besides, we’ve got the one thing that can make our troubles that much easier.”
As the voice said this, a faint gleam of light from a shining blade appeared. A gasp was heard.
“Is that… is that really-”
“Orichalum. The boss man had this thing forged just for this sole purpose… something about getting some lady drunk enough that she wasn’t even able to stand on her own two feet or something like that. Anyways, this is our room.”
”Heh, good thing you and Gallant were posted there.”
As the five shadowy figures reached the bedroom, they silently opened the door. There, sleeping soundly on the bed, was Princess Twilight Sparkle.
“Well? Who wants the honors?” asked one of the voices.
“I’ll do it.”
“She’s all yours, Gallant.”
As the single figure crept silently into the room, the orichalum blade in his hand, they felt as though a huge weight was resting upon their shoulders. Finally, the figure clamped his hand down over Twilight’s nose and mouth, causing her to awaken.
“Get on her! Keep her down!”
As the other four figures held Twilight down with both their hands and magic, the princess tried to muster up some magic, but found herself unable to thanks to the magical field the assassins had her trapped in. As Twilight continued to struggle, the orichalam blade slashed across her throat, cutting deep into her flesh. As blood gushed out of the wound in her throat, Twilight stared in horror at her attacker, unable to scream or even breathe as they continued to stab her. Finally, after a moment of fruitless struggling, Twilight went limp and cold, and her eyes turned glassy. She was dead.
“Good job, now let’s get the fuck out of here!”
And with that, the five killers ran for it, leaving their handy work behind as they ran through the castle halls, desperate to avoid detection. Unfortunately for them, they were being followed from the shadows, something that quickly became apparent when one of the assassins was swept of his feet and pulled into the shadows by something unseen, screaming his lungs out as he went, and causing the other four to turn in the direction his screaming was coming from, drawing their swords and sidearms as a cold shiver ran down each of their spines.
“Hey… Cage? Are you okay?” asked one of the other assassins before a moment later, a sickening crack rang out in the empty hallways.
The other assassins, literally quaking in their boots as they approached the direction it sounded like the crack had come from. When they found their fellow assassin, dangling by his ankles from the rafters with his head turned a full 180 degrees, they staggered back in horror, hardly able to understand what they were seeing, unable to understand how one human could possibly do that to another.
Then, another voice rang out from the darkness, somehow much more terrifying than it actually was.
”You know… I never could stand the type of coward who would kill someone in their sleep. If you’re gonna assassinate someone, then you’d better have the spine to do it to their face.”
The four remaining assassins turned around to find a man that was armed to the teeth with swords, guns, grenades, and a variety of throwing weapons, clad in a grey, black, and orange suit of armor. Concealing his face was an orange and black helmet that had only a single red eyepiece on the left side.
”Tell me… do you prefer steel or lead?” the masked man asked, his voice sounding as though it were coming through a filter of some kind as he drew one of his katanas.
The four assassins looked at each other nervously before they attempted to bum rush the masked man with their swords raised.
The masked man heaved a sigh as he took up a combat stance. ”Steel it is, then.”
Two of the assassins took a swing at the masked man, only for him to lazily deflect both attacks faster than the blink of an eye.
”Come, come, surely you men can do better than this!” the masked man taunted before he swung his own sword at one of the assassins, who was swiftly impaled then decapitated in a single, fluid, lightning-fast movement.
The three remaining assassins were quickly losing their nerve as the fight progressed. One of the assassins actually managed to get a very lucky hit on the masked man, although it didn’t actually do anything to hurt him thanks to his armor.
”Okay, now you’re getting annoying,” the masked man said, a bored look on his face before he struck down the assassin who’d managed to hit him, swiftly followed by the second assassin, who was cut almost effortlessly in two. The last assassin, the one who’d been called Gallant, however, was disarmed in the most literal sense of the term before he fell to his knees.
“P-please! You don’t have to do this! You don’t understand! Th-they threatened my brother! They said they were gonna kill him unless I helped them kill her!”
The masked man held his sword to Gallant’s throat. ”’They?’ Who’s ‘they?’ These men?” he asked Gallant, gesturing to the bodies lying on the ground.
“The nobles. The nobles who hired us for this hit! There’s six of them. Lord Ivory Shell, Lord Cosmo and his father, Lady Sundancer, Lord Rooternburg, with Prince Amadeus Blueblood Junior as the mastermind! That’s all I know, I swear!”
The masked man glared at the sniveling assassin before him, trying to figure out what to do with him. Finally, he made up his mind. ”Thanks you for the information. Because you gave me what I wanted, I swear you’ll have a good night’s sleep!” he said before hitting Gallant in the head with his free hand, rendering him unconscious as he put away his sword.
Almost a split-second later, however, someone very strong and very quiet got the drop on the masked man and slammed his head into the wall with brute force that almost reminded him of the target of a contract he took early in his career for $50 million.
The last thing the masked man saw before he passed out was a pair of legs that looked as though they belonged to a woman wearing a suit of black and midnight blue armor.
…
Princess Celestia, a young woman who had pale skin and long, flowing hair that resembled the lush green fields of the land, the open blue sky, and the pink of love and compassion, yawned and stretched as she woke up and climbed out of her vast four-poster bed and made her way over to the balcony on the other side. Stepping onto the cold white marble, Celestia channeled her energies and focused them at the blazing golden sunset. With seemingly no effort at all, Celestia raised the sun to such a position that gravity would be able to take care of the rest until sundown, where Luna would take over and raise her moon.
Celestia smiled. Looks like it’s gonna be a beautiful day… considering, she thought to herself, thinking back to all of her prized pupil’s troubles as of late. I don’t understand it. If these Traditionalists can’t bring themselves to trust Twilight, then why can’t they trust me? It’s not like I’m in any danger. Twilight was my personal protege at my school for Gifted Spellcasters ever since she was a small foal. One would think that I’d know her well enough to say that she’d never-
Celestia’s inner dialogue was interrupted by a member of her guard bursting into her room, a mingled look of panic and embarrassment at seeing his leader in her nightclothes. “P-Princess C-C-C-Celestia… f-f-f-forgive m-m-m-me,” stammered the guard as he started to turn beet red.
Celestia frowned. What could’ve possibly happened to get this guard all worked up like this. “It’s all right, just tell me what’s wrong,” she said.
“I-I-I-I-It’s P-P-P-P-Princess T-Twilight… sh-she’s b-b-been… m-m-m-m-m-murdered!”
Celestia could almost hear the glass in her mind breaking into a million pieces. Part of her wanted to dismiss and demote the guard because of his lies… and yet, the look on his face and the way he was acting was very, very hard to fake.
“T-Take me to her,” said Celestia, doing her best to sound dignified.
The guard was taken aback. “Your Majesty, are you-” he began to say, only to be drowned out by Celestia’s anguished voice.
“TAKE ME TO HER, I NEED TO SEE HER!” wailed Celestia.
Nodding to show he understood, the guard led Princess Celestia out of her room and through the halls to Twilight’s room, where a small crowd had gathered, mostly consisting of Royal Guardsmen.
“Let me through! Let me through!” yelled Celestia.
The crowd made way for her. Lying on the ground before Princess Celestia were three bodies of Royal Guardsmen, while a fourth was hanging upside down with a snapped neck.
And then Celestia saw her. Her worst fears had been confirmed.
Princess Twilight Sparkle lay on her bed as a couple of Royal Guardsmen moved around her, examining the crime scene, while a third, who had short dark blue hair and orange feathered wings sprouting from his back, sobbed uncontrollably and stroked Celestia’s pupil’s hair. Blood was splattered all over the bedsheets, and there was a dark slash across Twilight’s throat.
Princess Celestia couldn’t believe it. She refused to believe it. She closed her eyes and called upon a healing spell. Twilight’s injuries were repaired but the Princess did not awaken. Celestia tried a shock spell. Twilight’s body shook and vibrated as though it’d received and electrical shock, but still she did not awaken.
No matter what the tear-soaked Princess Celestia tried, she could not get any response from her beloved student. Finally, she was forced to face the truth.
Twilight Sparkle had been slain in her sleep.
“Twilight… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” wailed Celestia as she fell to her knees and began to weep.
So immersed was Celestia in her pain that she didn’t hear her younger sister, Luna, who had long, flowing hair much like the night sky itself, pale skin, and wore a navy blue dress with a protrusion in the back and black heels approach and rest her hand on her sister’s shoulder, shaking it to try and get her attention.
“Sister? Sister?” Luna said before deciding to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. ”SISTER!!!!!!!!”
Luna’s shout caused several people nearby to jump in fright and caused several nearby windows to shatter. Slowly, Celestia, her eyes red and puffy, turned to look up at her younger sister.
“Come. There’s someone who you and I need to speak with,” said Luna as she hoisted her sister to her feet and half-pulled half-dragged her sister towards the castle dungeons.
“Lu, what are we…? What’s going on?” asked Celestia, barely audible.
“Last night I’d sensed a disturbance within that castle. When I went to investigate, I saw the most magnificent warrior, clad in orange, grey, and black armor and armed with all manner of weapons. He was strong, fast, and one of the best swordsmen I’ve ever seen, and given my own prowess with a sword, that’s saying something. He was able to get one of the assassins responsible for Twilight’s to name names, although I was unable to distinguish which names Gallant Stride uttered-” explained Luna.
“Gallant? Gallant Stride, Shining Armor’s partner and one of the most upstanding members of the royal guard, killed Twilight?” whispered Celestia, horror joining the whirlwind of emotions that were swirling within her, as she’d been the one who’d assigned Gallant to Twilight’s chambers.
“Regrettably, yes, sister. However, I believe this new warrior can help us destroy those who brought about Twilight’s demise. At least, he seemed open to discuss it when I spoke to him earlier-”
“What and who are you talking about, Luna?” asked Celestia, who was growing more and more confused by the second as they reached the staircase leading down to the dungeons.
“We’ve a guest from another world, sister. His name is Slade Wilson, but he prefers to go by the alias Deathstroke.”
Author's Note
And so it begins! Be sure to join us next time as Luna and Celestia interrogate Slade, and for the funeral of Princess Twilight Sparkle! Until then, be sure to fave, follow, like and comment, and I'll see you guys next time! Until then, stay flashy!
A Soldier of Fortune (Revised Version)
Earth 28-7:35 PM
In the depths of a hidden bunker just outside of Metropolis, a man who looked to be in his early 30s despite the chalk white hair and short beard wearing a black bodysuit and a stylized black eyepatch over his right eye opened a metal wardrobe to reveal a suit of black, grey, and orange armor with several holsters, pouches,and sheaths on it. On a shelf above the armor was a metallic black and orange helmet, with only a single red eye piece on the left side.
Slade Wilson donned the suit of armor and slid the helmet over his head before grabbing a pair of handguns, a machine gun with a scope and a grenade launcher built in, twin katanas and a large broadsword, his Remote Claw, his custom-made bo-staff, and several dozen spare ammo clips, grenades, shuriken, and heavy reel ammo rounds for his Remote Claw.
His equipment gathered and his armor assembled, Deathstroke stopped to pick up a battered old photo. It was a picture of himself, his wife, and their three young children, back during happier times.
Before the night he’d returned home and found his wife murdered and his children missing. In fact, it was only the fact that he needed money to keep his guns loaded and his stomach fed and watered that prevented him from declining this job and moving earth and sky in order to find his children and cut pieces off of whomever had taken them and killed his wife.
Deathstroke made his way out of his bunker and climbed into an inconspicuous looking pickup truck and took off his helmet, placing it on the seat beside him. Slade then proceeded to drive to an abandoned airstripe, where he waited for the better part of an hour before a helicopter appeared in the skyline. Putting his helmet back on, Deathstroke climbed out of the vehicle.
Once the chopper landed, a young man with shoulder-length red hair wearing a black suit and tie climbed out, a woman with short black hair wearing black thick-rimmed glasses and an outfit that would not look out of place on a secretary right behind him.
“Ah! Slade Joseph Wilson! Just the man I wanted to see!” said Lex Luthor cheerfully as he walked up to Deathstroke, Mercy following right behind him. “I appreciate you agreeing to talk business with me, I know it’s a bad time for you, with everything that’s going on with your wife and kids-”
”Talk. Now,”said Deathstroke, irritation evident in his voice.
Both Lex and Mercy gulped audibly. “Well, then, let’s get down to business,” Lex said, starting to sweat nervously. “Ahem! It has come to my attention that Wayne Enterprises has a prototype teleportation system stored in one of its warehouses in Gotham City. That being said, I would like you to help some of my men retrieve it for me, just in case they run into a little bat trouble, you know.”
"Hmm… bat trouble… well, if that’s the case, it’ll cost you something extra. Won’t be cheap, either. You’d better be able to pay up,”said Deathstroke.
“Have I never not been able to?”
”...fair enough. It’ll be double my usual fee once the job is done, plus an extra $50 million for dealing with the Bat and his sidekick beforehand.”
“Agreed. Mercy,” said Lex.
Mercy rolled her eyes before doing the transaction, holding up the phone to show Slade that the transaction was going through. Once it was completed, Deathstroke chuckled.
”A pleasure doing business with you once again, Mr. Luthor.”
…
Gotham City-Three Hours Later
Deathstroke watched as Luthor’s security contractors loaded the last piece of the teleportation device onto the truck. He couldn’t help but chuckle. The job was almost done, and there was no sign of the Bat or his new sidekick. This job was the easist money he’d made since he’d killed that one politician who’d been deaf in one ear and half-blind in both eyes back in Italy.
But, like always when it came to the Batman, his car came crashing through the wall just when things were getting too easy. The security contractors Slade was with almost instantly started shooting at the Batmobile with their military-grade assault weapons while Deathstroke, using speed born from his augmentations, deflected Batman’s rubber bullets with almost effortless ease.
"You’re gonna have to try harder than that,” said Deathstroke before something caught his attention.
Thanks to his enhanced hearing abilities, Slade heard the distinct sound keys turning in an ignition. A quick glance at the truck saw that was getting ready to make a run for it. However, it seemed the Batman wasn’t having any of that. A missile launched from the Batmobile drew Deathstroke’s full attention as it soared towards the truck.
Slade ran after the missile, knowing that if anything happened to the device, his payday would go right down the shitter. Unfortunately for Deathstroke, while he was able to nearly beat it, the missile made full contact with its target, causing the truck to flip over no more than twice.
Within the truck’s storage unit, however, something worse than Deathstroke losing a payday was about to happen. The impact from the missile and rolling over had caused the teleportation device to turn on, and worse, the impacts had caused it to go haywire.
The next moment, Deathstroke, who had turned around to go take out his immense anger on Batman, was seemingly obliterated by the energy blast caused by the teleportation device.
Except, he wasn’t.
…
Equestria-The Previous Night
“ARRGH!” screamed Deathstroke as he materialized out of seemingly thin air within Canterlot Castle’s main hallways. Looking around wildly, Deathstroke realized that he wasn’t in the warehouse anymore. In fact, it seemed as though he wasn’t even in Gotham City anymore.
What the fuck happened? Where the Hell am I? thought Deathstroke angrily, trying make sense of what had just happened.
The best that he could come up with was that something had happened with the teleportation device, causing it go haywire and send him off to who-knew-where… more than likely forever seperating him from his lost children.
”No… No…!”muttered the profoundly grief-stricken Deathstroke as he fell to his knees, tears running down his face from his sole remaining eye. But, before he could scream in pain or agony or do anything further, something caught Deathstroke’s attention. A group of voices, muttering.
-MURDER A PRINCESS-”
"Shut up, Gallant! Do you want to get us arrested? Besides, we’ve got the one thing that can make our troubles that much easier.”
“Is that… is that really-”
“Orichalum. The boss man had this thing forged just for this sole purpose… something about getting some lady drunk enough that she wasn’t even able to stand on her own two feet or something like that. Anyways, this is our room.”
”Heh, good thing you and Gallant were posted there.”
Deathstroke, upon hearing what was about to transpire and having a severe distaste for assassinating someone in their sleep, pulled himself up off the ground, and followed the voices to where they sounded like they were coming from.
…
Equestria-Now
Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and the keeper of the dungeons looked through the cell door at Deathstroke, who was still in his mask and armor but had been disarmed of all his weapons, and who was currently using the chains he was shackled by his wrists from to do pull ups.
“What’s he doing? Is he trying to break the chains?” asked Celestia.
“Actually, sister, I believe he is using them to do pull-ups. A rather creative conversion of them, I must say,” said Princess Luna.
“Why is he still in his uniform? Can’t you get it off him? What if he’s carrying some sort of lockpick within it?” asked Princess Celestia.
“I’m afraid we haven’t been able to, Your Highness. His armor and mask are made of some kind of metal that I’ve never seen before. But, that’s nothing compared to the weapons he had on him. Come and have a look,” said the keeper, leading the Princesses over to a table.
Celestia’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped like a sack of potatoes when she saw what was on the table. Three different swords, a machine gun with a scope and grenade launcher built in, two handguns, a strange device with a claw-like attachment at the end, and a small pile of bullets, knives, and shuriken.
“Sweet Faust in Elysium… you could outfit a small squad of soldiers with this many weapons,” said Celestia.
Luna, meanwhile, puzzled over the claw device. “What, pray tell, is that thing?” she asked the dungeon keeper, who suddenly turned beet red.
“Umm…”
…
Two Hours Earlier…
The keeper of the dungeons and a member of the Lunar Guard were busy examining Deathstroke’s weapons.
“Heh, always wanted one of these things,” the Lunar Guardsman said, picking up the machine gun. “How do I look?”
“20% cooler,” said the dungeon keeper, who then noticed the Remote Claw. “What’s that thing?”
“No idea,” said the Lunar Guardsman, picking up the Remote Claw and looking at it.
“Hey! Slackers!” yelled Evening Glory, a Night Flier who had become Captain of the Guard following Shining Armor’s departure. “Stop fooling around with the prisoner’s weapons and-”
Before Evening could finish speaking, the guardsman pressed the trigger on the Remote Claw, causing the claw attachment to launch, latch itself onto Evening, before the other end attached itself to a nearby fire extinguisher and pulled said extinguisher towards Evening, knocking the new Captain out cold and filling the entire room with smoke.
…
“That is a very dangerous weapon in the wrong hands,” said the dungeon keeper.
Luna put the Remote Claw down carefully as Celestia looked back at the room where the man was being held.
“Bring him to the interrogation room. Let’s see what he’s got to say for himself,” said Celestia.
“Yes, my Princess.”
…
Deathstroke stopped using his chains as exercise equipment at the sound of a key turning in the lock of his cell door. A group of guards entered the room and removed the chains that held Deathstroke and allowed him to fall to the ground. A pair of guards picked up Deathstroke by his arms and half-carried, half-dragged him past several other cells, from which, the occupants were speaking.
"You foolish little ponies sleep tight, because you'll never know when the Pegasus Device will reawaken, hungry again."
"Anchovy pizza! Something, something Italian sounding!"
"It’s not guns that kill people, it’s these little hard thangs!”
"IT WASN'T ME! IT WAS THE ONE-ARMED MAN!"
"Oh, Celestia, why can't I free your doubtful mind, and melt your cold, cold heart?"
As Slade was led past these various cells, he began to wonder where these soldiers were taking him to. It wasn't long, however, before he got his answer: the interrogation room.
"If anyone so much as THINKS about trying to waterboard me, then I give you my word that there will be bloodshed and broken bones," warned Deathstroke, his voice void of emotion.
"Shut up and get in there!" snapped one of the guards as he opened the door and gave Deathstroke a rough shove into the room.
As the door shut behind him, Slade took a moment to look about the room. It looked pretty much like your standard interrogation room: small with dim lighting and reflective side of a one-way window facing the door, and a table with two chairs on each side. On the left hand wall, there was a small, sickeningly adorable cat hanging from a tree with the words Hang in there baby! written on it.
Hmph, idiots. If you’re going to hide a camera, at least make an effort to make it unoticeable, thought Deathstroke before he saw who else was in the room.
Sitting on the other side of the empty seat was what seemed to be a woman with long green, blue, and pink hair as well as what seemed to be white feathered wings wearing a golden dress with matching heels and a crown with a purple jewel embedded in it, making her look like some kind of Princess.
"Welcome," said the winged woman. "Have a seat."
Not really seeing any other option, Slade took the seat adjacent to the woman, an almost blank expression hidden behind his mask.
“I know what you’re going to try and do.”
“Oh? And what would that be?”
“The classic good cop-bad cop routine. You act nice and polite while someone-”
Whatever Slade was about to say next was silenced as someone beside him grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into the table, where it left a shallow dent in the shape of Deathstroke’s mask but caused no apparent pain to Slade himself.
“Huh. Tis’ most bizarre. Usually when that happens it causes a bit more pain to the one whose head smashed against the table, not the table itself,” said a female voice that more than likely belonged to the person who had just slammed Deathstroke’s head into the table. She had feathered wings like the one sitting across from Slade, except her wings were midnight blue, a shimmering navy blue mane of hair that looked like the night sky itself, and wore a wore a navy blue dress with a protrusion in the back, black heels, and a small black crown atop her head.
“Perks of having a combat suit and mask made out of Nth Metal,” replied Deathstroke in the same emotionless voice.
“Well, then, seeing as slamming your head into things will not yield answers, let us try the direct approach. Do you know who I am?” asked the white winged woman.
“Lady, I don’t even know where the Hell I am, so why would I know who you are?” said Slade..
The white winged woman nodded curtly. “True, we haven’t introduced ourselves. I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria and Princess of The Day. This is my younger sister, Luna, Princess of The Night,” said Celestia.
”I see… let me guess, you two want to know about me. Where I came from and who I am. Is that right?”
“Very astute observations, Mister…?”
”Wilson. Slade Wilson. But, back home they call me Deathstroke.”
“Where is thy home, exactly?” asked Princess Luna.
”In another universe. You see, I was brought here after I got caught in an explosion from this experimental device that I was hired to help retrieve.”
“Hired?” asked Celestia, intrigued. “Judging by the small arsenal of weapons and equipment our Guards found on you, I take that to mean you are some sort of mercenary.”
”I prefer the term soldier of fortune. Back home, they called me the World’s Deadliest Assassin. Of course, the augmentations I received as a part of Project: Mirakuru certainly helped with establishing that reputation.”
“Augmentations? Project: Mirakuru? What on Equis are you talking about?” asked Celestia.
Deathstroke chuckled. ”That’s for me to know and for you to never find out. After all, why should I trust someone I just met today?”
I could say the same thing to you, assassin, thought Celestia as she glared at Slade. Although, the fact that these killers had an Orichalum dagger is troubling. Perhaps there are Traditionalists who ordered the hit on Twilight…
“Why did thee slay Twilight’s assassins?” asked Luna.
“I needed to vent. That, and I don’t take kindly to cowards who would kill someone in their sleep.”
“Very well, then, Mr. Wilson. I am prepared to strike a deal,” said Celestia.
“And, this deal is?”
“Help us find those responsible for Twilight’s murder. I am fairly certain her assassins were acting under orders from someone else. In exchange, we will do everything we possibly can to help you find a way to get you back home to your world and your life as a… soldier of fortune.”
Slade chuckled humorlessly. ”This Twilight girl must’ve been very special to you if you’re willing to hire a near stranger for help hunting down those who were pulling the strings behind her murder. Fortunately for you, I was able to get some names out of that one assassin I spared. That being said, if you want my help or those names, it won’t be cheap. I’ll need money, supplies, and resources if I’m gonna do this for you.”
“That will not be a problem. Do we have a deal?” asked Celestia.
Slade thought it over for a moment. “Very well then, Princess Celestia. You’ve got yourself an assassin,” he said before shaking Celestia’s hand.
“Excellent. Well, Luna, if you’ll help our new friend get settled, I’ll meet up with you two later, as I have an emergency meeting of the Equestrian Parliament to attend.”
“But, sister, what doth thou mean, an emergency meeting of Parliament?” asked Luna.
“The one I’m going to call for tonight, dear sister.”
…
Later that evening…
Lady Sundancer, who was Spellcaster woman with sleek orange and yellow hair, with narrow-rimmed glasses, a crisp suit and skirt, and black heels made her way out of the Parliament Building with an almost enraged look on her face. The usurper had been dealt with, Celestia was safe from being overthrown, and all was well again.
Until that meeting she was just in. Celestia had informed the whole of Parliament that she was taking Executive Action, in that every last one of Twilight’s reforms would be made the law of the land, stating that her death would not be in vain.
“How… how dare she… after seeing how pointless her plans were she still… UGH!” Sundancer growled as she stomped back to her home. “That ungrateful bitch! She doesn’t see the damage that wretched girl’s plans will cause… But she will. She has to… this will not have been pointless.”
As she arrived at her manor house, grunting and groaning all the way there, and opened the door, she went to turn on her lights.
Only to discover that they wouldn’t turn on.
Suspicious, Sundancer made her way over to a nearby stand, opened it with one hand, and pulled out a small pistol. She cocked it and got ready to fire as she cautiously made her way through her house looking for the intruder she suspected was inside.
“Who’s there? I promise that you will regret breaking in today.” Sundancer growled. “I’ve had a really bad day and am not in the mood.”
“We all had a bad day at that meeting.”A deep, dark, menacing filtered voice said, startling Sundancer who jumped and fired her gun, the bullet nearly piercing the speaker’s head.
“Are you crazy?! I could’ve killed you!” said Sundancer.
“My apologies. I didn’t mean to take you by surprise, my dear. But, nonetheless, we have another problem that needs to be dealt with outside of that merry band of fools who think themselves national heroes,” the speaker said.
“Problem? What kind of problem?”
“It seems all but one of the guards we hired to put an end to Twilight Sparkle’s reforms have been met with a rather violent end of their own by someone in a suit of black, grey, and orange armor comprised of an unknown metal, and, if my contact is to be believed, is said to not only be armed to the teeth with swords, guns, and other weapons, but to hail from another world entirely, where he acted as a mercenary called Deathstroke.”
“Ooh, scary,” said Sundancer, sounding as though she wasn’t concerned in the slightest. “Deathstroke sounds way more intimidating than your alias, Heretic.”
”...that is neither here nor there, Sundancer,”The Heretic said, a note of menace in his voice. ”There’s more. According to my contact, Deathstroke got a certain mole to talk, naming names. Including yours and my son. We need to step up our plans if we are to put an end to these so-called heroes before the Princesses’ new lapdog comes to visit you and the rest of our associates. You and the others need to disappear, because make no mistake, Sundancer. There is little to no chance that you’ll be walking away from an encounter with this mercenary alive.”
“And what are we going to do about this Deathstroke problem while we’re supposed to be laying low?” Sundancer asked.
”I’ll take care of that. All you and the others need to worry about is disappearing. Good night, Lady Sundancer.”
There was a bright flash of light that nearly blinded Sundancer. Once her eyes had cleared up, the lights were on and the speaker was nowhere to be found. And there was a bullet hole in the wall.
Author's Note
Well, hopefully this new-and-improved version of the chapter will do much better than the original version. Anyways, if you'd be so kind, be sure to like, fave, follow, and comment as it really gives me the drive I need to keep doing what I do. See you next time!
